The Agony and the Ecstasy

 

Writing a daily post on a news blog where you have been writing articles almost daily is that there are slow news days, no news days, and days such as today where almost all the news is about something I have already written on, and for most, written on extensively. I am sure my regular readers have memorized by now and know every letter and note written on such things as the San Remo Conference, the Iran nuclear disaster of a deal, Sykes Picot, Balfour Declaration, Green Line, Global Warming, United Nations Human Rights Commission, Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu or even something so specific as Turkey and the Kurdish Militias so there is no real need to go these today. That is the problem and I really do not want to be bummed writing about the ongoing terror stabbings and car assaults along with rock and boulder throwing and firebombings and it will have to suffice that they are all ongoing and more. So that leaves us in the quandary as to what to write about. And quoting John Cleese, “And now for Something completely different?”

 

 

 

 

We could do hopes and things we hope to do sooner rather than later such as trips to see new things in Jerusalem, and that is what is so really exciting about Jerusalem that even if you lived there you could almost daily find somewhere you had not been or something new about a place you have been to daily such as saying your morning prayers at the Kotel. Of course a trip to Jerusalem would mean I would need to post really early on one day and then depend on my tablet holding a charge for the next day which would hopefully be about the trip. We may end up posting earlier on some days as there is a class I hope grabs my interest sufficiently to make me desire to learn more, one can always be exposed to more and hope the teachers or class interactions to make a lasting impression so one also learns more, and isn’t that the challenge of so many things in life. When we are young and so completely ignorant we learn things often the first time we are introduced to them such as the stove top is hot, a closed bedroom door means do not enter, that is unless there are sounds which definitely need investigation in your young teenage child’s room and then you enter even if it takes kicking the door open, and you have no idea how many times I thank Hashem that I never faced that challenge. There is no blessing greater than a child who even if they hated you’re telling them what to or not to do and despite protesting or yelling that you will not ruin their life still obeyed your council and even admitted that you were right in the end and are now successful and happy even if they still have one last council which will be the most difficult when that time comes, that is their making Aliyah when you tell them it is time. There are so many things in life we can thank Hashem for, those things we thank Hashem when they happen and those things it takes us time to realize why such things were for the best. It really is strange how life with all its challenges and twists and turns result in placing you where you need to be and gives you the tools to meet the coming challenge. Let us pray we always find that strength.

 

There are those events that we really have no clue and will go to Hashem when our time comes and then we will be instructed exactly how that was necessary and we will look back and understand that our part, though small and beyond meaning to us was so very vital and we will praise Hashem for allowing us to be a part of His designs and we will feel proud of that moment as we were when young and we pleased our parents as after all, is not Hashem the greatest Parent possible? Just hope that we made that sacrifice or committed to that challenge that Hashem assigned us and Hashem was not required to give that privilege to someone else as we fell short. What will amaze us is how even things which we thought were so wrong were so somebody else could take on a challenge due to our little shove on their lives because of our failings, another item that will allow us to see those acts as something so required, kind of how Joseph’s older brothers likely felt, well, besides their being terrified when they finally realized that Joseph was now the second most powerful man in Egypt and could have then slain at his slightest whim, and we read of the wisdom of him to not do so and allow for the formation of the twelve tribes as Hashem had desired. We really do not know what things were really necessary and what were things just for making our lives enriched and satisfying us like having all the vanilla (or flavor of your choosing) ice cream in the freezer and nobody to yell at you telling you that you have had enough ice cream for the day. Such are the little things which mean so much to each if us and we will be amused if not shocked when we have revealed to us what acts we performed regularly that so pleased Hashem.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Perhaps a Trial Separation is in Order

 

Many people believe falsely that Israel had been aided by the United States through thick and thin from her first perceptions by the World Zionist Congress right on up until the recent elections where Benyamin Netanyahu won against all odds and the extreme efforts by American organized, financed and manned opposition which many believe was ordered directly from the White House and financed directly from the United States State Department to the tune of somewhere between $200,000 to as much as $400,000. The groups were known as V15 and V2015 which was a fully financed subsidiary of OneVoice which is where the funding was funneled from the State Department to OneVoice and then passed through to V15 to cover their efforts. One of their main efforts was to find out early on Election Day who the people were living in predominantly Arab areas that had regularly not voted in elections. Then they went and provided these people with transportation to the voting places in order to facilitate there voting in this election. They also performed this service in other areas where the vast majority of the people were polled not to be supporting Bibi or any of the right wing, religious or Zionist parties. As Election Day was winding its way through the afternoon and into the evening hours these efforts were ramped up and all those in the targeted neighborhoods and cities who had yet to vote were driven en-masse to their respective polling locations. These efforts were what Prime Minister Netanyahu was referring to when he made the comment, “The right-wing government is in danger. Arab voters are going en-masse to the polls. Left-wing NGOs are bringing them on buses.” There was no animus, hatred or racial slur in Netanyahu’s statement, merely a representation of actual votes intended to fire some enthusiasm for those voters who had yet to vote and were not among those being aided, one might even say coerced or even forced, to vote knowing almost for certain that their votes would not favor another Netanyahu coalition government in Israel if their efforts were sufficient and thus succeeded.

