This week is the 55th anniversary of the capture of Adolf Eichmann. It’s a story worthy of a Hollywood thriller.
Many people know its outlines. But did you know that after the war but before the Mossad decided to capture Eichmann alive and put him up for trial, there was an armed Jewish group called The Avengers that handled Nazis more directily?
At first they handed over the SS men to the Allied authorities, but many of the SS men “escaped in the chaos that followed the war or were released.” At one point the Russians released two Nazi Germans who had been turned over to them by the Jews. The Germans walked out into the street, laughing at their release. But not for long. The Avengers “cut the men down with a burst of sub-machine gunfire.”
From then on the Avengers simply tracked down and killed former Nazis. Perhaps 1000 Nazis were tracked down in this way after the war.
It seems that, following the war, allies had a habit of letting Nazis escape — not surprising when you consider how much some high-ups among the allies despised Jews.
It was also revealed a few years back that the West German government knew where Eichmann was hiding nearly a decade before the Israelis dragged him from Argentina.
Did the Israelis violate international law in conducting their unauthorized arrest of Eichmann? No doubt they violated many laws. But the keepers of the laws were busy either protecting or ignoring Eichmann — who (after the Nuremburg trials) was the only still-living senior official responsible for the Holocaust.
Eichmann was hardly the bland, colorless bureaucrat some have portrayed him as being. He was the chief administrator of genocide and a dedicated Nazi who continued to dream of setting up a new Third Reich in South America. His bureaucratic apparatus made mass murder possible. His lies persuaded hopeful Jews to believe they were merely being “relocated to the east” instead of being relocated to misery and death. His methods made mass murder go smoothly, with least resistance from the victims.
Before his trial, a lot of politicians and thinkers believed the best course was just to forget the Holocaust. Stop talking about it. Let it fade into history as quickly as possible. The trial of Adolf Eichmann ended all that and started an examination of the process of state-perpetrated evil that continues to this day — more than half a century after his capture.
Tomorrow is Yom HaShoah. It is the Holocaust Remembrance day. In my area the memorial service will be Sunday. I intend to go. I can do nothing but go. It is my personal feeling, just mine, this is only my opinion, that for me to forget what happened, to allow the memory to become comfortably cushioned in the soft cotton of foggy faded distant memory is folly and disrespectful.
Folly because those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it. I’ve learned some pretty painful long term physical lessons working with my horses. Weather changes bring about certain reminders, very clearly. Care to place a wager on me forgetting how I got them and what needs to be done to prevent a repeat performance? I don’t forget.
Disrespectful because the nazis* goal was to erase Judaism from the earth, to blot out all the names of the victims, to resign them to the faded pages of distant memory. As long as I have breath and am able, I will not be part of that. I will be there, I will pay my respects and I will try to keep their memory and their fate plain. The horrible cost of trusting and disarmed people.
No, I do not mean all of them, but too many. hitler* was elected after all. Not all those that died were Jews either. Estimates are six million Jews died, and five million others made up of groups of gypsies, Poles, Political dissenters, mentally and physically disabled, homosexuals and communists. I’m guessing some of those that died and their family members voted for hitler. Someone pointed out to me last year basically, the Holocaust wiped out the population of Israel. Israel’s Jewish population in 2014 was 6,218,000. The total population was 8,296,000.
Last year I was in Israel during Yom HaShoah. I went with my girlfriend that I stayed with to Ben Gurion University for the memorial service. Since she worked at BGU (אבג) getting in was not a problem. The courtyard where the ceremony was held was packed and people were standing in the windows of surrounding buildings to see the ceremony. We got there early and so sat in the chairs in the courtyard. One thing we noticed, of all the Arab and muslim students that attend there, none that we could see attended the services. It was a profoundly moving services. I didn’t understand a lot of it, it was all in Hebrew of course, and I would only catch words from time to time. But somethings go beyond words. They are universal. One was a dance that was performed.
The dancers were dressed in either white or black, and it was very very clear what the dance was about as the dancers dressed in black appeared to flog, beat and kill the dancers dressed in white. At one point during the dance one of the dancers dressed in white quietly slipped off the stage and disappeared behind a column. When she came back out in a bit it appeared she was being comforted by a staff member. She was unable to finish the dance. The dance finished with the dancers gathered around a pile of their shoes they had all taken off and placed in a corner as they came onto the elevated dance stage. Yeah, like that.
Shoes
It was very emotional. I can speculate on what those around me felt. I know what I felt, and I suspect it might be different than the majority of those around me.
Following that was the portion where Holocaust survivors or family members came up and read something. I apologize, but my Hebrew just wasn’t/isn’t good enough to recount the stories. But at the end each of the six people went over and lit a candle. Each candle represented a million people. As they read their speeches you could hear something in the background. At first I thought it was suppose to be the sound of muted rifle fire. But then with each person it seemed to be a bit louder and more clear. Not rifle fire. Trains. The sound of trains on the tracks. Damn.
The Train, display at Yad Vashem
I was already angry from my visit to Yad Vashem just a few days before when I had been livid about the miniscule display of “Resistance during the Holocaust”. It was a miniscule display for more than one reason, but what was going through my mind was that the elected nazi government used all branches of government to target a group of people. And then they used already on the books common sense gun laws like universal background checks to more easily eliminate them.
Flame at Ben Gurion University
An article recently appeared that brought to light that among those who tried to help rescue the Jews, were other Jews. They feel that the concept of Jews saving themselves has been muted or lost. The article stated
Part of the mission of the Jewish Rescuers Citation is to re-instill the idea that Jews are not only capable, but prone to be hardened heroes.
The article raises some very interesting ideas. Even if you don’t read the linked article, you might want to check Yad Vashem for a short list and photos of nine people who served in the Resistance, many of them at the greatest cost to save lives. Their names and their lives deserve to be remembered. Their price was large, perhaps you can spare a couple minutes to meet them?
For people to live in freedom, freedom from slavery, from poverty, from annihilation, the first thing we need to do is to quit committing suicide.
