Exploring the Roots of the Transgender Alliance With Anti-Zionists

Anti-Zionism and antisemitism are two sides of the same evil coin, and antisemitism is primarily based on a combination of abhorrence of the Jewish values/moral code presented in the Torah with fear of individual and collective Jewish success against all odds during nearly two millennia of exile, and continuing since the modern rebirth of Israel.  

The alliance of transgender protest groups with anti-Zionist groups is irrational; the only place in the Mideast where transgender rights are protected is Israel, while Israel's enemies consist of tyrannical regimes that do not protect any of the rights taken for granted in the West, including but not limited to free speech, voting rights, women's rights, and the right to practice any religion other than Islam.

An important distinction must be made between individual rights--which should be afforded to all people--and rights being sought on a group level that interfere with other groups' rights. A person can "identify" as anything that the person wants to "identify"; that does not mean that a group of people who are not biologically women but who "identify" as women should be permitted to compete in sports against biological women, because permitting this puts the biological women at an inherent disadvantage. 

Israel's enemies do not acknowledge individual rights, nor do they acknowledge the special rights being sought by specific groups, and this is why many Leftist Jews are so upset and disillusioned by the way that transgender protest groups (and queer protest groups) have embraced anti-Zionism with such enthusiasm and venom. Leftist Jews naively assumed that by partnering with other Leftists to advocate for various group rights they would be protected from antisemitism, but antisemitism is irrational and antisemites do not think rationally about Jews (or much else).

The irrationality of the alliance of transgender protest groups with anti-Zionist groups can be explained by the larger irrationality that has consumed the Left, as Stephen Pollard eloquently points out in "The Israel-Trans Protest Nexis" (June 2025 Commentary): 

At the most basic level, both trans ideology and the pro-Palestine obsession are the result of developments that have been in the making for decades: the supremacy of postmodern thought on campus and the rise of moral relativism. Postmodernism reject the very idea of universal truths and objective reality. If there is no such thing as good or bad, only different and equally valid, then science too is not objective fact but rather a product of social, cultural, and political factors, including gender. Sex is therefore not a biological statement of fact but an assertion of gender, power, and social structure. The rise of Palestinian activism has similar origins. Terrorism is not terrorism; it is resistance. October 7 was not a massacre; it was an uprising. To assert this is not to fall victim to an ideological fad but to be in possession of both superior intelligence and superior understanding--and to be on the right side of history. 

Pollard notes that one of the major methods for mass dissemination of these postmodernist views is connected with "the Russian and Chinese strategy of destabilizing the West through academia." Postmodernist views are not just tolerated in academia; they are fully endorsed, and because a high percentage of media members are products of academia the mainstream media outlets amplify these postmodernist views to a large audience beyond academia. Similar amplification is happening on social media. Pollard quotes Scott Galloway (a professor of marketing at New York University) stating that Tik Tok's widespread influence is equivalent to the Chinese Communist Party having "implanted a neural jack into every under-30."

The impact of postmodernist views is that their adherents seek to undermine--in the words of Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic describing the pernicious influence of Critical Race Theory--"the liberal order...legal reasoning...and neutral principles of constitutional law," and replace those bedrock foundations of the West with a Marxist world view that spread misery and disaster when implemented in the former Soviet Union, China, Cuba, Cambodia, and many other countries.

A society that abandons the liberal order, legal reasoning, and neutral principles of constitutional law not only poses grave danger to Jews; such a society, if it does not reverse course, will collapse into a morass of tyranny and suffering.  

Releasing Murderers to Free Hostages is as Immoral as it is Shortsighted

In Israel, Hamas, and the Islamic Concepts Dar al-Islam Versus Dar al-harb, I explained why ceasefires, "two state solutions," and any step short of the total defeat of the Islamists will be disastrous for Israel and the West: 

Hamas' surprise attack on Israel 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. The barbarism at the core of radical Islam 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 Dar al-harb--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 Dar al-Islam (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). 

While Hamas' October 7, 2023 mass casualty terrorist attack was still taking place, I made several predictions about what would happen next, and I am sad to report that all of my predictions came true (albeit on a more extended timeline than I expected, because I never imagined that Israel would let this war drag out for more than two years before declaring victory upon retreating): 

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.

The broad outline of events for the next few weeks is sadly predictable:

1) For the next 24-48 hours, America and many Western countries will express sympathy for Israel.

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."

