...Western governments, including Obama administration officials had no comment on the continuing violence in dozens of nations throughout the world but were quick to condemn the new building. United States Vice President Joe Biden stated emphatically that the new building was "an impediment to world peace," adding later that "if only the Israelis would stop building schools, roads, farms and electric grids the smoke monster would be imprisoned forever on the Lost island and we would finally get an answer as to why Walt was so important to the Others. Also, settlements are an impediment to world peace, did I mention that yet?"Experts calculated that in the time it took Biden to make that statement an additional 139 Darfurians had their houses burned down by pro-Sudanese government militias, 54 Congolese people starved to death due to war-induced famine and 11 Rwandans were killed in tribal warfare.Obama administration officials would not comment on any of these ongoing international conflicts but indicated that they would be happily discuss the newest snow removal laws passed in Jerusalem.
Has there ever been a more ridiculous rift between two allies than the recent scuffle between the Obama administration and Netanyahu over the new housing project announcements in Jerusalem? In all sincerity, I'm serious - historically, have two friends fought SO PUBLICLY over something as absurd as a new housing unit that it becomes an international incident, discussed by pundits at every level of the political spectrum? Think of the town you live in...can you imagine if anytime you wanted to widen a road or build a new community center or pass a new littering ordinance, that the leaders of 95 different countries would weigh in and gave you their opinion on what they thought about it? It would be crazy!
Regular readers will recall that I'm a firm believer that until the Israelis have someone legitimate to actually sit down at a negotiating table with (that isn't plotting their destruction as soon as the class is dismissed for the day and the teacher's back is turned), that they shouldn't alter any of their settlement plans for anyone.
I also am in firm agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Jerusalem (that's the Israeli CAPITAL for those keeping score at home) is NOT a settlement, is NOT negotiable and should NOT be treated in the same way as a random trailer park in the middle of a sea of Gaza or West Bank Arabs. And I've also made it very clear that even these "illegal outposts" are just used as scapegoats anyway by anti-Zionists and as excuses for why the Palestinians just can't resist the urge to shoot rockets at innocent men women and children in Sderot and Ashkelon.
But to even discuss this issue and the public spectacle Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have made of it in this context is lending too much credence to it. This isn't a core conflict issue at all. The Israelis haven't changed their housing policy in Jerusalem since the Johnson administration - including all through the Oslo Accord negotiations! Hillary's husband never had a problem with Jews living in Jerusalem...why does she?
By the way, here's another reminder that a few thousand people senselessly died today between Congo, Rwanda, Darfur, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Iran, Mexico and the Philippines due to starvation, drug wars, ethnic cleansings, communist insurgencies, Islamic fundamentalism, sectarian violence and other ills of society that all the wonderfully tolerant idealists were supposed to have solved back in the 20th century. Maybe it's time we started spending our time/resources fixing these problems instead of telling Jews where they are or aren't allowed to live? Oh wait, nevermind - none of those countries threaten to shut off our oil faucets if we don't do what they say.
Finally, doesn't anyone else see it as more than just a little racist that there is all this uproar when Jews want to build new houses or expand old ones in this part of the world? Can you imagine if you wanted to expand your attic in order to add another room to your house but were told you couldn't...not because of safety or occupancy issues but rather because you were Italian or Irish or Mexican or whatever and the United Nations had zoned your street as an "immigrant-free" zone? Ignore for a minute the Biblical or historical ties to the land that Jews claim...strip away for a minute the conflicts and the talking points and whatever side you're on.
You have a group of people who LEGALLY PAID for property but are being told "sorry, you can't live here because you don't celebrate Christmas or Ramadan" - I'm pretty sure that's the kind of completely institutionalized racism entire liberal civil rights movements have been based on. Think about it, would that attitude be acceptable in ANY other part of the world that isn't a complete fascist cesspool?
And yet, who are the ones screaming to keep the Jews out of Jerusalem (along with the West Bank and elsewhere)? You guessed it...
Discrimination against Jews: not just for southern country clubs anymore
People who call themselves "liberals" or progressives. Also known as the same people that demanded equal rights for Blacks in the 60's...so why the double standard when it comes to Jews living in their historical homeland?