By that I mean there is ONE JEWISH state, in all of the world, there is ONE. Look at your elected officials attitudes towards that one state and you will have an idea of their attitudes towards your group.
Look at remarks made towards your group, are they accurate and fair? I’m thinking of the last two years worth of comments at the annual prayer breakfast here.
Are branches of the government targeting certain groups of political dissenters?
Do you put money into the pockets of people that urge you to become disarmed and vulnerable to any of the above? Harry Weinstein, Babs Streisand, Tim McGraw or any of the many other anti-gun entertainers that will then use their bully pulpit to disarm you?
Saddle pads and skirts folks. Check your patterns
There is a stone in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations, it is to ALL, not Jewish, or non-Jewish, but ALL.
To Those, located in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem
Please G-d, may we need no more of them. The cost is far too dear.
* Some things and some people do not deserve capital letters. Not a typo.
A couple of days ago it was the seventh day of Passover.
On that day, a bit over thirty-three centuries ago, a million people stood trapped against a swampy sea.
Over four hundred years before, facing a massive drought, their forbears had entered Egypt, and “sojourned” there of their own volition… at least initially.
Their status as guests had gradually changed into that of slaves. So had their mindset. Worse, they had progressively abandoned much of their heritage and adopted that of the Egyptians.
A few days before, the Israelites had been thrust out from the Land of Egypt after an escalating series of ten stunning plagues afflicted their captors. Pharaoh relented and ordered them out.
Within a few days Pharaoh, believing them to be merely attending a three day religious pilgrimage in the desert, noticed they had not returned. Furious that “his” slaves had outwitted the god-king of the Nile, he led his Army to either retrieve them or annihilate them at Yam Suf (The Sea of Reeds).
We are told that a strong wind blew all night from the wilderness to the East, drawing back the waters and provided a passageway for them to escape certain re-enslavement or death.
The Israelites and those who joined in their escape made it through to dry land on the other side.
The pursuing chariots of Pharaoh’s Army followed them into the seabed, only to become stuck fast in the mud, and, as the winds abated, they drowned in the returning waters.
The men broke into ecstatic song and dance at the incredible series of miracles wrought on their behalf. Their song noted both the escape, and the total destruction of their enemy pursuers.
Then Moses’ older sister, the prophetess Miriam, joined in the singing and dancing. The other women joined as well.
It is said that the (naturally superior) spiritual nature of women carried the song of praise up through the Heavens, until the Angels themselves joined in the recounting.
This song; the Shirat HaYam, was also a mystical “betrothal” between the People of Israel, and G-d, as bride and groom. The “wedding” took place less than two months later at Sinai.
Suddenly, the thundering voice of G-d himself rang out. “The Egyptians who have just drowned are also my children.” “Do you think I do not weep for their deaths?”
A mild rebuke perhaps, but an important point: The special nature of the Jew lay not in themselves, but in the crucial mission for which they were being prepared.
These past few weeks it has become easy to become callous as some Mohammedans in the Mideast and Africa seem more focused on wanton, orgiastic, slaughter of their brothers, rather than primarily of Christians and Jews.
Perhaps the time will come when they will mature to a point where this hallmark will no longer be central to their culture. This change should be encouraged, as, if they do not, the world will not stand by and wait patiently forever.
Meanwhile, two interesting articles from the past few days have stood out for me; an interesting book review, and a story of being one’s own worst enemy.
Thank you all for reading and for supporting our efforts towards freedom here at The Zelman Partisans!
There are those that see what is happening around them and see the pattern, and see it for what it is, they recognize that pattern. Then there are those that see the pattern and because it is ugly they tell themselves they can’t possibly be seeing exactly what they are seeing and pull the covers back over their head and top it off with a pillow. Then there are those that see the pattern, look at it for two seconds and ask what time “American Idol” comes on that night. Ok, if it were National Finals Rodeo I could maybe understand a little, maybe, but sure not much. That is sad, very sad. Then there are those that see the pattern, know exactly what it is, and in fact maybe helping to contribute to it but deny that it is a pattern and vilify those that point it out. They spend their resources assuring the nervous that all is well, it’s just fine,nothing to see here, move along.
A few random things, a NY city Council man David Greenfield went on a trip to Israel, while there he went to Ramallah. While there, after a visit with the American Consul-General in Jerusalem at his Ramallah office he and the group prepared to go back to their transportation. He was asked to remove his Kippah. He refused.
“I walked into Ramallah with my yarmulke on, of course,” he said. “I was pulled aside by security personnel and was told that I should not wear my yarmulke when I was leaving the building.” The surprised Greenfield asked why he was being told this, and the answer was that “there was a security situation on the ground” and that it was not safe.”I specifically asked them if it was unsafe for me or for the group – they said it was definitely not an issue for the group but they could not guarantee my personal safety. I explained for them that for me it’s a very significant issue and that quite frankly, had I been told this in advance, I never would have agreed to come to Ramallah.”I was told that the US government was providing security and as an official, I expected them to keep up their end of the deal,” he said, adding that the request to have him remove the kippah had come from the Palestinian hosts.
Councilman Greenfield certainly gets it. This is a response he presented at a meeting. He gets it very well.
Then there is this speech by the French Prime Minister.
He gets it.
Then we have those that have walked the streets of Europe wearing a Kippah, to show reactions.
And in Paris for ten hours, but this one just loops, it’s not really that long.
We have the 51 Democrats that are Anti-Semitic and Anti-Israel. They whined that they didn’t like how John Bohner invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to give the speech. Well, I don’t like Bohner. But I suspect he was correct, if he went through the White House aka the House of Hussein, there would be no speech. I’m pretty confident that if Iran develops a nuclear weapon it will affect the US as well as Israel. But barry is too busy trying to be buddies with the people that want to kill US than to allow mere facts to interfere with his enjoyment of his rainbow stew. This link has the speech embedded in the web site. Nancy Pelosi showed she could edge 20 steps closer to Prozac and a padded room when she called the speech “Insulting and condescending.” It would seem Democrats are far more invested in towing the barry boat than living in reality. They do not get it, and they also attempt to mislead the uninformed that vote for them. There is a very real threat.