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 state the truth: 

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 Trouw, Mohsen declared:

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

As I predicted, the world turned against Israel and placed unreasonable demands on Israel while justifying Hamas' crimes against humanity; as I predicted, Israel declared victory without winning the war, and accepted a ceasefire that did not dismantle Hamas or the kleptocratic Palestinian Authority that rules parts of Judea and Samaria that Israel foolishly conceded as part of the Oslo Accords.

After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to release 2000 terrorists in exchange for Hamas releasing 20 live hostages and 28 bodies of hostages, Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir spoke truth to power when addressing American envoys Jared Kusher and Steve Witkoff: "Would you make peace with Hitler? Hamas is Hitler. They want to kill us." 

Just a glance at the list of terrorists released by Israel is as heartbreaking as it is infuriating:

The list includes several terrorists involved in the Ramallah lynching in 2000, one of the most severe events in the history of Palestinian Arab terrorism. Among those to be released is Baher Dar, sentenced to 11 life sentences for his role in the Tzrifin suicide bombing in 2004 and other attacks in Tel Aviv.

A terrorist previously released in the Shalit deal, who was later re-arrested at Shifa Hospital in Gaza after returning to terrorist activities, will also be released.

Ibrahim Alikem — the murderer of Ita Tzur and her 12-year-old son Efrayim in an ambush near Ramallah in 1996 — will be released after serving a life sentence and being re-imprisoned a decade after his first arrest.

Fares Ghanem, sentenced to nine life sentences for eight murders, will be released. Along with him, the kidnapper and murderer of Yuri Gushchin, as well as Atiyah Abu Samhadga, who raped and murdered a Jewish woman, will be freed.

Among those to be released are also Jafar Al-Zaatari, a senior Hamas operative responsible for several suicide bombings; the murderer of Dalia Lemkus; Iyem Kammamji, arrested in 2006 for involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Eliyahu Asheri and one of the escapees from Gilboa Prison in 2021; and Hussein Jawadrah, who murdered soldier Eden Attias at the age of 16.

Riyad Al-Amour, a senior member of the Tanzim terrorist organization, will also be released. He was convicted for his role in the deaths of nine Israeli civilians and IDF officers, including Brigadier-General Yehuda Edri, as well as for the murder of three Palestinian Arabs suspected of collaboration with Israel.

Additionally, Nabil Abu Hadir, who murdered his sister, and the head of Tanzim in Tulkarm, who participated in dozens of shooting and bombing attacks, will be released.

The perpetrator of the 2002 Neve Yaakov attack, in which policewoman Galit Arviv was killed and eight police officers and civilians were injured, is also expected to be released.

The murderers of Shin Bet coordinator Haim Nachmani, the handlers of the suicide bomber responsible for the Carmel Market attack, and the head of the Islamic Jihad military wing in Jenin, Iyad Abu Al-Rub, will also be included in the deal.

Among the released will be Israeli terrorists, including the perpetrator of the murder of 11 Israelis in a Line 20 Jerusalem bus attack in 2002. Also included are Emad Shahada, who raped and murdered a teen; Arafat Zeer, who orchestrated the At-Taniel suicide bombing; and Iman Kurd, who stabbed two police officers in 2016 and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Other releases include Ahmad Mahmoud Ali Ka’abna, who murdered Hagit Zavitzky and Liat Kastiel; Hamdallah Ali, a senior Hamas figure in Judea and Samaria, released in the Shalit deal and later re-arrested at Shifa Hospital; and Hazam Awad, a senior Fatah operative behind a series of deadly attacks.

Taleb Mahamrah, a senior Fatah member who murdered five Israelis and other Palestinian Arabs, as well as Ismail Hamdan and the head of Tanzim in Bethlehem, Adnan Abi'at, will also be released. In addition, Musa Safen, who murdered his mother for marrying a Jew, and the murderer of Chief Sergeant Moshe Dayan, are included.

Among the released is Nader Abu Turki, previously freed in the Shalit deal, who recruited a suicide bomber and carried out a shooting attack. After his release, he became a key liaison between Hamas in Turkey and Hamas in Judea and Samaria; he will not be deported. Ahmad Siyag, who stabbed a female soldier four years ago, and Zaid Ghanidi, head of a terror cell in Hebron recently thwarted by Shin Bet, will also be released.

In Raw deal, Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Esq. laments Israel's decision to set free terrorists:

The Entebbe rescue was the last time that Israel could present itself to the world as a nation that does not kowtow to terrorists, and that was almost fifty years ago. Since then, we have become one of the most courageous fighters and at the same time, one of the most craven appeasers of terror in the world. We know it, the enemy knows it, and the enemy knows it so well that he will repeat this tactic when it suits him and then repeat it again.

