tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14276255707111681382024-03-14T05:52:11.798-04:00ExplorationsDavid Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.comBlogger229125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-70685810336205868722024-03-06T12:58:00.001-05:002024-03-06T12:58:18.199-05:00Understanding the Full Dimensions of Hamas' October 7, 2023 Mass Casualty Attack in Israel<p>During <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">Hamas' October 7, 2023 mass casualty attack in Israel</a>, Hamas not only committed rape and torture while killing over 1200 people and taking more than 200 hostages, but in the aftermath of the attack--and attacks launched by Hezbollah against northern Israeli communities--<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/about-200000-israelis-internally-displaced-amid-ongoing-gaza-war-tensions-in-north/">hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been displaced and dozens of children have become orphans</a>. The tragic impact of Hamas' terrorism will be felt for generations. When you see pictures or descriptions of whatever is happening in Gaza, remember why it is happening: Israel is making sure that Hamas will never again have the capability of inflicting such suffering--and another reason that Israel is operating in Gaza is to <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2024/02/deplorable-criticism-of-israels-deadly.html">find and hopefully rescue</a> the 100 or so hostages still being held by Hamas.<br /></p><p>A less publicized aspect of Hamas' attack, as Rebecca Sugar pointed out recently, is that Hamas also <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/hamas-agricultural-terrorism-oct-7-israel-food-supply-trying-to-break-the-community-e4d91a71">committed agricultural terrorism</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>The human tragedy of Oct. 7 still grips the country and is compounded by another kind of devastation Hamas inflicted on Israel. Danielle Abraham, executive director of Volcani International Partnerships, a nongovernmental organization that addresses global hunger using Israeli technological innovation, calls it "agricultural terrorism."</p><p>Terrorists targeted farmland, livestock, plants and infrastructure as they made their way across the western Negev, which produces roughly 70% of the country's vegetables, 20% of its fruit and 6% of its milk. "The attack was designed to intentionally destroy agricultural production, but more than that, it was meant to destroy the identity of the region, to break the community," Ms. Abraham says.</p><p>Hamas terrorists damaged greenhouses and barns, many beyond repair. They slashed crop nets and flooded orchards. They burned irrigation pipes and shot at fertigation systems. They destroyed the filtration system for the local reservoir...</p><p>Known for producing some of the world's sweetest tomatoes, Israel is now importing them. Lettuce and onion shortages are expected, and up to 20% of strawberry fields were abandoned. Estimates of income losses and infrastructure damage total more than $500 million.</p></blockquote><p>Israel's barbaric enemies have not only demonstrated an inability to build functional societies, but they are determined to destroy the beautiful society that the Jewish people have built in Israel. It is disturbing that so many organizations that claim to be concerned about human rights, global hunger, sustainability, and other issues are either silent about this or are even hostile toward Israel. <br /></p><p></p><p><a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/hamas-reveals-and-celebrates-barbarism.html">Hamas revealed and celebrated the barbarism at the heart of radical Islam</a>, and <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/dont-condemn-suffering-condemn-hamas.html">Hamas' actions against Israel fit the legal definition of genocide, which consists of two elements</a>:</p><ol class="indent"><li><i>A mental element</i>: the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such"; and </li><li><i>A physical element</i>, which includes the following five acts, enumerated exhaustively:
<ul><li>Killing members of the group</li><li>Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group</li><li>Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part</li><li>Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group</li><li>Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group</li></ul>
</li></ol>
<p></p><blockquote>The intent is the most difficult element to determine. To
constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent on the part of
perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnical, racial or
religious group. Cultural destruction does not suffice, nor does an
intention to simply disperse a group. It is this special intent, or <i>dolus specialis</i>,
that makes the crime of genocide so unique. In addition, case law has
associated intent with the existence of a State or organizational plan
or policy, even if the definition of genocide in international law does
not include that element. </blockquote><p>The facts documented above point to several important conclusions/action items:</p><p>1) In order to survive, Israel must destroy Hamas, because Hamas has demonstrated the ability and inclination to inflict mass destruction on Israel.</p><p>2) Any ceasefire in Gaza helps Hamas to regroup, and is therefore an existential threat to Israel.</p><p>3) In light of the significant support and collaboration that Hamas receives from the civilian population in Gaza, Israel must strongly consider what is the most humanitarian way to relocate most or all of that civilian population elsewhere; most wars involve population transfers to protect the innocent and minimize the likelihood of more warfare, and there is no reason that this war would be an exception. After World War II, population transfers of millions of people took place, and something similar happened in the Indian subcontinent after India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh became independent countries. Humanitarian population transfer is the best way to not only protect Israel but to also remove Gazans from the current war zone so that Israel can destroy Hamas with as few civilian casualties as possible.</p><p>In this context, it should also be remembered that--as <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-latest-un-anti-israel-resolution-is.html">I previously documented</a>--<a href="https://unitedwithisrael.org/the-real-nakba-decimated-mideasts-jews-not-arabs-israeli-un-ambassador/?utm_source=newsletters_unitedwithisrael_org&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Israeli+Kids+Make+Amazing+Discovery%21+Palestinian+Chief+Blows+Fortune+at+World+Cup%3B+Rapper+Slams+Kanye+Over+Antisemitic+Outbursts%3B+The+%27Real%27+Nakba&utm_campaign=20221130_m170678126_Israeli+Kids+Make+Amazing+Discovery%21+Palestinian+Chief+Blows+Fortune+at+World+Cup%3B+Rapper+Slams+Kanye+Over+Antisemitic+Outbursts%3B+The+%27Real%27+Nakba&utm_term=The+_E2_80_98Real+Nakba_E2_80_99+Decimated+Mideast_E2_80_99s+Jews_2C+Not+Arabs_2C+Israel+Tells+UN">after the creation of the modern State of Israel the Arab/Islamic countries expelled almost 1,000,000 Jews</a>. Those Jews have never been compensated for their suffering or for their lost property. In essence, the Arab/Islamic countries already did an involuntary population transfer affecting Jews, and the population transfer process can now be completed--in an orderly, humane fashion--regarding Gaza (and this should be seriously considered for the hotbeds of Arab/Islamic terrorism in Judea/Samaria as well).<br /></p><p>4) Israel faces a significant human and financial cost to rebuild everything that Hamas destroyed. Therefore, the Arab/Muslim world must foot the bill to pay whatever it costs to help Gaza's civilians now, and to relocate them to new homes out of Gaza at the earliest opportunity. The extensive sponsorship that Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States provide for sports--including but not limited to auto racing, chess, and golf--demonstrate that those nations have more than sufficient funds to pay for this. Those states depend on American military muscle to survive, so it should not be difficult for America to persuade those states to do their part: the simple message is "Pay your share to fix a problem created by terrorists who you have funded and sheltered, or we will withdraw all military support and leave you to your own devices vis a vis Iran." By the way, delivery of that same message would provide sufficient incentive for Qatar--which sponsors Hamas and shelters many of Hamas' leaders--to pressure Hamas to unconditionally free all of the hostages that Hamas is holding in Gaza.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-67765897892125145682024-02-13T12:13:00.005-05:002024-02-13T12:16:55.685-05:00Deplorable Criticism of Israel's "Deadly" Hostage Rescue Operation<p>Israel just accomplished something that no one else is willing or able to do: Israel went into the heart of Gaza's nest of terrorist compounds in Rafah, and rescued two of the hostages who have been held captive since <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">Hamas' October 7, 2023 mass casualty attack in Israel</a>. Former hostages Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Har are alive and free today because Israel did not surrender, did not give in to cruel international pressure, and instead stayed laser-focused on the dangerous but necessary task of rescuing hostages and destroying Hamas. I fervently hope that we will see many more <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/385093">videos like this</a> of Israeli soldiers bravely rescuing hostages.</p><p>It is deplorable and disgusting that Israel's brave and heroic rescue mission is labeled as "deadly" by biased media outlets; these same biased media outlets also devote a lot of attention to what they term a "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza. Few people are brave enough to speak the truth: what Hamas did and continues to do is "deadly," and the only humanitarian crisis in Gaza is that Hamas is holding over 100 hostages. Everything that is happening in Gaza is a direct consequence of Hamas' deadly actions. </p><p>Israel is saving lives by rescuing hostages and dismantling Hamas. Hamas
is responsible for every death in Gaza, and Hamas could end the war by
surrendering unconditionally and releasing all hostages unconditionally.
Gazans voted Hamas into power, Gazans cheered (and participated) on
October 7, and now Gazans are paying the price for their decisions and
their actions. As the saying goes, "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes." Or, to put it more bluntly, "F-around and find out." The Gazans played their stupid games, and now they are receiving their "prizes" for killing at least 1200 people and kidnapping hundreds of others. Israel and the world community provided billions of dollars to Gaza to build a paradise, but the Gazans chose to build a hell--and after they chose to export that hell to Israel they should not be surprised or outraged by Israel's justified response.</p><p>People who speak about "proportionality" do not understand international law; in a war of self-defense, a country may legally use the necessary force to eliminate the threat. Hamas decided to use Gazans as human shields, and Israel may legally use whatever force is necessary to destroy Hamas' command centers, bases, and tunnels as long as Israel is not deliberately attacking civilian targets.<br /></p><p>Israel must stay strong, and her supporters must stay strong as well. President Biden pretended to support Israel for a hot minute before looking at his cratering poll numbers and deciding to pander to <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/12/hamas-has-exposed-moral-bankruptcy-of.html">the self-proclaimed "progressives."</a> <span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto"></span>He cannot be trusted, and that is sadly true of the leaders of many other countries as well. It is better to be a living Jew who is criticized than a dead Jew who is mourned.</p><p>The international organizations that are supposed to protect the innocent are instead demonizing Israel. The United Nations is worse than useless; it has become an instrument of evil, and <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-united-nations-is-antisemitic-worse.html">should be disbanded as soon as possible</a>. The so-called Palestinians are <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-pathetic-progressive-response-to.html">the only group in the world that has an entire UN organization devoted exclusively to their particular concerns</a>: the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the
Near East (UNRWA). <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/directly-beneath-unrwas-gaza-headquarters-idf-uncovers-top-secret-hamas-data-center/">UNRWA collaborated with Hamas before, during, and after Hamas' October 7, 2023 mass casualty attack in Israel</a>; it is long overdue that UNRWA be shut down, and now that the full truth has been revealed about UNRWA's participation in war crimes the UNRWA officials who worked with Hamas should be prosecuted for their crimes against humanity. This is unfortunately <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2014/08/eyeless-clueless-and-senseless-in-gaza.html">not the first time that UNRWA collaborated with Hamas to attack Israel</a>, but it must be the last time.</p><p>President Biden and others are pressuring Israel to accede to the creation of an Arab state in Gaza, but <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2024/01/menachem-begin-understood-how-to.html">there must never be two states west of the Jordan River</a>. <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2024/01/anti-zionism-is-indistinguishable-from.html">Israel belongs to the Jewish people</a>, and there is already an Arab state in the former Palestine Mandate territory: Jordan. Arab civilians from Gaza should relocate to Jordan as soon as possible, to secure their safety and as part of a long overdue permanent solution to decades of strife and war. This is no different than the population transfers that happened as a result of World War II, the wars in the Indian subcontinent, and just about every other war in human history. </p><p>It should be noted and emphasized that the Arab/Muslim world and the international community as a whole prefers that Gazans die while serving as Hamas' human shields as opposed to peacefully relocating Gazans to Jordan (or to other Arab/Muslim countries). Israel has encouraged Gazans to flee the war zone, and Israel has provided safe passage to Gazans to do so; it is Hamas and Hamas' supporters in the international community that have forced Gazans to remain in Gaza as human shields. That decision is regrettable, but it is not Israel's fault, nor is it Israel's responsibility.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-87027493872064561222024-02-02T01:57:00.002-05:002024-02-02T02:00:56.897-05:00Understanding Today's Mideast Through the Lens of the Bravery of the Jews and the Brutality of the Arabs During Israel's War of Independence<p>There is a false, multi-layered narrative asserting that Israel was founded by white Jewish colonists who displaced native peoples of color and destroyed an Arab nation called "Palestine" (sic). I refuted those notions in <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/01/who-are-invaders-and-who-are-invaded.html">Who Are the Invaders, and Who are the Invaded? An Analysis of Inversions of Truth</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>In a world where so many dangerous delusions are presented as
important facts, it is refreshing to catch a glimpse of truth emerging
from the darkness. In <a href="https://www.jns.org/opinion/how-the-true-story-of-mizrahi-jews-defeats-anti-zionist-mythology">How the true story of Mizrahi Jews defeats anti-Zionist mythology</a>, James Sinkinson writes:</p><p></p><p></p><blockquote><p>What most anti-Zionists miss is that despite the perception that
resettling Israel was largely (though not completely) an Ashkenazi
initiative, the majority of today's Israelis are ancestors of refugees
from the Middle East and Africa. Most are brown-, black- or
olive-skinned—not what anyone could describe as white—and as a group are
called Mizrahi (Eastern) Jews...</p><p>While for millennia Jews lived with unbroken continuity in the land
of Israel, many Jews also lived in neighboring countries, predating the
birth of Islam and the Arab conquest, occupation and colonization of the
region. While many think of the region today as "Arab," places like
Morocco, Syria and Egypt were invaded 1,300 years ago by Muslims, and
their indigenous populations killed or forced to convert and adopt the
Arabic language and culture.</p>
<p>In Iraq, for example, Jews had lived for almost 2,500 years—since the
destruction of Jewish sovereignty in the First Temple period—but all
this ended just a couple of generations ago with an orgy of bloody
pogroms and public hangings.</p>
<p>Few indigenous populations survived the centuries of onslaught on
their authentic identity, and simply disappeared. Despite having
second-class, <i>dhimmi</i> status imposed on them by Muslim rulers,
Jews refused to relinquish their culture and tradition. They were made
subservient to the majoritarian Muslims, who had arrived via invasion
and colonization.</p>
<p>This history of conquest, occupation and colonization is one many
anti-Zionists would like to hide, since it turns every popular Middle
East narrative on its head. Today, strong forces and lobbies ensure that
anything exposing Muslim colonial history is censored.</p></blockquote><p></p><p> </p><p>Far
too few people know the real history, and far too many people refuse
to read/listen/learn. In addition to the points that Sinkinson makes,
it is worth thinking about why the United Nations created a separate
organization (United Nations Relief and Works Agency--UNRWA)
to deal with the "Palestinian" refugees but every single other refugee
situation in the world--which includes the fates of tens of millions of
refugees--falls under the domain of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR). It is also worth thinking about why there is no UN
agency to help the hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees who were
expelled from
Arab/Islamic countries in the late 1940s. </p><p>Much has been said and
written about the "Palestinian" nation and about "Palestinian "
rights. I agree with anyone who fights for the basic human rights of
every single human being, but I have some questions about Palestine as a
nation. When did a sovereign country named "Palestine" exist? What was
its
capital, and what were its borders? What distinct, unique language was
spoken there? Such questions arouse outrage and venom from some people,
but I have yet to hear or see any answers--and there is a simple reason
for that: it is a demonstrable historical fact that no such sovereign
country ever
existed. </p></blockquote><p>The Jewish people's successful struggle for independence against British colonists and the armies of multiple Arab/Muslim nations is the greatest story that is never (or at least rarely) told accurately in its full glory. What other nation has preserved its identity, language, and culture despite suffering a two millennia exile? When nationalism emerged in the 1800s, the Land of Israel was largely barren and sparsely inhabited. The native Jewish community--bolstered by their Jewish brethren fleeing persecution in various countries--lovingly made the desert bloom, and displayed remarkable tenacity despite facing overwhelming military and political opposition. </p><p>No one gave the Jewish people a state: the Jewish people built a state, and for more than 75 years the Jewish people have tenaciously fought to keep that state. <br /></p><p>"A Bravery Fiercer Than Death: The 35 Heroes of Gush Etzion" provides eyewitness accounts of the 35 Jewish soldiers massacred by Arabs while trying to provide supplies to the besieged Etzion Bloc communities during Israel's War of Independence:<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CR3-sczuyZU" width="320" youtube-src-id="CR3-sczuyZU"></iframe> </div><p>There are several striking aspects of the Gush Etzion story, beyond the bravery of the young Jewish soldiers:</p><p>1) The descriptions of the barbarities committed to the Jewish bodies by the Arabs (which can be heard at around the 13 minute mark of the video) should not be surprising to anyone who has studied history, and they underline the reality that what <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">Hamas did during the October 7, 2023 mass casualty terrorist attack</a> is neither isolated from Arab/Muslim history nor in any way a response to anything that Israel ever did; rather, it reflects the <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/hamas-reveals-and-celebrates-barbarism.html">barbarism at the heart of radical Islam</a>. The sad reality is that radical Islam enjoys wide support in the Arab/Muslim world; as one of the veterans of Israel's War of Independence stated during the movie, "We understood the reality of our situation. We understood what we could expect, if they were to defeat us." What they could expect was torture, murder, and desecration of murdered bodies, which is what Hamas did on October 7, 2023 and has publicly pledged to do "again and again and again."</p><p>2) As noted early in the movie, Jewish individuals and organizations legally purchased the land. There was no colonization, no depopulation, and no deportation. The only thing more stunning and disheartening than the Arab attitude that the entire Mideast from Morocco to Pakistan should be free of any Jews is the world willfully ignoring this grotesque antisemitism. Why did the Arabs seek to massacre Jews living peacefully in Gush Etzion (and the rest of the Land of Israel)? Regardless of who would ultimately have sovereignty over the area, why did the Arabs feel compelled to try to kill every Jew there? That same antisemitic attitude persists today; the Arabs not only demand that Israel give up land, but that Israel render that land Judenrein. How can one make peace with an enemy who is not willing to live side by side together?</p><p>If it is that important for the Arabs/Muslims west of the Jordan River to live in Judenrein lands, then they have over 20 Arab/Muslim countries from which to choose, but they have no legal or moral right to demand that a single Jew leave the ancestral Jewish homeland. That is (or should be) a non-negotiable principle.<br /></p><p>3) The deep love of the Jewish people for the Land of Israel is very moving. The Jewish people dreamed of Zion for 2000 years, fought so hard to keep Gush Etzion in 1947-48, and spent 19 more years longing for Gush Etzion until finally liberating the area during the Six Day War. </p><p>4) I have thought a lot about Zionism and the Mideast for a long time, and one thought has increasingly become prominent: what Israel's enemies misunderstand the most is at the heart of their false narrative about colonization, namely their assertion that Israeli Jews are European outsiders who should "go back home." The Jewish people in Israel <i>are </i>home. The Jewish people in Israel are not the Romans, the Turks, the British, or any other foreign colonizers of the Land of Israel. </p><p>I don't know how much Israel's enemies believe the lies that they tell, but if they believe that violence will drive Jews out of Israel then they are gravely mistaken. Within the Jewish community, it is understood that the Zionist response to terrorism is to plant another tree and to build (or rebuild) a community. Jewish kindness should not be mistaken for weakness: the Jewish people's enemies may love death more than the Jewish people love life, but the Jewish people's strength is love of life and love of the Land of Israel, and it is <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/12/love-of-life-will-triumph-over-lust-for.html">that love that will triumph over the lust for death</a>.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-43125681702712563752024-01-26T21:26:00.006-05:002024-01-26T21:35:18.957-05:00Menachem Begin Understood How to Respond to Calls for a "Two State Solution"<p>Proponents of the so-called "two state solution" overlook the fact that <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/01/who-are-invaders-and-who-are-invaded.html">a two state solution was implemented in Palestine decades ago</a>: Jordan was formed by slicing off nearly 80% of the Palestine Mandate's territory, controverting the League of Nations plan that Palestine would be the location of the reborn Jewish State after the Jewish people had suffered in exile for nearly two millennia. </p><p>Menachem Begin, Israel's Prime Minister from 1977-83, understood that a
"two state solution" is based on a lie that Palestine has not already
been divided into two states, and is proposed as a means for destroying
Israel. In 1981, when West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt stated that Germans have a moral obligation to facilitate the creation of another Palestinian state
in addition to Jordan by carving territory out of Israel, <a href="https://www.israellycool.com/2022/06/07/that-time-menachem-begin-ripped-the-west-german-chancellor/">Begin did not mince words</a>:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>From a moral point of view, Schmidt's statements certainly rank as
the most callous ever heard. It seems that the
Holocaust had conveniently slipped his memory and he did not make
mention of a million and a half small children murdered, of entire
families wiped out.</p><p>The German debt to the Jewish people can
never end, not in this generation and not in any other. The entire
nation cheered on the murderers as long as they were victorious. But
what do we hear? We hear of a commitment to those who strove to complete
what the Germans had started in Europe.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Begin declared that Schmidt "must have concluded some very lucrative business deals with Saudi Arabia."</p><p>Begin's conclusion about Schmidt's motivations is the same conclusion that I have reached about both President Trump and President Biden. President Trump's <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/israel-hamas-and-islamic-concepts-dar.html#comment-form">so-called "Deal of the Century" envisions a two state solution and thus puts Israel's survival at risk</a>. President Biden's <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/02/president-joe-biden-funds-plos-pay-for.html">funding of the PLO's "Pay for Slay" program</a>
