The truth about Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib that will shock Americans
Anti-Semitism in 2019: A Year in Review – Part 1
When my first book on the topic came out in 2007, I received a lot of feedback from skeptics telling me that things couldn’t possibly get “that bad” for the Jewish people. I will resist the temptation to say “I told you so”, simply because I would much rather stand corrected and be wrong, but as most of the world has now seen, it is not the case. In fact, it could be argued that things are even worse than I predicted when I started my research in 1999. Part of me is irate, part of me is concerned and part of me is not surprised.
I am irate because, after 2,000 years of antisemitism culminating in the Holocaust, I didn’t think that men could be so cruel and evil to other men. I am concerned by the lack of interest and reaction from people who know better, including evangelicals, but I am not really surprised because biblically speaking, I know that at some point in the history of mankind, the whole world will go against the Jews. We are getting there faster than I thought possible and 2019 was a sad example of that.
January 2019: The Pervasiveness of BDS in American Politics!
BDS proponents are very inconsistent with what Israeli products they boycott. If a product or technology comes from Israel but doesn’t really create a huge inconvenience, BDS people will denounce and boycott with a lot of fanfare. On the other hand, if the technology is a big part of their life, like cell phones, computers, thumb drives, etc, hypocritically, there’s no boycott. Case in point, Mahmoud Abbas recent case of severe pneumonia successfully treated by an Israeli doctor.
Additionally, the very people who choose to boycott Israel will then turn a blind eye on a myriad of countries and/or entities that are blatant human rights abusers and violators such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Gaza, and others. BDS proponents are not interested in facts. If they were, they would actually support Israel. This in no means is an attempt at exonerating Israel from any responsibilities in the Middle East crisis, but a genuine desire for balance and fairness and an unbiased approach to the issue. Instead, we see how pervasive the BDS movement has become in the last few years, and how widespread it has developed across all segments of the population, and particularly, how it has started to infuse the fabric of the US government. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the UN has looked at Israel through the biased lens of the Palestinian narrative, fueled by a postmodern approach to truth and social justice. More resolutions have been passed against Israel than any other country combined that are UN members, and this by a long shot.
February 2019: Not Exactly “A Pope for All Seasons!”
The Pope just co-signed a document with Al Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb (once named “the most influential Muslim in the world”), titled “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together“. Ecumenically speaking, the document is a dream come true for mankind, and many have described it as a “historical breakthrough“. I would venture to say that it might be a “biblical breakthrough,” but not necessarily for the same reasons. The document says of God “He is the Creator who has formed us with His divine wisdom and has granted us the gift of life to protect it. It is a gift that no one has the right to take away, threaten or manipulate to suit oneself. Indeed, everyone must safeguard this gift of life from its beginning up to its natural end. We, therefore, condemn all those practices that are a threat to life such as genocide, acts of terrorism, forced displacement, human trafficking, abortion, and euthanasia.” The Pope might be thinking that because God created all men equally (a biblical view that I share with him), Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb shares his views, but just because the Grand Imam signed the document doesn’t mean that he will uphold it. Here we see that the Pope is taking a pluralistic position demanding that all men respect one another regardless of their beliefs since “The pluralism and the diversity of religions, color, sex, race, and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings. The proverbial roads that all lead to Rome are no longer sufficient, now they all need to also lead to God. The same god for Roman Catholics and Muslims, that is!
March 2019: The Greedy Jew is Alive and Well!
To understand the extent of the “Greedy Jew” canard, we must look at a recent incident that took place in Aalst, Belgium during a yearly street carnival dating back to the Middle Ages. It includes parading floats with music on various themes. This year’s float from the group Vismooi’ln was titled “Sabbath Year 2019”, which according to the builders of the float was decided based on the fact that they might have to take a break from the Carnival in 2020 because of its rising cost. What followed was outrageously anti-Semitic. The front of the float included two giant caricatures of orthodox Jews with streimels (Jewish fur hats) on their heads, side curls and long beards. The facial features included mean looks and large crooked noses (another anti-Semitic stereotype.) Adding insult to injury, the two giant puppets were standing, surrounded by bags of money at their feet and money coming out of their coat pockets (yet another anti-Semitic stereotype.) There were also over a dozen people dressed up as Orthodox Jews, gyrating on the second float with a very apparent lack of respect. Once again, and this time around the world, the bystanders are quickly becoming co-perpetrators in a myriad of anti-Semitic acts because, in 2019, anti-Semitism has become the new normal.