I have a very sweet lady in a class I take and we had a conversation about guns. She told me she and her husband absolutely respect the Second Amendment, but they belong to the Brady campaign and they just think that all guns need to be registered to stop crime. Class was over and we were all leaving, but I suggested she do a quick internet search for the “Nuremberg Laws”. I pointed out that Hitler could easily keep Jews from owning weapons to protect themselves because they already had a list of who owned what. So when Hitler decided Jews could have nothing to do with firearms, or own them, they knew where the were, duck soup, round up. She doesn’t get it, at all. But she said she still loved me, and I still think she is a lovely lady. An easy target, but a lovely lady. That “Nuremberg Laws article is pretty interesting by the way. Some compare and contrast in it.
So knowledge and interpretation certainly play a role in what you see, and how you see it. But another aspect is your attitude about it. I recently had a very brief discussion with a Rabbi. It involved my wish that Moshe Feiglin would have been returning to the Knesset. He seemed to think that wasn’t such a great thing. I said I just think Jews should be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount, and I do, and I mean right now yesterday. His comment was “When the Messiah comes back”. Really. Because this attitude of accepting little scraps of freedom, the little bits of the Jewish identity people are allowed to retain, the areas where it is safe to walk or as Y.B. pointed out, worship should all be determined by others? The Southern Cowgirl in me rears up and says “OH HELL NO”!
Because when you see attacks on a persons religion, on their ethnicity on their belief system when it harms no one else, you can just about bet the farm that not long after follow the physical attacks. WHY does it need to get to that point?
There are people who see what is happening, they see what is coming. And while the current regime uses government agencies to go after those that speak out, they still must.
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, speak to your people and sayto them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a manfrom among them, and make him their watchman, 3 and if he sees the sword comingupon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then if anyone whohears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes andtakes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound ofthe trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if hehad taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6 But if the watchman sees thesword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned,and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in hisiniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.~~Ezekiel 33: 1-6
These people are called Watchmen.
There is a name for those that attempt to mislead people into thinking everything is fine too, or should agree to things that have been disastrous in the past and would be again. And this song keeps going through my mind when I think about them. Yesh lanu tayis.
What’s for dinner?
Keep your eyes open, and choose carefully who you listen to.
This topic is more Y.B.’s beat than mine. Perhaps he’ll have more to say. But this Atlantic article on the current predicament of Jews in Europe disturbed me as much as anything I’ve read about the fatal squeeze being put on Europe’s Jewish remnant.
Muslims (who outnumber Jews in Europe now by an order of magnitude) may provide the “muscle” these days when it comes to harming Jews. But the traditional prejudice of Christian and secular Europeans makes it easy for long-time Europeans to turn a blind eye, mutter in secret agreement, or otherwise support the barbarity.
The bottom line lesson is one we all know: Self defense can’t be delegated. Europe’s Jews will ultimately have to protect themselves. But how? Without an honored right to bear arms, they’re caught between being bankrupted by hiring security or fleeing to Israel — a nation that will welcome them right into the most dangerous region of the world.
Europe’s governments may promise to protect them and may even make token efforts in that direction. But seriously? You think “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you” is going to work magic for the safety of Europe’s Jews?
An excerpt from the article:
France’s 475,000 Jews represent less than 1 percent of the country’s population. Yet last year, according to the French Interior Ministry, 51 percent of all racist attacks targeted Jews. The statistics in other countries, including Great Britain, are similarly dismal. In 2014, Jews in Europe were murdered, raped, beaten, stalked, chased, harassed, spat on, and insulted for being Jewish. Sale Juif—“dirty Jew”—rang in the streets, as did “Death to the Jews,” and “Jews to the gas.”
The epithet dirty Jew, Zola wrote in “J’Accuse …!,” was the “scourge of our time.” “J’Accuse …!” was published in 1898.
The resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe is not — or should not be — a surprise. One of the least surprising phenomena in the history of civilization, in fact, is the persistence of anti-Semitism in Europe, which has been the wellspring of Judeophobia for 1,000 years. The Church itself functioned as the centrifuge of anti-Semitism from the time it rebelled against its mother religion until the middle of the 20th century. As Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of Great Britain, has observed, Europe has added to the global lexicon of bigotry such terms as Inquisition, blood libel, auto‑da‑fé, ghetto, pogrom, and Holocaust. Europe has blamed the Jews for an encyclopedia of sins. The Church blamed the Jews for killing Jesus; Voltaire blamed the Jews for inventing Christianity. In the febrile minds of anti-Semites, Jews were usurers and well-poisoners and spreaders of disease. Jews were the creators of both communism and capitalism; they were clannish but also cosmopolitan; cowardly and warmongering; self-righteous moralists and defilers of culture. Ideologues and demagogues of many permutations have understood the Jews to be a singularly malevolent force standing between the world and its perfection.
Shades of Adolf Hitler. New century, different uniforms. Same deadly peril.
If you are unfamiliar with Purim, why and what is being celebrated, there is a helpful video at the end. The story of Purim comes from the Book of Esther in the Tanakh, or First Testament. The name “Purim” comes from the word “Pur” which means “Lots” as Haman, the villain of the story cast lots to determine which day he would destroy the Jews. Haman became miffed at the Jews because Mordechai, Esther’s Uncle, would not bow down before him. Haman was quite impressed with himself. So this year’s Purim is very interesting to me, being a patterns person and all. So under the “The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same” banner let’s have a look.
One of the things one does on Purim is hear the reading of the story of Esther, usually in a Synagogue. Let’s contrast that with the Temple Mount, the one that is the holiest sight in Judaism. For sometime now muslims have been attempting to prevent Jews from going to visit the temple mount. They are already forbidden to pray there. The muslims have rioted near the area where the Jews are allowed to gain entrance to prevent them from entering. When they do enter, they are attacked verbally and lately, physically. Some of the muslims attempting to stop the Jewish visitors from seeing the temple mount are now children who shout “Allahu Akbar” Luckily the police were right there to stop it. Oh, wait, my bad. They were right there, they just didn’t stop it. Nor did they intervene when a member of the waqf guard assaulted a Jewish visitor. Physically, not just verbally. But, hey, good luck, because the Israeli police were right there this time and they sprang into action, and they.. oops, my bad again. They were right there, they just didn’t do anything. Ok, so this year reading the story of Esther on the Temple Mount was not a promising proposition.