compensates terrorists for murdering Jews, and President Biden's impotent
response to Iran's nuclear program and sponsorship of terrorism has emboldened the Iranians to attack U.S. and Israeli
targets in the Mideast. I believe that President Trump, President Biden, and many other
leaders are well compensated for their advocacy of the "two state
solution" and other policies that clearly do not represent the best
interests of the United States (or anyone else other than Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, and others who stand to make money from brokering such deals).</p><p>President Biden
is not as overtly hostile to Israel as his predecessors Barack Obama or Jimmy Carter,
but Biden--like most U.S. Presidents--has an agenda that is at best
indifferent to Israel's survival, and <a href="https://www.jns.org/i-am-not-a-jew-with-trembling-knees/">Begin
understood this when he confronted then-Senator Biden in 1982 regarding
the possibility of U.S. aid to Israel being reduced if Israel dared to
allow Jewish people to live in Judea and Samaria</a> (often erroneously called "The West Bank," a name which makes no sense geographically or politically, as the territory in question is part of the Palestine Mandate and does not constitute the entire western bank of the Jordan River):</p><p></p><blockquote>Don't threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not
a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of
civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas
chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to
create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We
will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary,
we will die for them again, with or without your aid.</blockquote><p></p><p>The notion that any place in the world should be <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/judenrein">"Judenrein"</a>--let alone places within the Land of Israel such as Judea and Samaria--is despicable. Even if yet another Arab state is carved out of the territory of the former Palestine Mandate, why wouldn't Jews be allowed to live there? For that matter, why are Jews not welcome to live in Gaza, and in many Arab/Muslim countries? </p><p>Instead of blaming Israel for problems that Israel did not cause and cannot unilaterally solve, it should be noted that Jews are not welcome throughout most of the Arab/Muslim world: after Israel's rebirth in 1948, <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-refugees-from-arab-countries">more than 800,000 Jews were expelled (or fled to avoid being killed) from Arab/Muslim countries</a>. It also should be noted that the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan--accepted by Jewish leaders but rejected by Arab leaders--further divided what little remained of the Palestine Mandate. What should have happened in 1948 is a population exchange, which is what typically happens after a war: the expelled Jews should have found homes in Israel (which most of them did, though some went to other countries), and the Arabs living in the western 20% of Palestine that became Israel should have either accepted Israeli citizenship (which many did) or else moved to Jordan or other countries to become full citizens. The world's cynical manufacturing, manipulation, and perpetuation of a "Palestinian refugee crisis"--including but not limited to the <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2014/08/eyeless-clueless-and-senseless-in-gaza.html">creation of a corrupt UN agency (UNRWA) separate from the UN agency that deals with every other refugee crisis around the world</a>--has resulted in much misery for both Arabs and Jews.<br /></p><p>The reality is that a two state solution has already been implemented, and it has failed because (1) creating two states in Palestine has not brought peace, (2) the "Palestinian refugees" have not been resettled in Jordan (or any other Arab country), and (3) Jordan is a non-democratic state that is barely functional. It does not make sense to assert that carving a third state out of the Palestine Mandate's territory would lead to peace, or solve the "Palestinian refugee crisis" (which should have been solved decades ago, and could be solved tomorrow if Arab nations were willing to take care of their brethren instead of exploiting them for public relations purposes). It is delusional to think that carving a third state out of the Palestine Mandate's territory would even result in the creation of a stable, functioning nation: the Gazans spent the past two decades using billions of dollars of foreign aid to build a terrorist stronghold, not a functioning state. It cannot be said that Hamas does not represent ordinary Gazans when the evidence shows otherwise: Gazans voted Hamas into power, polls have repeatedly shown that most Gazans support Hamas, and Gazan civilians were active, enthusiastic participants in <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/hamas-reveals-and-celebrates-barbarism.html">Hamas's October 7, 2023 mass casualty terrorist attack</a> (and <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/384225?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share&fbclid=IwAR2cvHZgyCjeJzoump-b7bBgCB7oQO7RitbIztcqPH84V48NPLL1s73BGCo">UNRWA personnel actively collaborated with Hamas before, during, and after the attack</a>). <br /></p><p>For several decades, outside forces have coerced Israel into failing
to achieve decisive victory each time she has been attacked by her Arab/Muslim neighbors, but Israel must not permit that to happen
now. <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/israel-hamas-and-islamic-concepts-dar.html">Israel's war against Hamas must continue until all of these events happen:</a></p><p>1) Hamas is eliminated as a functioning terrorist, military, and political entity.</p><p>2)
Hamas' state sponsors--including but perhaps not limited to Iran and
Qatar--must pay reparations for the killed, for the injured, and for the
destruction of property.</p><p>3) All hostages held by Hamas must be released immediately and unconditionally.</p><p></p><p>Israel is under no legal or moral obligation to waste more money funding terrorist organizations in Gaza. Hamas attempted to use Gaza as a launching pad to destroy Israel, Hamas failed, and now Hamas and the Gazans who voted Hamas into power will have to live with the consequences of their bad choices and their military defeat. Name one other terrorist entity in world history that launched a failed war of extermination (<a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/05/there-is-no-moral-equivalence-between.html">Hamas' stated goal regarding Israel</a>) and then was rewarded by being granted statehood in the very territory from which it launched the failed war of extermination? That is not how the world works.<br /></p><p> </p><p>"Two state solution" is just the polite way of saying "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." As <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/12/october-7-taught-brutal-lesson-to.html">I noted in the immediate aftermath of Hamas' October 7, 2023 mass casualty terrorist attack against Israel</a>, "When Israel's Arab neighbors and their self-proclaimed 'progressive' supporters chant 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' those words must be understood for their literal meaning and intention:
every Jew from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea is to be
killed, Israel is to be destroyed, and yet another authoritarian
Arab/Muslim state is to be established. The Arabs don't want 'land for
peace'; they want to kill Jews and take control of all of the land from
the 'river to the sea.' They mean exactly what they say. This is a sad
and scary reality, but denying that reality will not change it. Israel's
policies--and America's policies--must be grounded in reality and must
be directed toward making sure that 'From the river to the sea,
Palestine will be free' is a slogan consigned to history's dustbin."</p><p></p><p></p><p>The Arabs/Muslims control most of the territory spanning from Morocco to Pakistan, and they will have to be satisfied with not controlling an area barely twice the size of Los Angeles County that is the historic homeland of the Jewish people. What many Arabs/Muslims and others fail to understand is that the Jewish people did not colonize the Land of Israel. The Romans, Turks, British, and others were the colonizers. The Jewish people returned home, and triumphed over the colonizers. The <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2024/01/anti-zionism-is-indistinguishable-from.html">Jewish people have as much right as any other nation to live peacefully in their homeland</a>.</p><p>October 7, 2023 is a defining historical moment. Anyone who still
advocates for the "two state solution" after October 7 is either
clueless, paid off, or trying to destroy Israel. Zionism is a just cause
and a successful movement, regardless of the slanders and lies
promulgated about the Jewish people. There is <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-fear-and-shame-at-heart-of.html">fear and shame at the heart of antisemitism and anti-Zionism</a>
because of how much the Jewish people have accomplished in Israel:
triumphing over the British colonists and sending them packing back
home, repeatedly defeating Arab aggressors despite being vastly
outnumbered, and building a thriving democracy with a modern economy.</p><p>Israel is a role model for what post-colonialist nations can accomplish with hard work and the right mindset; her enemies provide examples of the depravity to which humanity can sink with an entitlement mentality and an ideology based on <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/12/love-of-life-will-triumph-over-lust-for.html">"loving death more than you love life," which is the opposite of the Jewish worldview. </a><br /></p><p></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-64440744630569208612024-01-11T12:29:00.007-05:002024-01-11T12:58:28.239-05:00The United Nations is Antisemitic, Worse Than Useless, and Should Be Disbanded<p>The <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-latest-un-anti-israel-resolution-is.html">United Nations spends much of its time passing anti-Israel resolutions</a>. The UN is an antisemitic, anti-Zionist, anti-Western, and anti-democratic organization that outlived its usefulness decades ago. It should be disbanded, and the United States should lead the charge in defunding the UN until the UN is disbanded.</p><p>As just the most recent example of the evil that has infected the UN, in the wake of <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">Hamas' October 7, 2023 mass casualty terrorist attack against Israel</a> the UN is not condemning Hamas and seeking the immediate unconditional release of the hostages that Hamas is holding in Gaza and <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-knows-where-hamas-leader-is-but-wont-strike-because-of-hostages-reports/">using as human shields</a>, nor is the UN actively speaking out about Hamas' <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-lefts-deafening-silence-about-hamas.html">brutality toward Israeli women</a>.</p><p>No, instead the UN--via the International Court of Justice, one of its main operational units--is putting Israel on trial for genocide. This would be a laughable farce were it not just the latest outgrowth of the malignant and vile evil that poisons the UN beyond any hope of redemption. Israel, the tiny (less than twice the size of L.A. County) homeland of the Jewish people--the <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/04/holocaust-remembrance-day-reinforces.html">victims of Nazi genocide</a>--is not being supported in her fight against Iran and the Islamists who seek to destroy Israel but rather is being slandered while antisemitism is soaring around the world. It is not an exaggeration to say that the UN is putting Jewish lives at risk by leveling false and inflammatory charges against the Jewish State.</p><p>Contrary to what is often asserted, Israel never turned Gaza into <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/gaza-is-not-open-air-prison.html">an "open air prison,"</a> nor is Israel committing war crimes by <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/israeli-president-isaac-herzog-shuts.html">fighting against the Iranian-sponsored terrorist group Hamas that uses Gazan civilians as human shields</a>. <br /></p><p>It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is true, then here are 4000 words on behalf of just four of the over 130 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza (these are screenshots of Instagram posts by the Israel on Campus Coalition and Tanya Zuckerbrot):</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kjN58kpCt72H4XKOSxBQXDdvdbBYlW9l321SKycFaWWE2U8xN3ueEd-2QxjAlhJJaS-w7OlR8n3A3-_RKhKgg-Mwd3z_sqnnXcy9Va3SjSyfVngXYLA4q5bcwwntpgt127YHGCwJ2LUPH6_SZ31Xmk9J7ufUQt7oavsbV9ZwmhIJnep-Dl8ZYgppqsc/s1612/IMG_2656.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1612" data-original-width="1179" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kjN58kpCt72H4XKOSxBQXDdvdbBYlW9l321SKycFaWWE2U8xN3ueEd-2QxjAlhJJaS-w7OlR8n3A3-_RKhKgg-Mwd3z_sqnnXcy9Va3SjSyfVngXYLA4q5bcwwntpgt127YHGCwJ2LUPH6_SZ31Xmk9J7ufUQt7oavsbV9ZwmhIJnep-Dl8ZYgppqsc/s320/IMG_2656.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mof-5M6NMufYJl7xDmB51HIvH4iyYAW4PdwELp5jdm9GdZ0xDDUUKNqgR3bBkvSiCWwrIjOamwO1zTHGAwxKZozFkApOKbpcPjOow8JNh4uzhiOd5u3F-Nh97Cl0f8_4XrOxXRckU9X2q8vxIIJvOIJSmG0HZo_y5DBabZTVXF7xvuf0aVwfNaXyjsQ/s1280/IMG_2657.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="957" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mof-5M6NMufYJl7xDmB51HIvH4iyYAW4PdwELp5jdm9GdZ0xDDUUKNqgR3bBkvSiCWwrIjOamwO1zTHGAwxKZozFkApOKbpcPjOow8JNh4uzhiOd5u3F-Nh97Cl0f8_4XrOxXRckU9X2q8vxIIJvOIJSmG0HZo_y5DBabZTVXF7xvuf0aVwfNaXyjsQ/s320/IMG_2657.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_3Oy7xtgEjG1K9fpNyyUaSJfBxrumd-J9qzuqCR00yGs81e34HhTlzkcWq_vH5qJ14Mb7d6BWOZjoeRuCymsp6KDkKiPCdrQnHKumOEdqs3XveGA3P90kkY-gApmm2xLp0qrCcpoPPYaj5LuTHVtOJWw6lRNDmkUaRmMYRvF3bh_aXUrx2nhoNHvZyjQ/s1606/IMG_2658.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1606" data-original-width="1179" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_3Oy7xtgEjG1K9fpNyyUaSJfBxrumd-J9qzuqCR00yGs81e34HhTlzkcWq_vH5qJ14Mb7d6BWOZjoeRuCymsp6KDkKiPCdrQnHKumOEdqs3XveGA3P90kkY-gApmm2xLp0qrCcpoPPYaj5LuTHVtOJWw6lRNDmkUaRmMYRvF3bh_aXUrx2nhoNHvZyjQ/s320/IMG_2658.jpg" width="235" /></a> <br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQB6AZB67zms6JqdP82NgCu0hsiz6AdwnH6rVcfuSQUfolYSGRNwfYxZiAdqM6AWfDZHLtGa3qGVp-hIBPuD02fqHhQWZdVP0gh6MzxG1SfoXx9MU4MrhvYxyAYdWJbu8aLIq4Di70Y-46mRM9zVSBLXhW0Hgik8v9PchP0cigU_D5m05BrHXt5ik_erQ/s1610/IMG_2659.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1610" data-original-width="1179" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQB6AZB67zms6JqdP82NgCu0hsiz6AdwnH6rVcfuSQUfolYSGRNwfYxZiAdqM6AWfDZHLtGa3qGVp-hIBPuD02fqHhQWZdVP0gh6MzxG1SfoXx9MU4MrhvYxyAYdWJbu8aLIq4Di70Y-46mRM9zVSBLXhW0Hgik8v9PchP0cigU_D5m05BrHXt5ik_erQ/s320/IMG_2659.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I declared nearly three years ago that <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/04/why-never-again-must-be-rallying-cry.html">"Never Again" must be a rallying cry, not a slogan</a>:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><blockquote>Holocaust denial often consists not only of denying that the Nazis
murdered six million Jews, but also falsely accusing Israel of
committing genocide. This breathtaking and perverse act of double
historical revisionism during the living memory of the Holocaust is an
outrage that defies description. The truth is that not only is the
Holocaust the most well-documented genocide in history, but Adolf Hitler
announced his murderous plans in advance, and the world was well aware
of what the Nazis were doing; the information was available, but many
media outlets downplayed what was known, and many governments--including
the U.S. government--closed their borders to the few Jews who were
fortunate enough to escape the Nazis; <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-tragedy-of-s-s-st-louis">the
sad saga of the S.S. St. Louis--a ship full of more than 900 Jewish
refugees who were refused entry to the United States and sent back to
Europe to meet their fate at the hands of the Nazis</a>--is just one example of how the world turned its back on the Jewish people during the Holocaust.</blockquote></div><p><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/mks-are-shown-raw-videos-of-hamas-atrocities-some-leave-in-tears/">Hamas members proudly recorded their genocidal crimes against Israel</a> just three months ago, yet the UN ignores those genocidal crimes while falsely accusing Israel of genocide. The world will not become a better place unless and until we fight every day to make it a better place. What the UN is doing harms not only Israel and the Jewish people, but also other victims of genocide whose plight is being ignored while the UN targets Israel and the Jewish people. The UN is giving aid and comfort to China--whose <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2019/10/nba-cares-about-profits.html">ongoing persecution of Uighur Muslims arouses no sympathy among self-proclaimed "progressives"</a>--and many other countries (including but not limited to Russia and Iran) that are inflicting suffering on defenseless people. </p><p>Even if you don't give a damn about Israel and the Jewish people, you should understand with crystal clarity that the evils of commission and omission committed by the UN are a direct threat to your freedom; the Jewish people have always been the proverbial canary in the coal mine, and it does not take long for those who target the Jews to target everyone else (Adolf Hitler is the classic example of this truth). <br /></p><p>Speak out against evil.</p><p>Silence is complicity, and I will never be silent.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-7720466712840162372024-01-05T21:14:00.004-05:002024-02-01T15:23:02.782-05:00Anti-Zionism is Indistinguishable From Antisemitism Because Israel is the Jewish Homeland<p><img height="426" src="https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=http%3A%2F%2Fisraelforever.org%2Finteract%2Fblog%2FJudaism_is_Zionism_is_Israel_Passover_Quote_-600.jpg&t=1704485197&ymreqid=aa307a33-75df-0ec8-1c85-bc0000015f00&sig=mHiAOMM68vmYG.PUS3cLXQ--~D" style="display: block; height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="664" /></p><p>
China belongs to the Chinese people.<br /></p><p>France belongs to the French people.<br /></p><p></p><p>Germany belongs to the German people.</p><p>The above statements are self-evidently true. Regardless of whether or not you like the policies or the cultures of those countries, their right to exist is undisputed. It would make no sense to call for the destruction of China but claim to not be anti-Chinese, and the same is true for any other sovereign nation. I disagree with the ideology and policies of China's government, but I do not call for the destruction of China.<br /></p><p>Israel belongs to the Jewish people. </p><p>This is self-evidently true. It is not complicated, nor should it be controversial. It is made complicated and controversial by people who hate Jews and who want to kill Jews. The Jewish people are the only people in the world who are demanded to prove their right to exist in their own homeland. It is by definition <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2020/07/defining-semite-semitic-and-anti.html">antisemitic</a> to call for the destruction of Israel, because to do so demonstrates "<span class="sb-0"><span class="dt"><span class="dtText">hostility toward, or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group" (the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of antisemitism). The fact that some Jews hold antisemitic views about Israel--just as some Americans hold anti-American views--does not validate those views or make those views not antisemitic. People who chant "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free" are chanting an antisemitic slogan; they are not disagreeing with an Israeli policy: they are stating that Israel should be destroyed and replaced by another national entity, and by definition that means exiling or killing millions of Jews. That offensive slogan is a call for genocide. <br /></span></span></span></p><p><span class="sb-0"><span class="dt"><span class="dtText">It is not coincidental that antisemitism (hatred of Jews as individuals) and anti-Zionism (hatred of the Jewish national movement) are connected to anti-American sentiments. As I explained in <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-fear-and-shame-at-heart-of.html">The Fear and Shame at the Heart of Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism</a>, "[T]hose who </span></span></span>who hate America are often jealous of America in much the same fashion
that those who hate Jews and/or Israel are jealous of Jews and/or Israel." In that article, I quoted Ralph Peters, who was interviewed by Fredric Smoler ("The Shah Always Falls," February/March 2003 issue of <i>American Heritage</i>): "Jealousy is a powerful human emotion. Hatred is a tremendous emotional
release. Blame is cathartic. At this time in history, the United States
is humane, free, and powerful. The Arab Islamic world is just the
opposite. Our success is infuriating to people who value their own
culture, who love their traditions even though they no longer work, and
who look at our enormous success with inchoate envy...In the future,
we'll get around to recognizing the neuroses, if not psychoses, that are
far too prevalent within the Arabian heartland of the Islamic
world...The transition from women as property to women as full
participants in society has been the greatest revolution in human
history, and its reverberations will be felt for centuries. Repressive
cultures are horrified by it because it calls into question their most
fundamental biological, sociological, and religious ideas. However, the
oppression of women anywhere is not only a human rights violation, it's a
suicide pact with the future." Hamas' <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-lefts-deafening-silence-about-hamas.html">brutality toward Israeli women</a> during Hamas' <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">October 7, 2023 mass casualty terrorist attack</a> is just the latest example of the "neuroses, if not psychoses" of the Arab/Islamic world.<br /></p><p>The 20th century saw the collapse of many colonial empires as the colonizers left the lands that they had occupied and returned home. The Jewish people survived occupation by many colonizers--including the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the British Empire--before regaining independence in the Land of Israel in 1948. The Jewish people will never leave the Land of Israel because the Land of Israel is the Jewish homeland, just like China is the Chinese homeland, France is the French homeland, and Germany is the German homeland. Those who assert that Hamas is a legitimate anti-colonialist movement betray their ignorance of historical facts and contemporary reality; unlike the Romans, the Ottomans, and the British, the Jews are deeply connected to the Land of Israel, as all nations are deeply connected to their homelands. <br /></p><p>Arabs are from the Arabian peninsula, and they not only have created multiple countries in the Arabian peninsula, but they have created countries spanning most of the area from Morocco to Pakistan. A strong argument could be made that the Arabs colonized North Africa,
much of the Mideast, and portions of the Indian subcontinent, and that a true anti-colonialist would oppose Arab rule outside of the Arabian peninsula the same way that anti-colonialists opposed British rule outside of Great Britain.
</p><p>Jews are not welcome to live in most of these Arab countries, and in fact hundreds of thousands of Jews were expelled from those countries in the wake of Israel's modern rebirth; in contrast, Arabs are welcome to live in Israel, where they have full civil and political rights. Many of the Arab countries openly call for Israel's destruction, but Israel does not seek the destruction of the Arab countries. </p><p>Israel's current war against Hamas <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/victory-for-israel-can-mean-only-one.html">must culminate in the total defeat of Hamas</a>, and the transformation of Gaza from a terrorist stronghold where civilians are used as human shields to a functioning, modern society. The only realistic way for that to happen is for Gaza to be under Israeli administration for the foreseeable future. Such an outcome does not represent oppression or colonization; Gaza's Arabs are free to choose to live in peace alongside Israel, or to live in peace in the Arab country of their choice, but they should no longer be given the option/opportunity to attack Israel, which is what Gaza's Arabs have done ever since <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/gaza-is-not-open-air-prison.html">Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005</a>. It is normal and natural for a war to end with redrawn borders and population transfers; that is what happened throughout Europe in the wake of World War II, to cite just one example.</p><p></p><p>This is what I <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/09/israels-ongoing-oslo-accords-folly.html">prophetically wrote less than two weeks before October 7, 2023</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>The core unresolved issue is not "land for peace" nor is it autonomy;
it is the unrelenting quest to destroy Israel that is fomented by
various Arab/Islamic states and the terrorist groups (including the PLO,
Hamas, Hezbollah, al Qaeda, and others) that they sponsor. There is
zero chance that Israel giving up land will resolve that issue, and the
Oslo Accords are just one example of the folly of assuming otherwise.<br /></p><p>Many
leftists falsely accuse Israel of war crimes and of intentionally
harming Arab civilians, but the real war crime--or, to be precise, the
real treason--committed by Israel's government in the past three decades
is signing the Oslo Accords, which directly led to the <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/comprehensive-listing-of-terrorism-victims-in-israel">slaughter of more than 1300 Israeli civilians</a>.