 

That is the reality of the electioneering and acts to influence the Israeli election which has all the signs of originating from the White House. Why would we believe that? First, there is the hostility shown by President Obama and the fact that he had taken efforts from his very first day in office to force a solution on Israel as he had initially attempted any number of changes in the world situations, both within the United States and around the world. There was his speech in Cairo which initiated the acts which were named the Arab Spring as hope springs eternal and these changes could only produce positive results, after all, he was the one who had also claimed, “We are the people we have been waiting for. We are the change that we seek,” during his Super Tuesday speech in Chicago as he took the lead and was now the obvious Democrat candidate for President with everything done but the crowning at the Democrat Convention in Colorado. That the Arab Spring could have been traced to President Obama’s Cairo speech or to Tarek al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi (محمد البوعزيزي‎), a vegetable vendor in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, who in protest of the official and her aids from the local government’s harassment and humiliation suffered as his wares and means of support were confiscated leaving him without any options or hope, self-immolated on December 17, 2010 spanning the Tunisian uprising which forced out the dictatorial government, can be debated but what was important to President Obama was that he was credited as the source in many news stories as the uprisings spread beyond Tunisia. The initial hopes for massive change and the lifting of oppressive governance replacing it with democratic principles and the human rights which accompany such governance continued apace with the overthrow, assisted by President Obama, of President Mubarak in Egypt. The Arab Spring and its accompanying hopes were quickly dashed as Syrian protests were violently opposed by Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad and Libya fell into tribal warfare with the central government not ruling beyond the Capital or even beyond the central government buildings and having to hold its positions through use of force making it even less a real governing body than the terrorist ruling in Benghazi or anywhere else in Libya. These two violent failures, which were commented in our article The Only Real Difference Between Libya and Syria, A Look Back, were the death of the Arab Spring and the birth of an Arab Winter, birthing a seemingly unending conflagration in both Syria and Libya. Of course President Obama only remembers those positive results of his active interferences with other nations, which of course are repeated and reinforced by his staff and closest advisors. This echo-chamber reinforcement set the stage for the interference in the Israeli elections which would also necessarily produce the best of results.

 

This was the point where the Israeli voters had their own definition of what would be the best of results, then believing them unattainable as other party leaders were never thought to be capable of replacing Benyamin Netanyahu, so they went forth to their polling stations, cast their votes and returned Netanyahu to power with numbers leaving absolutely nothing in doubt. Now that the efforts by President Obama to influence and change the Israeli government are apparently thought to have failed by White House standards, the next obvious step is to ridicule the Israeli elected leader and assign some form of scornful actions to Netanyahu which can be displayed as a disqualifying rap against him. There was this factual comment made by Netanyahu which in Israel was considered a revealing of the truth but in the White House it was surprise, surprise, racist. Imagine that, the White House uncovered racism in the Israeli voters and their Prime Minister. The fact that Yitzhak Hertzog and Tzipi Livni were not elected by a groundswell of support from the voters even after the numbers of Arab and other targeted groups were driven to the polls in an effort to have full representation of the Israeli electorate was all the proof necessary. Their transporting people to vote based this altruistic and honorable act as being performed in order to assure that the highest percentage of Arab voters voted in the elections. The effort and the forces from the White House would have extended this service to the voters in the rest of Israel and even the “settlements” (neighborhoods the world believe is occupied by Israel) but they ran out of time and there is only so much one can do with the mere hundreds of thousands of Dollars and Euros donated from the White House through Europe and even to some Arab nations. So the Israelis foolishly chose to elect Bibi and now the President of the United States is furious with their choice.

