Hamas War

Showing posts with label America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label America. Show all posts

Friday, November 24, 2023

Israel Attacked by Hamas 2023/5784, War Musings #11 Bibi Blinked!

Bibi Blinked and Then Stuffed His Ears...

Many years ago, a fellow blogger (who's no longer on the blogging scene) photoshopped Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu's face in the center of a bagel for me. 

More about the image of Bibi in the center of the bagel... This is what I had envisioned over fifteen years ago after hearing Bibi state that when he returns the position of Prime Minister of Israel, he'd promote centrist policies, since he considered it the proper way to be a national leader. This image of a directionless Netanyahu popped into my head. A true leader must have a clear vision חזון. A centrist stands still, or goes in useless circles. When a country stands still it dies. 

In the Center one circles endlessly repeating mistakes, which is exactly what Bibi and his loyal voters have been doing. Why are people surprised? I've been expecting such a war ever since he began his "Hamas has leaned its lesson" and then he'd agree to a ceasefire, until the next round. Making such a mistake once may be understandable, but to endlessly repeat is is beyond stupid. 

To me it was perfectly clear that the "lesson" Hamas was learning was not that Israel's tougher, but it was how to aim their rockets better. And the icing on the cake for them was how quickly Israel would lie to itself and agree to a ceasefire. 

Now we're paying the price. And considering the perverse sadistic cruelty Hamas has unabashedly been showing to the world, I must admit that not even I ever envisioned something so insanely psychopathic. Having grown up post-World War Two and always hearing that there was nothing worse than the Nazis and the Holocaust, I now have no doubt that Hamas is much worse than the Nazis. 

Netanyahu is my age and was raised by a famous academic historian, so how is it that he doesn't see what I see? How can he trust Hamas? Hamas is proud of the carnage, the rape, decapitation, burning of people. They filmed it and broadcast it unabashedly. How can Binyamin Netanyahu trust them enough to negotiate with them? 

If you say "the Americans forced us," then why should we ever listen to such faux deceitful allies? As we used to hear in old cowboy and indian movies, "they speak with forked tongues." Besides that, as an independent country, Israel must do what's best for Israel and not allow other countries to boss us around. We owe nothing to America!!! 

Check your history, and you'll only find tricks. That includes the so call "aid," which is no more than "shopping coupons" to be used in American "stores" to shore up the American military industries and cripple the Israeli economy. 

Shabbat's approaching, and I must return to my chores and get these awful thoughts out of my head...



Friday, October 20, 2023

Israel Attacked by Hamas 2023/5784, War Musings #2 Off With the News

 


For a news junky like myself, such a decision can be called sacrilegious for sure. To be honest, I do check in periodically to get an idea of what's actually happening, but I don't think watching/listening to the "news" is a good idea. 

For one... I find myself yelling:
STUPID! 
THAT'S IDIOTIC
YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS
WHY SHOULD YOU BELIVE THAT CLOWN etc.
Another thing is that I miss the more innocent time pre-cellphone and social media. During the rather devastating 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israeli television was in its infancy and we didn't have one. Many Israelis didn't even have telephones. Computers, tablets and cellphones were from the world of science fiction, definitely make-believe. That innocence kept us saner than today. 

We barely heard accurate news of casualties. There were quick burials and then after the war was over the dead soldiers were reinterred. Only during that difficult postwar time did we discover what really happened. The disadvantage was that instead of celebrating our victory, people mourned. 

Now we're burying, mourning and fighting all at once. In addition there are the stories of soldiers taken from the front to attend their own weddings. It's all rather insane and schizophrenic. I guess it suits the mentality and culture of the day, but it's hard for me.

I think that there's too much said in public, on the news and in private conversations. 

Lastly, too many tv and radio shows are like "backseat drivers." Everyone's so smart, smarter than the government and generals. I also am, but I don't think all this talk should be in the media. You know what they say about loose tongues.

May we listen to Gd and not the Americans! The last time they won a real war was seventy 70 years ago, and they've never even fought a war for their survival. We're the experts and Gd Almighty.

We need Gd's help for sure, and we must work hard to deserve it.

Shabbat Shalom U'Mevorach

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Facts in Fiction, Daniel Silva Should be Taken Seriously

Over the years I've blogged a few times about the very true lessons we can learn from the movie The Siege, Fact and Fiction, "The Siege." Recently I've been reading quite a few Daniel Silva books, and even though I have no idea what his politics are, I see some important lessons there, too.