As long as that treason goes unrecognized and unpunished, there will be
no justice and no peace in the Land of Israel, because justice and
peace cannot be built on a foundation of falsehood and terror. The PLO has publicly stated <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/04/our-war-is-with-jews-main-plo-faction.html">"Our war is with the Jews,"</a> and Arab/Muslim terrorists often chant, <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/02/president-joe-biden-funds-plos-pay-for.html">"We love death more than you love life."</a>
Such a war conducted by people who fervently embrace a death-loving
culture will not be resolved by Israel giving up land; indeed, if Israel
disappeared, the war against the Jews--and against Western, democratic
civilization--would not only continue: it would intensify, fueled by the
"triumph" of destroying the "Little Satan" (Israel) and giddy about the
possibility of destroying the "Great Satan" (America).</p></blockquote>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-64191924048871316822023-12-19T19:50:00.001-05:002023-12-24T15:38:54.756-05:00The Left's Deafening Silence About Hamas' Brutality Toward Israeli Women<p>I recently wrote that <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/12/october-7-taught-brutal-lesson-to.html">October 7 Taught a Brutal Lesson to the Israeli Left</a>: </p><p></p><blockquote>Hamas's <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">October 7 mass casualty terrorist attack</a> demonstrated the <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/hamas-reveals-and-celebrates-barbarism.html">barbarism at the heart of radical Islam</a>,
and as more details about the attack are confirmed--including the
enthusiastic participation of Gazan civilians in the brutality--the
Israeli Left is being forced to learn a painful lesson: a large number,
if not a majority, of Israel's Arab neighbors not only don't want peace
with Israel but they want to kill as many Jews as possible. This lesson
means that all of the hopes of the Israeli Left are doomed to failure:
the concept of "land for peace" leading to a "two state solution" is the
Israeli Left's dream that has turned into a nightmare of rocket attacks
and <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-palestinian-authoritys-sickening.html">"pay for slay" terrorist attacks sponsored and encouraged by the Palestinian Authority</a>
culminating in the October 7 atrocity that wreaked destruction on the
Jewish people not seen in a single day since the Holocaust. </blockquote><p>In <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-rape-of-the-israeli-women-october-7-hamas-gaza-progressives-c2a4cd38">The Rape of the Israeli Women</a>, Peggy Noonan explains why the Left in general has been silent about Hamas' brutality (I have emphasized certain passages by putting them in bold font):</p><p></p><blockquote><p>The rape, torture and mutilation of women looks as if it was part of the battle plan. Hamas used sexual violence as a weapon.</p><p>Why has the progressive left in the West, for two months now, been disbelieving, silent or equivocal about what Hamas did to women? <b>One answer is that the progressive left hates Israel and feels whatever is done to Israel is justified. Another is that the sick brutality of Hamas's actions undercuts its position in the world, undercutting too the cause they falsely claim to represent, that of the Palestinian people. Why have women's groups of the progressive left been silent? Because at bottom they aren't for women; they are for the team.</b></p><p>All of this makes more remarkable the exchange between Dana Bash of CNN and Democratic Rep. Pamila Jayapal of Seattle. Ms. Bash pressed Ms. Jayapal on why she wasn't condemning what had been done to women on 10/7. Ms. Jayapal was evasive, tried to redirect, said rape is "horrific" but "happens in war situations." </p><p>"However," she said, "I think we have to be balanced about bringing in the outrages against Palestinians." <br /><br />Balanced? How do you balance a story like the horrors of Oct. 7? You don't, you just find and tell the truth. <b>Some stories don't have two sides. This is one of them.</b></p><p>Why is it important? Because it happened. Because it reveals something about the essential nature of Hamas and reflects its ultimate political goals. Progressives admiringly quote Maya Angelou's advice that when people show you who they are, believe them. <b>Oct. 7 was Hamas showing you who they are. Believe them.</b></p></blockquote><p>BLM, MeToo, and the various queer rights groups that openly support Hamas and that promote genocide against Israel specifically and Jews in general have not only showed us who they are by demonstrating their complete lack of moral clarity and moral courage; they have also forfeited their credibility to speak about the issues that are allegedly their raison d'etre: you cannot applaud Hamas' war crimes against Jews in general and Jewish women in particular--two of the smallest and most vulnerable minority groups in the world--and then claim to be a legitimate, authoritative voice speaking on behalf of Black people, women, or queer people. I am not saying that discrimination against Black people, women, or queer people does not exist or should not be confronted--but I am insisting that the prominent groups that openly support Hamas and promote genocide against Israel and the Jewish people have no standing to speak out about anything.</p><p>Don't applaud the slaughter of Jewish women and children and then ask me to be an "ally." Universities, corporations, and politicians that use logos/slogans from BLM, MeToo, or queer rights groups that support Hamas should be called out. I support fighting for equality, but that fight cannot be fought under the banners of hate-filled organizations and movements. <br /></p><p>American Jews must use this historical turning point moment to take stock. The vast majority of American Jews have reliably voted for the Democrats for decades, but reflexive support of any Democratic Party candidate is just not tenable moving forward in the wake of the Democratic Party's demonstrable embrace of so-called "progressive" ideas that are antisemitic to the core; each candidate must be evaluated on individual merit regardless of party affiliation. As I wrote in May 2022 in <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/05/well-meaning-but-misguided-jewish.html">Well-Meaning but Misguided Jewish Support for Noble-Sounding Ideas Has Empowered Antisemitism</a>, "Well-meaning but misguided Jewish support for so-called 'progressive' ideas has helped fuel the rise of <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/the-congressional-pogrom-caucus-a-growing-danger-to-american-jews/">antisemitic members of Congress who are working hard to destroy Israel</a>." I quoted this prophetic warning from Benjamin Kerstein:</p><p></p><p></p><blockquote><p>American Jews may be in sympathy with the
ideology of "The Squad," but they must understand that these people hate
you. And however progressive, compassionate, empathetic and idealistic
they may seem, when the chips are down, they will eat you alive.</p>
<p>So, remember their names: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Betty
McCollum, Marie Newman, Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush. They are not
finished. They will be back. And you must be ready for them.</p></blockquote><p>The people Kerstein called out by name have been some of the most vocal supporters of Hamas in the wake of 10/7 and some of the harshest critics of Israel's self-defense war in Gaza--and those people have the support of a large segment of the young demographic, which consequentially means that they have significant influence on the Democratic Party. This is not meant in any way to diminish or minimize the danger of antisemitism on the Right--but I have not seen people on the Right publicly cheering 10/7, calling for Israel's destruction, attacking Jews on the street, and turning college campuses into Marxist reeducation camps. In the 1920s, you could argue that antisemitism--particularly in the U.S.--predominantly emanated from the Right; in the 2020s, it is obvious that antisemitism is predominantly emanating from the Left, and is publicly embraced by mainstream people on the Left: even in the 1920s, KKK members wore hoods in public. In the 2020s, <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/02/bigotry-must-never-be-partisan-issue.html">Ilhan Omar</a>, <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/09/rep-tlaib-declares-that-supporting.html">Rashida Tlaib</a>, and their fellow travelers are proud to publicly articulate their hatred of Jews and Israel.</p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-32582855761203459872023-12-15T15:36:00.007-05:002024-02-01T15:22:47.976-05:00October 7 Taught a Brutal Lesson to the Israeli Left<p>Hamas's <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">October 7 mass casualty terrorist attack</a> demonstrated the <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/hamas-reveals-and-celebrates-barbarism.html">barbarism at the heart of radical Islam</a>, and as more details about the attack are confirmed--including the enthusiastic participation of Gazan civilians in the brutality--the Israeli Left is being forced to learn a painful lesson: a large number, if not a majority, of Israel's Arab neighbors not only don't want peace with Israel but they want to kill as many Jews as possible. This lesson means that all of the hopes of the Israeli Left are doomed to failure: the concept of "land for peace" leading to a "two state solution" is the Israeli Left's dream that has turned into a nightmare of rocket attacks and <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-palestinian-authoritys-sickening.html">"pay for slay" terrorist attacks sponsored and encouraged by the Palestinian Authority</a> culminating in the October 7 atrocity that wreaked destruction on the Jewish people not seen in a single day since the Holocaust. </p><p>Less than two weeks before October 7, I prophetically wrote about <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/09/israels-ongoing-oslo-accords-folly.html">Israel's Ongoing Oslo Accords Folly</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>The core unresolved issue is not "land for peace" nor is it autonomy;
it is the unrelenting quest to destroy Israel that is fomented by
various Arab/Islamic states and the terrorist groups (including the PLO,
Hamas, Hezbollah, al Qaeda, and others) that they sponsor. There is
zero chance that Israel giving up land will resolve that issue, and the
Oslo Accords are just one example of the folly of assuming otherwise.<br /></p><p>Many
leftists falsely accuse Israel of war crimes and of intentionally
harming Arab civilians, but the real war crime--or, to be precise, the
real treason--committed by Israel's government in the past three decades
is signing the Oslo Accords, which directly led to the <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/comprehensive-listing-of-terrorism-victims-in-israel">slaughter of more than 1300 Israeli civilians</a>.
As long as that treason goes unrecognized and unpunished, there will be
no justice and no peace in the Land of Israel, because justice and
peace cannot be built on a foundation of falsehood and terror. The PLO has publicly stated <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/04/our-war-is-with-jews-main-plo-faction.html">"Our war is with the Jews,"</a> and Arab/Muslim terrorists often chant, <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/02/president-joe-biden-funds-plos-pay-for.html">"We love death more than you love life."</a>
Such a war conducted by people who fervently embrace a death-loving
culture will not be resolved by Israel giving up land; indeed, if Israel
disappeared, the war against the Jews--and against Western, democratic
civilization--would not only continue: it would intensify, fueled by the
"triumph" of destroying the "Little Satan" (Israel) and giddy about the
possibility of destroying the "Great Satan" (America).</p></blockquote><p>Many Israeli Leftists would have fervently disagreed with that article when I wrote it, but the October 7 attack and the ongoing aftermath--including a hostage crisis that much of the world cares very little about--is <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/theyre-so-cruel-how-oct-7-destroyed-an-israeli-peace-activists-faith-in-the-palestinians/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=SUCCESS%3A+Flooding+Gaza+Tunnels+is+Working%3B+Biden+Accused+of+Fueling+Attacks+on+US+Jews%3B+Kamala+Pushing+Biden+to+be+More+Pro-Palestinian%3B+Vandals+Target+Menorahs+Across+America&utm_campaign=20231215_m178195372_SUCCESS%3A+Flooding+Gaza+Tunnels+is+Working%3B+Biden+Accused+of+Fueling+Attacks+on+US+Jews%3B+Kamala+Pushing+Biden+to+be+More+Pro-Palestinian%3B+Vandals+Target+Menorahs+Across+America&utm_term=_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09Read+Now_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09">forcing Israeli Leftists to see their Arab neighbors as they are, not as they want them to be</a>: Irit Lahav, an Israeli peace activist who participated in peace demonstrations and drove Gazan children to Israeli hospitals, described her disillusionment at the participation of Gazan civilians in the atrocity, declaring, "Basically it was sort of an invasion of a community. That's why for me, I cannot say this was a
Hamas action. No, for me, this was a Palestinian action. A whole
community had come to our kibbutz, took our things, stole stuff, killed
people, and kidnapped others...Am I thinking about myself being foolish until now? Maybe. But more is that I'm disappointed in them, that they're so
cruel, have no values, really lost their human values." Her interview can be seen by clicking the above link, and it provides a great tutorial for how Israeli Leftists--and self-proclaimed "progressives" around the world--must abandon disproven dreams in the face of harsh realities. She noted with disgust that the billions of dollars sent to Gaza have not been used to improve people's lives but to purchase weapons. It is no secret that <a href="https://unitedwithisrael.org/israel-sets-sights-on-hamas-royalty-living-abroad/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Hamas+Leaders+Worth+%2411+Billion%3F+Israeli+Show+Mocks+University+Presidents%E2%80%99+Pathetic+Response+to+Genocide+of+Jews%3B+Spielberg+Speaks+Out+on+Hamas+Massacre&utm_campaign=20231215_m178195759_Hamas+Leaders+are+Worth+%2411+Billion%3F+Israeli+Show+Mocks+University+Presidents%E2%80%99+Pathetic+Response+to+Genocide+of+Jews%3B+Spielberg+Speaks+Out+on+Hamas+Massacre&utm_term=HAMAS+LEADERS+WORTH+_2411+BILLION_3A+Israel+Targets+Hamas+_E2_80_98Royalty_E2_80_99+Living+Abroad">Hamas' leaders are billionaires who are profiting off of not just Jewish suffering but Arab suffering</a>. <br /></p><p>When Israel's Arab neighbors and their self-proclaimed "progressive" supporters chant "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" those words must be understood for their literal meaning and intention: every Jew from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea is to be killed, Israel is to be destroyed, and yet another authoritarian Arab/Muslim state is to be established. The Arabs don't want "land for peace"; they want to kill Jews and take control of all of the land from the "river to the sea." They mean exactly what they say. This is a sad and scary reality, but denying that reality will not change it. Israel's policies--and America's policies--must be grounded in reality and must be directed toward making sure that "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" is a slogan consigned to history's dustbin.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-85145517723748079162023-12-11T02:17:00.000-05:002023-12-11T02:17:37.178-05:00University Presidents Who do not Consider Calls for Genocide of Jews to be Code of Conduct Violations Should Resign or be Fired<p><span class="html-render">In a Congressional committee hearing, Representative </span><span class="html-render">Elise Stefanik</span><span class="html-render"> asked the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT a simple question: Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate the school's code of conduct or rule regarding bullying or harassment, yes or no?<br /></span></p><p><span class="html-render"></span></p><p><span class="html-render">Each president flunked that very simple exam by not answering "Yes, calling for the genocide of Jews violates our code of conduct regarding bullying or harassment." University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill--who testified that the answer depends on "context," implying that calling for the genocide of Jews is not bullying or harassment unless those calls lead to actual genocide--subsequently resigned, though she will retain her position as a tenured member of the university's law school; her continued employment as a professor teaching the next generation of lawyers is exhibit A of why tenure should be abolished, or at least not granted without any limitations. There is so much talk about "microaggressions"; how is a Jewish student--or any student who opposes the genocide of Jews--supposed to feel about having a professor who does not think that calling for the genocide of Jews violates the school's code of conduct or rule regarding bullying or harassment? Will the University of Pennsylvania create "safe spaces" for students who are not comfortable being taught by Magill? <br /></span></p><p><span class="html-render">Harvard President Claudine Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth have thus far neither resigned nor been relieved of their duties. The Congressional testimony of these three university presidents is just a snapshot of the <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/12/hamas-has-exposed-moral-bankruptcy-of.html">moral bankruptcy of self-proclaimed "progressives"</a> that has been exposed by their reactions to <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">Hamas' October 7 mass casualty terrorist attack</a>. <br /></span></p><p><span class="html-render">Anyone who thinks that Representative Stefanik's simple question was a trap or a political trick should simply replace "genocide of Jews" with "genocide of Blacks," "genocide of women," or "genocide" of any group other than Jews, and then ponder how those university presidents would have replied. It is obvious that they would have immediately said "Yes." It is inconceivable that any college campus would tolerate marchers and protesters chanting slogans calling for the genocide of Blacks, women, or any other group--except for Jews. </span></p><p><span class="html-render">As Representative Stefanik said in response to Magill, "This is the easiest question to answer 'yes,' Ms. Magill."<br /></span></p><p><span class="html-render">It is disingenuous and ludicrous to assert that these university presidents are trying to protect free speech; the only speech that is "free" on college campuses today is speech that rigidly adheres to self-proclaimed "progressive" talking points. Those talking points justify any form of "resistance" against "oppressors," so because white people in general and Jews in particular are classified as "oppressors" in the "progressive" taxonomy the university presidents cannot conceive of how or why calling for the genocide of Jews would violate any campus rules. </span></p><p><span class="html-render">We saw the same kind of flawed thinking last year after Kyrie Irving <a href="https://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2022/11/inside-nba-weighs-in-on-kyrie-irving.html">made an antisemitic social media post</a>. Anyone who defends what Irving did should also be prepared to defend, as I wrote at that time, a social media post promoting "</span>a video filled with vile, hateful stereotypes of Black people
claiming that slavery never happened, that Black people worship Satan,
and that Black people are responsible for the suffering of white people,
who are actually the original and true Black people." It is obvious that a social media post promoting such a video would be universally condemned; to act otherwise because the video slurs Jews is to reveal that many people view Jews as less than human, and thus not deserving of basic human rights.<span class="html-render"> </span></p><p><span class="html-render">The problem here is much bigger than the morally obtuse and indefensible Congressional testimony of three university presidents; the problem is that self-proclaimed "progressives" have assaulted and corrupted large portions of our education system, our media outlets, and our political discourse. Until people who possess moral courage and moral clarity reform the education system, the media outlets, and our political discourse, the raging fire that could destroy our society will continue to spread. It is not enough to put out a brush fire here or there; the resignation of one university president--or even three--will not solve the larger problem: noxious ideas and movements that have gained widespread acceptance must be refuted and rooted out. It is not surprising that hundreds of Harvard professors have spoken out to defend President Gay; anyone who has been indoctrinated by flawed conceptions is going to find it difficult, if not impossible, to understand why those conceptions are flawed. <br /></span></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-41161600720430534612023-12-08T15:00:00.000-05:002023-12-08T15:00:34.594-05:00Love of Life Will Triumph Over Lust for Death<p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In a <a href="https://view.flipdocs.com/?ID=10026166_781306">Chanukah Torah Journal</a> article, Rabbi Elazar Muskin referenced a touching story about the aftermath of</span> <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">Hamas' October 7 mass casualty terrorist attack</a><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. Surprisingly, the story below appeared in the <i>New York Times</i>:</span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">It happened on Sunday evening. Eylon Levy, a resident of Tel </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Aviv, received a plea in one of his WhatsApp groups. At 10 </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">p.m. there would be a funeral for Bruna Valeanu, a 24-year-old killed at the music festival near Israel's border with Gaza </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">on Saturday. Ms. Valeanu was a student at Tel Aviv </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">University who had immigrated from Brazil, and most of her family was still abroad and would not arrive in time for her funeral. The hope: to have enough attendees that there would be a Minyan at her funeral. So, Mr. Levy, 32, got into his car with a friend, and they drove about 10 miles to the funeral. He said that these types of funerals, where a request has been sent out, usually have the highest attendance and the whole country comes out in </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">force. Indeed, traffic came to a standstill more than a mile away from the entrance to the Yarkon Cemetery in Petah Tikva, where Ms. Valeanu would be buried. The line of cars trying to enter the cemetery was so long that many people parked them along the shoulder of the highway and began walking. Mr. Levy joined </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">the "columns and columns and columns" of people on foot. "There </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">must have been thousands from all across Israeli society," </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Levy said. He could not hear the ceremony. Only the reverberations of "amen" after prayers. The police asked people to leave before the burial took place. The crowd was too large, they said, and there was an ever-present threat of rockets. "On the one hand, it's heartwarming to see how everyone is coming together </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">to embrace each other," Mr. Levy said. "But on the other, it's not heartwarming because we are all still heartbroken."</span></blockquote><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><p></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Our enemies declare that they love death more than we love life. That is why they will lose. Life and love are more powerful than any death-loving cult. History has shown this time and again. Long after those who love death attain that which they most fervently desire, those of us who love life will bury our dead, wipe away our tears, and rebuild our lives.</span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Hamas cannot build; it can only destroy, but it cannot destroy our love for life and our willingness to fight to protect our lives and our civilization. Those who support Hamas also cannot build; they spew hate toward us, but if you look at them you will notice that none of them have built anything of consequence: they are broken nations, broken organizations, and broken individuals. </span></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-12236491659237611732023-12-05T21:45:00.001-05:002023-12-05T21:50:25.611-05:00Hamas Has Exposed the Moral Bankruptcy of Self-Proclaimed "Progressives"<p>Black Lives Matter supports Hamas, which is not surprising because <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/10/25/opinion/arguable-newsletter-hamas-black-african-american-israel-jewish-liberal-progressive-palestine-physician-assisted-suicide-beacon-hill/">antisemitism has been a major problem in Leftist Black circles for decades</a>. Although some prominent Black individuals--including <a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/b111msoow6">boxer Floyd Mayweather,</a> New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and New York Rep. Ritchie Torres--have condemned Hamas and offered support to the victims of <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">Hamas' October 7 mass casualty terrorist attack</a>, as a whole the Black community has either been silent or has been openly supportive of Hamas and openly hostile toward Israel. This is a tragic departure from the beliefs and practices of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who understood that anti-Zionism is often used as a code word for antisemitism; when members of the Civil Rights Movement spewed anti-Zionist rhetoric he declared, "<span class="html-render">Don’t talk like that! When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking antisemitism!"</span></p><p><span class="html-render">Feminists and proponents of "Me Too" have been conspicuously silent about Hamas' deliberate, planned usage of rape against civilians, which is by definition a war crime. </span></p><p><span class="html-render"><a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/hamas-should-be-condemned-for.html">Hamas' double war crime of using Gazan civilians as human shields while launching rockets against Israeli civilians</a> is also either ignored or excused in Leftist circles. <br /></span></p><p><span class="html-render">In general, it is crystal clear that "intersectionality," "antiracism," and "social justice" are empty slogans that do not apply to Jews. Hamas kills Jews because they are Jews, and the self-proclaimed "progressives" support Hamas based on a perverse and twisted worldview that condemns all white people as oppressors while excusing any actions committed by non-white people as justifiable "resistance." In this twisted worldview, Jews are classified as white even though white supremacists/Nazis reject the notion that Jews are white (and the reality is that individual Jews may be members of any racial group, and the Jewish community as a whole cannot correctly be classified as white or any other race).<br /></span></p><p><span class="html-render">This is not surprising to anyone who has read with understanding the Marxist ideas that form the fundamental underpinnings of <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/07/yes-to-teaching-history-no-to-teaching.html">Critical Race Theory</a> and the other anti-intellectual nonsense spewed by the self-proclaimed "progressives" who have taken over so many college campuses and so many media outlets. Intersectionality, antiracism, BLM, "Me Too," and Critical Race Theory are not about helping the people and groups that they are purportedly designed to help; they are about fundamentally restructuring society away from being capitalist and democratic and toward being Marxist and authoritarian (which starts with increasing the government's control and power over every aspect of our lives, which is part of the Leftist program). In short, those concepts and movements are not only often inherently antisemitic but they are not supporting anything that is positive. American society specifically and Western civilization in general are based on bedrock principles that are anathema to Marxists. As Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic explained in their 2001 book</span> <i>Critical Race Theory: An Introduction</i>, "Unlike traditional civil rights, which
embraces incrementalism and step-by-step progress, critical race theory
questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality
theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism and neutral
