I’ve been listening to a lot of Rabbi Tovia Singer the last couple weeks. He is very knowledgeable, easy to understand, yes, even with a east coast accent, meaning there are “Gs” on the end of some words, who knew? But he explains things so clearly. The last lecture in the series, available for free download if you’re interested, is The Slander of Israel and its Trigger for Anti-Semitism.
I’ve seen several interesting articles the last few days, and some videos that, at least in my mind, go together to make a picture.
Eight years ago on the 31st of May was the Mavi Marmara incident. Billed by most of the media as a humanitarian ship taking aid and supplies to the “beleaguered and isolated Palestine”. They were viscously attacked by the IDF to prevent them from helping the poor citizens of Gaza, who are sitting in the dark with no electricity. Hamas terror rocket hits line supplying electricity to Gaza, knocking out power. A quick Duck Duck search. And certainly the way I worded the sentences you might feel sorry for the poor humanitarians just trying to help. Unless you saw footage, which Israel was way too slow to release in my humble opinion.
If you want more in depth information, this one is about 20 minutes long. Take a listen at about 7:17 in.
What Rabbi Tovia bring out in his lecture is how the left, the side that Jews usually most closely identify with, has been causing death in Israel, for years. How trusted media sources such as NPR, our tax dollars at work, are blatantly biased. Reporting the death of a pregnant woman with her four little children in a car heading to town as a “pregnant settler”, coming from her “settlement”. These “settlements” so called by the left, are the Biblical heartland. The attack was so horrific, all five Jews were cut to ribbons by machine gun fire. Lest you think she could have been armed, no, not unless she was currently in the IDF. Gun control is pretty strict in most of Israel. Against my wishes certainly. How the media reported the murdering terrorists as “militants”. Seriously. And that’s been going on for a long time. I don’t think years ago I was as cognizant of it as I am now. But being in the Second Amendment arena for a few years will make you very aware of how terms like “assault rife” “extra capacity clip” what even is that, can be used to influence the gullible or ill-informed. When he was talking about the Arab nations forming a consensus he counts France as one of the Arab nations. Fitting, and this is not a new lecture taking place last week, it was probably early to mid 2000s. His point is when the left wing mainstream media #FakeNews goes into attack mode on Israel, Jews will die. He points out there are churches in Israel, there are Christian Arabs in Israel, there are Muslim and mollusks, but no one is bombing their churches or mollusks. No one is butchering them like the Har Nof massacre. Go even further back, if this is all about the re-unification of Jerusalem in 1967 or the state of Israel in 1948, then why the Hevron massacre of 1929? The Haganah showed up in Hevron and told the residents they had knowledge that there would be an attack. Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, and good buddy of Hitler was inciting the riots. The citizens of Hevron turned down the protection protesting that they had lived in peace with their Arab neighbors for centuries. True, they had. However, that had been without incitement. They were afraid if the Haganah showed up it would “inflame” the situation and make it worse. Well, we know how that turned out. The British, who had control neither intervened to stop it, and in some cases, assisted the arabs in the slaughter.
The mindset matters, there was a threat. Which the British downplayed.
What is was, was about appeasing Arabs and staying on their good side, what it was not was justice and duty for the Brits.
The British are still no friend to Israel. Nor is France who canceled the sale of Dassault Mirage III fighter aircraft. Israel’s air force was badly depleted after the 1967 war and they were looking to build it back up. But after Israel dared to retaliate on December 28, 1968 for the El Al Flight 253 attack Franceistan instead instituted an embargo. How dare those Jews count Jewish lives and blood as precious! It might be worth mentioning in the retaliation, no one died. Only planes.
Similar to a news report Rabbi Tovia talked about where Israel attacked a Sheik that was wheelchair bound. Mind you he was orchestrating all kinds of suicide bombings in Israel, but the talk show host had no problem saying that the targeted assassination would “inflame” the situation and that there were other options, Israel could have arrested him. Yeah, the audience cracked up at that one as well. One of his callers pointed out this was an organization that had publicly declared a goal of eliminating Israel and tried to point out they were defending their citizens. The talk show host cut him off, and said they dropped the call. Might be worth mentioning after the targeted assassination that the rate of suicide bombers in Israel dropped of dramatically.
But who are the biggest supporters of these Antisemites, those who wish to see the one Jewish state vanish?
The left, and sadly many prominent Jews among them. Pretty much the same people that hate us, the Second Amendment people.
Jewish neighborhoods and businesses built by the immigrant generation vanished in riots, firebombs, muggings and stabbings. The second act of the civil rights movement was an anti-civil rights movement that, had it been directed at blacks, would have been met with protests and outrage. Instead the left defended the perpetrators and condemned the victims. Black leadership jettisoned Martin Luther King’s calls for equality and co-existence, replacing them with nationalism and racial supremacism.
And the left cheered.
That’s how Al Sharpton went from leading anti-Semitic pogroms to addressing the DNC. It’s why Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus met with Farrakhan. It’s why Bernie Sanders backed Jesse “Hymietown” Jackson despite his anti-Semitism. It’s why anti-Semitic black literature is celebrated.
That is how Tamika Mallory ended up in the audience at a Farrakhan speech. And that’s how Eric Holder likely contrived to help Mallory boot the ADL from Starbucks for calling out her anti-Semitism. When two black men were kicked out of Starbucks, there was outrage. When a Jewish organization was kicked out of Starbucks at the behest of the fan of a black supremacist who admires Hitler, there were shrugs.
The mindset matters, this is Jew hatred. And the left shrugs.
Let me explain what you are seeing here. This “lady” and I use that term in the most generous way is Pnina Peri, a Israeli professor of Israel studies at the University of Maryland. And what is so amusing to her? At the Ben Gurion airport, in Israel, the Jewish nation, Chabad has people there that offer to help Jewish men put on Tefillin. This woman, yeah, I can’t make myself write “lady” twice is mocking them. Loudly and openly mocking Chabad helping another Jew put on Tefillin, in Israel. Yeah, boy howdy, I bet she is a great professor of Israel studies. I think the students should get their money back. And you just know if a muslim stretched out a prayer mat in the middle of the walk way forcing everyone to move around him she would go into full virtue signal mode if anyone dared ask him to move to the side of the walk way. So, it’s not really about “religion” is it? Unless of course it’s Judaism.
So it goes like this: “Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion.”
Sounds impressive until we realize that this particular commencement speaker denies that the Exodus from Egypt ever took place. The event is a mainstay of the Hebrew Bible.
So the word “Hebrew” means nothing to Chabon, and so we don’t know if it means anything to the people who invited him. (Mahmoud Abbas wasn’t available?)
Then the word “Jewish” in the title. Only this – Chabon calls himself an atheist. The two don’t mix. Then this – he’s against “obligatory Jewish rituals.”
So scratch “Religion” so far as Chabon is concerned and thus we have a university (and emerging Reform rabbis) dubiously Hebrew, Jewish or Religious.
Jack quotes at the end of the article a lady that was in the audience and what she wrote on her blog about how her graduation ceremony was ambushed. How horribly this man spoke against Israel, and how the Jews in the audience cheered.
She sees this for what it is. What it is, a mindset that is a danger. What it isn’t, diversity, tolerance or acceptance.
The left is busy condemning Israel for defending itself against the “March of Return” or as I call it, an arab attempt to invade a sovereign country and massacre it’s citizens.
In Israel, the latest school shooting is a mortar that landed at a kindergarten.
Same thing as the Mavi Mamara incident almost 8 years ago. And the media #FakeNews coverage is handling it in the same way. You would think they would get tired of lying and making themselves out as fools, but apparently not yet.