It is good that Nazi sympathizers were unaware of this in the early 1960’s or they would have simply kidnapped one hundred Jews and demanded the release of Adolf Eichmann in return...

What is wrong with us? We console ourselves that this weakness shows our compassion and concern for life but true compassion and concern for life also demands deterring future murders and kidnappings. Instead, we are encouraging it, even incentivizing it. We can pat ourselves on the back that we are not releasing "that guy," whoever he is, or Nukhba this or that, but eventually we will. We know it, and certainly they know it, so who are we fooling, and why are we inciting our enemy to do whatever it takes to free Barghouti and other assorted terrorists, rapists, murderers, and kidnappers, in the next round? Why play that macabre game when we know we will lose?

We have repeatedly announced to the world that Jewish blood is cheap. We are among those who cheapen it, if this is the best strategy we have. PM Netanyahu has successes on his ledger, but among his most compelling failures is being the prime minister who negotiated the Sinwar deal (freeing 1200 terrorists including the October 7 mastermind in exchange for one soldier) and then freeing thousands more in the deals of the last two years. The Arabs will kidnap and murder again; it is not a question of if, but when. The only real question is how many and, of course, who?

Who will be the next Jewish victims of Arab terror and kidnapping?

If Netanyahu once (1987) authored a book entitled, "Terrorism: How the West Can Win," he could now write the sequel, "Terrorism: How it got the better of Israel." For that alone - the failure to deter this tactic and instead habituate the world to expect this Israeli capitulation to terror - he should be driven from political life. This does not come from any anti-Netanyahu bias; I respect what he has achieved as I can criticize what he has failed to achieve.

Note that the Midrash (Breisheet Raba 55:8) teaches that just as hatred distorts a person's view of reality, so does love. Those who hate whatever Netanyahu does simply because he does it are psychologically similar to those who love whatever Netanyahu does simply because he does it. Neither are thinking that much...

We see today that in a war between the civilized and the savage, the civilized can never win. They can at most stalemate because at a certain point - sometimes earlier, sometimes later - the denizens of the civilized society turn against the war, preferring the soothing fantasies of peaceniks to the harsh facts of real life. Similarly, in negotiations between the civilized and the savage, the savage will always win because he is unencumbered by any moral notions.

Witness this oddity, a first in history: those who claim to be victims of "genocide" have stridently and consistently opposed an end to that "genocide," and instead are driving a very hard bargain against the alleged perpetrators of the genocide. That is unprecedented; all prior victims of genocide just wanted it to stop, and quickly. It makes one wonder… 

No one should forget that after Netanyahu surrendered the Hebron Hills to the PLO, a terrorist sniper murdered 10 month old Shalhavet Pass; her blood--and the blood of all Jews murdered by terrorists after Netanyahu gave up land and/or set free terrorists--is on his hands, as will be the blood of those murdered by the terrorists Netanyahu is setting free now.

Israel has a pathetic history of turning imminent victory into humiliating defeat by releasing terrorists instead of defeating her enemies, and Israel's Gaza policy has been eyeless, clueless, and senseless for decades because that policy has focused on "mowing the lawn" instead of winning the war.

The sad, brutal reality of human nature is that violence is often necessary for survival, because non-violence when faced with an enemy that has genocidal intent is equivalent to suicide. In Understanding the Full Dimensions of Hamas' October 7, 2023 Mass Casualty Attack in Israel, I described how Israel's war in Gaza should end: 

The facts documented above point to several important conclusions/action items:

1) In order to survive, Israel must destroy Hamas, because Hamas has demonstrated the ability and inclination to inflict mass destruction on Israel.

2) Any ceasefire in Gaza helps Hamas to regroup, and is therefore an existential threat to Israel.

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.

In this context, it should also be remembered that--as I previously documented--after the creation of the modern State of Israel the Arab/Islamic countries expelled almost 1,000,000 Jews. 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).

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.

The tears of joy accompanying today's release of the remaining 20 living hostages in Gaza will inevitably be followed by tears of lamentation after the terrorists that Netanyahu set loose rape, abduct, and slaughter more victims. Who will have the necessary courage and power to hold Netanyahu and Trump accountable when that dreaded day happens?

Thoughts About Shalom Freedman's "Life as Creation" and About the Root Causes of Antisemitism

Shalom Freedman's 1993 book Life as Creation: A Jewish Way of Thinking About the World presents 780 aphorisms divided into six sections, with each section containing 10 chapters of 13 aphorisms each. The sections are "Mankind in Creation," "Jewish Creation," "God and Creation," "Creation and Everyday Moral Life," "Creation and the Life of the Mind," and "Literary Creation." In "An Additional Word to the Reader" (p. xv), Freedman explains, "The reader can begin anywhere, with any subject or entry that is of interest. But a line of argument does run through the work, and therefore the reader is advised to attempt a consecutive reading. Wisdom literature of this type does not lead itself to swift-paced, once-over-lightly reading. This is the kind of work that challenges the reader to interpretation and rereading."

