Is it Any Wonder?

 

Reading this report by Jack Engelhard, as well as other coverage of the reactions sent to the New York Times (NYT) and those on social and other media, we can easily make a counter-argument for the existence not only of Israel as the Jewish State, but Israel as a very capable and powerful Jewish State which remains democratic with equal rights and protections for all her citizens, Jewish and not. The reported fact and observations that the majority saw no problem with the flagrantly anti-Semitic character of their editorial cartoon (unfortunately given further coverage as it is included below) and its insult to both Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as well as President Trump is unconscionable. The fact that an identical cartoon could have appeared in the Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer simply by changing Churchill for Trump and it would have been seen as regular fare. But apparently this is the world where NYT readers appear to reside. This should be extremely unsettling to all who believe that the NYT really is the newspaper of record printing all the news that is fit to print. The display put out by the NYT to the world, in their international edition no less, is one of a despicable hatred of which the world had attempted, apparently in vain, to cleanse itself after the horrors of the death camps of Nazi Germany. Generals Bradley, Patton and Eisenhower together viewed the camps liberated by the United States forces and ordered that the horrors and tragedies witnessed be fully documented, photographed, filmed and recorded as they knew that unless there was uncontroversial evidence, then the history of these evils would be written over with time and the world would return and commit such transgressions against humanity yet again. Apparently, their foresight was all too valid and now we can only pray that the evidence they so painstakingly documented will be brought back to the light of day as their lesson appears to be required and the world warned once again how bestial we can sink when hatred becomes our daily fare.

 

New York Times anti-Semitism on Full Display for the World

 

The fact that, as Jack estimated, “90 percent thought the cartoon was not despicable, not at all, but wholly appropriate,” is so far beyond shocking that words are insufficient. There is a lesson which can be gleaned from this entire embarrassing debacle, and that there is a paramount reason for the State of Israel. If this view of the world situation is anything as inferred from the NYT cartoon and the reaction to an article critical of the cartoon written by a NYT editorialist eliciting a scorched earth response fully backing the properness and appropriateness of the cartoon, then the Jews of the world may not be safe anywhere else. Such an overwhelmingly negative response to his claiming that the cartoon was far too similar to anti-Semitic tropes from throughout history being questioned and even denied is proof that the World War II generals were quite correct in their assessment that the world would soon forget and return to their hateful ways. We like to believe that as a society the world has progressed and learned lessons from its previous failures. This entire episode is proof that as human beings we have not progressed all that far except that our toys are bigger, faster and gleam brighter than centuries past but our hatreds and prejudices really are no different. Apparently, the human race is about as base, vulgar, hateful, vile and as dehumanizing as they ever have been. One can only wonder how much it would take before we reintroduced gladiatorial games at an arena for our recreation. The anti-Semitism today appears to be just as acceptable and permeating society very much as existed during Roman times. They also could not suffer to permit a Jewish State, then known as Judea, to be independent. The Roman hate simmered in Europe for centuries before it finally reached its pinnacle with the Nazi intent to rid the world of the Jew. Have we really returned to such a state where blatant anti-Semitic representations are now acceptable and even defended in America? This episode thus far appears to state that such is so.

 

The rising anti-Semitism apparent in society has not gone unnoticed here but we had believed that better minds and souls would rule the day and such hatred be opposed by the general public. Such a reaction in support of an obviously defaming cartoon with such anti-Semitic overtones shakes any hope for that theory to survive. To represent the Prime Minister of Israel as “the Jewish dog having him leading a blind American President” Trump and people defending such as acceptable and even appropriate is beyond disgusting. Adding this to the anti-Semitic tropes spewed by Ilhan Omar, then defended by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, followed by the Democrat leadership of the House of Representatives fall timidly away refusing to call her out for her blatant anti-Semitism makes one wonder, as we wrote recently, My America Where Have You Gone? Could it be that the world is honestly heading to another crisis where the Jews are once more singled out as the bane of all that is holy and made to be the universal scapegoats upon which all may heap their most evil and vile emotions? The most unfortunate signs are that is exactly where we are heading. What is of little if any consolation is that this time the Jews will not be alone as the next conflagration will include Christianity either with or immediately after the Jews. Trust us, this is of absolutely no actual comfort and is more disturbing than anything else. Adding to their shame, the NYT has published another cartoon of questionable taste and also infringing on areas of anti-Semitism (see below). Had this second cartoon not come immediately on the heels of the first cartoon controversy, then an argument might be made for its use, but this quickly simply proves that the NYT is not serious with their apologies and has taken the corner into anti-Semitism.