 

The question now is how much damage President Obama will inflict upon Israel and her people before his unseemly rage passes and he returns to his more normal state of white hot displeasure and raw anger with Israel. The initial threat which has appeared consists of forcing a solution on Israel and birthing into existence an Arab state carved out of Israel’s body shrinking Israel back to the Green Line which are considered by all as indefensible. Forcing Israel to concede to the Euro-Arab defined solution which grants the to be established Arab entity, at best it would be a dysfunctional state and at worst a terrorist haven with no accountable government, would place Ben Gurion Airport within shoulder launched MANPADS anti-aircraft missiles and also place the Tel Aviv coastal shores a mere nine miles away, laid out on a plane literally choking with targets including the central towers which makeup the heart of Tel Aviv, easily within the range of even the most primitive of the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and potentially also Fatah and all in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), the Grad and Katyusha rockets which have sufficient range to strike all of Tel Aviv. As the rockets could be fired from the higher grounds of the Judean ridge, the Judean hills, the rockets can be watched by the team launching them seeing exactly where it strikes and adjusting their aiming accordingly. Within a few shots the rockets could be effectively aimed producing a fire for effect scenario where the rockets are simply fired from their launchers as rapidly as is possible. A well-trained crew could easily fire four rockets each minute placing all of the projectiles exploding within close proximity causing multiple strikes on the largest of targets, the central Tel Aviv towers. Should five or six or potentially more than a dozen of the tallest structures in Tel Aviv at the height of a business day be struck down into a burning heap of twisted steel, shattered glass, shredded sheetrock and hundreds or thousands of bodies with many burned beyond recognition, what would Israeli response look like? Does anybody in their right mind believe that Israel would settle for a brokered ceasefire from the terrorist entities or the governing body and stand down accepting the losses because Europe, the United States and the United Nations demanded such? There would be no question what the Israeli response to such an assault would be; it would be an all-out war and potentially a genocidal war ending any dreams of an Arab state cut from the Biblical heart of Israel.

 

The prelude to the inevitable troubles and potential horrors would be the Palestinian state receiving hundreds of thousands if not millions of refugees as the neighboring Arab nations emptied their refugee camps and simply marched them en-masse across their borders and into the new entity carved from Israel upon its being founded. Any conflagration which may be placed into motion by the terrorist bombardment of Tel Aviv causing untold destruction, inestimable fatalities and serious grievance by the Israeli people and the IDF which would result in a systematic driving of the Palestinians across the Jordan River as they would be left only one other alternative, death. This is a reality that Israelis hope with all their might and souls will never come to be. Contrary to the belief that the Israelis refuse to allow their leaders to make the sacrifices necessary for peace, the Arabs have refused every offer always demanding one additional concession, that Israel accept into their borders and awarded citizenship on arrival the close to or over five million refugees from the refugee camps which have been holding Muslim Arabs since the initial Arab Israeli War in 1948 and have also condemned their children and their children in some instances to the fourth or fifth generation all so they can be returned into Israel making Israel a predominantly Arab and Muslim state, denying them any rights such as to own land, to hold any but the most degrading or manual work, absolutely no citizenship, limited education other than UNRWA provided education, and other demeaning limitations plus being kept in the camps in perpetuity as if they were lepers or criminals. These victims suffering a near hopeless state would be forced into even worse conditions as they would be forced into the nascent Palestinian state where the one comfort they had, a roof over their heads and meals for them to eat sending them to a state of victimization as there would be almost no manner or way for accepting such an influx of people. Even should every Palestinian family take a refugee family into their homes, even that would but give some form of normalcy for less than half, way less than half. Forcing such a solution would have numerous other problems such as the hundreds of thousands of settlers who would need assistance as they would also be forced from their homes.

 

The difference being that the Israelis have taken in refugees of a sort before when the people in the extremities, the definition of the areas outside of Tel Aviv metropolis, came under sustained rocker fire be it from Gaza and Hamas and others in the south or from Hezballah in the north and the people were taken in largely by these very same settlers, it would be ironically tragic. Any manner of looking at the long range results of forcing such a solution will result in an even more dire emergency situation of even greater magnitude and less options. Allowing the Arabs to form their state by threat of force and without a formal treaty would be taken as support for their further actions against Israel. One must remember that Abbas is just as much an insatiable terrorist bent on the destruction of the Jewish state by any means possible. That is why the aerial assault on Tel Aviv is as predictable as is the sun rising in the east. It is simply what many of the Arabs living under Abbas, and formerly Arafat, are, terrorists and nothing else in their entire life. As children they were taught to throw rocks at IDF soldiers whenever they saw them. Rocks became Molotov firebombs as they grew and eventually became rockets and bullets. What many do not realize, largely because they could not care less, is that being a terrorist pays quite well once you reach a certain level. At the very top it makes billionaires and lower down it still pays better than farming and is a far easier a job, and that is what terrorism has become, an industry. Until the Western world wakes to the reality that the Arab Palestinians are in reality simply a terrorist training camp, nothing more, and the more area and funding provided, the more terrorism will be produced. Perhaps the time has come to end this farcical cavalcade of terror.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Examination of Turkish Prime Minister’s Response to Paris Events

