It seems like ages since Ariel Sharon slipped into a coma from which he never returned, much less as a political force in this earthly world. Yet, perhaps he was there after all, resting with the knowledge that he was a man of his times, who had shaped and reshaped history.
He was a complex human being who produced seemingly inconsistent policies. By being the architect of Israel’s settlement expansion in the West Bank and Gaza, despite Palestinian and international protests, he appeared to be forever at odds with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, and thus an opponent of peaceful coexistence between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and lasting peace in the Middle East. Henry A. Kissinger noted some years ago: “For most of his career, Sharon’s strategic goal was the incorporation of the West Bank into Israel by a settlement policy designed to prevent Palestinian self-government over significant contiguous territory.”
However, he came seemingly full circle and withdrew from Gaza and removed Jewish settlers from both Gaza and the West Bank, and returned their lands to the Palestinians. Like the hard-liner Richard Nixon who opposed communists and their ideology throughout his life, yet opened the door to China, Sharon was an enigma. Both were skilled chess players; and perhaps Sharon supported expansive settlements merely as a bargaining chip that would be discarded when it served the interests of peace, or no longer had any strategic value.
He seemed to be a pragmatist who concluded that it was in Israel’s best interests to defend only those lands that were militarily and politically defensible, and sacrifice the rest, and to jettison the settlers who had served as pawns in a larger chess game. By zigging and then zagging, and by being a key player in the establishment of the right-wing Likud Party and then breaking from it to found the centrist Kadima Party, Sharon proved to be an able and skillful politician right up to the end of his career.
He fought in a Jewish militia opposed to British control; and he served in Israel’s war of independence with the Arab states and in subsequent wars, and was considered a war hero by many Israelis. He was wounded in a battle to break the siege of Jerusalem and carried its effects all of his life, including near blindness in one eye; and he was grazed by a bullet in the head during a battle many years later.
He visited the Temple Mount to emphasize Israel’s claim of sovereignty, outraging Muslims and provoking widespread violence; and he is blamed for the ruthless killing and suffering of countless Palestinians. Yet, his strength was being more in tune with Israeli public opinion than anyone else. Ghazi al Saadi, a Palestinian commentator, described Sharon as “the first Israeli leader who stopped claiming Israel had a right to all of the Palestinians’ land.” He added: “A live Sharon is better for the Palestinians now, despite all the crimes he has committed against us.”
Like Yitzhak Rabin before him, whose mantle he assumed, history will judge Sharon’s accomplishments and speculate as to what a difference his continued leadership might have meant in the future. It is certain, however, that Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu is no Ariel Sharon, nor does he hold a candle to Rabin. Indeed, Rabin’s widow Leah—who was described by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former Prime Minister Shimon Peres as a “lioness”—believed it was the climate of hate that Netanyahu created during the election campaign of 1995, which laid the groundwork for a Jew to assassinate her husband. She never forgave Netanyahu and detested him.[2]
The fact that Netanyahu attained his coveted goal of leading Israel again, after his scandal-ridden previous attempt at it, may have changed the region’s history forever. He was the nemesis of both Rabin and Sharon, two giants; and his return from political oblivion may still be marked by untold chaos at a time when political and military adventurism and demagoguery are the last things that are needed from the leader of Israel.
It was a fateful day, however, when a born-again Christian and a Jew, one slim and fit and the other decidedly rotund, shared a helicopter ride; and Sharon gave then-Texas Governor George W. Bush a tour over the Israeli-occupied territories. On that day and in the days that followed, a bond of mutual respect emerged between Bush and Sharon that would survive the roller coaster of international politics. They were a political odd couple who seemed to instinctively trust each other at a time in history when trust was a rare currency vis-à-vis the seemingly intractable problems of the Middle East.
Trust has been a missing ingredient during much of the political life of Netanyahu, who has been perceived as being untrustworthy by countless Israelis and leaders of other nations. Indeed, he has served as a foil against which Sharon’s accomplishments may be viewed and measured. Sharon emerged as the right leader for Israel at the right time, just as Rabin had done before him. Netanyahu’s presence on Israel’s political scene makes Sharon’s greatness and that of Rabin stand out in bold relief by comparison.
Sharon’s stroke and coma deprived the Bush administration of its closest working partner in the Middle East. The clock began ticking in the region again; and there have been reports that Israel will attack Iran’s nuclear installations. I am forever reminded of what a prominent American (who is a Jew and a strong supporter of Israel) told me several years ago: “I have long thought that Israel will not make it, if only because of what are cavalierly called WMD [weapons of mass destruction] and its very tight geographical compression. All else is immaterial, including the Palestinians, or us, or the nature of Israel’s [government].”
I was stunned by this person’s words, and I have reflected on them many times since. Henry Kissinger added several years ago: “Far too much of the debate within the Palestinian camp has been over whether Israel should be destroyed immediately by permanent confrontation or in stages in which occasional negotiations serve as periodic armistices.” I do not subscribe to the notion that anything is inevitable or “written.” However, it is courageous and visionary men like Rabin and Sharon who have guided Israel through perilous times, when lesser men would have foundered.
Netanyahu campaigned on a hard-line platform that would grant to a new Palestinian state only a fraction of West Bank land; and effectively, he has brought the peace process to a screeching halt because he opposes such a state entirely, whether he articulates it or not. When Likud suffered a defeat in the Israeli elections, with Netanyahu at its helm, he characteristically tried to deflect blame from himself by claiming that a comatose Ariel Sharon was responsible for the political “crash.”
The Wall Street Journal put it mildly in an editorial: “[Netanyahu’s] attempt to blame a dying and helpless Mr. Sharon for Likud’s drubbing . . . was not a class act.” Indeed, it was tasteless, opportunistic, and among the reasons why so many people view Netanyahu as being pathetic and demonic—but it was certainly consistent with his treatment of both Rabin and Sharon.
Most Israelis believe at least one of two long-time dreams is unattainable; namely, the idea of a “Greater Israel,” and of a negotiated peace with the Palestinians. Contrariwise, the Palestinians have steadfastly refused to repudiate their dream of a “greater Palestine,” stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, which—in the words of Yossi Klein Halevi, an Israeli journalist and writer—“would supplant and destroy the Jewish state.”
Halevi further opined: “The settlement movement ignored the moral corruption of occupation and the demographic threat to Israel’s identity as a Jewish and democratic state posed by the forcible absorption of several million Palestinians into Israeli society.” And he added: “Israel will almost certainly find itself without Greater Israel—and without peace. . . . Confronted with the possibility of a nuclear Iran committed to Israel’s destruction and with a terrorist state emerging in Gaza and the West Bank, Israelis need the sustenance of dreams.”
President Bush pledged to help create an independent Palestinian state before the end of his second term, which suffered a fatal blow with the loss of Sharon, and ended Sharon’s personal ambition to set Israel’s permanent borders too. The Times of the UK quoted one official as saying: “It [was] unbelievable. He was the Prime Minister. Nothing moved without going through him. Everything was connected to him and then he faded away,” the official said, with a click of his fingers.
Perhaps the return to business as usual showed the strength of Israel’s democracy and political system, which has been surprisingly stable; or maybe it was a sign that his stroke had not shaken the country to the same extent as the assassination of Rabin. Or maybe it was simply another reminder of how fame is fleeting, and the public’s attention span is short in Israel and other media-driven societies, especially in the age of 24-hour news cycles. Yet, Sharon is missed; that much is certain—and I never thought that I would write those words or feel this way.[3]
I disagreed with his settlement policies for many years, believing they were harmful to the settlers who trusted him because ultimately they would feel betrayed; and that such policies were unnecessarily confrontational and antagonistic to the Palestinians. However, I have missed “Arik,” and I know people in various parts of the world, Jews and non-Jews alike, feel the same way. He was a giant of Israeli politics. More than that, he was a lion—albeit a rotund one—God love him.
© 2014, Timothy D. Naegele
[1] Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). He practices law in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles with his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates, which specializes in Banking and Financial Institutions Law, Internet Law, Litigation and other matters (see www.naegele.com and http://www.naegele.com/naegele_resume.html). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from UCLA, as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He is a member of the District of Columbia and California bars. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g.,www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles), and can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com; see also Google search:Timothy D. Naegele
[2] See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/ (“Israel’s Senseless Killings And War With Iran”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/the-madness-of-benjamin-netanyahu/ (“The Madness Of Benjamin Netanyahu”) (see also the comments beneath both articles).
[3] See also http://world.time.com/2014/01/03/israel-wakes-up-to-ariel-sharon-as-former-prime-minister-nears-death/?iid=gs-main-lead (“Israel Wakes Up to Ariel Sharon as Former Prime Minister Nears Death”) and http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/01/ariel-sharon-war-of-independence-disengagement-settlements.html (“Ariel Sharon’s decisions shaped today’s Israel”) and http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/01/23/060123fa_fact_shavit (“THE GENERAL”); compare http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/03/ariel-sharon-final-mission-peace-israel (“Ariel Sharon’s final mission might well have been peace”) with http://mwcnews.net/focus/politics/35072-sharon.html (“The Guardian Laments Sharon”)
I am sorry for A Sharon’s death. May he rest in peace.
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Israel Is A Country That Has Lost Its Bearings, And Is In Search Of A Leader
Ben Caspit, a columnist and political analyst for Israeli newspapers, has written:
See http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/01/ariel-sharon-benjamin-netanyahu-leadership-crisis.html (emphasis added); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/the-madness-of-benjamin-netanyahu/ (“The Madness Of Benjamin Netanyahu“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-3480 (“The Campaign For Boycotts, Divestment And Sanctions Against Israel Is Turning Mainstream“); but see http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/1/ariel-sharon-israelpalestinepeaceprocess.html (Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator who currently heads the Middle East and North Africa program of the European Council on Foreign Relations: “Sharon didn’t embrace peace, he defeated it“) and http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/01/16/israeli-arab-mk-put-war-criminal-sharon-on-trial-even-if-he-is-dead/ (“Israeli Arab MK: ‘Put War Criminal Sharon on Trial, Even if He is Dead!’“) and http://www.arabnews.com/news/511766 (“Looting Palestine’s cultural heritage“) and http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/01/28/photo-presidents-brother-malik-obama-wears-kaffiyeh-declaring-that-muslims-will-destroy-israel/ (“PHOTO: President’s Brother Malik Obama Wears Kaffiyeh Declaring that Muslims Will Destroy Israel“) and http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/july_2014/34_think_u_s_support_for_israel_hurts_america_with_other_nations (“Most [American] voters want the United States to stay out of the latest flare-up between the Israelis and the Palestinians, with one-out-of-three who believe U.S. support for Israel hurts this country with other nations“)
Netanyahu has expanded the Israeli Apartheid—which is the moral equivalent of South Africa’s Apartheid—and oppressed the Palestinians from Day One; and he is a foe of any peaceful solution, now or at any time in the future.
He was hated by former Israeli Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Yitzhak Rabin—and especially by Rabin’s wife Leah, who blamed Netanyahu for her husband’s assassination. She saw “only doom for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process” with Netanyahu at Israel’s helm; and her views were prescient.
Until Netanyahu is gone, there is no chance of peace.
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Criticism Of Israel By Germany Is Verboten
Michael Freund has written an article—published in The New York Sun—which states:
See http://www.nysun.com/foreign/german-aide-in-demarche-at-sharon-funeral-echoes/88549/
With all due respect to Mr. Freund, the central thrust of this article is patently absurd. Next year, it will have been 70 years since the end of World War II and the defeat of Hitler’s Third Reich.
After what the Jews lived through during the Nazi Holocaust, they should be particularly sensitive to the plight of Palestinians, but many are not. As I have written:
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/the-madness-of-benjamin-netanyahu/
Indeed, it has been asked by a prominent American Jew about the treatment of Palestinians:
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-1825
A growing number of Jews and non-Jews in America and elsewhere in the world believe that Netanyahu and his ilk have been damaging the peace process by building more settlements. Such sentiments are not unique to the German foreign minister. Indeed, they undergird the efforts of Barack Obama and John Kerry to bring about a viable two-state solution, which Netanyahu has opposed consistently.
He was hated by former Israeli Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Yitzhak Rabin—and especially by Rabin’s wife Leah, who blamed Netanyahu for her husband’s assassination. She saw “only doom for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process” with Netanyahu at Israel’s helm; and her views were prescient.
Also, the funeral of Ariel Sharon brought together representatives of countries around the world; and it was a unique opportunity for them to discuss issues of importance, both publicly and privately. Surely, the German foreign minister was not alone in this regard.
