A very long but worthwhile column regarding the increasingly ridiculous and strident columns by Thomas Friedman, the self described sage of all worldly things. Friedman seems to me to be trying to take advantage of his Jewish name in order to spread the most libelous accusations against Israel as if that would inoculate him of the charge of Jewish dual loyalty. I actually think he is the the opposite of a self-hater, he is a narcissist who is more concerned by what his non Jewish friends say to him at dinner parties about those “stubborn, stiff necked people in Tel Aviv”
by Martin Sherman
‘Robbed Cossack’: Hebrew idiom for a villain who complains about the wrongs (imaginary or not) done to him that he has done to others.
Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided
– Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) at the annual AIPAC conference, June 4, 2008Congress maintains its commitment to relocating the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and urges the President, pursuant to the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995… to immediately begin the process of relocating the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem…. None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act may be available for the publication of any official government document which lists countries and their capital cities unless the publication identifies Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.– Section. 212 of the “Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003,” relating to “United States policy with respect to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” sponsored by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Delaware), cosponsor of the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act.[...]Keep these excerpts in mind – their relevance will soon become evident.The cry of the ‘robbed cossack’?It is, of course, possible to conceive of more deplorable examples of shoddy and shallow journalism than Tom Friedman’s mendacious and misleading rant, titled, “Why not in Vegas?” against Mitt Romney’s visit to Jerusalem this week. However, I must confess, none springs readily to mind.
Friedman launches into his derogatory diatribe by accusing Romney of (gasp) fund-raising. Of course, coming from an Obamaphile, that is rich.
After all, while there may be many reasons for Obama’s victory over Sen. John McCain in 2008, clearly far from the least significant among them was Obama’s massive funding advantage, outdoing his rival by a ratio of over 3:1 – and half-a-billion dollars – after opting out of the public funding option, despite a pledge not to.
[...]
People in glass houses
Friedman seems to be particularly upset by the support of Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson for Romney.
He attempts to wax sarcastic: “Since the whole trip was not about learning anything but about how to satisfy the political whims of the right-wing, super pro- Bibi Netanyahu, American Jewish casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, why didn’t they just do the whole thing in Las Vegas? “I mean, it was all about how big a jackpot of donations Adelson would shower on the Romney campaign in return.
Vegas would have been so much more appropriate than Jerusalem.
“They could have constructed a plastic Wailing Wall and saved so much on gas.”
Putting aside the tone of misplaced contempt for a moment, one might get the impression that Obama lacks support from like-minded plutocrats such as the shadowy George Soros, who has donated heavily to Obama-philic causes.
So why the disdain? Or is it just that Friedman feels that political opponents have no right to their positions and, hence, all attempts to enlist resources to promote them are to be belittled and besmirched.
Obama has engaged in intensive efforts to raise funds abroad. According to one source, “Obama has out-raised [Romney] almost 3:1 from ‘off-shore donors.’” The Wall Street Journal reported that an “invitation for an August fund-raiser asked guests to join “Americans Abroad for Obama and special guest George Clooney for a reception in Geneva,” with dinner costing $20,000 a head, or $30,000 a couple.
The Hollywood Reporter also mentions the Clooney event, and gives details of Obama’s fund-raising efforts in… China.
[...]
So perhaps a plastic replica of the Great Wall of China in Hollywood would suffice?
Doubletalk, double standards
Friedman seems to have taken particular umbrage at Romney’s statement designating “Jerusalem [as] the capital of Israel.” He jeered that “it was all about money – how much Romney would abase himself by saying whatever the Israeli right wanted to hear.”
Really, Tom? Take a look at the introductory excerpts above, espoused by the president and vice president – not only designating Jerusalem as the capital of Israel but averring that it should remain undivided.
[...]
Indeed, in light of these unequivocal declarations as to the indivisible unity of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, would Friedman suggest that the Obama-Biden duo were “abasing themselves by saying whatever the Israeli Right wanted to hear” when they made them? Or were they “abasing themselves by saying whatever the Israeli Left (and the Palestinians) wanted to hear” when they went back on them?
Shades of Walt and Mearsheimer
Friedman continues his Stephen Walt- John Mearsheimer-compliant Judeophobic bluster that he began when he alleged that the standing ovations Netanyahu received during his 2011 address to the US Congress were “bought and paid for by the Israel lobby.”