In pretty much all of Silva's spy, adventure novels I've read, there's a foul up caused by American "help," interference and demand for control. Just like in The Siege, there's an inherent American incompetence and built in leaks. Of course I don't know what percentage of these repeated foul ups/disasters are based on fact, but from my vantage point in Shiloh and the fact that I've been a longtime political observer, they ring very true.

It's no secret that the American State Department is anti-Israel and antisemitic; it has always been. Israel isn't treated fairly, fact not fiction.

Right now I'm reading Daniel Silva's The Messenger, and I came across a line that rings so true.

"The sooner we stop worrying about being liked, the better off we'll be."Daniel Silva's The Messenger,

This is a major problem in Israeli policy, the quest to be liked. Unfortunately, there isn't any form of or tactic in hasbara-information campaigns or "rebranding" which can delete or even reduce the inherent anti-Israel and antisemitism that exists in NGOs, other countries, diplomats, accademia etc. Internationally, there's more antisemitism than had existed as the Nazi Final Solution was reaching its crescendo.

And the feeling of national guilt which had existed in Germany and parts of Europe post-World War Two has ended. The Nazis' grandchildren and great-grandchildren are leading the anti-Israel pro-Palestine movements. Unlike their parents, they won't even fund memorials.

So we here in Israel must forget about being liked; it just won't happen. Let's just take off the gloves and destroy our enemies. That's the only way to bring peace.

Sunday, June 10, 2018

GUEST POST: Who Are the Palestinians

(a guest post by Mr. Cohen)

=========================================
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
=========================================
1. Who Are the Palestinians? by Yashiko Sagamori
2. What happened to the Philistines? by Mr. Cohen
3. Josephus and the Philistines by Mr. Cohen
4. Where did the Philistines come from? by Mr. Cohen
5. Where did the Philistines live? by Mr. Cohen
6. Four Quotes about Palestine
7. Why did the Olso peace treaty fail?
8. Articles about the Palestinians from Aish HaTorah (LINKS)
9. More Articles about the Palestinians (miscellaneous) (LINKS)
10. Articles about the Palestinians from Mr. Patrick Condell (LINKS)
11. Pro-Israel Articles from Aish HaTorah (LINKS)
12. Articles Refuting the BDS Movement from Aish HaTorah (LINKS)
13. Articles about Media Bias against Israel from Aish HaTorah (LINKS)
14. Ancient Roman historians connected Jews with the Land of Israel
15. Why Israel’s 1967 Borders are Undefendable (LINKS)
=========================================
Who Are the Palestinians?
by Yashiko Sagamori  --  2002 November 25

Yashiko Sagamori is a New York-based
Information Technology consultant.
=========================================
If you are so sure that "Palestine, the country, goes back
through most of recorded history", I expect you to be able
to answer a few basic questions about that country of "Palestine":

1. When was it founded and by whom?

2. What were its borders?

3. What was its capital?

4. What were its major cities?

5. What constituted the basis of its economy?

6. What was its form of government?

7. Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?

8. Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence,
at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?

9. What was the [unique] language of the country of Palestine?

10. What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine?

11. What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history
and try and find the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian
 monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, British pound,
Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date.

12. Have the Palestinians left any artifacts behind?

13. Do you know of a library where one could find a work
of Palestinian literature produced before 1967 CE?

14. And, finally, since there is no such country today,
what caused its demise and when did it occur?

If you are lamenting the "low sinking" of "once proud"
nation, then please tell me, when exactly was that "nation"
proud and what was it so proud of?

And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people
you mistakenly call "Palestinians" are anything but generic
Arabs collected from all over - or thrown out of - the Arab
world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives
them right for self-determination, why did they never try
to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating
defeat by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War?

I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern-day
"Palestinians" to the Biblical Philistines: substituting
etymology for history won´t work here.

The truth should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. 
Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying
Israel; they still cherish it today. Having time and again failed
to achieve their evil goal through military means, they decided
to fight Israel by proxy. 
For that purpose, they created a terrorist organization, cynically
called it "the Palestinian people" and installed it in Gaza, Judea,
and Samaria.  How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan
and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the "West Bank"
and Gaza, respectively, in the aftermath of the 1967 war?