April 2019: The fire at Notre-Dame didn’t have to be a terrorist attack!
First, they came for the Jews… Then they came for the Christians!
Many French Catholic churches have been desecrated and even set on fire in the last year. In some cases, people even get in to defecate on the premises. Both Germany and France have reported that crimes against Christian churches have increased since Muslim migrants became part of the demographics. France alone saw over 1,300 attacks against Christian churches and facilities in 2018 (almost 900 of them being fires.) These attacks, outside of a few coming from deranged citizens of France, didn’t come from the French people, they didn’t come from the Jewish community (as anti-Jesus as a Jewish person might be), but they mostly came from people who ideologically hate Christianity, the indoctrinated radical Muslims. They are the first victims of the hate that has been injected in their DNA for decades. We might never really know the source of the Notre-Dame fire, but the situation is such in France and much of Western Europe, that at least, it makes it possible for one to speculate and leave the door open for a terrorist attack. The soil is fertile to allow more hatred to grow and choke Christianity and Western Civilization. As a matter of fact, ISIS, who didn’t claim responsibility for the fire, threatened to start another one to finish the job. They were not involved, but they were quick to rejoice and post photos of the burning structure on social media with the caption: “It’s time to say goodbye to your oratory polytheism.” Notre-Dame’s fire didn’t have to be a terrorist attack to draw the attention of those who promote Christianity and Western values. There is a track record of the destruction of Christianity in Europe that has existed for a while now. Lovers of freedom and democracy ought to be really concerned.
May 2019: Who Cares about the Holocaust Anymore?
This year more than ever we need to remember what took place in Nazi Germany almost 80 years ago:
• At a time when Israel is falsely accused of ethnic cleansing in their very own land, we must remember the days when Jews were almost eradicated from the face of the earth.
• At a time when it is becoming more and more dangerous to be Jewish anywhere in the world (except Israel), we must remember those who died simply because they were Jewish.
• At a time when worshipping in a synagogue could end in a lethal terror attack, we must remember the victims of Pittsburgh and San Diego and all other houses of worship around the globe.
• At a time when the world is pushing for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel, we must remember that it already took place during the November 1938 Kristallnacht and that there is nothing new under the sun.
• At a time when the US Congress has been infiltrated with a new generation of anti-Semitic representatives, we must remember when Jewish people didn’t have a voice in government.
• At a time when a mainstream US newspaper publishes yet another virulently anti-Semitic cartoon, we must remember 2,000 years of anti-Jewish caricatures leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths.
• At a time when two-thirds of millennials do not know what Auschwitz is, we must remember the motto “NEVER AGAIN.”
• At a time when anti-Semitism is becoming the new normal around the world, we must remember that according to Edmund Burke, “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing.”
June 2019: The US Senate Antisemitism Resolution: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!
On June 13, 2019, a joint resolution was introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, and on June 14, it passed unanimously! The resolution is a short document that unequivocally denounces antisemitism. It comes less than three months after the House brought another resolution of the sort, but changed the wording at the last minute to speak of “bigotry of all kinds” instead of clearly denouncing antisemitism. This is a bold and necessary move in the right direction at a time in our history when global antisemitism is increasing exponentially on a daily basis. That resolution is definitely a move in the right direction. It uses words that cannot be misconstrued. The opening statement says ” Antisemitism is a unique form of prejudice stretching back millennia that attacks the equal humanity of the Jewish people.” It is indeed very unique and history’s longest-lasting hatred against one specific group of people. We need to take a close look at that bi-partisan resolution that was just passed unanimously. Indeed, we need to look at the good, the bad and the ugly! Let’s start with the ugly. What I think is very ugly, is the fact that we even have to pen such a resolution in 2019. How long will the Jewish people have to suffer unmerited persecution before the world wakes up to the reality of antisemitism? It is so despicable to have to come up with a resolution condemning antisemitism in all its forms, just a few months after a similar attempt was made, but watered down in its verbiage. It is pathetic that Senator Cruz would even have to list some of the myths that have been believed about the Jewish people. To be sure, I do not criticize Senator Cruz’ initiative, but rather the fact that he would even have to delineate what antisemitism has done over the last two millennia.
Part II will be published in the first week of January 2020.
What unites the Left more than its disdain for Trump?