In his new article, he writes: “The main Israel lobby, AIPAC, has made itself the feared arbiter of which lawmakers are ‘pro’ and which are ‘anti-Israel’ and, therefore, who should get donations and who should not – and you have a situation in which there are almost no brakes, no red lights, around Israel coming from America anymore.”
So there you have it. According to Friedman, the Jews control US foreign policy and America is no more than a banana republic, where elected representatives are willing to sell their nation’s – and hence their constituents’ – interests to the highest bidder and can be bought by conniving Judeo-plutocrats – with hooked noses? What more could subscribers to the Walt-Mearsheimer doctrine ask for? But perhaps – just perhaps – Friedman, in his (il)liberal arrogance, is missing a point that Romney isn’t.
[...]
Clearly, the idea of placing a wedge between the US and Israel was a deliberate choice of the current Democratic administration. And it is not entirely implausible to surmise that – judging from the tenor of some of his previous articles – Friedman had a role to play in the conception of the “wedge/daylight policy.”
Having helped create the problem, he now bemoans the consequences.
[...]
‘You didn’t get there on your own’
Friedman’s bile and bias are evident in his attempt to belittle Israel’s technological achievements and entrepreneurial culture; and his chiding Romney for comparing it favorably with the Palestinian culture. Although he does acknowledge that “Israel today is an amazing beehive of innovation [and] something Jews should be proud of,” he attributes this – in the best “you didn’t get there on your own” tradition – in large measure to “an influx of Russian brainpower [and] massive US aid.”
But the Palestinians have received massive international aid for over two decades and have not been able to achieve anything approaching economic stability. So maybe it is a cultural thing, which by the way is why there was such an influx of Russian brain power.
[...]
Until Friedman realizes this, he will not be able to make any useful contribution to the discussion, beyond the fatuous, feckless and fraudulent offerings he has provided up to now.
Tags: Martin Sherman, thomas friedman
There is another excellent take down of the Chinese Communist admiring Friedman on powerline.
Green weenie of the week:Thomas Friedman
It bummed Friedman out that Netanyahu received several standing ovations during his address to congress.
Friedman’s comments on Sheldon Adelson was pure anti-Semitism.
There is a lot of hate directed at Israel…it’s insanity to be blunt.
ey @ Lily:
Israel is viewed as a US puppet state by Leftists and Islamists. That’s why. It’s a way to direct hate at us without doing so.
This describers democratic party activists pretty well also. Brett Kimberlin, Neal Rauhauser
@ 1 Speranza: The way China would fix it is the Bill Ayers method. Kill off a large percentage of the opposite viewpoint and say tough luck.
darkwords wrote:
Probably true.
darkwords wrote:
Harry Reid and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Someone ought to write a book about The New York Times and Israel just as Laurel Leff wrote a book (2005) about The New York Times and the Holocaust “Buried by the Times”.
@ darkwords:
Yup!
The New York Times correspondents in Israel for the most part are really, really dumb.
Outside of Bill Safire there was never much to read on the op-ed section of The New York Times.
Speranza wrote:
Russell Baker was good, back in the day. His column on the distinction between seriousness and solemnity was superb.
“They could have constructed a plastic Wailing Wall and saved so much on gas.”
That, to me, is the most offensive thing anyone could say.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
I also liked A.M. Rosenthal and Hilton Kramer too. Both sadly are deceased.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
It really was.
Would he have written “They could just have constructed a plastic kabaa and hurled beach balls at it and saved on lives”?
@ Speranza:
What I find most abhorrent is his use of the word gas. Why not electricity? He knew what he was writing, and the connotation and relation between the purpose of the Wailing Wall and gas is most apparent. He is a disgusting, vile and pitiful creature.
Speranza wrote:
Fixed that for you!
This is a glaring difference between Romney and B. Hussein. Romney has visited Israel before his election, while B. Hussein has chosen not to; and for obvious reason.
Friedman in a Hussein camper and was most likely thrilled B. chose to visit Cairo and bow before the Saud’s rather than the home of his ancestors.
Rodan wrote:
Totally agree.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
He is a Saudi supporter and a Chinese communist apologist. His writings on domestic affairs here in America are usually progressive absurdities.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
He is also increasingly and angry fellow too.
By the way as I wrote last week, I have no idea why they refer to Netanyahu as a “rightist”.