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Israel’s Maginot Line?
The New York Times has reported:
See http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/world/middleeast/region-boiling-israel-takes-up-castle-strategy.html; see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maginot_Line (“Maginot Line”)
Will Israel’s “Castle Strategy” prove to be its Maginot Line of defenses—thought and hoped to be impregnable, but proven to be porous and strategically ineffective?
Time will tell.
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Just stumbled across your blog from the comment you left at the WSJ article on Sochi. I have to say I’m amazed at how on the one hand you denounce Putin as a killer dictator-for-life while at the same time producing a gushing obituary for Ariel Sharon! You evidently have been taken in by the nonsense that his token withdrawal of Israeli settlers from a few patches of stolen land, amounted to a serious policy for peace. But aside from that, have you forgotten his terror bombing of Beruit for several weeks in 1982 when clearly marked schools, hospitals were deliberately and mercilessly destroyed? An atrocity in which tens of thousands were killed? Can you imagine how the New York Times would treat a deceased gentile who had perpetrated the murders of tens of thousands of Israeli Jews? Do think he wouldn’t have been branded with the mark of Cain for the rest of his life and that every lurid detail of his crimes would be repeated endlessly?
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Thank you, Max, for your comments.
First, they are fair, well written and thoughtful.
Second, I respectfully beg to differ with the conclusion that my article above constitutes “a gushing obituary for Ariel Sharon!”
I despised Sharon for a very long time, blaming him for the settlements and countless atrocities. My “change of heart” came only after he withdrew from Gaza, forcing Israelis out at gunpoint if necessary; and he began a withdrawal from the West Bank.
It was these actions that I was saluting in my article. No one knows whether they constituted a “token withdrawal,” as you and others suggest, or the beginning of a broader policy shift. Regardless, they represented a significant policy change that I applauded, and endorse today.
Third, as recognized in my article above:
At no point do I even remotely suggest that Sharon was a saint. He was not. He was a very able military commander on behalf of Israel . . . and a “politician.”
Fourth, I began the article above when Sharon lapsed into a coma, from which he never returned. I reviewed it many times before he died, and before my article was published here. I might have changed it significantly, but I did not. My feelings about Sharon are summed up in the following words:
I had hope for Israel under Sharon . . .
Fifth, Russia’s dictator-for-life Putin is a brutal killer; and the world needs to recognize him as such.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden have chosen to do so, and they should be praised for their decisions.
For the American president or vice president to attend the Olympics in Sochi—where Putin has a dacha—would be the moral equivalent of attending Hitler’s Olympics in Berlin.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-3232 (“Obamas, Biden Boycott Killer Putin’s Winter Olympics In Russia”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-3627 (“Ukraine Is On the Verge Of War And Putin Is To Blame”) (see also the article itself, as well as the other comments beneath it)
Putin is Stalin’s heir; and Stalin was responsible for the deaths of more than 30 million men, women and children—his own countrymen—including millions during the collectivization of the Soviet farms in the 1930s. Also, as the Soviets moved through Germany at the end of World War II, they raped at least two million German women in what is now acknowledged as the largest case of mass rape in history.
Putin came to prominence as a KGB operative in East Germany—or the DDR, as it was known before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Erich Honecker’s government—which was one of the most repressive regimes in the Soviet Union’s orbit, or the Evil Empire.
Putin’s own repressive regime must be boycotted now. Indeed, it is laudable that neither Obama nor Biden are attending the Olympics in Sochi, which sends a strong message to the world.
Also, the world must never forget that Putin left the Olympic games in Beijing and traveled to the Georgian border, where he personally directed the Russian military assault against Georgia and the killing of Georgians.
This is only a small part of the atrocities that he has committed, which are discussed in my article about him and the comments beneath it that are cited above.
A colleague of mine in the U.S. Congress told me when Putin came to power that he was a “smoother” version of Stalin; and my friend’s words were prescient.
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The Campaign For Boycotts, Divestment And Sanctions Against Israel Is Turning Mainstream
[Demonstrators holding banners and chanting anti-Israeli slogans walk in Paris]
This is the conclusion of the UK’s Economist:
See http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21595948-israels-politicians-sound-rattled-campaign-isolate-their-country (“Israel’s politicians sound rattled by the campaign to isolate their country”) (emphasis added)
This is what the regime of Netanyahu and his lackeys has wrought, which was predictable . . . and may get decidedly worse.
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WORLD WAR III HAS BEGUN: JEWS ORDERED TO REGISTER IN EAST UKRAINE
As Russia’s brutal dictator-for-life Putin’s aggression spreads from Georgia to Crimea to East Ukraine and beyond, one knew that it would be merely a matter of time before Jews were targeted. And now it is happening.
USA Today has reported:
See http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/17/jews-ordered-to-register-in-east-ukraine/7816951/; see also http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4510688,00.html
Crimea and Ukraine must become Putin’s abyss, or far far worse. He is a malignancy that must be excoriated. He needs to share the fate of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, now.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-4467 (“THE END OF PUTIN IS DRAWING NEAR”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-4448 (“WORLD WAR III”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-4452 (“Decimating Putin: America’s Financial Neutron Bomb”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-4010 (“Putin Must Be Terminated”)
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Will Israel Survive?
Israel has lost its moral bearings under Netanyahu.
He has morphed into his ancestors’ Nazi oppressors. As the article above and the comments beneath it state emphatically, he is the wrong leader for Israel, now and in the future.
See also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/the-madness-of-benjamin-netanyahu/
(“The Madness Of Benjamin Netanyahu”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/ (“Israel’s Senseless Killings And War With Iran”) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2715466/Israeli-official-calls-concentration-camps-Gaza-conquest-entire-Gaza-Strip-annihilation-fighting-forces-supporters.html (“Israeli official calls for concentration camps in Gaza and ‘the conquest of the entire Gaza Strip, and annihilation of all fighting forces and their supporters’“) and http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sway-over-israel-on-gaza-at-a-low-1407979365 (“[T]he Gaza conflict—the third between Israel and Hamas in under six years—has persuaded [the Obama Administration] that Mr. Netanyahu and his national security team are both reckless and untrustworthy”)
There is no question that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe and elsewhere. Innocent Jews can be randomly kidnapped and killed anywhere in the world, and nothing can be done to stop it.
See, e.g., http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/We-are-looking-at-the-beginnings-of-a-Holocaust-369165 (“‘We are looking at the beginnings of a Holocaust'”—not just in Europe, but possibly worldwide for Jews) and http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/07/antisemitism-rise-europe-worst-since-nazis (“Antisemitism on rise across Europe ‘in worst times since the Nazis'”—”Experts say attacks go beyond Israel-Palestinian conflict as hate crimes strike fear into Jewish communities”) and http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140822/jewish-school-copenhagen-vandalised (“Jewish school in Copenhagen[, which ‘describes itself as the world’s second oldest still functioning Jewish school,’] vandalised”)
This is what Netanyahu has spawned.
Also, I am reminded of what a prominent American (who is a Jew and a strong supporter of Israel) told me a number of years ago:
My guess is that this person’s words will prove to be prophetic, and apocalyptically so—although I hope not—and that Netanyahu will have hastened this result. WMDs can come in many forms, such as deadly viruses.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-544 (“Why I Write And Say What I Do”)
Netanyahu: the face of pure evil—along with Putin, Mussolini, Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Muammar Gaddafi, and other dictators and tyrants.
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Is AIPAC Losing Influence? [Part 2]
According to congressional staffers, some members of Congress seemed eager to make up for their recent apostasy on the Iran negotiations. While Reid and his colleagues went to extraordinary lengths to fund the Iron Dome missile-defense system, the House leadership engaged in the same mission. The vote in the House came late on the night of Friday, August 1st—the last possible moment before the summer recess. The earlier resolutions that AIPAC had sponsored during the war had passed unanimously, with no record of individual votes, but on this vote the roll was called. (AIPAC sometimes asks congressional leaders to call the roll when a decisive victory seems likely.) “I think AIPAC thought this vote would be one hundred per cent,” Jim Moran, a Democrat from Virginia, said. It was close: out of four hundred and thirty-five members, only eight voted no. Moran, who has been in Congress since 1990, and is retiring this year, was one of four Democrats who voted against the resolution. As a longtime member of the Defense Appropriations Committee, he did not believe that there was any urgent need for the funding. “We have put about nine hundred million dollars into the Iron Dome,” he argued. “We know that there are many millions unexpended in Israel’s Iron Dome account. And Israel was to get three hundred and fifty-one million on October 1st, for Iron Dome.”
Beto O’Rourke, a freshman Democrat from El Paso, also voted against the funding. “I tried to find him on the floor, but I couldn’t,” Moran said. “I wanted him to switch his vote. Now, he might not have switched it anyway, because—as shocking as it may be—he’s in Congress solely to do what he considers to be the right thing. I’m afraid he may have a tough race in November.” The morning after the vote, O’Rourke e-mailed a local AIPAC activist, Stuart Schwartz, to explain his vote, according to a knowledgeable person. In his explanation, which he also posted on Facebook, he pointed out that he had voted for Iron Dome in the past, and had supported the funds that were scheduled to arrive in October. But, he wrote, “I could not in good conscience vote for borrowing $225 million more to send to Israel, without debate and without discussion, in the midst of a war that has cost more than a thousand civilian lives already, too many of them children.” Within hours, O’Rourke was flooded with e-mails, texts, and calls. The next day, the El Paso Times ran a front-page story with the headline “O’ROURKE VOTE DRAWS CRITICISM.” In the story, Stuart Schwartz, who is described as having donated a thousand dollars to O’Rourke’s previous campaign, commented that O’Rourke “chooses to side with the rocket launchers and terror tunnel builders.” A mass e-mail circulated, reading “The Following Is Shameful, El Paso Has an Anti-Israel Congressman. . . . Do Not Reëlect Beto O’Rourke.” At the bottom was the address of AIPAC’s Web site, and a snippet of text: “AIPAC is directly responsible for the overwhelming support this legislation received on the Hill. If you are not a member of AIPAC, I strongly recommend that you join. Every dollar helps fund this important work in Congress.”
The day that Congress passed the Iron Dome bills happened to be an especially deadly one in Gaza. In the city of Rafah, Israeli troops pursued Hamas fighters with such overwhelming force that about a hundred and fifty Palestinians were killed, many of them women and children. Israel’s critics in the region have been energized. Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian legislator, told me that Congress had sent a clear message by funding Iron Dome that day. “Congress was telling Israel, ‘You go ahead and kill, and we will fund it for you.’ ” She argued that Israelis had dominated American political discourse on the war, as they have for decades on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “They say, ‘The Palestinians are all terrorists, they are the people we don’t know, they are alien, foreign, strange—but Israelis are like us.’ Who shaped the presentation, in the U.S.? AIPAC, to a large degree.”
Yet the war has broad support in Israel. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, just six per cent of the Jewish population believes that the Israeli Army has used excessive force. Of those who expressed an opinion, almost half believe that the force has not been severe enough. The left, finding itself increasingly isolated, is deeply critical of AIPAC. Zeev Sternhell, a leading Israeli intellectual and an expert on European fascism, told me, “I consider AIPAC’s role to have been absolutely disastrous, because it prevents any possibility to move with the Palestinians. We cannot move without American intervention—but we are more or less free of American intervention. This is AIPAC’s job. So the present coalition has this sentiment of impunity.”
In the U.S., the war has created tense disagreement, dividing left and right, young and old. Congress showed no such uncertainty, which is a triumph for AIPAC. But the lobby also faces an inevitable question about the extent to which young liberals like O’Rourke represent the future. When I asked Dore Gold, an external adviser to the Netanyahu government, about AIPAC’s prospects, he spoke in determinedly upbeat tones, dismissing the Iran-sanctions episode. “A political loss does not necessarily mean that a political organization has reached its sunset years,” he said. “To the contrary, it can give added motivation for people who are concerned with the implications of Iran crossing the nuclear threshold.” Still, he said, “when issues become so partisan, it is harder for an organization like AIPAC. You have to fight that.” For decades, AIPAC has maintained a hugely successful model, creating widespread support from an unlikely base, and tapping into a seemingly endless wellspring of support from the American Jewish community. But bipartisanship is a relic now, and a generation of unquestioning adherents is aging. Like its embattled allies in Congress, AIPAC needs to reach constituents who represent the country as it will look in the coming decades.