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that America’s political landscape is suffering from the worst case of polarization in its history. The amount of hatred for President Trump currently displayed by his opponents is mind-boggling. Republicans and Democrats used to be somewhat cordial even when disagreeing. They even found ways to advance and promote the United States in a bi-partisan way. Everything seems to indicate that these days are gone. Yet, there is something else that unites the Left even more than their disdain for Trump, it is their hatred for Israel and the Jewish people. It doesn’t always appear to be that bad, but under a thin veneer of social justice and multiculturalism, antisemitism is quickly identified.
One of the most asked questions, when I speak around the United States, has to do with the American Jewish community’s apparent support of the Leftist agenda. With a puzzled look on their faces, people often ask me to explain why so many Jewish people vote Democrat. I must say that as a Jew, I don’t categorize myself as either a Democrat or a Republican. Yet, I would tend to be very conservative. This being said, I could have voted for a Democrat like JFK back in the days, but Democrats of yesteryear are a far cry from today’s Left.
So what makes Jewish people in America vote Democrat? First, the Republican party often appears to be the party of “Right-wing bigots” or “white supremacists.” It is often thought to be a party that aligns itself with the political agenda of Nazi Germany, and we all know how that played out for 6,000,000 Jews. Incidentally, the Nazi Party or “The National Socialist German Workers’ Party” had “Socialist” in its name. To this day, its adherence to a Socialist agenda is widely debated. Hitler might have used the word “Socialist” to attract people to a movement that would end-up becoming a totalitarian, genocidal party closer to Fascism than Socialism. Instead of looking at what we call a political spectrum with moderate in the center of Left and Right, we need to consider a full circle with Left and Right getting closer together the further they move away from the moderate center. Eventually, they meet on the other end of that circle. Let’s face it, extreme Right and extreme Left promote a lot of the same agendas.
Another reason why Jews vote Democrat is that the more liberal agenda of the Democrats appeals to the Jewish community at large–at the very least to the 85%+ who are not religious. The issue is that to the non-religious Jews, social justice is more important than Israel, Jewish identity or even Jewish survival. Jewish identity used to be connected to a feeling of belonging to Israel one way or another. Support for Israel was much stronger from American Jews a couple of decades ago. It appears that the non-religious Jewish community finds more solace in supporting any sort of social justice agenda rather than supporting Israel. In the process, they seem to ignore–willfully or not–that the Left is anti-Israel, period! Consider the following:
• Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren recently said she will “reverse President Trump’s policy decisions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to restore aid to the Palestinians, resuming support for the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees and inviting a Palestinian envoy back to Washington.” She completely ignored the way that the Palestinian leadership goes about things ie: Rocket launching out of Gaza and other acts of terrorism.
• The liberal Jewish organization J Street met recently for its eighth annual conference where they clearly pushed the idea that the USA should withhold aid to Israel to promote peace in the Middle East. Many of the current Democratic candidates for 2020 were present and in support of that move. As JTA reported J Street president Ben-Ami said “assistance to Israel could be checked against, for instance, the Arms Export Control Act, which requires U.S. arms sales to be used strictly for self-defense.” Well, is there still any doubt–at least in the minds of people of goodwill– that Israel is always acting in self-defense, only retaliating because of acts of terrorism, but never initiating acts of terror?
• Bernie Sanders (a Jew) declared that he would rather have some of the money the USA gives to Israel be re-routed to Gaza. He said, “My solution is, to Israel, if you want military aid you’re going to have to fundamentally change your relationship to the people of Gaza,” he said. “I would say that some of the $3.8 billion should go right now to humanitarian aid in Gaza.” What for, Mr. Sanders? More rockets, more tunnels or more money to reward the families of homicide bombers? Incidentally, for reasons that totally escape me, Muslim feminist activist Linda Sarsour has become Sanders’ campaign surrogate. Somebody needs to explain to her that the words “Muslim” and “Feminist” are oxymoronic at best unless she is a trojan horse slowly making her way into the American political landscape. Consider the concept of taqiyya where it is OK for a Muslim to lie to “gain the upper-hand over an enemy.” This obviously does not mean that all Muslims are deceivers, but rather, that some in powerful positions have agendas that are unethical and as a result, make a bad name for the rest of the Muslim community.
A lot more could be said to make a case against the Left’s antisemitic agenda. Overwhelming growing support for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) against Israel for “occupation” and “colonization” of “Palestine” is a recurring problem based on hearsay. Campus indoctrination of our youth against Israel, known as “Campus Intifada” is also going rampant. Are we becoming responsible for raising a new generation of Jew-haters?
