Procrasination is something that I learned as a child would not serve me well. “Why do today what I can do tomorrow?”didn’t fly in my house growing up. I tried the argument about making my bed; I’m just getting into it tonight, so why make it? I tried to not empty the dishwasher because I could just take the dishes out and use them, just like out of the cabinet! I tried, “The project isn’t due for a few weeks, why start now?” None of it got anywhere in my house growing up. I learned that if you have to do something eventually, you might as well just get it taken care of now. It’s a pretty simple philosophy and has made life much easier for me.
It astounds me when I see smart people fail to understand this. The will put their heads in the sand, pretend not to see things, delay, delay, delay, for no purpose. At the end of the day, they still have to do what is necessary only now it is much more challenging and difficult.
That’s where we found ourselves today when it comes to the Iranian regime. We could have addressed their funding of terrorists for decades, but we didn’t. We could have addressed their nuclear weapon aspirations years ago, but we didn’t. The JCPOA merely delayed it, IF Iran would actually follow it, which they immediately did not. After almost an entire year of war betwen Israel and Iran’s proxies (Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis), we finally got to the real situation. War with Iran.
We’ve called them Iran’s proxies for years. We wouldn’t attack Iran. We had no sanctions, we put on crippling sanctions, we removed sanctions. We froze their money, gave them their money back, all for this evil regime to tyrannize the Iranian people, fund terrorists around the world, and do everything they can to develop a nuclear bomb. By all accounts, they are now very close.
Today, Iran fired 180 ballistic missiles into Israel. While it was expected, it was shocking. The entire country went on alert. I don’t know anybody in Israel who didn’t spend time in their safe room today. Some, more than others. Luckily the Israeli technology was able to shoot down most of the missiles. America and Jordan helped shoot some down. For the second time during the past year, Iran has fired hundreds of missiles at Israel with minimal/no effect.
Tel Aviv before the Iran bombingTel Aviv after the Iran bombing
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that Israel’s air defenses intercepted many of the incoming Iranian missiles. Some, however, landed in central and southern Israel. Israel’s national rescue service said two people were lightly wounded by shrapnel. In the West Bank/Judea and Samaria, Palestinian Authority (PA) officials said a Palestinian man was killed by a missile that fell near Jericho, Once again, Iran’s attack was scary but not lethal.
Missiles over Israel
Missile impact in Tel Aviv
Iranian missiles being shot down over the Kotel
Missiles over Ashdod
Iranian missiles at the Ayalon Mall in Bnei Brak
Ballistic missiles over Israel
Israel’s response is expected to be very different. They may target Iran’s oil refineries. They may target Iran’s nuclear facilities. They may target the Ayatollah himself. None of us know but Israel knows. Israel has been planning for this eventuality for a long time. Unlike the United States and Europe, Israel has not had it’s head in the sand when it comes to Iran. After missing so much that led to October 7th, Israel has showed her brilliance with the beepers, walkie-talkies, and elimination of the leadership of Hamas. The question for the US and Europe is are they going to treat the Iranian regime as a legitimate government who can be taken at the word or are they going to realize that this regime will lie, cheat, and steal to get what they want. The US and Europe are measuring time in minutes, hours, days, and weeks. Occasionally in years. Iran is measure time in decades and centuries. We are at a critical time in history after this attack and the question is, “Will the world take advantage of the opportunity or we will once again let the moment pass us by?”
The Abraham Accords have shown that peace and normalization is possible. I have seen the Israeli Zionist Youth Movement in an Arab village (there are 55 Arab villages with this program and over 20,000 Arab children in the movement). I have Palestinian friends that live in East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Beit Ummar, near Hebron.
I have friends in Israel who live in communities like Haifa and Jaffa where Jews and Arabs live together in peace. Every day they show what can be the reality. I have been to the Hand in Hand schools, where Jews and Arabs go to school together. They learn Hebrew and Arabic. They study together, learn together, and grow up together. There are currently 6 of these schools in Israel with more than 2,000 students enrolled. Jaffa, Jerusalem, Kfar Saba, Wadi Ara, Haifa, an the Galilee all have these Hand in Hand schools.
We saw the dancing in the streets after Nasrallah was eliminated by the people of Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. They gave their thanks publicly to Israel for freeing them from an evil overseer.
The lie that eliminiting the terrorists will just create more terrorists has been exposed. Failing to eliminate terrorists create more terrorists. Continuing to fund UNRWA when there continues to be more and proof that their employees are members of Hamas and Hezbollah, that they are not delivering the food and aid to the people of Gaza, that they participated in the October 7 attacks and that they housed and helped hide hostages. As Israel frees Gaza from Hamas, Lebanon from Hezbollah, and potentially Iran from the Iranian regime, the opportunity for peace is large. What will we do?
It all comes back to where we are today. What are we going to do with Iran? Are we going to let them off the hook again? Are we going to miss the opportunity once again? Are we going to look back and regret how our leaders cowered in fear or be proud that they stood up to evil and made the world a much safer place? We will see what happens but we know that it starts and ends with Iran.
Israel just did what nobody thought they could. They not only eliminated the leadership of Hezbollah, destroyed many of their rockets and rocket launchers, and eliminiated Hassan Nasrallah, an evil terrorist responsible for murdering Israelis, Americans, Syrians, and Lebanese people in large numbers. You think that the world would celebrate the elimination of this evil man.
Many did, with meme’s like this filling the internet.
Even the Lebanese people are celebrating his death. It gives them a chance at freedom.
Yet there were so many more who mourned him, despite his despicable life of murder and terror. The Irish Republicans have idolized him and created things like this.