At AIPAC’s policy conference last March, Olga Miranda, the president of S.E.I.U. Local 87, gazed out at the crowd that filled the darkened Washington Convention Center—a gathering she dubbed the “Jewish Super Bowl.” Large video screens displayed her image. A lively woman with long black hair and a commanding voice, Miranda proclaimed, “I am a union leader, I am Joaquin’s mother, I am one of nine children raised by a single mother, I am a Chicana—and I am AIPAC!” For years, she explained, her information about the Middle East had come from television, and she sympathized with the Palestinians, until one day she got a call from someone at AIPAC who asked her if she’d be interested in a trip to Israel. That trip changed her life, she said. Now she argues about Israel with her friends and colleagues. “See you on the picket lines!” she shouted.
“The face of pro-Israel activists has changed pretty dramatically,” David Victor, a former AIPAC president, told me. In the past eight years, AIPAC has reached out to Hispanics, African-Americans, and evangelical Christians, in the hope that greater diversity will translate into continued support in Congress. Victor pointed out that this year’s AIPAC conference was bigger than ever. In 2008, when he was president, eight thousand members attended; this year, there were fourteen thousand, including two hundred and sixty student-government presidents. “These are future opinion leaders,” he said.
Those opinion leaders face a difficult task when they return to campus. Many young American Jews believe that criticism is vital to Israel’s survival as a democratic state. Some are even helping to support a campaign known as B.D.S., for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, which is aimed at ending the occupation and recognizing the rights of Palestinian refugees and citizens. In June, the U.S. branch of the Presbyterian church voted to divest from three companies seen as profiting from the military occupation of the West Bank. (One was Caterpillar, the construction-equipment company, which Rachel Corrie’s parents had sued, unsuccessfully.) The church took care to affirm Israel’s right to exist and to disavow an endorsement of the B.D.S. movement. J Street, likewise, has said that B.D.S. can be “a convenient mantle for thinly disguised anti-Semitism.” But the movement persists, particularly on campuses and in left-wing circles.
Ironically, there is also a threat to AIPAC from the right. Many American conservatives were enraged by the perception that AIPAC had surrendered in the fight for Iran sanctions. Shortly after Menendez set aside his efforts to pass the bill, AIPAC issued a statement vowing to try again later. “They did that because there was an eruption from the other side,” a former Senate aide said. “ ‘How could you sell out the Republican caucus, when we were advocating exactly what Bibi Netanyahu was!’ ” Republicans were frustrated by the lobby’s refusal to move forward at the expense of Democrats, the aide said: “I know AIPAC has its commitment to bipartisanship. But what good is that commitment if in the end you don’t achieve your policy objective?”
For AIPAC’s most severe conservative critics, its attempts to occupy a diminishing sliver of middle ground are unacceptable. Recently, Sheldon Adelson, who funded AIPAC’s new office building a few years ago, has been increasing his support for the right-wing Zionist Organization of America. Mort Klein, the head of the Z.O.A., told me, “Adelson is not happy with AIPAC, clearly.” Several people affiliated with the right-wing Jewish movement told me that significant donors are talking about founding a new organization.
Caught between the increasingly right-leaning Israel and the increasingly fractious United States, AIPAC has little space to maneuver. Wittmann, the spokesman, said, “Our positions in support of the Oslo process and the two-state solution have generated criticism from some on the right, just as our stand for strong prospective Iran sanctions has spurred criticism from some on the left”—a statement of bipartisan intent, but also of the difficulty of contemporary politics. Recently, the lobby has begun another outreach effort, focussed on progressive Democrats. At the conference, Olga Miranda and Ann Lewis, a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Presidential campaign, spoke on a panel called “The Progressive Case for Israel.” Lewis told me that she has recently been involved in conversations with AIPAC staff and board members about finding ways to improve AIPAC’s connections with progressive Democrats. “They are exploring how to reach progressives, but they’re lost on this!” a leader in the pro-Israel community who is knowledgeable about the effort said. “They don’t know how to bridge the gap. People see AIPAC as representing issues that are anathema to them. It’s an enormous challenge.”
At the conference, the extent of the challenge was clear. Even Netanyahu seemed struck by the mood. At one point in his speech, he said, “I hope that the Palestinian leadership will stand with Israel and the United States on the right side of the moral divide, the side of peace, reconciliation, and hope.” The audience members responded with scant, listless applause. “You can clap,” the Prime Minister said.
See http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel
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Ben Affleck In Passionate Defense Of Islam On Bill Maher Show
This is the title of an article in the UK’s Telegraph, which states:
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11141733/Ben-Affleck-in-passionate-defence-of-Islam-on-Bill-Maher-show.html
Afflect was correct, and Maher and his Muslim-hating guest were wrong.
I dislike the ultra-Leftist Maher with a passion, and never watch his shows on HBO. However, I was changing channels and caught this debate. To his credit, Afflect cautioned against condemning almost two billion followers of Islam for the brutal acts of some of them.
Jews worldwide do not want to be painted with a broad brush either, or subjected to rampant anti-Semitism, and rightly so. The same standard must apply to the followers of Islam.
See also http://online.wsj.com/articles/europes-alarming-new-anti-semitism-1412270003?mod=trending_now_3 (“Europe’s Alarming New Anti-Semitism”)
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The Orthodox Sex Abuse Crackdown That Wasn’t
Emily Shire of the Daily Beast has reported:
See http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/07/the-orthodox-sex-abuse-crackdown-that-wasn-t.html (“The Orthodox Sex Abuse Crackdown That Wasn’t”) (emphasis added)
Another issue that deserves attention, regarding the same group and its outlook on women, is set forth in the following article.
See http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/10/06/cdc-110-million-americans-have-stds-at-any-given-time/ (“Ultra-Orthodox Jews cause chaos on flight to Israel”)
Surely, in this age of equal rights for women, such conduct is archaic or far worse.
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Israel Has Become A Pariah State Under Netanyahu
Netanyahu has assured this, as discussed in the article and comments above. Former member of Israel’s Knesset, Uri Savir, writes in pertinent part as follows:
See http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/10/israel-international-isolation-boycott-settlement-netanyahu.html (emphasis added)
Israel will remain a pariah state at least until Netanyahu is gone, permanently.
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Netanyahu Took Part In The Incitement Against Rabin That Preceded His Murder [UPDATED]
So writes Akiva Eldar, a columnist for Al-Monitor’s Israel Pulse—and formerly a senior columnist and editorial writer for Haaretz, who also served as the Hebrew daily’s US bureau chief and diplomatic correspondent:
See http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/11/israel-netanyahu-rabin-memorial-day-inaction-ehud-barak.html (“Netanyahu captains Israel into the doldrums”) (emphasis added); see also http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11263787/Israeli-coalition-close-to-collapse-as-Benjamini-Netanyahu-threatens-elections.html (“Israeli coalition close to collapse as Benjamini Netanyahu threatens elections”—”Israeli premier hints at early polls after senior cabinet split over bill that would declare Israel a nation for Jews but leave Arabs as second-class citizens”)
Netanyahu was hated by former Israeli Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Yitzhak Rabin—and especially by Rabin’s wife Leah, who blamed Netanyahu for her husband’s assassination. She saw “only doom for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process” with Netanyahu at Israel’s helm; and her views were prescient.
Until he is gone, there is no chance of peace.
Tragically, he and others in Israel have morphed into their ancestors’ Nazi oppressors—which Barack Obama and other world leaders recognize and condemn.
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Is A Palestinian Life Worth Less Than That Of The French? [UPDATED]
As the UK’s Telegraph has reported:
The article adds:
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11332250/Charlie-Hebdo-attack-JeSuisCharlie-hashtag-and-vigils-spread-around-the-world.html (“Paris shooting: #JeSuisCharlie hashtag vigils spread around the world”) (emphasis added); see also http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2902025/France-comes-standstill-remember-Charlie-Hebdo-victims-people-worldwide-join-poignant-vigil.html (“Paris goes dark for Charlie Hebdo: Eiffel Tower’s lights are turned off as vigils are held around globe for 12 victims slaughtered by fanatics”)
This is very moving and touching. Yet, where was the global outpouring and solidarity—and yes, shared outrage and anger—when an estimated 2,200 Palestinians were killed in Gaza by Israel last year alone?
There are approximately 14 million Jews worldwide, which is minuscule and a pittance when compared with Christians (2.2 billion) and the followers of Islam (1.6 billion). However, when Christianity and Islam are attacked, this seems to be all right, with a gross double-standard being applied.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religious_populations#Adherent_estimates; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7002 (“Hollande Furious After Netanyahu Participates In Paris March, Disobeying French President’s Request”)
I believe it is wrong, just as it is wrong that an ever-increasing number of Jews live in fear worldwide today.
See, e.g., http://dailycaller.com/2015/01/06/frances-multiculturalist-agenda-makes-jews-pack-their-bags/ and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2903600/Every-single-French-Jew-know-left-Paris-Editor-Britain-s-Jewish-Chronicle-claims-people-fleeing-terror-hit-French-capital.html (“‘Every single French Jew I know has left Paris’: Editor of Britain’s Jewish Chronicle claims people are fleeing terror-hit French capital”) and http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/01/12/kosher-market-attack-deepens-fears-among-european-jews (“Jews scrutinize future in Europe against emigration to Israel after Paris market attack”) and http://freebeacon.com/national-security/europes-leading-rabbi-jews-must-begin-carrying-guns/ (“[European] Jews are living in fear and have shunned popular community outposts such as synagogues and kosher markets out of fear of an attack like that in Paris”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11360772/Hate-attacks-on-Jews-soared-94-last-year-police-figures-show.html (“Hate attacks against Jews soar 94% in one year”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11367966/The-rising-tide-of-anti-Semitism.html (“Revealed: The rising tide of anti-Semitism in Britain”)
The killings in Paris were tragic, but the 2,200 deaths in Gaza were even more tragic. And no, this is not “moral-equivalence anti-Semitism”—as those who cannot tolerate freedom of speech might label these comments.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-544 (“Why I Write And Say What I Do”)
A backlash swells in Europe today—which is racist, spawned by the worst sort of bigotry, and wrong.
The estimated 1.6 billion followers of Islam worldwide did not commit such crimes, any more than the 14 million Jews are to blame for 2,200 Palestinians who were killed in Gaza by Netanyahu and his ilk.
Hatred spawns more hatred. And as economic conditions worsen globally in the years to come, the human tragedies will be indescribable.
See http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-backlash-swells-in-europe-1420765009 (“A Backlash Swells in Europe”); see also http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11346641/Charlie-Hebdo-founder-says-slain-editor-dragged-team-to-their-deaths.html (“Charlie Hebdo editor ‘dragged’ team to their deaths, founder says”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-6670 (“A 1930s-Style Depression”)
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Hollande Furious After Netanyahu Participates In Paris March, Disobeying French President’s Request
It has been reported:
See http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-12/diplomatic-fallout-after-israels-netanyahu-participates-paris-memorial-march-disobey (emphasis in original)
This is among the many reasons why Netanyahu is hated worldwide. He has morphed into his ancestors’ Nazi oppressors.
See also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/the-madness-of-benjamin-netanyahu/ (“The Madness Of Benjamin Netanyahu”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/ (“Israel’s Senseless Killings And War With Iran”)
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Is Night Falling Again For European Jews? [UPDATED]
The Wall Street Journal‘s Bret Stephens has written:
See http://www.wsj.com/articles/bret-stephens-packing-time-for-frances-jews-1421712871 (emphasis added); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-6996 (“Is A Palestinian Life Worth Less Than That Of The French?”)
. . .
See http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/watch-jew-harassed-streets-paris (“WATCH: A Jew Harassed on the Streets of Paris“)
This is happening across Europe and elsewhere, not just in France—and it may represent a precursor of epic tragedies to come.