Another part of Purim is a lovely meal, traditional food would include Oznei Haman or Hamantaschen filled with poppyseed filling. Although I have now seen a huge variety of filling choices I want to try. So let’s see what is of interest this year in the food category. Ahh, back to the Temple Mount. I see they are having a delightful FREE, yes FREE Al Aqsa Buffet. But wait, that can’t be, because that would be illegal. And calculated to offend, much like their playing football on the Temple Mount. Think of it as carrying on a lively soccer game in the House of Worship of your denomination. Not on the athletic field behind the building. In the sanctuary. To Jews the entire Temple Mount is holy, to muslims, not so much. Just the al aqsa mosque, which is why they have destroyed Jewish artifacts trying to erase the Jewish presence.
So what else for Purim. Ah, costumes. I rethought my first choice, and came up with a better idea. I’m sure that’s common, thinking through the costume and what you want to do with it. Thankfully we’ve come many years from when a madman wanted to wipe every trace of Jews from the earth. Except we haven’t. A mere couple weeks ago a young man named Avraham Goldschmidt was attacked on his way to a wedding by a knife wielding manic. Avraham fought him off with his tefillin bag while shouting if someone had a weapon to “neutalize him”. It was Avraham’s good fortune that Nir Barkat is the mayor of Jerusalem and not someone like Bloomers, DeBlasio (is that still his name this week?) or any of the astroturf group Mayors Against Self-Defense. Nope Nir is cut from a different cloth. His bodyguards drew their guns and Nir rushed the terrorist after he dropped the knife. All this can be viewed on closed circuit TV. Which despite the videocams being right there did actual zip/nada to stop the crime. A thought for those that think those security cams are useful. Along with tefillin, Jews often wear a Kippah. Now that’s not part of a costume per se, but it is something that is part of Jewish dress. Unless you are a Jew in Ramallah Israel. NYC Councilor David Greenfield was asked by U.S. officials on his visit to Israel to remove his Kippah when he left the U.S consulate. To his credit, after first ascertaining he wasn’t placing the other members at risk, he refused to remove it. NYC Councilor David Greenfield is no shrinking violet, no he isn’t. That video is well worth watching too.
In the article Is it Just Fashionable to Hate the Jews? Rabbi Joseph Potasnik points out “It’s not a big deal to hate the Jews.” The author concludes “Jews are a nice easy nonviolent target”
But if Bibi Netanyahu is setting the tone for going forward, that could begin to change. From one of his speeches
And as Prime Minister of Israel I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers while there is still time to avert them. For 2000 years, my people, the Jewish people, were stateless, defenseless, voiceless. We were utterly powerless against our enemies who swore to destroy us. We suffered relentless persecution and horrific attacks. We could never speak in our own behalf, and we could not defend ourselves. Well, no more! No more. The days when the Jewish people are passive in the face of threats to annihilate us, those days are over.
But hey, it’s not like Iran wants to destroy Israel or America! I don’t know what would ever make you think that! I mean Iranians love Israel and America, just look at this recent domino competition in which they prominently displayed American and Israeli flags. Nope, no hostility here!
Is it just me or does anyone else find the timing of Bibi’s speech to congress interesting. Not in terms of Israeli elections as the current regime has harfed, but in terms of Purim, when Ester spoke to the King on behalf of her people.
Purim celebrates the survival of the Jews against one of the attempts to wipe them off the face of the earth. There have already been many, there will be more. The attacks we’re seeing now are against Jews, Christians and other faiths, well, except for one. Wise people will be prepared, if they are someday there may be another holiday similar to Purim, because with Purim, none of the Jews died because Esther rose to the occasion, and so the Jews were allowed to defend themselves when the attackers came.
“They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat!”
Good deal. May we all do our best to rise to meet the occasions that come before us.
On 21 January a man armed with a 8 inch knife managed to perpetrate a horrific attack. Twelve people were wounded in the attack, of which three who were in serious condition, four in moderate condition and five who sustained light injuries. Another seven people were treated for shock.
The terrorist says he learned how to conduct these types of attacks from the internet. It seems there are helpful manuals online in video form. Videos translated by Palestinian Media watch found
video focusing on Hamas founder Ahmad Yassin and portrays young children as continuing the slain Islamist sheikh’s legacy. Children are portrayed wearing uniforms, holding rifles and participating in military training. The children are shown marching and carrying out mock attacks on their “enemies,” and are exhorted to “carry the knife” and “carry machine guns” to attack Israel.Other videos show the specific techniques needed to slash someone’s throat or stab them in the side, what spot to aim for in order to kill someone, etc.
Oh, goody. Reminds me of what Golda Mier said
Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.
“I had no choice, I had to save the passengers,” Biton stated, from his hospital bed in Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital. “He stabbed me while driving and went to the middle of the bus and began to stab passengers.””Then he began to rock the bus from side to side, so that people standing on the street will notice that there is a problem,” Biton added.Biton said that he purposely directed Matrouk toward him so that he could enable passengers to escape while they could. “I had no choice but to bring him to me,” Biton stated. “I hit the brakes so that he flew like a bird [up front] to my seat.””I jumped out of my chair, grabbed his left hand, and started to spray him with tear gas,” he continued. “I gave him a punch and he punched me back. Because I was losing a lot of blood, there was a pool of [my] blood next to me and I slipped in it.” Meanwhile, passengers had wrenched open the bus doors and fled – but it was not enough to stop Matrouk, who left the bus and began walking toward Yitzhak Sadeh street in the heart of the city. But despite his injuries, Biton “left the bus and started chasing him,”
“When I realized I was on the scene of a terror attack, I tried to neutralize him (the Arab terrorist) due to the fact that I was armed.””I saw people running. I asked ‘who is the terrorist?,’ because I had trouble identifying him,” said the man. “And then I saw a youth, dressed in jeans and holding in his hand a knife with a 20 centimeter (nearly 8 inches) blade, trying to stab passersby around him.”Despite being armed and faced with an attacking terrorist, the man was unable to act due to the surrounding passersby.”I tried to shoot him but had trouble doing so because there were passersby around him and I feared harming innocents. I shot in the air, I tried to warn the passersby, and shouted ‘terrorist,’ but it didn’t help,” he said.”In front of my eyes he stabbed an elderly man who was there. Afterwards he continued on to a young girl who was in shock. I shot in the air again trying to snap her out of it – but I didn’t succeed. In front of my eyes he raised the knife and stabbed her until she collapsed,” related the man.