As if that wasn't enough, anti-Semitic violence was up over 100% in 2009 - good thing we elected a hope and change president who was going to make us all much safer than his cowboy predecessor the through dialogue instead of action. And lest you think that this only about the president, here's some additional less-than-startling news from Rosner about the widening divide in Washington between Republicans and Democrats on the topic of Israel:
In a poll commissioned by the Arab American Institute last month, respondents were asked whether Obama should "steer a middle course" in the Middle East - code for not clearly supporting Israel. "There is a strong divide on this question," Zogby reported, "with 73 percent of Democrats agreeing that the President should steer a middle course while only 24 percent of Republicans hold the same opinion."
Can you honestly consider yourself "pro-Israel" and call for moral-equivalence between Hamas and Israel?
So fellow Jews, I ask again, is it time yet to start admitting what a terrible mistake approximately 77% of us made? Or are we going to keep pulling the wool over our own eyes and pretending we aren't completely burying ourselves like we always do? I mean hey, Ed Koch is willing to man up and admit it, can you?
Because admitting our problem is step 1 on the path to rectifying it.
Posts
10 comments:
The first step for Jews to make is to admit that the United States is not Israel's friend, and I would argue it never has been. The US government looks at Israel not as an ally (ask Jonathan Pollard about American friendship), but through the lens of cost/benefit analysis. Israel had value during the Cold War. That value is gone. Being a democracy doesn't matter. The United States has backed fascists in coups around the world when it was considered beneficial.
This is a government that does not allow American Jews born in Jerusalem to denote Israel as their country of birth, because the United States government does not recognize any part of Jerusalem as being in Israel.
The government of the United States repeatedly sells out Israel's security interests to OPEC...probably the main reason Pollard is still in jail. And now, while the US demands Israel curb sales of systems with their technology to countries it considers undesirable, the US is making ready to sell Israeli designed UAVs to whomever it likes...why? Money is more important than Jewish blood, and giving her enemies a qualitative edge with Israel's own technology probably makes Obambi have wet dreams.
And Republican support of Israel is nothing more than more political expediency. They would love nothing more than to convert American Jews from the Democrats. It's one thing to talk like Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee. It's another to sit in the Oval Office and work for the house of saud, which every White House does.
Of course, Israel's current leadership doesn't help when it puts Judea and Samaria on the table. In his speech on Yom Hashoah Bibi said, "We are here because this is our land." It's the first time I recall hearing him say it. Until the freeze is lifted, and Jews can build new communities on our land, I will not believe he means it.
As long as the government of the United States demands statehood for the Falacstinians, and continues to suck on the Arab oil teat, the US government is no friend of Israel. The sooner Jews in Israel and in galut figure that out, the sooner we will shed the shtetl mentality that continues to imprison us politically, and spiritually; in galut, and in Israel. Maybe "The Secret War Against The Jews" should be required reading.
Obama is no friend of the Jewish people. And there is no such thing as "Israel-Hamas equivelance." Only one of those two groups promotes flying planes into buildings, and while Dear Leader Obama like to pretend it never happened, I have no qualms with still being mad as heck over it.
I'm afraid, Mossad-sama, that I'll only make you angry, but I think I need to pass this on, even though you either already know or will find out in the next few hours: http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/04/barack-obama-shifts-americas-historic-relationship-with-israel/
From your post: "Obama administration officials would not comment on any of these ongoing international conflicts but indicated that they would be happily discuss the newest snow removal laws passed in Jerusalem."
Oh for Pete's sake. You'd think Obummer could stop trying to manage Israel long enough to try and help America, except he doesn't give a crap about America and he's too busy harrasing Israel.
I have a very bad feeling about all of this.
Hi Shtuey - good to hear from you again.
First of all I was not aware that it doesn't recognize any part of Jerusalem as Israel for place of birth. This is an interesting problem because my cousin who is American just had a baby boy that was born at Hadassah in Jerusalem...are you saying this applies to the new city as well?? That would certainly make things interesting if/when he comes back to the States for a visit - and I imagine a lot of American ex-pats in Israel face similar issues since so many of them live in or around Jerusalem...