The Anti-Defamation League’s map of antisemitic incidents is almost the same as the map of blue states. Liberal Massachusetts, Florida, Pennsylvania, and California are the worst, with up to 400 antisemitic hate crimes. West Virginia, supposedly full of deplorable people, comes in with just two incidents. Idaho, still smeared as a home to white militias, had only five, compared to liberal Connecticut’s 50.
Democrats rely on anti-Jewish voting blocks to win elections. Hispanic immigrants are 30-40 percent antisemitic, three or four times the national average. Blacks are twice the national average, 20-30 percent antisemitic. Our millions of new Muslim immigrants are doubly anti-Semitic, by religion and by the legacy of the Third Reich.
On college campuses, Jew-hatred is everywhere—in course lectures, public programs, hate incidents, and boycotts of Israel. We are not talking about ordinary political discourse. We are talking about claims that Jews are subhuman, rule the world, murder children, that Israel should be a pariah nation, and that Jews should be killed. Anti-Jewish programming is protected by college administrators and paid for with public funds. Millennials have absorbed antisemitic libels in large numbers.
Follow Canary Mission on Twitter. You’ll see soon enough.
When it comes to Gaza, a very sad thing is people think there is no solution, or the answer is the “two-state” solution. I would say since Gaza is Judenrein, Jew free, and Hamass rules there, elected by the people of Gaza over the equally evil Falestinian Authority run by Abu Mazen that it is already a two-state solution. And how’s that working out?
Moshe Feiglin of Zehut has given several interviews over the last few days with a workable plan to end the war with Gaza and Hamass. This is a compilation.
But the salient points that would hopefully lead to Gaza being more like Yafo, or Jaffa. And I adore Yafo, it’s a beautiful city. A Tale of Two Cities
Eliminate Hamas heads
Nullify the Oslo Accords.
Restore Israeli military control of Gaza (Pre-Oslo Gaza was paradise compared to what we have there today).
Free the refugees of Gaza – in a staged and orderly process – from the hell that Israel’s Left has created there. Put them at the front of the line to all the most desired emigration destinations throughout the world. Israel can certainly do this, and there are many countries in the world that need immigrants in order to maintain their economies.
Application of full Israeli sovereignty. Those who want to remain will be offered permanent residency status. The few who will desire to serve in the IDF and prove their loyalty over time, will embark on a vetted path to citizenship.
But Zehut isn’t on the left, and they don’t hate Jews. They are more rightist, but their mindset is more “Zehut isn’t about right or left, it’s more about the future.”
I would maintain that the current left isn’t about tolerance, diversity and compassion. Unless you think just like they do, and hate just what they hate and will vilify just what they vilify. As I listened to Rabbi Tovia talk about what the Jews went through, and how they dreamed of just a chance to go to Israel, to immigrate in the face of what was happening in Europe in the 1930s and to hear now Jews doing interviews on NPR questioning if there is no longer a purpose in having Israel I’m just sick. As I listen to that evil woman mocking a Chabad emissary helping another Jew put on Tefillin in Israel I’m just sick. I hear about the mainstream media #FakeNews vilify the IDF for attempting to keep Israeli citizens alive and safe, I’m sick. Do you know that those fire kites have burned hundred of acres of agricultural land with their crops, and nature reserves. In their quest to show their great love for the land the Falestinians so long to return to, they have burned an area five times the size of Tel Aviv. Grape vineyards have had hundred of plants pulled up by agricultural terrorists, aka, Falestinians. It costs the growers hundred of thousands of sheckels.
Is Israel perfect? No. Are Israelis perfect? No. But, when you hear someone say “I’m not anti-semitic, I’m just anti-zionist, or anti-Israel”? They are anti-semitic, they just don’t want to admit it. When the world media #FakeNews drones on and on about the poor Falestinians, they encourage them. When the UN wants to condemn Israel for something no other country would put up with, it emboldens them. The UN is feeding the war.
What it is, is anti-semitism, what it isn’t, is anti-anything else.
And for those who can not tear down Israel fast enough, it might be good to realize that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Looked at antisemitism in Europe recently? Your life may depend someday on you having a place to go and be safe. Those IDF troops you can not disparage enough now? May someday be the only thing that stands between you and a blade to your neck.
Thats the thing about Israel haters and Second Amendment haters, they are cut from the same cloth. They despise anyone who dares think his/her life, or the lives of his family are worth defending. They have the same methods, a dishonest media, lying about statistics, situations and virtue signaling. They are like the apologists for communism, useful idiots. The Israel haters as well as the communists don’t realize when their usefulness has ended, so will they. It is a culture of death.
“Appeasement is feeding the alligator and hoping he eats you last.” ~~ Sir Winston Churchill
I will start out with the amazing first. The United States embassy is now open in the Capital city of Jerusalem. To my knowledge, most other countries are allowed to designate what city will be their capital, only Israel has been denied that respect. President Trump put into actions in 2018 what congress put into law in 1995 with the Jerusalem embassy act. While Israelis were thrilled and celebrated Israeli Independence day according to the Gregorian calender on May 14th, the joy this year was heightened by the opening of the United States embassy.
The media, the Hamass terrorists and their minions, but I may be repeating myself there, were predictably apoplectic. The media covered the event as though the riots, which had been planned for a long time, were the result of the embassy moving. Nope, the embassy moving was just the cherry on top for Hamass. They pretty much do this every year in one form or another. They call the Nakba, or the “catastrophe” of the establishment of Israel. Some families have reunions, and some burn tires throw Molotov cocktails and get women and children to march in front of the men as human shields as they try to break through the security fence. The “peaceful protesters” set fire to the Kerem Shalom crossing, again. The Kerem Shalom crossing is where humanitarian aide gets in, as well as the gas pipelines which benefits the residents of Gaza.
Humanitarians
The media branch of Hamass is complying by showing lots of split screen shots of the riots and Ivanka Trump at the opening. That way they can imply that it is President Trump moving the embassy that caused it, and that they don’t care about the poor suffering Gazans.
Social media is abuzz, there is a group out there using Twitter to offer $100,000 to blow up the U.S. Jerusalem embassy. I guess that doesn’t violate Twitter’s community standards. On Facebook there were posts plastered all over instructing protesters to bring guns, knives, infiltrate Israel en masse, invade nearby villages and kidnap Israelis. Seems despite receiving numerous complaints about this Facebook left it up till 40 hours after the event started.
Split Screen
The American legislative branch of Hamass showed their “support” of Israel and the Embassy move as well. They practiced the ever popular “BDS BS” and not one elected Demoncrat was in attendance.
And while the media would have you believe that those killed are just innocent “poor Falestinians” apparently Hamass is more truthful than the media, at least 50 out of the 60 killed were Hamass operatives. Chew on that for a bit, Hamass is the more truthful. It’s sad, Hamass instructs the civilians, preferably women and children to be at the front. The Hamass operatives are not to be at the front where the action is because they might be hurt/shot/dead.
One of the other popular new Gazan hobbies is flying fire kites with Molotov cocktails, and other incendiary devices attached. They’ve managed to burn hundreds of acres of farm lands, crops and forests. That along with their burning of tires just proves how much they really love that land. Much like Ferguson being burned to the ground. Some are artfully adorned with swastikas. How original. But the idea isn’t that original. The Japanese thought of it before.Calls for kite control Diane Feinstein? Oh, no because you’re busy blaming Israel as well. Hypocritical dingbat.
