Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, November 28, 2024

11/28 Links Pt2: Gad Saad: My Chat with Erin Molan; Former hostage Mia Schem engaged; Media Amplifies “Video” Used to Excuse Amsterdam Violence — Does it Exist?

From Ian:

Douglas Murray: Trump will bring ‘seismic change’ to the world

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will bring about a “seismic change” to a world in need of urgent reforms, the British conservative political thinker and journalist Douglas Murray said in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

“There is, and I say this carefully, there is a rather large, orange-colored hammer that has just landed, or is about to land, on this whole sea and I think this will change things seismically,” Murray said during an event at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center organized by the NGO Monitor research institute, speaking during a discussion on stopping groups that drive anti-Israel and antisemitic agendas.

“And I think that what America does in this moment will really matter because so much of this is so rotten,” he added.

Murray, who has emerged as a top supporter of Israel over the past year of war, said that Trump usually does what he says he will do, and that the declarations of members of his Cabinet speak for themselves.

He cited the proposed removal of U.S. federal funding from universities “which don’t teach their students anything other than how to become radical activists and waste their lives,” as well as cutting funding to the U.N.

“And we all know this, and you all know this, but something has to be done about it at a seismic level, at a level that will shake everything in this in this rotten tree.” British journalist Douglas Murray and NGO Monitor Vice President Olga Deutsch and President Gerald Steinberg discuss groups that drive anti-Israel and antisemitic agendas, during an event at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem on Nov. 27, 2024. Photo by Yehoshua Halevi.

The event focused on the critical role played by international organizations over the last quarter-century in promoting anti-Israel activities that have now gone mainstream.

“Many of these NGOs which have nice sounding names have gone rotten,” Murray said. “They all have this sort of smoke screen facade of decency and morality and under that smoke screen, they could get away with doing absolutely evil things.”

He cited as case in point the U.N.’s Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, which has been repeatedly connected to terrorism during the war against Hamas in Gaza but continues to receive funding from much of the world, including the U.S.

“There is nothing that UNRWA can do that will not prevent Europeans and other Western governments from funding them,” Murray said. “There can be UNRWA employees carrying out massacre and you’ll say, well, who else is there to fund? Which you would say, ‘Lots of people. Non-massacre people.’”

The Canada we loved is disappearing with the normalization of Nazi and jihadist activity

Being Canadian used to be a profound source of pride for us in the Jewish community. Growing up in Toronto meant living in one of the most ethnically and racially integrated cities in the world, a true mosaic of diversity and coexistence, built on the backbone of countless immigrants.

Like many nations, Canada’s history is not without its dark periods. Our community has long been aware of its antisemitic past, particularly during the Holocaust when Canada shamefully accepted only a negligible number of Jewish refugees despite what was happening to Jews under the Nazis. The infamous phrase, “None is too many,” epitomized the government’s stance at the time, a chilling indictment of its moral failure.

Yet, despite this grim chapter, Canada emerged as a beacon of moral clarity on the global stage under prime minister Stephen Harper. His administration stood as one of Israel’s staunchest allies, unwavering in support of its right to self-defense, starting in 2006 in the Second Lebanon War all the way up until Operation Protective Edge in the 2014 Gaza War. Canada was the first country to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas’s election and consistently opposed biased, one-sided UN resolutions against Israel. These actions showcased Canada as a principled leader, unafraid to stand firm in its convictions despite global criticism.

But the Canada we once knew and loved now feels unrecognizably distant. Since well before October 7, 2023, Canadian Jews – and, indeed, many average Canadians – have been abandoned. Hateful antisemitic and anti-Canadian protests have erupted nationwide, where agitators openly glorify Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists while desecrating the Canadian flag. Calls to “globalize the intifada” and praise for the groups responsible for atrocities have become alarmingly common.

One particularly harrowing incident occurred outside the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto (BAYT), one of the city’s largest synagogues. Pro-Hamas activists viciously protested and harassed members of the congregation during an event. In the last week of May 2024, a Jewish school for girls in Toronto was the subject of gunfire, a yeshiva (Jewish seminary) was similarly shot at in the middle of the night in Montreal, and a synagogue in Vancouver was set alight by protesters after a hate-filled rally.

On those same streets of Vancouver, Samidoun’s Charlotte Kates chillingly chanted “Long Live October 7” and lauded various terror groups as “resistance fighters” and “heroes.” Although the Canadian Parliament eventually sanctioned Samidoun as a sham charity linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist organization, this action came after years of harm inflicted on Canadian soil. Only after the group, so emboldened by government inaction, began to shout “Death to Canada” and burn both Israeli and Canadian flags during memorials marking the anniversary of October 7, did the Canadian government finally shut it down.

Media Amplifies “Video” Used to Excuse Amsterdam Violence — Does it Exist?

The New York Times Corrects
After CAMERA called on authors and editors to substantiate their claim, the New York Times (eventually) came clean with readers. It didn’t have the alleged video.

The paper published corrections, removed references to the video, and changed the report so that it attributed to “city officials” the allegation about the alleged chants. (The amended report doesn’t consider whether city officials, who don’t speak Hebrew, may have fallen victim to the same mistranslations that appeared to trip up Times reporters.)

Before the piece was corrected, though, the claim spread further — crafted on social media, blasted out by the New York Times, and repeated, for example, in a Globe and Mail opinion piece that links to the Times piece when condemning the purported chant. After a German journalist pointed to the New York Times and its questionable quote, his newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine, led readers to believe the quote appears on video.

And on, and on, and on it rippled. Wikipedia currently cites the New York Times and Frankfurter Allgemeine when claiming: “Israeli fans were captured on video chanting ‘Death to Arabs,’ ‘Let the IDF win’ and ‘Why is there no school in Gaza? There are no children left there.’”

The quote appeared elsewhere. Al Jazeera mentions it repeatedly. Various arms of Turkish state media describe the supposed video. The Guardian’s Jon Henley refers to “verified social media videos” of the quote, and his paper repeated the claim a day later. The Jewish Chronicle stated as fact that the words were chanted by fans headed to the soccer match. The Media Line reported that video from Amsterdam showed of chant.

After contact from CAMERA, the author of the Media Line piece made clear he couldn’t substantiate the claim, and the piece was changed to say that chants “reportedly” included the words in question. The Jewish Chronicle, too, acknowledged it had no video, and quietly changed its piece so that the charge was attributed to a “city official” and Frankfurter Allgemeine.

Frankfurter Allgemeine informed CAMERA that it didn’t, in fact, have video. (Editors defended their language with a technicality: While the allegation appeared in a paragraph that that opened by describing video of Israelis, which itself appeared in a section that opened by describing video of Israelis, the offending sentence didn’t restate the word “video.” The reporting, they insisted, was based on eyewitness claims — though the article didn’t attribute the claim, and instead reported it as fact.)

The Guardian reader’s editor said she would look into the issue. The Globe and Mail columnist did not reply to a call for substantiation.

11/28 Links Pt1: There’s No Such Thing As a ‘Ceasefire with Lebanon’; Hezbollah lost 4,000 fighters; Send in the clowns, arrests at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: There’s No Such Thing As a ‘Ceasefire with Lebanon’

Yesterday, President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron crowed that, “after many weeks of tireless diplomacy, Israel and Lebanon have accepted a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon.”

Between Israel and Lebanon? Have there been hostilities between Israel and Lebanon? Because it would be very silly to have Lebanese troops patrol the buffer zone if the buffer zone is meant to separate the IDF from Lebanese troops.

It’s wonderful that “Israel and Lebanon have accepted a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon.” Whoever this “Lebanon” guy is, he sounds nice. But I have no idea what he’s doing here.