See http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-do-we-really-mean-never-again/2015/01/29/25447c92-a7f4-11e4-a06b-9df2002b86a0_story.html (“Anti-Semitism has returned to Europe. With a vengeance”—”Jew-hatred is back, recapitulating the past with impressive zeal”) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-return-of-anti-semitism-1422638910 (“The Return of Anti-Semitism”—”[T]he fear [is] not only about the past but also about the future”—”An ancient hatred has been reborn”—”For Jews, ‘never again’ has become ‘ever again'”) and http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/01/29/254867/europes-jews-ponder-is-it-time.html (“Europe’s Jews ponder: Is it time to flee again?“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/11391156/Anti-Semitic-attacks-more-than-double-in-UK.html (“Anti-Semitic attacks more than double in UK“) and http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/01/31/support-of-israel-reason-house-was-tagged-with-swastikas-frat-says/ (“[S]wastikas spray painted in red on their [California] Jewish frat house“) and http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/a-month-after-kosher-market-attack-french-jews-plan-an-exodus/2015/02/07/bf7fd644-abb9-11e4-8876-460b1144cbc1_story.html (“A month after kosher market attack, French Jews plan an exodus”—”Anti-Semitism had been rising in France, as it had across Europe”—”[T]he scourge of anti-Semitism is global”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/11393427/Were-leaving-Britain-Jews-arent-safe-here-any-more.html (“Jews aren’t safe [in Britain] any more“) and http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/europe-s-jewish-population-continues-plummet_846826.html (“Europe’s Jewish Population Continues to Plummet”—”A mere 0.2 percent of Europeans are Jewish”) and http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-urges-jews-move-israel-copenhagen-attacks-111012753.html (“Netanyahu urges Jews to move to Israel after Copenhagen attacks“) and https://ca.news.yahoo.com/yemens-last-jews-eye-exodus-islamist-militia-takeover-144223735.html (“Yemen’s last Jews eye exodus after Islamist militia takeover“) and http://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-tombs-defaced-french-jewish-cemetery-minister-185834556.html (“Hundreds of tombs defaced in French Jewish cemetery“) and http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/02/thirty-madison-wisconsin-homes-spraypainted-with-anti-semitic-slurs/ (“Thirty Madison, Wisconsin Homes Spraypainted With Anti-Semitic Slurs“) and http://freebeacon.com/issues/anti-semitic-pro-islamic-state-graffiti-continues-to-plague-d-c/ (“Anti-Semitic, Pro-Islamic State Graffiti Continues to Plague [Washington] D.C.“) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2995969/Michael-Douglas-s-confrontation-man-abused-son-wearing-Star-David.html (“‘Dylan you’ve had your first taste of anti-Semitism’: Michael Douglas’s confrontation with man who abused his teen son”) and http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/03/is-it-time-for-the-jews-to-leave-europe/386279/ (“Is It Time for the Jews to Leave Europe?”—”For half a century, memories of the Holocaust limited anti-Semitism on the Continent. That period has ended”—”‘Those who condemn Hitler day and night have surpassed Hitler in barbarism,’ the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said last year of Israel”—”[L]ast year, according to the French Interior Ministry, 51 percent of all racist attacks targeted Jews. The statistics in other countries, including Great Britain, are similarly dismal. In 2014, Jews in Europe were murdered, raped, beaten, stalked, chased, harassed, spat on, and insulted for being Jewish. . . . In Greece, a recent survey found that 69 percent of adults hold anti-Semitic views, and the fascists of the country’s Golden Dawn party are open in their Jew-hatred”—”[T]he world’s 14 million or so Jews are found mainly in two places: Israel and the United States. Israel has the largest Jewish population, slightly more than 6 million. The U.S. has about 5.7 million. Europe, including Russia, has a Jewish population of roughly 1.4 million. There are about 1 million Jews scattered across the rest of the world, including significant communities in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, and Canada”) and http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/28/anti-israel-sentiments-force-virginia-bar-cancel-t/ (“Anti-Israel sentiments force Virginia Bar to cancel trip to Jerusalem”—”[This] is the latest example of the impact of an anti-Israel fervor that has swept across some parts of America in recent months”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11511700/Felicity-Kendal-Im-happy-with-my-ex-husband-but-wont-marry-him-again.html (“[British actress] Felicity Kendal [discusses] the anti-semitism she has experienced as a convert to Judaism”) and http://www.timesofisrael.com/anti-israel-protesters-call-kill-the-jews-in-vienna/ (“Anti-Israel protesters call ‘Kill the Jews’ in Vienna“) and http://www.breitbart.com/news/israeli-researchers-say-attacks-against-jews-spiked-in-2014/ (“ISRAELI RESEARCHERS SAY ATTACKS AGAINST JEWS SPIKED IN 2014“) and http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/04/15/commack-high-school-students-pictured-wearing-t-shirts-with-anti-semitic-messages/ (“[U.S.] High School Students Pictured Wearing T-Shirts With Anti-Semitic Messages“) and http://www.newsmax.com/US/afdi-jews-muslims-cair/2015/04/22/id/640071/ (“[A Federal Judge] Allows ‘Killing Jews Is Worship’ Ads on NYC Transport“) and http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/24/zeta-beta-tau-fraternity-members-spit-on-wounded-v/ (“[Jewish] Frat members . . . spit on wounded vets, urinate on flag during Florida retreat“) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3053996/Fraternity-members-two-universities-taunted-disabled-veterans-urinated-American-flag-spat-wounded-solider-service-dog-charity-weekend.html (“[Jewish] Fraternity members from two universities ‘taunted disabled veterans, urinated on the American flag, and spat on a wounded solider and his service dog’ during charity weekend“) and http://news.yahoo.com/israel-warns-terror-attack-threat-against-jews-tunisia-205758307.html (“Israel warns of terror attack threat against Jews in Tunisia“) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-rational-ayatollah-hypothesis-1432591530 (Barack Obama: “‘[T]here [a]re deep strains of anti-Semitism in this country,’ to say nothing of Europe”) and http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/197329#.VY2cGuvS_O8 (Israel urges Jews to flee—”Immigrant and Absorption Minister Ze’ev Elkin calls on French Jews to move to Israel following Friday’s gruesome [beheading] attack”) and http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/07/anti-semitism-france-hostage-hyper-cacher-kosher-market (“The Troubling Question in the French Jewish Community: Is It Time to Leave?“) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/holocaust-victims-mocked-in-ohio-state-band-parody-songbook-1438263839 (“Holocaust Victims Mocked in Ohio State Band Parody Songbook“) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/that-anti-israel-reggae-beat-1439937739 (“[A]rts-and-music festival going on this week near Valencia, Spain . . . [disinvites singer] because he wouldn’t publicly endorse a Palestinian state“) and http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/08/18/israel-must-be-obliterated-new-iranian-video-imagines-muslim-invasion-of-jerusalem/ (“‘Israel Must Be Obliterated’: New Iranian Video Imagines Muslim Invasion of Jerusalem”) and http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_EUROPE_ANTI_SEMITISM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-10-01-10-56-18 (“TOP EU OFFICIAL WARNS OF RISING ANTI-SEMITISM IN EUROPE”) and http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/isis-threaten-kill-jews-across-6688356 (“ISIS threaten to kill Jews across the world in disturbing new video“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11993560/Jewish-businessman-stabbed-multiple-times-in-Milan-by-masked-attacker.html (“Jewish businessman stabbed multiple times in Milan by masked attacker“) and http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_POLAND_ANTI_SEMITISM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-11-20-08-41-57 (“POLISH NATIONALISTS BURN JEW IN EFFIGY“) and http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/25/chief-rabbi-of-brussels-no-future-for-jews-in-europe/ (“Chief Rabbi Of Brussels: ‘No Future For Jews In Europe’“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/12027011/Retired-Cambridge-academic-refuses-to-help-Israeli-girl-with-school-project-until-there-is-peace-in-Palestine.html (“Retired Cambridge academic refuses to help Israeli girl with school project ‘until there is peace in Palestine'”—”I have agreed to BDS [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel], and I do want to see justice for Palestine. . . . In Israel the majority of Israelis support the policies of the government which abuses the rights of Palestinians, so the fact is I don’t want to help Israelis”-“In 2013, the former MP George Galloway stormed out of a debate at an Oxford University college after realising he was debating against an Israeli student. He told students he was leaving because he does ‘not recognize Israel'”—”Mr Galloway later released a statement clarifying why he left the debate: ‘The reason is simple; no recognition, no normalisation. Just Boycott, divestment and sanctions, until the Apartheid state is defeated'”) and http://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/paris-police-tell-chabad-not-to-light-hanukkah-candles-in-public-spaces/ (“Paris police tell Chabad not to light Hanukkah candles in public spaces“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/12069924/Islamic-State-leader-Baghdadi-goads-West-in-rare-audio-statement.html (“Isil chief warns Israel attacks are imminent”—”Jews, soon you shall hear from us in Palestine which will become your grave”—”The Jews thought we forgot Palestine and that they had distracted us from it. . . . Not at all, Jews. We did not forget Palestine for a moment. With the help of Allah, we will not forget it. . . . The pioneers of the jihadist fighters will surround you on a day that you think is distant and we know is close. We are getting closer every day”) and http://bigstory.ap.org/article/164bbc1445aa42fc883ee85e4439523a/western-europe-jewish-migration-israel-hits-all-time-high (“Western Europe Jewish migration to Israel hits all-time high”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/12125214/Europes-Jews-are-living-in-fear-warns-head-of-EU-parliament.html (“Europe’s Jews are ‘living in fear’, warns head of EU parliament”—”Roughly 8,000 French Jews, a record number, have moved to Israel since the attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket in Paris in January 2015″—”[A]nti-Semitism is getting stronger in Europe and [] many Jews are abandoning our cities”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/12160167/Oxford-Universitys-Labour-club-embroiled-in-anti-Semitism-row.html (“Oxford University’s Labour club embroiled in anti-Semitism“) and https://www.yahoo.com/news/marseille-synagogue-converted-mosque-140706818.html (“Marseille synagogue to be converted into mosque“) and http://news3lv.com/news/nation-world/isis-kill-list-targets-palm-beach-treasure-coast-residents-ex-fbi-agent (“ISIS ‘kill list’ [with the names of more than 8,000] targets Palm Beach, Treasure Coast residents: Ex-FBI agent“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/26/argentinian-pupils-in-nazi-dress-attack-jewish-students/ (“Argentinian pupils in Nazi dress attack Jewish students“) and http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/70-percent-of-European-Jews-wont-go-to-shul-on-High-Holy-Days-despite-heightened-security-468210 (“‘70% of European Jews won’t go to shul on High Holy Days despite heightened security’”) and https://www.yahoo.com/news/another-5-000-jews-quit-france-israel-agency-162800032.html (“Another 5,000 Jews quit France for Israel: agency”—”[I]nsecurity had been a ‘catalyst’ for many Jews who were already thinking of leaving”—”The 5,000 departures in 2016 add to the record 7,900 who left in 2015 and 7,231 in 2014. In total, 40,000 French Jews have emigrated since 2006”) and http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Jewish-Community-Center-New-Jersey-Tenafly-West-Orange-Bomb-Threat-Tennessee-Maryland-Florida-South-Carolina-410133655.html (“Bomb Threats Prompt Evacuation of Jewish Community Centers in New Jersey, 4 Other States“) and http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-cuts-ties-youtube-star-pewdiepie-anti-semitic-posts-975827 (“Disney[‘s Jews Cut] Ties With YouTube Star PewDiePie Over Anti-Semitic Posts“) and http://fox2now.com/2017/02/20/vandals-target-historic-jewish-cemetery-in-university-city/ (“Vandals target historic Jewish cemetery in University City“) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4244062/Ivanka-pleads-tolerance-slew-JCC-bomb-threats.html (“Ivanka [Trump] in plea for religious tolerance: First daughter says ‘we must protect our places of worship’ after eleven Jewish centers get bomb threats in a day and FBI opens hate crime probe”) and http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/one-three-british-jews-consider-11016650 (“One in three British Jews consider leaving the UK fearing hate crime, poll finds“) and http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/watch-trump-supporter-wearing-israeli-flag-told-to-get-the-f-k-out-of-boston-by-hecklers/article/2632062 (“Trump supporter wearing Israeli flag told to ‘get the f–k out’ of Boston by hecklers“) and http://www.newsmax.com/t/newsmax/article/808603 (“Barcelona’s Chief Rabbi Urges Jews to Move to Israel: ‘Europe Is Lost'”) and https://www.yahoo.com/news/anti-semitic-robbers-target-jewish-family-near-paris-163547733.html (“‘Anti-Semitic’ robbers target Jewish family near Paris”) and https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/26/world/australia/australia-anti-semitism-racism.html (“As Anti-Semitism Rises, ‘I Don’t Feel Safe in Australia,’ Rabbi Says“) and http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/12/15/exodus-french-jews-forced-islamists-anti-semitism-rises-across-europe/ (“Exodus: Jews Flee Paris Suburbs over Rising Tide of Anti-Semitism“) and http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/30/german-jewish-leader-warns-jews-may-require-police-protection-anti-semitism-escalates/ (“German Jewish Leader Warns That Jews May Require Police Protection As Anti-Semitism Escalates“) and https://www.thelocal.fr/20180109/kosher-store-near-paris-set-on-fire-on-anniversary-of-terror-attack (“Kosher store near Paris hit by arson attack on anniversary of Jewish supermarket shooting“) and http://www.wnd.com/2018/01/another-u-s-religious-leader-kill-the-jews/ (“Another imam in U.S. calls for killing Jews“) and https://www.yahoo.com/news/polish-jews-stunned-scared-eruption-anti-semitism-125719594.html (“Polish Jews stunned, scared by eruption of anti-Semitism“) and http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/nation-world/world/article204098614.html (“Canadians protest Jewish school buses, defend wearing the color Nazis used to mark Jews“) and http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2018/03/16/report-anti-jewish-hate-crime-in-berlin-doubles-in-four-years/ (“Anti-Jewish Hate Crime in Berlin Doubles in Four Years“) and http://www.wnd.com/2018/04/jews-murdered-for-being-jews-in-france/ (“‘Jews murdered for being Jews’ in France”) and https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-says-he-was-assaulted-in-berlin-for-listening-to-hebrew-song/ (Israeli assaulted in Berlin for listening to Hebrew song) and https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/world/europe/france-new-anti-semitism.html (“‘They spit when I walked in the street’: The ‘New Anti-Semitism’ in France”) and http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-elie-wiesel-anti-semitic-graffiti-20180804-story.html (“Romanian police investigating anti-Semitic graffiti on Elie Wiesel’s house“) and https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/7135583/snapchat-jewtropolis-snap-maps-new-york/ (“Snapchat apologises for ‘vandalism’ that changed New York City to ‘Jewtropolis’ in Snap Maps – but it still hasn’t found a fix”) and https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5362257,00.html (“Malaysia’s PM calls Jews ‘hook-nosed'”—”‘If you are going to be truthful, the problem in the Middle East began with the creation of Israel'”) and https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/10/17/louis-farrakhan-im-not-an-anti-semite-im-anti-termite/ (“Louis Farrakhan: ‘I’m Not An Anti-Semite. I’m Anti-Termite'”) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6286577/Teen-arrested-beating-Orthodox-Jewish-man-tree-branch-Brooklyn.html (“Teen arrested for beating Orthodox Jewish man with a tree branch in Brooklyn“) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6323781/Active-shooter-Pittsburgh-synagogue.html (“‘I’m going in’: Synagogue shooting suspect, 46, posted chilling final message before the Trump-hating antisemite ‘opened fire with an AR-15 on a BABY naming ceremony yelling “All Jews must die”‘, killing 11 and injuring six – including four cops”) and https://www.thedailybeast.com/event-shut-down-after-vandals-scrawl-kill-all-jews-inside-brooklyn-synagogue (“Event Shut Down After Vandals Scrawl ‘Kill All Jews’ Inside Brooklyn Synagogue“) and https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/11/25/hate-crime-driver-jews-hancock-park/ (“Hate Crime: Driver Targets Jews In [Los Angeles’] Hancock Park”) and https://www.jpost.com//Diaspora/Antisemitism-rises-in-Canada-Jews-remain-most-targeted-minority-group-573302 (“Antisemitism rises in Canada, Jews remain most targeted minority group“) and https://www.irishcentral.com/news/swastika-graffiti-defaces-walls-of-irish-synagogue (“Swastika graffiti defaces walls of Irish synagogue“) and https://www.france24.com/en/20190127-anti-semitic-killings-2018-highest-decades-israel (“Anti-Semitic killings in 2018 ‘highest’ in decades: Israel“) and https://www.apnews.com/3778f241925f4df8816f5827cac2d19a (“Anti-Semitic acts hit France amid anti-government protests“) and https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8402409/france-nazi-past-juden-graffiti-jewish-bakery-paris/ (“Chilling echoes of France’s Nazi past as ‘Juden’ graffiti is sprayed on Jewish bakery in Paris”) and https://news.grabien.com/story-rep-ilhan-omar-goes-anti-semitic-twitter-rampage (“Rep. Ilhan Omar Goes on Anti-Semitic Twitter Rampage“) and https://spectator.org/the-lefts-anti-semitism-problem/ (“The [American] Left’s Anti-Semitism Problem“) and https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/nyregion/anti-semitism-brooklyn-new-york.html (“Anti-Semitic Attacks Fuel Continuing Rise in Hate Crimes in New York“) and http://news.trust.org/item/20190219162259-1evko (“France shaken by outbreak of anti-Semitic violence and abuse“) and https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Ruth-Bader-Ginsburg-Subway-Poster-Deface-G-Train-New-York-Police-Hate-Crime-507098591.html (“NYPD Hate Crimes Unit Investigating Vile Defacing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Poster in Brooklyn“) and https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/mar/14/map-replacing-israel-palestine-outrages-parents-ga/ (“Map replacing [the entire state of] Israel with Palestine outrages parents at Ga. middle school“) and https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jews-remain-silent-as-antisemitism-spreads-in-orban-s-hungary-s29vsmdrs (“Jews scared to speak out as antisemitism spreads in Orban’s Hungary“) and https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/rockland/2019/04/12/measles-outbreak-backlash-passover/3435172002/ (“Measles outbreak raises concerns of backlash as Passover approaches“) and https://www.apnews.com/2499a84a203e4960b9a64cc049cf5b26 (“Jewish group outraged at beating of Jewish effigy in Poland“) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6967437/Several-injured-gun-man-opens-fire-San-Diego-Synagogue.html (“Gunman, 19, in tactical vest opens fire in Cali synagogue, killing one“) and https://news.yahoo.com/anti-jewish-hate-consuming-europe-america-says-french-054733521.html (“Anti-Jewish hate consuming Europe and America, says French Nazi hunter“) and https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/anti-zionist-imam-delivers-opening-prayers-in-the-us-house-of-representatives (“Anti-Zionist imam delivers opening prayers in the US House of Representatives“) and https://news.yahoo.com/jews-warned-against-wearing-kippah-germany-101916747.html (“Jews warned against wearing kippah in Germany“) and https://sputniknews.com/us/201906021075560725-california-democratic-party-anti-semitism-resolutions/ (“[R]esolutions were drafted by the left wing of the California Democratic Party, who opposed the ‘conflation’ of support of Palestinians with anti-Semitism and claimed that the Israeli government had indirectly inspired the atmosphere that led to the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre”) and https://www.france24.com/en/20190609-us-jewish-community-looks-defend-itself-attacks-rise (“[S]ynagogues in the United States facing mounting anti-Semitic attacks“) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7145489/Jewish-teenager-menaced-racists-flees-country-80-years-grandfather-did-same.html (“Jewish teenager menaced by racists flees the country 80 years after his grandfather did the same“) and https://www.apnews.com/0c8a1f78e003426bab6a03e7027fed2f (“Germany sees big increase in anti-Semitic acts of violence“) and https://www.commentarymagazine.com/anti-semitism/jewish-writers-literature/ (“Jewish Writers Face a Perfect Storm of Hatred“) and https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-owned-melbourne-cafe-daubed-with-holocaust-denial-graffiti-twice-in-week/ (“Jewish-owned Melbourne cafe daubed with Holocaust denial graffiti twice in week“) and https://nypost.com/2019/07/21/slaughter-the-jews-painted-in-arabic-on-western-wall-in-jerusalem/ (“‘Slaughter the Jews’ painted on Western Wall in Jerusalem”) and https://www.jpost.com/International/Spate-of-antisemitic-incidents-across-US-causes-concern-596798 (“SPATE OF ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS ACROSS U.S. CAUSES CONCERN“) and https://freebeacon.com/national-security/europe-poised-to-put-warning-labels-on-jewish-made-products/ (“Europe Poised to Put Warning Labels on Jewish-Made Products“) and https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/08/12/hasidic-jews-attacked-in-williamsburg-brooklyn/ (“NYPD Hate Crimes Unit Investigating After 3 Hasidic Jews Attacked Within An Hour“) and https://abcnews.go.com/US/100-tires-slashed-orthodox-jewish-community-police/story?id=64919973 (“Over 100 tires slashed in Orthodox Jewish community, police say“) and https://freebeacon.com/national-security/secret-service-clears-streets-near-israeli-embassy-following-reports-of-suspicious-person-vehicle/ (“Secret Service Clears Streets Near Israeli Embassy Following Reports of ‘Suspicious Person, Vehicle'”) and https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/hate-crime-jewish-anti-semitic-new-york/2019/09/02/id/930862/ (“Orthodox Jew Beaten With Belt in Front of Synagogue“) and http://news.trust.org/item/20191107123627-o1579 (“Holocaust survivor given police escort in Italy after threats“) and https://nypost.com/2019/11/27/gang-of-five-men-attack-jewish-teens-walking-on-brooklyn-street/ (“Gang of five men attack Jewish teens walking on Brooklyn street“) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7779493/Gunmen-targeted-Jewish-community-Jersey-City-officials-say.html (“Gunmen targeted Jewish community in Jersey City, officials say“) and https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/vandalism-synagogue-beverly-hills-california-investigated-possible-hate-crime-n1102351 (“Vandalism at synagogue in Beverly Hills, California, investigated as possible hate crime“) and https://www.wnd.com/2019/12/turkeys-president-claims-israel-executes-women-children-streets/ (“Turkey’s president claims Israel executes women, children in streets”—”Recep Tayyip Erdogan ‘[called] on the 57 member states [of the the Organization of Islamic Cooperation] with a collective population of over 1.8 billion Muslims to unite against Israel'”) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7833919/Multiple-stab-victims-reported-synagogue-upstate-New-York.html (“Multiple stab victims reported at synagogue in upstate New York“) and https://nypost.com/2019/12/28/suspects-released-without-bail-after-shocking-attacks-on-jews/ (“Suspects released without bail after shocking attacks on Jews“) and https://www.timesofisrael.com/anti-semitic-graffiti-found-daubed-throughout-north-london-neighborhoods/ (“Anti-Semitic graffiti found daubed throughout North London neighborhoods“) and https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Will-American-Jews-finally-get-hint-about-dangers-they-face-analysis-612419 (“Will American Jews finally get hint about dangers they face?“) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7840301/Disturbing-moment-group-seven-teens-launch-savage-attack-Orthodox-Jew-walking-Brooklyn.html (“Disturbing moment a group of seven teens launch a savage attack on Orthodox Jew walking in Brooklyn – the 14th incident of anti-Semitic violence recorded in New York in four weeks“) and https://www.arcamax.com/currentnews/newsheadlines/s-2310648?fs (“Jewish gathering spots in South Florida ramp up security after anti-Semitic attacks“)
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The Storm Clouds Are Gathering [UPDATED]
America’s dependence on foreign oil has been diminishing as the United States once again becomes the leading energy producer in the world.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-7283 (“US To Launch Blitz Of Gas Exports, Eyes Global Energy Dominance“)
As this happens, the Middle East becomes less and less important to us. Under Barack Obama, our involvement there has lessened since his presidency began.
Carrying water for Netanyahu’s Israel, the Washington Post‘s otherwise-fine writer, Charles Krauthammer, notes:
See http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-irans-emerging-empire/2015/01/22/c3098336-a269-11e4-903f-9f2faf7cd9fe_story.html (emphasis added); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7002 (“Hollande Furious After Netanyahu Participates In Paris March, Disobeying French President’s Request”) and http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-spat-in-our-face-white-house-officials-say/ (“Netanyahu ‘spat in our face,’ White House officials said to say”—”Netanyahu ought to remember that President Obama has a year and a half left to his presidency, and that there will be a price”—”The White House said Thursday that Obama would not meet with Netanyahu when he travels to Washington. . . . Kerry will also not meet with Netanyahu“)
I am reminded of what a prominent American (who is a Jew and a strong supporter of Israel) told me a number of years ago:
Chaos is spreading in the Middle East. And Barack Obama is correct in steering America away from it.
Put succinctly, it is not our fight. Our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—and the loss of American lives and treasures—have proven that in spades.
See also http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3149469/Slaughter-amphitheatre-ISIS-executioners-brutally-shoot-dead-25-Syrian-regime-soldiers-bloodthirsty-crowds-ancient-Palmyra-ruin.html (“Slaughter in the Roman amphitheatre: Horrific moment ISIS child executioners brutally shoot dead 25 Syrian regime soldiers in front of bloodthirsty crowds at ancient Palmyra ruin“)
[Pro-Palestinian protester burns an Israeli flag during demonstration]
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Former Mossad Chief: I Don’t Trust Netanyahu, His Actions Will Cost Us [UPDATED]
Israel’s Ynetnews has reported:
See http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4620516,00.html (emphasis added); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-1629 (“Will An Unchecked Netanyahu Act Irresponsibly, Dangerously And Disastrously?“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-2066 (“The Spymaster, Former Mossad Chief Meir Dagan, Compelled To Speak Out Because He Is So Opposed To Preemptive Israeli Strike Against Iran“)
Netanyahu is a Narcissistic charlatan and a disgrace to his country. He and Russia’s Putin are moral equivalents.