My solution?? Visit the nearby Kibbutzim and towns, hand out rifles and handguns like candy, every man, woman and older child gets one along with plenty of bullets. Make a big deal out of it, lots of media. I’m sure cnn and msnbc #FakeNews will wet their panties and cover it non-stop. But, lets see just how eager the Gazans are to break through then. Because their plan is kidnap soldiers and civilians, if you can’t kidnap them, kill them.
Dr. Mordechai Keder has a very insightful column on how Hamass has turned their citizens into live ammunition. Ever since Hamass took over Gaza, the lives of their citizens has gone downhill. The reason Hamass, at least partly, is a terrorist organization is because they use terrorism against their own citizens.
But for the progressives, Israel hating anti-Semites, the always wonderful Sultan Knish has a column on How not to get shot by a soldier. It’s really a must read.
The following is intended to serve as a useful guide to various activists, protesters and other completely non-violent folk who happen to be packing knives, guns, rocks and grenades. You will encounter various law enforcement and military personnel– this is how not to get shot by them.
First of all it’s important to remember that if you attack an armed man in a uniform, he will very probably shoot you.
Even given the most restrictive Rules of Engagement in the world which forbid him from opening fire unless he is outnumbered 600 to 1, and only when he has been given specific authorization by the UN to use deadly force– there will still come a time when he will open fire on you.
If you want a short movie version, which while good, isn’t as good as Sultan Knish’s column.
The modern media for the most part, is the enemy of good decent people everywhere. I would like to hope people are catching on, because no matter what #FakeNews tells you, Israel is a sovereign nation and it is under attack from an attempted invasion. What other sovereign nation has to not only defend itself from the invaders, but the rest of the world from objecting to it’s doing so? I wonder why that is. Some claim that moving the embassy will endanger the “peace” process. Does anyone see a “peace” partner on the horizon? Gaza IS the two state solution. There are no Jews in Gaza, it is Jew free. What there are, are rockets being shot into Israel, terror tunnels paid for with aide money, UNRWA schools that hide rockets and have school books with no state of Israel shown and teach hatred of Jews. That right there folks is how your “two state solution” looks.
President Trump, well done, well done indeed sir. After all these years, since 1995, the promise has been kept.
There is quite a lot going on in Israel right now. I’ve got a couple things to cover for you. One, you may or not have heard much about the Falestinian “Great Return March”.
Now this is all kinds of theater. The goal is to put a bunch of Falestinian civilians in front and they are suppose to break down the security fence and storm into Israel where several communities lie only moments away.
It’s a topic that has come up quite a bit on some of the news feeds I get. As I’ve pointed out about this great march of “Return”, it was the Arab leaders that told them to leave, not the Israelis. And so Hamass is doing one of their fav things, citizens as cannon fodder, or human shields. Grab some popcorn.
You will see some great performances. Probably good enough to rival Hollywood, that’s why it’s called Pallywood, where the ambulances take the rioters or terrorists to where ever they need/want to go. Haven’t heard of Pallywood? Well, first you need good make up artists
then a compelling story
It’s a MIRACLE! The feel good movie of the half minute.
Um, no. A report from The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reveals….he was a TERRORIST! MAN, I did not see that plot twist coming! What’s more? Eighty percent of the Falestinians killed have been TERRORISTS! It’s like a Twilight Zone thing or something. Well, not everyone is fooled, Abu Mazen accused Hamass of “only selling illusions, trading in suffering and blood.” Huh, you’d think if Abu Mazen knew those rocket scientist at cnn or mslsd #fakenews would figure it out. It’s weird, it’s like they want to be fooled. I wonder if there is a “Invasion of the Talking Head Snatchers” movie or something? “Stepford Talking Heads”? But their rocket scientists, they’ll tell you how smart they are.
People think that most Israelis are armed and can defend themselves. Nope, biggest nope ever. You see a lot of guns on the street because of the military and those in the military but off duty. One article I recently read was talking about the strict gun control in Israel. How they are “trained”, can’t buy some of the more “deadly” guns available at Walmart, can only buy so much ammo per year. Bet that cuts into practice for proficiency. You have to show a “need” to have a gun. Luckily for Israel the illusion exists there could be a gun under every blade of grass. And perhaps when Moshe Feiglin is Prime Minister it will be. But I have to wonder, if those pieceful Falestinians knew they were going to be met by a bunch of armed pissed off Kibbutzniks and citizens shouldering some of those “more deadly weapons in Walmart” just how eager they would be to break that security fence even if they did overrun and evade the IDF.
And Iran is a problem, we all knew it. Well, almost all of us knew it.
Except Ganja for brains barry.
And then, The Mossad did their “thing”. The got out a lot of documents, about 11,000 of them, from Tehran on Project Ahmed, the Iranian nuclear program which Bibi revealed to the world in a broadcast saying basically, Iran lied.
WOWZA, I would think that would be shocking! But, to the world “leaders” naw, nothing to see here folks, move along. EU Foreign Policy Chief Frederica Mogherini said so, she said Iran complied. Frederica and barry really need to quit the hearty partying and listen to their opponents. Except barry sent them lots and lots of money, so maybe they aren’t opponents. Because Iran admitted they lied as well as forbidding the inspection of certain areas.
The article referred to comments made by Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Agency, who said during an interview with IRINN TV in Iran on August 22 that his country can return to its pre-deal enrichment level in only five days, indicating Iran has breached the JCPOA and stockpiled prohibited nuclear components.
Earlier this month, the Middle East Media Research Institute published a full translation of Salehi’s comments, showing that the situation is worse than originally estimated by experts likeas former International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors David Albright and Olli Heinonen.
Russia stood by the current deal, rejecting any push to update or change the JCPOA. France, Germany, and the United Kingdom said Netanyahu’s presentation was exactly a case for keeping the deal in place, because it provided for inspection and monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program and, if needed, sanctions.
And what about one of the central accusations of Netanyahu’s presentation, that Iran lied? It was a talking point he hit over and over, making for easy sound bites and compelling television.
Well, that didn’t surprise anyone either.
“Everybody knew that they lied. There’s nothing new about that,” Lewis said flatly.
“The Iranians had a nuclear weapons program. We knew this,” agreed Fitzpatrick.
Lewis added: “We already knew the outlines of the [Iranian nuclear] program in great detail, and all this did was color it in, sometimes in pornographic detail.”
Oh goodie, John Kerry is here, we don’t need to worry.
Totally NOT a Bomb
I read a magazine article that pointed out the hypocrisy of Demoncrats demanding more gun control to keep their kids safe, while pushing for the Iranian nuclear deal which endangered Israeli children. Well, Demoncrats are good at that sort of hypocrisy.
I would say the Mossad uncovered a lot more than just the proof that the Iranians were lying about their nuclear program. I would say they uncovered the total apathy that the European leaders have to the one Jewish state being annihilated. Do you wonder how the Mossad pulled that one off?
Today is Yom HaAtzmaut, Israeli Independence Day. And she is 70 years old. Doesn’t she look beautiful for 70?
Pre-state Israel
Acco Prison
A little movie
I didn’t actually ask Shmuel for these, he just shared them today and they were what I wanted. I just did the column on Yom HaZikaron yesterday and was talking about those that died fighting for Israel even before she was recognized by man as a state. I suppose I don’t need to say G-d recognized her as such long before do I? Shmuel Sackett from the Zehut political party had done this column and recently sent it out again Seventy Years and Forgotten. This column explains who he is talking about in the video.
New State of Israel
A TRUE Feminist
Middle age
For Israel that would be 1983 and Israelis were rocked by the murder of 14 year old Danny Katz.
Young Danny Katz
But they cheered the victory of Ofra Haza winning second place in the Eurovision song contest in Munich with the song Alive, Chai.