Speranza wrote:
This should be done…but I’m not holding my breath. There is sure a lot of material to work with concerning a book about the Times hatred against Israel. Or should I say bias?
@ Lily:
Hateful bias.
~:)
Speranza wrote:
I’ll have to take your word for that; and from reading the post, that makes sense. I know little about this man and in excuse for that, state that I devote little time to reading propaganda. Which I have come to believe the Times is all about.
In regret, I once worked for the print house that produced the Western edition of that crap.
Lily wrote:
You would have to go back to even before 1948 and the whole attitude of the Sulzberger family towards Zionism -- a very hostile one -- (which Laurel Leff covered in her book) which would mean a lot of overlap with “Buried by The Times”.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
I have not purchased The New York Times since early 2004 when I was house hunting.
OT:
Romney attempts to head off Obama and Bernanke’s October Surprise (QE3).
Kafir wrote:
Yep I left out ‘hateful bias’. Bad on me.
Speranza wrote:
There are plenty of observant Jews who have problems with Zionism too—quite understandable problems, given that the whole Zionist endeavor was originally driven by a fundamentally anti-Jewish Leftist hope that by getting a state of their own Jews would become “a nationality like any other” and that “Jews” would thereby vanish. It was, basically, a nationalist version of the Communist hope that Jews would vanish by becoming part of the world proletariat.
The Sulzberger hostility to Zionism, however, was from the standpoint of a family that rejected Judaism (the family went Episcopalian quite some time back) and therefore rejected anything whatsoever that was identifiably “Jewish,” including “Jewish” nationalism.
Speranza wrote:
I would guess it’s an attempt to associate him with, in their minds, the most radical. Buzz word and all that.
My goodness…obammer campagin team worried..good they will make more mistakes…well more than they do now.
http://weaselzippers.us/2012/08/06/report-obama-campaign-terrified-there-will-be-scores-of-empty-seats-at-democratic-convention/
@ buzzsawmonkey:
That’s awful.
Speranza wrote:
I am happy to report I have NEVER bought a copy, but at the same time am sad to also report I once had a subscription for the LA Times. Hey, it was free for three months for one year. But that is no excuse.
@ The Osprey:
And to go with that…this…..obama hates Romney…why? Because he isn’t McCain and all the other ones that thought he was the one.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-quickly-developed-genuine-disdain-romney_649351.html
It’s not like he was all that respectful of McCain in 2008.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
Never bought a copy of it either. But like you I have bought a Newsweek….once I started seeing the bias…dumped it years agao.
/a very sad moment in my history.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
I hear that the LA Times is unusually thin these days.
Speranza wrote:
No he wasn’t…but hey he lies like water running through his hands.
/so if he says it’s true it must be even when it’s not.
(The thing is he wasn’t scared of McCain…this is showing he is scared of Romney in my only opinion.)
Obama Columbia Classmate Wayne Alan Root: It’s time for Romney to call Obama’s bluff.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
These observant Jews (those who perished from 1933 -45) wish there had been an Israel to take them in. As for the Neturei Karta -- they will be very warm in Gehennom.
The Osprey wrote:
as you wish
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/08/06/wh_distances_itself_from_harry_reid_carney_says_he_speaks_for_himself.html
song_and_dance_man wrote:
I understand but he is in no way a hard core rightist. He has been a parliamentarian all his political life and signals “right” while he turns “left” when driving.
Lily wrote:
Romney succeeded, and succeeded big, in the private sector. Obama hates the private sector and, more, those who succeeded in it—partially because they are private sector, and partly because the miserable embryo feels to the fullest what a vile parasite he is—though he would never admit it—when faced with someone who built his own success.
Mitt Romney’s very existence must make Obama feel that he’s attending a formal affair wearing nothing but a skimpy pair of underpants.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
I would appreciate your input on this.
In my mind there is a difference between a Jew and an Israeli. This should be the determining factor. Both are Hebrew, but the Jew is one that practices Judaism, while the Israeli is a reference to nationality. An Israeli can be a Jew, but not all Israeli’s practice what the ‘name’ Jew suggests.
@ The Osprey:
Finally a classmate of his is talking!
/apparently they didn’t scrubbed his background well enough.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
The two could be never so much apart in my opinion. obamma thought he was going to be able to handle Romney and now he knows he can’t.