In America, we see far too many mourning his death and attempting to make him into a martyr. In Dearborn, Michigan, three separate mosques are holding martyr mourning sessions that they are live streaming as well.
This is what happens in Jihad capital of America, three separate Shia mosques in Dearborn are hosting their own "martyr" mourning sessions this evening while a live stream is also are going on. People in the Middle East are celebrating his elimination while in America their mourn… https://t.co/DuNUcWsEOV
In Ottowa, the antisemites pretending to only be against Israel, went to a Jewish neighborhood to hold a protest. They didn’t go to the Israeli embassy. They didn’t go to the Israeli consulate. They went to a Jewish neighborhood. But this has nothing to do with hating Jews. Their hypocrisy is obvious.
Holding a hate rally in a Jewish neighborhood in Ottawa is clearly against Canadian laws.
The college campuses continue to reek of antisemitism and Jew hatred. The University of Pennsylvania continues to fight with Columbia to see who can treat Jews the worst and who can be the most antisemitic school in the country. Students for Justice in Palestine (most of whom aren’t students, don’t want justice, and couldn’t pick out the countries in the middle east without help) posted this. Will the University do or say anythig? The odds say no.
SJP is really a hate group on college campuses
McGill University says, “Hold my beer!” to UPenn
McGill University wants to compete for the most antisemitic campus in North America
Then there is the media. I don’t expect anything different from them but I thought with how evil Nasrallah has been, with as many American’s he has murdered, with his mass murder in Syria and the acknowledged leader of a huge terrorist organization, they would at least be factual. It seems that is way too high a bar for them, as seen by the Washington Post and the Guardian
Yet the people of Lebanon, Iran, and Syria feel differently. Take a look at these signs and messages. They send a powerful message from the people of Syrian, Iran, and Lebanon about what they want. It speaks to the evil of Hezbollah from those living under their rule. Unfortunately, the elitists in the West and the antisemites in America, Canada, and Europe think they know better.
Please bear with me for posting so many videos and pictures. It’s simply amazing that the people directly impacted are clearly saying one thing yet the Western Elites think they know better. It’s the ultimate superiority complex. It is pretentious, ego-centric, and arrogant.
Syrian people with the sign in hebrew that says, “Thank you very much Netanyahu. By killing Nasrallah you light the path of peace”
Graffiti spotted in Tehran: “Antisemitism has no place in the future of Iran.” pic.twitter.com/vBaBiohPFg
From Iraqi 🇮🇶 to Israel 🇮🇱 THANKYOU! Congratulations to my Jewish brothers & sisters, congratulations to #Israel 🇮🇱 & the civilized world on the elimination of #hizballah ter*rorists weapons leader #Nasrallah , this major achievement by Israel 🇮🇱 will bring peace to our region… pic.twitter.com/girwwlWBfS
Iranian and Jewish Canadians come together in Toronto to celebrate the world without Hassan Nasrallah. Here is @SalmanSima handing out sweets to the crowd. 🦁☀️🇮🇱🇨🇦📟📟💥 pic.twitter.com/PZaN0Ec1px
Then there is one of my all-time favorites, Abu Mazen/Mahmoud Abbas. The President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), who is now finishing his 20th year of a 4 year term. Despite this incredible fact, the UN, Europe, and the United States give him credibility as a ‘democratically elected leader’. While many of the liberal elite fear that a Trump presidency would be more than the 4 year term, they have no issue supporting a man who is in year 20 of a 4 year term. The hypocrisy is brutal.
Mahmoud Abbas has had many opportunities for peace. Three consecutive Israeli leaders – Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon and Olmert – sought to hand over permanent control of territory to the Palestinians. First to Yasser Arafat and then to Abbas. Olmert offered Abbas a map that showed Israel would give Palestinians nearly 94% of the West Bank, with Israeli territory in the remainder that would have been compensated for via a land swap, and a corridor connecting Gaza and the West Bank. Yet Abbas rejected it outright.
When Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, they gave the PA an opportunity to build a state. Instead of building a state, instead of building the Singapore of the Middle East, Abbas and his leadership squandered the opportunity before Hamas took control in 2007. He has shown through every action he has taken that he doesn’t want a Palestinian State that lives next to Israel. He wants a Palestinian State with NO ISRAEL. Yet he has the chutzpah (yes I used a yiddush word with a terrorist) to say to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) that, “We want a solution that will protect both countries – the State of Palestine and the State of Israel – so they can co-exist in peace, stability and security.”
The man who responded to the Olmert peace offer by starting the second intifada also said to the UNGA, “we cannot fight Israel, and we don’t want to fight, we want protection.” This from the man who sent suicide bombers into Israel, who denies the Holocaust, and ensure terrorists in the West Bank/Judea and Samaria and places like Jenin have become a breeding ground for local terrorist groups. And the UN loves him.
When Nasrallah was killed, Abbas mourned his loss. He offered his condolences to the Lebanese Hezbollah members. Once again he showed he doesn’t care about the people of Lebanon just like he doesn’t care about the Palestinians. What does he care about? Lining his own pockets. Arafat died a billionaire. Abbas is a billionaire. The money that comes in goes in his pocket first. As long as he can stay in power and not have peace, he gets wealthier and wealthier. Yet the world closes their eyes, continues to send him money, while the people hate him and everything that he represents.