The "line of argument" is that God created humans to emulate Him by creating freely. Humans can create in several ways, including partnering with God in realizing "the divine plan for the world," creating in the moral realm by "doing justice and mercy," and producing great creative works in philosophy, literature, science, and other fields. Part of the divine plan requires believing that "present evil is transient and that, of all evils that have been, there will come a compensation in greater redemption for the injured innocent" (p. 4).

It is inspiring to believe that we humans can partner with God both by "doing justice and mercy" and by using our individual gifts to create works of enduring value, but it is disturbing and puzzling that evil is so prevalent, even if we believe (or merely hope) that evil is "transient."

"Transient" means something much different to God--who by definition exists outside the boundaries of time and space--than it does to humans. Antisemitism is an evil that has existed for millennia, and has become more prevalent in recent years. The virulent persistence of antisemitism is as disturbing as the survival of the Jewish people against long odds is remarkable; antisemitism does not seem transient in Auschwitz' gas chambers, nor does it seem transient to those who narrowly escaped such a fate but mourn the loss of family members and friends. 

In chapter 17 of the "Jewish Creation" section, Freedman provides 13 aphorisms under the heading "Jewish Creation and Hatred of the Jews":

1 God chose the Jews even though He knew this would make them the most hated people in the history of mankind. No people wants to know that it is less valued, less loved, than another.

2 Jewish physical weakness, combined with spiritual greatness and later intellectual distinction, created the conditions by which evil hatred could lead to repeated efforts at the Jews' physical destruction.

3 The hatred and resentment the Jews experienced from other peoples helped them to create mechanisms of survival and adaptability that frequently worked. But there was no way to use these devices to escape from the systematic destruction devised for them by the European people, which prided itself on being supreme in all things--and was surely supreme in one--the doing of evil.

4 Christianity and Islam each has its own separate tradition of repaying with evil those who provided them with their first understanding of God.

5 The price the Jews have had to pay for being loved so strongly by God has been being hated so strongly by humanity.

6 It is natural to resent those who are more successful than us, those who do better than us. But the wish to destroy them comes only when we sense they are depriving us of our own world. Thus, the closer the Jews came to being at the center of creation in various European societies, the more strongly they were hated.

7 The Christian son accuses the Jewish father of having tried to murder him so he can justify his own desire to be rid of the father's conscience.

8 Not only do other peoples envy the Jews, the Jews also envy other peoples. This has played a part in Jewish creation, in the Jewish learning to take upon themselves the character of other peoples. Time and again the Jews have known how to imitate and become the others in the effort to belong to worlds they eventually discovered were not their own.

9 Most peoples consider themselves chosen at some point in their history. How difficult it must be for a people to relate to a prior claim of chosenness, especially one based not on position or power but on closeness to God.

10 The Christians envied the Jews for what no people in antiquity would have thought to envy: their suffering.

11 Envy of the Jews appears to be a constant theme of human history that will not disappear until the messianic age when all know God is One.

12 The projection of one's own forbidden impulses upon the scapegoat is the simple psychological device of much hatred of the Jews. The Jews are frequently accused of everything the others inwardly know is wrong with themselves.

13 The effects of others' hatred of the Jews is also expressed in desperate efforts on the part of Jews to re-create themselves as others. In other words, hatred of the Jews also leads to that cowardly kind of Jewish response known as assimilation, the sacrifice of one's true self for a promised self that will never be completely real.  

It must be emphasized that the Jewish belief in being the "Chosen People"--which is referenced in Freedman's first aphorism--is a very misunderstood and misrepresented concept; this has nothing to do with Jews believing themselves to be superior or believing non-Jews to be inferior: it is a core Jewish belief that the Jewish people were chosen by God to have additional responsibilities involving not only the observance of 613 Biblical commandments (non-Jews are only bound by the seven Noahide laws) but also being a "light unto the nations" (in the words of the prophet Isaiah).

Freedman's first aphorism does not explain antisemitism other than suggesting that antisemitism's existence is somehow part of the divine plan, without indicating why antisemitism is a necessary part of the divine plan. 

It is true, as suggested by the second aphorism, that the combination of collective Jewish physical weakness and significant spiritual and intellectual achievements by Jews created the necessary preconditions for antisemitism to develop and spread. 