 

Second NYT Cartoon

 

This is not something the world has not already ignored as one-third of the world’s landmasses have been made very close to Judenrein and has succeeded or come very close to expunging their countries of their Christian populations. Below is a map of the Christian world of 500A.D. Christianity was one of the dominant religions and societies of the world and was continuing to spread. Christianity was the dominant religion replacing idolatry. Granted, these may not have been the best of times for Jews, but trust us, it was also not the worst of times (our apologies to Charles Dickens). The future appeared to present the world as ripe fruit waiting for Christianity to spread throughout the remainder of the world. But this was not to be the case as history teaches. There was a new force soon to erupt out of the Arabian Peninsula pushing Christianity back into Europe and pinning it there until the age of colonization by the European powers in the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries.

 

Christian World 500AD

 

There remained Christian communities after the explosion of Islamic conquest largely during the seventh and eighth centuries. The lands conquered are largely those which make up the modern Islamic World making them one of the largest and longest surviving conquests. They were taken under European rule after World War I but in the period after World War II with the end of the European colonization in the world, these lands returned to Islamic rule. These lands have become known largely as MENA, Middle East and North Africa, also called the Arab World. Islam has spread into parts of Asia as well but is still predominantly equated with the Arab World. The MENA states largely purged their Jews after taking their wealth in the decade following the founding of Israel. Nearly eight-hundred-fifty-thousand Jews were absorbed by Israel, with not a single person being turned into a refugee. Israel incorporated these Jews directly into their meager economy of the time without any question or doubt, they were our brothers and sisters and we treated them as the family they continue to be. This left only the Christian minorities as the main non-Muslims residing throughout the MENA countries. The map below provides some idea of the relative levels of anti-Christian persecution in these nations. Bear in mind, this is a comparison of the level of persecution, not a measure of whether they are treated with favor or scorn, scorn would be the default.

 

 

With the broad acceptance of the NYT anti-Semitic filled editorial cartoons and the seeming acceptance by many Congressional Democrats and a fair number of Republicans of Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitic screeds, we surely have reached another tipping point in societal history. Should the world continue on its current course where in France if one murders a Jew and is Islamic, they are considered to have acted under “extenuating circumstances,” making the killer “criminally irresponsible,” and thus incapable of facing a trial. The article we are quoting by Giulio Meotti is well worth the time it takes to read. The world, the Islamic and the leftist progressive Secular Humanist, are heading in a direction from which there is no escape for humanity. The hate reflected by the cartoons and the apparent general approval given it by the majority, a seemingly overwhelming majority, is reason for deep and serious concern by all those who believe in a world free from hatreds of all varieties. These incidents and the others we covered and numerous more too expansive to even try to include are signs that society is backsliding to places from its past which would have been best left to slide graciously into history. This appears not to be the case with the all too probable forecast, prophesy even, is one where mankind turns upon itself once more in an effort to purify the populace from those who are considered to be less human than the rest. One can only wonder if humanity will ever reach a point where acceptance of one another as brother and sisters will ever become the norm or will humanity continue to try and extinguish those considered as the other until we succeed in forcing our own extinction. Should things continue on the current path, that is exactly the eventuality which will be attained. When and if such should come to pass, we can only hope some record of how we hated ourselves to oblivion survives such that whatever life-form becomes the next greatest evolved creature can discern our faults and possibly they will learn the lessons we apparently are incapable of digesting.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

New York Times Admits Palestinian Reality

 