Condolences to Hezbollah from Mahmoud Abbas
So what’s the point of this rant? We have clearly seen that bowing to pressure from the US or the UN does Israel no good. As important as the relationship with the US is, Israel must do what it needs to do for the safety and security of her people. When Rafah was said to be a ‘no go’ and that it was impossible to evacuate that many people, Israel went ahead and evacuated the people and went anyway. When the pressure from the US was to leave Hezbollah alone and try dipolomatic efforts that never work with terrorists, Israel proceeded to eliminate the leadership of Hezbollah in about 2 weeks and is reportedly preparing a ground incursion to push Hamas back to the lines agreed upon in the UN Resolution 1701 that the UN, the US, and the world has failed to enforce over the past 18 years.
Israel can no longer sit back and cowtow to the US or the world’s opinions. After October 7th we have seen that most of the world would happily let Israel die. The US does not exude strength which means listening to them only emboldens the terrorists. Israel must do what Israel must do in terms of security. Otherwise they have no country.
As former Ambassador Michael Oren said when he spoke at a local JNF event earlier this year, “Israel was founded with 2 covenants between the government and the people. The first was “Never Again” and on October 7th that was broken. The second was that “the IDF will always be there.” On October 7th, that was broken. Israel needs to renew that covenant. They need the citizens who live in the north to return to their homes. They need the hostages to come home. They need to rebuild the south where Hamas destroyed the kibbutzim. They need to rebuild the trust between the government, the IDF, and the people of Israel.
And then, in the words of Mia Schem, “We will dance again”. I can’t wait until there is another Nova dance party to remember the last and celebrate life. I plan on being there.
I got back from Israel on Friday September 20th. On Saturday night, September 21st, the bombs and rockets started en masse from Lebanon and Iraq into the north of Israel. On Sunday night/Monday morning of September 23rd, the village across the street from Kibbutz Lavi, were we stayed less than a week ago, had a direct hit from Hezbollah. Luckily the family was in the safe room, so nobody was injured. It’s not the first time something like this has happened to me. During the 2nd intifada, the night before we flew home, we were out a club having a good time. The music was good, the people were great, and we enjoyed ourselves. A day later we flew home. A few days later, a suicide bomber blew themselves up in the club we had just been. I’ve been in Israel when masses of people were on the Syrian border, threatening to breach it and enter Israel. We could hear the chants and the gunfire from our hotel rooms. Once again, our flight was the next day.
While in both situations I left just before a major attack on a place I had just been occurred, things are very different this time. Before, these were isolated terrorist attacks. That sounds horrifying but it also means that it was one person or group of people, at one place, focused on doing damage and murdering people at that location. It was very local. Now it is different. The entire country is being targeted. While in Israel last week, rockets were fired close to where we were. In both cases, the alerts didn’t go off where we were but did go off a few kilometers away. The train station in Modi’in, where I had been in May, had damage. My friends in Modi’in, who I had spent Shabbat with, had to go into their safe room on Sunday night.
My friends at Kibbutz Ravid sent me this video of the rockets over their heads and Iron Dome shooting them down. Less than a week ago, I was there.
Rockets over Kibbutz Ravid
This was over Tzfat, one of my favorite cities in Israel. I haven’t been there since prior to October 7th and couldn’t go on this trip because it wasn’t safe. I wasn’t far from Tzfat and could see it in the distance, but just being a few kilometers away makes a huge difference in terms of safety when Hezbollah is bombing indiscriminately.
Rockets over Tzfat
I speak to friends in Israel every day now. When I wake up my WhatsApp is filled with updates about the war. What Israel is doing to Hezbollah and what Hezbollah is firing at Israel. The alarms are now going off across almost the entire country. Iraq is now firing on Israel as well. It all stems from Iran, an existential threat to the US as well as Israel, and yet we stay silent.
Actually we don’t stay silent. We get continued lies from people like Representative Rashida Tlaib, who still hasn’t removed her lies about the hospital bombing on social media from 10 months ago. This is her speaking out yesterday.
The Israeli government has deliberately blocked food, medicine, medical supplies, and fuel from entering Gaza for almost a year now. Using starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime.
Congress must pass the UNRWA Restoration Act to restore humanitarian relief to Gaza. pic.twitter.com/EeV6l6V2DN
Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for President, is both Jewish and hater of Israel. She also continues to spew her hatred and lies on daily basis. This is one of her most recent posts, again accusing Israel of genocide.
As a Jew who grew up after the Holocaust, it was essential to come to terms with genocide and affirm that it would never happen again. That means to not perpetrate, nor be a bystander, to genocide.
Representative Ilhan Omar, a noted antisemite and Jew hater was silent as Hezbollah fired rockets on Israel for 11 months, as more than 60,000 Israelis have become evacuees and refugees in their own country. It’s only when Israel fights back that she opens her mouth.
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur, is another avid antisemite and Jew hater. She has continued to attack Israel since October 7th. She continues to spread lies. This post was from yesterday.
I keep on saying that Israel is writing a new page of genocide. This video, of settlers taking boats to watch the bombing of Gaza, is disgusting beyond what decent human body and mind can tolerate. https://t.co/AYLYFD1gne
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) September 24, 2024
The UN does nothing while she spews her hatred and lies. They don’t tell her to stop. They don’t fire her. They don’t attempt to distance themselves from her. The media is silent on all these Jew haters and liars since it doesn’t move then
There is no price to be paid by these two members of Congress who are not only antisemetic but also lying. There is no criticism by the Republicans or the Democrats of Jill Stein and her lies, likely because they don’t deem her a threat to them. Despite her vile and hateful rhetoric, it doesn’t benefit them so they stay silent. The media remains silent on those who are clearly Jew haters and liars. They continue to support and advocate for the terrorists.