Israel at 70. This is the face I think of when I think of Israel at 70. Yeah, she was a socialist and what a shame, and she isn’t alive to see Israel’s 70th, but Golda rocked. She was a strong, quick witted woman. Her face is a bit lined and weathered from the trials and storms she has withstood, but in her eye she still has the look of eagles.
Amazing Golda
So what I would hope for Israel’s future? A Prime Minister Moshe Feiglin.
A Prime Minister Moshe
I spent the evening at a Yom HaAtzmaut party tonight, a big happy birthday party. I was teaching interested parties, and/or ones that Efi corraled and sent me about different kinds of Israeli Technology. It was fun, even if I did have to shout over the lively music and most of the people were wowed by the technology. I came home and made myself dinner of couscous also known as Ben Gurion rice, veggies and chickpeas. And then I baked Israel a birthday cake, since I was so busy yelling at people I didn’t get any.
After I ate, I checked my email and that’s always educational. Tonight I learned that the column I did on Yom HaShoah is incorrect. Sent from a friend who thought I should know I need to study some more.
Who knew?
Huh, the heck ya say?
I think if it were me, I would ask him why he thinks General Dwight D. Eisenhower is a liar. And the Germans, who kept excellent records. And Gen. George S. Patton, who would no doubt bitch slap him. And the American, Russian, Brits and the smattering of French armed forces, and the Polish Partisans. Unless he’s just going with the word of the German citizens, who said they had no idea anything was going on.
Ike saw it coming.
And this is why Israel needs to be as a strong safe place where a Jew can wake up, and live as a Jew, and sleep in peace at night. They should be able to wear a Kippah in public without fear of it making them a target as it does France today, and Britain.
Israel, may G-d bless, guard and guide you as you gather your children underneath your wings. Happy Birthday. The world says 70, I say a few thousand.
Established unofficially with the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, and enacted into law in 1963, the day preceding Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) is observed as a Memorial Day for soldiers who lost their lives in battle or while otherwise defending Israel.
Celebrated on the fourth of Iyar every year, Yom HaZikaron is one of four new holidays that were added to the Jewish national calendar since the creation of Israel. The other three are: Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Heroes and Martyrs’ Day),Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day), and Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day).
Since the second intifada, also included are those such as security guards who have given their life defending malls, restaurants and public buildings from terrorists. And there are plenty of those.
Yom HaZikaron is observed very differently than American Memorial day. I think Israel has it right. In America it’s sales, shopping, BBQ and getting together with friends and family. Some still visit graves and decorate them, it used to be called Decoration Day. In Israel, at 20:00 local time a one-minute siren sounds. Another siren will sound the following morning at 11:00. Then everyone observes a moment of silence to remember the fallen and terror victims. By law, all places of entertainment are closed on the eve of Yom Hazikaron, and broadcasting and educational bodies note the solemnity of the day. Regular television programs cease for the day, and the names and ranks of every soldier who died for Israel are displayed in a 24-hour television broadcast.
Honor and remembrance. The only ones who don’t observe are the Arabs, with the exception of the Druze and Bedouins, they do observe. Haredi Jews do not observe either.
Years ago I interviewed a man who had been a navigation unit commander for a tank battalion in Israel during the Yom Kippur war. He just didn’t tell me that last bit at the time. But he was talking about how war is different in America for the most part than it is in Israel. In Israel when the enemy gets in he will quite likely be walking down the street of someone you know. It’s your backyard that has the fighting in it. The closest I can imagine is the American un-Civil war. The wars of Israel are up close and personal. It’s also worth remembering the honored include those that fought for pre-state Israel in the Haganah, Lehi and the Irgun.
I think it was on a radio program, Temple Talk, that I heard the hosts discussing why Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut are right next to each other. A host’s daughter had told her Dad that it didn’t seem fair to those grieving that the next day everyone would be out in the streets partying. He explained to her that without the sacrifice of the lives observed during Yom HaZikaron that there wouldn’t even be a state of Israel. That the sacrifice is what enabled the joy, and that joy is why those men and women did not die in vain.
I was so very fortunate as to be able to attend a Yom HaZikaron service tonight, it was very, very meaningful. If you were not so blessed, I will share a link with you to a service that was broadcast from Ammunition Hill. There is a museum there now.
Treblinka, Bełżec, and Sobibór were death camps. Unlike most of the other concentration camps which used those imprisoned there as slave labor first. The sole purpose of these three was to kill those sent there. From the Jewish Virtual Library
Most people are familiar with the names of the major concentration camps – Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, and Treblinka, for example – but few realize that these were not the only places where Jews and other prisoners were held by the nazis. Each of the 23 main camps had subcamps, nearly 900 of them in total. These included camps with euphemistic names, such as “care facilities for foreign children,” where pregnant prisoners were sent for forced abortions.
The nazis established about 110 camps starting in 1933 to imprison political opponents and other undesirables. The number expanded as the Third Reich expanded and the Germans began occupying parts of Europe. When the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum first began to document all of the camps, the belief was that the list would total approximately 7,000. However, researchers found that the nazis actually established about 42,500 camps and ghettoes between 1933 and 1945. This figure includes 30,000 slave labor camps; 1,150 Jewish ghettoes, 980 concentration camps; 1,000 POW camps; 500 brothels filled with sex slaves; and thousands of other camps used for euthanizing the elderly and infirm; “Germanizing” prisoners or transporting victims to killing centers. Berlin alone had nearly 3,000 camps.
Treblinka, was set up near the Warsaw-Bialystok railway and started operating on July 23, 1942.
Operation Reinhard camps were meant to get the Jews out of Poland, and Warsaw Jews were largely sent to Treblinka, it was only 60 miles away from Warsaw, many of the survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto were sent there. While Treblinka was only 22 acres, 900,000 people died in that camp alone. There were 3 areas, living area, reception area, and killing portion. Sonderkommando lived in the living section. Not all prisoners could communicate with each other due to the way the nazis had the camp set up.
View of Treblinka
There was a fake railway station set up with a fake clock, timetable, 2nd 3rd class passenger signs, and a cashier office. Service was suspended in the real Treblinka railway station the entire time the camp was operating. As they disembarked from the train one passenger noticed something odd about the “tree lined” wall. The trees weren’t growing. They had been cut down and placed to simulate the edge of a forest, but he noticed what was behind the trees, barbed wire. It somewhat hid the camp. Deception lasted only a short while, but it only had to last a short while. Then they knew they were in a camp, but there were signs saying “attention, you are in a transit camp. For sanitation, you must take a shower”. The showers even had those nubby non-slip floors, floor tiles have been found. All money and valuables had to be handed to a cashier for a receipt and they were told they would get them back upon presenting the receipt at a later time. Anyone who wasn’t strong enough, or was troublesome was to be taken through to a “Lazaret”with a big red cross on it. Where they would promptly be shot by Willi Mentz, or his boss August Miete.
So where was the Red Cross in all this?? I’m SO glad you asked. Also incredibly pi angry. Here’s just a little bit of the “help” the international Red Cross provided.
Why didn’t the Jews fight back upon arrival at Treblinka? Because there was so much secrecy surrounding the death camps. Even some of the nazis involved with pieces of the operation didn’t know the whole operation according to the Jewish Virtual Library. Initially many of the Jews didn’t know about “death camps”. Rumors had began coming into the ghettos about the camps, but many choose to disbelieve. In the beginning, some prisoners did escape from Treblinka, and promptly went back to the Warsaw ghetto to try to warn those there of the situation.