Last week, men almost surely hired by Iran murdered in cold blood a Jerusalem-born Chabad rabbi in Dubai. Are Biden and Macron working on a “ceasefire” between Israel and the United Arab Emirates? Of course not, and no one is even suggesting such a thing, because it would be patently ridiculous on its face and arguably a mockery of the victim.

So that’s the conceptual absurdity of this ceasefire. What about its practicality?

“Eight vehicles and a motorcycle carrying Hezbollah personnel arrived at the ruins of Kfar Kila near Matula,” Israel’s Kann News reported this morning. “The IDF force that was on the spot drove them away with warning shots.”

Metula is an Israeli town on the border with Lebanon. Hezbollah had begun the ceasefire by advancing on Israel. Wrong direction, guys! Like legendary Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall recovering that fumble against the 49ers in 1964 and then running 65 yards into the wrong end zone—except on purpose.

And Israel’s response was to fire warning shots, because anything more aggressive—anything actually appropriate to the threat, in other words—would have triggered condemnation from the very allies that negotiated this ceasefire.

The Lebanese Armed Forces cannot enforce this ceasefire. If they could, they would have already cleared the area of Hezbollah, which has been operating with impunity for four decades. And the UN peacekeepers are Hezbollah’s trusted allies—that may sound harsh but it is just plain fact.

Yes, Israel is hoping to run out the clock on the Biden administration and have freer range of action once Donald Trump takes office. But Hezbollah knows Biden is on his way out, too, and that Trump is on his way in. And the enemy always gets a vote. Sometimes that vote is expressed by a nine-vehicle Hezbollah convoy encroaching on Israel’s sovereign border, in contemptuous contravention of a ceasefire signed by “Lebanon.”

Avi Issacharoff: Hezbollah can only claim Pyrrhic victory, but the real one is Israel's

While Hizbullah spokesmen may claim victory, the reality is clear to most Lebanese citizens. Hizbullah suffered a devastating defeat in the recent conflict.

Israeli intelligence demonstrated its ability to locate Hizbullah operatives down to the level of company commanders and including those facilitating weapons smuggling from Iran through Syria.

This campaign will undoubtedly be studied in military academies as a model of how Israel, through a combination of deception, tactical ingenuity, precise intelligence, combat spirit and soldierly sacrifice, managed to bring the conflict to a decisive close once the decision was made to act.

Israel had allowed Hizbullah to grow unchecked over the past 17 years without decisive action to stop its military buildup.

After the ceasefire, Hizbullah will undoubtedly resume its reconstruction efforts. Will Israel act decisively to prevent Hizbullah's next military buildup?

Ben-Dror Yemini: IDF's achievements against Hezbollah are tremendous and we should talk about it

Hizbullah's strength was supposed to deter Israel from any contemplation of striking the Iranian nuclear program. Everything written about Hizbullah's potential was accurate.

Then Israel struck Hizbullah with the pager operation, with massive bombings of missile and rocket depots, and with the elimination of Nasrallah and other top leaders in an unprecedented achievement.

Israel comes out of this conflict much stronger and Hizbullah has folded after a heavy blow.

Israel is in a position of strength. We lost this strength once because of a conciliatory approach. It must not happen again.

International Tourism Down, Taxi Drivers Forced To Price-Gouge Israelis (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Ben-Gurion International Airport, November 28 - Deprived by the consequences of an ongoing war of clueless visitors from abroad whom they can fleece by charging unreasonable rates, local cab operators find themselves struggling to generate the same extra cash by doing the same to the more seasoned, long-term residents of the country, an industry group reported today.

A spokesman for the Organization of Navigational Automotive Associates (ONAA) shared its members lament this morning that the lack of tourists since last October 7 has all but crippled taxi drivers' opportunities and abilities to gouge naive passengers with inflated prices, since the only remaining marks for the venerable scam are locals who are wise to any such attempts to defraud them.

"It's difficult to adapt to this situation," acknowledged Rami Ramai, ONAA's deputy director. "On paper, the standard, metered rate for a trip from the airport to, say, Jerusalem is a few hundred shekels, assuming only light traffic on the highway. On paper, that's supposed to cover the fuel, wear and tear, maintenance, insurance, and registration costs, plus a reasonable profit. But regardless of what the meter might say, often the driver and passenger will negotiate a flat sum for the trip in advance. Still, that's perfectly fine, and drivers know their lower limits. But again, that's just on paper - in reality we don't want merely a reasonable profit. We're here to exploit the innocent."

Ramai explained that while seasoned Israelis will not fall for the "I give you big discount" line, enough tourists do, resulting in flat sum notably in excess of what drivers can expect from local customers - and some drivers have become dependent on the extra income from fleecing foreign visitors, principally Americans. With the war since October 7, 2023, scaring off many airlines, foreign tourist traffic has decreased markedly, and with it, the opportunities to score exploitative profits from travelers - and putting nearly half of ONAA's members in a financial bind.

"A lot of us are still paying off mortgages, or loans for the taxis themselves," noted Ramai. "Even those who don't have to worry about those problems, most of them, are still reliant on the price-gouging to make the difference between mere subsistence and some measure of a comfortable lifestyle. Gouging tourists became, however informally, a fixed part of many families' budgeting. Now we have to find ways of separating less-gullible people, cynical and suspicious Israelis, from their money, and it's not easy."

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Kosher Egyptian French Fries - in Israel

We don't hear much about trade between Egypt and Israel, besides natural gas. But it is happening, even with the cold peace between the two.

Yerushalimey sent me pictures of a brand of frozen French fries at his local grocery in Israel.

When he looked at the back, he saw something unusual:

It is made in Egypt.

Not only that...

It's kosher!

French fries require certification, since they get fried during their manufacture and the oil must be kosher as well as the equipment. (Chances are the oil used in this brand are kitniyot, which is why they are only kosher for Passover for Mizrahi Jews.)

Which means that some Israeli rabbi or rabbis must be traveling to Cairo to verify how the fries (or chips, if you prefer) are manufactured.

Of course, now that I published this, there's a danger that Egyptians will start attacking the manufacturer and accuse it of "genocide," which is becoming the go-to response for anyone who deals with Israel in any way.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

On November 21, UN Watch reported a major story:

UN Watch has revealed that UNRWA’s previous head Pierre Krahenbuhl met repeatedly with leaders of Palestinian terrorist organizations, including one meeting where he called for their covert partnership and unity. The practice has continued under UNRWA’s current commissioner Philippe Lazzarini.

At a gathering in Beirut in February 2017, Krahenbuhl met with the Hamas chief of foreign relations, Ali Baraka, who was recently indicted by the U.S. government for “heinous crimes.” Baraka managed Hamas ties with Tehran and other regimes including Syria and Iraq. Days after the Hamas massacre of October 7th, Baraka claimed that the group had been planning the attack for two years, and he revealed the existence since 2021 of a Palestinian Joint Operations Room among the various factions. “We made them think that Hamas was busy with governing Gaza, and that it wanted to focus on the 2.5 million Palestinians there, and has abandoned the resistance altogether. All the while, under the table, Hamas was preparing for this big attack,” said Baraka.

The head of UNRWA at the same gathering also met with Abu Imad al-Rifai, the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Lebanon, who boasted about sending a wave of suicide bombers to Baghdad in 2003 to kill American and British troops.

At the meeting, UNRWA’s Krahenbuhl emphasized the “spirit of partnership” between the terrorist groups and UNRWA. He invited them to privately challenge any UNRWA decision, which he could then change or “tear up,” while also urging that their “discussions not be made public.”

If their meetings were to be publicized, said Krahenbuhl, who now heads the International Red Cross, that “could challenge our credibility” — and “lead to a loss of trust between donor countries and UNRWA, which might result in reduced or even terminated funding.”

In the discussions with the terror chiefs, Krahenbuhl acknowledged that UNRWA’s role was not primarily about aid distribution. “We will not abandon the role entrusted to us, to be the historical witness to the injustice that has befallen the Palestinian people,” he said.