This is the Washington Post article as the people of Lebanon celebrate Nasrallahs death and their freedom from his tyranny.
Israel will fight and win. She has no other choice. I talk to friends in the IDF and they are committed. A friend of mine just sent his 18 year old son off to the IDF and to join the war this week. Other friends have been recalled to serve. The elimination of Nasrallah means the leadership Hezbollah is all gone, sending a clear message to Iran and anybody else who wanted to murder and eliminate the Jews that they are not safe. They will pay for their efforts.
Both President Biden and VP Harris issued statements after the elimination of Nasrallah. In both, they continue to hold to the fallacy that a cease fire is the desired outcome. A ceasefire only benefits Hamas and Hezbollah. It benefits the terrorists. It doesn’t benefit the people of Gaza nor those of Lebanon who yearn to be free from the yoke of terrorists. It doesn’t benefit Israel who wants safety and security. For decades the US policy has been to pressure Israel in the belief that land for peace would work. We have seen time after time that it doesn’t. As my friend Fleur Hassan Nahoum so eloquently says about the two-state solution, “It was our dream, not theirs.”
The world is tired of war. I get it. We all are. Those who are evil and live in hate are taking advantage of this exhaustion. Russia and Putin against Ukraine. China is waiting so they can take Taiwan. Iran directing Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraq and the Houthis against Israel. The way to peace is through strength and deterrance, not through diplomacy. Strength and deterrance create the situation where diplomacy can work. Without the fear of strength, our enemies have nothing to fear and no reason to negotiate in good faith or give up anything of value. They know we will always cave. Israel’s elimination of Hamas leadership and their military in Gaza shows that strength. The elimination of the leadership of Hezbollah, including their newly appointed leader after only a few hours, shows strength.
In today’s world, sometimes I think Israel is the only one with common sense. There are plenty of problems with the Israeli government and I have been as critical as anybody of the power and influence that Ben Gvir and Smoltrich have, the issues with judicial reform, some of the policies in the West Bank/Judea and Samaria, and many other things. When it comes to evil, Israel understands you can only eliminate it, you can’t negotiate. Israel understands that in that region, the only thing that is respected is strength. They don’t try to negotiate with Iran and the Supreme Leader, they show him what will happen if he continues his efforts at genocide.
The Abraham Accords happened when the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain realized that the strength of Israel, both militarily and economically, was beneficial to them. Sudan and Morroco joined when they also realized it was to their benefit. Saudia Arabia and Indonesia were ready to join before October 7th for the same reason. The strength of Israel in removing Hamas and Hezbollah, even taking much longer than anybody expected, will only increase the likelihood that they will end up normalizing relations with Israel.
I worry about my friends in the IDF, my friends who have children in the IDF, my friends who live in the north and the Galilee, my friends in the south, my friends who have moved their bedrooms or their children’s bedrooms to their safe room because it’s easier than waking them up and trying to move them when the alerts go off. I hope that by destroying Hamas, eliminating the leadership of Hezbollah, we can get to place where they don’t have to do this any more. Where the people of Shlomi, who lived in my hotel for almost a full year now, can return home. Where the hostages will be released and this nightmare can end.
One thing that has become clear in the past few weeks with Israel’s attack on the leadership of Hezbollah. Israel will not accept the status quo. Israel will not return to the way things were on October 6, 2023. Containing the terrorists is no longer acceptable. Israel will protect her citizens. Israel will not abandon the north. The country is different now than before October 7th and will never be the same. But in the words of released hostage Mia Schem, “We will dance again.” The Jewish people and Israel will rise and be strong.
Every so often I read something that strikes me deeply. The words of the author are like music. The taste of fine wine. When I come across things like this, I feel like it’s my obligation to share them. Most of what we read is biased, anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, and anti-West (although they will deny the last one).
Last week, Allister Heath wrote such a piece in the Daily Telegraph. The fact that a British paper published it is shocking. The sadness that our American press does not print these voices is depressing. A friend and colleage forwarded it to me today. As I read, each sentence, each word, struck me deeply. He writes with moral clarity and expresses far better than I can the way that I feel. So now I am sharing it with you, including a link at the bottom to the orginal article is you want to forward that to people.
Allister Heath
Robbed of its moral bearings, bereft of any sense of right and wrong, incapable of distinguishing heroes from villains, the West can no longer celebrate when good triumphs over evil.
Israel’s brilliantly audacious booby-trapping of thousands of Hezbollah pagers, followed by the blowing up of the terror group’s walkie-talkies, is a stunning fillip for the forces of civilisation worldwide.
A tiny nation of just 9.3 million, of which 7.2 million are Jewish, living in a country the size of Wales, reeling from the worst anti-Semitic pogroms since the Holocaust, Israel is leading the war against barbarism, its young conscripts doing a job that would once have required intervention by a Western coalition acting as global policeman.
The fact that so many in Britain, Europe and America, especially the young, no longer take Israel’s side in this existential combat exemplifies our cultural, intellectual and ethical degeneration.
The Biden administration is obsessed with preventing “escalation”, even though that is what is required if Iran is to be stopped from gaining the means to wage a nuclear World War III. All too predictably, America, seemingly determined to ensure the survival of every regional terror group, appeared upset at the successful attack on Hezbollah. David Lammy, our foreign secretary, is delivering speeches claiming climate change is a worse threat than terrorism; in a rational world, Lammy would be privately congratulating his Israeli counterparts for the most successful surgical operation ever conducted against a terrorist organisation, with few civilian casualties, and pledging Britain’s help.