Camp B, called the “extermination area,” included the gas chambers. burial pits, fire pits for burning the corpses, and the quarters of the Jewish prisoners who were employed at various jobs in this part of the camp. A narrow path, from 2 to 4 meters wide, fenced on both sides and running for about 100 meters, led from the area where the victims had to undress to the gas chambers in the extermination area. This path was called Heaven Street (Himmelstrasse) or The Tube (Schlauch).
After they had been made to undress in the square they were forced to run through the Himmelstrasse. By forcing them to run this path with SS guards beating them and yelling at them when they got to the showers they were breathing heavily and would inhale more of the carbon dioxide quickly.
In Treblinka they used carbon dioxide, not Zyklon B as was used in some of the other camps. Carbon dioxide was easily produced by using a soviet tank engine, and if it broke down, and it did, sometimes in the middle of a murder, there was always someone around who could fix it.
Everything just happened so fast! The time from departure from the train to the gas chamber was about an hour, hour and a half tops. The yelling, beating and running kept them from thinking so much about what was happening, let alone resist. The deceptions threw them off initially, and then the terror and uncertainty.
A slightly different method was used for transports that arrived from Western Europe, the territory of the Third Reich, Czechoslovakia and the Balkans from the end of 1942 until the middle of 1943. These transports arrived in passenger cars. Upon arrival they found an “ordinary” railway Station with signs pointing to ticket windows, tables indicating the departure times of trains to various destinations and other normal station installations — all, of course, fake. The alighting from the train was carried out in a polite and calm manner. The camp personnel encouraged the arrivals to write postcards to their families and friends telling them that they had come to a labor camp; they were even given an address for receiving mail (those arriving in Sobibor were told to write Arbeitslager Wlodawa [Wlodawa Labor Camp]).
After the postcards were sent, everything having been done in a peaceful and polite atmosphere, the situation changed radically: a torrent of shouts, blows, dog bites and bullets rained down on the people, who were stricken by an even greater shock and paralysis than that felt by the Jews from Poland and the Soviet Union. In this way they were driven toward the gas chambers.
But in the winter of 1942/1943 things began to change. The number of transports slowed down, and news of Germany’s defeats began to filter in. Rumors that some of the Jews working there would soon be sent to the gas chambers began to circulate. The different groups of Jews began to try to form a plan for escape. The Organizing Committee was formed. It was made up of people from the different working groups of the resident Jews. They examined the escape attempts made before and realized their best chance lay in a mass revolt and taking over the camp.
How to do that? They need weapons. Treblinka was located away from towns, no sneaking weapons in as in the Warsaw ghetto. They attempted to bribe Ukrainian guards, the money was taken, but no pistol materialized. But then they caught a break, a lock had to be repaired on the building that housed the weapons. Is anyone shocked a second key was created and found it’s way to the Organizing Committee?
In early March of 1943 Himmler visited the camp. After that the burning of bodies began in an attempt to hide the murders. There were some members that were lost in different ways, some betrayal by the Ukrainian guards, some just bad circumstances, but they continued trying to prepare. Those caught and tortured did not give up any of the plans or other members.
By July the transports had all but ceased, only a few transports with Gypsies and Jews arrived. The Organizing Committee was not exactly a cohesive unit. One part of the camp felt the need to get the revolt underway, time was slipping by, the nazis had a party to celebrate the end of their mission. The other part of the camp wasn’t so sure they needed to rebel in haste. The Rebel now group sent a message revolt now, or we do it without you and a date was set for August 2nd, 1943.
It didn’t happen on that day. It happened on August 18th and 19th. There was a timetable set up for removing the weapons from the storeroom, and many would have to make do with their work tools, hammers, pickaxes, shovels and that sort of thing. The date was fortunate in that some of the Ukrainian guards and the SS had decided to go swimming in the Bug river, so that cut down on the number of men guarding the camp. But there were still informers among them. Not every Capo was an informer, some of them had been heavily involved in helping to facilitate the revolt. There were about 850 Jews in the camp the day of the revolt.
Once the revolt started, they set the buildings on fire, a camp worker having thoughtfully replaced his daily bug spray solution with petrol they went up quite nicely. The Jews had few real weapons, but when some of the guards were wounded they were able to seize their weapons. But their supply of ammunition was being used up fast. Many of them made for the fences. Many of the Organizing Committee stayed behind trying to provide covering fire for those running for the fences to escape. One took a cyanide pill after he was shot and couldn’t go on. About a 100 prisoners chose not to even try or be part of it and went back to their barracks. About half of the 850 prisoners were killed that day. According to a lecture I heard at the Yom HaShoah service I attended, about 300 made it out. The locals were threatened if they helped them, so some were afraid. Some handed them over just because, and some locals caught them, beat them and took their money and then handed them over to the Germans. For those that might have been tempted to help, the rumor was given out they had typhus. Despite that, some of the locals did help and that is why some of the around 67 of them survived. Those 67 are the reason much is known about how Treblinka ran and what went on their according to the lecture. Auschwitz and many of the others were bigger camps, and slave labor camps so more people survived to tell, Treblinka’s sole purpose was murder.
After the uprising only one other transport train came in. On October 20th most of the remaining prisoners were transferred to Sobibor and killed. The 25-30 that remained in Treblinka were killed there.
The nazis then built a farm house on the site, brought in one of their Ukrainian guards, he brought his family and he was to stay there, guard the site and if asked state that he and his family had lived there for years. There were 67 souls alive to call the lie. Had they been better armed? There might have been 750. Remember, there were 100 that chose to go back to their barracks and stay out of it.
As I watched the candles being lit, 7 of them I kept thinking, please G-d, help me to do my part so that these flames are all that will ever be needed. Help me to play the role you have for me to shine the light.
The first candle was for Holocaust survivors.
The second candle was for the second generation, their children.
The third candle was for the third generation, their grandchildren.
The fourth candle was for the youth.
The fifth candle was for the Veterans and the Armed Forces.
The sixth candle was for the community.
The seventh candle was in recognition of 70 years of Israeli statehood, and that one was set alight by a friend of mine.
I don’t ever want to live with deception. Not from myself or others, I don’t want to be blinded by normalcy bias, I don’t want to live with false hope. To do so can be fatal.
This video is 600 Holocaust survivors and their families gathered at Beit Avi-Chai in Jerusalem, marking the Holocaust Memorial Day, by performing the song “Chai” by Ofra Haza.
The Partisans Song. The first in Hebrew, the second in Yiddish, as it was written by Hirsh Glik in the Vilna ghetto for the Vilna Partisans in 1943.
But after years of living in a country where your life was valued as cheap, the children left. Time served, onto a new life in your homeland.
When you are at the Pesach Seder it is supposed to be as though you were there, on that night. It’s part of your history, part of your life story. Then Pharaoh decided good help is hard to come by, and he is going to chase the Hebrews down and dispatch them. Either back to work or _____. You know, one might have thought the year or so of plagues would have given him a clue. But some are just so blinded by hate they are will to sacrifice their own people to achieve their goals of killing Jews.
And this year in Israel, it seems somethings may not really change all that much. I think obama’s and soros’s community organizing friends had buddies within Hamass. I guess Hamass has been looking at all the left-wing “marches” that have been taking place in America with envy. Because they decided to have their very own! Yep, a “million man Gazan march” for the “right of return”. Mind you, Gaza is Jew free, there are no Jews in Gaza, not since 2005 when the IDF pulled Jews from their homes in Gaza and shipped them out in compliance with the final phase of the Oslo accords signed in 1994. So basically Gaza is your two state solution. Already there done deal. But, it’s not enough. You can read a nice summary of the history here.