The fact is, Arabs populating Gaza, Judea, and Samaria have
much less of a claim to nationhood than the American Indian
tribe that successfully emerged in Connecticut with the purpose
of starting a tax-exempt casino: at least that tribe had a constructive
goal that motivated them.
The so-called "Palestinians" have only one motivation:
the destruction of Israel. In my book that is not sufficient to
consider them a "nation" -- or anything else -- except what they
really are: a terrorist organization that will one day be dismantled.

In fact, there is only one way to achieve piece in the Middle East.
Arab countries must acknowledge and accept their defeat in
their war against Israel and, as the losing side, should pay Israel
reparations for the more than 50 years of devastation they have
visited upon it. The most appropriate form of such reparations
would be the removal of their terrorist organization from the
land of Israel and acceptance of Israel´s ancient sovereignty
over Gaza, Judea, and Samaria.

That will mark the end of the Palestinian people.
What are you saying again was its beginning?

======================================
What happened to the Philistines? by Mr. Cohen
======================================
Some Palestinians claim to be descendants of the Philistines,
an ancient nation that is mentioned in the Bible.  This claim
is very unlikely to be true, because around the year 600 BCE,
King Nebuchadnezzar [king of Babylon] destroyed most of
the Philistines, and the rest were deported to Babylon. 

According to the article titled: “Who Were the Philistines?”
written by Owen Jarus, which appeared in Live Science
magazine on 2016 July 16:

“The Philistines disappear from written history during the 6th century B.C. when the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (reign ca. 605 BC – c. 562 BC) conquered the region and destroyed several cities, including Ashkelon [which was their main city].”

======================================
Josephus and the Philistines by Mr. Cohen
======================================
Michael Avioz wrote an essay titled: “The Philistines in Josephus’ Writings”.
In the final paragraph of this essay, which is titled “Conclusion”, he says:

               “Unlike the Egyptians, the
               Philistines no longer existed
             in Josephus’ own life-time.”

Since the famous historian Josephus lived around 2,000 years ago
in the Holy Land [which was then called the land of Judea] this
means that the Philistines were already vanished from the Holy Land
around 2,000 years ago.  Therefore, claims that the Palestinians
are descendants of the Biblical Philistines are very unlikely to be true.

SOURCE: “The Philistines in Josephus’ Writings” by Michael Avioz
www.academia.edu/22646521/The_Philistines_in_Josephus_Writings

======================================
Where did the Philistines come from? by Mr. Cohen
======================================

The ancient Philistines originated from the
AEGEAN area, according to the World Book
Encyclopedia, volume 15 (letter P), page 382, 2017.

The Aegean Sea is part of Greece.  Therefore,
the Philistines were Greeks. They were NOT
indigenous to the Land of Israel; they were foreign.

======================================
Where did the Philistines live? by Mr. Cohen
======================================

The ancient Philistines lived in what is now
southwestern Israel, according to the World Book
Encyclopedia, volume 15 (letter P), page 382, 2017.
 
Therefore, if the Palestinians have any claim
to the Land of Israel that is based on the
ancient Philistines, then that claim is limited to
southwest Israel, also known as Gaza.

======================================
Four Quotes about Palestine
======================================

***** QUOTE 1: *****

Zuheir Mohsen, a leader of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization),
said this in an interview with Trouw (a Dutch daily newspaper) in March 1977:

“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."

***** QUOTE 2: *****

"From the end of the Jewish state in antiquity to the beginning
of British rule, the area now designated by the name Palestine was
not a country and had no frontiers, only administrative boundaries…"

SOURCE:
Professor Bernard Lewis, Commentary Magazine, January 1975

***** QUOTE 3: *****

"There is no such thing as a Palestinian Arab nation...

Palestine is a name the Romans gave to Israel with the express
purpose of infuriating the Jews...

Why should we use the spiteful name meant to humiliate us?

The British chose to call the land they mandated Palestine,
and the Arabs picked it up as their nation's supposed ancient name,
though they couldn't even pronounce it correctly and turned it into
Falastin a fictional entity."

SOURCE: Golda Meir quoted by Sarah Honig,
Jerusalem Post, 25 November 1995

***** QUOTE 4: *****

"Palestine has never existed . . . as an autonomous entity.
There is no language known as Palestinian. 
There is no distinct Palestinian culture. 
There has never been a land known as Palestine governed by Palestinians. 

Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable from Jordanians
(another recent invention), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc.  

Keep in mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands.  Israel represents one-tenth of one percent of the landmass. 
But that's too  much for the Arabs.  They want it all.

And that is ultimately what the fighting in Israel is about today . . .
No matter how many land concessions the Israelis make,
it will never be enough."