It took the Palestinian Authority (PA) government to fold for them to finally be recognized by the New York Times (NYT). We just have to quote their first paragraph just for the sake that it is so telling in revealing the lie which the NYT has tendered for years that the Palestinian Arabs were occupied by the oppressive Israeli government. It negates their insistence that Israel prevented the Palestinian Arabs from ever being permitted to vote. Now, all of a sudden there was this entity, the Palestinian government, which prevented their holding elections because, as we have pointed out incessantly, Mahmoud Abbas knew he faced no chance of winning another term and he and his family simply were making too much money to surrender their stranglehold on power. Paragraph also tells us that there is a political terrorist entity which rules the Palestinian Arabs in Gaza, it is called Hamas. Imagine that, the Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank (Shomron) and the Palestinian Arabs in Gaza both had their own government and in neither case was Israel involved. With that said, allow us to quote their first paragraph.

“The government of the Palestinian Authority tendered its resignation on Tuesday, a move that reflected rising public discontent and the failure of efforts to reunite the West Bank, where the Authority is based, and the Gaza Strip, controlled by the militant Islamist group Hamas.”

There are some qualifying follow-on statements which have a bearing on what exactly will be the near future. First, as the NYT provides, “The cabinet’s resignation still has to be accepted by the Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, and cabinet officials said it would continue to function until a new government was formed.” This requires some further elucidation as its true meaning is, as is almost always the case when Mahmoud Abbas is involved, obscured and needing of explanation from those who are a little closer to the problem than New York City, a whole lot closer. Mahmoud Abbas will hold up accepting their resignation until his demands for his having strict control over who may be permitted in the next government. His continuance as President of the PA will need be accepted such that he need not run or face even the weakest of opposition, and he will, of course, have some say in who may and may not rule for any positions. The demands have already begun and in order to appear not involved, it was Fatah which recommended that the next government have a, “stronger political component, to be made up mostly of members of Fatah and possibly some other factions, but excluding Hamas.” What one need know about this is that the Fatah Chairman is also Mahmoud Abbas, so when Fatah states something, it is actually Mahmoud Abbas who is stating something.

 

The NYT had to bring in a completely unrelated slant concerning Israel when stating, “uncertainty and disarray that has characterized Palestinian politics after more than a decade of deep divisions between the West Bank and Gaza, and with peace talks with Israel long at an impasse.” What the peace talks with Israel, which have been refused and held up by, you guessed it, Mahmoud Abbas, has to do with anger from the Palestinian Arab people is that they have been denied elections for over a decade and there has been no unification between the PA ruled region and the Hamas ruled Gaza. The anger from the Palestinian Arab people has had no component aimed at Israel and they are not concerned with Israel; they want to have representative governance and are tired of the Abbas dictatorship. According to the reporting, the last straw was apparently, “a new tax to finance a fund to cover pension benefits, proved particularly unpopular.” The reasoning presumably for this anger was explained by Ghassan Khatib, a political scientist at Birzeit University in the West Bank, who the NYT quoted as saying, “The public became unhappy with the whole idea, mainly because it has no confidence in the stability of this authority, or in the performance of the government on such a huge project, and because of other factors like corruption.” Did they say corruption? The leadership of Hamas has made three men into billionaires and Mahmoud Abbas and family are probably not far behind, something difficult to determine as their wealth has been secreted away for a very long time. Abbas was the understudy of Yasser Arafat whose wife continues to lead a life of excess on the wealth Arafat left her with her main concern being how she will get the rest of the cash he hid in Swiss accounts and did not live long enough to give her the information. We can be assured that the Abbas family could go and live along the Rivera and never need to worry about money, people attempting to murder them, perhaps that might be a concern, but money would not be a problem.

 