Speranza wrote:
Yes and no.
Yes, they would have preferred there be a place they could have gone to. Yes, Neturei Karta is populated by extremists who are considered anathema even by Jews who do not support the State (emphasize “State”) of Israel, because they make common cause with murderous antisemites.
That said, there are plenty of Jews—particularly among the most-observant—who despise the State of Israel as an anti-Jewish entity. And they are not wrong. The State of Israel—that is to say, the Leftist establishment of Israel, the Israel of kibbutzes and unions, has always hated and has always attacked observant Jews.
“Battle on the Home Front”- Navy Seal’s book criticizing Obama nearly earns him dishonorable discharge…
Lily wrote:
Barry knows Mitt is not going into this election as an already lame duck as John was.
Lily wrote:
This guy has been speaking out for some time about Obama’s bogus record at Columbia.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
There is indeed. Olmert, the former Prime Minister who famously said that Israelis are “tired of being heroic,” whose children live abroad and who tried to give away as much land as possible, sees himself as an Israeli—not a Jew. He is a culmination of the Zionist dream that Jews become a nationality like any other.
Moshe Feiglin, who is trying to wrest control of the Likud coalition from Netanyahu, is a Jew, and wants Israel to be a Jewish nation.
The Osprey wrote:
For some reason I am not surprised.
/should he have retired first before writing the book? Or is it okay while still be a SEAL to hammer obamma?
Speranza wrote:
He humiliated McCain. He’s also taking Romney apart with ruthless attacks.
The Osprey wrote:
That gets a big hmmm…
I hope Mitt latches on to this and calls B. Hussein out.
The Osprey wrote:
Yet the media isn’t picking it up….or has it become more and more known about it now?
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Bleep them -- that’s all I will say about it.
You want to see anti Jewish entities -- go walk around Israel’s neighbors. That is a very peculiar statement you wrote. Israel is an anti-Jewish entity? -- I cannot believe I am reading that. I am gone for now and don’t want anything to do with this place for a while.
@ The Osprey:
It’s time for Romney to fight back. Right now he’s Obama’s punching bag.
Rodan wrote:
Speeding a lot of money doing it too…and will people remember this early in the game. Romney I think is waiting for the convention and the right moment.
@ Speranza:
Why because Buzz spoke the truth? If anyone would know he would.
@ Lily:
PIMF … SPENDING.
@ Lily:
Watch the vid of his Fox and Friends interview. He answers that question.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
He sees the tradition and the fact of what the original nation of Israel was founded upon. However, one cannot force all to become observant, but there can be establishment at the political level to bring it forward.
It would seem this kind of movement would be criticized bacause the nation would turn it’s establishment and foundation on religion. But, then again, that is how the original was brought into being.
Speranza wrote:
I don’t know what you haven’t read, but it appears to be a lot.
Israel famously tried to “civilize” Sephardic Jews the same way that the US government tried to “civilize” reservation Indians, by breaking up families, by trying to educate the children to reject their parents, etc. The more radical kibbutzes did not observe Jewish holidays and, like radical antireligious Jews in America and elsewhere, intentionally did things like feast rather than fast on Yom Kippur. Israel—official, Ashkenazic, Left-wing-establishment Israel—has always had an arm’s-length disdain for religious Jews and the practice of Judaism. In this, its Leftist establishment is very like the Leftist race-hustlers who “know what is best” for American blacks and keep them on the plantation; very like the Leftist gay-rights “leaders” who connived at letting thousands die by fighting to keep backroom bars and bath houses open during the worst of the AIDS epidemic.
It is because of this anti-Jewish Leftism that religious Jews have always regarded the Israeli government as just another government of the Exile—better than most, and one which enables them to stay in the Land of Israel. But it does not mean that they support the State of Israel.
Speranza wrote:
I think the meme needs to be expanded on. What buzz was saying is not very different to what we have experienced here in America. Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. But what do we see in the ever growing disconnect by those in political and chatter-class power? There is an ever growing move towards separation for those who practice these founding principles and want them re-established.
@ The Osprey:
Just did and bought the book. I knew the military has no respect for obama….
/it should be good.
@ Lily:
I hope he’s pulling a rope a dope.