On the US not being Israel's friend - you make a valid point about cost-benefit analysis. But I don't think this has ever really been a secret as far as both governments were concerned. People forget that prior to '67 (really '73) US presidents were not quite as pleasant for Israelis to work with.
Where I disagree with you is the fact that I believe that Israeli friendship still holds tremendous value for America and all Western democracies even in a post-Cold War reality. If nothing else, Israel is a tremendous drain on the resources of Islamic fundamentalists who would otherwise be devoted 100% to destroying Western democracy. But don't take it from me, take it from 50 retired generals and admirals who just recently signed a letter to Obama which scolded him for his handling of this situation. In fact, I think I'm going to repost their letter in the comments section here if blogspot lets me...
As for the Republican support VS Democratic support issue...you're almost certainly right that a large reason for the support is that politicians see a weakness in Democrats' policy. I do believe that many of them (like the generals) are genuine about their support for religious or security reasons but at the end of the day...I don't really care why they support us more than the Democrats right now, the fact is they do and they have for a while. I first wrote about this almost three years ago and still Jews continue to vote for people that turned on them a long time ago.
It's very possible that the roles will reverse down the line and at that point I'll call out the Republicans, but right now there's no question...no QUESTION who is better for Israel and therefore the Jews right now.
RE: All Real Numbers - I followed the link you sent me, you know on the one hand obviously the change in policy is not good for Jews/Israel...but at least they're telling us explicitly what their plan is. I'd rather deal with someone who is upfront about his intentions than sneaky...it's why I almost prefer Hamas to Fatah. Yeah they're terrorists but at least they don't try to pretend they're anything else.
We all knew this would happen with Obama, the fact that he's being so obvious about it - well maybe next time he'll only get 67% of the Jewish vote instead of 77% which could be a big deal in states like NJ, CT, PA or NY.
Notice my dream is just a 10% swing and not more, that's how ridiculously brainwashed my Jewish brethren are to stick with the Party line...in fact even THAT might be optimistic. Slowly though, slowly more and more Jews are finding it harder to justify their votes...it's important that they are ALL called to task for it because this isn't a 20/20 hindsight thing we WARNED THEM even BEFORE he got the Democratic nomination.
They were naive. They were misguided. They made a TERRIBLE mistake - and now they need to answer for it.
Unfortunately I could not post it as a comment so instead I just reposted it here:
Israel as a Security Asset for the United States
Hello, I'm just a typical American with a question about something I've been wondering for awhile now, and I don't know any Jews to ask. Why are Jews, John Stewart for example, so pro-democrat? My interest in politics is a fairly recent thing, and everything I see tells me conservatives are more pro-Israel by far and away than the democrats. Conservatives are way more apt to want to go after Iran and the terrorists than democrats? Conservatives are more pro-capitalist like Israel and it's great success story than democrats? What am I not privy to exactly? I'm guessing it must be something historically that I don't know about? Serious question that I would love to know the answer to, thanks.
GCX thanks for your comment and welcome - there are a lot ways to answer that question. The short answer is that Jews hitched their wagon to the Democrats back in the FDR days as they immigrated to the US and A. Roosevelt was perceived as being very good for immigrants.
Then during the social upheaval of the 60's many Jews (who were forced to partially assimilate when they immigrated) further secularized which pushed them even farther from the Republicans who they saw as being tied to the Christian right which they felt discriminated against them. This further hardened their position.
Today Jews (especially secular Jews) have in most cases so lost touch with their culture, heritage and history that they have no idea what being Jewish even means...what it took to maintain our traditions for thousands of years...what our ancestors (even our grandparents) had to go through. They don't even know their history - let alone have an appreciation of it. I've written about this numerous numerous times. And it's funny that you bring up Jon Stewart - I specifically went after him for being a sellout over a year ago during the Gaza War.
In any case, today many Jews define their culture as "making the world a better place" while eating lox and cream cheese and spinning a dreidel under the Christmas tree. They don't really identify with Israel in any meaningful way and the extremely high levels of intermarriage amongst secular Jews suggest they don't really care about the future of the religion either. In the opinions of these Jews, the Democrats with their "social justice" programs and multiculturalism fit in better with their agenda.
