Abbas plays tough-guy vs Trump. How's that working out?

 
Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas has confronted US President Donald Trump multiple times over the last 18 months. He's been playing tough-guy with Trump. How's that going for him?

Well, it depends upon your point of view. For example, when Trump offered recently to raise a billion dollars to help Gaza lift itself out of a growing humanitarian crisis it faces, Abbas rejected the offer outright (here). No one in the PA objected (here).

The US has wanted Abbas to stop funding terrorists in Israeli jails (here). Abbas refuses to stop those payments (here). No one in the PA objects to that, either.

When Trump officials announced the US would cut some $200 million dollars from a Palestinian-supporting UN organization called, UNRWA, the PLO responded with a tough-guy reaction: the PLO (note: Abbas is the chief of the PLO Executive Committee) declared, 'we will not be intimidated' (here).

Neither Abbas, the Palestinian Authority (PA), Fatah or the PLO commented that, maybe, the PA and Trump could discuss this issue. Their collective answer was, simply, you can't scare us!

As Trump and US officials announced they were trying (earlier in 2018) to create a new Middle East peace initiative, Abbas didn't say he saw a new peace offer as a ray of hope. He denounced this US effort as 'the slap of the century' (here).

Most recently, while the US was encouraging Israel, Egypt and Hamas to establish a workable ceasefire arrangement to reduce tensions between Hamas in Gaza and Israel, Abbas didn't claim he saw these efforts as a path to reducing tension--or, as a first step towards a wider peace initiative. He said, any ceasefire arrangement anyone was trying to build between Israel and Hamas would only happen 'over my dead body' (here).

It seems Abbas has decided to get tough with Trump. He pushes back at every step Trump takes in the Middle East. 

How's that working out? The Palestinians certainly don't object to this tactic. At least, no one in the PA has said 'peep' about it, other than to support Abbas.

Israelis, however, have a different point of view.

Here's that point of view from the Israeli news outlet, israelhayom. It's in the form of a cartoon representation. The name of the cartoonist is in the upper right corner. The cartoon appeared at israelhayom on August 26, 2018. 

So--how's Abbas' tough-guy approach working out? Here's the Israeli answer:

What do you think of Israel? Here's what one Palestinian thinks

(Last update: August 26, 2018)

Bassem Eid is not a Jew. He's an Arab.

He's also honest. He's a Palestinian who's learned first-hand what it means to be an Arab in Israel. 

His story will never be covered in the world's press. You certainly won't see this story in Al Jazeera. His story doesn't conform to the Palestinian hate-Israel narrative.

Take a look at what he has to say:

This year in Jerusalem

After 1967, I learned that Israel was the only country that gave my family the chance to have a good life

JUL 27, 2018, 6:19 PM   

timesofisrael

• 
  

I was born in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, under Jordanian occupation. In June 1966, the Jordanian government decided to evacuate 500 Palestinian families, including my family, from the Jewish quarter and to relocate them to Shuafat Refugee Camp, with no clear reason given.

On June 4, 1967, I traveled from the Shuafat Refugee Camp to the Old City of Jerusalem to visit my aunt. The following day, the Six-Day War begun, and I was 9 years old and stuck at my aunt’s house. I heard shooting and asked my aunt, “What is going on?” She said that it is a war between the Arabs and the Jews. I said, “What is a Jew? Are they human beings like us?” She said, “No, they eat human beings”. I became very afraid.

Three days into the war, we heard in Arabic from the Israeli authorities via loudspeakers that anyone who wants food can go to a specific point. My aunt asked me if I wanted to go and bring food. I said, “no way, they will eat me”. She said that she would not send me alone but with the neighbors’ children.

So I went with the neighbors and I found Israeli soldiers distributing bread, tomatoes, and milk. I carried as much food as I could and went back to my aunt’s house. I learned then that the Israeli soldiers were not like the witch in the children’s tale of Hansel and Gretel, where they would fatten the kids before cooking them. I realized that my aunt had lied to me and that this was no fairy tale.

On the sixth and final day of the war, announcements were made by the Israelis via loudspeakers saying that anyone who wanted to go outdoors could safely do so. People could open their shops and travel. I told my aunt that I should get back to my family in Shuafat. I walked 7 kilometers back home through Wadi al Joz. On the way, I found dead bodies scattered. At one point, I saw an Israeli military car approaching, and I jumped into a house to hide. After the military car passed the house, I continued my walk to the camp.