This is as damning as can be. It proves that UNRWA cooperates with terror groups, and it tries to hide it. It proves that UNRWA's main mission is not to aid Palestinian "refugees" but to "be the historical witness" by perpetuating the fake refugee problem.

This comes on top of evidence that UNRWA schools were run by Hamas leaders, and students are being taught to hate and attack Israel. And UNRWA employees are stealing aid meant for Gazans - according to Gazans themselves.

UNRWA cannot argue about these facts. So it responds by calling it "disinformation."

From Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner-General:

The spread of disinformation against UNRWA is meant to create chaos & divert attention from the political aims to dismantle the Agency.

It is distraction from what really matters: The devastating impact the war in Gaza & the region is having on civilians & the work that our UNRWA teams continue to do to save lives.

The spread of false information continues unabated causing harm to Palestine Refugees by undermining the only UN agency dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance, education + primary health care to one of the most vulnerable communities in the region.

UNRWA is the international community’s instrument put in place to address the plight of Palestine refugees in the absence of an alternative & until a just political solution is found.

Most importantly, this dis-information campaign is putting the lives of my colleagues in the occupied Palestinian territory including Gaza at further risk.

Before you share, double check the source & question the intent. Ask, why is this information out there?

Avoid becoming an echo for disinformation & de facto of fueling hate.

It’s more harmful than you think.

What, exactly is the disinformation and false information? Has Lazzarini denied the transcript of his predecessor cozying up to terrorist leaders? Has UNRWA denied that Hamas leaders were also school principals? Has UNRWA brought any proof that UN Watch is lying?

Of course not. Because they can't.

The only distraction happening is UNRWA trying as hard as it can to distract attention from its own complicity in terror.

Arguing that UNRWA provides some services to vulnerable people and therefore shouldn't be touched is like saying that same about Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, all of which run social service programs. It is like arguing that a surgeon who never went to medical school should not lose his or her license since only 10% of their patients died from their incompetence.

And, no, these revelations are not meant to "divert attention" from political aims to dismantle the agency. They are very clearly meant to dismantle the agency.

It should have been done decades ago.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

This is the cover of The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem, written by Henry Ford, translated to Arabic.

You can buy this book at the Kuwait International Book Fair, this week.

Other titles that are either explicitly antisemitic or bizarre Zionist conspiracy theories:

So We Don't Forget: Jewish Crimes... Zionist Hatred by Essam Shaker

The Jewish conspiracy against Mesopotamia until the fall of Babylon in 539 BC: an analytical study, by Dr. Hassan Obeid Issa

What the Russians wrote about the Jews A collection of books

Forced displacement of Jews, a goal or a crime? by Hadi Muhammad Al-Shadookhi (his answer is "goal")

Sabbatai Zevi and the Secret Life of the Donmeh Jews by Dr. Jilani Kokjan

A book called Zionist Mentality

The Nile Basin Water Agreements and Zionist Ambitions by Muhammad Abdul-Mumin Abdul-Ghani (a conspiracy theory that Israel planned to take over the Nile River Basin)

Judaism is a doctrine of racial superiority by Mohammed Nimer Al-Madani

The Strategy of the Zionist Entity between Settling the Palestinian Issue and the International Balance of Power (After Oslo - the Beginning of the Third Millennium) by Dr. Ashraf Mahmoud Abu Amer

The abomination of desolation.. Establishing the Zionist temple on the ruins Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem by Osama Marai

Plus four editions of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, published in Syria and Lebanon.

There are hundreds of books listed on the site that mention Jews or Zionists in their titles, but the database lookup is very slow so these are the ones I found first.

Iran, of course, is exhibiting.

Many of the books have innocent sounding titles but they end up being antisemitic once you research them.

At the fair, the American publisher Scholastic has a huge booth, lending legitimacy to this.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

In the autumn of 1789, President George Washington call for November 26 that year to be "a Day of public Thanksgiving and Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful Hearts the many and signal Favors of Almighty GOD, especially by affording them an Opportunity peaceably to establish a From of Government for their Safety and Happiness. . ."

On that November 26, the spiritual leader of New York's Congregation Shearith Israel, Gershom Mendes Seixas, delivered a sermon on giving thanks for the United States, especially the Constitution.

The sermon was so well received by the public that it was published as a booklet the following month.

The speech describes the obligation to thank God for everything good that happens; indeed, it is the only way we could possibly fulfill the obligation to "know ye the Lord is God." It includes a brief history of the Jewish people and even includes what would be called Zionism today: "From the circumstances we are led to believe, that though we, by our sins and transgressions, as well as by the sins of our fathers, are involved in this captivity, yet we may, by an acknowledgment of our evil actions, find grace in the sight of our Creator, and again be restored to our own land; for this we have many strong assurances in the sacred writings...when that we should return unto the Lord with a contrite heart, a true spirit and sincere repentance; that he will then hearken unto our prayers and supplications, and cause us to be again established under our own government, as we were formerly..."

It was republished in 1977 as "A Religious Discourse: Thanksgiving Day Sermon, November 26, 1789" but that booklet is out of print.

Here is the full text of Chazzan Seixas' sermon. It is a worthwhile read.

----------------------------------------------------

THE subject I have chosen to expatiate on this day, is taken from the three first verses of the 100th psalm, where we find King David, in a particular manner, address ALL inhabitants of the earth in these words—“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands,” and earnestly exhorts them “to serve the Lord with gladness, to enter into his presence with a singing.” In all exhortations of this kind, there are two things to be attended to: the one is the station, and the other the character of the person who undertakes the office of exhorter.

In respect to his station, you cannot but allow him to have filled the most eminent, the most dignified that human nature can boast of, for the sacred scripture mentions his both as a prophet and a king, and he is therein stiled the anointed of God. As to his general character, his writings are sufficient to evince his faith and hope in God; that he was pious, just, and upright in his ways, is incumbent on us to believe, as he was expressly called “the man after God’s own heart;” and when we view him both as a prophet and a king, we cannot but be sensibly affected with the endearing language he uses throughout his writings. Observe how tenderly he invites you to hearken to his instructions, in Psalm 34, v. 11– “Come ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Could he have called you in a more affectionate manner than by the name of children? Is there a tie in nature more binding than subsists in a parent towards his child? Surely not; if there was, no doubt he would have used it to express his tenderness to his fellow creatures. Possessed of all the principles of benevolence, he breathes forth love and peace to man; how strenuously does he recommend the practical duties of religion, and points out the many advantages that necessarily arise from a due observance of God’s holy law; and in Psalm 3, the last verse, he declares, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” A knowledge of God, and his works, is the material principle he endeavours to inculcate; for immediately after his advising you to “serve the Lord with gladness,” he tell you the chief duty you owe to your Creator in these few words—“Know ye that the Lord he is God;” not with the authority of a despotic king to his subjects, or a master to his slave, but with persuasive language he intreats, in the gentle strains of consequence he intrusts, his voice is the voice of reason in its greatest state of perfection, and his arguments are universally acknowledged to be founded in truth and justice.