Instead, Keir Starmer has turned against Israel, banning the sales of some weapons – a policy that Germany appears intent on following – and refusing to oppose lawsuits against the Jewish state, in an unforgivable moral inversion.
Labour has placed Britain on the side of those nihilists masquerading as human rights lawyers who negate the essential distinction between victims and aggressors, between rule-bound, democracies desperate to minimise civilian casualties, and bloodthirsty dictatorships for whom their people are pawns to be sacrificed.
Hezbollah is funded and controlled by the Iranian regime, an obscurantist, fascistic, millenarian tyranny that persecutes minorities, women and dissidents. Violating human rights and plotting war crimes is Hezbollah’s raison d’être: its 150,000 missiles point towards civilian centres and, like Hamas and Iran itself, it seeks Israel’s liquidation, guaranteeing the massacre, expulsion or subjugation of Jews. Hezbollah has forced some 63,473 Israelis to flee their homes since October 7. This is unsustainable and explains why a major Israeli response is looming; obscenely, this will trigger widespread condemnation of the Jewish state.
Western foreign policy is a mishmash of cowardice, delusion and contradictions. Iran is a threat to the world; its alliance with Russia is deepening. Turkey, led by the despot Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has threatened Israel with invasion, yet remains part of Nato. Qatar, which puts up senior Hamas terrorists in luxury hotels, is a major non-Nato ally of the US, home to a crucial Western military base and a major investor in London. Egypt, a recipient of US aid, has tolerated myriad tunnels to southern Gaza, refused to let in any Palestinians and, bizarrely, is not held responsible for supplying Gaza with provisions, that task falling to Israel. None of the three latter regimes face sanctions: global ire is reserved for Israel.
One reason Western elites have become so Israelophobic is that, infected by wokery, they increasingly loathe Europe’s and America’s history and traditions, and view the Jewish state as a standout example of a Western model they reject.
Winston Churchill would be convicted for crimes against humanity today, as would Franklin D Roosevelt and Harry Truman. D-Day would be ruled illegitimate because so many French civilians died during the Battle of Normandy.
Democracies might as well not bother with nuclear weapons, for detonating one, even in retaliation for an unprovoked attack, would be deemed a war crime. I’m in favour of much stricter rules than those governing World War II, of doing everything possible to protect civilians, but this is madness.
The Just War is a foundational principle. States have the right to defend themselves. Every civilian life lost as collateral damage is a tragedy, but pacifism is a deluded utopia that fails to grasp the reality of the human condition. It is madness to criminalise all warfare, and despicable to focus on that conducted by democracies and ignore that advanced by our enemies.
It is equally stupid to entrust so much power to legal activists. Much historic anti-Semitism has been ratified by kangaroo courts, including during the 1930s. The Trial of the Talmud took place in France in 1240, with rabbis forced to defend religious texts against trumped-up accusations of blasphemy and obscenity.
Other bigot-fests masquerading as ordinary trials include the Disputations of Barcelona and Tortosa, the Damascus Affair, the Dreyfus affair that prompted Emile Zola’s seminal J’accuse, and the trial of Mendel Beilis in Ukraine in 1913. It is a well-established model that hasn’t gone out of fashion in far-Left quarters. They no longer explicitly single out religious beliefs or individuals but leverage lawfare to delegitimise what just happens to be the only Jewish state.
The fact that the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice have the trappings of a legitimate legal setting does not mean they necessarily embody justice. The fact that their rulings are deemed legitimate by Left-wing elites doesn’t automatically make them such. The fact that today’s blood libels take on the language of “human rights” doesn’t make them less monstrous. The fact that it is possible for a country as unjustly governed as South Africa to lead a genocide case against Israel proves that the entire system is rotten. The case is backed by Iran, Brazil’s far-Left president, Ireland and Egypt: we must have been transported into an alternative, Kafkaesque universe.
Israel is the supreme embodiment of law-bound national, democratic sovereignty, of peoplehood, of matching a nation to a state, of post-imperialism, of capitalism and technology, and of the continued relevance of the monotheistic religions. If you tear down Israel, you destroy the very ideas that underpin the West, the international order implodes and the autocracies triumph.
The stakes are thus unbelievably high. We must support Israel, and allow it to finish the job of annihilating Hamas and defeating Hezbollah.
The stakes are high. Hamas is almost defeated. Hezbollah is on the run. Iran is racing to obtain a nuclear bomb. If we learn from history, we will understand that if they achieve it, the world will never be the same. Imagine if Germany had gotten the bomb before the US during WWII. The time is now to put an end to this evil. Will you speak up or will you stay silent? Will you help save the world or will you allow it to be destroyed. The choice is yours. I’ve made mine.
There are many things we take as truth ‘just because’. Rituals we do because that’s what we were taught, without understanding the why or the intention behind them. Things we accept as fact, once again, ‘just because’. We live in a time where we no longer have that luxury.
On the English calendar, my dad died on September 6, 2022. I will always remember him on that day. In addition, the Hebrew calendar (which is lunar) means that his yartzheit (remembrance of the day he died) is different. It was the 11th of the month of Elul. This year the 11th of Elul began last night (Friday night) and it is all day today. Being in Israel and staying in a hotel, I wanted to think how to best remember and honor him. Typically I would light the yartzheit candle that burns for 24 hours and use that to reflect. Being in a hotel, lighting the candle wouldn’t be possible.