At the entrance of the camp, I found my mother and father talking about going to the Old City to find me. It was a very emotional moment, after not seeing my parents for six days and not knowing what was happening.

Our life was difficult. We had no electricity, no running water, no television, no refrigerator, and not even a toilet. We used public toilets in the camp. My father was a tailor earning pennies, and we were eight people in our family, living in extreme poverty in one room.

In 1972, my father found a job at Hadassah Medical Center (an Israeli medical facility) as a cleaner. Ten years later, in 1982, my father became a very close friend to a Jewish professor at the hospital. That professor visited us in the refugee camp on Shabbat with his daughter.

Professor Isaac, as we called him, built the Sharett Institute of Oncology. He was able to find a job for my father in that new building. He sent my father for training for six months to Tel Aviv, to learn how to sterilize medical equipment. I remember one day, my father left the house in the morning in a tie and suit. I asked my mother if my father was travelling. She said, “No, he is going to work”. I said, “Why does he need a tie and a suit to clean?” She said that he now had a new position.

One day, I went to visit my father at Hadassah, and I saw him wearing a doctor’s robe in a room with huge machinery and instruments all around. On that day, I realized that we had to support Israel because Israel is the only country that gave us the chance and opportunity for a good life.

In my opinion, the whole issue of the Palestinian cause is almost finished. Neither the Arabs, nor the Muslim states, nor the Palestinian leadership care about the Palestinian cause. So I am calling on my Palestinian colleagues to realize the facts on the ground. It is time for the Palestinians to start saying, I am dying to live! Now is the time.

These days, I am very happy that I live in Jerusalem under Israeli administration. There is no doubt that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, regardless of which embassies move there, but every country that moves its embassy to Jerusalem is sending an important message recognizing that Jerusalem rightfully belongs in Israel.

Jerusalem Day was especially meaningful this year since we witnessed the first-ever opening of a foreign embassy in Jerusalem, initiated by the first-ever American administration that has fearlessly broken the ice in a never-ending stalemate. Let’s hope that next year, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the Kingdom of Bahrain will also open their embassy in Jerusalem!

---

Bassem Eid is not alone. There are others within the Palestinian community who feel as Bassem Eid feels. But they  are afraid. They fear what will happen to them if they speak well about Israel. They are silent.

Nevertheless, this 'silent minority' within the Palestinian community begins--albeit slowly, hesitantly--to speak. This minority understands the truth about living with Israel. It's a truth mainstream media around the world doesn't want you to read about. It's a truth Palestinian leaders don't want you to hear.

This Palestinian 'silent  minority' knows what it's like when non-hating Arabs live under Israeli rule. This minority knows from their own  families' experiences around the Arab world what it means to live under Arab rule. They know how different living in Israel is from living in an Arab country.

This Palestinian minority is small. It's fearful. It's not powerful enough to attract the world's mainstream media. It isn't large enough to make a dent in Arab Jew-hate. It isn't loud enough to silence the world's Jew-hate. 

But this minority does, on occasion, speak out. Such essays as this one above do appear. 

These essays are important. They shed light on the truth about Israeli compassion. 

They also suggest a second truth about Arab-Muslim hate which you may have overlooked. It has to do with the nature of the Jew-hate so clearly expressed by Eid's aunt, in the story above. 

Hate is not benign. It's malignant. 

Hate has nothing to do with 'justice'. It has nothing to do with 'peace'. 

It has everything to do with loathing. It has nothing to do with developing the kind of friendships where peace can grow. 

It doesn't bring life. It doesn't create security. 

Arab hate for Israel is white-hot. It burns everything it touches.

This is why the Palestinian silent minority remains silent. It doesn't want to get burnt.

Hate is powerful. It spoils peace. It motivates men and women to reject peace, not reach out for peace. It will surely determine Islam's destiny in Israel. 

That destiny won't be a happy one. Because of the nature and consequences of hate, Arab Jew-hate will, ultimately, bring about the destruction of everything Islamic in Israel.

Stay tuned. Watch the hate destroy the haters.

Israel's Left chooses: Arab racism over Israel

(Last update: August 23, 2018)


The newspaper, haaretz, is the main Leftist news outlet in Israel. It lives to bash Israel. It really loves to bash what's Jewish in Israel. 

At least, that's my opinion. 

Haaretz won't let go of the new Nation-State Law (below) that was passed by Israel's Knesset (Parliament) on July 19, 2018. It can't--or won't move on.