You may here ask, how is it possible for us finite beings to attain a knowledge of God? Are we endued with the faculties to comprehend that which is infinite? It is generally (though wrongly) asserted as a thing impracticable. But when we reflect on the wondrous works of his creation, that “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth the works of his hands,” are we not most forcibly led to exclaim, with the royal psalmist, “How wonderful are thy works, O God!” It is only through the medium of these things that we can arrive at a proper knowledge of God, and from a study of ourselves, we become capable of forming suitable ideas of his divine attributes; from the providential care of his creaturs, we judge of his benevolence; from the manifestations of his tender mercies towards us, we judge of his beneficence; and from the various productions of nature, we judge of his omnipotence. A Being, possessed of such powers (and attributes) is forever to be adored; and we only comply with our duty, when we assemble, to render praise and thanksgiving for all his benefits towards us. The wonderful display of his divine providence, “in the course and conclusion of the late war;” the happy consequences derived therefrom, by an establishment of public liberty; the recent mercies conferred on these states, by the general approbation and adoption of the new constitution, are (ALL) blessings that demand our most grateful acknowledgments to the Supreme Ruler of the universe; more especially, as we are made equal partakers of every benefit that results from this good government; for which, we cannot sufficiently adore the God of our fathers, who hath manifested his care over us in this particular instance; neither can we demonstrate our sense of his benign goodness, for his favourable interposition in behalf of the inhabitants of this land, and for every other kind of dispensation bestowed both on them and us. What return can we make to so glorious a Being? How are we to shew our gratitude? King David himself, although inspired, seemed to be at a loss to express his sense of the obligations he acknowledged to have received, as you may find in Psalm 116 v. 12—“What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me?” and the only mode he could devise, was by declaring he would publish the name of the Lord; as he says in the next verse—“I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord:” that is, I will acknowledge the salvations, the benefits I have received, and publish the name of the Lord, to make known that he is the fountain of all good, the dispenser of all benefits. The acknowledgment of favors received by a dependent creature, is all the return he can make to his creator; the proclaiming that goodness to all men, the only thanksgiving in his power. It would be digressing too much from the subject to enumerate all the instances mentioned in the [sacred scriptures] to prove that this calling upon the name of the Lord means a publishing the belief of a God; teaching the world a knowledge of his glorious attributes; preaching faith and good works among the sons of men, in the manner as it is recited of Abraham; when, after he was called by God to quit the place of nativity, his kindred and the house of his father, that he went on his peregrinations, and at every place where he arrived, and pitched his tent; he built an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord, as you may find particularly in Genesis ch. 12, vs. 7 and 8; the belief of an eternal God had, in his day, almost become obliterated; by which means an immediate revelation was necessary to renew the knowledge of a true God. And Abraham not only taught his own offspring and houshold the tenets of his faith, but he was disposed to promulgate them to all mankind; for we find in Genesis ch. 18, vs. 17, 18 and 19 when the Lord was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrab for the grievousness of their sins, that he said—“Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, feeling Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all nations of the earth shall be blessed in him; for I know him, that he will command his children, and his houshold after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.” This knowledge of God has been progressively obtaining from the earliest ages of the creation; and though the greater part of the world were idolaters in Abraham’s time, still he persisted in his researches after truth, and by a steady faith and perseverance, he at last attained it, and, by his universal charity, communicated it to the rest of the world, inasmuch that it has now become almost universal, although the different nations of the earth do not altogether agree in their ideas respecting the Supreme King of Kings, still they maintain the essential doctrines of his holy law in point of morality; and in this enlightened age, we may reasonably hope to see our prophetic writings thoroughly fulfilled, that the knowledge of the Lord shall finally become so diffused and extensive as “the waters cover the sea.”

. . . It may not be amiss here to remind you of the situation we are now in, and what we were in antient times, whilst we rended in our own land, in that land which the Almightly swore unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them, and to their seed forever; at that time, when a man became conscious of having transgressed any of God’s holy commandments, either by commission or omission, he had an opportunity of making an atonement by sacrifice, which he carried to the Temple, either as a trespass or sin offering, according to the nature of his offence; the high priest, with the inferior order of priests were ever ready to attend any one who applied for expiation; and by an humble confession of the sinner, and a promise of amendment, his sin was forgiven. But, alas! through the multitude of our sins, and the sins of our ancestors, we are brought into this deplorable captivity, where we have neither temple, altar, or priest, to make atonement for us; nor have we any other means of imploring the Divine Favor but by words and deeds, which we find were earnestly recommended by the latter prophets, as may be seen in the book of Hosea, ch. 14, v. 2— “Take with you words and turn unto the Lord, say unto him, take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips.” This practice of public prayers was continued, after their time, by the heads of the great Synagogue, and from them in a regular descent to us, by which we are enabled to offer up our supplications to our Creator, to render praise and thanksgiving to him for all his tender mercies towards us; and in the language of King David will I say, “I will offer unto thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will publish the name of the Lord.”

The practical duties of our holy religion are to be found in almost every part of the sacred scriptures; but from an habitual negligence of applying to them, in the occurrences of human affairs, mankind becomes depraved. Attend only to what is said by our divine legislator Moses, in Deuteronomy ch. 10, vs. 12 and 13, in these words, “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee—but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for good” . . . .

From these instructions, we are led to reflect on the great and glorious author of our existence. How does the human mind become elated with the idea of being worthy his providential care! It is then we discover the dignity of ourselves; then it is that we may truly say with Job, who, after he had suffered almost every temporal evil, exclaimed, “And from my flesh I see God;” meaning thereby, that the formation and construction of our natural bodies were manifest evidences of a God: for what power, except the omnipotent self-existing Being, could ever have formed to compleat, so complex a creature as man; endued with all the benevolent and social virtues, yet subject to the most flagrant vices, vices that are productive of destruction, both of body and soul. Man is to be viewed in two different states with respect to God, the comparative and the relative. When in the comparative, what are we? what are our lives? what are our actions? how mean! how insignificant! But when we consider the relative state we stand in towards God, that he hath formed us after his own image, how important, how dignified do we appear! Capable of reasoning on things both present and absent; searching into the mysterious operations of nature; exploring the works of an almighty Providence, in enabling the human mind to contemplate futurity; improving and increasing in knowledge; possessing faculties to comprehend the movements of the heavenly spheres, thereby admitting the necessity of a great first cause, determining rules of right, judging of things proper or improper according to their various degrees.[2] How grateful therefore ought we to be to our Maker! Who hath of his own good-will, and not from any merit in us, bestowed on us such precious gifts; gifts that we cannot but be sensible of every moment of our lives. As we confess in our daily prayers, (in these words)—“For thy miraculous providence which is daily with us, and for thy wonders and thy goodness which are at all times, evening, morning and noon, exercised over us,” for all which, we are loudly called on, to render praise and thanksgiving, as it is expressed in Psalm 13, v. 6, “I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.”

But amidst your rejoicings, it is necessary that you still keep in remembrance, that “the Lord he is God, that he hath made us, that we are his, even his people, and the sheep of his pasture;”[3] consequently, as we are his peculiar treasure, we are at all times, and upon all occasions, bound to obey every rule that he hath ordained; to place our hope and dependence on him, by which we may obtain his blessing, as it is said in Jeremiah, ch. 17, v. 7—“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is;” to rest assued of his tender mercies; for in Psalm 145, v. 9, you will find these words—“The Lord is good to ALL, and his tender mercies are over ALL his works.”

As an earthly king is ever watchful over his subjects, and a parent over his children, seeking their peace and prosperity, endeavouring to accomplish their happiness, so is the Almighty ever watchful over his people; providing bountifully for their natural wants, continually inspecting their conduct, as it is written (in Psalm 33 vs. 13 and 14) “the Lord looketh from Heaven, he beholdeth all the sons of men; from the place of his habitation he looketh upon all inhabitants of the earth,” rewarding and punishing them according to their merit or demerit; slow to wrath, but not entirely acquitting; his anger endureth for a moment, but his mercies are everlasting; from his efficient grace, pointing out the road of salvation through the medium of his prophets; inviting sinners to repentance, as may be seen in the book of Jonah, in a very particular manner; when the inhabitants of that great and famous city of Nineveh had become heinous sinners in the sight of God, he ordered Jonah on an embassy to them, to exhort them to repentance and amendment, with assurances of forgiveness if they would forsake their evil practices; they were soon convinced of their folly and wickedness, and immediately devoted themselves to fasting and prayer. It is here necessary to remark, that faith alone is insufficient to procure salvation, for we find the Almighty only had respect to their actions; they ceased to do evil, and sought after that which was good. This was pleasing to the Lord, and he spared the city on which he had denounced destruction, agreeable to holy-writ, where it is said—“He that confesseth and forsaketh (his wickedness) shall find mercy.”