principles of constitutional law." </p><p>People and groups who attack the "very foundations of the liberal order" are fundamentally incapable of distinguishing between a terrorist group like Hamas that tortures children, rapes women, massacres civilians, and takes civilians hostage and a democratic nation like Israel that is fighting a defensive war. Civilian hostages held captive by Hamas are not morally equivalent to terrorists arrested by Israel, convicted in a court of law, and sentenced to prison sentences, but many media outlets act as if there is no difference between Hamas terrorizing civilians and Israel lawfully detaining terrorists and criminals.<br /></p><p>Instead, self-proclaimed "progressives" divide the world into oppressors and oppressed--much like intellectual lightweight Ibram X. Kendi divides the world into racists and antiracists--with the oppressors almost always being white. Oppressed people are permitted to do anything in service of "resistance," while oppressors have no rights. The liberal order speaks of basic rights such as life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. The self-proclaimed "progressives" look at murdered Jews and feel joy that the resistance has been successful.</p><p>Here is a description of <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/hamas-terrorists-mutilated-female-soldiers-faces-breasts-and-genitals/">the grotesque reality of just a fraction of what Hamas did on October 7</a>:</p><p><span class="cb-title-fi"></span></p><p></p><blockquote><span class="cb-title-fi"><p>At a sidebar event at the United Nations <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/gang-rapes-beheadings-genital-mutilation-survivors-recall-unspeakable-hamas-atrocities/">to raise awareness of sexual crimes</a>
committed by Hamas during the October 7th massacre, army reservist
Shari Mendes spoke about what her unit saw at the Shura base as they
prepared female bodies for burial.</p>
<p>The event, entitled "Hear Our Voices: Sexual and gender-based violence in the October 7 Hamas terror attack," had as its <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/sheryl-sandberg-at-un-silence-over-hamas-rapes-is-not-an-option/">keynote speaker, Sheryl Sandberg</a>
formerly an executive at Facebook, as well as other speakers, including
those who, like Mendes, dealt directly with the dead bodies of women.</p><p>The purpose of the event was to demand that the United Nations regard
the sexual violence committed by Hamas as war crimes and to address the
silence in the UN and among many global women’s group.</p>
<p>After nearly two months, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/un-finally-agrees-to-probe-hamas-sex-crimes/">announced an investigation</a> into the crimes.</p><div class="a-single a-26"></div></span><span class="cb-title-fi">
<p>Shari Mendes reported that many of the corpses had tense facial
expressions and clenched fists that expressed the agony and torment of
their final moments.</p>
<div style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><a class="ua38ff84a249b403b99366148b67b324f" href="https://worldisraelnews.com/nbc-reporter-arrested-for-inciting-terrorism-glorifying-october-7-massacre/" rel="dofollow" target="_blank"><div style="padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"></div></a></div><p>She described one female soldier's arm was broken in so many places it was difficult to fit inside a body bag. The entire side of one corpse was entirely shredded by a grenade and hard to identify.</p><div id="cnx-anchor-mobile"></div>
<p>Mendes reported that her team commander saw bodies of female soldiers
that had been shot in the crotch, the breasts and inside the vagina.</p>
<p>The faces of many were shot many times in what appeared to be an intent to mutilate them beyond recognition.</p>
<p>Mendes said, "Heads and faces were covered in blood. They were shot in the eyes, face, and skull." One female soldier’s face had been shot so many times that the head had nearly fallen off.</p>
<p>Others' brains were falling out of their skulls.</p>
<p>"Our unit has seen bodies that were beheaded or had limbs cut off,
mutilated," Mendes said. "One young woman came in with no legs: they had
been cut off. We saw several severed heads, one with a large kitchen
knife still embedded in the neck."</p>
<p>Mendes said that, in some cases, the disfigurement of the faces was
done after death, because it was clear they were made when there was no
more blood left in the body and the corpses had already bled out.</p>
<p>"Charred remains arrived and had to be identified and prepared for
burial. These bodies were burned beyond recognition, often without arms
or legs; they did not resemble anything human," Mendes said.</p>
<p>"Sometimes we sifted through piles of ash that disintegrated as we
touched them. These soldiers were burnt alive at very high
temperatures."</p><div class="a-single a-26"></div>
<p>Mendes described the sheer scale of the task, "Body bags just kept
coming in all shapes and sizes. Many were oozing liquids and the floors
were wet. The smell of death was already unbearable."</p>
<p>She continued, "It is impossible to overemphasize the number of bodies we were dealing with; the sense of shock and despair."</p></span></blockquote><p>Self-proclaimed "progressives" are fundamentally incapable of condemning the brutalities described above because those brutalities were committed by Muslims against Jews; in the binary "progressive" taxonomy, Jews are oppressors because they are classified as white, while Muslims are oppressed because they are not classified as white (the sheer idiocy of these definitions from the standpoint of genetics, cultural identity, and even physical appearance could be the topic of another essay). The Nazis targeted Jews for genocide because they classified Jews as "life unworthy of life." The Soviet Union massacred millions of people as part of the process of supposedly purging the country of bourgeois influence, and Cambodia underwent a similar process during the "Killing Fields" era in the 1970s. The twisted thinking is the same, whether the twisted thinking emanates from the Right or from the Left: the Enemy is not human and deserves no mercy.</p><p>Therefore, the antisemitism of the self-proclaimed "progressives" is not a glitch or a fluke; it is a natural outgrowth of deeply flawed thinking, and it can only be cured by addressing those deep flaws. Racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry exist and should be fought against--but Critical Race Theory, intersectionality, "Me Too," and other catchphrase movements are not about fighting bigotry but about undermining Western civilization; until that is understood, our country and our world will keep heading down a dangerous path toward death and destruction that will culminate in the obliteration of the foundations of the liberal order that is the best hope for uplifting all of humanity.</p><p>As is often the case, the Jewish people are the canary in the coal mine; the way that the self-proclaimed "progressives" not only disregard Jewish suffering but joyfully celebrate it foreshadows the Marxist revolution that they hope will restructure society, just as it restructured the Soviet Union, China, Cambodia, Cuba, North Korea, and many other countries. They assure us that this time Marxism/socialism will have a different, positive outcome, but their leaders know better and their followers are prototypical "useful idiots." </p><p>What can be done to curb the malign influence of the self-proclaimed "progressives"? </p><p>Here are a few steps:</p><p>1) Don't vote for self-proclaimed "progressives." We need to vote the self-proclaimed "Squad" and all of their allies out of Congress (and out of any other elected offices) as soon as possible.</p><p>2) Don't contribute money, time, or any other support to organizations that are founded on Marxist, anti-democratic principles. If you do a little research, it is not difficult to identify these organizations, and it is also helpful to understand that most of them use the same catchphrases/terminology that provide great warning signs of their true nature/goals. <br /></p><p>3) Fight against the infiltration of pseudo-intellectual nonsense into the education system. No reasonable person is saying that slavery should not be taught about in the schools, or that racism should not be discussed--but the notion that entire groups of people can be classified as oppressed or oppressors (or racists or antiracists) should be consigned to the dustbin of discredited concepts. </p><p>4) If you went to college, urge your alma mater to sign up with <a href="https://universitiesunitedagainstterrorism.org/">Universities United Against Terrorism</a>. My undergrad alma mater <a href="https://www.excelsior.edu/">Excelsior University</a> signed up after I contacted the university president; shamefully, my law school alma mater University of Dayton has not signed up. Make it clear to colleges, corporations, and charities that you will redirect your contributions away from institutions that lack the moral clarity/courage to condemn Hamas and toward institutions that display moral clarity and courage. </p><p>The self-proclaimed "progressives" are defiant, loud, and strident, but they have not taken over society--yet. It is our duty to make sure that they never do while also being aware that our society is not perfect and while working toward improving our society in the areas where it falls short of its foundational ideals.<br /></p><span class="cb-title-fi"><p></p></span><p></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-53301510523342406822023-12-01T19:15:00.003-05:002023-12-01T19:18:23.951-05:00The Sun Rises in the East, Clouds Bring Rain, Released Terrorists Resume Terrorist Activity, and "Useful Idiots" Make Idiotic Statements<p>Some predictions do not require prophetic powers. The sun will rise in the east every morning. Clouds will bring rain. Terrorists who are set free will resume terrorist activity. "Useful idiots" will make idiotic statements.<br /></p><p><a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/majority-of-palestinian-terrorists-released-in-political-agreements-return-to-violence-and-incitement/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Hamas+Kept+Israeli+Women+in+Cages%2C+Burned+Children+with+Metal%3B+Amazon+Ignores+Plight+of+Employee+Held+Hostage%3B+Majority+of+Terrorists+Released+in+Swaps+Return+to+Violence&utm_campaign=20231201_m177818071_Hamas+Kept+Israeli+Women+in+Cages%2C+Burned+Children+with+Metal%3B+Amazon+Ignores+Plight+of+Employee+Held+Hostage%3B+Majority+of+Terrorists+Released+in+Swaps+Return+to+Violence&utm_term=_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09Read+Now_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09">One of the terrorists just released by Israel declared</a>, "Our message to the settlers, we are waiting for you in all the cities of the West Bank. From Hebron to Jenin, we will slaughter you, and you will say that what Hitler did to you is a joke." <br /><br />If Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is praised today for saving hostages, then will he be held accountable when <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/11/israels-faustian-bargain-with-hamas.html">the terrorists released on his watch</a> slaughter innocent civilians and make what Hitler did look like a "joke"? <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2011/10/netanyahus-shalit-deal-recklessly.html">In 2011, Netanyahu released over 1000 terrorists</a>, one of whom--Yahya Sinwar--is the leader who planned <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">Hamas' October 7 mass casualty terrorist attack</a>. <br /></p><p>Israel under Netanyahu's rule underestimated Hamas' capabilities prior to <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/hamas-reveals-and-celebrates-barbarism.html">Hamas killing the most Jews who had been killed in a single day since the Holocaust</a>, and Israel under Netanyahu's rule is blind to the damage, destruction, and death that will be the inevitable result of the ceasefire foolishness. Many media members criticize Netanyahu for allegedly being a right-wing extremist, but the reality is that he has repeatedly betrayed the right-wing (but not extreme) values of the people who elected him, and he has betrayed the entire nation of Israel by enacting policies that needlessly and recklessly put Jewish lives at risk.</p><p>No war has ever been won via ceasefires. Did the Allies pause World War II for ceasefires? No, and in fact the Allies insisted on unconditional surrender, punctuating that insistence by dropping not one but two atomic bombs on Japanese cities before Japan surrendered. We are told that Israel's war in Gaza is breeding another generation of terrorists. Did dropping two atomic bombs on Japan lead to another Pearl Harbor attack by Japan, or did it convince Japan that waging war against the U.S. is not only futile but very costly? The only chance for Israel to live in peace in a dangerous and dysfunctional neighborhood is to convince her Arab/Muslim neighbors that waging war against Israel is not only futile but very costly. Ceasefires, releasing terrorists, and making territorial concessions--Israel's failed policies from the past 30 years--have not convinced Arabs/Muslims to stop waging war against Israel.<br /></p><p>Sadly, it is also predictable that <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/oakland-city-council-calls-for-permanent-cease-fire-in-israel-hamas-war/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BACK%20TO%20WAR%3A%20Israel-Hamas%20Fighting%20Resumes%3B%20Palestinian%20Girls%20Play%20%27Jews%20are%20Our%20Dogs%27%3B%208%20Hostages%20Released%20Before%20War%20Resumes%3B%20UN%20Agrees%20to%20Probe%20Hamas%20Sex%20Crimes&utm_campaign=20231201_m177817424_BACK%20TO%20WAR%3A%20Israel-Hamas%20Fighting%20Resumes%3B%20Palestinian%20Girls%20Play%20%27Jews%20are%20Our%20Dogs%27%3B%208%20Hostages%20Released%20Before%20War%20Resumes%3B%20UN%20Agrees%20to%20Probe%20Hamas%20Sex%20Crimes&utm_term=_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09Read%20Now_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09&fbclid=IwAR1oDJ3MBGqICjuf3OxVgCyOggmR52x-i_K7AqHcIyd4wrIsee8fduqy_4g ">self-proclaimed "progressives" will reflexively praise Hamas and attack Israel, including many U.S. city councils that preside over dysfunctional cities but somehow find the time (and chutzpah) to dictate policy to Israel</a>. <span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">The
Soviet Union considered their U.S. supporters in the early part of the
20th century to be "useful idiots," and we see the grandchildren of
those "useful idiots" spouting idiotic slogans today.</span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">The vocal supporters of Hamas are the same people who want
to silence any speech that they disagree with, defund the police,
decriminalize crime, and enact a sweeping "progressive" agenda that will
destroy America as we know it: intellectually deficient and morally bankrupt people and organizations such as <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/09/rep-tlaib-declares-that-supporting.html">Rashida Tlaib</a> and the rest of the self-proclaimed "Squad," Ibram Kendi, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Black Lives Matter, the United Nations (which provides aid and comfort to the worst totalitarian regimes while at the same time regularly denouncing Israel), and a long list delusional Jews (such as Noam Chomsky) who think that they can assimilate their way into acceptance, a delusion that proved to be of no avail to secular Jews in Nazi Germany and socialist Jews in the Soviet Union. If the gleeful support of self-proclaimed "progressives" for Hamas' rapists, baby killers, and mass murderers does not cure leftist Jews of their delusions about "progressive" causes, then nothing will.<br /></span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto"></span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">Self-proclaimed "progressives" also support Critical Race Theory because<a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/07/yes-to-teaching-history-no-to-teaching.html"> CRT involves eliminating objective truth and objective standards of excellence in favor of equity</a> (which, of course, the CRT supporters
alone would be empowered to define). We have seen this movie in the <span></span>Soviet
Union, China, North Korea, Cuba, and elsewhere, and it never ends well.
The enthusiastic support for Hamas by self-proclaimed "progressives" reveals the true face of the
"progressive" movement, and it is a face supporting the violent overthrow of Western
civilization; that is why so many "progressives" refuse to condemn Hamas at
all, because from their perspective "victims" can do no wrong and
"victimizers" can do no right, and they have decided that Hamas
represents "victims."</span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">If this is confusing to you, then read Alexander Solzhenitsyn's <b>The Gulag Archipelago</b>, George Orwell's <b>1984</b> and <b>Animal Farm</b>, and Arthur Koestler's <b>Darkness at Noon</b>. The notion of violently overthrowing the government to supposedly help the oppressed by creating a "progressive" regime is not new; it has been tried many times before, and it consistently results in the creation of a totalitarian government that commits mass murder while stifling any dissent. </span></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-82976115494085472652023-11-27T21:36:00.003-05:002023-11-27T21:38:58.879-05:00Israel's Faustian Bargain With Hamas Will be Costly<p>Anyone with a caring soul cannot help but be moved by the pictures and videos of the hostages who have been released by Hamas and reunited with their loved ones. We share their deep-felt joy and relief. However, Israel is paying a terrible, painful price to free the hostages, a price that puts the free world at risk. For each hostage released by Hamas, Israel is releasing three prisoners, including terrorists who have participated in violent attacks. </p><p>We have seen this movie many times before, and it never ends well. In 2011, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released over 1000 terrorists in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and after the Shalit deal I predicted in general terms the <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">October 7, 2023 Hamas mass casualty terrorist attack</a> when <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2011/10/netanyahus-shalit-deal-recklessly.html">I wrote the following</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Prime Minister Netanyahu has bodyguards and elite security services to
protect him. Who will protect the innocent Jewish children who are going
to be slaughtered by the terrorists Netanyahu is releasing? Just as
importantly, who will hold Netanyahu responsible for the blood on his
hands when such preventable atrocities predictably and inevitably
happen? During Netanyahu's earlier term as Prime Minister in the 1990s
he agreed to give away 80% of Hebron even though this exposed the city's
Jewish residents to sniper attacks from Arab terrorists--and on March
26, 2001 an Arab sniper killed 10 month old Shalhevet Pass by shooting
her in the head as she sat in her baby stroller. Netanyahu has yet to be
held accountable for recklessly ceding control over most of Hebron and
he has no right to set free terrorists who have blood on their hands
and who will eagerly seek opportunities to spill even more innocent
blood.
</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Netanyahu, who once declared that one should never negotiate with terrorists, had betrayed his principles and jeopardized the security of his nation, and he is making the same mistake now. Caroline Glick, usually a staunch Netanyahu advocate, correctly termed the Shalit deal <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2011/10/caroline-glick-declares-that-netanyahus.html">"A Pact Signed in Jewish Blood."</a> Current Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who planned the October 7 attack, was released as part of the Shalit deal, and he learned from that experience that the best way for Hamas to obtain the release of jailed terrorists is to take Israelis hostage. </p><p>It is pathetic that news organizations fail to distinguish between lawfully imprisoned terrorists who have committed crimes versus innocent people taken hostage by a terrorist group. Hamas committed a war crime by taking hostages, and Israel is rewarding this war crime by freeing terrorists who will commit future war crimes.</p><p>The charitable way to look at this fiasco is to say that proponents of such exchanges honestly believe that this is at heart a political conflict, and that good will gestures can be a stepping stone leading to a political resolution of the issues between the parties--but it is difficult to believe that anyone can be that stupid. Hamas' charter explicitly outlines the religious nature of this war from their perspective: all Jews are targets for Hamas, and Hamas views Israel as an illegitimate state that must be destroyed by any means necessary. Hamas has openly stated that they plan to repeat October 7 again and again and again until Israel is defeated. Make no mistake that if Hamas succeeds in destroying Israel--perish the thought--then Hamas and their Iranian sponsors will turn their focus toward turning the whole world into <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/israel-hamas-and-islamic-concepts-dar.html">Dar al-Islam</a>, which is territory governed in strict accordance with Islamic law, and that entails--among other
things--no freedom of speech, no freedom of religion, no freedom of the
press, no independent judiciary, and very limited rights for women and
any other minority group not favored under Islamic law.</p><p></p><p><a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/hamas-reveals-and-celebrates-barbarism.html">The barbarism at the heart of radical Islam</a> cannot be bartered with, reasoned with, or cured; it will either be defeated, or it will defeat Western civilization. </p><p>I am happy for the freed hostages and their families, but I dread the steep price that we will all pay: more torture, more rapes, more murders--and more hostage-taking. I hope that Israel will someday find the strength to fight until complete victory is achieved, an outcome that would transform the Mideast in a very positive way by demonstrating that Iran, Hamas, and radical Islam are on the losing side of history. <br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-27698406922319284982023-10-19T01:46:00.002-04:002023-10-19T16:43:43.217-04:00Walter E. Block and Alan G. Futerman Explain "The Moral Duty to Destroy Hamas"<p>Walter E. Block and Alan G. Futerman wrote a brilliant op-ed titled <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-moral-duty-to-destroy-hamas-ba626a41?mod=opinion_lead_pos5">The Moral Duty to Destroy Hamas</a> for <i>The Wall Street Journal</i>. The entire article should be read and studied by anyone who wishes to fully understand what Hamas is and why Hamas must be destroyed. Here is a brief excerpt:</p><p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" data-type="paragraph"></p><blockquote><p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" data-type="paragraph">"From
the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!" chant the useful idiots
at elite institutions and parades in the West. Who are these people?
Atheists who support theocratic lunatics, democrats who endorse medieval
tyrants, feminists who defend misogynists who parade with the
desecrated corpses of women, gays who defend maniacs who would joyfully
hang them or toss them off the roof of a tall building. They talk of a
secular, democratic and socialist Palestine. As George Orwell observed: "One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no
ordinary man could be such a fool." But the world has now seen what "from the river to the sea" actually means. It is nothing less than a
remake of the Nazi <i class="css-i6hrxa-Italic e1ofiv6m0" data-type="emphasis">Einsatzgruppen</i>.</p><p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" data-type="paragraph">Israel
expelled its own population from Gaza in 2005 so that Palestinian Arabs
could begin building their own state. They instead chose Hamas. The
enemies of Israel aren't in favor of a Palestinian state. They aren't in
favor of anything positive, but only of a negative: the denial of life,
especially of Jewish life. The goal is genocide. The method is mass
murder of the type Jews haven't experienced since the Holocaust.</p><p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" data-type="paragraph">Hence,
the West needs to understand that to defend human life and dignity, it
isn't enough to claim to side with Israel. It needs to understand what
this means: total, unrestrictive support. That is nothing less than
allowing this beleaguered country to defend itself fully. To recognize
that Hamas needs to be destroyed for the same reason and by the same
method that the Nazis were. Israel is entitled to do whatever it takes
to uproot this evil residing next to it. And, more important, that once
it begins to proceed in that direction, it won't be demonized for
defending that which is the core of Western civilization and which its
enemies hate the most: the love of everyone's right to human life,
dignity and happiness.</p><p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" data-type="paragraph">In
other words, it needs to support a complete, total and decisive Israeli
victory. If this implies an overwhelming, unprecedented use of military
force, so be it. Hamas is and will be responsible for any civilian
casualties. Cause and effect. They created their own destruction, and
its consequences. </p></blockquote><p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" data-type="paragraph"></p><p></p><p>People sometimes ask how a superficially cultured nation like Germany so readily accepted Nazism, but we are witnessing the answer to that question right now across the United States as we see how many of our supposedly best and brightest college students are, as Block and Guterman correctly termed it, "useful idiots." The inability or unwillingness of superficially intelligent people to understand the distinction between good and evil, and the enthusiasm to blame Jews for the world's ills look the same today as they did in Nazi Germany. It is not difficult to picture a Holocaust happening in the United States because we see that many of our so-called elite thinkers would enthusiastically cheer such an atrocity, which also means that--given sufficient power and opportunity--they would take the necessary steps to create a Holocaust. </p><p>Block and Guterman noted the absurdity of "Atheists who support theocratic lunatics, democrats who endorse medieval
tyrants, feminists who defend misogynists who parade with the
desecrated corpses of women, gays who defend maniacs who would joyfully
hang them or toss them off the roof of a tall building. They talk of a