The final paragraph quotes Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasem stating, “It is a new blow to unity by Fatah, overriding all reconciliation endeavors. The only beneficiary of this decision is the Israeli occupation.” We can see immediately why the NYT decided to end their article with this particular quote; it again brings in the completely spurious mention of Israel. Israel does not gain or lose anything by the continued turmoil within the PA or their inability to find a means of cooperating with Hamas. The problem is easily explained and has to do with the founding principles of each of these ruling dictatorships, both of which claim to give the people a say in their government. The PA was the construction of an entity which would basically remain as the terrorist group the PLO but would have the world turn a blind eye to their terrorist ties so as to force Israel into concessions which, if some of those behind this had often prayed, eventually leading to the dissolution of Israel. The PLO, and the PA after it, were both established during the pan Arabist period of Arab nationalism and is a secular-nationalist based. Hamas was established as a religious Islamist based organization which based their rule and authority on the Quran. Their claim against Israel was more general and based on the simple fact, under the Quran the Jews are to be ruled solely by their Islamic superiors. Further, Hamas includes in their Charter the following statement, “The following are considered null and void: the Balfour Declaration, the British Mandate Document, the UN Palestine Partition Resolution, and whatever resolutions and measures that derive from them or are similar to them. The establishment of “Israel” is entirely illegal and contravenes the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and goes against their will and the will of the Ummah; it is also in violation of human rights that are guaranteed by international conventions, foremost among them is the right to self-determination.” As is often the case with Islamist institutions, they refuse to recognize anything which was performed by, and most especially, Jews as well as Christians, Hindus, Buddhists henceforth and so on to include everything not Islamic, and specifically in agreement with their view of Islam. Hamas originally had a very dim view of Iran due to their being Shia and not Sunni, but once Iran provided needed cash and weapons, specifically improved rocket motors and larger rockets, then all of a sudden, their purity was shifted aside to allow the benefits Iran proffered. Apparently, the fact that Iran was at least Islamist became sufficient. But as the PA is Arab nationalist and Islamist, Hamas cannot find any bridge with which to reach an accord. Add that on the PA side, Mahmoud Abbas refuses to allow anything which might get in the way of his living out his days in the comfort of being protected by Force 17 and living the life of a sultan in the new headquarters and living accommodations which, unsurprisingly, has billets for a couple of platoons of troops to guard the building and its most important individual, Mahmoud Abbas (see picture below). Does anybody want to talk about imperial presidency? Mahmoud Abbas is very much self-impressed and will never loose his grip on power until he takes that final trip which we all face eventually, and at over eighty-years of age and not even near perfect health, that time cannot be too far and he probably can hear the footsteps closing in on him.

 

 

What is remarkable is that any left-leaning news source would actually admit that the Palestinian Arabs are ruled over by their own governance, let alone that both those in what they call the West Bank and those in Gaza each have their own governance. They actually admitted in the NYT that Mahmoud Abbas is the President and that he ordered the government dissolved responding to an order by the Palestinian Arab top court, and has left the 98% of Palestinian Arabs of the region residing under it with the sole governance being simply the dictator, Mahmoud Abbas. For years, all they have ever been capable of claiming about the poor, oppressed, never allowed to vote and facing checkpoints to get into Israel Palestinian Arabs was how they suffered under the Israeli occupation. They never ever and consistently refused to recognize that the Palestinian Arabs were under their own self-rule which had suspended elections because the sitting President knew that he would not be reelected but somehow their not voting was because of the occupation and Israel would not let them vote. Well, of course Israel would not let them vote in Israeli elections and the reason was the same as for the checkpoints; they resided in a separately governed regions which was basically a nation protected by Israel from invasion, as if any Arab nation would ever invade them, and as such they were foreigners. Foreigners go through checkpoints to enter another nation, it is often called Customs, and foreigners are not permitted to vote in other national elections. But when it came to Israel, these were foreign ideas and not worthy of print because they did not fit the Israel, the Jewish State, is a horrid monster which should be abandoned and left for the buzzards. Now, except for the few attempts at slighting Israel, we cannot expect the NYT to completely surrender their favorite punching bag, they finally admitted that the Palestinian Arabs have a pair of governments, one for Gaza called Hamas and one for the Arabs of the Shomron called the PA. Perhaps their reason will be clarified as time continues as we fully expect that the NYT will be criticizing Israel as Mahmoud Abbas finds reason after reason to postpone or terminate any plans allowing for the election of a new government unless he is guaranteed his position does not get challenged by his needing to face election and the preferences of the people, something he dreads as he knows the result, and that he has control over who can and cannot run so as to have the echo chamber he desires. Abbas desires to have the same control as the Supreme Leader and Grand Ayatollah in Iran and, just like Iran, he wants it to be referred to as a democratic state where the people get to vote. The NYT will laud any announcement of elections though one will have to wonder at some point why there are announcements every few months about the pending Palestinian elections and never any results announced. The answer is easy; they are always cancelled because Abbas knows the result would be Hamas taking over and his head on a post.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Grey Lady Befriends Hamas Discarding Israel