Rodan wrote:
If Romney is Obama’s “punching bag”, he’s not getting hit very hard. These are “lovetaps” that are having zero relevance on Romney. His poll numbers prove that. I can you exactly what Romney is doing. He’s playing the waiting game. The gloves will come off AFTER the RNC convention, in September, when the majority of people start paying attention to the race. Then all hell will break loose with ads slamming Obama like he’s never been slammed before.
For what it’s worth, I am trying to explain the extreme—extreme—complexity of Jewish attitudes where Israel is concerned. There is a great deal of support for Israel the state among Orthodox Jews, but there is also a great deal of ambivalence for the reasons I have mentioned.
The less-religious Jews of America—Reform and Conservative Jews—have, in many cases, made support for Israel a proxy for the practice of Judaism. I’m sure that the state appreciates their support, particularly since so many involved in Israeli governance are not particularly observant. But support for Israel, in and of itself, is not the practice of Judaism, no matter how many tens of thousands of Israel bonds are purchased by Reform and Conservative congregants.
@ song_and_dance_man:
I left out a few words that would have made that more comprehensible. But I cannot edit it. PIMB
@ Bob in Breckenridge:
Its a very risky strategy. It has an effect on Romney’s standing in some swing states. Even some of Romney’s advisers admitted this. I just hope he has a good counter offensive ready.
Rodan wrote:
I do too. I think Romney knows he isn’t up against the regular politician….so timing is the key.
Can you imagine the debate between Romney and Obama? Obama will screw up so bad…because already Romney is getting into his head right now.
By the time of the debates …obama (if he doesn’t call off the debates) will look like a 3 year old throwing a tantrum. Romney is wisely waiting to gather campagin money and who knows who his VP will be. Romney isn’t going to back down from obama. He is already showing this ….just because he isn’t out right attacking him..which is wise..he is backing obama in a corner and obama in a corner is a lunatic. He can’t handle bad press or anything bad said about him.
Rodan wrote:
I am sure he does. He has to know he isn’t dealing with your garden variety politician with obama.
Lily wrote:
All the proof you need that most of the military detests Obama and most democrats is that when Obama speaks at military bases the soldiers/sailors/marines/airmen are ordered to attend. No one ever had to do that when President Bush spoke at a military base.
Lily wrote:
Throw salt on the slug.
Bob in Breckenridge wrote:
Bingo! And a smart move. Romney doesn’t want the racist/classfare game going on. When playing poker you don’t show your hand too soon or you will lose.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
LOL! And at the right timing too. Let the slug think it is all right.
Bob in Breckenridge wrote:
Don’t forget he requires our soldiers to disarm too when he speaks.
/especially overseas.
Rodan wrote:
No, it’s not risky, it’s smart, and I’ll tell you why. 80-85% have already decided who they’ll vote for and have known for months, like most of us here. The rest, the “undecideds”, aren’t even paying attention yet, and they don’t start paying attention until the conventions start.
Once Romney picks his VP candidate, that’s when the “undecideds” will start paying attention.
And I’ll say it again for the thousandth time, 80% of undecided voters will vote for Romney. They always break heavily for the “new guy”.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
As I tried to point out in a previous comment there is a comparison to that idealism here in America.
The agenda utilized by the Left at ridiculing and demeaning the true patriot—of whom most can be regarded as religious— is comparable to what you describe. Here, we are all Americans, but the gov has, through the policies of the Left, moved the policies at separating the founding notions our country was chartered on.
Bob in Breckenridge wrote:
And if Mitt has the cajones to do so, there are material facts out there—of which the MSM ignored in the last cycle— to utterly destroy him.
Lily wrote:
I should have typed “in September when the majority of undecided voters start paying attention.”
Lily wrote:
Timing could have a strategic outcome, but the truth about Barry must be brought forward by Romney. It’s time to stop being the nice guys and hit them harder than they would if the tables were turned.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
RNC chairman Reese Priebus was just on with Hannity, promising this will not be a repeat of the 2008 race. He said that “when they hit us, we’ll hit them back 10 times harder!”
I love hearing that!!!
@ Bob in Breckenridge:
Don’t underestimate Obama. That is what I am warning people here. We are not dealing with a normal politician.
@ Bob in Breckenridge:
They better. This is a street fight.