secular, democratic and socialist Palestine." </p><p>The depraved thinking described so vividly by Block and Guterman is no different than the mindset of Germans who agreed with Adolf Hitler that "the Jews are our misfortune."</p><p>It should not be difficult to understand that Leftist antisemitism, Islamist antisemitism, and Nazi antisemitism are equally abhorrent, but the Leftist-dominated media consistently minimize or excuse Leftist antisemitism and Islamist antisemitism. It is breathtaking to observe how quickly Leftist media outlets and Leftist members of Congress immediately accepted at face value Hamas' lie that Israel destroyed <a href="https://www.ngo-monitor.org/reports/ngo-complicity-in-hamas-propaganda-on-gaza-hospital/">a Gaza hospital that (1) was not destroyed and (2) was hit by a rocket launched by Islamic terrorists.</a> No one should be surprised by the extent to which Germans accepted the antisemitic tropes in <i>Der Sturmer, </i>because we are seeing right now in real time how eager so many people are to believe (1) Jewish victims of Hamas' terror attacks deserved to die because (2) Israel should be perceived as an illegitimate state that is committing apartheid and genocide. <br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-13078800929918334872023-10-18T12:42:00.007-04:002023-10-18T17:17:30.770-04:00Hamas Should be Condemned for Endangering Gazan Civilians By Using Them as Human Shields in Contravention of International Law<p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">It is important to understand that Hamas and other Arab/Muslim terrorist groups have a long tradition of violating international law (and basic human decency) by using civilians and civilian organizations as human shields: </span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/hamas-known-use-hospitals-ambulances-mosques-churches-and-schools-sheilds-its-military">Hamas Is Known To Use Hospitals, Ambulances, Mosques, Churches And Schools As Shields For Its Military Activity </a></span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Kurdish writer Mehdi Majid Abdallah summarized the problem on December 4, 2015, and his words are still applicable today: </span><br /><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The Palestinian women and children who are killed in the Israeli army's defensive war against Hamas are not killed deliberately. They are collateral damage, for any war has innocent victims…Were it not for the reckless actions of Hamas, which constantly fires rockets into extensive parts of Israel [where] peaceful [people live], there would have been no innocent victims, because Israel's actions are directed against the terrorists…</span><br /><br /><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">If the Palestinians want to avoid being harmed by Israeli fire, they should prevent Hamas from using their homes, mosques and schools [as bases from which] to launch its terrorist rockets at Israel.</span></blockquote><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">This reality does not fit the Left-wing anti-Israel narrative, and so this reality is far too-often ignored by <i>The New York Times</i>, CNN, MSNBC, <i>The Washington Post</i>, <i>The Boston Globe</i>, and other media outlets that provide free propaganda for Hamas.</span><p></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">It must be emphasized that many of the people who claim to be most worried about Gazans are in fact the people who are causing Gazans the most harm by lying about Israel and defending Hamas, while Israel is the only party in the region that takes any concrete actions to protect Gazan civilians; information about Gazan infant mortality, life expectancy, and other key demographic indicators before, during, and after Israeli administration of Gaza is readily available and <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/gaza-is-not-open-air-prison.html">refutes the lie that Gaza is an "open air prison,"</a> so why do so many media outlets refuse to publish this information? Why do so many media outlets accept at face value any anti-Israel claims by Hamas, let alone claims that can be easily refuted? If Nazi Germany accused the United States of war crimes during World War II, would U.S. media outlets immediately publish those allegations as facts? Would members of the U.S. Congress credulously accept the lies spouted by U.S. enemies in the way that the self-proclaimed "Squad" credulously accepts Hamas' lies?</span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Left-wing media outlets spewing antisemitic and anti-Zionist propaganda are causing tremendous damage not only to Israel but also to Arabs, and that tremendous damage is being magnified by traitors in our own government who are endangering the lives of Americans and Israelis around the world--including the hostages being held now by Hamas--by giving aid and comfort to Hamas.</span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skwxw4LiwJQ">The Democratic Party should immediately censure the self-proclaimed "Squad" members who spread lies about Israel</a>. We hear so much about Right-wing incitement (and it is true that Right-wing incitement should be condemned), but why are media outlets and the Democratic Party silent about Left-wing antisemitism and anti-Zionism that are making it unsafe to be a Jew in America? </span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and the other members of the self-proclaimed "Squad" are spreading modern day blood libels about Jews and Israel, and the time is long past for the Democratic Party to separate itself from their shameful antisemitic incitement. </span></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-30042913010036572072023-10-17T15:49:00.005-04:002023-10-17T16:28:46.759-04:00Self-Proclaimed "Progressive" Legislators Demand Ceasefire, Ignore the Atrocities Committed by Hamas Against Israel<p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Here is a list of 13 self-proclaimed "progressives" who should be voted out of office as soon as possible: Cori Bush (MO-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), André Carson (IN-07), Summer Lee (PA-12), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07)</span><br /><br /><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Those are the sponsors/supporters of a House resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire without condemning Hamas' murderous attack on Israel or expressing any concern about the hostages Hamas is holding now (including American citizens): <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/left-wing-congressional-democrats-demand-israel-agree-to-ceasefire-in-gaza/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=500%2C000+Israelis+Displaced+as+War+Rages+On%3B+%E2%80%98Get+Me+Out+of+Here%E2%80%99%3B+PURE+EVIL%3A+Progressive+Democrats+Demand+Israel+Accept+Ceasefire%3B+Iran+Threatens+%E2%80%98Preemptive+Strike%E2%80%99+Against+Israel&utm_campaign=20231017_m176568590_500%2C000+Israelis+Displaced+as+War+Rages+On%3B+%E2%80%98Get+Me+Out+of+Here%E2%80%99%3B+PURE+EVIL%3A+Progressive+Democrats+Demand+Israel+Accept+Ceasefire%3B+Iran+Threatens+%E2%80%98Preemptive+Strike%E2%80%99+Against+Israel&utm_term=_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09Read+Now_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09">Left-wing congressional Democrats demand Israel agree to ceasefire in Gaza</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The media often tells us that certain people or political movements are "threats to our freedoms." I cannot think of any people in our government who are a greater threat to our freedoms and our way of life than the 13 people listed above. </span><br /><br /><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Also note that many leftist groups support the resolution, including BLM, the Transgender Law Center, and the Council on American Islamic Relations. How ignorant does one have to be to think that supporting Hamas helps Blacks, transgender people, or Arabs? How much freedom do Blacks, transgender people, or Arabs have in the Arab/Muslim autocracies dotting the map from Morocco to Pakistan? These leftists hate Jews so much that they are willing to ignore all of the evils committed by Arab/Muslim autocracies! The scope of this ignorance and hatred is breathtaking. Anyone who (correctly) calls upon the Republican Party to condemn racists and conspiracy mongers in that party's ranks should also call upon the Democratic Party to condemn the antisemites in that party's ranks. </span></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-73124839231596853932023-10-17T15:14:00.004-04:002024-02-01T15:22:24.457-05:00"Those Bodies Are Talking to Us in the Middle of the Night"<p>This video should be played on a 24 hour loop on every news channel:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-QTPlr4fn7I" width="320" youtube-src-id="-QTPlr4fn7I"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p>THIS is the humanitarian crisis. THIS is the face of the <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">atrocities committed by Hamas</a>, and the humane way that Israel responds. <a href="https://zakaworld.org/">ZAKA</a> is an Israeli organization that specializes in search and rescue plus honoring of the dead. ZAKA is an acronym for the Hebrew words "Identification, Extraction, and Rescue--True Kindness." ZAKA handles crises worldwide but their focus is on Israel. They saved some of the victims of Hamas' attack against Israel, and they provided respectful care for the dead, including Hamas terrorists. </p><p>In this video, ZAKA's Yossi Landau describes just some of what he and his co-workers saw, including a house in which the parents and the children were tied up on opposite sides of the room so that the Hamas terrorists could sit and eat the holiday meal prepared by the parents while watching the parents and children react to everyone in the family being tortured before being murdered. Unable to hold back tears, Landau declared, "These bodies are talking to us in the middle of the night."<br /></p><p>The same kind of vile, evil cowards who committed these atrocities are now hiding in residential areas in Gaza. They have no interest in building a Palestinian Arab state in Gaza or anywhere else; they bring disgrace upon themselves, and their fervent hope is for both Arabs and Jews to die in this war that they started and which is 100% their responsibility. Arab civilian deaths are propaganda tools for Hamas, and Hamas' only goal is to destroy the Jewish people. <br /></p><p>It cannot be emphasized enough: Hamas is responsible for everything that is happening now. Hamas is the governing authority in Gaza, and Hamas decided to invade Israel with the express purpose of torture, rape, and murder. </p><p>Let's also remember that all of this mayhem is being paid for by Iran and Qatar. After Israel deals with Hamas--and also Hezbollah, which may be even more dangerous than Hamas--there must be a reckoning with Iran and Qatar. <br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-913816513292266352023-10-17T01:10:00.003-04:002023-10-17T01:17:56.331-04:00Don't Condemn "Suffering": Condemn Hamas!<p><span class="cb-title-fi">"When Jewish children hide in a protected room
and their anguished parents pray that they won't cry, so that the
marauders won't come in and set the house on fire, it's a Shoah [Holocaust]."--<a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/in-hamas-horrific-killings-israeli-trauma-over-the-holocaust-resurfaces/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=In+Hamas%E2%80%99+Horrific+Killings%2C+Israeli+Trauma+Over+the+Holocaust+Resurfaces%3B+BBC%3A+Slitting+Babies%E2%80%99+Throats+is+Not+Terrorism%2C+Says+Veteran+BBC+Broadcaster&utm_campaign=20231015_m176519700_In+Hamas%E2%80%99+Horrific+Killings%2C+Israeli+Trauma+Over+the+Holocaust+Resurfaces%3B+BBC%3A+Slitting+Babies%E2%80%99+Throats+is+Not+Terrorism%2C+Says+Veteran+BBC+Broadcaster&utm_term=_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09Read+Now_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09">Ben Caspit</a></span> <br /></p><p></p><p>A crisis reveals people for who they really are. In normal times, cowards can hide and heroes may be invisible, but during a crisis people are forced to show their true natures. </p><p>In the wake of <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">Hamas' barbaric surprise attack on Israel during which Hamas raped, tortured, and killed young and old alike while taking an unknown number of hostages</a>, I have read and heard many vague expressions of sympathy for those who are "suffering." </p><p>This is not about some generic "suffering." This is about a mass slaughter in Israel committed by the terrorist organization Hamas, whose <a href="https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/pdf/PDF_06_032_2.pdf">official charter</a> states (Article 7) "The time [Judgment Day] will not come until Muslims fight the Jews and
kill them, and until the Jew hides behind the rocks and trees, and [then] the
rocks and trees will say: 'Oh Muslim, there is a Jew hiding [behind
me], come and kill him...'" Hamas' stated goal is to kill Jews around the world, and that stated goal is the motivation behind Hamas' attack last weekend. This is not about justice for Palestinian Arabs or forming another Palestinian Arab state (<a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/01/who-are-invaders-and-who-are-invaded.html">one Palestinian Arab state already exists: Jordan</a>), but about killing as many Jews as possible. </p><p>Period, point blank, end of discussion.</p><p>I am outraged by blaring headlines bemoaning the "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza, because those headlines are attempting to arouse sympathy for the aggressor and are not referring to the hundreds of innocent people (including babies and the elderly) who are being held captive by Hamas in contravention of international law. </p><p>I am outraged by corporations, institutions of higher learning, and other public organizations that seem puzzled about the right message to deliver.</p><p>The message is simple: "Hamas is a terrorist organization dedicated to destroying the Jewish people. We condemn Hamas' terrorist attack against Israel. We demand that Hamas immediately release all hostages, and that Hamas pay reparations for the people who Hamas killed and wounded."</p><p>If you are unwilling to deliver that message without equivocation then I don't want to buy your products and I don't want to hear your pontifications on any issue. Add <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/starbucks-faces-boycott-after-workers-endorse-hamas/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BREAKING%3A+Biden+Coming+to+Israel%3B+2000+US+Troops+Ready+to+Deploy%3B+250+Hostages+in+Gaza%3B+Starbucks+Faces+Boycott+Over+Hamas+Support%3B+%E2%80%98A+Long+War+with+a+High+Price%E2%80%99&utm_campaign=20231016_m176545680_BREAKING%3A+Biden+Coming+to+Israel%3B+2000+US+Troops+Ready+to+Deploy%3B+250+Hostages+in+Gaza%3B+Starbucks+Faces+Boycott+Over+Hamas+Support%3B+%E2%80%98A+Long+War+with+a+High+Price%E2%80%99&utm_term=_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09Read+Now_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09">Starbucks</a> to the list of companies that will not receive a penny from me. <br /></p><p></p><p>Let's be very clear about the overall Gaza situation. The citizens of Gaza received warnings from Israel to evacuate--warnings that reveal Israel's attack plans and could cause Israel to suffer additional casualties. Hamas issued no such warnings to Israel. Gaza's citizens elected Hamas to govern Gaza, Gaza's citizens celebrate in the streets every time America or Israel is attacked, and Hamas squandered several billions of dollars of international aid by spending those funds to implement their evil plans to indiscriminately kill Jews. </p><p>It is not Israel's responsibility to protect Gaza; it is Israel's responsibility to protect her own citizens. Imagine how ludicrous it would have sounded during World War II for any media outlet or corporation to assert that the United States should provide humanitarian relief to Germany or Japan. The United States decided to implement the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe only <i>after </i>the Axis Powers surrendered unconditionally. During World War II, the United States bombed Germany and Japan into submission, and had every right to do so: the fate of the free world was at stake.<br /></p><p>Hamas can save Gaza's civilians by unconditionally releasing all hostages, and by unconditionally surrendering.<br /></p><p>There is way too much talk about alleged Palestinian Arab rights, and not nearly enough talk about Hamas' responsibilities. Hamas is responsible for every person that they killed, for every person that they injured, for every hostage that they are holding, and for the fate of every Gazan who they are governing. Anyone who blames Israel for Hamas' evildoing is at best a fool, and at worst an active supporter of genocidal terrorism--and, yes, Hamas' actions fit the <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-truth-about-apartheid-states.html">legal definition of genocide, which consists of two elements</a>: </p><ol class="indent"><li><i>A mental element</i>: the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such"; and </li><li><i>A physical element</i>, which includes the following five acts, enumerated exhaustively:
<ul><li>Killing members of the group</li><li>Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group</li><li>Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part</li><li>Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group</li><li>Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group</li></ul>
</li></ol>
<p></p><blockquote>The intent is the most difficult element to determine. To
constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent on the part of
perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnical, racial or
religious group. Cultural destruction does not suffice, nor does an
intention to simply disperse a group. It is this special intent, or <i>dolus specialis</i>,
that makes the crime of genocide so unique. In addition, case law has
associated intent with the existence of a State or organizational plan
or policy, even if the definition of genocide in international law does
not include that element. </blockquote><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The humanitarian crisis in the Mideast has two components, neither of which are controlled by Israel or are Israel's fault. Those two components are (1) The stubborn refusal of large elements of the Arab/Muslim world to accept that the Jewish people and the Jewish State of Israel have a right to exist, and (2) the stubborn refusal of the Arab/Muslim world to build modern, 21st century countries with democratic elections, basic freedoms, and a market economy. From Morocco to Pakistan, the map is dotted with one failed Arab/Islamic state after another: most of the countries in the region are economically poor, educationally backward, and lack the most basic freedoms--and the few countries that are not poor use their money not to constructively build a modern, open society but to finance global terrorist organizations. </p><p>Israel is a tiny, democratic country surrounded by hostile, non-democratic countries. <br /></p><p>Israel deserves unconditional support in her war against Hamas and Hamas' sponsor states Iran and Qatar. Hamas deserves condemnation that far too many people and organizations are hesitant to deliver.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-6936940587867960982023-10-13T01:51:00.000-04:002023-10-13T01:51:39.447-04:00Israeli President Isaac Herzog Shuts Down Typically Stupid Question From the Media<p>Media members are struggling to grasp the concept that after a terrorist group invades a country, rapes their women, massacres their children and elderly, and takes an unknown number of hostages that country is going to have a military response designed to prevent the perpetrators from ever again committing such an atrocity. Media members have often struggled to understand why Israeli Jews won't just consent to being murdered without fighting back. The world loves dead Jews. Jews who fight back? Not so much.</p><p>By not dying quietly without fighting back, Israeli Jews have deeply offended the media, the "Squad," Black Lives Matter, and various Leftist college student organizations, among others. <br /></p><p>Matt Frei from UK Channel 4 asked Israeli President Isaac Herzog if Israel is holding ordinary Gazans--this would be the same Gazans who danced in the streets to celebrate the 9/11 attacks and who dance in the streets every time a Jew is killed--responsible for not removing Hamas from power.
Herzog gave a perfect response: "With all due respect, if you have a missile in your goddamn kitchen, and you want to shoot it at me, am I allowed to defend myself? That's the situation. These missiles are there. These missiles are launched, the button is pressed, the missile comes up from a kitchen onto my children."</p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">As </span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">RAF Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief
Arthur Harris declared during World War II, </span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">"The
Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they
were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At
Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a hundred other places, they put
their rather naive theory into operation. They have sown the wind, and
so they shall reap the whirlwind." </span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">Writer Shmuel Katz once told the story about a British officer who could not understand why Jewish people in the Land of Israel (before the founding of the modern State of Israel) fought back when Arabs attacked them: "But you Jews are accustomed," the officer said, and then he stopped himself in mid-sentence. What he meant to say was, "You Jews are accustomed to being killed without fighting back."</span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">That is what the world expects from Jews. It is an expectation that denies Jews full status as human beings, and that denies Israel full status among the nations of the world.</span></p><p>No country other than Israel has to justify its right to exist--not her
right to this border or that border, but her very right to exist.<span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto"> </span> </p><p>Is anyone questioning Ukraine's right to exist or how Ukraine is fighting against Russian invaders?</p><p>Of course, Israel is different than Ukraine. Israel is a Jewish State. Back in the good old days, non-Jews could just rampage into Jewish communities without worrying about any kind of military response. As long as Israel exists, the good old days are over.</p><p></p><p>Russia. China. Iran. North Korea. Syria. Cuba. It does not matter what atrocities are committed by those countries. No one would question their right to exist.</p><p>Only Israel gets such special treatment--Israel, the only fully functioning modern democratic state in the vast expanse from Morocco to Pakistan. <br /></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto"></span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">All of the Jew-haters who are marching on college campuses chanting anti-Israel slogans and complaining about what is happening in Gaza should direct their energies toward protesting Hamas' refusal to build a functioning modern country in Gaza despite being given billions of dollars over the past 18 years. Hamas spent 18 years practicing how to kill babies, rape women, and terrorize unarmed civilians. The Left-dominated media has little to nothing negative to say about Iran and Hamas, but Israel doing the world a huge favor by belatedly dealing with Hamas is somehow very concerning?</span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">Tell me you want every Jew in the world to die without telling me you want every Jew in the world to die; that is what I think as I watch the world's reaction to the atrocities Hamas committed. I am heartened by positive reactions that I have seen, but the negative and the hateful seem to outweigh the positive. <br /></span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">Hamas is a terrorist organization committed to not only destroying Israel but killing Jews anywhere, and Hamas is holding an unknown number of hostages in Gaza. It has been reported that Israel has warned Gaza's citizens to evacuate northern Gaza, presumably so that Israel's military can dismantle Hamas and rescue the hostages. If Hamas gave a damn about human life--Arabs or Jews--then Hamas would immediately release the hostages and Hamas would unconditionally surrender. </span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">Israel gave Gaza's citizens more of a warning than Hamas gave Israel. <br /></span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto">If Hamas chooses to fight to the death against Israel after attacking Israel then whatever carnage ensues is Hamas' responsibility. That is not how the media will report it, but that--to borrow Herzog's raw language--is the goddamn truth.</span> <br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-67232864787109042602023-10-12T21:28:00.006-04:002023-10-12T21:55:05.408-04:00Victory for Israel Can Mean Only One Thing: The Elimination of Hamas"How many dead Jews does it take to justify a proportionate response against a genocidal terror organization? Is it 1,000? Six million? Maybe it’s 10 million--the population of Israel? This is, after all, Hamas' publicly declared goal. So I ask you, how many murdered Jews does it take for you to support Israel's right to
self defense?"--<a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/how-many-dead-jews-does-it-take-israeli-ambassador-slams-un-equivocation-on-hamas-slaughter/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Every+Hamas+Member+is+a+Dead+Man%2C+Says+Netanyahu%3B+Religious+Garment+Saves+IDF+Hero%27s+Life%3B+Israeli+Gov%27t%2C+Biden+Confirm+Jewish+Babies+Found+Decapitated&utm_campaign=20231011_m176433910_Every+Hamas+Member+is+a+Dead+Man%2C+Says+Netanyahu%3B+Religious+Garment+Saves+IDF+Hero%27s+Life%3B+Israeli+Gov%27t%2C+Biden+Confirm+Babies+Found+Decapitated&utm_term=_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09Read+Now_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09">Israel's Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan, responding to the U.N.'s shameful refusal to condemn Hamas for committing crimes against humanity</a> <br /><p></p><p>In <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/israel-hamas-and-islamic-concepts-dar.html">Israel, Hamas, and the Islamic Concepts Dar al-Islam Versus Dar al-harb</a> I briefly described what Israel's minimum goals should be in her war versus Hamas:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>1) Hamas is eliminated as a functioning terrorist, military, and political entity.</p><p>2)
Hamas' state sponsors--including but perhaps not limited to Iran and
Qatar--must pay reparations for the killed, for the injured, and for the
destruction of property.</p><p>3) All hostages held by Hamas must be released immediately and unconditionally.</p>Then,
after the war ends, any Hamas leader who survives this war should be
put on trial for crimes against humanity both for the attacks against
Israel and for using Arab citizens and Israeli hostages as human shields.<p></p><p></p></blockquote><p>It is important to understand how Hamas became powerful enough to inflict such a devastating attack on Israel, because only through understanding the root causes can one figure out the best path out of this morass. As I explained in <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/gaza-is-not-open-air-prison.html">Gaza is Not an "Open Air Prison,"</a> Israel administered--but did not annex--Gaza from 1967-1993 before withdrawing from approximately 80% of Gaza after signing the Oslo Accords. In 2005, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon unilaterally withdrew Israel's military forces from the rest of Gaza and he also ordered the dismantling of Israeli communities in Gaza that housed more than 8000 Jews. This plan was known as "Gaza First," and it was conceived by fools whose shortsightedness is directly responsible for
enabling Hamas to commit atrocities not just this past week but (on a
smaller but still horrific scale) for the past several years. Those of
us <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2012/11/israel-is-paying-price-for-two-decades.html">who replied to "Gaza First" by asking "And then what?"</a>
were branded as extremists, but--tragically--our perspective has been
vindicated by current events. The twin assumptions of "Gaza First" could
not have been more wrong: </p><p>(1) It was assumed that unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would lead to peace.</p><p>(2)
It was assumed that if Arab terrorists attacked Israel from Gaza after Israel withdrew then
the outside world would understand that the Arabs are the aggressors and
that Israel is entitled to defend herself.</p><p>Hamas' anti-Jewish atrocities
invalidated the first assumption, and the growing calls for a ceasefire
now that Israel is gaining the upper hand invalidated the second assumption. Would anyone have dared call for a
ceasefire after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor or after Nazi Germany
conquered most of Europe but before those tyrannical regimes were completely defeated? In any "normal" war it is understood
that attacked countries are expected to fight back until the attacker
unconditionally surrenders--but a different standard is applied to
Israel because, quite frankly, Jewish blood is cheap in the eyes of the
rest of the world. </p><p>It must be noted that even though many people and nations around the world have expressed support for Israel and the Jewish people we are also seeing irrefutable confirmation of what many of us have asserted for a long time, namely that <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/378324">Antizionism is Antisemitism</a>, as Gary Willing eloquently explains:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Before October 7, 2023, it was possible to think that many
who supported the anti-Israel cause were simply naïve useful idiots who
had fallen for a <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/378172" target="_blank">propaganda campaign</a>
initiated decades ago by the Soviet Union and continued today by the
United Nations and NGOs that used to stand for human rights. Surely,
these "peace activists" wouldn't support acts of genocide, the murder of
babies and Holocaust survivors, right?</p><p></p><p>Wrong.</p><p></p><p>The
demonstrations in support of the Palestinian Arab "cause" which
followed the first reports of the massacre in New York City, in London,
in Sydney Australia, were demonstrations in support of evil, in support
of ISIS clones, of modern-day Nazis.</p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>On
Sunday, the Democratic Socialists of America held a rally in Manhattan
in celebration of the massacre. Hundreds of people gathered to pay
tribute to the worst of humanity. Participants chanted "globalize the
Intifada," a call that can only be interpreted as the desire to expand
Hamas' atrocities to Jewish communities across the world.</p><p></p><p>These
glorifiers of evil chanted "700," the number of confirmed fatalities
from Hamas' massacre at the time of their demonstration of inhumanity.