Freedman's third aphorism is correct that during nearly 2000 years of exile the Jewish people developed many different collective and individual survival techniques; it is a cruel paradox that the very techniques that were at least somewhat successful for so many centuries were woefully inadequate--and, in fact, counterproductive--in the face of the Nazis' overwhelming technological power paired with genocidal intent. Enemies of the Jewish people prior to the Nazis did not possess the technological means to kill every Jew, and most of those enemies preferred to degrade and terrorize Jews as opposed to annihilating the Jewish people. Negotiation, ransom paying, and acceptance of discriminatory laws without overt rebellion enabled the Jewish people to survive two millennia of Christian antisemitism rooted in the notion that the Jews should suffer "perpetual servitude" but not total annihilation--but the only way to survive the Nazis was to escape or fight, because any form of accommodation merely delayed the inexorable genocide.

Freedman's fourth aphorism highlights the sad reality that Christianity and Islam--two religions with deep Jewish roots--both have long histories of virulent antisemitism (and those histories have not ended, particularly regarding Muslims but also regarding significant numbers of Christians as well).

The fifth aphorism rephrases the first aphorism.

The sixth aphorism addresses the heart of the matter: a major root cause of antisemitism is envy.

The seventh aphorism speaks a blunt truth that is painful for Christians of good conscience to hear, but it must be stated: organized Christianity (in varied forms, including but not limited to the Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations) promoted (and, in many instances, still promotes) antisemitism based on the Christ-killer slander. The historical reality is that the Jew known as Jesus of Nazareth was executed by Roman authorities, not by the Jewish people who were occupied and oppressed by the Romans. Jews could not order Romans to execute or not execute someone in the Roman Empire, just like Jews could not order Nazis to execute or not execute someone; to suggest otherwise is bizarre and ahistorical.

The eighth aphorism delves into the psychology of Jewish people responding to antisemitism by trying to be more like non-Jewish people, without realizing that antisemites will never let Jews assimilate; some of the worst outbreaks of antisemitic violence take place against Jewish communities with high rates of assimilation/secularization. Nazi Germany is the most obvious example, but it should also be noted that a large number of the victims of Hamas' October 7, 2023 mass casualty terrorist attack were Leftist, assimilated Jews.

The ninth aphorism alludes to envy of the Jewish people because of the Jewish people's perceived or actual closeness to God, echoing and amplifying the sixth aphorism; one of the root causes of antisemitism is the belief/fear that Jews are special.

The 10th and 11th aphorisms discuss suffering and envy. Christianity focuses a lot on suffering--starting with Jesus' agonizing death on the cross--and it is not surprising that collectively Christians envy Jewish suffering, because Jesus is supposed to be the supreme example of suffering but history shows that the Jewish people have suffered (and continue to suffer) immensely. 

We often see examples of the 12th aphorism in both traditional media outlets and social media platforms, as Israel's enemies who attempt genocide against the Jewish people falsely accuse Israel of committing genocide. 

The 13th aphorism reinforces the eighth aphorism and summarizes the psychological impact of antisemitism: many Jews respond to relentless hatred by suppressing or denying their identity.

Much has been written and said about the underlying causes of antisemitism. Freedman's aphorisms attribute antisemitism to a combination of collective Jewish physical weakness, envy, and projection of one's own forbidden impulses. Antisemitism is often described as a puzzling or even mystical phenomenon, but antisemitism can be understood in simple terms: antisemitism is rooted in a combination of fear and shame. Antisemites simultaneously reject Jewish values and feel shame after rejecting those values, as I explained in The Fear and Shame at the Heart of Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism:

Freud once wrote that Jews are not really hated because of the Christian accusation that the Jews killed God but rather because the Jews created the concept of God by giving humanity the monotheistic idea. Freud argued that, subconsciously, people prefer to live like cave dwellers--without any strictly defined moral code--and thus people do not want to hear about a God who admonishes that you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet. Freud believed that Jews are hated for being the messengers of God's moral code.

Adolf Hitler's private conversations with associates, as reported in Hermann Rauschning's book The Voice of Destruction and quoted in Adam A. Winston's article "Criteria for the Distribution of Unclaimed Assets" (published in the September/October 1999 issue of Midstream), support and amplify the viewpoint of antisemitism functioning as a rejection of Jewish values. Hitler is quoted is saying the following:

"Conscience is a Jewish invention. It is a blemish, like circumcision."