 

Turkey Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made some interesting comments in reference to the Paris Rally to memorialize the freedoms of thought and expressions and the liberties and freedoms which form much of the basis for Western establishments and for which Islamic radical terrorists assaulted and murdered the staff of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in which a dozen people paid for such freedoms and liberties with their lives. So, let us first give some of the relative quotes from Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made on the rally and its themes where he stated, “It is a message to the whole world that everyone must confront the threat of terror.” So far, so good. He continued, “We would expect the same sensitivities to be shown to attacks on mosque or Islamophobia.” We can agree completely on the expectations that should a similar assault be perpetrated on a Mosque that this would be an act of terrorism and equally contemptible and demand the same reaction as against the attackers of the magazine Charlie Hebdo’s offices. As far as the “Islamophobia” we would require a definition but probably would depend on the form of such “Islamophobia” took, if it were nonviolent then things start to come under the reasons the Charlie Hebdo’s offices were attacked. Moving on he was quoted, “Turkey’s stance is principled and we will keep up this attitude. Turkey has the same values around the world as far as terror is concerned. There can be no double standards.” Yes, this might be agreeable depending on your definition of terror which is coming next I would expect. The Prime Minister obliged when he pointed to “state terrorism” against the Palestinians and in Syria. One can only assume that Prime Minister Davutoglu was referring to the recent comments made by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments which slammed Europeans criticizing of Turkish assaults on media outlets which signaled deteriorating press freedoms which in a Reuters report having indicated his saying they should instead try to find a solution for the increasing Islamophobia in Europe. President Erdogan has been quoted stating, “We are not Europe’s scapegoat. We are definitely not a country that Europe can point its finger at and scold. Instead of criticizing us, Europe should find a solution to increasing racism and Islamophobia.” As an example of such horrific crimes which were obvious Islamophobic in their origin he cited the German city of Dormagen, where ultra-nationalists drew Nazi signs on the walls of a mosque which was under construction.

 

The common theme here is the reference to “Islamophobia” and its being of racist origins which perhaps should be further investigated and include in that the reference to “state terrorism” against the Palestinians and in Syria. The easiest target is that Islamophobia is racist. What race is Islamophobia targeting? It cannot be Arabs as there are Arab Druze, Arab Jews, Arab Christians, Arab Hindus, Arab Buddhists, Arab Zaidi, Arab Zoroastrianians and undoubtedly other religions, so Islamophobia is not against Arabs due to Arabs practicing only Islam. If we look at Islam itself there are many differing peoples who practice Islam including people of Turkish backgrounds which are separate from Arabs thus Islamophobia cannot be considered racism accurately, but for argument’s sake we will equate it with racism. Granted, the example given by President Erdogan of painted Nazi symbols on the sides of a Mosque under construction is contemptible and those who perpetrated such a crime, and that would be a crime in the West, should be found and arrested for trial. The crime would be defacing private property and the case would revolve around personal ownership and the defacing their property and not as Islamophobic. So we agree such an act is a crime just not a crime because it was a Mosque but because it was private property. We would treat such crimes equally had they painted the symbols on a church, synagogue or a bookstore or tailors’ shop. So we agree on the act being of criminal intent but we differ on the crime itself, we see it as defacing property and they see it as a crime against Islam and that being the ultimate offense.