What the world fails to acknowledge are the remarkable achievements of the nation of Israel despite world hatred.
http://www.israelandstuff.com/israels-sourasky-medical-center-successfully-perform-deep-brain-implantation
Bob in Breckenridge wrote:
That should be the spirit. Open up that can of Chicago-style whoop ass.
@ song_and_dance_man:
One has to understand that the reason the Israeli government keeps doing stupid, appeasing things is precisely because the Leftist establishment of Israel—which goes back to the first efforts to create Israel, well before Israel’s independence—is still committed to the idea that if they show how very ordinary and how very like other countries they are, the world will forgive them for being Jews.
Ahad Ha-Am, one of the early Zionists, but one who was more pro-Jewish than most of them, understood this, when he observed that when humanitarians consider humanitarianism, they forget about the Jews, and when they consider the Jews, they forget about humanitarianism. He mocked the Jews who attempted to get in under the “humanitarian” umbrella by saying, “How can you do this to me? I am a member of all humanity!” Ahad Ha-Am saw that this approach was a fraud, doomed to failure. The Israeli Leftist establishment still does not.
I certainly do not want to see Israel become some sort of theocracy; I’d like to see it continue to be a beacon of democracy as well as a haven for practicing and non-practicing Jews. But I find the Israeli Leftist establishment’s attitude of “how much of my arm must I cut off for you to pretend you accept me, for a brief while?” to be an exercise in needless groveling that is sickening.
Rodan wrote:
By ‘normal’ I guess you mean he loves to obsessively watch drones killing humans. / (That’s from WHI, and I see this as consistent with Ozero’s behaviour patterns.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
I think he will expose obama…so far he has drip by drip. You know like “You Didn’t Build That!” and the “Solyandra Fraud”. Right now most people aren’t paying attention….timing is the key. Catch him off guard and he has a bit so far. Right now…he is handling it right so far. The Convention isn’t too far away. Just wait.
Rodan wrote:
I certainly don’t and if I a regular person doesn’t…Romney has to know obama isn’t a normal politician. Big Time!
The always intelligent Melanie Phillips on the subject of Israeli Jews who don’t support Israel.
http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/columnists/70714/what-kind-support
@ yenta-fada:
By not normal, I mean he has a cult of personality around him.
I just hope Romney’s team runs ads about Obama and his handling of the Illinois Infant Born Alive Act. Obama had no problem with allowing aborted babies that survive abortions to die.
Rodan wrote:
Indeed this is a street fight…but you know what Romney can fight and not back down. Timing. Wait for your enemy to show his hand first. Oh and obama has been doing this all summer.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
You nail the problems eloquently. Jews are sleepwalking through de Nile.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
There is no doubt a dichotomy in the way Israel was founded. How could it have been resolved to give both sides what they wanted? That the U.N. was primarily established for this task(that is my understanding, and I could be wrong) gives the inclination on just why Israel was established as a ‘state’ in the form of other governments. It chartered it as such and both secular and observant Jews were involved.
I do agree with you that Israel has been forced to give more than it gets, but they have few friends to help them do otherwise.
I don’t need to outlay my beliefs as to where Israel fits in in future scenarios, but the Jew—due to the obedience of Abraham—IMHO is the fulcrum on which all nations and history teeter-totter.
@ Bob in Breckenridge:
Let’s see I think they will…but to just a certain point.
Why because too many people think the Republicans are going to turn our country into a theocracy. (Ding-bats is what I call those)
Rodan wrote:
Yes he does or he wouldn’t be able to get away with all he has done.
/the thing is it isn’t the entire country and our country needs our prayers deeply now that we are at a crossroads.
Bob in Breckenridge wrote:
That, and his mentors, Davis, Wright; his supporters Ayers; Dorn, his associations, Rezko, commies; his sealed records, his bowing to foreigners, his claim to muslim faith, his appearance in Egypt, but none in Israel, and on and on.
Bring all and more of that up. Mitt better not wuss out.
Bob in Breckenridge wrote:
Sounds like they are gearing up for war…and that is what it will be.
Gathering intellinegence while they can and raising money for when the flood-gates open.
@ Bob in Breckenridge:
You old pal Charles is happy it was a Neo-Nazi that shot up the Sikh Temple. I find it disgusting many on the Left are celebrating the death of innocents.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
Mitt has a lot of bad stuff to throw in obama’s face to work with.