Nevermind the fact that several of these policies are incredibly negative for the long-term prospects of Israel and Jews in general...another thing I've written about is the bizarre habit Jews have throughout history of acting against their own interests...
One last thing...real Israeli capitalism is a fairly new development. Many early Zionists were socialists or even communists. Over time (beginning with Revisionist Zionists in the 40's) this changed
Hope this answer was helpful/informative for you. If you have further questions or need more information feel free to come back and ask. No charge.
Part 1
Hello
I just found your blog. I'm very pleased.
I live in the Austin, TX area now. I used to live in NY.
I can't step foot in any Synagogues around here. I'm Jewish and, yes, an immigrant from the Ukraine.
I served in the ARMY here, which is how I wound up in TX.
I am not an orthodox Jew, BUT I'm very conservative. The synagogues are filled with Rabbi's that would make your skin crawl. They are very progressive and espouse the liberal mantra, so much so that one could not believe that these are rabbi’s. I was shocked to go to a Shabbat children's service (my daughter was 4 years old at the time) and the woman lighting the candles had shorts and a shirt that you could see her pierced belly button. I was horrified. I never went back. Also, their website had an advertisement about a pro - GAY march. That's disgraceful! As a Jew, I live and let live, unless it hurts me specifically. This type of "outreach" is NOT condoned in the Torah. I attended a Yeshiva from kindergarten to 6th grade and I have continued to study Torah on my own. My Hebrew is bad due to being out of practice, however, I read in English so that I understand the full context. Also, there is a good wealth of info out here on the web.
Well, that’s my background.
Part 2
In my opinion, Obama is more dangerous than just a perspective. He is the president and is enacting policies that have been very well thought out. The communists in this country have infiltrated BOTH parties. Both are corrupt to the CORE. The republicans are standing with Israel temporarily. There is a void. Nature abhors a void. The American people, the Christians, most that I know, LOVE ISRAEL and fear for her safety. America has a saboteur in the white house and HE IS A MUSLIM. “Know them by their actions” – is in the NEW Testament, but is the theme throughout the Torah. He is a Muslim in all that he does. The churches that this man attended have nothing to do with Christianity. He is a member of Socialist organizations. His past is under lock and key. He may be the president, but is he seditious? Does he provide aid and comfort to the terrorists? He has just given, without any congressional approval, $400 million dollars, of which we don’t have, to PALESTINE. Along with having a BBQ with Fahakahn while the Flotilla was being launched and not attending the wreath laying at Arlington, then the Arizona law that he wants to sue against (providing a way for terrorists to come in to the country), and the mosque building in NY and a slew of other things. The list goes on and on. All, these things combined, are proof enough to me that he is a Muslim aligning with the communists to sabotage this country and weaken her from within. The caliphate is HIS goal, but the communists think that they will be able to control the Muslims. Looking at history, the Spaniards thought that they could control them, then the Nazi’s thought that they could control them, and the communists thought so too. They have never been contained in history’s past. The communists think that they can have another shot, using the Muslim veracity to propel the angst and ultimate demise (breaking) of the will of the people.
Txlady706
WOW TXLady that's quite a first post on the site, welcome! Based on your background I have to say, you are lucky you don't live in the NY/NJ greater Metro area because it's full of the kind of places you described.
I'm not sure I agree that Obama is intentionally trying to destroy the USA but it's kind of irrelevant whether he's burying us intentionally or not. The bottom line is that this country is not the same place it was when I was growing up, the things that I expected to find when I was an adult simply do not exist anymore. How frustrating it must be for you coming from the Ukraine to get away from all the nonsense of Europe...only to find yourself ruled by a President who's trying to emulate all the worst and least successful parts of the continent you left behind.
It actually really reminds me of Ayn Rand - who wrote Atlas Shrugged...have you read it? If you haven't, you should - although it is a very long read. I also reference that book heavily in an entry that I think you would like and relate to on how frustrating Jewish behavior has been over our long and torturous history:
The sanction of the victim and the guiltiest man in the room - Ayn Rand and the Jewish State
I also think you would enjoy watching this video:
Living on a Thin Line: Israel and the world in 2010
In any case, thank you for your compliments and for your military service (we love soldiers on this site!) -and I hope you will come back to the site soon!
Post a Comment