It was also Shabbat (the sabbath). This added an additional opportunity and compexity. What would I be doing Friday night and with whom? And then Saturday would be a completely free day to reflect – what an opportunity! The first answer came quickly. My friends Margot and Tamar invited me to their new home in Modi’in (the just moved there from Jerusalem) to enjoy Shabbat with their family. I always see Margot when I am in Jerusalem, so the chance to see their new home, see Tamar and their beautiful 3 children, was something I couldn’t pass up. An added bonus was Margot’s parents were visiting along with another friend of theirs from Jerusalem.
The last time I got to spend time with Margot and Tamar’s kids was about 2 1/2 years ago. During that visit, the two older ones put on costumes and ran around playing while the youngest had already fallen asleep. Remembering how much they loved costumes, I brainstormed with Margot about what they would want and got them special presents. I couldn’t wait to give them their presents and see the joy on their faces. It was something very much in the spirit of my dad – bringing happiness and joy to people was so important to him.
The excitement of the costumes was as I hoped. They put them on and ran around. It was so much fun to watch their faces and hear their voices.
Black Panther, Spiderman, and Red.
I smiled as I watched their joy. It was a fitting way to honor my dad. He loved children and loved making people happy. As they talked excitedly to me, especially Halleli as Red, I was filled with his presence. I felt like him with his grandchildren, paying full attention to them and validating their excitement with his listening. We laughed, we sang and we danced. Margot and Halleli did a dance together that was fun to watch. Halleli danced by herself for us. The joy was palpable. Yartzheit’s and remember those we have lost is usually sad and somber. I’m grateful that this year, on my dad’s 2nd Yartzheit, he joined us in spirit by making it fun and full of light. It was his spirit and the way he lived that infused Friday night. As Tamar drove me back to my hotel in Tel Aviv we had an in depth conversation about the impact of the war on her and Margot, on other parents, and especially on children. It was a reminder to me of not just what Margot and Tamar and other Israeli parents are doing to protect their children but all the things that my parents did to protect my siblings and me. I was filled with gratitude. It was far better and more meaningful than simply lighting a candle.
Margot and Halleli dancing
The day of my dad’s yartzheit (Saturday) I had a slow morning of rest and relaxation. I then spent the day on the beach with some new friends. It was a great day to celebrate life. That’s what my dad did, celebrated life. It was a different way to honor his memory this year. It was also very meaningful because it was about the essense of who he was. It was about his values (family) and happiness and enjoying life. It felt right. It felt good. And I felt him with me the entire time. ‘Just because’ you are supposed to light a candle for remembrance isn’t enough. I lived the day as my dad would have, truly remembering and honoring him.
One of my favorite pictures of my dad and me
I’m currently in Israel. The past few days I have been in Tel Aviv and enjoying the weather, the beach, the Mediterranean, delicious food, and time with friends and colleagues. A group of new friends went to dinner on the beach and it was amazing to learn how interconnected we were. The food was good, the company better, and the view of the beach spectacular. Later, we sat on the roof last night talking about Israel, perceptions, safety, and much more. It was a beautiful night. The weather was cool, the sky was clear, you could see and hear the Mediterranean. We talked about the beauty of Israel. How safe we felt. Our love for the country. Some of us were here for the first time. Some for multiple times. Some were Jewish and some were not. What a diverse group. Around midnight our group broke up and I walked back to my hotel.
A few hours later my phone rang. It was my oldest son. It woke me from a deep sleep and I immediately answered. His voice was full of excitement as the team he coaches had just won a big road game and for the second week in a row, the part he coaches played a key role in them winning. It was awesome that he wanted to call me to share his joy. I didn’t mind that it was 4 am for me – the fact he wanted to share this joy with me right after the game ended meant the world. This was my dad’s dream – that his children would have that type of relationship with their children. That his children would remain close as adults. I shared in his joy with immense gratitude. Does life really get any better than your children having success and joy and wanting to share it with you? I don’t think so. I know my dad didn’t think so.
On the field after the first home game – nothing comes close to celebrating your children’s happiness and success.
I fell back asleep and a few hours later, when I woke up, I saw messages from friends in the US asking what was going on and if I was safe. I wasn’t sure what they meant since it was quiet in Tel Aviv and I slept well. I opened my WhatsApp to see what was going on and saw this:
I understood why they were worried and reaching out. Thankfully the rockets and the alerts did not reach Tel Aviv. It didn’t impact my sleep nor did I have to go to the 2nd floor saferoom in the hotel (yes, there is one, and yes, I know where it is). The rockets and the sirens did reach Modi’in, where I have many friends and where I had Shabbat dinner this week. I checked on my friends and they are all safe, just a bit flustered from the 6:30 am sirens and going to their safe rooms, getting their children and sometimes parents into the safe room, in the time alotted for safety. I responded to my friends that reached out that I was safe and we had no sirens. Even though it was around midnight on the East Coast of the US, I texted my family, brother and sister, and mom to let them know we had no sirens and I am safe. Hopefully it didn’t wake them up and they can have a restful sleep and see it when they wake up.