Hamass had been warned not to try to breech the fence. Hamass said the only solution is “The Right of Return” and the plan was to simply swamp the border fence and the IDF stationed there with a mass of people. Putting women and children first, of course. Being the cowards they are.
The leadership of Gaza wants them to overwhelm our soldiers in sheer numbers with the goal of getting as many of those “men” across the border. Armed with whatever they can bring – guns, knives, explosives, axes, they have one order only. Should any of these attackers manage to circumvent our border, they have instructions to kill. Anything. Whatever. Have a nice time.
And what should be the response? Now, at once.
And the moment, that individual touches the fence – that’s it, really – just TOUCHES the fence, our forces have orders to shoot to kill. No, we will not yell out “STOP!” in Arabic and English and Hebrew. We will not fire in the air. Forget firing at their legs. Shoot to kill.
It’s difficult to say how many Gazans have been sent to their death by Hamass to achieve the desired result for the media and the U.N. Partly because of the efforts of Pallywood that the media always falls for. But one source says 25, I think it’s more by now. Pallywood? You don’t know? Well, here is a photo in fine Pallywood style and a video. Two different incidents. Both are from Israellycool and Dave points out problems with both. Things that one would have thought the photographers from the mainstream media would have had enough intellectual curiosity to look further, but I guess not.
“The State of Kuwait, with full knowledge that our Permanent Mission, Israel, and Jews everywhere were observing the first night of Passover, hijacked the consultations, forced an open session and invited the Palestinian delegation to present remarks that they had been advised to prepare well in advance. Israel was not given the same advance notice and was barred from taking part in the deliberations due to the observance of our religious holiday,” wrote Ambassador Danon.
The ever impartial UN was all set to release a statement on the riots, which the U.S. blocked, thankfully, as it seems all the statement was concerned about was that Hamass sent people to be killed and the IDF was forced to do so. Are they worried about the invasion? Meh, not so much.
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Israel of being a “terrorist state and occupier,” and its army of “inhuman cruelty” in its crackdown on Palestinian protesters.
“Oppressor Israel and its army are only courageous against the oppressed in Gaza, Jerusalem, they are cowards when it comes to facing others,” Erdogan said at a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) congress in the southern province of Adana on April 1, addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu according to Turkey’s Hurriyet.
Oh yes, the man who is attacking the Kurds who are fighting ISIS has a plenty to say about the Gaza riots.
I shall propose an entirely different approach to resolve the conflict, a reversion to the strategy of deterrence and victory associated with Zionism’s great strategist, Vladimir Jabotinsky (1880-1940): Israel should aim not to please its enemies but to defeat them. Counterintuitively, I shall show why Palestinians need precisely such an Israel Victory to slough off their current oppression, extremism, and violence, and to become a successful people.
The whole column is very good.
But you can’t imagine a sovereign nation under threat of invasion by a large group of people.
“We demand of the Mexico and the United States: that they respect our rights as refugees and our right to dignified work to be able to support our families,” the statements reads.
The second demand is “that they open the borders to us because we are as much citizens as the people of the countries where we are and/or travel.”
Um, no. But we will soon be facing a similar situation, and the world will judge us as harshly.
But today, Israel is a free, sovereign nation that came from 12 tribes that went into Egypt and came out as that one nation, as one people that received the Torah from Moshe who received it from G-d
Moses ascended Mount Sinai, and G‑d spoke to him the following words (Exodus 19:3-6): “So shall you say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel. You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and [how] I bore you on eagles’ wings, and I brought you to Me. And now, if you obey Me and keep My covenant, you shall be to Me a treasure out of all peoples, for Mine is the entire earth. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of princes and a holy nation.”
We are one.
So I have two songs for you this Pesach season. This one I sing almost every day, even though poorly, because I love it, and well, really it applies. It has subtitles.
So I got an interesting, if slightly outraged message tonight.
Did you hear what that chick on FOX said tonight?
Um, just finished up a lovely Shabbat, reading a good book, drinking some good coffee and not watching TV. You’re going to ruin my good mood aren’t you? Yep.
It would seem some newscaster, I don’t watch decided to go full auto stupid. Yes, indeed, that is a tiny little joke. Some news personality on FOX news decided to speak authoritatively on guns and the Second Amendment. Indeed, she spoke with great authority, with facts? Not so much.
She starts out with it’s the right of every US Citizen, ok, good start Julie. The the effect of the Tide pods sets in. It’s the responsibility of lawmakers to prevent those who “don’t deserve the right to own one” from getting them. It’s not an infringement on the Second Amendment to stop arming the mentally ill. She realizes some will ask “how do you determine who is mentally ill?” But she says it goes past mentally ill.
Um, Julie, when did you decide to hate Veterans, and do you kneel during the National Anthem as well?
The VA, in making the determination that a veteran requires a fiduciary to help them manage their money, is additionally making the decision that the veteran cannot handle a firearm, either. The VA is not conducting an evaluation to determine whether a veteran is a threat to himself or herself or others, requiring a medical determination verifying the veteran is displaying signs of violence, or notifying the veteran his or her Second Amendment rights are being eliminated. The VA simply reports the veteran to the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check (NICS) system and makes the “mentally defective” judgment of the veteran by default.
She has the novel idea that background checks should include criminal records!!
Great idea Jules, maybe they could like have some kind of form the could fill out before they buy a gun and answer those questions. Like questions 12 b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i for example. Check out form 4473 Julie, listed for your convenience below.
And they should require training. In Israel for example you need a doctor’s note proving no history of mental illness and drug abuse. You must also demonstrate you can use your gun at a firing range before you can take it home with a limited supply of bullets. I think she actually meant the whole cartridge though. Um, Julie from Israel Give the Good Guys Guns. Then she wisely explains to us that a correctly aimed bullet does what it is supposed to do. There doesn’t need to be thirty. Then she lectures us to think for a second, does an American need an assault weapon to protect themselves, target shoot or provide food for their family?
Gee Julie, I’m a little uncertain, what exactly is an “assault weapon”?
The she informs us we’re not applying for a driver’s license here. No kidding? Cars and Trucks as Weapons of Terror Um, Julie, perhaps you could clarify for me which of the Amendments in the Bill of Rights that you never studied in school involves transportation?
Then she rattles on that just like our police and military get the proper training to use the weapons, so should civilians. I think she is unaware that unless a state has Constitutional carry you do have to pass a test to get a concealed carry endorsement.
Then she sanctimoniously lectures us that owning a gun is a right, but it is our responsibility to carry one responsibly. Obviously from her New York ivory tower she is unaware that gun owners and concealed carry holders are some of the most responsible people out there.
She doesn’t seem to understand, it’s not the inanimate object that is of any threat, it is the hand that holds it.
It seems to me, our ill informed Julie is confusing you and I, law abiding gun owners with a bucket of chum who had been reported to the FIB, and the police had visited his home 39 times.
Julie, this is a law-enforcement failure because of a deal struck for money. Why don’t you investigate that? Why doesn’t that bother you?
But you did great on your cnn #FakeNews audition tonight, you’ll be great there, really.
Julie says she “wants to have a conversation about it on twitter”. @JulieBanderas
A congressman from Alaska suggested that Jews were “put in the ovens” by Nazis during World War II because they did not have guns.
This is arguable? I guess, by some. But it’s a Demoncrat who wants to run against him
The head of the Anti-Defamation League has called the claim a “distortion of history.”
With all due respect to the ADL…and really, that’s not much respect.
Let’s take just a brief look at a well known time and place in history for illustration. The Warsaw Ghetto. The Jews in the Warsaw ghetto held out longer than the country of Poland. How did that happen?
Cue dreamy sequence, you know, mist, clouds, soft music swirly colors…..