They chanted "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free," the
favorite chant of Hamas supporters who wish genocide on the millions of
Jews in the State of Israel with no regard for its recognition by the UN
in 1948. One of the speakers spoke at length of how happy he was that
260 "hipsters" were murdered at a music festival for peace.</p><p></p><p>In
London, Islamists marched and drove through the streets in celebration
of the massacre, chanting "Allahu Akbar" and setting off fireworks. One
Hamas admirer called the massacre "victory," "beautiful" and
"inspiring." "We need to celebrate these acts of resistance because this
is a success," she said. </p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>In
the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Golders Green, the windows of a
kosher restaurant were smashed, and "Free Palestine" graffiti was
written on an overpass just feet away from the restaurant.</p><p></p><p>Perhaps
the most despicable demonstration of evil occurred in an orgy of hate
outside the famous Sydney Opera House in Australia. There, Sheikh
Ibrahim Dadoun told the 1,000 who gathered to show their hatred of Jews, "I'm smiling and I'm happy. I'm elated."</p><p></p><p>"It's a day of
courage. It's a day of pride. It's a day of victory. This is the day
we've been waiting for!" he said with no shame, about the murder of
hundreds of innocent civilians, of God-knows how many babies. This man
has a master's degree in human rights.</p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>The
hate-fest continued as the demonstrators demonstrated their support not
only for the Hamas massacre, but for the Holocaust itself, and their
desire to see the Holocaust repeated. "Gas the Jews," they chanted over
and over again, along with "f-ck the Jews."</p><p></p><p>This is what the anti-Israel movement is, and what it has always been...</p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>The mask is off. The true purpose of the global anti-Israel movement
was to facilitate the kind of slaughter we saw on Saturday. That is why
they are celebrating now. That is why they make excuses for an act of
genocide and seek to hamstring Israel hoping that Hamas will do it again
and again until Israel and its millions of Jews are no more.</p><p></p><p>There
are two sides--the side of those who seek to finish what the Nazis
started, and the side of basic human decency. Whose side are you on? <br /></p></blockquote><p>It cannot be emphasized enough that Israel's enemies--including Iran, Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority--actively deny that the Holocaust happened while aspiring to create a second Holocaust to kill every Jew in the world. I mentioned the Palestinian Authority because many people pretend that the PA is a moderate organization. PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is a <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/04/palestinian-authoritys-support-for.html">product of the Soviet system</a> who wrote a dissertation asserting that the Zionist movement is just as culpable for the Holocaust as the Nazis, <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/mahmoud-abbas-soviet-dissertation">making arguments that have become quite fashionable among contemporary leftist antisemites/anti-Zionists</a>. <br /></p><p>Unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza has been an unmitigated disaster for Israel, culminating in the worst single day massacre suffered by the Jewish people since the Holocaust followed not by the sympathy and support for Israel and the Jewish people that the architects of "Gaza First" expected but rather by an enthusiastic and joyful outpouring of vile antisemitism by people who are proud to publicly show their true colors--and those people include members of the U.S. Congress, most notably the execrable "Squad." Anyone who ever again votes for a member of the "Squad" is either a fool or an unrepentant antisemite. What purpose is served by supporting "leaders" who are singlemindedly focused not on governing the U.S. but on promoting genocidal antisemitism? These hypocritical self-proclaimed "progressives" cannot possibly be stupid enough to believe that any of their cherished causes are embraced by Iran and Hamas; the reality is that their main cause is antisemitism, and any other cause does not really matter to them: supporting Hamas in no way helps Black people, women, gay people, poor people, or any other community that Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, or Rashida Tlaib claim to represent--but supporting Hamas provides aid and comfort to a group that promotes killing Jews and that is more than enough to garner the Squad's unconditional affirmation and support.<br /></p><p>Other than Iran smuggling a nuclear device into Gaza for use against Israel, it is difficult to imagine a worse outcome for "Gaza First" then what we have seen for the past 18 years culminating in Saturday's atrocities. We must hope that the crimes against humanity just committed by Hamas shocked Israel into a clear understanding of what must be done next, regardless of how much the U.N., Human Rights Watch or anyone else will complain.<br /></p><p>If Israel talks tough but then settles for killing a few Hamas leaders before signing a ceasefire that leaves Hamas intact then this war will be a major victory for Hamas and a devastating, humiliating defeat for Israel, with consequences that will reverberate for many years. No, Israel must completely fix the "Gaza First" mistake, and that can only be accomplished by eliminating Hamas--not "punishing Hamas," not "hitting Hamas hard," not "teaching Hamas a lesson."</p><p>Hamas must be eliminated, the same way that Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were eliminated. Daniel Greenfield is right on target with <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/378283">his vision of what Israeli victory must look like</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote>What should a nation do when its women and children are murdered and taken hostage.<br /><br />Israel has the same choice it always had. That choice becomes clearer each year and with each atrocity.<br /><br />It
can carry out another "limited incursion" into Gaza, bomb the homes of
some terrorists and then go home, hopefully with the hostages, and wait
for something like it or worse to happen again.<br /><br />Or it can actually go to war and win.<br /><br />Israel,
like America, doesn't win wars anymore. It has operations. It takes out
terrorist leaders and occasionally terrorist cells. And then it goes
home. But when home is within a stone's throw of where monsters live,
then there's no way to go home. Home is where the monsters are.<br /><br />A
war ends with victory. The destruction of the enemy. The Islamic
terrorists have been waging a war meant to end in victory since Israel
was reborn. Unless Israel fights to win, it will be lost.</blockquote><p></p><blockquote>What does a war look like? It is not "proportionate" or "limited." It is
not based on "deterrence" and does not end with a "truce." If at the
end of the war, the enemy still exists, you have not won.<br /><br />Israel has yet to fight a war against the terrorists. Let alone win one.<br /><br />It's
been 30 years since the Israeli Left sold the myth of peace with the
Arab Muslim invaders in Gaza and the West Bank and under 20 years since
building walls and defenses was sold as the alternative.<br /><br />Neither of those were ever a viable option against a genocidal enemy...</blockquote><p></p><blockquote>We fight things that are not wars to "stabilize" regions. Wars are not
fought for stability, but destruction. To win a war, destroy the enemy.
That's what the United States did in WWII, raining mass death and
destruction on Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in ways that still make
modern liberals cringe.<br /><br />"The Nazis entered this war under the
rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and
nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a
hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation.
They have sown the wind, and so they shall reap the whirlwind," RAF Air
Officer Commanding-in-Chief Arthur Harris bluntly stated.<br /><br />"The
harder we push, the more Germans we kill. The more Germans we kill, the
fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing harder means fewer casualties. I
want you all to remember that," Patton told the Third Army.<br /><br />FDR's
obsession with taking the war to Japan led to the Doolittle Raid. One
of the bombs from that raid hit a school. "It is quite impossible to
bomb a military objective that has civilian residences near it without
danger of harming the civilian residences as well. That is a hazard of
war," Doolittle had warned.<br /><br />That is what war is. It's why wars should not be fought lightly. But when you fight them, fight to win.<br /><br />A
just war is based on a fundamental moral clarity about your enemies,
not your tactics. War crimes are a meaningless term except when applied
to violations of an agreement between the two combatants or civilians
that are not a party to the conflict. That is not the case in Gaza. And
is rarely the case when fighting Islamic terrorists.<br /><br />The United
States met the Japanese torture, execution, abuse, medical experiments
and cannibalism of our troops with increased determination to win at any
cost. This was the cost for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These were not war
crimes, this was how a regime of monsters that committed unspeakable
atrocities was finally forced to surrender.<br /><br />That is what fighting to win means.<br /><br />Winning
against Hamas does not mean dropping a few bombs on buildings, staging a
limited incursion, taking out a few Hamas leaders and then letting
Turkey and Egypt negotiate a truce. That's not a war.<br /><br />Winning
means destroying Hamas, its leaders, its terrorists and its supporters
by any means necessary, and securing the territory they operated from so
that it can't be used to stage similar attacks. <br /></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Incessant media focus on conditions in Gaza is puzzling. During World War II, did Western media outlets concern themselves with conditions in the Axis Powers Germany, Japan, and Italy? No--it was understood that if the leaders of those countries wanted to spare their citizens from further bombing then they would unconditionally surrender. Hamas can restore food, water, and power to Gaza right now by surrendering on the terms listed above. If Hamas decides to follow in the footsteps of Adolf Hitler and Emperor Hirohito--who preferred to see their civilians die than to surrender--then that is a choice for which Hamas will have to answer to the voters who elected them to power, and who cheer in the streets every time that Hamas kills a Jew. <br /></p><p>After a November 18, 2014 terrorist attack during which two Arab terrorists killed five Jews in a Jerusalem synagogue, I <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-new-antisemitism-and-violence-it.html">quoted Caroline Glick's description of how a strong, proud nation would
respond regardless of which direction the fickle winds of world opinion
blow</a>:</p><p><b><b><b><b></b></b></b></b></p><blockquote>The horrible truth is that all of the anti-Jewish slaughters perpetrated by our Arab neighbors have been motivated to
greater or lesser degrees by Islamic Jew-hatred. The only difference
between the past hundred years and now is that today our
appeasement-oriented elite is finding it harder to pretend away the
obvious fact that we cannot placate our enemies.<br />
<br />
No "provocation" by Jews drove two Jerusalem Arabs to pick up meat
cleavers and a rifle and slaughter rabbis in worship like sheep and then
mutilate their bodies.<br />
<br />
No "frustration" with a "lack of progress" in the "peace process," can
motivate people to run over Jewish babies or attempt to assassinate a
Jewish civil rights activist.<br />
<br />
The reason that these terrorists have decided to kill Jews is that they
take offense at the fact that in Israel, Jews are free. They take
offense because all their lives they have been taught that Jews should
live at their mercy, or die by their sword...<br />
<br />
With regard to the individual terrorists, the
government has made much of its intention to destroy the homes of
terrorists. While it sounds good, there is limited evidence of the
effectiveness of this punitive measure, which is a relic of the British
Mandate.<br />
<br />
Rather than destroy their homes, Israel should adopt the US anti-narcotics policy of asset seizure.<br />
<br />
All assets directly or indirectly tied to terrorists, including their
homes and any other structure where they planned their crimes, and all
remittances to them, should be seized and transferred to their victims,
to do with what they will.<br />
<br />
If Israel hands over the homes of the synagogue butchers to the 24
orphans of Rabbi Moshe Twersky, Rabbi Kalman Levine, Rabbi Aryeh
Kupinsky and Rabbi Avraham Goldberg, not only will justice be served.
The children<span style="font-family: inherit;">'</span>s inheritance of the homes of their fathers<span style="font-family: inherit;">'</span> killers will
send a clear and demoralizing message to other would-be killers.<br />
<br />
Not only will their atrocities fail to remove the Jews from Israel.
Every terrorist will contribute to the Zionist project by donating his
home to the Jewish settlement enterprise...<br />
<br />
Israel should also revoke citizenship and residency rights not only
from terrorists themselves, but from those who enjoy citizenship and
residency rights by dint of their relationship with the terrorists.<br />
<br />
Wives who received Israeli residency or citizenship rights though
marriage to terrorists should have their rights revoked, as should the
children of the terrorists...<br />
<br />
The actions set forth above: asset seizure, revenue seizure and
citizenship/residency abrogation for terrorists and their dependents are
steps that Israel can take today, despite the hostile international
climate.</blockquote><p>Glick's proposed measures in response to a terrorist attack that claimed five lives are a good starting point for what Israel should impose on individual terrorists and terrorist groups moving forward after every attack. The days of accepting "minor" terrorist attacks and "just a few rockets" landing in Israel must end forever. <br /></p><p>Greenfield's description of a war that is fought until the enemy is destroyed is a blueprint for what Israel must do after Hamas slaughtered more than 1300 people.<br /></p><p>If Israel declares victory but there is one Hamas leader left free to fulminate about how Hamas will "liberate Palestine from the river to the sea" then Israel's self-proclaimed victory will in fact be a bitter defeat that will lead to a massacre even worse than the one Hamas just perpetrated, as Greenfield noted:</p><p></p><blockquote>The first rule of co-existing with Islamic Jihadists is that you can't.<br /><br />You
can't make peace with them and you can't have an "understanding" with
them. You can only deter them for so long. Eventually they will break
through your defenses. And then planes will crash into skyscrapers and
young people will be massacred at a concert. Worse will come if you
don't learn those lessons.<br /><br />Either you defeat Islamic terrorists
or they will defeat you. The idea of a middle ground is an illusion that
lasts only as long as your capabilities do.<br /></blockquote><p></p><blockquote>The only thing that works is going on the offensive.</blockquote><p>This is not a pleasant message to deliver, and it is a message that many people do not want to accept or even hear--but rest assured that if Israel does not fight until achieving the kind of victory Greenfield and Glick described then Israel will suffer more mass casualty events, and mass casualty events perpetrated by radical Muslims will spread to other Western countries.<br /></p> David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-37170344496686745182023-10-12T00:30:00.001-04:002023-10-12T00:30:27.855-04:00Gaza is Not an "Open Air Prison"<p>It has become popular to declare that Gaza is an "open air prison," and then to blame Israel for allegedly oppressing Gaza's Arabs. A brief history lesson will clarify the reality about Gaza. In <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/01/who-are-invaders-and-who-are-invaded.html">Who Are the Invaders, and Who are the Invaded? An Analysis of Inversions of Truth</a>, I provided historical background about Palestine in general: <br /></p><p></p><blockquote>Palestine is a geographic term, much like the term Midwest is used to
describe the portion of the United States that includes Ohio, Michigan,
and a few other states. In the early 20th century, the geographic term
Palestine was used to describe a territory including what is now known
as Israel, Gaza, the so-called West Bank (the areas properly called by
their historic names Judea and Samaria), and Jordan; after World War I,
the League of Nations approved a Mandate granting control of Palestine
to Great Britain with the express understanding that the territory would
be a homeland for the Jewish people. Great Britain sliced off the
eastern 80% of the Palestine Mandate to create Transjordan (which later
became the independent Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan). After the demise of
the League of Nations and after World War II, the United Nations
proposed that the remaining 20% of the Palestine Mandate be divided into
a Jewish state and a second Arab state (in addition to Jordan). The
Jewish leadership in Palestine accepted the UN's proposal--but the Arab
leadership in Palestine rejected the UN's proposal and joined forces
with armies from the surrounding Arab nations in what they expected to
be a war of annihilation against the nascent Jewish State--but Israel
won the war, and ended up controlling less than 20% of the original
Palestine Mandate, with most of the remaining territory under Jordanian
control (Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip, which has never been
historically part of Egypt). </blockquote> From 1948-1967, Egypt occupied Gaza. During that period, Arab/Muslim terrorist groups used Gaza as a staging ground to launch terrorist attacks against Israel. Egypt made no serious effort to create an independent Palestinian Arab state in Gaza, nor did Egypt take any meaningful steps to improve the lives of Gaza's residents. In the article cited above, I discussed the founding of the PLO:<br /><p></p><p></p><blockquote>The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) was founded in Cairo, Egypt
in 1964, with funding and support provided by the Soviet Union. What
exactly was the PLO founded to "liberate"? In 1964, Egypt controlled
Gaza, while Jordan controlled Judea and Samaria plus the eastern portion
of Jerusalem. If the PLO had been truly interested in creating a
Palestinian national state in Gaza plus the West Bank then why was the
PLO conducting terrorist attacks against Israel, a nation that had no
control over the areas that the PLO supposedly wanted to "liberate"? Of
course, the reality is that the Soviet Union helped create the PLO to
destabilize Israel and thus increase the Soviet Union's influence and
power in the region. This was all about oil and about expanding
Communism's reach, and had nothing to do with helping "Palestinians" or
creating a "Palestinian" nation. That is why the PLO and other
Arab/Islamic terrorist groups are still waging war against Israel
decades after Israel gave up control of Gaza and of portions of the
so-called West Bank: the goal is not creating a "Palestinian" state but
rather destroying the Jewish State. The PLO has not even attempted to
create a functioning government in Gaza, because the PLO was not created
to govern, does not know how to govern, and has no interest in
governing. </blockquote><p>In May 1967, Egyptian dictator Gamal Adbel Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping--by definition, an act of war--and he massed his armed forces on Israel's border. Faced with the daunting prospect of a three-front war versus Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, Israel launched a preemptive strike that decimated Egypt's air force. The Six Day War ensued, after which Israel controlled Sinai, Gaza, Judea, Samaria, and the Golan Heights. </p><p>The territories other than Gaza are not relevant to this article. Israel administered--but did not annex--Gaza from 1967 until the 1993 Oslo Accords, after which Israel withdrew her military forces from approximately 80% of Gaza. From 1967 to 1988, infant mortality in Gaza declined from more than 120 per 1000 live births to less than 30 per 1000 live births, and the percentage of children born in hospitals soared from 10 percent to 80 percent. Measles, diphtheria, and polio were almost completely wiped out in Gaza. During the same time period, the Gross National Product per capita in Gaza increased from $280 to more than $1480. Instead of partnering with Israel to continue this progress that took place when Israel administered Gaza, the PLO and other terrorist groups killed Jews. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew the rest of her military forces from Gaza, compelled more than 8000 Jewish settlers in Gaza to vacate their homes, and even dug up all of the Jewish dead buried in Gaza so that they could be reburied in Israel. The little section of Gaza inhabited by Jews had bloomed and thrived--much like the Jewish people made the rest of the Land of Israel bloom and thrive--but as soon as the Jews left Gaza the Arabs looted and destroyed anything built by the Jews. </p><p>In the article cited above, I demonstrated how Gaza's demographic statistics refute the vile accusation that Israel is committing genocide against Arabs:</p><p></p><p></p><blockquote><p></p><p>Israel has never expressed or displayed an intent to destroy any group
of people. In fact, the Arab population west of the Jordan River has
increased tremendously since Israel's founding in 1948, and the standard
of living for Arabs in Israel is higher than the standard of living for
Arabs in other countries in the region, so accusations of Israel's
alleged genocide are refuted by publicly available data. The 2014 book <b>Industry of Lies</b>
cites various official UN and CIA demographic reports setting the
record straight. To cite just a few examples from the book, in 1967 the
life expectancy for a Palestinian Arab in the West Bank and Gaza was
just 49 years. By 1975 (i.e., after those territories had been under
Israeli administration for eight years), Palestinian Arab life
expectancy rose to 56 years, and by 1984 it had risen to 66 years. Since
1984, Palestinian Arab life expectancy in those territories has climbed
to 75 years, which is not only higher than the global average life
expectancy but it is higher than the life expectancy in many Arab
countries and even some European countries. In addition, Israeli Arabs
have the highest life expectancy in the Mideast.</p><p></p><p>Further, another measure of genocide is <a class="Link" href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN" target="_blank">infant mortality</a>,
which has been steadily and dramatically improving since 1967 in areas
under Israeli administration. In addition, the combination of high birth
rates and low death rates among Palestinian Arabs in Gaza put that
territory near the top of the world in <a class="Link" href="https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/population-growth-rate/" target="_blank">population growth</a>. </p><p>Remember,
by definition genocide refers to an intentional policy to destroy a
group of people. The definition is clear, and the data clearly shows
that there is no genocide being committed by Israel. <br /></p>
<p>Here are some other data points to consider: under
Jordanian occupation, only four out of 708 Arab towns and
villages in the administered territories had modern water supply systems
and running
water, but just five years after Israel gained control of those areas
the fresh water sources
grew by 50 percent and has continued to grow. By 2004, 641 Arab
communities in those territories—accounting for 96 percent of the
population—had running
water. Israel accomplished this infrastructure development for Arab
communities despite the reckless PLO and Hamas mismanagement of those
communities after Israel handed over some of those areas to the PLO.