The terrorist continued his stabbing spree as he headed up the street, you can see people running to get away from him.
So far methods used to try to thwart the attacker have been tear gas, armed security but they couldn’t shoot the terrorist due to by-standers. He did fire in the air, and try to warn passersby. We also saw people running away to try to escape being attacked. Security cameras, like the ones countries like Britain and the U.S. tell us are such a great crime deterrent. None of it worked.
So, what did finally stop him?
According to police, a team from the Israel Prisons Service’s elite Nachshon unit happened to be driving behind the bus when the attack took place. The officers got off the car and gave chase to the terrorist, shot him in the leg and arrested him.
“If two armed and trained citizens had been on the bus yesterday in Tel Aviv, the terror attack would have ended in a completely different way – or it wouldn’t have happened at all,”
“So if weapons-bearing citizens help to secure the public domain, shouldn’t the State encourage responsible citizens to practice shooting and carry weapons? Why does it do just the opposite?
The answer is that the State of Israel is not increasing our liberties; it is reducing them. Dictatorship confiscate citizens’ weapons. ‘The State alone will take care of all your security needs’.In the past, there were 300,000 citizens licensed to bear weapons in Israel. That number has now been cut in half. As a member of the Knesset Interior Committee, I was able to stop the trend. But we have to understand: Without liberty, we will not enjoy security,”
WOW, he’s a politician, and he gets it. The same principles apply the world over. But the response of the elected Representatives will determine the direction the country goes. Will there continue to be attacks by terrorists that fear little chance of citizens stopping them, or will they begin to fear attacking a “Sheepdog” nation, knowing their chance of success small and if they fail they will be buried in Uncle Buck’s pig farm?
We must become resolved that we will not tolerate Politicians who do not represent us and hold their feet to the fire. We must demand that groups that are paid membership dues represent us, or we find another group to belong to. The situation has become so serious we can’t afford to be anything less than fully resolved to fight this battle.
Some of what I’ve learned about leadership I learned from my horse. His name is Captain Bob, I usually call him Captain, or Seren, which is Captain in Hebrew. I got a really, really good deal on him. And not long after I got him home I found out why I got a really, really good deal on him. He weighs in at around 1,300 lbs and stands a bit over 16 hands. Good size lad. Handsome too, did I mention very handsome? Well, he is. I do not weigh 1,300 lbs (usually) and am a fair bit shorter, but I want to be at least a Colonel, and preferably a General in his eyes. I want to be the leader of the team. And this is where resolve comes in. For me to allow my idea to become his idea and get us to do what I want as a team, I need to be resolved. I need to see the situation clearly for what it is. Ok, a hoof flying at your head is not hard to interpret. Think 15 year old with a bad attitude flipping you off. He’s better now. But don’t call it “youthful exuberance”. It is not. By the same token when I point my finger and he walks into a trailer nonchalantly that means something big too. But you need to speak and understand “equine” to know what it means.
Let’s start with Bibi and his response to the atrocities in France.
At the Grande Synagogue in Paris Bibi Netanyahu is inundated with shouts of “Bibi! Bibi!” and shouts of “help us!” in Hebrew. No word if anyone was hollering for a “free Bibi-phone” and my Hebrew isn’t that good yet. Well actually, it is and they didn’t.
France didn’t show itself in the best light shall we say during the visit. First the Prime Minister of Israel was not invited to attend the solidarity march for world leaders. Perhaps France hasn’t noticed there is a country of Israel? After Bibi said he was coming, France then invited Mahmud Abbas. While French President Francois Hollande was chilly to Bibi, he seemed all BFFs (yes, I did mean that) with Abbas. Both Abbas and Hollande left the Synagogue when Bibi got up to speak.
But France doesn’t only fail in manners, it fails in organization and security. For some strange reason, the bus that was to take Bibi and his security detail to the march was running quite late.
His response as he is made to wait for bus? He and his detail remain alert, and just do what they gotta do. Although, when Bibi got on the phone I did kind of wonder if he was calling in a air strike on Hollande’s house.
Then we get to the march itself. According to Arutz Sheva
At first, he finds himself in the second row of heads of state – either on purpose or for some other reason. He then apparently decides to move into the first row – and does so by approaching the president of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, from behind, introducing himself and simultaneously sliding into place next to him.
Bibi, as a leader, shows resolve. He passes. He is doing what he needs to do to represent his country, and her people.
Abbas, now Abbas. Interestingly, Abbas took heat at home for going, according to Arutz Sheva
Mahmoud a-Zahar, a top Hamas terrorist in Gaza, slammed Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas for participating in the anti-terror rally in Paris Sunday. A-Zahar called Abbas “hypocritical” for participating in the event.
“The participation of Abbas in this event is part of the hypocrisy and political acrobatics that Abbas commonly participates in,” a-Zahar said. “Abbas wants to show that he can fight terror, but he does not even know the meaning of terror.”
And that’s coming from a terrorist. It’s not that Abbas is enlightened or wants to sing Kumbaya, Abbas is a holocaust denier who did not condemn the attack on the Hyper Cacher Kosher Grocery. He’s not standing for anything firm, he’s being a Politician. He does not show resolve.
Abbas=Fail.