Haaretz is at it again. If you opened the internet version of Haaretz a couple of days ago, you found this: Odeh Bisharat, "It's a good thing you didn't attend the Nation-State rally in Tel Aviv, Tzipi Livni", August 20, 2018. It's still prominently show-cased today, two days later (warning: haaretz has a paywall).   

Let's revisit the Left's angst. On July 19, 2018, Israel's parliament--the Knesset--passed a new law. It's become known as the 'Nation-State Law'. 

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that this new law enshrines "into the law the basic principle of our [Jewish] existence.”  This Law also highlights as never before the official Jewish character of Israel.

For example, the Law identifies such Jewish character traits for Israel as these (here):

1. Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people.

2. Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people.

3. In Israel, the Jewish people fulfill its historic and religious rights.

4. Hebrew [the language of Jewish holy texts] is the official language of Israel.

5. Jewish settlement is a national value [a value that derives from Jewish Holy texts].

6. The [ancient] Hebrew calendar is an official calendar for the state of Israel.

7. Saturday and religious [Jewish ]holidays are official days of rest in the state of Israel.


It was perhaps with these characteristics in mind that PM Netanyahu described the new Law this way: “This is our country, the state of the Jews....today we etched into the rock of law: this is our country, this is our language, this is our national anthem, and this is our flag.  Long live the state of Israel” (here).

Palestinians, however, cannot abide such Jewishness. They absolutely cannot stand that Israel would be Jewish (here). They find the idea that Israel would favor Judaism over Islam or Christianity to be offensive. They say it's 'racist' (here). It violates Palestinian rights (ibid). Why, it denies the [anti-Israel] Palestinian narrative!!!! (ibid).

Worse, it represents "the official beginning of fascism and apartheid" in Israel (ibid). The new Law makes Israel Apartheid! 

Israeli Leftists sing this same Palestinian song. The Left says, whatever the Palestinians said, that's what we think! 

Therefore, the Left denounces the new Law. They call it a 'racist provocation'! (here). 

While some in Israel say this new Law simply restates the obvious--that Israel is the Jewish state--Leftists and Palestinians see it as an attack against all that Arabs and Leftist Jews have dreamed about--to remove from Israel all that is 'Jewish' and turn Israel into nothing more than 'a state of all its citizens' (here). 

To push this concept along, Leftists lament that the new law 'codifies discrimination' (here).  Palestinians lament, this law "obligates the state [of Israel] to treat its non-Jewish citizens unequally" (here).

They both lament that this this Law will destroy 'democracy' in Israel. But that isn't true.

This Leftist/Palestinian 'coalition' has created a lie called, 'the-Nation-State-Law-is-Apartheid'. In the US, this lie has spread like wildfire (here). It's doing well elsewhere, too. 

But wait. Think about what this new Law actually does (see above). Why would calling a nation 'Jewish' be racist? Why would calling Hebrew the official language of Israel be racist?

Before you join Jew-hating Palestinians and their Jew-hating Jewish allies to condemn Israel, consider some facts. First, Some 27 Muslim countries officially enshrine their own state as Muslim (here). No one has ever called any of these 27 countries, racist, because of such a designation. No one ever complained that any of these 27 countries were apartheid specifically because they favored Islam over Judaism or Christianity.

Why should Israel be any different for doing the exact same thing?

In addition, another 40 countries unofficially favor a single specific religion, most commonly some form of Christianity (here). No one has called any of these  countries racist for such favoritism. No one ever claimed that choosing a single religion over all others forced onto non-Christians a fascist or apartheid inequality.

Why should Israel be any different for doing the exact same thing? 

Israel is the only regime in the Middle East that is not Apartheid. Apartheid countries are, by definition, not free countries. But year-after-year, Israel proves its 'freedom' credentials(here). No one else in the Middle East can say this. Yet, Israel's Left joins with Arabs to call Israel racist and Apartheid?

Israel's Leftists and Arabs have become indistinguishable. Together, they demonize Israel. Together, they lie about Israel. Together, they say anything they can to promote the 'Palestinian' anti-Israel narrative. 

The Left has made its choice. It stands with real racists to shout "racist" at the Jewish Israel.

EU seals its fate because of its anti-Israel bias

On June 18, 2018, I published the essay, "Racism--and Europe's five-step plan for suicide" (here). In that essay, I wrote something that might offend: 

"...Europe now stands at the threshold of destruction through a population substitution (here,here, here). This isn't a Muslim-Jewish substitution. That substitution is well on its way to being completed. This is a different, more destructive substitution. It’s the replacement of the West‘s liberal culture with an anti-West Islamic culture (here,here).