From the circumstances we are led to believe, that though we, by our sins and transgressions, as well as by the sins of our fathers, are involved in this captivity, yet we may, by an acknowledgment of our evil actions, find grace in the sight of our Creator, and again be restored to our own land; for this we have many strong assurances in the sacred writings from our first and greatest prophet, who was called the faithful servant of God, as you may find in Numbers (ch. 12, v. 7) and in Deuteronomy (ch. 34, v. 10) it is said of him—“There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face;”—from his time, even unto Malachi (who lived in the time of the second temple, and was the last of our prophets) the same assurances are given of our restoration, when that we should return unto the Lord with a contrite heart, a true spirit and sincere repentance; that he will then hearken unto our prayers and supplications, and cause us to be again established under our own government, as we were formerly; then shall the lost tribes of Israel be again embodied and united to the house of Judah, as represented in a figurative manner in Ezekiel, ch. 37. Then shall there be but one shepherd and one king to rule over them, as it is said in verses 24 and 25—“And David my servant wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and their children’s children, for ever.” In a word, from the chapter to the end of the book, you will find a reference to that glorious day which every true Israelite looks for with anxious expectation; and in the 47th chapter, it is even mentioned of the stranger that sojourneth among you, that he also shall have inheritance in the land with the tribes of Israel. “In whatever tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance saith the Lord God.” This is an explicit proof that we shall be established under our own king—the Messiah, the son of David. . . .

These are assurances on which we may rely; they are the express declarations of infinite goodness. What a fore-taste of happiness; for who among God’s creatures can boast in the manner we may, that hath seen and felt the miraculous effects of his all gracious providence so often and so fully as we and our fathers; as Moses elegantly describes it in Deuteronomy ch. 4, vs. 7 and 8—“For what nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for. And what nation is there so great that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day.”

Let us only revolve in our minds the many different situations that we and our fathers have gone through since the time of our first progenitor among the Patriarchs; for so soon as the promise of the holy land was made unto him he became a sojourner therein, and in the course of four hundred years his posterity had been sojourners, and at last became mere slaves to a people who knew not the Lord; they were cruelly oppressed in bondage until they cried unto the Lord; who heard them from his holy habitation, and sent Moses and Aaron to redeem them; they were delivered from their oppressors, and were going to take posession of the promised land, but by their own evil actions they were involved in a forty years wandering in the wilderness, and after having been settled by Joshua, who was immediate successor to Moses, they again fell off from the service of God, and thereby incurred divine punishment. The Judges succeeded him until the time of Samuel, and then they rebelled against the majesty of their Maker, and desired an earthly king, who was given to them in wrath, as it is mentioned in the sacred scripture, and they were never at peace until the close of king David’s reign, which was of but short duration, for their proneness to evil always had the ascendancy. For we find, although king Solomon, particularly blessed with wisdom, built the temple according to divine directions, appointed an high-priest, consonant to the institution of the office, to perform the services thereof; and the inferior order of priests, with the singers and attendants, still a general defection soon took place, and they again became sinners in the sight of their Creator, who raised up an instrument of vengeance against them in the person of the Assyrian king, who took many of our brethren captives, and sent them into distant countries, as you may find in 2 Kings, ch. 17 and 18. Where they are not known by any among us, even at this day; and there remained only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with the priests and Levites, who were either in their respective offices, or had inter-married with these tribes, who were all accounted as one tribe only, as it is written in the 18th verse of the 17th chapter of the second book of Kings, in these words—“Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.” Nor did they long refrain from following the evil examples of their captive brethren, for we find that a few years afterwards the Babylonish captivity took place, where they remained seventy years, until the time of Cyrus the Persian king, who liberated them from their captivity, made them many valuable presents, and restored to them a considerable number of things that belonged to the sacred temple, as you may find at large in the book of Ezra, they were re-established in their possessions, they rebuilt the temple and renewed the services pertaining thereto, which they contained until the final destruction made in Vespasian, in consequence of their abominations; in a word, they were always so refractory, that they were seldom at peace; but whenever they returned unto the Lord, and repented them of their sins, they were sure to find mercy. From that period even till now, our predecessors have been, and we are still at this time in captivity among the different nations of the earth; and though we are, through divine goodness, made equal partakers of the benefits of government by the constitution of these states, with the rest of the inhabitants, still we cannot but view ourselves as captives in comparison to what we were formerly, and what we expect to be hereafter, when the outcasts of Israel shall be gathered together, as it is said in Isaiah, ch. 27, v. 12—“And those who are lost in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt shall come and worship in the Lord in the holy mount of Jerusalem.” But unless we return unto the Lord and sincerely repent us of our sins and transgressions, as well our “private as those of a national nature,” we cannot rationally expect to see the accomplishment of the sacred text. How necessary is it therefore for us to unite in a general reformation of manners? Who knoweth but at this very moment, while we are yet speaking, we may be snatched hence from all the pleasures and allurements of this transitory state, to appear at the awful tribunal of divine justice, where every one must render an account of his actions?

The many visitations of an almighty providence which we have experienced within these few years past, are sufficient indications, to a sensible mind that we are suffering under his displeasure. Awaken from your lethargy, and think, before it is too late, of your dependence on him, humble yourselves before him, and implore his mercy. I mean not to impeach the innocent victims that have been made, far from it, they suffer not; for as the royal psalmist says— “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints;” and the prophet Isaiah says, “The righteous perish and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away because of the evil. He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each on walking in his uprightness.” But it is we that suffer; it is we that have cause to lament. Where now, ye youths, is the fostering hand of age and experience, to lead you through the slippery paths of life? In what manner can we comply with that excellent [exhortation] given to us by our faithful legislator, “Ask thy father and he will tell thee?” Who is to plead the cause of the widow and fatherless? Their cries are now in vain! We have lost our benefactors; we have lost those who, in cases of necessity, were ever ready to assist us with their advice and their interest.[4]—These, these are calamities that ought to humble you. Lay aside your pride and your vanities; strive to imitate the virtues of those worthy characters who are now no more. Be not lifted up above yourselves; but know, for a certainty, that he who exalts can depress. Let us not apply to ourselves that short but expressive sentence, “and forsook the God that made him.” Let us not have cause to reproach ourselves with neglect of duty: but do justice, execute judgement, and walk humbly before the Lord; for this is all that he requires.[5] Then shall we be able to sing and rejoice both in body and spirit, and truly say, “This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will be glad and rejoice therein.”

Then shall ye know that the Lord he is God, and that there is none other beside him. Then will be as it was in the time of Ahab, when there were no less than four hundred and fifty false prophets that offered sacrifices to Baal; and Elijah, of blessed memory, remained alone the faithful servant of our only true God—the God of Israel—as you may find at large in the first book of Kings, ch. 18. When, after the false prophets had invoked their idols for a length of time, as Elijah had proposed to them, and they received no answer to their supplications; then it was that Elijah built an altar with a trench surrounding it—he prepared a sacrifice, and ordered a considerable quantity of water to be poured upon the sacrifice, the wood, and the altar—the trench also was filled with water—and about the evening time of offering, he intreated the God of Israel to hear him, and make manifest his truth and his holiness; when, immediately after, the fire came down from Heaven, in the presence of all the people, consumed the sacrifice, the wood, and the altar, and even licked up the dust thereof, and absorbed the water that was in the trench; insomuch that the people saw the impositions they had suffered by the wickedness of their then rulers, and, as if universally inspired, they fell upon their faces, and with one voice cried out—the Lord, HE is the God!—The Lord, HE is the God!