Rodan wrote:
What? He is happy that it was a neo-nazi? He’d be even more happier if it were a tea party member.
/the dude is sick to the core.
Rodan wrote:
Well why not? He is, after all, a Leftist cheerleader. What I find ironic is that he doesn’t see this dude came from the same camp he pitches his tent.
Lily wrote:
They seem to love it when a tragedy can be fits on of their memes and can be leveraged to help peddle their ideology. Of course if the facts don’t support it, they can just make them up! Remember the Gabby Giffords shooting?
Souless ghouls.
O and OT
Jaws is being released next week on Blu and has been restored.
@ citizen_q:
Soul-less ghouls is right.
Well, it appears this thread is taking a break. Time to grocery shop.
song_and_dance_man wrote:
One of the biggest things—and it’s a really big thing—that gets lost in discussions of Israel and the UN is the awareness that the Jews who founded Israel had been working at that task for 60 years before Israel declared its independence. In other words, Israel had been a-building for almost as long prior to its independence as it has been a nation now.
The first efforts at Zionism, at Jews from the Diaspora returning to the Land of Israel for the purpose of eventually achieving an independent state, began in the 1880s. Most of these failed; the big push did not start until the more broadbased Zionist movement began in the 1890s, following Theodore Herzl’s writings that were inspired by the antisemitism he saw in France during the Dreyfus case.
All the way up to WWI, Jews were attempting to get the Sultan (the Ottomans still ruled the Land of Israel) to grant them a state; the German Jews also approached the Kaiser, who was allied with the Ottomans, to influence the Sultan in this regard. That did not work.
The Balfour Declaration in 1917 (“His Majesty’s government looks with favor upon the establishment of a national home for the Jews in Palestine”) was in large part a political payoff; the chemist Chaim Weizmann, who later became Israel’s first President, had invented synthetic cordite, which was extremely important to the British during WWI.
Immigration, nation-building in the form of towns (Tel Aviv had been founded on empty desert in 1909), farms, kibbutzim, moshavim, businesses, etc., continued apace between the wars, during fluctuations in immigration (the British alternately admitted and denied admittance to Jews going to Mandate Palestine). The Yishuv was the term for the Jewish government of the non-independent state-to-be.
The “United Nations” was a term used for the Allies in WWII. If you hear some of Edward R. Murrow’s old “I Can Hear It Now” broadcasts (I have an album of them on 78 rpm), you can hear him celebrating VE day with the line, “The victory belongs to the United Nations.”
“The United Nations” was simply the term given to the post-WWII attempt to re-do the failed League of Nations right this time—sound familiar? Just like “socialism was never properly implemented.” The postwar UN was basically the US, with France and Britain—and their empires, which covered much of the globe back then—the Soviet Union as a former ally with its increasing empire/bloc/sphere of influence, and the “other nations” added to flesh the whole thing out. It wasn’t formed to give birth to Israel—Israel declared independence after the British said, “We’re sick of dealing with the unrest here, and we’re pitching it in your lap” and the UN voted to partition the area into Arab and Jewish sections. The UN screwed Israel over on that, given that under Britain’s mandate all of today’s Israel—that is, West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Israel proper—were “set aside for a Jewish homeland” and the rest (the bulk) of the “Palestine Mandate”, the part which became Jordan (i.e., the only legitimate “Palestinian” state) had already become “the Kingdom of Transjordan.”
Anyway; the UN tried to pull Britain’s chestnuts out of the fire by voting for partition; Israel declared independence, the culmination of 60 years of groundwork; the Arabs tried to destroy it, failed, and have been trying ever since—but the UN didn’t “create” Israel, and was not formed to do so.
New Thread.
Rodan wrote:
rope a dope…let BO spend himself
@ buzzsawmonkey:
I had no idea the push for Zionism began so long ago. I want to comment more but have to go. Thanks for that, and btw, I’ve bookmarked your comment for future reading and reference.
@ song_and_dance_man:
Glad you saw it.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Buzz, one of the books that clued me in is A Surplus of Memory by Yitzak Zuckerman, who was known as An
eaglesoars wrote:
known as Antek in the Warsaw ghetto. This is a book about the uprising and he gives a primer on all the Jewish political groups active in Poland at the time before the invasion. It was an eyeopener.
(sorry for hitting ‘submit’ by accident -- my keyboard sucks canal water)