Here’s a statement that’s a paraphrase of what is most likely a racist, fake news story. I’ve edited the original so as to delete what’s objectionable (here). It could summarize Europe’s fate:

 “In Auschwitz, Europe burned a culture. Europe destroyed ‘chosen people’--truly chosen because what they produced changed the world for the better. The contributions of this people are felt in all areas of life: science, art, medicine...

These are the people we burned. And now, because we wanted to prove to ourselves that we were cured of the disease of racism (that killed the chosen), we have opened our gates to millions of people who reject everything we stand for". 

...These millions seem ...more racist than Europeans. Th[eir] new racism has little regard for Western beliefs. It prefers Sharia law, not freedoms, rights or equality. For some, it prefers to conquer Europe (here)

These were harsh words for Europe. But recently, we saw someone else---from Europe itself, no less--suggesting a similar sentiment. 

On July 5, 2018, an essay appeared presenting a conversation with a French writer named, Renaud Camus (here). Camus is supposedly known as a writer who may have been first to coin the phrase, 'Great replacement', a phrase which refers to "the reported colonization of Western Europe by immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East" (ibid).

In this July essay, Camus says:

"Europe persists in expiating, or believing they are expiating, the horrors inflicted on Jews during the last war by importing onto its territory millions of people who, as soon as they are here, have nothing more urgent than to inflict horrors on Jews. Racism turned Europe into a field of ruins; anti-racism is making it a hate-filled slum. In both instances, the first victims are the Jews" (ibid).

Camus' July's comments echo what I wrote--and quoted--in June. But there's a difference.

First, we do agree on certain points. For example, Camus states that Europe has become like Israel. Both Israel and Europe, he says, are threatened from all sides. 

I agree with this specific comparison. Both Israel and Europe face an existential threat from Islam.

Then, too, Camus sees a difference between the two places. Unlike Israelis, he suggests, Europeans don't have the same attachment to their land, "the same fidelity to their membership, the same spirit of resistance" (ibid). 

I agree with that, too. Officials in Europe don't believe Islam threatens them. Europeans don't yet agree they must actively resist Islamic 'pressure' if they wish to retain their traditional, Western European culture. 

 But while I agree with Camus on these two points, I do not agree with his suggested solution. Yes, he understands the problem: both Europe and Israel face an uncompromising  anti-Western Muslim-inspired culture-and-religious challenge. For a solution to these challenges, Camus believes Europe should form an alliance with Israel so that, together, they can defend their cultures from the 'colonization' threat each faces. He believes Europe has a lot to learn from Israelis. He believes Israel can teach Europe how to survive the culture assault it faces.

Clearly, he believes such an alliance would benefit both places. He may even be suggesting that Europe's survival depends, to a certain extent, on Israeli help.

His comments are intriguing. But I think he's got it wrong. I don't believe Europe's elites (its decision-makers) see Israel as an ally in a coming clash with Islam. Quite the reverse appears to be true: the EU works too aggressively to support Muslim animus towards Israel (here) to create any kind of alliance to defend against that animus. 

Europe's elites are also not ready to declare they face an existential threat. They're not prepared to stand against Islam's aggressiveness. They are certainly not ready to believe Israel is qualified to help them with anything. 

Europe's elites show no sign they consider Israel a helpmate. They see Israel more as an enemy than a partner. Indeed, Europe has become so anti-Israel that some now believe Europe has decided that destroying Israel is in its national interest (here). 

There's an ugly European truth hidden beneath this ugly anti-Israelism. That ugly truth is, it may be too late for Europe to defend itself against Islam. 

Europe believes too much in the redemptive power of open borders. Its elites still believe too zealously in a multiculturalism which posits that all cultures are so equal no one culture (even its own) could ever be more important to Europe than another.

This self-denying sense of equality could be Europe's fatal flaw. Because of this commitment to cultural 'equality', Europe is unwilling to stand up for its Western ideals. 

It slowly caves to the demands of Islam. It yields before the insistence of Islam. 

Europe's multicultural delusions eat away at its survivability. Its elites are too enamored of its migrants to reach out to Jews for survival. If, as Camus suggests, Israel can teach Europe how to survive a coming clash with Islam, Europe will surely fail. Its bias against Jews is simply too strong and, because of the growing power of an anti-Jew Islam in Europe, that bias will only grow stronger, not weaker. 

Camus is wrong. Europe will never turn to Israel for help. It will yield to Islam. 

