On October 21, 2013, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published a new report titled: The Top Ten anti-Israel Groups in the US, in which it identified the most virulent of antisemitic organizations in America. While I do not always endorse the ADL’s methods and/or tone in their reporting, or even some of their conclusions, I do find their research always very useful.
Archives for October 2013
Holocaust Deniers are Gaining Momentum!
It was only seventy years ago that my Jewish paternal grandfather who fought in the Great War of 1914-1918 as a French soldier was asked to bring his bicycle and his radio to the local police station. It was only seventy years ago that my mother was forced to wear a yellow star on all of her garments when she left her house. It was only seventy years ago that the Gestapo snatched her dad from under her eyes in the summer of 1942 to send him to Auschwitz where he perished with the rest of the 6,000,000.
The Holocaust left an indelible stain on the Jewish psyche and much baggage on a large cross-section of the global community. It cannot be forgotten, it cannot be avoided, and yet if we are honest with ourselves, it cannot really be explained.
As if the numbers were not horrendous enough, a recent series of documents released by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) after years of further research showed that original death estimates were way off.
How can the horrors of the Holocaust be any worse than what had been gathered for the last seventy years? The new findings are absolutely mind boggling as the team of researchers just reported:
“There were more than 42,500 Nazi ghettos and camps throughout Europe from 1933 to 1945.
We know that the Holocaust is far from being a myth, yet we might not be so far from it becoming a myth. Wake up people!
* These new numbers include all people not just the Jewish people.
Are Israeli Children the New Obstacle to Peace in the Middle East?
The Middle East conflict continues to be punctuated by terrorist attacks, unilateral demands on Israel and the rise and fall of various settlements. Few politicians or diplomats have any hope of the Oslo Accords being resurrected, let alone amount to any progress in the direction of a solid peace agreement.
This doesn’t stop worldwide antisemitic factions from pointing the finger at the perennial Jewish “perpetrators” and feeling “Oh-so-sorry” for the Palestinian “victims”. The message from liberals remains the same:” If only Israel would put down their weapons, we would see peace!”
Israel has been painted as the threat for so long that no longer do we need to see facts to believe reports from the media or the United Nations. The “displaced, abused and underprivileged Palestinians” continue to fight for their freedom against the “oppressor”. And rightfully so the world tells us!
While I agree that the situation in the “disputed territories” is less than ideal, most people in the West have a preconceived notion that Palestinians live in huts, tents and slums, as they constantly get evicted from their homes. THIS IS SO FAR FROM THE TRUTH! Gaza has malls, hotels and restaurants that rival many worldwide urban areas.
So the saga continues as the evening news report of more clashes between IDF soldiers bent on hurting Arabs and innocent Palestinian victims caught in the fire. Many will say that this justifies the violence, comparing the Middle East conflict to the South African Apartheid of yesteryear. Others compare the Palestinian plight to the Civil Rights Movement in America as documented–albeit falsely– in the 2010 movie Little Town of Bethlehem. Of course, evangelicals have their word to say in the matter and so, under the guise of reconciliation, a one-sided “Christian” conference takes place in the Holy Land every couple of years under the name of Christ at the Checkpoint.
While I strongly disagree with any form of violence, I understand that once somebody feels cheated, abused and victimized, they might resort to an armed struggle, violence and even killings. This is where the Palestinians are today, convinced that they belong in the land of Eretz Yisrael that once was the land of their forefathers. Of course the fact that most of the world is helping them to promote a re-writing of history is very helpful to their cause (even though it only became popular through the crafty dealings of Yassir Arafat in the 60s).
So the Palestinians believe that they are “freedom fighters” and so they go against IDF soldiers. But recently, it was also in the West Bank town of Psagot that little Noam Glick was shot in the neck. The question I would like to ask to those who support the “Palestinian victim syndrome” is this: Why would a Palestinian sniper shoot a nine-year old Israeli girl playing in her backyard?
Where is the danger there? What is the rationale for shooting an innocent child? Of course, the Palestinian Authority not only refused to condemn the act but instead decided to praise the shooter.
How in the world is anybody supposed to negotiate peace with people that not only kill innocent children but also receive praise from their leaders for doing so? This is the same Mahmoud Abbas who keeps garnering the world’s attention and compassion for his people.
There are no excuses for such an act NO MATTER WHICH WAY YOU LOOK AT IT!
If I didn’t believe in God and wasn’t a follower of Yeshua (Jesus), I would see absolutely no hope for the Middle East and the whole world for that matter. But in spite of the continuous hatred displayed against my people, in spite of the constant role reversals between the victims and the perpetrators, and the numerous killings, I HAVE HOPE!
My hope doesn’t rest in a fallen world rebelling against God but it rests in the very God that the fallen world is rebelling against. If Israeli children have become the new obstacles to peace in the Middle East and if the “increasingly-not-so” civilized world remains silent about such an act, I am brought down to my knees even more so, and I am compelled to pray for both Israelis and Palestinian to meet the Jewish Messiah without whom they will never be able to reconcile.
Israeli children are not an obstacle to peace in the Middle East anymore than Israel is. Palestinian blindness and generational indoctrination against the Jews IS THE OBSTACLE.
The Two Roads to our Destruction: Appeasement and Enablement!
It has now become pretty obvious to the civilized world that the “Arab Spring” has not accomplished the somewhat Utopian emancipation expected by the Muslim world. Shortly after the people’s revolts in various countries such as Lybia, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia and others, we found out that the Muslim Brotherhood, Al- Qaeda or subsidiaries of either had taken over.
Just days after Lybian dictator Colonel Gaddafi was killed, the Al-Qaeda flag was flying high in Lybia. Egypt ousted Mubarak to quickly find itself under the Qur’anic grip of Mohammed Morsi. Even though Morsi was recently deposed and the Muslim Brotherhood banned from all operations, it is very likely that underground operations from Islamists will only increase in intensity and frequency. The Syrian civil war is no exception. Assad desperate attempt at retaining or regaining power has seen the loss of so many innocent lives. Yet we see another dictator fighting rebels who are nothing but Al-Qaeda operatives. Islam continues to advance and erode the very foundation of Western civilization.
Islam was last officially defeated in Europe 150 years ago at the Battle of Vienna that took place on September 11, 1863. It is the date that most serious historians agree upon as the start of the decline of the Ottoman Empire. But if one knows anything about Islam, it is clear that their only viable outcome is Islamic world domination under a global caliphate. For that goal to be attained, the West, Christianity and the Jews must be eradicated, end of story! The Qur’an is clear about Islam’s superiority over “all other religions” (Suras 61:9, 48:28, 9:3) as we can read from this translation (approved by Saudi Arabia):
61:9 He it is Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islamic monotheism) to make it victorious over all (other) religions even though the Mushrikûn (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah and His Messenger Muhammad) hate (it). (Hilali and Khan, The Noble Qur’an, Riyadh: Darussalam, 1996).
So how much involvement should the West have in the Middle East blood bath towards hegemony? How thin do the United States want to spread themselves militarily before we become a totally indefensible country, or are we already there? How do we go about stopping this ideology of destruction from taking deeper root in the Western soil of democracy and tolerance? Two things have to stop in order for Islamism to fail:
• APPEASEMENT: For one thing, we cannot afford to continue appeasing countries like Iran. Diplomacy didn’t work with Hitler. Well, at least not for the Allies and certainly not for the Jewish people. Diplomacy WILL NOT work with Iran. Benjamin Netanyahu couldn’t have been clearer in his recent address to UN when he said:
36 “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the Lord, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.”
37 Thus says the Lord, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the Lord.