Mordecai Anielewicz: “Ok, the nazis are going to come down this street here. Sarah, when they pass your position you fling your pink hat with pointy ears into their path that should totally disorient them and shame them for at least five minutes. Then Dovid, you and Yigal grab your rolled up copies of the New York Slimes and Haaretz and attack from the rear while they are still immobilized from shame. Then Shannon and Whoopie can run by bravely showing off the safety pins on their jackets all the while screaming “HASHTAG SAFE SPACE, HASHTAG SAFE SPACE”. As the nazis begin to retreat in fear of hearing “HASHTAG ME TOO” Michael, Rachel, Leah and Josef can march with the “gun free zone” signs and hit them with those. If we are successful, we should have the nazis cleared out in about thirty minutes! Then we will hang our new nazi Free Zone sign at the entrance!”
Two Jewish underground organisations fought in the Warsaw Uprising: the left wing Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ŻOB) founded in July 1942 by Zionist Jewish youth groups within the Warsaw Ghetto;and the right wing Żydowski Związek Wojskowy (ŻZW), or Jewish Military Union, a national organization founded in 1939 by former Polish military officers of Jewish background which had strong ties to the Polish Home Army, and cells in almost every major town across Poland. However both organisations were officially incorporated into the Polish Home Army and its command structure in exchange for weapons and training.
Marek Edelman, who was the only surviving uprising commander from the left-wing ŻOB, stated that the ŻOB had 220 fighters and each was armed with a handgun, grenades, and Molotov cocktails. His organization had three rifles in each area, as well as two land mines and one submachine gun. Due to its socialist leanings, the Soviets promoted the actions of ŻOB as the dominant or only party in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, a view often adopted by secondary sources in the West.
The right-wing faction ŻZW which was founded by former Polish officers, was larger, more established and had closer ties with the Polish resistance, making it better equipped. Zimmerman describes the arm supplies for the uprising as “limited but real”. Specifically, Jewish fighters of the ŻZW received from the Polish Home Army: 2 heavy machine guns, 4 light machine guns, 21 submachine guns, 30 rifles, 50 pistols, and over 400 grenades for the uprising. During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, ŻZW is reported to have had about 400 well-armed fighters grouped in 11 units, with 4 units including fighters from the Polish Home Army. Due to the ŻZW’s anti-socialist stand and close ties with the Polish Home Army (which was subsequently outlawed by the Soviets), the Soviets suppressed publication of books and articles on ŻZW after the war and downplayed its role in the uprising, in favour of the more socialist ŻOB.
More weapons were supplied throughout the uprising, and some were captured from the Germans. Some weapons were handmade by the resistance; sometimes such weapons worked, other times they jammed repeatedly.
Shortly before the uprising, Polish-Jewish historian Emanuel Ringelblum (who managed to escape from the Warsaw Ghetto, but was later discovered and executed in 1944) visited a ŻZW armoury hidden in the basement at 7 Muranowska Street. In his notes, which form part of Oneg Shabbat archives, he reported:
They were armed with revolvers stuck in their belts. Different kinds of weapons were hung in the large rooms: light machine guns, rifles, revolvers of different kinds, hand grenades, bags of ammunition, German uniforms, etc., all of which were utilized to the full in the April “action”. (…) While I was there, a purchase of arms was made from a former Polish Army officer, amounting to a quarter of a million złoty; a sum of 50,000 złoty was paid on account. Two machine guns were bought at 40,000 złoty each, and a large amount of hand grenades and bombs.
If the ADL is right, then history is wrong and the Jews in the ghetto should never have died, right? Why were they trying so hard to get their hands on more weapons? What good would they have done? Right ADL?
Poland is currently attempting to rewrite their own history by criminalizing speech. You can’t say certain things anywhere (according to Poland) without fear of incurring their wrath and a lawsuit. Yes, the death camps were a Nazi invention. But the Pole’s had plenty of their own antisemitism. And plenty of it was on display after WWII, after the nazis were beaten.
Why did Esther want the Jews to be able to defend themselves on the 14th, when that decree was no longer in force?
Which brings us to the second thing she asked for. She wanted the dead bodies of Haman’s 10 sons, the heroes of the anti-Jewish forces, strung up on the gallows that their father had been hanged on. Not to kill them, because they were already dead. But as a symbolic gesture, letting the anti-Jewish forces know that they weren’t just beaten for the day, but that they were done.
Esther wasn’t stupid, though. She knew what the reaction would be when the Jew-haters woke up the next morning and saw Haman’s sons twisting in the wind. And that is why she asked for special dispensation to fight and kill any enemies who rose up against them. Because she intended to provoke them into it.
So why do it? Why provoke them and then ask for permission to protect her people from the results of her provocation? And here’s where we can learn something from Queen Esther.
Peace with those who want to murder you for who you are is not obtained through treaties or compromise. Nations that have economic differences or other policy differences can end wars with a compromise. But when one side is dedicated to the destruction of the other, compromise is suicidal. The aggressor must be dealt with decisively. Beaten soundly and made to feel that they have absolutely lost. Otherwise, they’ll just come back and try again.
This whole column is really good and worth the reading.
It is much the same with those who promote defenselessness as a good strategy for survival. Of course they have their guards, their walls and their security methods, but for the unwashed masses in general, no, no, we’re much safer without guns amongst us. So they tell us, repeatedly. They just keep coming back and at us from different directions to try to mandate us into a state of defenselessness. They try again and again. Some are useful idiots, they’ve been brought up to believe it, they watch cnn #FakeNews and msnbc #FakeNews and believe them. The NY Slimes, they believe. Some are not useful idiots, they know very well people will be left virtually helpless to stop attacks. But they want to keep themselves safe from us! Which always raises the question for me “What do they want to do, that they can not do if people like me are armed and prepared?” Well modern day Haman? What’s the answer?
In the Purim story it took a brave Jewish Queen, Ester, her cousin Mordecai and a decree to allow the Jews to defend themselves.
How’s about we learn from history and quit asking or letting our legislators legislate us into defenselessness. Because that just never works out well for the law abiding innocent citizen.
Purim is a holiday of joy and victory. They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat!
אוזני המן, Oznei Haman Haman’s Ears
And because it is Purim, and I love Purim, I have a little movie for you. YES, it does have a horse in it! A real one! It is a parody of the video What Does The Fox Say, but this one is pretty cool.
I got an interesting email the other day. It was warning about a scam that seems to be very well funded and quite sophisticated. The goal of it seems to be to tarnish the reputation of firearms trainers and Second Amendment activists and leaders.
The set up is a documentary that is being filmed by a group calling themselves “First Freedom Television”. They say they are working on strategies to keep communities safer in the 21st century. That an Israeli security expert will be taking part, and that the “documentary” will be shown in Israel. Apparently the people that they asked to take part in it are treated to very lavish accommodations, travel expenses are paid and a driver is provided.
The first report you can read in it’s entirety here and comes from Philip Van Cleave the President of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. He said partway into the interview and demonstration his spidey senses were tingling. He said he was shown a video of a 4 year old in Israel who had used a gun to stop terrorists in his school.
….the interviewer was making claims about Israeli schools training selected children to use firearms from age 17 down to age 4 (!) as a last ditch effort in stopping a terrorist attack on a school if the teachers and security staff had been killed. The children would have codes to unlock secured firearms in such a case.
When I balked at 4-year-olds being able to do that, he showed me an alleged newscast video on his iPad. The text was in Hebrew, but with an English-speaking narration, talking about how a 4-year-old boy had indeed stopped a terrorist attack at his school. The newscast said that he killed two terrorists using his dad’s gun, which he had brought to school in his backpack to show a friend, in violation of school rules. Israeli Premier Netanyahu was touting him as a hero in the video.