Netanyahu was hated by former Israeli Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Yitzhak Rabin—and especially by Rabin’s wife Leah, who blamed him for her husband’s assassination. She saw “only doom for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process” with Netanyahu at Israel’s helm; and her views were prescient.
Netanyahu has done more to increase anti-Semitism globally than any other leader in Israel’s brief history.
He has morphed into his ancestors’ Nazi oppressors; and he should be banned from entering the U.S., and tried in the International Criminal Court.
Years from now, the descendants of Netanyahu and his ilk will confront the legacy of their crimes against the Palestinians, including an estimated 2,200 deaths in Gaza last year alone.
See http://freebeacon.com/issues/clinton-accuses-israel-of-being-occupying-force/ (“Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accuses Israel of being an occupying force in her new memoir Hard Choices and claims that the Jewish state denies “dignity and self determination” to Palestinians in the West Bank”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7002 (“Hollande Furious After Netanyahu Participates In Paris March, Disobeying French President’s Request“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-6996 (“Is A Palestinian Life Worth Less Than That Of The French? “) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-6443 (“Netanyahu Took Part In The Incitement Against Rabin That Preceded His Murder“) and http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/29/us/politics/white-house-expresses-displeasure-over-speech-planned-by-netanyahu.html?_r=1 (“[Obama] Administration Official Criticizes Israeli Ambassador Over Netanyahu Visit“) and http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-open-loathing-between-barack-obama-and-benjamin-netanyahu-just-got-worse-10015845.html (“The open loathing between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu just got worse“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7039 (“Is Night Falling Again For European Jews?“) and http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ISRAEL_ON_CAMPUS_ABRIDGED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-02-28-12-02-58 (“Anti-Israel divestment push gains traction at US colleges“) and http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191966#.VPPMWDrS_O8 (OBAMA THREATENED TO SHOOT DOWN ISRAELI JETS—”US President Barack Obama thwarted an Israeli military attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2014 by threatening to shoot down Israeli jets before they could reach their targets in Iran”—”[I]t could be a ‘Liberty’ in reverse,” referring to Israel’s brutal, unprovoked and intentional attack in international waters on US Navy intelligence ship USS Liberty and subsequent Israeli cover up, which killed 34 crew members (naval officers, seamen, two Marines, and one civilian), wounded 171 crew members, and severely damaged the ship [see http://www.gtr5.com]) and http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150307/ml–israel-election-695ba1e686.html (“Tens of thousands attend anti-Netanyahu rally in Tel Aviv”—”The rally’s keynote speaker is former Mossad chief Meir Dagan who recently slammed Netanyahu’s conduct and called him ‘the person who has caused the greatest strategic damage to Israel'”) and http://freebeacon.com/issues/bibi-blasts-iran-talks-after-iranian-general-says-israels-destruction-is-non-negotiable/ (“Iranian General Says ‘Israel’s Destruction Is Non-Negotiable’“)
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Netanyahu: Disgrace in Victory
Time‘s Joe Klein has written:
See http://time.com/3749912/benjamin-netanyahu/ (“Israel’s Prime Minister won a tragic election by vilifying Arabs and defacing Israel’s history“) (emphasis added)
Jonathan Alter added:
See http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/18/bibi-s-ugly-win-will-harm-israel.html (“Bibi Wins, Israel Loses”—”Bibi’s Ugly Win Will Harm Israel”—”A desperate Netanyahu used fear to grab the most seats in the election, but his rejection of a Palestinian state will further isolate the Jewish state”) (emphasis added); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7059 (“Former Mossad Chief: I Don’t Trust Netanyahu, His Actions Will Cost Us“) and http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/us-threatens-israel-makes-excuses-iran_891950.html (“U.S. Threatens Sanctions Against Israel“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11484182/White-House-US-to-reevaluate-backing-for-Israel-at-UN.html (“US ‘to reevaluate’ backing for Israel at UN”—”In a sign of how deeply relations between Barack Obama and Mr Netanyahu have now been ruptured, the White House announced it would ‘re-evaluate’ the American veto that has long blocked international efforts to win UN recognition for a two state solution” ) and http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/21/world/middleeast/white-house-antagonism-toward-netanyahu-grows.html?_r=0 (“White House Antagonism Toward Netanyahu Grows”—”Administration officials have suggested that they may now agree to passage of a United Nations Security Council resolution embodying the principles of a two-state solution based on Israel’s 1967 borders and mutually agreed exchanges of territory, a step that would be anathema to Mr. Netanyahu”) and http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/can-israel-remain-a-democracy/2015/03/20/49d766a8-cf06-11e4-a2a7-9517a3a70506_story.html (“Without a Palestinian state, Israel can be either a Jewish state or a democracy but not both. If it annexes the Palestinian territories and remains democratic, it will be split roughly evenly between Jews and Arabs; if it annexes the territories and suppresses the rights of Arabs, it ceases to be democratic”—”Higher Palestinian population growth and fertility rates indicate that Jews will be a minority between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean in a few years”) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-chides-netanyahu-over-comments-on-palestinian-state-1427042770 (“[Obama] said . . . a two-state solution to Israeli-Palestinian tensions were ‘the only way’ to provide security to Israel, ‘if it wants to stay both a Jewish state and democratic’“) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/israel-spied-on-iran-talks-1427164201 (“Israel Spied on Iran Talks”—”Israel has long topped the list of countries that aggressively spy on the U.S.”) and http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/25/u-s-ready-to-back-iran-with-airstrikes-against-isis.html (“U.S. Ready to Back Iran With Airstrikes Against ISIS“) and http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/193175#.VRRHaXrS_O8 (“US Declassifies Document Revealing Israel’s Nuclear Program“) and http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/American-Israeli-Rabbi-compares-Obama-to-Haman-395457 (Rabbi compares Obama to Haman, archenemy of Jews, when speaking at the Jerusalem Great Synagogue—”When a woman in the audience shouted out that [the Rabbi] was being disrespectful to the President of the United States, she was booed by the crowd”) and http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/ally_enemy/march_2015/democrats_see_mexico_as_better_ally_than_israel (“Americans continue to view Canada and Great Britain as our best friends, but Israel has tumbled down the list. Democrats by a 10-point margin now see Mexico as a better ally than the Jewish state”)
Yes, this election was about Netanyahu and the direction of Israel. However, in a much broader sense, it was about Jews and their place in this world, free from anti-Semitism, attacks and killings.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7039 (“Is Night Falling Again For European Jews?”)
Netanyahu and Israel contribute to the worldview of Jews, for good or for bad. In France, the UK and elsewhere in Europe, they are targeted in no small measure based on perceptions of Netanyahu and Israel.
In the United States, this is true too. A Jewish lawyer in Omaha whose ancestors came to America in the 1800s, and who had no family members that were victims of the Holocaust, is affected by personalities and policies beyond our shores.
America’s Jews want to be treated as Americans, and not affected by what Netanyahu and Israel do, and rightly so. All of our ancestors came from somewhere else, but we have no allegiances to those countries; and most Americans do not speak or even understand their languages.
. . .
The United States does not need Israel. It never has. Indeed, hatred of America has been engendered because of our support for Israel and its repression. Tragically, Netanyahu and Russia’s Putin are moral equivalents.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-7157 (“Putin’s Culture Of Fear and Death”)
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Worth Watching
This program has been described as follows:
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=122&v=erjftmFTWnE; see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etXAm-OylQQ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miko_Peled
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The Green Line Between Israel And The Palestinian Territory [UPDATED]
The “Green Line” refers to the demarcation lines set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between the armies of Israel and those of its neighbors after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
It is often discussed, but seldom shown on a map of any quality. By clicking on the following link, you can view it and/or download your own copy.
See http://www.naegele.com/documents/Israel-and-the-Palestinian-Territory.pdf (“Israel and the Palestinian Territory”)
Israel’s future hangs in the balance. Either Israel continues down the present path of occupation, settlement and conflict, or its government changes course toward a two-state solution and long-term security.
The settlement movement and successive governments of Israel have effectively blurred and even erased the Green Line from Israeli public consciousness. Awareness of the Green Line is essential to preserving the chance of a two-state solution that ensures Israel’s security and its democratic and Jewish character.
See also http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_REL_VATICAN_PALESTINIAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-13-10-07-28 (“Vatican recognizes state of Palestine in new treaty“) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-backs-president-over-jerusalems-status-in-u-s-passports-1433775632 (“By a 6-3 vote, the [United States Supreme Court] ruled Congress overstepped its bounds with a law allowing U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem to be identified with Israel as their birthplace“)
J Street Green Line Video:
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Will Israel Exist On Its 100th Anniversary? [UPDATED]
Israelis and Jews around the world are celebrating the 67th anniversary of Israel’s birth as an independent state.
Yet, the Six Day War of 1967 was the starting point of an occupation that has now extended for 48 years without an end in sight. This was the moment when Israel began controlling the lives of millions of Palestinians against their will.
Barack Obama hated Apartheid in South Africa, which he equates with colonialism and “Apartheid” in Israel.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/is-barack-obama-a-racist/
A two-state solution remains the only way for Israel to guarantee long-term international recognition and security. A failure to achieve it threatens the founding vision of Israel as both democratic and the national home of the Jewish people—as Israeli leaders including Ehud Barak, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Olmert have pointed out.
Indeed, Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu was hated by former Israeli Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Yitzhak Rabin—and especially by Rabin’s wife Leah, who blamed Netanyahu for her husband’s assassination. She saw “only doom for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process” with Netanyahu at Israel’s helm; and her views were prescient.
Nine American administrations—Democrats and Republicans alike—have recognized the West Bank as occupied territory and opposed the expansion and entrenchment of settlements there. They have also opposed encroachment on the Palestinian areas of East Jerusalem, which must be part of a future Palestinian capital if a two-state outcome is to be achieved.
For more than two decades now, the United States has sought to achieve a two-state resolution of the conflict—based on the presumption that a state for the Palestinian people will be established on the territory currently occupied by Israel.
But Netanyahu has shown that he is not serious about a two-state solution and has no intention of negotiating in good faith with the Palestinians. His policies will likely deepen Israel’s international isolation, and increase the rise of anti-Semitism globally—which may represent a precursor of epic tragedies to come.
Before it has run its course, Jews everywhere may be targeted and become victims once again.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7039 (“Is Night Falling Again For European Jews?”); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7220 (“The Green Line Between Israel And The Palestinian Territory“)
I am forever reminded of what a prominent American—who is a Jew and a strong supporter of Israel—told me several years ago:
See also http://nypost.com/2015/08/01/iran-publishes-book-on-how-to-outwit-us-and-destroy-israel/ (“Iran publishes book on how to outwit US and destroy Israel“)
The clock is ticking . . .
________________
Questions are being asked by Jews and non-Jews alike around the world: Has Israel lost its moral compass, and have Netanyahu and his ilk truly morphed into their ancestors’s Nazi oppressors? Should they be tried as war criminals?
In an article entitled “Israeli soldiers describe ‘losing their sense of morality’ during the Gaza conflict,” the UK’s Telegraph has reported:
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/gaza/11580539/Israeli-soldiers-describe-losing-their-sense-of-morality-during-the-Gaza-conflict.html
Years from now—if they are still alive, and have not been massacred—the descendants of Netanyahu and his ilk will confront the legacy of their crimes against the Palestinians, including an estimated 2,200 deaths in Gaza last year alone.
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The 67 year story that is Israel is one of the greatest & most inspiring stories of human endurance & courage. Israel’s achievements despite all the efforts of the disintegrating Arab & Muslim world to denigrate it will ultimately fail. How it goes with Israel is how it will go for all the free world. Time to wake up & recognize who our enemies are.
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Thank you for your comments.
I respectfully disagree with your statement:
The two are not linked at all—except that our support for Israel has engendered hatred for us in the Islamic world.
To his credit, Barack Obama realizes this, and our relationship with Israel is being reset, which is long overdue.
There are approximately 14 million Jews worldwide, which is minuscule and a pittance when compared with 2.2 billion Christians and 1.6 billion followers of Islam.
We are essentially energy independent; and we no longer need the Middle East, including Israel, for anything anymore.