"Providence has ordained that I should be the greatest liberator of humanity. I am freeing men from the restraints of an intelligence that has taken charge: from the dirty and degraded self-mortifications called conscience and morality, and from the demands of a freedom and personal independence, which only a few can bear."

"Thou shalt not steal? Wrong! All life is theft."

"Against the so-called Ten Commandments, against them we are fighting."

It is worth noting in this context that even when Nazi Germany was losing on the battlefield to the Allies, Hitler refused to divert the resources being used to exterminate the Jews to bolster the war effort; for Hitler, killing as many Jews as possible was more important than winning the war on the battlefield. 

This is an example of why the scapegoat theory does not adequately explain the persistence and virulence of antisemitism. Yes, the Jewish people are often used as scapegoats for a host of ills, but that is a result of antisemitism and not the root cause of antisemitism. As Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin put it in their book Why the Jews?, "Antisemitism was not a vehicle for the Nazis; Nazism was a vehicle for antisemitism" (p. 74).

The fear aspect of antisemitism stems from the fact that the Jewish people and Jewish history are not normal. The Jewish people have not merely survived in the face of overwhelming obstacles; they have thrived, making significant contributions to art, literature, science, and many other human endeavors. How is it possible for a tiny, persecuted minority to not only produce so many successful individuals but also to rebuild their homeland nearly two millennia after being exiled? The powerful Roman Empire destroyed the Second Jewish Commonwealth, but today the State of Israel lives long after the Roman Empire disappeared--and, unlike the rebirth of Jewish nationhood, the Roman Empire will never rise again. 

The Leftist version of history that has conquered large swathes of academia--thanks in no small part to Qatari funding--classifies individuals and nations as either "oppressors/victimizers" or as "oppressed/victims," with those categories strictly defined, usually by race; the Jewish people do not fit neatly into this paradigm, and Israel's rebirth in the 20th century refutes the notion that it is impossible for oppressed people to overcome their dire circumstances, forcing the Left to either reject their preferred narratives or else classify Jews as "oppressors/victimizers." Tragically--for both Jews and for those who are really being oppressed but are ignored as the Left relentlessly slanders Jews and Israel--the Left has chosen to classify Jews and Israel as "oppressors." I discussed this in The Fear and Shame at the Heart of Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism: 

Israel has accomplished so much in just a few decades despite being surrounded by large, hostile neighbors who have repeatedly attacked Israel with the stated goal of destroying Israel--and several of the countries in the region still actively finance and foment terrorist attacks against Israel and against Jews around the world. 

Why has Israel been so spectacularly successful while so many other former British colonies are mired in poverty and ruled by totalitarian regimes? Israel's neighbors--and developing countries around the world--too often do not look at Israel as a role model, but rather as a success story that they fear, and that makes them feel ashamed at their own failures. As a result, many have decided to demonize Israel and to discount Israel as an illegitimate country whose successes are not the product of hard work and ingenuity. Israel has become the personification of the Jew in the world. The irrational fears that many people have about the disproportionate success of individual Jews have now also been directed against the disproportionate success of the Jewish State. 

In the February 1988 issue of Commentary, Hilton Kramer noted that deep-seated hostility toward Israel often emanates from "the political culture of the international Left. It is based on, among other things, that lethal combination of guilt, fear, cynicism, and sentimentality toward the Third World that is now one of the most destructive and disabling issues in world affairs--destructive and disabling, that is, to the democracies (It is a boon, of course, to totalitarianism.). As a model of post-colonial democratic government, Israel is a standing reproach to the ongoing political debacle of the Third World. That isn't the only reason Israel has become a target of the international Left, but it is one of the primary reasons."

It is not a coincidence that antisemitism and anti-Zionism are connected to anti-American sentiments, because those 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: "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" (Ralph Peters, "The Shah Always Falls," interviewed by Fredric Smoler in the February/March 2003 issue of American Heritage).

It has become fashionable for antisemites to assert that they only hate Zionists, not Jews, but, as I noted in Anti-Zionism is Antisemitism, "It is important to emphasize that Anti-Zionism is Indistinguishable From Antisemitism Because Israel is the Jewish Homeland. It is absurd to assert that a person can hate Israel and deny Israel's right to exist but not hate Jews. Further, the denial of a nation's right to exist is a unique form of hatred directed only at the Jewish State and not at any other nation no matter how heinous that nation's actions."

Antisemitism threatens not only Jews but it also threatens the stability of the nations that foment such hatred. Nations that welcome Jews tend to be free and prosperous, but nations that persecute Jews tend to be tyrannical and unsuccessful (or heading in those directions, away from freedom and prosperity, as their persecution of Jews increases); it is not pleasant for anyone to live in Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, or any nation shackled by the harsh dictates of Sharia. 