From the foregoing, you will naturally observe the duties we owe our Creator: it now remains to point out the duties which we owe to ourselves, the community to which we belong.

In the first place, it is necessary that we, each of us in our respective stations, behave in such a manner as to give strength and stability to the laws entered into by our representatives; to consider the burden imposed on those who are appointed to act in the executive department; to contribute, as much as lays in our power, to support that government which is founded upon the strictest principles of equal liberty and justice. If to seek the peace and prosperity of the city wherein we dwell be a duty, even under bad governments, what must it be when we are situated under the best of constitutions? It behoves us to use our utmost endeavours to suppress every species of licentiousness; to unite, with cheerfulness and uprightness, upon all occasions that may occur in the political as well as in the moral world, to promote that which has a tendency to the public good for, without a proper subordination to the rulers (either superior or inferior) no government can (long) exist.

And, secondly, from this mode of general government may be deduced the necessity of conforming to the established rules of particular societies: for, whatever is necessary to be observed in respect to the former, may be with the greatest propriety applied to the latter.

And lastly, to conclude, my dear brethren and companions, it is incumbent on us, as Jews, in a more especial manner (seeing we are the chosen and and peculiar treasure of God) to be more circumspect in our conduct [Isaiah, ch. 44, v. 8.]—that as we are at this day living evidences of his divine power and unity: so may we become striking examples to the nations of the earth hereafter, as it is mentioned in several passages of the sacred scriptures, and particularly in Exodus, ch. 19, v. 6. “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation;” meaning thereby that we should, in the latter days, teach the law to those who shall then enter into the covenant made with Abraham our father, for in him “shall all nations of the earth be blessed.” For this purpose, let me recommend to you a serious consideration of the several duties already set forth this day; to enter into a self-examination; to relinquish your prejudices against each other; to subdue your passions; to live, as Jews ought to do, in brotherhood and amity; “to seek peace and pursue it:”[6] so shall it be well with you both here and hereafter; which God, of his infinite mercies, grant.—Amen.

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11/27 Links Pt2: The International Criminal Court’s Folly; Jews Are Being Told to Hide in Berlin. Again.; How to defeat the antisemitism of the progressive left and strengthen America

From Ian:

Eugene Kontorovich: The International Criminal Court’s Folly

Supporters of the ICC should be embarrassed that its decision was cheered by Hamas and Hezbollah. Those groups understand that the court’s indictments of Israeli officials will make it more difficult for Israel to defend itself. Yet the ICC cannot deter dictators and warlords, because they can fall into its hands only if they lose power. If they remain in power despite their atrocities, a minor crimp in their travel plans is more than offset by the power and wealth they will enjoy. The three Hamas leaders indicted by the tribunal have already been killed by Israel; they might have preferred a cell in The Hague.

Leaders of democracies must make different calculations; they rotate out of power, and their private benefits in office are relatively minimal. ICC warrants against them, even if entirely unjustified, could deter them from vigorously and lawfully prosecuting defensive wars, for which their civilian populations would pay the price. Thus, the prosecutions of Israeli officials will actually make war crimes more likely, by tipping the scales against liberal democracies.

All of this poses a threat to the U.S.—as a non–member state that engages in a high level of global armed conflict—as well as to its leaders and soldiers. The ICC could recognize the Islamic State in the Levant as a “state” for purposes of its jurisdiction, just as easily as it recognized Palestine, and investigate American officials for alleged crimes during the U.S.-led campaign against the terror group. That campaign, started during Barack Obama’s presidency, included battles in Mosul, where an effort to evict approximately 5,000 ISIS fighters in the city led to perhaps 10,000 civilian deaths and the destruction of the city. The ICC did not have jurisdiction, because Iraq had not joined the treaty—but the Palestine precedent shows that this is not an insurmountable problem.

Gershom Gorenberg: Israel’s disaster foretold

The ICC’s disregard for law also threatens American troops on counterterror missions in countries that have joined the ICC. Washington has long relied on treaties signed with such countries as a safeguard against Hague jurisdiction, but the tribunal’s boundless view of its powers gives no assurance that those treaties will be honored.

This is not far-fetched: The ICC is already investigating alleged U.S. crimes in Afghanistan. Indeed, the ICC prosecutor recently suggested that sitting U.S. senators may have committed crimes against the court’s charter by speaking out in support of bipartisan legislation that would impose sanctions on the body.

Not all efforts to solve the world’s problems work—some backfire. The high aspirations with which the tribunal was founded should not shield it from the consequences of its decision to pursue other agendas.

Melanie Phillips: Dismantle the United Nations

The United Nations was created after World War II to bring the world together to promote peace and justice. Yet most countries aren’t democracies and don’t uphold human rights. It’s hardly a surprise, therefore, that the world body does not uphold peace and justice but promotes the precise opposite.

Its institutionalized malice against Israel has spread evil far more widely than in the Middle East.

The lies and distortions about Israel regurgitated by the United Nations and its satellite institutions and NGOs, along with the courts dispensing international “human rights” law, are treated as unchallengeable truths by the West because this whole “humanitarian” infrastructure is treated as a veritable religion of peace and justice.

In fact, it’s an unstoppable geyser of moral and intellectual corruption. In teaching the West that lies about Israel are truths and truths are lies, it has turned what the West tells itself is morality and conscience into an agenda of evil.

This has ensured that the West can no longer distinguish more generally between victim and oppressor, reality and propaganda, right and wrong.

The United Nations should be dismantled. It’s the pivot of the apparatus that has twisted the Western mind. Treating it and international law as the moral arbiters of the global order is not just a sick joke. It has made the world sick, too.

Jews Are Being Told to Hide in Berlin. Again.

In view of its Nazi past, Germany does not intrude; it is religious freedom über alles. (Still, when talk segues into incitement, the government does intervene. Last summer, it closed down Hamburg’s Islamic Center, also known as the “Blue Mosque.” The charge: aiding and abetting terrorism. Throughout the country, several affiliates have been declared verboten because of ties to Hamas or Hezbollah.)

Add into this mix Islamic studies centers in universities generously supported by regimes in the Middle East. These are not generally dispassionate scholarly institutions, but outfits teaching “postcolonialism” and the sins of the West—Israel above all.

Perhaps this sounds familiar to American (or British or Dutch or French) ears. The vast majority of people on both sides of the Atlantic want tighter controls on immigration and the speedy deportation of malfeasants. Due process and asylum laws, among the West’s noblest attainments, render such wishes brittle, legitimate as they may be. Though dented by Donald Trump’s trifecta (winning the White House and both House chambers), the faith of those who dominate elite culture—postcolonialism, cultural relativism, and wokeism—will not quickly fade.

Back to the Fatherland, formerly the engine of deadly Jew-hatred. Polls measure less than 20 percent of the general population holding antisemitic views. This is decidedly less than in Poland (48 percent) and Hungary (42 percent).

Given Germany’s murderous past, the country relentlessly makes amends. Last year, just days after October 7, the federal government doubled its subsidy for the Central Council of Jews to 22 million euros, a bit more in dollars. It is heartening that Germany keeps funding lots of Jewish museums and staging a plethora of commemorative rituals, like “Never Again” pledges on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the first nationwide Nazi pogrom in 1938. Berlin sells U-boats at a steep discount to Israel, submarines that are one leg of the country’s nuclear triad. (The other two are American state-of-the-art strike planes and homemade long-range missiles.)

That’s the good news. The bad news? Surging antisemitism imported from the Middle East and North Africa. Plus demography: The Jewish community is literally dying. If the current rates of decline persist, Germany will be judenrein at the end of the century.

Hiding religious symbols, as Berlin’s police chief advised, is just a well-meaning Band-Aid, unless the powers that be get serious about arresting, prosecuting, and deporting malfeasants, and taking a hard look at what is being taught in mosques and Islamic centers—including those at publicly funded universities—and closing them down, like Hamburg’s Blue Mosque and its affiliates throughout the country.