I have addressed this issue before, so will not repeat my comments here.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-7283 (“US To Launch Blitz Of Gas Exports, Eyes Global Energy Dominance“); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-544 (“Why I Write And Say What I Do”)
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When Iraq Falls
The Washington Post‘s Charles Krauthammer has written:
See http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/you-want-hypotheticals-heres-one/2015/05/21/909713d6-ffe9-11e4-805c-c3f407e5a9e9_story.html
Israel and its neocon surrogates pushed George W. Bush and Dick Cheney into the Iraq War, just as they are trying to push us into a war with Iran today.
NEVER AGAIN!
The United States is becoming energy independent again, and the dominant energy producer in the world. It does not need Israel or the Middle East anymore, period.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-7283 (“US To Launch Blitz Of Gas Exports, Eyes Global Energy Dominance“); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7271 (“Will Israel Exist On Its 100th Anniversary?“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7220 (“The Green Line Between Israel And The Palestinian Territory“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7197 (“Netanyahu: Disgrace in Victory“)
Barack Obama has “reset” America’s relationship with Israel, and rightly so, which is long overdue.
Our focus is properly on Europe, the Pacific and the American continent.
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The Problem Is Israeli Policies
Jeremy Ben-Ami, founder and president of J Street, has written in Haaretz:
See http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.661674; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7271 (“Will Israel Exist On Its 100th Anniversary?“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7220 (“The Green Line Between Israel And The Palestinian Territory“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7039 (“Is Night Falling Again For European Jews?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-1825 (“Jeremy Ben-Ami, ‘A New Voice For Israel’—A Wonderful Book That Should Be Read By Anyone Who Cares About And Wants To Understand Israel’s Past, Present And Future“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-544 (“Why I Write And Say What I Do”) and http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_REL_VATICAN_PALESTINIANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-06-26-07-48-05 (“VATICAN SIGNS TREATY WITH ‘STATE OF PALESTINE'”)
Of course, Ben-Ami is correct—especially what he has written in the last paragraph of his opinion piece.
However, the clock is ticking . . .
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The Crushing Defeat And Humiliation Of Netanyahu [UPDATED]
In conjunction with reaching a nuclear deal with Iran, it has been reported:
See http://freebeacon.com/national-security/u-s-will-teach-iran-to-thwart-nuke-threats/ (“U.S. Will Teach Iran to Thwart Nuke Threats“)
This is totally consistent with what was reported earlier:
See http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191966#.VRDlmnrS_O9; see also http://www.wsj.com/articles/gulf-arab-states-voice-support-for-iran-nuclear-deal-1438618887 (“Gulf Arab States Voice Support for Iran Nuclear Deal‘)
Most Americans would support President Obama if he takes such actions.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s heavy-handedness and total arrogance—and the utter contempt of Barack Obama and other world leaders for him—has produced this result.
The Israeli leader, AIPAC and their AIPAC-bought GOP lackeys in Congress have been trying to destroy any hopes for a two-state solution, and a negotiated settlement with Iran, since Day One.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7448 (“The Problem Is Israeli Policies”); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/ (“Ariel Sharon Is Missed”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/the-madness-of-benjamin-netanyahu/ (“The Madness Of Benjamin Netanyahu”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/ (“Israel’s Senseless Killings And War With Iran”) and http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/worse-than-we-could-have-imagined/2015/07/16/aa320b42-2bf0-11e5-bd33-395c05608059_story.html (“Worse than we could have imagined”—”Obama’s triumph [is that he will have] locked in his folly. He has laid down his legacy, and we will have to live with the consequences for decades”) and http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/07/netanyahu-herzog-lapid-iran-nuclear-deal-ben-israel-expert.html (“Israeli media drowns out pro-Iran-deal voices”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11755603/Israel-introduces-controversial-20-year-jail-sentences-for-stone-throwing.html (“Israel introduces controversial 20-year jail sentences for stone throwing”) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/netanyahus-no-campaign-on-iran-deal-rattles-israel-1438989472 (“Netanyahu’s ‘No’ Campaign on Iran Deal Rattles Israel”—”‘We are largely isolated in the world'”); but see http://www.irandealfacts.org (“IRAN DEAL FACTS“)
Months and years from now, Netanyahu and his ilk will confront the legacy of their crimes against the Palestinians, including an estimated 2,200 deaths in Gaza last year alone.
See also http://news.yahoo.com/probe-israeli-pms-spending-ministry-official-152857067.html (“Probe into Israeli PM’s spending amid misuse claims“) and http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/08/benjamin-netanyahu-iran-agreement-bad-deal-credibility.html (“World tunes out Netanyahu’s broken record on Iran“) and http://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2015/10/01/netanyahu-un-speech-n2059774 (“Netanyahu Glares at UN Delegates for 45 Seconds for Their ‘Deafening Silence’ on Iran Deal“) and http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151004/ml–israel-palestinians-0862db682d.html (“Israel bars Palestinians from Jerusalem’s Old City”—”[Netanyahu] vowed a ‘harsh offensive’ to counter rising violence”—”[I]t is the first time since Israel captured the Old City in 1967 that it has prevented Jerusalem’s Palestinians from entering”)
Obama hated Apartheid in South Africa, and he equates it with Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/is-barack-obama-a-racist/ (“Is Barack Obama A Racist?”)
America does not need Israel. It never has. The relationship has been a burden without benefits for us. Now, it is being “reset” by Mr. Obama.
Almost 70 years of acting as its protector is coming to an end.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7271 (“Will Israel Exist On Its 100th Anniversary?“)
America is the dominant energy producer in the world again; and we do not need the Middle East, including Israel. Our focus is Europe, the Pacific and our own continent.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-7283 (“US To Launch Blitz Of Gas Exports, Eyes Global Energy Dominance“)
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Portrait Of A Palestinian Killer
Creede Newton and Dylan Collins have written the following article for The Daily Beast:
See http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/19/portrait-of-palestinian-killer.html (“What made this admirer of Gandhi board a bus to kill as many Israelis as he could until he, too, was killed? His transformation is a symptom of hopelessness“) (emphasis added)
A sense of utter hopelessness is described in this article.
None of this will inure to Israel’s benefit; and with nothing positive apt to happen between the Israelis and the Palestinians until the next administration arrives—if then—the hatreds on both sides are apt to grow and grow . . .
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Netanyahu Sets Off Firestorm Of Criticism [UPDATED]
The Wall Street Journal has reported:
See http://www.wsj.com/articles/netanyahu-sets-off-storm-of-criticism-over-holocaust-remarks-1445429319 (emphasis added); see also http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151021/ml–israel-holocaust-4c841bda04.html (“Netanyahu causes uproar by linking Palestinians to Holocaust“) and https://ca.news.yahoo.com/israeli-pms-media-adviser-suggested-obama-anti-semitic-173702562.html (“Netanyahu’s new media chief has called Obama anti-Semitic, Kerry ‘comical'”) and http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_PALESTINIANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-11-14-03-54-33 (ISRAEL DEMOLISHES HOMES OF PALESTINIANS) and http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151126/ml–israel-palestinians-227f4eaf6d.html (“Israel to build new fence; 2 Palestinians die in West Bank“) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-spy-net-on-israel-snares-congress-1451425210 (“U.S. Spy Net on Israel Snares Congress”—”Mr. Netanyahu and his advisers had leaked details of the U.S.-Iran negotiations—learned through Israeli spying operations—to undermine the talks; coordinated talking points with Jewish-American groups against the deal; and asked undecided lawmakers what it would take to win their votes, according to current and former officials familiar with the intercepts”)
Anyone who has followed the murderous Netanyahu’s career knows that he is the worst Israeli leader in the tiny country’s brief history.
Single-handedly, he has done more than anyone else to sow the seeds of anti-Semitic hatred around the world.
He is detested by Barack Obama and other world leaders, just as he was hated by the Rabins and Ariel Sharon.
Indeed, Leah Rabin blamed Netanyahu for her husband’s assassination. She saw “only doom for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process” with Netanyahu at Israel’s helm; and her views were prescient.
He has morphed into his ancestors’ Nazi oppressors—and he is a pathetic racist and Islamophobe—which does not bode well for Israel’s future.
Years from now, the descendants of Netanyahu and his ilk will confront the legacy of their crimes against the Palestinians, including an estimated 2,200 deaths in Gaza last year alone.
He must be tried by the International Criminal Court, and arrested whenever he sets foot outside of Israel.
Anti-Semitism is rising dramatically in Europe and globally; and Jews are being urged to flee to Israel.
Many American Jews read the signs accurately; and they have been scared for a long time now, albeit they mask their fears to maintain their sanity.
Other Jews in the U.S. and Israel wallow in denial that things are markedly worse under Netanyahu; and that Jews can be targeted anywhere in the world, and there is nothing that Israel or its Mossad can do to protect them.
They believe that if the truth is not told, somehow it will go away.
Like the period before and during World War II, this collective denial may result in epic tragedies to come.
See also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7731 (“Portrait Of A Palestinian Killer“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7543 (“The Crushing Defeat And Humiliation Of Netanyahu“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7271 (“Will Israel Exist On Its 100th Anniversary?“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7059 (“Former Mossad Chief: I Don’t Trust Netanyahu, His Actions Will Cost Us“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7220 (“The Green Line Between Israel And The Palestinian Territory“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7039 (“Is Night Falling Again For European Jews?“)
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Israelis Don’t Share This American Jew’s Pessimism [UPDATED]
Every once in a while, what someone says stands out in our minds; and we roll it around and reflect on it, after the precise words have left us. This happened to me yesterday, when someone responded to my comments about the future of Israel.
Another person had described what is happening in the Middle East: “[I]t can’t end well.” I agreed, and cited what I have said before here:
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-544 (“Why I Write And Say What I Do”); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7271 (“Will Israel Exist On Its 100th Anniversary?“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/12069924/Islamic-State-leader-Baghdadi-goads-West-in-rare-audio-statement.html (“Isil chief warns Israel attacks are imminent”—”Jews, soon you shall hear from us in Palestine which will become your grave”—”The Jews thought we forgot Palestine and that they had distracted us from it. . . . Not at all, Jews. We did not forget Palestine for a moment. With the help of Allah, we will not forget it. . . . The pioneers of the jihadist fighters will surround you on a day that you think is distant and we know is close. We are getting closer every day”)
The commenter came back with the words that are the title of these comments: “Israelis don’t share this American Jew’s pessimism.”
In turn, I responded by saying:
The person’s response was more upbeat:
Time will tell . . .
Aside from traditional nuclear weapons, WMDs come in lots of different forms—with a variety of delivery systems—such as chemical and biological weapons, and an EMP Attack.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/emp-attack-only-30-million-americans-survive/ (“EMP Attack: Only 30 Million Americans Survive”)
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The Ugly Face of Islamophobia: Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens [UPDATED]
In an article entitled, “Fighting Terror by Self-Reproach,” Stephens has written:
See http://www.wsj.com/articles/fighting-terror-by-self-reproach-1449533593 (emphasis added); see also http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-security-concern-due-to-divided-loyalties-1450310897 (“‘A Security Concern Due to Divided Loyalties’”—It is not surprising that a photo of Israel’s flag flying higher than the American flag would be used with this article. This is how “Israel Firsters” like Stephens view the world. “Divided loyalties” is too nice and sterile a term to apply); but see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3369735/The-militants-threatened-shoot-Muslim-passengers-board-bus-defy-terrorists-demands-separate-Christians-deadly-terror-attack.html (“Christians escape Kenyan terrorists after Muslim passengers on board bus say shoot us all or not at all“)
This is not surprising at all, inasmuch as Stephens is the Journal‘s resident Jew from Tel Aviv—who purveys the beliefs and prejudices of the murderous Netanyahu as well as the Israeli Prime Minister himself.
Totally-biased reporting at its best. At least the Jerusalem Post used to get credit for his work, when Stephens was its editor in chief.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bret_Stephens
Someone ought to take Stephens aside and tell him that Islamophobia is un-American. And that Christianity has 2.2 billion followers. Islam has 1.8 billion followers. At most, Judaism has 14 million followers.
There are radical members of each religious group; and Americans cannot allow fear to generate unbridled hatred and anger.
Stephens’ closing words neglect to mention that Netanyahu and Israel are responsible for an estimated 2,200 Palestinian deaths last year alone.
Yet, those are only trivialities, when the goal is to carry the message of hatred against the followers of Islam—all 1.8 billion of them.
It is small wonder that anti-Semitism is spreading dramatically in Europe and globally, which may may represent a precursor of epic tragedies to come. .