Therefore, antisemitism is not merely a Jewish problem; it is a problem for humanity--perhaps humanity's ultimate problem if one considers that disproportionate energy fueling antisemitism at the United Nations, in academia, in media outlets, and in the streets. This hateful, wasted energy could be channeled toward addressing suffering around the world that is ignored or minimized because it does not fit the convenient narrative of "If it's Jews, it's news." If I were a Nigerian Christian or a Uyghur Muslim in China, I would be very disheartened that my real suffering is ignored while false genocide accusations are hurled at Israel.

How Flawed "Postmodern" Concepts Wrecked Israel's Military

This is one of the most insightful and important articles/interviews that I have read in a long time: Why Hamas is still standing – analysis. Ran Baratz, who teaches military doctrine at the IDF's National Defense College, asserts that Israel's military has been negatively impacted by postmodern military doctrines, and he says that this is also a major problem for other Western democracies. He identifies the development of nuclear weapons and the end of the Cold War as two events that influenced postmodern military doctrines that rely on "precision-guided munitions" and "shock and awe" in contrast to the traditional military doctrine that focuses on obtaining victory by destroying the enemy's capability to fight.

After Israel's failure to win the Second Lebanon War (2006), former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Shomron pointedly noted that Israel's tactics had shifted from results-oriented to "effects"-oriented. Shomron lamented, "We used to hit the enemy on the head with a club—and then he felt the effects."

Baratz explains, "The postmodern IDF's approach was to try to reach the 'effects' stage without the intermediate clubbing phase, which, unsurprisingly, turned out not to work in the real world." He correctly identifies former Prime Minister Shimon Peres--one of the all-time darlings of the Left--as someone who played a major role in Israel's embrace of flawed postmodern military doctrines.

I am puzzled and upset when Israel almost immediately announces after a terrorist attack, in triumphant fashion, that it knew where the terrorist lived and has now destroyed the terrorist's house after first evacuating the inhabitants. If Israel has such in depth knowledge about where her enemies are, then why doesn't Israel destroy her enemies and end the war without allowing so many of her civilians to be slaughtered? Israel's actions makes no sense unless you buy the twin delusional notions that (1) peace is possible with an enemy who has sworn to stop at nothing to destroy you and (2) limited reactions to terrorist murders provide effective deterrence. The tragic reality is that (1) Israel's enemies will kill or be killed because they have pledged their lives to their goals of subjugating Israel followed by subjugating the rest of the non-Islamic world and (2) such "deterrence" not only has no military effect but it also has a negative public relations effect, because media outlets much prefer to show a destroyed house owned by Arabs/Muslims than the victims of Arab/Islamic terrorism.

Israel also brags about using "precision-guided munitions" that can target one person while leaving other people in close proximity unharmed. Israel seems to be blissfully unaware that no one is impressed by her "precision-guided munitions." Her enemies scoff at Israel's softness while simultaneously complaining to credulous media outlets that Israel is committing "genocide."

Israel should abandon postmodern military doctrines that have repeatedly failed to yield desired results, and embark on a better, bolder path:

1) Scrap all of the "precision-guided munitions" and revert to using good old-fashioned "dumb" bombs. Israel's enemies would then directly pay the heavy price of attacking Israel, and they would know that Jewish blood is no longer cheap.

2) Stop bragging about military successes (real and imagined). Move in silence. Don't let the enemy know what to expect, and don't tell the enemy afterward what you did or did not do.

The harsh reality is that Israel and the West will either defeat the Islamists, or the Islamists will force the world to submit to Islamic law. This war will not be ended by negotiations or concessions, and it certainly will not be ended by delusional postmodern military doctrines focused on "effects" and deterrence.

Baratz concludes: "When do you need the military? For the moment that deterrence fails. So the military shouldn't be allowed to think about deterrence. It should live by the assumption that deterrence has failed and now it is required. As long as the enemy understands that your military is capable of winning, they are deterred. It's a byproduct of your actual war abilities. You do not deter your enemy by persuading him and by psychological effects."

In Israel Must not Underestimate Hezbollah the Way that Israel Underestimated Hamas, I warned, "I fervently do not want to be the prophet of Israel's destruction, but Israel's destruction is possible if Israel underestimates or ignores the threats posed by Iran, a weakened but not defeated Hamas, and a weakened but not defeated Hezbollah. I warned for many years about the threat posed by Hamas, and I was proven right. I have also warned repeatedly about the threat posed by Iran in general and Hezbollah in particular, and I hope that Israel has learned from her previous grievous mistakes and will act decisively to defeat her evil enemies."