In the U.S., the rethink started before Trump II. But look at the Netherlands after the Amsterdam soccer pogrom. The government reacted in horror—it must not happen here! And yet Amsterdam will honor the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is charged with crimes against humanity. So will London and Canada.

Is this unconscious antisemitism? Let’s put it this way: Given the global and singular condemnation of the Jewish state in the name of “anti-Zionism” after October 7, it is hard to ignore what may be the real thrust. After the Shoah, unalloyed antisemitism has been strictly verboten in the West. But sublimation, repression, and projection do come back, Dr. Sigmund Freud has taught. And Israel sure makes for a handy substitute for the Jew. But this time, the Israel Defense Forces pack more punch than the armies of Germany, France, or Britain.

11/27 Links Pt1: A necessary though imperfect deal caps Netanyahu’s finest hour; This ceasefire has exposed Iran’s impotence; Trump Cabinet Picks Face Violent Threats

From Ian:

Jonathan Tobin: A necessary though imperfect deal caps Netanyahu’s finest hour

The myth of Hezbollah exploded
Iran and its Lebanese henchmen had counted on Israel being too intimidated by the prospect of another round of fighting with a Hezbollah force that had more than 120,000 rockets and missiles pointed at it. The evisceration of the leadership of the terrorist group and sustained damage done to its forces and arms caches confounded those who thought the Jewish state was too weak to achieve such a result. While Hezbollah and Iran will over time reorganize, rearm and recoup their losses, they also now know that their hubristic confidence that they were invincible has been exposed as a myth.

The fact that Hezbollah was forced by its losses to accept a ceasefire without it being tied to an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza is also an enormous setback for Iran’s multifront war strategy.

Though the next two months will remain a period of extreme danger for Israel, Netanyahu’s decision should also solidify his relationship with the incoming Trump administration. The president-elect has been open about his hope that Israel will conclude its wars in Gaza and Lebanon before he is sworn in on Jan. 20.

A deal that would disarm Hamas, guarantee it could not come back to power in Gaza and gain the release of the remaining 101 Israeli hostages still being held by the terrorists may be unlikely, given the fanaticism of the Islamists even after their abandonment by their Lebanese allies. Yet by concluding a deal with Hezbollah, Netanyahu can say he’s done as much as he can to give Trump a clean slate and be able to further strengthen the U.S. obligation to back the Jewish state to the hilt if the terrorists violate the accord.

The ceasefire in the north will also enable the IDF to concentrate on the tough task of mopping up Hamas guerrillas in Gaza after Netanyahu’s staunch refusal to accept Biden’s ultimatums to stand down made the destruction of their formal military forces possible.

Restoring deterrence
Oct. 7 was an enormous blow to Israel’s ability to deter its enemies and undermined confidence in its reputation as the “strong horse” in the region that could inspire Arab states to resist Iran. But the victories that the IDF achieved, albeit at the terrible price of approximately 900 soldiers and police officers slain fighting their nation’s genocidal foes, have restored its strategic position. With Hezbollah weakened and Hamas on the run, as well as with much of its own air defenses being taken out by Israeli military action, Tehran is far weaker than it was on Oct. 6, 2023.

None of that will convince those who hate Netanyahu—and falsely accuse him of undermining democracy and being a corrupt authoritarian—to admire him. Nor will they stop their incessant resistance to his government, whereby he is not only blamed for Oct. 7 (a guilt he shares with the entire leadership of the IDF and Israel’s intelligence establishment) but for Hamas’s refusal to release the hostages.

The lion’s share of the credit for the victories the IDF has achieved belongs to the soldiers who paid for them in blood. But honest observers must also acknowledge that it’s not likely that any other conceivable Israeli leader would have had the guts and the stiff spine to fend off a year of American pressure that made them possible. Certainly not Netanyahu’s political opponents Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. During his brief time as temporary prime minister in 2022, Lapid folded in the face of far less American pressure to give up Israeli natural-gas fields to Hezbollah in a failed attempt at appeasement. Nor can one imagine anyone else in the Likud-led coalition government having the knowledge or the resolve that Netanyahu showed time and again.

The prime minister has been around too long, behaved too arrogantly and made too many enemies to ever be given universal praise, no matter what he’s done. But while opinion about him will always be mixed at best, his post-Oct. 7 stand has been his finest hour. One can only hope future historians will give him his due for what he’s accomplished in the last year.

John Podhoretz: Swiss Cheese, the Sot, and the Ceasefire

The 60-day ceasefire to which Israel has agreed, thus pausing its efforts to degrade Hezbollah in Lebanon to such a degree that 60,000 Israelis can begin to return to their homes near the Lebanese border, may exist because of blackmail. Blackmail from the United States. Netanyahu told the Israeli cabinet that if they did not agree to the Biden terms, the administration would move against the Jewish state in the U.N. Security Council. This threat was a first of its kind for any president; even Barack Obama only allowed a hostile Security Council action to go through without a veto in his final act of aggression against Jerusalem in 2017. This time Biden was threatening to lead the U.N. against its only true ally in the Middle East.

If what Netanyahu told his cabinet is true, and Biden’s own statement yesterday would seem to provide some confirmation, what we’re seeing here is the final capitulation by this government to the idea that Israel deserves to be held responsible for the crime of defending itself. Not only against the terrorist state that invaded it last October 7, but also against the terrorist state-within-a-state on its Northern border that has fired rockets at it for 13 months without letup, the catamite army of Iran that takes orders from the theocracy determined to destroy the Jewish state and all Jews worldwide.

So the Biden administration is concluding its time in office as a power player in the Middle East praising itself for its toughness in restraining Israel’s just cause. But in the name of what exactly? Well, a “ceasefire,” of course. Hallelujah. Yes, Biden and his people have secured a ceasefire, as though a ceasefire means anything but its literal definition—a pause in the use of projectile force. It means nothing else. It does not mean peace. It does not mean negotiations. It does not mean a change in the relative positions of the forces at war. It’s a freeze. And when such a freeze freezes the military that’s on the march, it implicitly favors the side that is on its back foot. Thus America has, in effect, sided with Hezbollah.

End scene. For a minute there, after October 7, Joe Biden knew Israel was in the right. But that knowledge quickly fell through one of the holes in the swiss cheese that is either his currently decaying octogenarian brain or just the same fourth-rate cognitive machine he has used to such pointless effect for more than half a century in Washington.

Richard Kemp: This ceasefire has exposed Iran’s impotence

So much for Hezbollah and its puppeteers in Tehran. But why is Israel agreeing to a ceasefire while it holds the upper hand over the terrorist gang that forced tens of thousands of citizens to evacuate from their homes in the north? There are two major issues, both to do with US pressure.

First, if this ceasefire had not been secured, it is probable that Joe Biden would have allowed through, and even himself orchestrated, a binding UN Security Council Resolution demanding a cessation of hostilities, potentially accompanied by a UN-mandated arms embargo on Israel. It would have been his cynical last ditch effort to rescue something at least from his woeful legacy on foreign affairs. Second, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to during his speech on the ceasefire, the Biden White House has been imposing a partial arms embargo against Israel that included vital munitions and combat equipment including 2,000 pound bombs. After more than a year fighting a war on seven battlefronts that is a significant constraint.

Despite Biden’s efforts to hogtie Israel, there is still more work to be done against Hezbollah. Therefore the current ceasefire can best be seen as a diplomatic bridge between Joe Biden’s White House, intent on appeasing Tehran, and a Trump administration that is likely to be much more supportive of Israel’s defensive needs.