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7039 (“Is Night Falling Again For European Jews?”)
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More Trash Talk About Donald Trump From Bret Stephens [UPDATED]
Not to be outdone by his earlier Islamophobic rants, the Wall Street Journal‘s resident Jew from Tel Aviv—Bret Stephens—is trashing Donald Trump and posing as an American conservative:
See http://www.wsj.com/articles/lets-elect-hillary-now-1450742854 (“Let’s Elect Hillary Now”) (emphasis added)
More psychobabble from Stephens.
For openers, Mitt Romney lost because the GOP Neanderthals stayed home and did not vote. They turned on him, like they are doing with Donald Trump today; and they will pay dearly for it.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/11/boycott-the-gop-and-ignore-foreign-naysayers/ (“Boycott The GOP And Ignore Foreign Naysayers“)
Second, and very predictably, Stephens castigates Trump:
How did “astute Jewish negotiators” find their way into this article? Oh yes, some readers may have forgotten that Stephens is an “Israel Firster” and an avowed Islamophobic.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7951 (“The Ugly Face of Islamophobia: Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens“)
He adds:
Next, he trashes Hillary Clinton too. Surely Stephens would feel more at home back in Israel.
Lastly, he does not need to wish any of us “Merry Christmas” when it is not his religion. It is a token gesture devoid of meaning.
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DEMOCRATS ARE ANTI-SEMITES [UPDATED]
John Nolte has written for Breitbart:
See http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/03/19/9-democrat-lawmakers-ties-anti-semite-farrakhan/ (“9 Democrat Lawmakers with Ties to Anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan“) (emphasis added); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/is-barack-obama-a-racist/ (“Is Barack Obama A Racist?“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/americas-newest-civil-war-2017-and-beyond/#comment-10477 (“The Ugly And Twisted Face Of A Vile Disgusting Black Racist“) and
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/10/17/louis-farrakhan-im-not-an-anti-semite-im-anti-termite/ (“Louis Farrakhan: ‘I’m Not An Anti-Semite. I’m Anti-Termite'”)
This group of despicable racists and anti-Semites are in complete denial, and are engaged in obfuscation and outright lying.
See https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/mar/19/todd-rokitas-anti-louis-farrakhan-resolution-spurs/ (“Anti-Farrakhan resolution prompts black delegation call to condemn Trump instead?“) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5837081/Nation-Islam-leader-Louis-Farrakhan-says-Harvey-Weinstein-exercised-Jewish-power.html (“Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan says Harvey Weinstein exercised ‘Jewish power’ because ‘the Talmud taught him that gentile women are partly animals’ that ‘you can do anything to'”) and https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/sep/19/keith-ellison-accuser-releases-2017-medical-docume/ (“Ellison [physical and emotional abuse] accuser releases 2017 medical document saying she feared ‘retribution'”)
The Democrats are anti-white, far-Left racists, who—their leaders neglect to mention—gave us slavery and fought to preserve it. They are pure evil; and their violent Antifa and “Black Lives Matter” groups are far far worse.
The face of the party today consists of the demented Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren, the despicable black racist and anti-Semite Maxine Waters, San Francisco Willie Brown’s ex-punch Kamala Harris, Rachel Maddow and others of their ilk.
They are among the many reasons why lots of us left the party years ago, and will never go back.
They must be crushed. Nothing less will suffice.
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Netanyahu Welcomes Russians, But Turns Away Black Jews [UPDATED]
The UK’s Daily Mail has reported:
See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5779929/Chelsea-owner-Abramovich-takes-Israeli-citizenship-report.html#article-5779929 (“Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is ‘granted Israeli citizenship’ after jetting into Tel Aviv following problems renewing his British visa“) (emphasis added); see also https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/01/african-migrants-israel/551747/ (“African Deportations Are Creating a Religious Controversy in Israel“) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Jews_in_Israel (“Ethiopian Jews in Israel“) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Abramovich (“Roman Abramovich“) and https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/2018/05/31/netanyahu-on-top-of-the-world-at-home-as-political-wins-add-up (“Wooing Trump Pays Off for Netanyahu as His Popularity Soars“)
This is a travesty, and underscores the fact that Israel is “for sale,” and that the Israelis will do anything for money as they turn away black Jews.
Also, they welcome and embrace killer Putin’s cronies.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/the-death-of-putin-and-russia-the-final-chapter-of-the-cold-war/ (“The Death Of Putin And Russia: The Final Chapter Of The Cold War”)
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Evangelicals Waver In Support For Israel
Ian Lovett has written in the Wall Street Journal:
See https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-younger-evangelicals-waver-in-support-for-israel-1527937200 (emphasis added)
First, Evangelicals represent a relatively small sect within Christianity; and most Christians reject their views.
Second, it is not surprising in the least that young Evangelicals would turn away from supporting Israel. It is true of young American Jews as well.
After all, Netanyahu has welcomed the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, but has turned away black Jews; and he oppresses the Palestinians.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-13552 (“Netanyahu Welcomes Russians, But Turns Away Black Jews“)
Third, Netanyahu was hated by former Israeli Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Yitzhak Rabin—and especially by Rabin’s wife Leah, who blamed Netanyahu for her husband’s assassination. She saw “only doom for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process” with Netanyahu at Israel’s helm; and her views were prescient.
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7 Days To Stop More Of Netanyahu’s Madness
The latest outrage from this Hitler-esque “leader” of Israel is to demolish the Palestinian village of Khan al-Ahmar in perhaps as little as one week’s time.
As the pro-peace, pro-Israel organization J Street has stated:
See https://jstreet.org/khan-al-ahmar/ (“KHAN AL-AHMAR“)
It bears repeating—as stated in my article above:
Also, as I have written above:
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An Eloquent Voice Of Enlightenment
Jeremy Ben-Ami—the president of J Street and Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for Domestic Policy—has written in the New Republic:
See https://newrepublic.com/article/151004/dont-give (“Don’t Give Up“) (emphasis added); see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Ben-Ami (“Jeremy Ben-Ami“)
As I have written previously:
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-1825 (“Jeremy Ben-Ami, ‘A New Voice For Israel’—A Wonderful Book That Should Be Read By Anyone Who Cares About And Wants To Understand Israel’s Past, Present And Future“)
While Ben-Ami is an American liberal and a Democrat, and I left that party and became an Independent around the time that I was leaving the U.S. Senate, I have enormous respect for him and share many of his views.
Also, I am a Trump supporter and he is not, but both of us want to see a lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. Among other things, I believe such a result might lessen (1) the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and elsewhere, and (2) the chances of more devastating wars in the Middle East.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7039 (“Is Night Falling Again For European Jews?“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-544 (“Why I Write And Say What I Do”)
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Finally A Voice Of Sanity, Instead Of Partisan Hatred In America [UPDATED]
Trent Baker has written for Breitbart:
See https://www.breitbart.com/video/2018/10/29/tree-of-life-rabbi-shoots-down-cnns-attempt-to-blame-trump-for-attack-trump-always-welcome-to-our-synagogue/ (“Tree of Life Rabbi to CNN: Trump ‘Always Welcome’ at Our Synagogue, ‘He Is My President’”) (emphasis added); but see https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6327535/Pittsburgh-Jewish-leaders-say-Trump-NOT-WELCOME-visit-synagogue-11-people-killed.html (“Pittsburgh Jewish leaders say Trump is NOT WELCOME to visit synagogue where 11 people were killed“); see also https://www.ibtimes.com/tree-life-synagogue-victims-fundraiser-iranian-immigrant-crosses-half-million-2728268 (“Tree Of Life Synagogue Victims Fundraiser By Iranian Immigrant Crosses Half Million“) and https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/we-need-a-coalition-of-conscience/ (David Harris: “After Pittsburgh, We Need A Coalition Of Conscience“)
The Rabbi and David Harris are voices of reason. Unfortunately, other Americans have engaged in vile, incendiary, partisan rhetoric, designed to inflame their constituencies.
. . .
Tragically, anti-Semitism has been increasing in Europe and globally; and European Jews have been urged to flee to Israel, for many years now.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7039 (“Is Night Falling Again For European Jews?“)
At the very least, Jews are safer in the United States than in Europe today.
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Israel Boycott Movement Takes On US Law Enforcement [UPDATED]
This is the title of an article by Bryant Harris in Al-Monitor, which constitutes shameful pro-Israeli propaganda:
See https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/12/israel-boycott-movement-us-law-enforcement-bds.html (emphasis added); see also https://deadlyexchange.org/ (“Deadly Exchange”—”Ending US-Israel Police Partnerships, Reclaiming Safety”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/the-madness-of-benjamin-netanyahu/#comment-3481 (“The Campaign For Boycotts, Divestment And Sanctions Against Israel Is Turning Mainstream“)
It is absurd that US police officers ever received training in Israel, which is a tiny country and a fraction of the size and complexity of ours.
Also, all US funding of Israeli programs should stop. We have vast needs in our own country that are going unmet (e.g., programs for the poor) because of the lack of funds.
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Anti-Semitism Is Rife In America And Worldwide [UPDATED]
[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar]
To refute this fact is tantamount to sticking one’s head in the sand, and ignoring reality. The questions to ask are why is it occurring and increasing now, and what can be done about it?
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-7039 (“Is Night Falling Again For European Jews?“)
Victimization has played a part in it. So has oppression of the Palestinians, or the Apartheid in Israel. So has the power hold that Jews are perceived to have achieved in the United States and other countries. So has the “Israel Firsters,” and the list goes on and on.
The latest example is said to involve Ilhan Omar, a freshman congressperson from Minnesota. Anna Edgerton has written for Bloomberg:
See https://news.yahoo.com/anti-semitism-rebuke-threatens-rift-090000290.html (“Anti-Semitism Rebuke Put Off Amid Growing Democratic Discord“); see also https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/06/ilhan-omar-israel-democrats-1206740 (“Tensions flare as Dems struggle to calm furor over Omar“) and https://nypost.com/2019/03/08/ilhan-omar-obamas-a-pretty-face-who-got-away-with-murder/ (“Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar ripped former President Barack Obama in an interview published Friday, belittling his ‘pretty face’ and saying his agenda of hope and change was an illusion. She cited the ‘caging of kids’ at the Mexican border and the ‘droning of countries around the world’ on Obama’s watch. . . .”)
To punish the “nonbelievers” will only increase the anger. Education alone is not enough either. Almost 75 years have passed since the horrendous Nazi Holocaust was uncovered for the world to see. And yes, there have been other holocausts in history, equally obscene.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin%E2%80%99s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao%E2%80%99s-chinese-holocaust/ (“The Silent Voices Of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust And Mao’s Chinese Holocaust“)
To say that the Democrats are the “fathers” of anti-Semitism in America—and yes, I began as a Democrat, but will never vote for one again—may constitute hyperbole. However, it must be remembered and never be forgotten that the father of today’s Democratic Party, Franklin D. Roosevelt, turned away the MS St. Louis and refused to allow its Jewish passengers to disembark at American ports, sending them back to Europe to await their horrific fates. Perhaps this too is why FDR and others in his administration knew of Hitler’s death camps, but did nothing about them.
See, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_St._Louis (“MS St. Louis“)
The anti-Semitism of the Democratic Party has never left us, and is simply manifesting itself again today. It is present on college campuses, and throughout our society, albeit it is often masked at times.
See, e.g., https://www.nysun.com/national/pelosi-blocked-on-anti-semitism-by-old-leftist/90599/ (“Pelosi Blocked On Anti-Semitism By Old Leftist Trick“)
It must never be forgotten too that the party was home to slavery, despicable and pervasive racism, Ku Klux Klan hangings and other atrocities.
Last but not least, there is little doubt that Barack Obama and other prominent Democrats are anti-Semites.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/ariel-sharon-is-missed/#comment-12626 (“DEMOCRATS ARE ANTI-SEMITES“)
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This is cruel and insensitive, and not a solution to anything:
“Women Mayors Are Showing Some Steel in Dealing With Homelessness”
See https://www.nysun.com/national/women-mayors-are-showing-some-steel-in-dealing/91933/
Yes, Ariel Sharon may have earned the nickname “the bulldozer” for his use of earth-moving equipment as a “weapon of war and plow of peace.” But he was hated for doing so, and later changed his ways.
To hail the actions of Boston’s female mayor, Michelle Wu — when she dispatched front-loaders and excavators to clear a homeless encampment — is cruel and heartless, and represents no solution at all.
See also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/07/09/homelessness-in-america/ (“Homelessness In America”)
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