Europe will fall. Its anti-Jew bias seals its fate.

  

The PLO loves to talk to US Jews!

Here's an excerpt from an essay by a Palestinian observer of the Arab-Israel conflict. Take a look at it--and learn why even Palestinians call the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) the Professional Liars Organization:

Palestinians: New Twist on an Old Lie

by Bassam Tawil
April 23, 2018 

Denial of Jewish history in Jerusalem and the existence of the Jewish Temple has always been a central component of the Palestinian narrative and ideology.

Palestinians, like members of all societies, disagree on many things. Nevertheless, when it comes to the historical connection between Jews and Jerusalem, Palestinians manage to unite in lies: Palestinian political leaders, academics and religious leaders have long promoted the false narrative that Jerusalem was, and remains, an Arab and Islamic city.

We are currently witnessing a new twist on this old lie.

It seems that some Palestinians are now trying to deceive the world into believing that they do, indeed, recognize the Jewish people's historic connection to Jerusalem.

The problem is that Palestinian officials tell their people one thing in Arabic and the rest of the world another thing in English.

One of these con artists is Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) diplomatic mission in Washington.

Zomlot appears to grasp that the Palestinian denial of the Jewish people's connection to Jerusalem is something that needs to be hidden from the international community, especially Jews living in the US, Canada and elsewhere around the world.

He understands that this Palestinian denial is problematic, especially for left-wing Jewish organizations such as J Street.

In keeping with the Palestinian tradition of double-talk, Zomlot informed his Jewish audience, in English, what he would never dare say in Arabic -- that the Palestinians will one day recognize the Jewish connection to Jerusalem.

Addressing the annual conference of J Street on April 16 [2018], the PLO envoy said that Palestinians would "celebrate the Jewish connection to Jerusalem" once a Palestinian state was established with East Jerusalem as its capital.

"Once a state of Palestine is established, once that state has East Jerusalem as its capital, that city will not only recognize the Jewish connection, but we will celebrate the Jewish connection to Jerusalem," Zomlot said.

These are nice words to hear from the mouth of a senior representative of the PLO -- which Palestinians themselves  [emphasis mine] often refer to as the Professional Liars Organization. But would this PLO representative ever dare to make such a statement in front of a Palestinian or Arab audience? The answer, bluntly, is No.

If Zomlot made such a statement in his native Arabic language, he would be denounced as a traitor -- if he were very lucky. If he were less lucky, he would end up in a hospital or morgue.

Just as Zomlot was lying to his Jewish audience, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were  chanting the famous battle cry: "We will march toward Jerusalem, we will sacrifice millions of martyrs."

So, while the PLO representative is promising to celebrate the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, his people are promising to march on the city and kill as many Jews as possible in order to liberate it from the Jewish "occupiers."

Continue reading (here).

--

This essay may have been written three+ months ago. But it tells an old story, one that never grows old: you simply cannot trust anything Palestinian advocates say.

Unfortunately, well-intentioned Jews, especially in America--and most especially on America college campuses--think Palestinian leaders, representatives and supporters are all honest advocates (here). 

They aren't. Everyone who advocates for the so-called 'Palestinians' has the same 'illness': they can't tell the truth. They're professional liars, just like the PLO. 

This is why the PLO hates talking to Israel. It may be why Palestinians now hate talking to the US. Both Netanyahu and Trump push back against the lies.

US Jews don't. US Jews seem to hang on every word 'Palestinians' say. 

This is why the PLO loves talking to American Jews. American Jews are so delightfully naive, so wonderfully gullible. They believe anything the Palestinian Liars Organization tells them. 

Incitement to kill: it's how Abbas leads

You can tell where a country is headed by how its leader acts. For example, according to some in the US, the US today is heading to become once again a world leader which fights for peace-through-strength. For them, the proof is, 'look at how US President Trump behaves towards North Korea, NATO, the EU, Iran and the UN'.

According to others, the US is heading for war with half the world. For them, the proof is, 'look at how Trump behaves towards North Korea, NATO, the EU, Iran and the UN'.

The evidence for both cases is the same: the behavior the US leader, President Donald Trump.

The leader of the Palestinian Authority (PA) behaves in a similar-but-different manner. One the one hand, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas reveals by how he acts what he wants his people to do. The difference between Abbas and Trump is,  Abbas's behavior is far less inscrutable than Trump's.

For example, we can tell from Abbas's behavior that he  doesn't want Statehood. He doesn't want a marketplace economy. He isn't interested in freedom. He doesn't want peace. 