 

Finally, the reference to “state terrorism” against the “Palestinians and in Syria” is the manner of condemning Israel when utilized by Turkish officials as well as their allies in Iran and Hezballah. Turkey is the nation which claims that the attempt by IHH to use a flotilla around the Mavi Marmara to break the legally recognized Gaza blockade and the subsequent confrontation with Israeli troops as an Israeli aggression on the world and particularly an offense against Turkey gives a reference to the lack of objectivity on all items concerning Israel. Where does Israel fit in the reference to “state terrorism” against the “Palestinians and in Syria” come in? Turkey has claimed numerous times that Israel is backing Syrian Dictator Bashir al-Assad with intelligence information and other tactical intelligence as well as interventions by Israeli fighter aircraft. That is where Turkey pretends that Israel is involved while Turkey has always claimed that Israel is oppressing the Palestinians Arabs and is an Apartheid State despite every piece of evidence countering such accusations. I do not blame Turkey alone for many of these accusations as they are made by numerous peoples from all points on the planet, which does not necessarily make the accusations valid. These references are simply Turkish politicians and spokespeople’s way of bringing Israel into the discussion as to them doing so simply makes their claims valid and beyond reproach. Unfortunately for the all it does is reinforce the fact that their claims may lie in their foremost delusions which taint virtually every action they take both diplomatically around the world and domestically within their borders. My bet is if one were to give the Turkish government proof that Charlie Hebdo magazine had also been satirical about other religions and gave them examples of Charlie Hebdo cartoons spoofing and criticizing Christianity and Judaism that they would use the cartoons on Judaism and Israel in their own publications, that is the length of their hypocrisy and depravity when it comes to everything Israel. What makes this even more ludicrous is when considering that Turkey is a member of NATO (why is beyond our wildest imaginations) and are technically supporting the West against ISIS (pronounced is-is as in the Bill Clinton famous quote, it all depends on what the meaning of is is) while simultaneously allowing weapons, terrorists, troops and other support to cross into Syria in support of ISIS, duplicity is thy name Turkey.

 

From both men’s statements I can only gather that they believe that Islam deserves, or demands, a special treatment against any and all negative references or comments and this preference should be applied solely to Islam and not to other religions. This brings us to the main point of contention, namely that Islam is a special religion which must be protected as more sacred than any other religion and that Islam must be protected from all negative references while those practicing Islam must receive special considerations, especially if their actions were against infidels or protecting the name of Islam against the unbelievers. Well, if one believes in freedom of religion or even to have no religion, then not exactly my Turkish friends, I may call you friends or does my being an infidel make such impossible. When President Erdogan references that Turkey would apply the same rules the world over he is not professing equality as what he is applying is Islamic supremacy the world over and Islamic law the world over and not equality of any manner. President Erdogan would be applying the same applications the world over much in the same way that the Communists desired to apply the same rules and were consistent the world over or the way the Mongols attempted to apply the same rules the world over or the Romans or Greeks before them. Conquering the world for Allah is not spreading freedom in any way shape or form. Unfortunately we cannot honestly agree that Islamophobia is a crime provided that one simply objects to Islam in a nonviolent and nondestructive manner and their objections to Islam are carried out without breaking the law or another person’s right to practice Islam in a peaceable manner. Islam should be accorded the exact same protection as is any other religion or philosophy. Plainly put, Islam is not above any or all other religions, it must be equal in how it is treated to the treatment of all other religions, period.

 

Then there was one additional comment which quoted French President Francois Hollande’s statement that “these fanatics (Said Kouachi, Cherif Kouachi, Hamyd Mourad, and Amedy Coulibaly) have nothing to do with Muslim religion” and according to Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that is of “utmost importance”. I must report to the honorable Prime Minister of Turkey as well as to all those other Imams, rulers of Islamic countries and other misguided Western leaders including those making such statements from my own country that the fact that these miscreants acted violently in the name of Islam is of the “utmost importance” and no amount of denials can alter that fact. Their claims of having “avenged the Prophet” referencing their Prophet Mohammad; and their cries of “Allahu Akbar” were references to Allah as the greatest of gods were most definitely directly related to how these individuals interpreted and understood Islam and is exactly how they were taught Islam is supposed to act to such offenses as were committed by the writers and cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo. To claim that these criminals were not committing their crimes in the name of Islam and that Islam never condones acts of violence would be to claim that the professing and statements of Imam Yusuf al-Qaradawi are not of Islam when he calls for the killing or eradication of Jews and the bringing of the whole world under Islam by persuasion or by the sword are not professing the tenets of Islam. J’accuse, I accuse you, Prime Minister Davutoglu and President Erdogan, of practicing Taqiyya, practicing dissimulation, lying, deceiving, vexing and confounding with the intention of deflecting attention, foiling, pre-emptively blocking or fending off and neutralizing any criticism of Islam or Muslims.

 

Beyond the Cusp