"One of the driest countries on Earth now makes more freshwater than it
needs," <a class="Link" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/israel-proves-the-desalination-era-is-here/" target="_blank">declared</a> <i>Scientific American.</i> </p><p></p><p>It
is worth noting that the Jewish communities in the Arab/Muslim
world--communities which in many instances predate the birth of
Islam--have all but vanished due to massacres and expulsions inflicted
on those communities by Arab/Muslim countries after the creation of the
modern State of Israel. There is indeed apartheid and genocide in the
Middle East, but those evils are not being committed by Israel.</p></blockquote><p>Recent media accounts accuse Israel of bombing refugee camps in Gaza, but few if any media members question why there are still refugee camps in Gaza. Why did Egypt not build homes for Gaza's Arabs during the 19 years that Egypt controlled Gaza? Why did neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas build homes for Gaza's Arabs during the past three decades? The answer is obvious: the refugee camps are useful tactically as human shields and strategically as propaganda weapons against Israel. In every other part of the world where there have been wars and border disputes any resulting refugee situation is resolved by resettling the refugees into new homes. Only the Palestinian Arabs have been consigned to live in refugee camps for decades--and this is the fault of their Arab and Muslim brothers, not Israel! The Palestinian Arabs could have been resettled in homes in Gaza, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, or elsewhere in the Arab/Muslim world, but solving the refugee crisis would mean getting rid of a major excuse for attacking Israel, and that does not suit the agenda of the rulers of the Arab/Muslim world. <br /></p><p>As many media outlets are kicking into anti-Israel propaganda overdrive to draw attention away from Hamas' barbarism, Jake Wallis Simons <a href="https://www.thejc.com/lets-talk/all/the-myth-of-gaza-as-an-open-air-prison-serves-hamass-agenda-4sweTvd5RVaXLMMNkhJNhs">debunked the myth that Israel is operating an "open air prison" in Gaza</a>: </p><p></p><blockquote><p>Firstly, Israel is unique in the emphasis it places on warning
civilians to evacuate before an attack. Gazan civilians do have places
to go, such as schools, which aren't targeted. Thousands have taken
refuge there in recent days, as my friend in Gaza told me. </p><p>Secondly,
let's talk about the fact that Israel secures its border with Gaza, and
always has. The reason for this is security. We don't need to imagine
what would happen if Israel had allowed the border to be open over the
past 17 years: We saw it in gruesome reality over the weekend, with
children beheaded, the elderly taken as hostages, and senseless violence
in peaceful communities. What should Israel do, allow its civilians to
be butchered just to avoid liberal Westerners accusing it of creating an
"open-air prison"? </p><p>This is an allegation that is designed to
undermine Israel's efforts to protect its people, the soft front of the
Jihadi movement, perpetrated by useful idiots. </p><div data-google-query-id="" id="div-in-banner-0" style="margin: 20px 0px; text-align: center;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/32215878/44apestfsefs6yfyh47sq9etray2n4hgpx9tra2g4fdxyeb2d6esc4wj3yrdpgam5vxm9njj6mfjmsx4_3__container__" style="border: 0pt; height: 0px; width: 300px;"></div></div><p>Everyone
is criticizing Israel for sealing the border with Gaza and not sending
in fuel and supplies for the duration of the war. But Gaza has TWO
borders, the other with Egypt. Why doesn't Egypt open its border to
refugees and offer humanitarian support, as Arab countries did during
the Syrian civil war? </p><p>The FT reported that Abdel Fattah al-Sisi,
Egypt’s president, said yesterday that "national security is my first
responsibility and under no circumstances will there be any complacency
or negligence." In an apparent reference to talk of resettling Gazans in
Egypt, he added: "We will not allow the Palestinian cause to be
resolved at the expense of other parties." </p><p>So Israel must be
responsible for feeding, watering, sustaining and enabling its jihadi
enemies even while trying to destroy them, while Egypt can turn its back
and avoid international condemnation? </p></blockquote><p>The false notion that Israel is running an "open air prison" in Gaza is predicated on the equally false notion that Israel is an occupying force in Gaza even though Israel withdrew her military forces from Gaza in 2005. <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/378172">Gary Willig explains that occupation has a specific legal definition, and that definition clearly is inapplicable regarding Israel's relationship to Gaza</a>:<br /></p><blockquote><p>What is the actual definition of an occupation? The 1899 and 1907
Hague Conventions Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague
Regulations) are the primary source for the definition of occupation
under international law. Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations states
that "territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed
under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to
the territory where such authority has been established and can be
exercised."</p><p>"Actually placed under the authority of the hostile army." "Where such authority has been established and can be exercised."</p><p>These
conditions are not met in Gaza and have not been met in any fashion
since 2005. With zero soldiers, the IDF has no authority whatsoever in
Gaza and can exercise none. Despite the claims of the UN, Amnesty
International, and Human Rights Watch, a blockade and an occupation are
two very different things under real human rights law. While the word "occupation" occurs 46 times in the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which is
often used as the basis for accusations of Israeli violations of human
rights or international law, the word "blockade" never appears at all in
any of the four conventions approved on August 12, 1949.</p><p>The
Israeli occupation of Gaza from 2005 until today would be the first and
only occupation in world history to have no boots on the ground, to have
the entire territory supposedly under occupation under the complete
control of an entity hostile to the occupying power rather than the
occupying power. It would be the first occupation in history in which
the occupying power lacks even the basic ability to arrest people for
any crimes.</p><div class="sideInf" data-google-query-id="CK-bppqP74EDFW-p0QQdThkGdg" data-v-23d21d29="" id="intext-7"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/107629004/En_Desktop/BTF_intext_7_0__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div><p>In short, they have changed the very definition of the word "occupation" in order to find Israel guilty.</p><p>This
is a common tactic of Israel’s critics. They accuse Israel of "genocide" when the Palestinian Arab population has grown by leaps and
bounds and while the IDF has taken unprecedented steps to protect the
lives of civilians while combating terrorist organizations with actual
genocidal intent. It would be the first genocide in history where the
population being subjected to genocide grew instead of shrinking.</p><p>They redefine the word genocide to find Israel guilty, the facts be damned.</p></blockquote><p>The people who call Gaza an "open air prison" often then accuse Israel of being an "apartheid state." In <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-truth-about-apartheid-states.html">The Truth About Apartheid States, Genocide, and the Sheikh Jarrah Court Case</a> I discussed apartheid and genocide at length, but in light of the unfortunately inevitable propaganda backlash against Israel's justified and necessary military response to <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">Hamas' surprise attack against Israel</a> and the ensuing <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/hamas-reveals-and-celebrates-barbarism.html">crimes against humanity committed by Hamas on Israeli soil</a> it is important to repeat that analysis:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>The terms apartheid and genocide have specific meanings. It is not
difficult to determine if those terms are being used accurately and
appropriately.<br /></p><p>Apartheid describes a system of legislation in
South Africa that forced non-white South Africans to live in separate
areas and use separate public facilities. Apartheid laws applied a host
of restrictions, including forbidding non-white South Africans from
marrying white people, and not permitting non-white South Africans to
participate in the national government.</p><p>No Israeli citizens are
subjected to separate, unequal treatment under the law. There are not
separate public facilities that certain ethnic groups are required (or
forbidden) to use. Any Israeli citizen can vote in elections and serve
in the government; indeed, Israel's government includes Arab members who
oppose Israel's existence. </p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><blockquote><p>Anyone who is concerned about
post-South Africa examples of "apartheid states" should carefully
research, among others, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Can anyone vote
and run for office in those countries? Can anyone become a full-fledged
citizen of those countries? Are the rights of women and minorities
respected in those countries? If you truly care about "apartheid states"
and if you are truly committed to fighting racism and oppression, then
you either know the answers to those questions, or you will find out the
answers and then base your actions on a foundation of knowledge, not
propaganda.<br /></p><p>The United Nations Genocide Convention, formed in
1948 in direct response to the Nazi genocide of six million Jews during
the Holocaust, <a href="https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/genocide.shtml">defined genocide</a> as consisting of two main elements: <br /></p><ol class="indent"><li><i>A mental element</i>: the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such"; and </li><li><i>A physical element</i>, which includes the following five acts, enumerated exhaustively:
<ul><li>Killing members of the group</li><li>Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group</li><li>Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part</li><li>Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group</li><li>Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group</li></ul>
</li></ol>
<p></p><blockquote>The intent is the most difficult element to determine. To
constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent on the part of
perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnical, racial or
religious group. Cultural destruction does not suffice, nor does an
intention to simply disperse a group. It is this special intent, or <i>dolus specialis</i>,
that makes the crime of genocide so unique. In addition, case law has
associated intent with the existence of a State or organizational plan
or policy, even if the definition of genocide in international law does
not include that element. </blockquote></blockquote><p>As demonstrated above, Israel is not an "apartheid state," is not an occupying power in Gaza, and is not committing genocide. Further, Gaza is not an "open air prison." It is a breeding ground for radical Muslims who openly state their goal to not just destroy Israel but to kill Jews around the world. If Israel has a shred of common sense and a desire to survive as a nation, she will not end this war until Hamas is destroyed and Gaza is no longer in position to threaten Israel ever again. How Israel should accomplish this important goal will be the subject of my next article.</p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-18147647389307054202023-10-11T00:18:00.002-04:002023-10-11T00:21:57.024-04:00Israel, Hamas, and the Islamic Concepts Dar al-Islam Versus Dar al-harb<p><a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">Hamas' surprise attack on Israel</a> is a brutal demonstration of a reality that many people have refused to accept, and that some people--despite of all of the evidence--will still refuse to accept: there is no "two state" solution that will resolve the war between Israel and her enemies because this war has nothing to do with helping Palestinian Arabs and everything to do with killing as many Jews as possible. <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/hamas-reveals-and-celebrates-barbarism.html">The barbarism at the core of radical Islam</a> will not be cured by any concession made by Israel short of complete dissolution of the Jewish State--and even if that tragic outcome happened, radical Islam would not be placated but would instead turn its full attention toward the United States and other democratic countries that are part of the <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/islam-rsquo-s-house-of-islam-and-house-of-war">Dar al-harb</a>--the portions of the world that radical Muslims have yet to conquer, with the emphasis on "yet": they believe that such conquest is promised to them by Allah, and they will not rest until they achieve such conquest, transforming all of the world into <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/islam-rsquo-s-house-of-islam-and-house-of-war">Dar al-Islam</a> (territory governed in strict accordance with Islamic law, which means--among other things--no freedom of speech, no freedom of religion, no freedom of the press, no independent judiciary, and very limited rights for women and any other minority group not favored under Islamic law).<br /></p><p>It is impossible to successfully negotiate peace with a radical Islamist country or terrorist group just as it was impossible to successfully negotiate peace with Nazi Germany or with the Soviet Union. Israel faces a simple choice: defeat her enemies, or be destroyed. Carving a Palestinian Arab state out of the Jewish homeland would only lead to more war and more death. Of course, it must be noted that there is already an Arab state in 80% of Palestine, but it is up to that state--Jordan--and the rest of the Arab/Muslim world to decide how to best use that state to help the Palestinian Arabs who live in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria.</p><p>Look at a map of the world, and scan the wide territory from Morocco to Pakistan: all you see are failed and failing autocracies, many of which are at war with each other. There is not one high-functioning, modern democratic state in the entire Arab/Muslim world, but some people are delusional enough to believe that creating yet another autocratic Arab/Muslim state carved out of the Jewish homeland would be a positive development. Instead of criticizing Israel, why not consider the core reasons that a whole group of countries created in the same general time frame that the modern State of Israel was created have failed miserably in terms of freedom, economic development, education, and the ability to live in peace with their neighbors? One of the major reasons is the primacy of radical Islam in the region. Wipe Israel off the map today--Hamas' stated goal--and the overall quality of life in the region would not improve one bit. <br /></p><p>The full scope of the horrors committed by Hamas against Israel in the past few days is still being discovered as Israel regains control of her territory. For example, there is a report that <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/horrifying-discovery-40-babies-and-children-butchered-in-kfar-aza-many-of-them-decapitated/?traffic_source=Connatix">Hamas terrorists slaughtered dozens of babies and young children in their homes</a>--and if your response to this savagery is some form of "What about" pertaining to anti-Israel propaganda, then just stop right there: whatever you imagine or pretend that Israel ever did would not in any way justify Hamas' grisly imitation of the war crimes committed by Nazi Germany. As Mandana Dayani put it in an Instagram post (I have corrected a couple typos from the original post):</p><p></p><blockquote>Never in my years as an activist, have I seen other activists, upon
seeing footage of little girls being killed and dragged through [the]
streets, immediately find the burning need to go on the internet and
justify their deaths. "Oh, here [are] all the reasons that girl was
burned alive!" For complete clarity, the only reason you do this, is because you
have been made to believe that the killing of Jews can even be
justified. Because every civilization has taught that the life of a Jew
is less valuable than your own. It's the Hitler playbook. Your
antisemitism is not unconscious. It is so deeply rooted in your bones
and you are so comfortable with it, you are not even able to consider
its impact on your friends.</blockquote><p></p><p>As I explained two years ago, <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/05/there-is-no-moral-equivalence-between.html">There is No Moral Equivalence Between Israel and Hamas</a>. The United Nations' refusal to condemn Hamas' war crimes reaffirmed what has been obvious for a long time: the U.N. is worse that useless. Until the U.N. condemns Hamas' killing of innocent men, women, and children, plus the rapes, the desecration of corpses, and the taking of civilian hostages, no one should care what the U.N. says about anything else. </p><p>Neither of the two major U.S. political parties fully understand the situation, and it is pathetic to watch the Republicans blame the Democrats and the Democrats blame the Republicans. Both parties share the blame, but for different reasons. </p><p>The Democrats have this weird obsession with sending money to Iran and trying to cultivate a relationship with a regime whose stated goal is to subjugate the entire world to live under Islamic rule. Both President Obama and President Biden provided billions of dollars to Iran, the chief financier and organizer of Hamas. This means that the blood of those who Hamas killed, is killing, and will kill is on the hands of both of those Presidents. Meanwhile, the "Squad" spouts antisemitic and anti-Zionist lies but is silent about the war crimes committed in the name of Islam--and the Democratic Party is silent about that silence. It is baffling to observe the love affair between self-proclaimed "progressives" who value secular humanism above all else and radical Muslims who want to impose their religious views on the entire world; their only apparent shared value is antisemitism, but that seems to be more than enough to maintain their passionate connection.<br /></p><p>The Republicans criticize the "Squad" when it is profitable politically to do so, but then do nothing to condemn the antisemites in their own ranks. President Trump deserves credit for shutting down U.S. funding of Iran, but <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/09/elyakim-haetzni-hero-and-defender-of.html">Elyakim Haetzni</a> warned that President Trump's "Deal of the Century" put Israel's survival at risk, noting that the creation of a Palestinian Arab state alongside Israel would be an existential threat to the Jewish State; anyone who did not understand or believe that before should certainly understand and believe it now when the world sees how much mayhem and carnage is emanating from a "demilitarized" Gaza ruled by Hamas.<br /></p><p>Ultimately, though, Israel must rely not on U.S. leaders but on her own leaders. Israel's succession of foolish and corrupt leaders from both sides of the political spectrum must shoulder most of the blame--not for supposedly persecuting Arabs, as the mainstream media incorrectly asserts, but for failing to defend the interests of their country and failing to protect their fellow citizens. Instead of winning the war against Hamas and making sure that Israel's borders were safe, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-729998">Prime Minister Netanyahu turned a blind eye to Qatar's funding of Hamas, and thus Martin Oliner asks a pertinent question:</a> "If Qatar has so much disposable money to put on a lavish show for the World Cup, for international diplomatic warfare against Israel and to spend on American and British campuses, why does Doha not build a university for Palestinians in Gaza?" Qatar provided $1.5 billion to Hamas under the not so watchful eye of Netanyahu, as <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/hamas-einsatzgruppen-attack-%E2%80%93-october-7-2023">Yigal Carmon ruefully noted</a>: "<span style="line-height: 107%;">The explanation for this anti-Israel policy was the presumption that the Israeli government is so wise that it is </span><span style="line-height: 107%;">buying
Hamas, and quiet from Hamas, with other parties' money. But this never
happened. Instead, Netanyahu sold out our lives and our security for a
reckless illusion. And the deal with Qatar may have served Netanyahu in
other areas."</span></p><p>If you think that this war only concerns Israel, or can be resolved by "Justice for Palestine," then heed <a href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-765304?fbclid=IwAR31KAt5-wppyKrO3gVwyWUh8qZluZJoeUW-RTwzofuF9neDScG9U90zrZ8#765304">the words of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Zahar in a December 2022 video</a>: </p><p></p><blockquote>We believe in what our Prophet Muhammad said: "Allah drew the ends
of the world near one another for my sake, and I have seen its eastern
and western ends. The dominion of my nation would reach those ends that
have been drawn near me. The
entire 510 million square kilometers of Planet Earth will come under [a
system] where there is no injustice, no oppression, no Zionism, no
treacherous Christianity and no killings and crimes like those being
committed against the Palestinians, and against the Arabs in all the
Arab countries, in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and other countries."</blockquote><p></p><p>Self-proclaimed "progressives" who "stand with Palestine" and criticize Israel are taking the side of countries and terrorist groups whose goal is to impose radical Islam over the entire planet so that we can all enjoy the lifestyle of people living in Iran, Afghanistan, and other countries that are governed by strict adherence to Islamic law. </p><p>Anyone who thinks that Israel is an "apartheid state" and that her enemies Iran and Hamas are the good guys is very confused. In <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-truth-about-apartheid-states.html">The Truth About Apartheid States, Genocide, and the Sheikh Jarrah Court Case</a>, I provide a detailed analysis of the legal definition of apartheid and the legal definition of genocide before concluding that it is "a vulgar and despicable inversion of historical truth to slander Israel
with the accusation of apartheid and genocide--the very crimes committed
within living memory against Jewish people by the Nazis."</p><p>Regarding calls for a ceasefire now that Israel is gaining the upper hand, terrorist group Hamas is in no position--legally or morally--to dictate terms. At a minimum, this war should not end until all of these events happen:</p><p>1) Hamas is eliminated as a functioning terrorist, military, and political entity.</p><p>2) Hamas' state sponsors--including but perhaps not limited to Iran and Qatar--must pay reparations for the killed, for the injured, and for the destruction of property.</p><p>3) All hostages held by Hamas must be released immediately and unconditionally.</p><p>Then, after the war ends, any Hamas leader who survives this war should be put on trial for crimes against humanity both for the attacks against Israel and for using Arab citizens and Israeli hostages as human shields. Civilian deaths in Gaza are strictly the responsibility of Hamas for placing their military and terrorist operational infrastructure in the midst of densely populated civilian areas, as I discussed in my article <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-pathetic-progressive-response-to.html">The Pathetic "Progressive" Response to Hamas' War Against Israel</a>, when I quoted at length Michael Curtis' <a href="https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2014/07/indicting_hamas_for_war_crimes.html">detailed analysis of why Hamas should be indicted for war crimes</a> (and this was written years before the atrocities most recently committed by Hamas):</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote>In its behavior towards Israel, Hamas is guilty of both crimes
against humanity and war crimes according to Article 7(1) of the Rome
Statute, which applies to murder and extermination. Hamas is guilty of a
government policy in which those two crimes are part of a widespread or
systematic practice. Its actions are more than isolated inhumane acts
and constitute a consistent pattern of behavior. The stated aim of Hamas
is not simply to harm Israeli civilians, but rather a policy of
genocide, the killing of Jews, and the elimination of the State of
Israel. Hamas has really only one grievance: the existence of Israel.<br />
<br />
Article 8(2)(b) of the Rome Statute deals with the war crime of using
protected persons as shields. Hamas has been guilty on numerous
occasions of this crime--the intention to shield a military objective
from attack or shield, favor, or impede military operations. The major
war crime of Hamas is to use children for this purpose. Golda Meir, in
her straightforward manner, once commented, "We will only have peace
with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us." In
contrast, Hamas has stated that preserving the capacity to bomb
civilians in Israel is more valued than the loss of Palestinian
children.<br />
<br />
Those children have been used not only as human shields to protect
the terrorists. They have also been used for actions such as being
messengers and couriers for the terrorists, for digging tunnels into
Israel, and for smuggling. Hamas has used them for military activities,
including throwing grenades and rocks, and even for suicide bomber
missions. Schools and kindergartens have been used to store missiles and
mortars and as launching sites, in the same way as hospitals, mosques,
and public places have been used. The sad reality is that Gaza children
do not dream of becoming rocket scientists; they dream of firing rockets
and becoming holy martyrs.<br />
<br />
There is ample evidence to present to the International Criminal
Court, including the outspoken statement of the U.N. secretary-general,
the discovery that tunnels used for aggression are located under
hospitals and private property, and the videos of Hamas actions. One
video clearly shows rockets being fired next to civilian buildings.
Another shows a demonstration of human shields as civilians were forced
to gather on top of the home of a known Hamas terrorist to prevent an
attack by Israel. Ban Ki-moon has spoken of the need to address the
"root causes" of instability in Gaza. A case brought against Hamas
before the International Criminal Court would find that the basis of
instability in Gaza is the crimes against humanity and the war crimes
committed by Hamas.</blockquote><i></i><p></p><p></p><p>Israel's enemies pretend that Israel is a colonialist enterprise, and they assert that if they put enough pressure on Israel then all of Israel's Jews will leave. Israel is not Great Britain colonizing America, India, and other places. Great Britain could withdraw from those places--voluntarily or under fire--and go back home. There is no "go back home" for Israel's Jews. Israel IS the Jewish home, and the surge of antisemitism around the world is a harsh reminder that there is nowhere else for Jews to go. Ultimately, either Israel will destroy Hamas and render Iran incapable of causing further bloodshed, or Iran and Hamas will destroy Israel; that is the reality of how all of this will be resolved, whether one of those outcomes happens in the next few weeks or in the next 50 years.<br /></p><p>Unless you expect to enjoy living in Dar al-Islam, now is the time to support Israel, who is fighting not just for her survival, but for the survival of Western civilization. <br /></p><p></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-78950322642407307342023-10-09T17:44:00.001-04:002023-10-11T12:18:18.499-04:00Hamas Reveals and Celebrates the Barbarism at the Heart of Radical Islam<p><a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-implications-of-hamas-surprise.html">Hamas' surprise attack on Israel</a> has dealt the Jewish people the most painful blow since the Holocaust, with a growing death toll estimated to be more than 800. Israel's current population is approximately 9,000,000, while the United States' current population is approximately 330,000,000, so proportionately Israel just suffered losses equivalent to more than 29,300 killed in the United States. The official death count for the 9/11 attacks is 2977, so for Israel this ongoing massacre is proportionately equivalent to the 9/11 terrorist attack times 10--and not only have all the bodies not been counted yet, but the war is not over.<br /></p><p>The world must accept the harsh reality that radical Muslims mean it when they declare, <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/02/president-joe-biden-funds-plos-pay-for.html">"We love death more than you love life"--and this harsh reality dictates that President Joe Biden must immediately cease his disgraceful funding of the PLO's "pay for slay" program that incentivizes killing Jewish people</a>. No matter how anyone tries to spin it, the reality is that the United States has directly and indirectly funded the killing of Jewish people, and by doing so has encouraged Hamas and others to kill Jewish people.<br /></p><p>No one should be surprised by the depredations committed by Hamas, because Hamas is following a long-established radical Muslim tradition of openly flouting international law and basic societal norms. It is well documented that Syria did not follow the Geneva Convention's
provisions for the treatment of prisoners of war, and instead <a href="https://aish.com/israeli-prisoner-of-war-in-syria/">tortured and mistreated many of the Israeli POWs from the Yom Kippur War.</a> Neuroscientists did <a href="https://neurosciencenews.com/neuropsychology-pow-pain-perception-574/">extensive studies about the long-term effects on Israeli POWs of the torture inflicted by their Egyptian and Syrian captors</a>. </p><p>Every member of the <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/01/when-will-self-proclaimed-progressives.html">self-proclaimed "Squad" that slanders Israel but ignores the human rights violations regularly occurring throughout the world</a>--and all of the supporters of the "Squad"--should read <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/israeli-family-including-three-children-slaughtered-in-hamas-invasion/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NIGHTMARE%3A+Terrorists+Infiltrate+from+Lebanon%3B+Entire+Israeli+Family+Found+Slaughtered+at+Home%3B+How+Hamas+Pulled+Off+Its+Surprise+Invasion&utm_campaign=20231009_m176367461_NIGHTMARE%3A+Terrorists+Infiltrate+from+Lebanon%3B+Entire+Israeli+Family+Found+Slaughtered+at+Home%3B+How+Hamas+Pulled+Off+Its+Surprise+Invasion&utm_term=_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09Read+Now_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09">this article</a> and take a long look at the accompanying picture, which represents the true face of Hamas and all of Israel's enemies.</p><p>This is a family murdered in cold blood by the barbarians who some have the mendacious audacity to call "freedom fighters":</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8ocQTI2xFEije1zxHWqfIgAYaWe2ZJ48yRC7GSCWtcJtFGaAbBfUDsqLEjcT53xapvhvaepLqYnmQ3nApHEBKsQD3DClb3RaDWCA-Vo254P04Eu6NAcxrHQ539uUQ_F63-ZFOVoCNK7fs9y9N96ZbqacLLkiey3IqqbHt4scNHtDBOovG__pVZuKS-s/s750/family-750x400.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="750" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8ocQTI2xFEije1zxHWqfIgAYaWe2ZJ48yRC7GSCWtcJtFGaAbBfUDsqLEjcT53xapvhvaepLqYnmQ3nApHEBKsQD3DClb3RaDWCA-Vo254P04Eu6NAcxrHQ539uUQ_F63-ZFOVoCNK7fs9y9N96ZbqacLLkiey3IqqbHt4scNHtDBOovG__pVZuKS-s/s320/family-750x400.webp" width="320" /></a></div><b>Yonatan "Johny" Siman Tov, his wife Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov, their four year old son Omer, and their six year old twin daughters Shachar and Abel were killed by Hamas</b>.<p>Do not deceive yourself to believe that this barbaric behavior and the mindset that creates such barbarism represents a small minority of Muslims; throughout the world, <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/muslims-in-europe-middle-east-celebrate-slaughter-of-israelis/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=%27EXISTENTIAL+THREAT%27%3A+Death+Toll+Hits+600+as+Israelis+Prepare+for+Far+More+Dangerous+Threat+from+North%3B+The+Miraculous+Battle+to+Save+an+Israeli+Kibbutz%3A+Eyewitness+Account&utm_campaign=20231008_m176346542_%27EXISTENTIAL+THREAT%27%3A+Death+Toll+Hits+600+as+Israelis+Prepare+for+Far+More+Dangerous+Threat+from+North%3B+The+Miraculous+Battle+to+Save+an+Israeli+Kibbutz%3A+Eyewitness+Account&utm_term=_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09Read+Now_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09">Muslims are openly and joyously celebrating Hamas' murderous attacks.</a> Where are the condemnations from Muslim religious leaders not only of Hamas' actions but also of the celebrations of Hamas' actions? When someone tells you that jihad does not really mean holy war but it refers to spiritual awakening, just watch videos of Hamas slaughtering young and old alike--and watch videos of Muslims around the world celebrating the slaughter--to remind yourself of what jihad really is. We've seen glimpses of jihad in the West--and <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/11/iran-not-only-poses-existential-threat.html">it is not "Islamophobic" to state the truth about the jihad that Iran openly promotes</a>--but the nightmare unfolding in Israel now will become the norm around the world if Israel is left to fight this war alone or, even worse, if the world sides with Hamas. </p><p>Most people who commit barbaric acts try to cover up or deny what they have done. Hamas makes gleeful videos, and Muslims around the world cheer. There have been marches in the United States with people celebrating the murder of hundreds of Israelis. Anyone who thinks that this is normal or justifiable behavior is sick. The way that people react to Hamas' outrageous massacre of innocent civilians who were targeted because they were Jewish (even though not everyone killed was Jewish) is a vivid illustration of <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-fear-and-shame-at-heart-of.html">how deeply entrenched antisemitic thoughts and attitudes are</a>.<br /></p><p>While there is no reason to be surprised by Hamas' actions, our sadness should be matched