I think we’ve already kind of covered France’s Hollande. He has been unwilling to keep a entire segment of his population safe from another segment of his population because it might offend their tender sensibilities.. as my Uncle would have said. I would say hurt their little feelings. As he and French law keeps law abiding subjects disarmed this is even more critical. So what to do when you know the leader of your country will not keep you and your kin folk safe?
This one is better than words. BETAR!!! You’ll enjoy this one.
Yeah, Hollande=fail.
So, now we come to barry. It seems the White House didn’t realize the march was going to be a big deal. I mean, after all, barry did say “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.” in a speech to the U.N. He just didn’t specify that the future wouldn’t belong to them because they would be, well, dead. Seems barry didn’t know about the march, according to aides, they didn’t mention it to him since it wasn’t a big deal. I guess if he had known it was a big photo op, he would have gone. That’s how it works when you don’t have an actual sense of right and wrong. So what to do, what to do?
Well, let’s see. You could announce on January 11th that barry will host a “Summit on Countering Violent Extremism“, since he’s not in Paris for the march. That will show you are a serious world leader. Mind you, not a summit on violent Islamic Extremism. He seems to sort of avoid saying that. Hmm, needs more cowbell, so what else can you do? Ahhh, cowbell, yes, that’s the clue. Send John Kerry with James Taylor to France. To sing “You’ve Got a Friend”. It sends all of France a “big hug”. Seriously.
We have to wake up and call this what it is – not generic ‘terror,’ but Islamic terror that is hitting us with full force.”~~Naftali Bennett
To have resolve, you have to KNOW what you are facing, you have to ADMIT what you are facing. Until you do there is no way to work out actual solutions. You will not solve a hoof flying at you by giggling and saying “oh, he’s just exuberant, isn’t he cute?”.
Barry doesn’t have the first clue about resolve, well, perhaps when it comes to “fundamentally transforming…”. But to protecting America’s citizens? Protecting America’s Constitution by not selling it out the the U.N.?
Barry=Fail.
Now this is just sad, you want to know what RESOLVE looks like?
In case you want to help, anonymous is going after the Twitter accounts.
— OpCharlieHebdo (@OpCharlieHebdo) January 9, 2015
Do you want to help us ? Find terrorists twitter profiles, report them. #No2IS #JeSuisCharlie #OpCharlieHebdo #CharlieHebdo #StopDonkyLovers
A conversation a week or so ago about terrorism got me to thinking about resolve. The opinion was expressed that rather than the Israeli military flying exercise mission, each flight will try to find a terrorist camp. Rather than not bombing missile launching sites because it is a school, they will be bombed. The world is never going to “love” Israel, and trading land for peace isn’t working, being sensitive to world opinion isn’t working as evidenced by the number of wars since her birth. That resolve is needed, resolve to do what is necessary to keep her people safe and stop the cycle of war> win> give away> be attacked.
As I face paths in life, forks in the road, I find that it seems “resolve” really does play a huge role in how a path is chosen. If I (and I can only speak for myself) lack the resolve to see a battle for what it is, call it what it is, take stock of assets and liabilities, and make a plan then what realistic chance of success is there? I think this pretty much applies to leaders of groups, politics, nations and their leaders. If they lack the resolve to see the battle through, we all pay the price.
And if that resolve is not there? Don’t be surprised when you see that hoof come flying at your head for the 53rd time, in a week. Or another Boston bombing, or beheading, or, or, or.
In the wake of the Islamic terrorist attacks on the French, culturally-leftist (Do I repeat myself, here?) publication, Charlie Hebdo, and the aligned slaughter at Hyper Cacher, Chabad Rabbi, and European Jewish Association Director, Menachem Margolin advised against mass emigration of his charges from France to Eretz Yisrael. In doing so, he directly disputed with many Jewish leaders, including Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, styling such “Aliya” (literally, “going up” or “ascending”) as an ill-advised “Pavlovian” response.
Currently, the estimated Jewish population in France is somewhere between 400,000 and 500,000 people, and falling fast. This represents perhaps 10% of the quickly growing Muslim population in France. Both nativist and Islamic attacks on Jews throughout Europe have been climbing steadily. The leader in this trend is France, followed, arguably by Britain and the Scandinavian countries.
In France, there are more than SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY neighborhoods classified officially as “sensitive”, or unofficially, as “No-Go” zones for the police. These areas have been effectively excised from the country, and are managed exclusively by the most radical (some say Islamically observant) Muslim individuals and groups. Nearly every horror seen in the international press associated with Islam happens also within these neighborhoods; “Honor” Killings, “Grooming” Gang-Rapes, Torture, Slavery, Violent and Racist Assaults, Child Marriages… on, and on, and on.
The rest of Europe dare not be smug, either. They all have their own, albeit, smaller variations. They have their “No-Go” zones, their “Honor” Killings, Rapes, etc. Each of their governments and lick-spittle press desperately tries to hide, mischaracterize, or deny what is happening. Their police and courts have been neutered by decades of politically correct policies aimed at maintaining their social(ist) welfare systems and industries in the face of declining native birthrates and the harsh mathematics that must implode any Ponzi Scheme. Europe is in a pickle… and the Jews will be the first victims (it is a tradition), but hardly the last.
I understand the problems Rabbi Margolin has to deal with.
First, as a shaliach (emissary) of the Rebbe, not unlike a captain on a sinking ship, he is duty-bound to serve the religious needs of every Jew within his reach. If every single other Jew has left France, save one, then he helps that one Jew. He should be literally the last one to leave.
Second, while a shaliach does this holy work, he must try to obtain critical cooperation from the civil authorities. Openly calling for mass “Aliya” frames France, or any other country similarly situated, as a “failed state”. Better to remain silent on the question, and quietly, but vigorously help anyone so inclined.
The ideal scenario would be one where soon, and much to everyone’s surprise, all the Jews are gone, and are learning Hebrew in their new, albeit modest, home, in the hills of Judea and Samaria.
Third, there is the belief that “Aliya” to the schizophrenic modern State of Israel need not be at the top of one’s priorities. That increasing observance of Torah and Mitzvot will hasten the coming of Moshiach. Upon his arrival, the stage is set for all the Jews of the world to (perhaps supernaturally) return home to Israel, anyway.