 

We need to thank Jack Engelhard for alerting us to the subject and giving the links we will be utilizing all in his well-written article “NY Times finds “journalists,” no terrorists among Hamas rioters.” The New York Times article we will be referring to is “Israel’s Violent Response to Nonviolent Protests” written by “The Editorial Board,” a nice way of removing the actual writer(s) and contributor(s) from credit or blame. We read the New York Times article in stages as our internal temperature and other biological feedback measurements rose in agitation requiring some time to simmer and calm. We recently read another article we must mention and recommend as a balm for the Times article. This was written by another author we trust and prefer, Giulio Meotti who wrote this excellent article “Imagine that you are that Israeli soldier” which poses the reality which faces every IDF soldier at every moment during any confrontation which includes even the life-threatening confrontations. What becomes difficult is attempting to find what kind of universe is required to corroborate the New York Times article with the one by Giulio Meotti. Obviously, these two articles were written by authors who do not reside in the same reality. Later, we will add a link to one last article which can be read as a bromide anchoring one back in reality.

 

The Times makes an initial attempt to prove the innocence of Yasser Murtaja, a person the Times had used to provide them with unbiased news and pictures, by linking him as knowing and having worked for Ai Weiwei, the Chinese dissident and artist. Well, I delivered while in the service of my father who was a tailor, a suit and tuxedo to General McAuliffe, but that does not make me a renowned tactician of military strategy. It also says nothing about me personally other than I once met the General who commanded the troops which held Bastogne until General Patton relieved them with his forces after two days of heavy fighting. Then they throw in his being a father of a fifteen-month-old son to pluck the heartstrings which works with the Times average reader who is emotionally rooted in their leftist philosophies. We are told how many of the “protesters” are hanging back from the front of the peaceful demonstration and just hanging out having picnics and, who knows, maybe playing soccer in the afternoon and playing guitars and singing protest songs. Question, why are they hanging back away from the front if everything is a peaceful protest, is there perhaps some parts of the protest a little less peaceful and not quite non-violent when you move towards the front? This is never quite covered, only that there was one journalist killed along with eight other protesters and five more journalists injured covering the peaceful protests among a thousand others who were wounded. It is then very pointedly pointed out that, “There have been no known Israeli casualties.” This is so they can then use the almost thirty who have died amongst the Hamas protesters and the presumed thousands injured and demand that Israel is using disproportional force. Israel is using disproportional force is a popular meme where they are all but demanding that Israel must have an equal number of casualties as whomever Israel is fighting. Apparently, the New York Times has missed that the United States is probably the most flagrant violator of their proportional casualty measure as the United States has had an unbelievable and consistent disproportional application of force in every war before and since the Civil War where more Americans died than people from foreign nations. The United States just struck in Syria and there were more Syrian, Iranians and Russians reported dead than the United States lost as there were, and we wish to very pointedly point out that, no casualties at all. Imagine that, Israel and the United States are both guilty of disproportional force in recent engagements.

 

Another item which Times reserved to add as an afterthought in the very last paragraph was that there were tires burned. Allow us to quote, “At times, some of the younger protesters have moved close to the border’s no-go zone, burning tires and throwing rocks at the fence. Israel has said some Gazans have tried to toss crude explosives, shoot weapons and breach the barrier.” So, there is an announced and understood “no-go zone” and there were “burning tires” plus those “throwing rocks” as well as those who “tried to toss crude explosives, shoot weapons and breach the barrier” which is the border fence which means breaching the barrier would constitute invading actual Israeli land and crossing the border with violent intent. Further, does tossing explosives, crude or sophisticated, they explode, or firing weapons sound like a peaceful protest? We did not think so either. Their some youths were burning tires amounted to ten-thousand tires being burned in order to mask attempts to cut through the border fence such that there could be a rush on the border. Hamas has claimed that the protests will not stop until the border has been erased and they reach Jerusalem. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has stated that they will, “Eat the livers of those besieging” Gaza and “We will tear Israelis’ hearts out.” Do not expect to ever hear this in the Times as for them, Hamas is simply the legitimate rulers of Gaza. They did not take over Gaza in a violent coup from the presumed legitimate governance of the Palestinian Authority. The requirement for employment at the Times, with few if any exceptions, is that you view Arab, especially Palestinian Arabs, good, and Israel the greatest evil to ever plague the Earth.