Hmmm, interesting. The last time I was in Israel I talked to a very interesting man about ordinary citizens in Israel being able to concealed carry. It’s not that easy. When he moved from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv he wasn’t allowed to continue carrying his weapon. In fact, it’s really not all that easy to get a concealed carry permit, or even a gun in Israel if you’re a civilian. Of course soldiers have them, but I remember during the last intifada that they were trying to loosen restrictions so more people could get guns and carry them. Residents in Shomron (Samaria) and Judea can obtain them easier I believe, but plenty of crime happens everywhere. Of course the criminals can seem to find them anywhere, even on Har HaBayit, the Temple Mount. So.
So perhaps the 4 year olds father is in the military. I don’t know that many fathers who would leave their service weapon laying around so it could be stuffed into a backpack and taken to school. For another where would he have taught the child to shoot? Ranges are not prevalent.
In a column from 2014, Moshe Feiglin of the Zehut political party pointed out Gun Control? Or Citizen Control? Then in 2016 he called for more citizens to be allowed to carry weapons. Give the Good Guys Guns. Hopefully Moshe will be Prime Minister soon.
From there the erstwhile filmmakers wanted Mr. Van Cleave to help them make a “safety video” for children of all ages. Which involved hiding guns in stuffed toys. And making gun noises.
Mr. Van Cleave feels to point of the video is to discredit and harm Second Amendment people. He said they seem to set up near gun shows and are good at hiding their tracks. He said they were very good an mental manipulation, and seemed to have everything well thought out.
The end goal was to get the victim to make a “training film” teaching 3 and 4-year-olds how to shoot guns hidden in toy animals at “bad” people, to sing little songs and make gun noises during the training to make it “fun for children,” and even teach little kids how to shoot a rocket-propelled-grenade or a squad automatic weapon at an approaching suicide bomber vehicle!
UZI-CORN?? Seriously, well, there was also “Puppy pistol”.
But the fun doesn’t end there, they are also advertising on Criagslist for “Patriotic folks” to participate in a training style docu-show for a TV series. Ammoland has screen shots.
But, back to Israel teaching 4 year olds to shoot rocket propelled grenades and guns….yeahhhh, only if you understand that Gaza IS part of Israel, AS IS Judea and Shomron. In fact, the disaster known as Gaza is pretty much what the two state solution looks like. You know, the one constantly in “humanitarian crisis”? Ok, that’s another story, they keep electing Hamass, ok, another story….
Why, Sheila, whatever do you mean?? I mean it’s not Jewish or Christian Israelis teaching their 4 year olds to kill. It’s the “piece partners”in the Gaza strip, and one has also been run in FA territory. Yep, summer terrorist camps for kids.
So, yeah, if you count the Muslims occupying Israeli territory, that are teachingtheir 4 year olds to kill. Ok, but you know what? That isn’t the side that this group represents itself as supporting. So this stinks. And from the people that did do interviews with this group, there is plenty that stinks.
So be aware. I keep thinking about that buffoon Michael Moore and how he tried to ambush Charlton Heston, this has that set up Soros, Bloomburg, Moore stench to it.
And as long as we’re on the subject of school safety…
I realize no sane person probably watched the cnn #FakeNews townhall for information. Entertainment purposes perhaps, comedic relief? But not really for information, because it is cnn, where they follow the script to the letter and expect their actors to do so as well. Even if they were real people who didn’t want to follow a script.
But here is some information I doubt they covered.
We know that Bucket O’ Chum had been reported to the FIB, we know that the police had visited his home 39 times, although Coward county’s finest says it was “only” 23. Well, ok, well, then.
We know that four of Coward County’s finest sheriff’s deputies coward behind their patrol cars with their pistols drawn when Coral Springs police officers rolled up on the scene. One of them, the only armed person for the school. Their resource officer was outside the building. Which of course, means Bucket O’Chum had a clear path. There was no one inside that could have stopped him, because they were keeping the children safe by being in a “gun free (except for the killers) zone”. Well, perhaps one of the deputies was a leader in the Hamas-related Council on American-Islamic Relations, he is also a Broward Co. deputy. He stays busy training the men in his local radical mollusk to shoot. So understandable why he would think the slaughter of the children is ok I suppose.
The motive was simple. The school system administrators wanted to “improve their statistics” and gain state and federal grant money for improvements therein.
It’s important to remember that this was not an arbitrary change; this was a well-planned fundamental shift in the entire dynamic of how teenagers would be treated when they engaged in criminal conduct.
In essence the thugs and criminals, misguided youth, little darlings got a free pass. And since statistics needed to continue to improve, bigger and more violent crimes had to be excused as time went on. Gangs quickly jumped on the bandwagon and began to utilize more school students for their crimes since the police most likely wouldn’t do anything about it. This came to light back after the Trayvon Martin shooting.
Which is most likely why school resource officer Petersen wouldn’t share information on Bucket O’Chum with social services or anyone else who might have put him in jail or sent him to a psychiatric ward.
Somehow, I don’t think cnn, msnbc #FakeNews or “First Freedom Television” #Fake Television also, will be doing a real townhall or “documentary” on any of that.
But above all, just remember, in a crisis, the police are just a cellphone call and only moments away….except when they aren’t.
Sheriff Scott Israel (ah, geez, really? That had to be his name?) and fast friends. Hmm, may have found the problem.
Broward Co Sheriff and buddies
In last weeks Parsha, in a commentary I read, the Rabbi quoted Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. He talked about how Moshe told the children Do not despise an Egyptian, because you were strangers in his land. (Deut. 23:8), but of the Amalekites Moshe commands, “Remember.” “Do not forget.” “Blot out the name.” In Exodus the Torah says that “G-d shall be at war with Amalek for all generations” (Ex. 17:16). The Rabbi raises the question “Why the difference”?
Short version, because the Egyptians had a reason for fearing the Israelites, they were growing to be many and to be powerful. They feared if they were ever attacked the Israelites would join with the invaders. But the Amalekites? They attacked the weak and stragglers that were of no threat.
When hate is rational, based on some fear or disapproval that – justified or not – has some logic to it, then it can be reasoned with and brought to an end. But unconditional, irrational hatred cannot be reasoned with. There is nothing one can do to address it and end it. It persists.
I would maintain that the anti-gun leftists, the Soros and Bloomburg groups are Amalekites. They will NEVER be satisfied with compromise on a right. They will just keep coming back and demanding more. No matter how many innocent people have to die they will just keep pushing the lie. No matter if they tarnish reputations, ruin lives or enable tyranny, they do not care because that is their goal. They hate the idea of self-defense, freedom, liberty so much they will tell any lie, allow any number of people to die needlessly to further their agenda. Blind hatred that cannot be reasoned with or bargained with. Nor should we try.
So what is your reputation worth? To the 2nd Amendment people who have dealt with this scam, whoever is behind it, their reputation matters. But they are willing to put it on the line to get the word out to warn others and protect them from it. To the Sheriff who was apparently in full virtue signaling, gun control mode who spent his time at the cnn #FakeNews townhall attacking the NRA and it’s representative, it is hollow, falsely built up reputation. He seeks to enhance his by doing nothing of value and causing harm. He knew at the time his deputies were outside the building as the children were being killed. Unless he is dumb as a box of rocks, it should have crossed his mind had a teacher been armed perhaps the carnage could have been lessened. None of that mattered. Blind unreasoning hatred. His reputation is dust, may the wind soon blow it away.
Jews. Guns. No compromise. No surrender.
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