Unlike Trump. Abbas never sends mixed messages to his own people. He wants only one thing: to destroy his non-Muslim neighbor, Israel.

This is why Abbas uses a constant drumbeat of anti-Israel incitement. This drumbeat comes out of every segment of Palestinian society--from media, entertainment, sports and education. 

Abbas wants to keep Palestinians motivated enough to kill Jews. If you doubt this assertion, visit the palwatch website one day every week. You'll learn what the words, "constant drumbeat of 'get-the-Jews' mean.

This drumbeat isn't for peace. It isn't for statehood. It's to incite Palestinians to want to kill Jews. For example, on today's palwatch Homepage the first three entries in the "Daily News" section are these headlines: 

-"17-year old terrorist who stabbed 3 Israeli civilians, killing 1, referred to as 'martyr' in official PA daily"; 

-"Image on Facebook page of Fatah's Bethlehem branch shows 17 year old terrorist who stabbed 3 Israeli civilians, killing 1, praising him as a Martyr";

-"Abbas' Fatah: Israel has drawn up a plan for the destruction of Al Aqsa Mosque, has no right to Jerusalem or the Western Wall".

These headlines do not promote peace with Israel. They encourage hate towards Israel and the glory that comes from from killing Jews.


Do yourself a favor. Exercise for one month. Go to palwatch one day a week for four weeks. You'll learn a lot about what Abbas wants.

Abbas doesn't instruct the media outlets he controls to encourage Palestinians to create job-training programs. He doesn't instruct his PA education infrastructure to teach about 'normalization' with Israel. He and his cronies instruct the media and the schools to sing only one 'song': hate Israel and its Jews.

Abbas doesn't clamp down on hate. He incites for it. 

It's how he leads. 

He refuses to stop paying terrorists (or their survivors) monthly pensions (the infamous PA pay-to-slay-Jews program). He's been repeating this refusal almost monthly since last year.

It's how he leads his people.

He uses the UN, the International Criminal Court and every ear he can grab to demonize Israel. He demonizes Israel as often as he can.

This is how he leads. 

He glorifies Palestinians killed trying to kill Jews.He visits the families of these so-called 'martyrs' who have been killed trying to transform his incitement to real-world action. He has his picture taken with the surviving family members. He smiles and praises their 'accomplishments'. He repeats this behavior every time a 'Palestinian' is killed by Jews.

It's how he 'leads'.

He doesn't lead 'Palestinians' towards peace with Israel. He incites them to call for 'death to Israel'.

He's obsessed. He incites. Where do you think his incitement will lead?

Friday Cartoon

Today is Friday. As often as I can, I try to find a political cartoon about Israel for you. 

Political cartoons are illustrative. They suggest in picture or caricature form what readers in a particular location might be thinking about regarding the cartoon topic. Today's cartoon doesn't disappoint.

This cartoon comes from Europe. It comes from that bastion of liberal multiculturalism--where all are equal--Norway. It was first printed in a Norwegian daily newspaper. It was reprinted in Israel, in the timesofisrael on August 7, 2018 (here).

Norway has reason to feel it's one of the world's finest democracies (here). But this bed of democratic 'roses' has thorns. Norway has a growing Muslim population--a population that appears to grow so quickly some worry that Norwegians could become a minority in their own country (here). Those people worry about what that might mean for their safety (ibid).

Then there's the issue of Muslims and Jews in Norway. There are less than 1,000 Jews in Norway. There are perhaps 150,000 Muslims (estimates appear to range from 120,000 - 160,000). This difference affects how Muslims are perceived by Norway's elite (here). It affects how Jews are treated.

As of December, 2017, most Jews in Norway don't feel safe. They feel the pressure of anti-semitism (here). They appear not to have a favored status--at least, not as favored as Muslims. Today's cartoon from Norway may support such an observation. 

This anti-Israel cartoon has two elements to it. The first is, of course, the anti-Israel depiction of Israel's Jewish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu punching an Arab-looking man in the face, to kick the man off a bench that has on it a sign that reads, 'whites only'.

But the cartoon is more nuanced than that. The cartoon has a Jew-as-Nazi connection. 

Take a look at the picture. See if you can spot the Nazi reference.

source (here)


Did you find the Nazi connection? If you didn't see it, look at Netanyahu's arms and legs. Look how he is portrayed as holding arms/hands and legs/feet in a way that suggests the shape of the Nazi swastika. Do you see that shape? It's certainly subtle, but it's there.