All well and good, but last I looked, at the Passover Seder, and many-many other times of prayer, we do not long for the return to , nor say “Next Year in Crown Heights” or “Next Year in Williamsburg”, or “…Monsey” or “…Lakewood”… or Paris. There is no avoiding the mitzvah of returning home… to the Land of Israel, in order to do even more mitzvot, including those that can ONLY be done there.
Besides…dead Jews are very limited in the kind of mitzvot they can perform. Live ones, eh, not so much!
In his favor, Rabbi Margolin called on the government to “ease” the availability of gun permits (oh, how I bristle at the Idea of asking, nay, begging, government for permission to have the tools to stay alive). He also threw a bone to the general rectitude of “Aliyah”, but desperately tried to sever it from practical concerns like continuing to be alive.
All in all, he should have just shut up.
~~~~~
An afterthought…
Any Jews reading this from the U.S. or Canada and thinking it doesn’t apply equally to each and every one of YOU (and your kids… and grandkids) had better damned-well reconsider. The same issues are already here. Yes, you may have some time to get a little more for your house or business, than those poor slobs in Europe, but don’t dawdle. The last time we did, the price was very, very high.
And to those “Rabbis” and “Jewish Community Leaders” who openly oppose “Aliya” for any Jew, especially now, you should be profoundly ashamed of yourselves. What are you thinking?
I’m miffed at Bibi Netanyahu at the moment, AND Danny Dannon. In fact, I’m so miffed at them, I’m not going to answer their emails! Just on the off hand chance they have a clue who I am and they would actually email me in the first place. As you may be well aware, Bibi is the Prime Minister of Israel. He is from the Likud party, as is Danny. Danny is even more right wing than Bibi, This is not a bad thing to my way of thinking.
So right wing is good, right? Supporting actual Israelis against the likes of someone like Haneen Zoabi.
A couple of years ago I did an interview with a Navigation Unit Commander for a tank battalion. Of course the topic of Israeli politics came up. That’s one of the nice things about doing interviews, you get to ask what you want to know. I remember him saying that in the Knesset you will have some of the members saying things like Israel should be bombed off the face of the earth. I’m sure I looked appalled when I asked “WHY on earth would you let someone like that be in the Knesset? They should be arrested for treason!” He looked equally appalled and informed me “Everyone has a voice, everyone gets a say”. I remember thinking, with MK s like this, who needs to worry about obama or the other muslims? I understand what he’s saying, but yesh! One of those type of MK s is the Zoabi mentioned in the video. She has done such notable things as side with those on the illegal flotilla a few years ago, she also sided with the rioters on the Temple Mount, and the cowards that kidnapped and murdered three Israeli teenagers in the summer of 2014. She stated “They are not terrorists, even if I do not agree with their actions, these people do not have any escape, any escape.” Precious isn’t she? In March 2009 she stated that she was not worried about the prospect of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. She suggested that a nuclear-armed Iran would act as a counter-power to Israel. Yep, a real peach.
I can well understand why Danny and Bibi wouldn’t want someone like Zoabi or her Balad Party (left wing) having a lot of influence in the Knesset. So Danny and Bibi are strong, conservative, pro-Israeli, right? Welllllll, that’s probably a loaded question, and here we go.
Ever heard of a political party called Manhigut Yehudit? It means “Jewish Leadership”. It would be the political party I would most wish to be a part of. The irony here, is they would most likely have nothing to do with the likes of me. I’m not Jewish or Israeli, at least by most people’s definition. Ever hear of Moshe Feiglin (hope your Hebrew is better than mine)? These guys are RADICALS! They believe in the Jewish state that Jews should be allowed to pray at the Holiest site in Judaism! Can’t you just hear the sound of air being sucked in through teeth? I know! They also believe things that are an anathema to left wingers, such as, gasp, religion in schools! Yes, Jewish education for Jewish children in a Jewish state! And a modern and open economy based on Jewish values, and transferring power to local governments, less taxes! Oh the shock and horror! But more astounding is Israel needs to defeat its enemies not to flee them. WHAT? Minorities Must Abide by the Law, why that’s RAAACIST! Why, folks, I believe what we have here is the Israeli version of the Tea Party. Well, except Manhigut Yehudit was formed in 1998.
So, it would seem natural that Manhigut Yehudit would fit right in with the Likud, wouldn’t it?
Well, imagine my shock and surprise to find out that Bibi and Danny Dannon along with some others conspired to keep Moshe from returning to the Knesset! Now is where I hit the deep water. I read that Moshe and another MK I really like, Tzipi Hotovely had been given unrealistic seats. Moshe at #27 and Tzipi at #26. People like me maybe shouldn’t have Israeli news feeds on their phones, I dunno. So when I read this
Hotovely is the only religious female MK on Likud’s roster. In any case, the Likud’s “leading woman” is shaping up to be Miri Regev – who is also an advocate for Jewish rights on the Temple Mount. Regev is in the fifth spot, after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, and ministers Gilad Erdan and Yisrael Katz. The former leading woman in the party, Limor Livnat, has bowed out of politics.Gila Gamliel, who is currently Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, is in the 10th spot.Meanwhile, Deputy Knesset Speaker Moshe Feiglin is out of the realistic zone for election to the 20th Knesset. Former MK Ayoub Kara has outflanked him and pushed him to the 36th spot.
My first thought was “huh?” What does this mean? So I did what I always do when I’m in over my head, and I know it, but I don’t want to back off. I picked up my phone. “Can we talk about Israeli politics and the elections? I’m confused and I don’t understand some of this stuff”. I think I heard a deep sigh, which wouldn’t be all that remarkable except I had sent a text message, not made a phone call. But the answer was “Of course”.
Some of my first questions were HOW can a person like Tzipi Hotovely not be wanted in the Knesset when she makes sensible statements in March 2011 about
Israeli Author Amos Oz being naive, after he sent a Hamas leader a copy of his auto-biography, writing that Oz would lack even the instinct to distinguish between Mordechai and Haman.In July 2011, Hotovely met with Glenn Beck. She told him that “this [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict isn’t territorial…This is a religious battle led by Islam. We can’t ignore this basic truth.”