 

More Slanted Coverage from the Grey Lady

 

The Times quotes Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, an interview by a friend of Yasser Murtaja with the New Yorker and that the United States protecting Israel by blocking a proposed United Nations Security Council statement condemning the Israeli response. The Times concludes that, “Journalists have a right to work, and people have a right to demonstrate peacefully. We would agree, except this is not what has been happening on the Gaza border and anyone who desires to believe that Hamas is not a terrorist group which desires to murder every Jew living on the planet, they can join Jeremy Corbin in claiming innocence of Hamas and perhaps include Hezballah as another rights group which Israel unfairly fights against without any actual reason. The Hamas rioting on the Gaza border is designed to climax with a mass crossing through any breach they are able of establishing in order to roam throughout as much of Israel as they are able murdering every Israeli they meet until they are killed or incapacitated after which we are sure the Times would demand that Israel account for every death and injured Arab who were peacefully and innocently celebrating over the corps of a dead Israeli.

 

We promised another article to lower the blood pressure of all except Times readers, so here it is. The Hill had an article by Lawrence J. Haas, Opinion Contributor titled, “Hamas attacks Israel – and the world condemns Israel.” They include a series of great little quotes with many from Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader we quoted earlier. The Hill article covers the entirety of the forces sitting on Israeli borders and their desires to destroy Israel and how Israel has little choice but to fight for their lives. We wish to add another point which is also a truth about Israel. Israel is small, about the same size as New Jersey, and though we have relied on aid from the United States and favorable discounts on weapon systems from other friends including but not limited to Germany whose Dolphin submarines are an essential part of the Israeli Navy, Israel has from her first dawn when she was attacked by Six Arab armies and a semblance of different militias to the Gaza rioting today always relied on her own soldiers and only her own soldiers to fight her wars. There have been a few volunteers from other nations who have assisted her but these were volunteers and not duty service personnel. Only Israeli soldiers are our fighters and we have never requested any soldiers from other nations, not one American, British, French, Russian, Indian, Chinese, German, Polish, Czechoslovakian or other nationality has fought in any of the too numerous Israeli wars and never will there be a foreign soldier enlisted to fight an Israeli war. Israel spends hundreds of millions of Shekels on defensive weaponry to keep Israelis of every variety from Jew to Arab to Baha’I to Muslim and Christian and everyone else within the Israeli border, all benefit from the Iron Dome, Arrow Systems and David’s Sling. Israel has built shelters in every neighborhood and business region so all have a shelter when required.

 

We have all heard and understand that should the Arabs put down their weapons and request peace there will be peace but if Israel put down her weapons and made a request for peace there would be a slaughter of the Israeli peoples. The world in many parts can be said to salivate at the idea of destroying Israel. The United Nations proves the depth of that desire with every vote taken concerning Israel. Despite these votes, Israel responds by providing, if permitted, aid after every natural disaster anywhere on the globe often arriving before the United States with an operative field hospital as was the astonishing case to CNN in Haiti (see video below). The reaction of the CNN reporter is absolutely telling of the shock when a reporter who has lived with the horror stories about Israel once they find out the truth. This was Haiti but it was true in Nepal, Tokyo, the Philippines and even after Katrina in New Orleans. This is Israel as well and is also true of agricultural aid and teaching in Africa plus their Help a Child’s Heart which assists all children with heart problems and not only teach doctors but set up complete departments to provide such life saving care in hospitals throughout the world. These are the stories you seldom hear about Israel but that is Israel. One last thing, next time you eat a cherry tomato, remember that it is a product of Israeli agricultural technology. Enjoy the video below.

 

 

Beyond the Cusp