So there it is: Netanyahu is cruel. He's a Jew. He's a Nazi. He harms an Arab because he is a 'whites only' racist.

This cartoon does more than paint Israel or Israel's leader as cruel. It sends a dangerous message.

What do you think Norway's Muslims will think of such a characterization? More important for Norway's Jewish population, how do you think Jews in Norway will feel to see this cartoon, with its anti-Israel intent--and, potentially, an  anti-Jew message?

Israel's Left lies. Just Read the Declaration of Independence.

(Last update: August 10, 2018)
On Wednesday, August 8, 2018, Israel's Left stood up in Israel's Knesset to argue that a new 'Nation-State' Law (passed by the Knesset July 29, 2018) tears up Israel's Declaration of Independence. Is this correct?

The new Law enshrines the Jewish character of Israel into Israel's Basic Law, which is the closest thing Israel has to a formal constitution. The Left abhors this 'Jewish enshrinement'. 

Israel's Left makes many claims about this new Law. For example, it claims that the new law destroys the balance between the ideas of Jewish and Democratic that appear in Israel's original Declaration of Independence. Then again, it  suggests this new Law makes Israel put Jewish ahead of equal rights, thereby altering the founding intent of the Declaration of Independence--to make Israel a democracy.

These Leftist claims were reported by news outlets everywhere, and few of these stories were kind to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had supported the new Law. As the Christian Science Monitor put it, "Does new law tilt Israel away from its democratic values?" (here). In Israel, the Left was more brutal about 'what Netanyahu had done'. Leftist Tzipi Livni asked, “What the hell has Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got against the Declaration of Independence?”..“We’re the side that believes in a covenant of equals,” (here).

Are these attacks  correct? Is Israel's Declaration of Independence really all about a "covenant of equals"? 

Judge for yourself. Read Israel's Declaration of Independence. In the full text  below, I highlight how many times there appear references to "Jews" and "Jewish", and such Jewish concepts as "Bible", "prophets", "Book of Books"  and the "religious and spiritual identity" of the Jewish people. I highlight also how many times such words as "democracy" and "equal rights" appear. You'll be able to judge for yourself if the Declaration is a 'covenant of equals'--or something else altogether.

As you read, count how many times the Jewish-centric words above appear and how many times the democracy-centric words appear in the Declaration. Ask yourself, does the number of times such words appear have anything to say about the importance of their meaning to the founding of the modern state of Israel?

Also, think about the actual positioning of such words in the Declaration; that is, how close to the beginning of the Declaration do the key words appear? Can you deduce anything from the words' positioning about how foundational 'Jewish' and 'democracy' are to the creation of the modern state of Israel?

I don't know if you can answer these questions. But I highlight the key words/phrases for you. The full text comes from Israel's official website (here):

Provisional Government of Israel

Official Gazette: Number 1; Tel Aviv, 5 Iyar 5708, 14.5.1948 Page 1

The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel

The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.

After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.

Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned in their masses. Pioneers, defiant returnees, and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and aspiring towards independent nationhood.

In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country.

This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home.

The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people - the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe - was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the community of nations.

Survivors of the Nazi holocaust in Europe, as well as Jews from other parts of the world, continued to migrate to Eretz-Israel, undaunted by difficulties, restrictions and dangers, and never ceased to assert their right to a life of dignity, freedom and honest toil in their national homeland.

In the Second World War, the Jewish community of this country contributed its full share to the struggle of the freedom- and peace-loving nations against the forces of Nazi wickedness and, by the blood of its soldiers and its war effort, gained the right to be reckoned among the peoples who founded the United Nations.

On the 29th November, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel; the General Assembly required the inhabitants of Eretz-Israel to take such steps as were necessary on their part for the implementation of that resolution. This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable.

This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State.

Accordingly we, members of the People's Council, representatives of the Jewish Community of Eretz-Israel and of the Zionist Movement, are here assembled on the day of the termination of the British Mandate over Eretz-Israel and, by virtue of our natural and historic right and on the strength of the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.

We declare that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948, the People's Council shall act as a Provisional Council of State, and its executive organ, the People's Administration, shall be the Provisional Government of the Jewish State, to be called "Israel." 

The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

The State of Israel is prepared to cooperate with the agencies and representatives of the United Nations in implementing the resolution of the General Assembly of the 29th November, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the economic union of the whole of Eretz-Israel.