At the end of the day, the Leftist antisemitic agenda–albeit not always physically violent–encourages those on the fringe of society to act against Jewish people in America and the rest of the world. Physical harm resulting in death is now a recurring very alarming theme for the Jewish global community. America has long been the friend of Israel, based on our Judeo/Christian common heritage. Biblically speaking, Israel remains in God’s program and will never be destroyed (Jeremiah 31:35-37), but too many on the Left have little regard for God or His Word. While it is not always a black and white proposition, I still think that it is time for American Jews to consider moving away from the party that wants them dead and join the party that understands Israel’s right to exist in her ancestral biblical land.
Can We Really Co-Exist Today?
Many people have been exposed to the bumper sticker that says COEXIST using symbols of various world religions and worldviews to spell out the word. The letter “c” is a crescent moon representing Islam. The letter “o” is the peace symbol. The letter “e” is a male/female symbol. The letter “x” is the Star of David representing Judaism. The letter “i” is a pagan/Wiccan symbol. The letter “s” is a Chinese yin-yang symbol, and the letter “t” is a cross representing Christianity. The implied message is that no matter what or who we believe in or even if we don’t believe in anything, we should be able to co-exist. Philosophically, it has merit and as humans, we ought to be able to co-exist on our shared planet. In a sense, we are co-existing by virtue of existing and sharing the real estate that earth provides for us. But maybe our co-existing stops at that level, and maybe, just maybe, this is not such a bad idea!
Co-existence requires tolerance, respect and compassion from all parties. These virtues are very biblical, even when people failed to make that connection. Outside of defending ourselves from our enemies, the Bible teaches us to respect our fellow men. The very fact that over the centuries people have twisted the Scriptures to justify their actions doesn’t make the biblical record into a manifesto justifying a destructive agenda.
Scripture tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second one is to love one another, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Yeshua even took it one step higher, saying that we are even to love our enemies. In Yeshua, we see the example of obeying the authorities, overcoming evil with good and standing for justice and healing for the helpless. These strong ethics have long been a strong foundation for Western civilization, even though the freedoms they have rested on have more recently been eroding.
Now, it seems that the group that is targeted the most is the Jewish people. To a degree, we are targeted by all the letters of the Coexist acronym; radical Islamists, liberals, LGBTQ, atheists and even some Christians. While each of these groups can and have displayed anti-Jewish sentiment, the most lethal is from Islam. People continue to be scared of saying it like it is, but the vast majority of the recent deaths in the Jewish communities of the world are from people who at the very least call themselves Muslims.
How do we co-exist when one party worships death and the other party values and respects life? It is literally impossible unless the meaning of co-existence becomes redefined, which is exactly what radical Islam is trying to do. If tolerance becomes a one-way street, we are then forced into tolerating an ideology that is foreign to western values. In essence, we are tolerating the intolerant, and that leads nowhere but down the spiral of civilizational demise. So, no, I don’t believe we can co-exist unless we share similar values.
When I moved to the United States from France in the mid-1980s, I was looking forward to integrating into the American way of life and American culture and customs. I eventually became an American citizen, even though in the privacy of my own home, I enjoy French food, music, movies, literature, customs and language. I can c0-exist in America as a French expat, even though I am legally American now. My co-existence is based on the respect of others and the price I place on human life and dignity (all of them biblical values by the way.)
When I say that we cannot co-exist, some will quickly succumb to the temptation of labeling me a racist. That’s inevitable, but that is also inaccurate. The only group that I believe we can not co-exist with is radical Islam, and they have proved over and over that they don’t play well with others. But, please don’t call an Islamophobe a racist, because ISLAM IS NOT A RACE! Islam is an ideology that includes a religion among other things. There are Muslims all over the world, and their ethnic origins have nothing to do with their indoctrination or lack of. I also do not want my statement to be seen as an invitation to exclude, expel or exterminate. This was done to my people in the 1930s and 1940s, and we know it didn’t end well. We just need to be more careful about what we allow people to get away with.
I am greatly concerned about the lack of discernment that our world is showing. I am not even speaking of biblical discernment here, but simply of the ability to detect if people mean what they say and say what they mean. If Islam is indeed the religion of peace, where are the millions of “moderate’ Muslims when a voice needs to be heard to fight anti-Semitism? Radical Islam has given other Muslims a bad rep, but that could easily be rectified if the “other Muslims” would speak up against the abusers. I just don’t see it happening except in a very few cases, and I mean a handful!