Or Moshe Feiglin,
“Why should non-Jews have a say in the policy of a Jewish state?… For two thousand years, Jews dreamed of a Jewish state, not a democratic state. Democracy should serve the values of the state, not destroy them….””Israeli citizenship to Jews only [and] the immediate expulsion of any person of another people who claims any sort of sovereignty in the Land of Israel.””We are busy fighting for Yesha, and refuse to recognize the more dangerous front against the fifth column inside Israel.” “We established a state so that we could stop being different and start being normal. If only Jews can be Israelis, then we will never be normal. . . .The fundamental solution is leadership that is not looking for normalcy. The solution is leadership that emphasizes our Jewish identity. Paradoxically, it is only when the Arabs understand that the Israelis do not need them to help them to forget that they are Jews – will we be able to live here in peace with non-Jews who unequivocally accept the fact that Israel is a Jewish state.”It appears that the Israeli Arabs identify with our enemies. There are laws in this country that deal with treason and they should be applied when required. If Israeli Arabs are found helping our enemies, they should be stripped of their citizenship. In addition, if they are citizens, they should not be exempt from paying taxes; they should serve in the IDF, or at least in Sherut Le’umi, the National Service. . . . .If they are against us, we must make every effort to ensure that they leave. If they collaborate with our enemy, they must be removed.
WHO wouldn’t want him in the Knesset? Well, while I’m admitting right up front, I have an as yet imperfect understanding of Israeli politics, the short version is people don’t vote for a person after the primaries, they vote for the list the party puts up. Sometimes the party will change the list they publicized after they are elected. On top of that, to get a majority number of 61 seats, sometimes the party with the most seats will form collations with other parties to get the 61 out of 120 seats. To do this there are payoffs usually involved. You want the “Pirate party” (kid you not) to join your collation of “We are all Friends” or “Meretz” to make it to the magical 61 seats? You will probably promise their people posts. Now these are all Left Wingers. But what if someone from the Pirate Party is appointed to a position in finance. And what if the Pirate Party appointee turns out to be like Ragnar Danneskjöld from Atlas Shrugged and supports lower or no taxes and full unfettered capitalism. Think how betrayed the big government, more control, less Israel first voters are going to feel. And apparently there can be all kinds of machinations that take place. Reminds me of a caucus I went to a few years ago. The Ron Paul people had the 2nd most amount of people turn out, and yet that candidate received not a single delegate when the deals were done. The list appears to have been made up by Karl Rove types. Moshe & Tzipi would be a threat, they believe in Israel and Israelis first and foremost. They believe they should be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. So, since they (Likud leadership) view them as a threat to getting the votes of the “moderates” and “independents” they put those troublemakers further down the list. Much like in America when we see “Moderate” candidates like John McCain and Mitt Romney put up as viable “conservative” candidates. And the Karl Rove, talking head types tell us they are the only type of candidates that can win. Similar to Republican attacks on the Tea Party.
So, the Tea Party, like Moshe, who thought he could change Likud from within, are finding out, maybe not so much. Moshe is planning on forming a new political party. I think our Tea Party is going to have to begin to stand on their own. I don’t know that they can afford to keep trying to work from within to reform a party that elects John Bohner as speaker of the house. Bohner has proven time and again he will not fight barrry. He is lots of hot air, all hat and no cattle. Both Bibi and the Republican Party talk about being “inclusive” and the “big tent” and wanting to have more groups of people brought in, unless of course, they are true conservatives. Then, um, well, no. they want no part of that!
But this isn’t only a National problem, look at just a couple news stories out of Missouri in the last few days.
HB 188 which would be very harmful to grassroots issue based groups, say for example Second Amendment rights groups. This bill would require groups to disclose their membership lists. Kind of a lousy political environment for making a list of Second Amendment supporters available to the government isn’t it? Especially when you have a sort of Governor like Jay Nixon.
A bill introduced by Rep. Caleb Rowden to force more disclosure of political spending received a significant endorsement last week when incoming House Speaker John Diehl said it is a priority for inclusion in a package of changes to state ethics laws.Rowden’s bill would require corporations or other entities formed under state business laws to report the sources of their funds when spending to influence elections exceeds 25 percent of their annual budget. The bill, said Rowden, R-Columbia, is intended to exempt entities with a wide range of activities from disclosure while putting a spotlight on those with a primary purpose of influencing elections.
And this abomination is brought to you by freedom loving Repub, er RINOs.
Yep, the US and Missouri at least show a flair for the same nonsense.
But what about a Zoabi type character, is there such? Why, yes, yes there is! Missouri has State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal. Little Maria recently said on Twitter
“LET ME BE CLEAR. When you exercise your #WhitePrivilege, don’t think I’m not going to remember. I will use it for the future. Uncomfortable?”
No, she’s not the anti-gun Senator that was arrested for being drunk and carrying at the “peaceful” Michael Brown protest. That was Jamilah Nasheed.
Missouri sure has some “special” politicians. But I bet if you dig around and turn over some rocks you can find the same type of politicians in every state.
What is the end result of all the “specialness”? Well, you get laws that prohibit Jews from praying at the holiest site in Judaism in a Jewish state. You get laws that are horrid, and then the Police who are charged with enforcing the laws get stuck enforcing crap laws. Because these morons were elected by “We The People”. Although I will admit there could well be vote fraud.
These Politicians think theirs is the power, they believe in the Politics of Power. And that’s who they choose to represent. They have forgotten that they were elected to represent “We The People”. And as long as we continue to tolerate people that run on campaign promises of what the people are asking for and then sell out at the earliest opportunity, this is what we will have.
I’ll end with this music video of Moshe Feiglin, partly because I just like it. I love looking at the scenery and thinking did I walk down that street? And partly because I like the message, we need to stand together. Where politicians seems to be doing nothing but dividing us, we need to force them to unite to accomplish what “We The People” are telling them we want.
Jews. Guns. No compromise. No surrender.
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