Nowhere will that be more important than over the Iranian regime. As well as directing, funding and arming the war against Israel, Tehran has been behind proxy attacks against US forces in Iraq, Syria and Jordan, strikes on Saudi Arabia and the UAE and assaults on international shipping in the Red Sea. Twice since last April, Iran has launched major missile attacks directly into Israel. As with its actions in Gaza and Lebanon, Israel’s response to those was constrained by US pressure.

More dangerous still, Tehran is on the cusp of achieving a nuclear capability to threaten Israel, the Middle East and the world. But Iran is now exposed more than ever before. The primary purpose of Hezbollah’s massive arsenal of rocketry, more extensive in number than most sovereign nations possess, was to deter against Israeli or US military assault on Tehran’s nuclear weapons programme. That deterrent is largely gone and the IDF substantially destroyed Iran’s air defences in its retaliatory strikes in October.

That means Israel is in an unprecedented position to put a stop to the Iranian menace. Decisive action against the Islamic Republic was a red line for Biden. But we must hope that Trump will give Jerusalem a fair wind, both to scuttle Iran’s nuclear project and to put some more holes into Hezbollah’s rotting hull.

Full text: The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal

‘Cessation of Hostilities’ document sets out ‘commitments’ by Israel and Lebanon intended ‘to enable civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to return safely to their lands and homes’

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

Remember Ann Coulter? Thought so. You remember her, but when you hear the name perhaps you think, “Oh, yeah. I used to really like her. She was very popular.”

Then maybe you scratch your head, squint your eyes, and think back, “Didn’t she say something like “Jews need to be perfected?”

In fact, that is exactly what Ann Coulter said in 2007 to CNN’s Donny Deutsch, who clearly identified himself as Jewish during the course of their conversation on “The Big Idea.” Coulter said, just as clearly, that all Jews should be Christian and that Christians are “perfected Jews.”

Here’s the transcript in full:

DEUTSCH: Let me ask you a question. We're going to get off strengths and weakness for a second. If you had your way, and all of your - forget that any of them -

COULTER: I like this.

DEUTSCH: - are calculated marketing teases, and your dreams, which are genuine, came true having to do with immigration, having to do with women's - with abortion - what would this country look like?

COULTER: UMMMMM (pause) ... It would look like New York City during the Republican National Convention. In fact, that's what I think heaven is going to look like.

DEUTSCH: And what did that look like?

COULTER: Happy, joyful Republicans in the greatest city in the world…

Break

COULTER: Well, OK, take the Republican National Convention. People were happy. They're Christian. They're tolerant. They defend America, they -

DEUTSCH: Christian - so we should be Christian? It would be better if we were all Christian?

COULTER: Yes.

DEUTSCH: We should all be Christian?

COULTER: Yes. Would you like to come to church with me, Donny?

DEUTSCH: So I should not be a Jew, I should be a Christian, and this would be a better place?

COULTER: Well, you could be a practicing Jew, but you're not.
DEUTSCH: I actually am…

Break

DEUTSCH: That isn't what I said, but you said I should not - we should just throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians, then, or -

COULTER: Yeah.

DEUTSCH: Really?

COULTER: Well, it's a lot easier. It's kind of a fast track.

DEUTSCH: Really?

COULTER: Yeah. You have to obey.

DEUTSCH: You can't possibly believe that.

COULTER: Yes….

Break

COULTER: No, we think - we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say.
DEUTSCH: Wow, you didn't really say that, did you?

COULTER: Yes. That is what Christianity is. We believe the Old Testament, but ours is more like Federal Express. You have to obey laws. We know we're all sinners -

DEUTSCH: In my old days, I would have argued - when you say something absurd like that, there's no -

COULTER: What's absurd?

DEUTSCH: Jews are going to be perfected. I'm going to go off and try to perfect myself -

COULTER: Well, that's what the New Testament says.

After a commercial break, the conversation continued.

DEUTSCH: Welcome back to "The Big Idea." During the break, Ann said she wanted to explain her last comment. So I'm going to give her a chance. So you don't think that was offensive?

COULTER: No. I'm sorry. It is not intended to be. I don't think you should take it that way, but that is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews. We believe the Old Testament. As you know from the Old Testament, God was constantly getting fed up with humans for not being able to, you know, live up to all the laws. What Christians believe - this is just a statement of what the New Testament is - is that that's why Christ came and died for our sins. Christians believe the Old Testament. You don't believe our testament.

DEUTSCH: You said - your exact words were, "Jews need to be perfected." Those are the words out of your mouth.

COULTER: No, I'm saying that's what a Christian is.

DEUTSCH: But that's what you said - don't you see how hateful, how anti-Semitic -

COULTER: No!

DEUTSCH: How do you not see? You're an educated woman. How do you not see that?

COULTER: That isn't hateful at all.

DEUTSCH: But that's even a scarier thought. OK -

COULTER: No, no, no, no, no. I don't want you being offended by this. This is what Christians consider themselves, because our testament is the continuation of your testament. You know that. So we think Jews go to heaven. I mean (Jerry) Falwell himself said that, but you have to follow laws. Ours is "Christ died for our sins." We consider ourselves perfected Christians. For me to say that for you to become a Christian is to become a perfected Christian is not offensive at all.

Why bring up Ann Coulter’s perfected Jew comments now, 17 years on? For one thing, to gloat. She pretty much dropped off the radar after that. Her followers just fell off in droves. I can’t even remember the last time I saw a mention of her. What Coulter had said was just too gross and disrespectful; she had crossed all lines of decency and as a result, repelled her audience.

But there’s another reason for bringing up Ann Coulter’s “perfected Jews” comment. Last week, some readers were disturbed by my suggestion that Mike Huckabee, Trump’s choice as ambassador to Israel, and Pete Hegseth, slated to become secretary of defense, avoid making public pronouncements comparing Judaism to Christianity and just do their jobs.

By the same token, I had urged Israel to resist speaking of shared or “Judeo-Christian” values during official events or meetings with Huckabee or Hegseth. We don’t need to bring these things in and they don’t belong. We should all of us stick to policy and steer clear of discussing religion.

That is the polite and respectful thing to do.

Both men—Huckabee or Hegseth—appear to be sensitive to Jewish sensibilities, beliefs, and rights. I have never heard either of them make a peep about the things we supposedly “share.” They are careful never to cross the line, no doubt more so than our Israeli leaders, who in their panting desire to have someone, anyone, like us, do sometimes get carried away and wax lyrical about what Jews and Christians share. But this kind of talk is inappropriate, no matter who does it.

It’s as simple as this: We don’t need to talk about everything. In matters of faith, people make a choice. Christianity and Judaism are diametrically opposed theologies. According to Jewish belief, God gave the Torah to the Jews, who are very clearly told that the Torah is everything, and that it is perfect and eternal. Christians, on the other hand, believe that the Torah, in and of itself, is unfinished, imperfect, and so they added to it.

This, of course, is an oversimplification. But on the face of it, it must be acknowledged that we obviously do not share anything. Jews say the Torah is enough. Christians say it is not. It seems obvious that if Christians adopted the Torah, it is already not the Torah, but something vastly different because of the great yawning chasm between these two religions—viewed by one as perfect, and by the other as imperfect. But that doesn’t mean we have to talk about it. We don’t have to talk about it at all.

Ann Coulter, quite frankly, is an idiot, trying to be provocative. Telling a Jew that Jews need perfecting got her canceled, as it should have done. The things she said needn’t and shouldn’t have been said and aren’t by people of good character. At the same time, we don’t have to pretend that our religions are alike. We don’t have to say all this narishkeit* about the things we supposedly “share.” It’s dishonest.

No. We can't share our faiths, but together we can engage in polite, productive discussion and do good things for the world. That much is plenty for me, and likely enough for Mike Huckabee and Pete Hegseth, as well. But it wasn't enough for Ann Coulter the provocateur, who with her uncivil tongue, rendered herself utterly irrelevant.

*Foolishness

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