We appeal to the United Nations to assist the Jewish people in the building-up of its State and to receive the State of Israel into the community of nations.

We appeal - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.

We extend our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.

We appeal to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great struggle for the realization of the age-old dream - the redemption of Israel.

Placing our trust in the Almighty, we affix our signatures to this proclamation at this session of the provisional Council of State, on the soil of the Homeland, in the city of Tel-Aviv, on this Sabbath eve, the 5th day of Iyar, 5708 (14th May, 1948).

David Ben-Gurion

Daniel Auster Mordekhai Bentov Yitzchak Ben Zvi Eliyahu Berligne Fritz Bernstein Rabbi Wolf Gold Meir Grabovsky Yitzchak Gruenbaum Dr. Abraham Granovsky Eliyahu Dobkin Meir Wilner-Kovner Zerach Wahrhaftig Herzl Vardi Rachel Cohen Rabbi Kalman Kahana Saadia Kobashi Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Levin Meir David Loewenstein Zvi Luria Golda Myerson Nachum Nir Zvi Segal Rabbi Yehuda Leib Hacohen Fishman David Zvi Pinkas Aharon Zisling Moshe Kolodny Eliezer Kaplan Abraham Katznelson Felix Rosenblueth David Remez Berl Repetur Mordekhai Shattner Ben Zion Sternberg Bekhor Shitreet Moshe Shapira Moshe Shertok

Israel's Declaration of Independence has 19 paragraphs. In the first 12 paragraphs--that is, in the first 63 percent of the Declaration--there are no references at all to Democracy, democratic or equal rights. 

Instead, this first 63 percent of the Declaration is all about matters Jewish. Reference to matters Jewish appear at least 25 times (depending on how you define "matters Jewish"). 

So, for all those Leftists who talk about the importance of Democracy in Israel's Declaration of Independence, how does the first, initial score of Jewish--25, Democracy--0 strike you? Is this score proof that Democracy is paramount in this Declaration? Or, does this overwhelmingly Jewish  score so early in the document suggest something else--the significance of Jewish over Democracy in this declaration?

It is only in the remaining 7 paragraphs of the Declaration that we find reference to something we call, 'equal rights'. But look at the context for that reference (in paragraph 13). That context is not Democracy. The context is 'the prophets of Israel'--a decidedly Jewish context.

Look again at the paragraph that discusses matters Democratic (paragraph 13). Yes, you'll see the reference to freedom, justice and peace--ideas we understand to be linked to 'Democracy'. But, to repeat, that 'Democracy' reference is not in the text associated with Democracy. It is linked  instead to the Jewish Tanach:  Israel will be based upon  freedom, justice and peace "as envisioned by the prophets of Israel". The context is Jewish, not Democracy.

Second, notice that the only reference to social and political equality in the text does not stand isolated into its own free-standing sentence. It's connected to the clause, "as envisioned by the prophets of Israel" by a semi-colon which--if you remember your high-school grammar lessons--literally connects what follows the semi-colon to what has immediately preceded it--the prophets of Israel.

The semi-colon, in other words, has a purpose. It connects two closely-related ideas. The two closely-related ideas here are not 'equality' and 'democracy'. The connection is between 'equality' and 'the prophets of Israel'. Democracy doesn't come into play here. Jewish does.

This Declaration of Independence is not a Democracy-oriented document, as the Left would have you believe. It is a Jewish-oriented document, with a nod to 'equal right' - -but only as envisioned by the prophets of Israel'.  

Israel's Declaration of Independence is no 'covenant of equality'. If anything, it is a 'covenant of what is Jewish'. 

Clearly, Israel's Left hasn't been studying the Declaration of Independence. This is why the new Nation State Law is needed. The Left pushes aside the original Declaration's Jewish principles and seeks an anti-Jewish agenda for Israel. It's been working at least 38 years to un-Jewish Israel. Now Israel's Law enshrines Jewish over Democracy for Israel. 

The Left rejects this. So it lies. It proclaims that the new Jewish Nation-State law "tears up the Declaration of Independence" (here). It does not. It re-establishes the founding Jewish principles of the Declaration. 

The Left hates this. This Law opposes and undercuts everything Israel's Left has worked for over the last 38 years. The Left howls in pain.

The Left declares war against the Jewish of Israel (here). It is the Left that seeks to tear up the Declaration of Independence, not today's Israeli government. It's the Left that hates the Jewish of Israel. To repeat, this hate of Jewish is precisely why we so badly need the new Law's reaffirmation of our Jewish character.