only by our anger, and that anger must be transformed into a collective determination of the entire civilized world to
acknowledge the true nature of the enemy. Israel is on the front line of this war at the moment, but it is not an exaggeration to say that the fate of Western civilization is at stake. Those who rationalize, justify, and excuse Hamas' heinous acts send an unmistakable signal that Western civilization lacks the necessary moral clarity to understand the nature of this war and lacks the necessary willpower to win this war. <br /></p><p><a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/they-massacred-my-family-while-two-little-children-watched-bloodbath-in-southern-kibbutz/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BLOODBATH%3A+%27They+Massacred+My+Family%2C+While+Little+Kids+Watched%E2%80%99%3B+WATCH%3A+How+Hamas+Invaded+Southern+Israel%3B+IDF+Shifts+to+%E2%80%98Offense%E2%80%99+of+Gaza+Operation&utm_campaign=20231008_m176353951_BLOODBATH%3A+%27They+Massacred+My+Family%2C+While+Little+Kids+Watched%E2%80%99%3B+WATCH%3A+How+Hamas+Invaded+Southern+Israel%3B+IDF+Shifts+to+%E2%80%98Offense%E2%80%99+of+Gaza+Operation&utm_term=_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09Read+Now_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09">As the videos and eyewitness accounts of Hamas' horrific killing spree in Israel are disseminated</a>, no person with a beating heart and functioning mind can deny the deep sickness at the core of what the radical Muslims have built in Gaza--mirroring the deep sickness at the core of what radical Muslims have built in Iran, Syria, and throughout the Middle East. People who rampage into the homes of innocent civilians to commit murder and then celebrate their "accomplishment" by filming videos of the aftermath of the carnage are not people who can be negotiated with, reasoned with, or placated. </p><p>They are people who state that they love death, and have proven that they will kill as many people as they can until they are killed. If Israel does not completely destroy Hamas then this war will be not only a failure but a dark farce, with the blood of hundreds of innocent people shed in vain. Since Israel began withdrawing her military forces from Gaza in 1994, Gaza's leading export has been terrorism, and the primary mission of Gaza's schools has been to indoctrinate a generation of Muslims to hate Jews and to believe that the fastest path to a joyous afterlife is to kill Jews; Gaza's Muslims are neither interested in creating a functional state that can be a productive member of the international community of nations nor do they even appear capable of creating such a state. The <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/09/israels-ongoing-oslo-accords-folly.html">folly of the Oslo Accords' notion of "land for peace"</a> was doomed from the start, and should never be repeated; there is "peace for peace" and there is "war for war," but any country that gives up the tangible (land) while hoping to receive the intangible (peace) is foolish.</p><p>Israel must demonstrate to Hamas and the world that <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2021/04/why-never-again-must-be-rallying-cry.html">"Never again" is a rallying cry, not just a slogan</a>, as I wrote in 2021:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Thomas Friedman once shamelessly dismissed Israel as "Yad Vashem with
an air force." In one vile sentence he missed the point of both <a href="https://www.yadvashem.org/">Yad Vashem</a>--The
World Holocaust Remembrance Center, based in Israel's eternal capital
Jerusalem--and of the Israeli Air Force, which has defended the Jewish
State against its genocide-minded neighbors for over 70 years. Yes, it
is Israel's neighbors who are the spiritual heirs to the Nazis, and
large portions of the Arab/Muslim world have longed expressed open
admiration for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.</p><p>The world stood by and
let Adolf Hitler's Nazis murder six million Jews, but as long as Israel
exists that will never happen again; when the world did nothing after
terrorists hijacked Air France Flight 139 and made a point of separating
the Jews and the Israelis from the other passengers at Entebbe in 1976,
<a href="https://www.idf.il/en/minisites/wars-and-operations/operation-entebbe/">the Israeli Air Force accomplished a daring rescue mission.</a>
What would have happened to those Jewish hostages had there not been a
Jewish State with an air force? We already know the answer.</p><p>No person can answer the question of <a href="https://unitedwithisrael.org/where-was-god-during-the-holocaust/">where was God during the Holocaust</a>,
but Nobel laureate/Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel declared "After the
Holocaust I did not lose faith in God. I lost faith in mankind." Put
another way, if it can be said that absolute power corrupts then <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2020/04/violence-non-violent-non-cooperation.html">it also must be said, in the words of Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, that "powerlessness corrupts most of all."</a></p>Yad
Vashem exists to remind the world what the Nazis did to the Jewish
people during the Holocaust so that such an atrocity will never happen
again, and the Israeli Air Force exists so that the Jewish people never
again experience absolute powerlessness. Understood in those terms, it
is not surprising that those who deny that the Holocaust happened also
deny the Jewish State's right to exist: Iran seeks to both deny and
repeat the Holocaust.<p></p><p></p></blockquote><p></p><p>One last point: it makes neither political sense nor military sense for Israel's leaders to talk about declaring war or about the unprecedented response that they will deliver. Hamas declared war against Israel a long time ago, and Israel can only win this war with appropriate, decisive military action, not by talking about taking military action. Well done is infinitely better than well said. The murdered, the injured, and the mourners deserve no less than total victory such that Hamas never fires another bullet, launches another rocket, or films another video celebrating their murderous rampages. </p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-64170115934407551202023-10-07T14:15:00.011-04:002024-02-01T15:22:09.169-05:00The Implications of Hamas' Surprise Attack Against Israel <p>Recently, I wrote about <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/09/israels-ongoing-oslo-accords-folly.html">Israel's Ongoing Oslo Accords Folly</a>, concluding, "The core unresolved issue is not 'land for peace' nor is it autonomy; it
is the unrelenting quest to destroy Israel that is fomented by various
Arab/Islamic states and the terrorist groups (including the PLO, Hamas,
Hezbollah, al Qaeda, and others) that they sponsor. There is zero chance
that Israel giving up land will resolve that issue, and the Oslo
Accords are just one example of the folly of assuming otherwise." </p><p>This morning, Israel witnessed and felt the tragic results of decades of believing in the "land for peace" dream: Israel gave up land but never received peace, and now has suffered a massive attack by Hamas, the Iranian-sponsored terrorist group. Hamas launched a surprise, multi-pronged land, air, and sea attack against Israel. The full devastating scope of this attack is still not completely known, but it has been reported that more than 100 Israelis have been killed, more than 1000 Israelis have been injured, and an unknown but large number of Israelis have been captured. Hamas no doubt looks forward to exchanging those innocent Israelis for murderers who are imprisoned in Israel. Israel has a long, pathetic history of capitulating to terrorist demands by participating in <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2011/10/netanyahus-shalit-deal-recklessly.html">lopsided exchanges during which terrorists release a few innocent Israelis while Israel sets free imprisoned terrorists, many of whom have blood on their hands.</a> I agreed with those who called the prisoner exchange that Israel did on behalf of Gilad Shalit <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2011/10/caroline-glick-declares-that-netanyahus.html">"a pact signed in Jewish blood,"</a> and I wonder how many terrorists that Israel released in that 2011 deal (and other such deals) directly participated in today's Hamas attack. It is also evident that the weakness that Israel displayed in making such deals emboldened Hamas to escalate its war to kill Jews and destroy the State of Israel.<a href="a large number of imprisoned terrorists, many of whom have blood on their hands"> <br /></a></p><p>Hamas attacked Israel on the morning of Simchat Torah, a joyous Jewish holiday celebrating the completion of the annual cycle of Torah reading; on the secular calendar, today is 50 years and one day after Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated surprise attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, Judaism's most important holiday. This dual timing--attacking on a Jewish holiday based on the Jewish calendar, which is (because of the differences between the Jewish calendar and the secular calendar) also nearly the anniversary of a previous major surprise attack against Israel--is obviously not coincidental. </p><p>It should be noted that the strategic depth provided by Sinai, Gaza, Judea, Samaria, and the Golan Heights played a key role in Israel's victory in the Yom Kippur War. Israel gave up much of that strategic depth in a series of treaties, starting with the 1978 Camp David Accords. Even without considering Israel's legal right to retain control of those territories, from a military standpoint it was a huge blunder for a small country like Israel to give up so much strategic depth--and today many Israelis paid the ultimate price for that blunder, as Hamas used Gaza--which should have been Israel's strategic buffer--as a launching pad for attacks deep into the heart of Israel.<br /></p><p></p><p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should resign in disgrace--not for the nonsensical reasons often cited by the Left, but because he failed in his most important task: protecting the lives of Israel's citizens. Netanyahu did not sign the Oslo Accords--the dead, wounded, and captured Israelis can thank Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, and their government for that disaster--but Netanyahu failed to reverse the damage caused by the Oslo Accords, and he compounded the problem by giving up more land. Further, he failed to defeat Hamas, and under his watch the Israel Defense Forces were unprepared to deal with Hamas' massive surprise attack. This lack of preparedness is not only a tactical failure at the operational level, but also a failure at the political level to understand the nature and dimensions of the situation. Netanyahu just declared war on Hamas, which highlights how out of touch he is with reality: Hamas declared war on Israel decades ago, and the refusal of Netanyahu (and far too many other Israelis) to recognize that Israel is at war did not make that war cease to exist. Media outlets often portray Netanyahu as a right-wing extremist but the reality is that he is someone who speaks the language of the right-wing (which is not by definition extremist, even though many media outlets pretend that all right-wingers are extremists) while refusing to enact right-wing policies: a right-wing policy (from Israel's perspective) would involve publicly stating the truth about the full nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict and then governing the nation accordingly. Israel's true right-wingers have been pleading with Netanyahu to do this, but he refused, and we now see the horrific results of his failure.<br /></p><p>If Israel intends to survive long-term without facing daily terrorist
attacks on her citizens, this war can only have one outcome: complete
destruction of Hamas and all affiliated groups, combined with a
political restructuring of how Gaza, Judea, and Samaria are governed. It
is unacceptable and untenable for terrorist groups to control these areas. Today's surprise attack is a predictable disastrous outcome escalating a war has been smoldering for many years, aided and abetted both
by flawed American Mideast policies and the refusal of most media
outlets to accurately depict the events on the ground. Israel's <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2014/08/eyeless-clueless-and-senseless-in-gaza.html">failure to destroy Hamas after repeated Hamas attacks against Israel</a> made today's massive attack inevitable.</p><p>Unfortunately, Israel will achieve--at best--a pyrrhic victory over Hamas, and that victory will be accompanied by a wave of international condemnation of Israel followed by calls for Israel to trade more land for peace. <br /></p><p>The broad outline of events for the next few weeks is sadly predictable:</p><p>1) For the next 24-48 hours, America and many Western countries will express sympathy for Israel.</p><p>2) After 48 hours at most, attention will shift to Israel's allegedly "disproportionate" response, and both sides--but mostly Israel--will be urged to "act with restraint."</p><p>3) Most media outlets will present false narratives about alleged "legitimate Palestinian grievances" that supposedly justify Hamas' attacks. Few people will have the courage to publicly <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/01/who-are-invaders-and-who-are-invaded.html">state the truth</a>: </p><p></p><blockquote></blockquote><p></p><blockquote>There has never been a sovereign country called Palestine, nor is
there a distinct Palestinian people. If you don't believe me, then
consider the words of Zuheir Mohsen, who was a high-ranking PLO leader
in the 1970s. In a March 1977 interview with the Dutch newspaper <u>Trouw</u>, Mohsen declared:</blockquote><p></p><p><span class="CssComponent__CssInlineComponent-sc-1oskqb9-1 UserSelectableText___StyledCssInlineComponent-lsmoq4-0 kghFzc"><span class="q-box qu-userSelect--text" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></span></p><p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 1em; overflow-wrap: anywhere;"><span style="background: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 1em; overflow-wrap: anywhere;"><span style="background: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 1em; overflow-wrap: anywhere;"><span style="background: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">The
Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state
is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel
for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between
Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and
tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian
people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence
of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism.</span></p> <p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 1em; overflow-wrap: anywhere;"><span style="background: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">For
tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined
borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian,
I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem.
However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will
not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.</span></p></blockquote><p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 1em; overflow-wrap: anywhere;"><span style="background: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span></p></blockquote><p class="q-text qu-display--block qu-wordBreak--break-word qu-textAlign--start" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 1em; overflow-wrap: anywhere;"><span style="background: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span></p><blockquote>The
word
Palestine has nothing to do with Arab or Islamic history, but it dates
back to the Latin name that the Romans gave to Judea (the second Jewish
Commonwealth) after conquering and
subjugating the Jewish people (and the Latin name is derived from a
Greek word). After destroying the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, the Romans
renamed the city Aelia Capitolina, and they proudly printed coins
bearing the words
"Judea Capta." The Roman Empire was long ago consigned to history's
dustbin, but the Jewish people are still here and the Jewish people have
reestablished their historical state in their historical land. We know
when the first Jewish Commonwealth was founded
(roughly 3000 years ago), we know its approximate and fluctuating
borders, we know that Jerusalem was its political capital and main
religious center, we know when that state was conquered by the
Babylonians
(roughly 2500 years ago), we know when the Maccabees established a
second Jewish Commonwealth (roughly 2200 years ago), we know when the
second Jewish Commonwealth was conquered by the Roman Empire (roughly
2100 years ago), and we know
when the final Jewish revolt against Rome was defeated (less than 2000
years ago). We know that the people in the first and second Jewish
Commonwealths spoke Hebrew. <p></p><p>In contrast, the notion of a
distinct Palestinian Arab nation is quite recent, and has no historical
basis. The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) was founded in Cairo,
Egypt in 1964, with funding and support provided by the Soviet Union.
What exactly was the PLO founded to "liberate"? In 1964, Egypt
controlled Gaza, while Jordan controlled Judea and Samaria plus the
eastern portion of Jerusalem. If the PLO had been truly interested in
creating a Palestinian national state in Gaza plus the West Bank then
why was the PLO conducting terrorist attacks against Israel, a nation
that had no control over the areas that the PLO supposedly wanted to
"liberate"? Of course, the reality is that the Soviet Union helped
create the PLO to destabilize Israel and thus increase the Soviet
Union's influence and power in the region. This was all about oil and
about expanding Communism's reach, and had nothing to do with helping
"Palestinians" or creating a "Palestinian" nation. That is why the PLO
and other Arab/Islamic terrorist groups are still waging war against
Israel decades after Israel gave up control of Gaza and of portions of
the so-called West Bank: the goal is not creating a "Palestinian" state
but rather destroying the Jewish State. The PLO has not even attempted
to create a functioning government in Gaza, because the PLO was not
created to govern, does not know how to govern, and has no interest in
governing. </p>This is a tragedy not only for Israel, but also for
the innocent Arabs who are not terrorists and who just want to live in
peace; being placed under the control of the PLO was the worst thing
that happened to those Arabs, but many media outlets would rather blame
Israel than examine and explain historical truths.</blockquote><p>Until the nations of the world, the U.N., and major media outlets speak truth to power about both Israel and about the Palestine myth, there will never be Mideast peace.</p><p>4) In three to six weeks, Israel will declare victory. That victory will result in some form of limited ceasefire or Israel ending major military operations--but Gaza will still be governed by Hamas, and large portions of Judea and Samaria will still be governed by the terrorist organization that calls itself the Palestinian Authority, even though there is no such country as Palestine and the only "authority" that this terrorist organization exercises is waging war against Israel.</p><p></p><p></p><p>You may think that the United States should not care about or help Israel; perhaps you believe anti-Israel propaganda, or maybe you think that whatever happens to a bunch of Jews and Arabs on the other side of the world should not be a policy concern of the United States. It is important to understand that despotic regimes like Iran--and the terrorist organizations that Iran supports, including Hamas--will not be satisfied if they destroy Israel. Iran and her allies refer to <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/08/palestinian-authority-destroys.html">Israel as "The Little Satan" and the United States as "The Great Satan."</a> Do not be fooled by anyone who suggests that Iran only hates the United States because the United States supports Israel; this is a war of competing ideologies--Western-style open democracy versus radical Islam--and that war exists on a global scale, even if someone is foolish enough to believe that the war does not exist. Netanyahu just declared into existence a war that has been going on for decades; let's hope that it does not require a similar frontal assault on American soil for the United States to understand the existence (and grave implications) of this war. </p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Radical Islamists take a long view of history; they have waged war against Israel and the West for decades, and they will continue to wage this war until they win or until they are defeated. The sooner that Israel and the West acknowledges this stark reality the better.</span></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427625570711168138.post-89785494438273120372023-09-28T23:08:00.003-04:002024-02-01T15:18:56.701-05:00Israel's Ongoing Oslo Accords Folly<p>In <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-oslo-accords-began-israels-folly-with-the-palestinians-plo-conflict-peace-terrorist-36661be1">The Oslo Accords Began Israel’s Folly With the Palestinians</a>
(September 19, 2023 <i>The Wall Street Journal</i> Op-Ed; subscription required), Israeli Brigadier General Amir Avivi describes
in detail how disastrous the 1993 Oslo Accords have been for Israel. He begins by referencing historian Barbara Tuchman's definition of folly in her
1984 book <b>The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam</b>:</p><p></p><blockquote>Tuchman
defines folly as the pursuit by government of policies contrary to its
own interests, whose adverse effects are apparent in real time, with the
availability of feasible alternatives. The perpetrators are a group,
not a single ruler, whose leadership spans longer than a generation.
Israel's implementation of the Oslo Accords, which were signed 30 years
ago this month, meets all her criteria.</blockquote><p>For reasons that I
will explain below, I disagree with Avivi's contention that the very
notion of creating Palestinian autonomy is not folly, but I agree with
him that--to the extent that any potential path for peace in the Land of
Israel exists--the most logical course for Israel is direct negotiation
with her Arab neighbors. As Avivi noted, Israel could have dealt
directly with local Arab leaders in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza instead of
reviving the fortunes of the PLO and its leader Yasser Arafat. Israel's failure to deal directly with local Arab leaders stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of the basic historical facts combined with a refusal to recognize that the PLO, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas are not entities focused on Palestinian rights or Palestinian liberation; the PLO, the PA, and Hamas are focused on destroying Israel, and on killing as many Jews as possible as a means to achieving Israel's destruction. The popular slogan <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-latest-un-anti-israel-resolution-is.html">"Free Palestine" actually means "Destroy Israel, expel (or kill) all of the Jews, and create yet another Arab/Muslim dictatorship in the Mideast."</a></p><p>It is often asserted that what is variously referred to as the "Mideast Conflict" or the "Arab-Israeli Conflict" is difficult to understand. It may be difficult to resolve--for a variety of reasons--but the basic facts are easy to understand, as I noted in <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-york-times-minimizes-jewish.html">The New York Times Minimizes the Jewish People's Ancient Connection to the Land of Israel</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>It is not difficult to find accurate historical information about
Judea, Samaria, the pre-modern Land of Israel, and related topics--but
such information runs counter to the "greater good" of destroying Israel
to create yet another Arab state in the Mideast, so such information is
generally ignored by most media outlets.</p><p>Here are a few articles worth reading:</p><p><a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-claim-to-the-land-of-israel">Pre-State Israel: Jewish Claim To The Land Of Israel</a></p><p><a href="https://israelipalestinian.procon.org/questions/what-are-the-jewish-ties-to-the-land-where-israel-and-the-palestinian-territories-currently-exist/">What Are the Jewish Ties to the Land Where Israel and the Palestinian Territories Currently Exist?</a> </p><p><a href="https://www.science.co.il/israel-history/">A Brief History of Israel and the Jewish People</a><br /></p><p></p><p>It
is interesting that Israel's enemies dismiss any historically accurate
material that mentions Jewish ties to the Land of Israel because they
claim that such material is from biased sources, yet they accept on
faith material from obviously biased sources that provide no evidence
for ahistorical antisemitic and anti-Zionist claims. Here are a few
questions to ponder when trying to evaluate source materials and claims:</p><p>1)
When someone asserts or implies that "Palestine" was ever an
independent Arab/Muslim country--as opposed to a geographical region
occupied by various empires since the Roman Empire destroyed Judea--ask
that person when exactly did that country independently exist, what were
that country's borders, and when/how did that country cease to exist?</p><p>2)
If such a country ever existed, why are there no credible historical
documents or maps referencing an independent country named "Palestine?" <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/01/who-are-invaders-and-who-are-invaded.html">One
useful way to understand this is to think about the difference between
correctly saying that there is a geographical region within America
called the Midwest, and incorrectly saying that there was/is an
independent nation state called the Midwest</a>.<br /></p><p>3) It is
often asserted that Zionists "stole" Palestine and colonized it, with
comparisons made to how Americans drove Indian tribes off of tribal
land--but maps exist showing when/where various Indian tribal nations
existed. When/where did Palestine exist as an independent nation?</p>Once
you understand that there is no such thing as a separate Palestinian
Arab nation, then you realize (1) the creation of this fictional
national identity was meant to delegitimize and destroy Zionism, (2) the
solution to the Palestinian Arab refugee crisis involves the affected
people (a) accepting Israeli citizenship or (b) relocating to any
Arab/Muslim state that will take in people who decline to be Israeli
citizens. The notion that a viable Arab state can or should be carved
out of Israeli territory not only lacks legal or historical
justification but plainly will not work given the realities on the
ground (i.e., the PLO, Hamas, and the nation states that sponsor them
are not in the business of solving refugee crises but rather they are in
the business of <a href="http://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-palestinian-authoritys-sickening.html">killing Jews and attempting to annihilate Israel</a>).</blockquote><p></p><p>Successful Mideast policies must be based on understanding and accepting the above historical facts, which is why the notion of Palestinian autonomy is folly (contra Avivi's assertion). The problem is not just that Israel made a disastrous decision to sign the Oslo Accords but rather that any attempt to resolve the "Mideast Conflict" that is not based on understanding and accepting historical facts is doomed to fail. Too many people either deny the historical facts or are afraid to state those facts and base policy decisions on those facts. For example, once one understands that Jordan is an Arab state carved out of the majority of the geographical entity Palestine one also understands that a Palestinian Arab state already exists. Thus, Arabs living in Israel, Judea, Samaria, or Gaza can choose to (1) live peacefully under Israeli rule or (2) live under Arab rule in Jordan (or any of the more than two dozen Arab states in the Mideast--or in Iran, which is not an Arab state but is a Muslim state). </p><p>The core unresolved issue is not "land for peace" nor is it autonomy; it is the unrelenting quest to destroy Israel that is fomented by various Arab/Islamic states and the terrorist groups (including the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah, al Qaeda, and others) that they sponsor. There is zero chance that Israel giving up land will resolve that issue, and the Oslo Accords are just one example of the folly of assuming otherwise.<br /></p><p>Many
leftists falsely accuse Israel of war crimes and of intentionally
harming Arab civilians, but the real war crime--or, to be precise, the
real treason--committed by Israel's government in the past three decades
is signing the Oslo Accords, which directly led to the <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/comprehensive-listing-of-terrorism-victims-in-israel">slaughter of more than 1300 Israeli civilians</a>.
As long as that treason goes unrecognized and unpunished, there will be
no justice and no peace in the Land of Israel, because justice and
peace cannot be built on a foundation of falsehood and terror. The PLO has publicly stated <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2022/04/our-war-is-with-jews-main-plo-faction.html">"Our war is with the Jews,"</a> and Arab/Muslim terrorists often chant, <a href="https://chanceandnecessity.blogspot.com/2023/02/president-joe-biden-funds-plos-pay-for.html">"We love death more than you love life."</a> Such a war conducted by people who fervently embrace a death-loving culture will not be resolved by Israel giving up land; indeed, if Israel disappeared, the war against the Jews--and against Western, democratic civilization--would not only continue: it would intensify, fueled by the "triumph" of destroying the "Little Satan" (Israel) and giddy about the possibility of destroying the "Great Satan" (America).</p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0