SOURCE: Myths of the Middle East by Joseph Farah,
an Arab-American editor and journalist,
www.WorldNetDaily.com, 11 October 2000

======================================
Why did the Oslo peace treaty fail?
======================================

“[The] Olso [peace treaty] also failed because the Palestinians,
while talking peace in English, continued to build hate
against Israelis in Arabic, in their mosques and textbooks.

And they continued to draw maps of a future
Palestinian state that erased Israel.” 

SOURCE: Longitudes and Attitudes (page 224)
by Thomas L. Friedman, 2002 April 7


***********************************************
Articles about the Palestinians from Aish HaTorah:
***********************************************
www.aish.com/jw/me/Golda-Meir-on-the-Palestinians.html
www.aish.com/shraga_blog/The_Palestinian_Money_Pit.html
 
www.aish.com/jw/me/The-Truth-about-Palestinians.html

www.aish.com/jw/me/Believing-Palestinian-Lies.html

www.aish.com/jw/mo/Staged-Palestinian-Photos.html

www.aish.com/jw/s/The_Pro-Palestinians_Real_Agenda.html

www.aish.com/jw/me/48882577.html
More Articles about the Palestinians (miscellaneous)
**********************************************

The Palestinian Connection to the Nazis
by Wolfgang G. Schwanitz, 2017 May 14
www.algemeiner.com/2017/05/14/the-palestinian-connection-to-the-nazis/
 
How a pro-Palestinian American reporter
changed his views on Israel and the conflict

by Hunter Stuart, 2017 February 15
www.jpost.com/Jerusalem-Report/A-view-from-the-frontlines-480829


Dismantling the Palestinian Lie
by Yaakov Menken,  2018 May 25
https://cross-currents.com/2018/05/25/dismantling-the-palestinian-lie/

Why Palestinian Incitement Matters
by Jonathan Rosenblum, 2009 November 5
https://cross-currents.com/2009/11/05/why-palestinian-incitement-matters/

End the False Israeli-Palestinian Parity
by Daniel Pipes, 2017 July 9  
www.algemeiner.com/2017/07/09/end-the-false-israeli-palestinian-parity/

Palestine: Failing the test of history
Martin Sherman 2018 June 6
www.jns.org/opinion/palestine-failing-the-test-of-history/

Rudy Giuliani said: Terror promotion proves
Palestinian Authority is ‘not entitled to be a state’
www.jns.org/rudy-giuliani-the-pa-is-not-entitled-to-be-a-state/

What is Palestine? Who are the Palestinians?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9ReF4UUa4E

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Mr. Patrick Condell has no Jewish ancestors
and no religion that might cause him to favor Jews.

Please read these short pro-Israel articles that
expose the Palestinians by Mr. Patrick Condell:
********************************************
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/09/boo-hoo-palestine-by-pat-condell.html
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/09/why-do-muslims-always-blame-jews.html
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/09/liberal-hypocrisy-over-gaza.html

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Pro-Israel Articles from Aish HaTorah
********************************************
www.aish.com/jw/me/13-Facts-about-Israel--the-Middle-East.html

www.aish.com/jw/s/The_Pro-Palestinians_Real_Agenda.html
***************************************************
Articles Refuting the BDS Movement from Aish HaTorah
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www.aish.com/jw/me/BDS-The-Attempt-to-Strangle-Israel.html

www.aish.com/jw/me/BDS-and-Anti-Semitism.html
www.aish.com/jw/me/Fighting-BDS-in-the-Name-of-Human-Rights.html

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Articles about Media Bias against Israel from Aish HaTorah
*******************************************************
Why is the Media Biased?
4 Reasons Why the Media is Biased against Israel:
Dishonest Reporting: Media Bias Against Israel
The Media: Destroying Jerusalem Again
European Media and Anti-Israel Bias
Palestinians: Western Media's Ignorance and Bias
www.aish.com/jw/mo/Palestinians-Western-Medias-Ignorance-and-Bias.html
Huge source of high-quality pro-Israel videos
An Insider’s Guide to the Most Important Story on Earth
by Matti Friedman, 2014/8/26

SUMMARY:
This article exposes intentional anti-Israel bias in the news media.
It is still VERY relevant, even though it was written in 2014.
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Ancient Roman historians connected Jews with the Land of Israel:
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http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/05/guest-post-cornelius-tacticus.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/02/guest-post-josephus-vs-muslim-liars.html
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