Trump Should Think Twice Before Claiming Credit for this Disastrous Deal

Soon to be U.S. President Donald Trump is taking credit for the reported Israel-Hamas deal that will apparently result in cessation of hostilities in Gaza for at least six weeks, the release of 33 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza (some of whom may be dead), and the release of hundreds--if not more than 1000--Arab terrorists, many of whom have blood on their hands and publicly stated murderous intentions in their minds. Trump portrays himself as the ultimate deal-maker, and he asserts that this deal is the first step toward bringing peace to the Mideast--but the reality, as I explained in Israel Must Not Repeat the Mistake of Releasing Terrorists, is that this deal is a painful, humiliating defeat in the life and death battle versus Islamist terrorists whose goal is to subjugate the non-Muslim world (which they refer to as Dar-al-harb): "If this deal takes place, it will be an unmitigated disaster not only for Israel and the Jewish people, but for the West, because this will represent a tremendous victory for Hamas specifically and Islamic terrorists in general; it will demonstrate that terrorism works, that Israel is weak, and that if you resist Israel long enough then Israel will surrender."

In Is this the best deal they could come up with?, Gary Willig wrote:

Hamas' leaders are dead. Its battalions are smashed. 20,000 of its fighters are dead, with thousands more injured or in prison. Its rocket arsenal has been reduced to a few hundred at most. Its ally Hezbollah is in shambles and unable to help it anymore. Its masters and sponsors in Tehran are reeling from losses throughout the region, the destruction of their air defenses, and an economic crisis that will make rebuilding from this war far more difficult for Hamas than previous conflicts. Hamas has 5 days until the deadline set by the next American President to release its hostages or there will be "all hell to pay."

With everything that is going against Hamas, this is the best deal Israel and the US could come up with?

David M. Weinberg details the disastrous and sordid history of Israel's lopsided hostages for terrorists exchanges in Terrorist releases in exchange for hostages threaten even more Israeli lives (emphasis in original):

Every deal involving the release of terrorists has led to more bloodshed, planned and carried out by these released terrorists.

There are no exact statistics on this (because unsurprisingly the security establishment refuses to release such statistics), though estimates range from 10% to 50% of released terrorists swiftly return to hard-core terrorist activity with devastating effects.

The 1,150 Palestinian Arab prisoners released by Israel in the 1985 so-called Jibril deal, in which three Israeli soldiers who had been taken hostage in Lebanon by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were released, proceeded to fuel the First Intifada, which ran from 1987 to 1993 and lead to the deaths and injuries of Israeli and other citizens. According to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, about 10% of the released Palestinian terrorists returned to active terrorist duty.

Then came the Oslo Accords, when Israel mistakenly allowed at least 60,000 Palestinian Arabs from "abroad" into the Palestinian Authority territories, including 7,000 card-carrying PLO terrorists. Between 1993 and 1999, Israel released additional Palestinian Arab terrorists as "gestures" to the PLO, which fueled the Second Intifada, from 2000 to 2005. These shocking figures were revealed in an Israel Defense and Security Forum report from last year.

In 2004, Israel released more than 400 Palestinian Arab prisoners and some 30 Lebanese prisoners, including leaders of Hezbollah, for one civilian captive—Elhanan Tannenbaum—and the bodies of three IDF soldiers. The Second Lebanon War against Hezbollah followed not long after.

The 2011 deal for Gilad Shalit was the worst; more than 1,000 terrorists were released in exchange for the 25-year-old IDF soldier, including Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Hamas-led attacks and atrocities on Oct. 7, 2023. In fact, almost the entire Hamas command structure involved in planning last year’s Simchat Torah assault on Israeli towns and cities, in which more than 1,200 Israelis were killed on a single day, was made up of terrorists released in the Shalit deal.

Joe Biden's foreign policy consisted of one disastrous decision after another, including but not limited to his funding of the the PLO's "Pay for Slay" Jew-Killing program, but Donald Trump is not starting his second term well; his bragging about his role in the upcoming Israel-Hamas deal indicates that Trump pressured Israel into accepting unfavorable terms so that he could claim a foreign policy "success" that will turn out to be disastrous for Israel and the United States.

It will give me no pleasure to say "I told you so" when the terrorists released by Israel in this deal kill Israelis, Americans, and other innocent civilians. This deal will also inspire more terrorism in the United States along the lines of the recent attack in New Orleans, because terrorists will sense and exploit the weakness now being displayed by Israel and the United States.