A rocket did hit part of the train station in Modi’in. In May, I was at that train station. If the trains ran later on Friday afternoons (they close just after 2 pm for Shabbat), I’d have been there on Friday afternoon. This is the reality of terrorism, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthi’s and the head of the snake, Iran. This is what Tamar and I were discussing on the ride to my hotel Friday night. How does she explain this to her young children? How do she and Margot deal with the stress of parenting plus parenting in a war plus shielding their children and keeping them safe, physically, emotionaly, and spiritually. Most people understand that the IDF soldiers, the families of hostages, the rescued hostages, and those who lost loved ones on October 7th or afterwards, are struggling. The reality is the entire country is struggling. You feel the struggle when you are here. The recovery will take a long time after the war ends. Tamar and I discussed that on our ride from Modi’in to Tel Aviv. While we are seeing the greatest generation of Israelis step up in this time of crisis, there are other generations that are doing the best they can in these circumstances to survive, to live, to protect their children. The repurcussions of this war are long standing. There is a deep wound in the Israeli psyche and the Israeli people that will need to heal. Those of us in the diaspora need to understand this and help as much as we can. Coming to Israel is part of that support. As diaspora Jews, we do not understand the power of our coming to Israel during this time and the message it sends to our Israeli brothers and sisters. To know they are not alone now is critical. I have been here three (3) times since May. The thanks that I get, and the shock from many that I would come to a war zone at all, let alone 3 times, is powerful. Our Israeli brothers and sisters need us. They need our support. I urge you to come. More will be coming from me in the very near future about new ways to get here that are meaningful and affordable. It matters.
Escalator at the train station in Modi’in after a rocket hit the station
Our choices determine who we are. My dad taught me that. It’s what we do, not what we say. He taught me that too. I have lived my life in a way that when my grandchildren ask what I did at key moments, there are answers that I will proud for my children to share with them. On 9/11 I was active and helping address the trauma the UF students were dealing with. During Covid I was active in helping ensure we found ways to being back our employees quickly and provide needed services. After October 7th I made sure to be at the rally in DC, I got active with helping hostages that were released, and helping Israel. I have come here 3 times since October 7, brought students on a leadership trip, and am working with Israeli nonprofits that help children, families, small businesses, US college students, and families of hostages.
“Just because” isn’t good enough. It’s no longer acceptable. Each of us have the ability to make a difference with our actions. A friend of mine in Richmond posted this message on Facebook about a fraternity brother and me being in Israel together with a picture of us here.
Two past Richmonders who are amazing Israel advocates who don’t just talk the talk but are constantly walking the walk and using social media to share their experience! This is so much more powerful than the ho hum talk of people who lead without their personal investment and family involvement. We need THIS here!
We need this everywhere. Take action. You can. The status quo does not have be accepted. In my dad’s memory, I refuse to be silent. I refuse to sit by idly. I refuse to accept the unacceptable and will fight for the future of the Jewish people, the land of Israel, and the type of world not only that I want to live in but one that I want for my future grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I owe them no less. My grandparents did if for me, how can I not do it for mine?
There isn’t a lot in this world that really shocks me. Maybe it is because I have low expectations of our leaders and of the people in the world. Maybe it is because I expect people to say dumb, uneducated, and ill-informed things. Perhaps it is because I have seen people feed off of hatred and believe anything that fuels their hate. It may even because I have come to believe that most people are dumb. Our education system is broken. They aren’t taught, they don’t learn the basics, and everything is based on headlines, clickbait, and opinions rather than facts.
Since October 7th, I have found myself being consistently shocked by one thing. The number of Jews who put their own self-interests and needs low on their priority list. Maslow’s heirarchy of needs clearly shows how the basics, food, water, shelter, etc. are the base. That is what we need most of all. Second is safety and security. I watch so many Jews place their own safety and security much lower on the list, concerned much more with the things in self-esteem and self-actualization. They are important but not at the risk of one’s own safety.
This has been bothering me a great deal lately. So much so that I had trouble sleeping last night. I dreamt that I was talking to the Jews who were killed in the Holocaust, murdered by Hitler and the Nazis. They were yelling at me about things such as equal rights, women’s rights, freedom of worship, access to health care, marriage equality, etc., telling me that I would have no need for that after they murdered me. These were all things that mattered to people who were alive, not to people who were dead. It shook me and I awoke at 3:30 am, unable to fall back to sleep.
Murdered Jews by the Nazis. Without safety and security we have nothing.
They are right. All the things we put value on in our society only matter to the living. Once we are dead, clean air doesn’t matter to us because we are no longer breathing air. We don’t need drinkable water, because we aren’t drinking fluids. It doesn’t matter who we have the right to marry because we are not getting married, we are dead. The only one with rights to our bodies are the undertakers who are preparing us for burial or cremation. These are truly first world problems and challenges and I am grateful that we have them to fight for. They are important and matter – when we are alive!
Some may say, “What about your children and grandchildren? Doesn’t it matter to them?” Here is the unfortunate news. They are not coming to kill just me. They are going to kill my children and grandchildren too. My brother and sister. My nieces and nephews. None of us are exempt. So once again, when they are alive, it matters a great deal. But when we are all dead, killed because we are Jews, it doesn’t matter at all.
Many people think I am overreacting. They think I am fear mongering. Perhaps. I hope so. The Jews of the 1930s thought so until it was too late. The rise of Jew hatred has been visible for a long time and I have been told I was overreacting for more than a decade. I wish they were right. The monthly drawing of swastikas on buildings in Seattle have grown to daily instances of violence against Jews around the world. Just yesterday, on Shabbat outside a Chabad in NY city, a Jewish man was stabbed by somebody yelling “Free Palestine”. His crime was being Jewish. I remember my African-American friends talking about the problem of “Driving while black” or “Shopping while black”. I empathized and thought I understood. I realize now that I didn’t.
This is an election year which makes things even more sensitive. People support one candidate or party over the other and demonize the one they don’t support. I’m not asking for anybody to comment on this blog about which candidate/party they support, why, or why the other one is evil. What I find shocking in this election cycle is how the survival of the Jewish people isn’t the number one concern for every Jew. In a world that is filled with Jew hatred, where violence against Jews is increasing daily, where the calls for violence against Jews is increasing daily, the fact that our safety and security isn’t the top priority stuns me.