To quote a Russian proverb that was made famous in English by Ronald Reagan, “Trust, but verify!” I want to play well with others and I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. Forgive me for checking their intentions. I want to co-exist, but I am not sure we really can anymore, at least not in the pure sense of the term.
History can be offensive, but it shouldn’t be revised!
For as long as man has existed, history has continually been written and has become the ever-growing foundation for our civilization. The ink used to pen the annals of history can be blood, sweat or tears or a combination of any of the three. The important aspect of history is a simple one; it happened at some point in time and it will remain anchored on the timeline of humankind at that very same place until the end of days. So, why is it that people try desperately to re-write, adapt, alter or even completely erase events of the past?
In surveying the last 2,000 years of post-biblical history, it is not difficult to find events that beyond the shadow of a doubt, show the severe depravity of man. The many documented wars within and between countries are some obvious examples. Additionally, many other tragedies have been added to the list. Genocides and ethnic cleansings abound. A very short list would include the Native American Genocide (the 1500s- 20th Century), Armenia (1915), Cambodia (1975), Rwanda (1990), Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992-1995), not to mention the Holocaust (1930s-1940s). Then there is slavery in America and Isalm’s concept of “dhimmitude” when a non-Muslim is tolerated and protected when he/she pays a tax in a Muslim country as a “dhimmi.” Unfortunately, almost every example cited above had something to do with religious beliefs and differences in one way or another.
None of the few tragic events of history that I just listed are denied by either side. Native Americans were massacred by pioneers over a period of time. Obviously, not all pioneers were killers and not all natives were killed, but within reason, the numbers are in, and nobody denies the veracity of these events. Nobody denies the Armenian Genocide. Nobody denies the ethnic cleansing that took place in Bosnia. Are people upset? They have the right to be! Are people ashamed? They should be! But nobody in their right mind will try to change the narrative in order to appease either side. So, why is there another set of rules for the Holocaust?
Germans are ashamed of the Holocaust. They have paid billions in reparation and restitution and continue to pay. Jews have moved on to rebuild but can never forget. Why are people offended by the Holocaust? Even worse, those who are offended are often people that had no connection to the catastrophe. They have no Jewish relatives and many were not even born when the tragedy occurred. So, for instance, when people in the United Kingdom say that the Holocaust isn’t taught in school because it is offensive to some. Who do they mean? Some are afraid that the topic might trigger an anti-Semitic backlash in the classroom from Muslim students. Most European countries have laws against Holocaust denial with various levels of monetary fines and imprisonment. Tragically, the United Kingdom is not of them.
Occasionally, someone will come on the scene and work really hard at trying to make a case debunking the Holocaust, like in the trial between Debra Lipstadt (Holocaust Historian) and David Irving (Holocaust Denier.) For the most part, the Western world has not denied the Holocaust or any other genocide, but things are changing. I guess we could expect anti-Semites in America, being from the left, the right or political Islam, to try to rewrite history or water it down. We cannot stop them, and as long as it is properly taught in our schools, we should be fine. Well, I guess there is no guarantee of that either!
In early July, about one year after he made a statement about the Holocaust, a Florida school principal was let go. He had emailed a student’s mother stating:” I can’t say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event because I am not in a position to do so as a school district employee.” Let’s get something straight here. We are not arguing about Jewish casualties being exactly 6,000,000, a little more or a little less. We are not arguing about the exact number of Death Camps. We are not even arguing about the exact involvement of perpetrators versus by-standers and if they are equally accountable. We are arguing the validity of the entire “Final Solution to the Jewish question” from 1938-45. The principal also said that “not everyone believes that the Holocaust happened.” What a shame that an educator responsible for a whole body of students would be such a coward. Eventually, he was let go, and while some headlines mentioned that he was fired, he simply was “reassigned” to another district position. If I didn’t know better, it would almost sound like a promotion! Someone who doubts that the Holocaust ever happened shouldn’t hold a position in our educational system, period!
Currently, anti-Semitism is lurking at almost every corner across the planet. BDS is working hard to demonize Israel. We now have several members of congress who are openly anti-Semitic. The last thing we need is for the Holocaust to be altered or taught as a possible myth in our school system. When do you stop when you start re-writing history?
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