I wonder if the changes in Jewish life over the past 50 years of so is the reason why. My grandparents knew that being Jewish meant a risk to their safety and security. They lived through the Holocaust, albeit in the United States. My Uncle Ralph, who lived through Kristallnacht while hiding upstairs with his grandmother, was 9 years old when his family left Munich to escape the Nazis. After escaping, he and his family had to deal with the Japanese, an ally of Germany, taking over in the Philipines. He understands the risk of our safety and security,
My Uncle Ralph speaking via Zoom to the Orlando community on International Holocaust Memorial Day
Today’s generation does not. They believe they are American’s first. They believe that America will always protect them. While I hope this is true, the Jews of Germany felt the same way until it was too late. I watch as Jewish college students align themselves with Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, Code Pink, and other groups that hate Jews, are funded by Jew haters, and are aimed at eliminating Jews. I shake my head. When I see Jewish LGBTQ+ students holding signs that say “Queers for Palestine” I wonder how much they really know about Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Authority. If they understand how they would be treated by those governments.
It reminds me of a story my friend David Abramowitz tells about his father, Rabbi Mayer Abramowitz z”l. Rabbi Abramowitz was the founding Rabbi of Temple Menorah in Miami, a very successful synagogoue. In 1989, at 75 years of age, with a lifetime contract at the syngagogue, he shocked everybody by telling them that he had failed. The youth were not educated and were not staying Jewishly connected. He left his lifetime contract to create a radical program with a radical idea. The Jewish Leadership Institute (JLI) would take students to Israel at a highly subsidized price to teach them leadership and infuse them with a Jewish connection, Jewish knowledge, Jewish values, and how Judaism is relevent in their daily lives. This was a decade before Birthright. Fifteen years before MASA. 31 years before RootOne. I have seen the impact of this program since 1998. It’s more than what Birthright and MASA do because the mission is different. I was on the trip in July and saw the impact during the trip, not just after the trip.
See the impact it made me wonder how much of what we see with Jews not prioritizing our safety first and being stuck on Tikkun Olam, thinking that repairing the world is the greatest thing we can do, even at our own expense, is because of a lack of real knowledge. Over the past few years I have been investing some of my time in learning more Jewishly. High quality and interesting learning. Content based learning. Things I can apply in my daily life type of learning. I think this impacts the way I think, the things I value, and certainly my actions.
One example is the first prayer we say in morning services. I’m not a service goer and would never have known anything about this without being taught. We thank God for the rooster knowing the difference between day and night. It’s a prayer of gratitude. It’s a prayer to remind us to pay attention to the beauty of nature and all that is around us. In a world filled with so much darkness, I now start my day by saying thank you to God and being grateful for all that I have in my life and that is around me. It’s a simple thing to do and I do it in english. It’s my own prayer and awareness. It also helps me stay out of the negativity that is so pervasive in today’s world.
It’s been over 10 months since October 7th and we still have hostages being held in Gaza. The Red Cross has yet to visit them. They are never mentioned by the UN or UNRWA. We cannot forget them. We know the importance of human life in Judaism, Pikuach nefesh. We know that the mishnah tells us that whoever saves a life saves an entire world. In Israel in July, we learned and sung the Acheinu prayer at least once a day. It’s not an ancient prayer and is only 35 years old. It was easy to learn and easy to sing. Every day, I continue to sing the Acheinu prayer to make sure I never forget the hostages. Judaism gives us these reminders all the time about how to behave. This prayer is just one example.
I have also learned that when we praise God for all the amazing things he does for us, it is a reminder that we are made in the image of God and that we are supposed to strive to be that way as well. We are not expected to do things that will harm us however. The exceptions abound where our health, our lives, take precedent over everything else. The Talmud tells us very clearly that, “You shall live by them, but not die by them” and is based on Leviticus 18:5. When I see people doing things that harm the Jewish people or the State of Israel because of their belief in Tikkun Olam or Jewish values, it frustrates me because they harm themselves and the Jewish people with a faulty understanding. It’s always fair to criticize a government and a leader for their decisions, policies, and actions. When they are undermining the Jewish people, the State of Israel, it is not ok. That’s what they do. I have former students of mine who claim they love Israel as they work to rip the country apart. I wonder, “Where did I go wrong?” How was I unable to teach them where the lines are between criticism of governments and criticisms of the Jewish people?
My dream from last night of the victims of the Holocaust scolding me will haunt me for a long time. They are a reminder that life comes first. Without our lives, everything else doesn’t matter. Make no mistake, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Palestinian Authority want us all dead. From the River to the Sea means no Jews – we are all pushed into the sea. They openly say it. They don’t hide their intentions. When they say they are going to kill us, we need to believe them.
We continue to make the same mistakes. It is our history. We try to fit in and think they will leave us alone. We work to be a part of their country and think they will appreciate us as part of their country. We think if we only give them what they want, they will leave us alone. What we forget is that what they want is for there to be no Jews. What they want is to kill us all. This is thousands of years old and we are once again making the same mistake again. As my father would say to me, “If we don’t take care of the Jews, nobody else will.” My friend Fleur Hassan-Nahoum says it so well when she says, “The problem isn’t that there is no Palestinian State. The problem is that there is a Jewish State.“
I hope that I am wrong. Over a decade ago, with the rise of Jew hatred, I openly said that I hoped that I was wrong. This isn’t something I want to be right about. Yet I was right about the rise of Jew hatred. I was right about the far left and their hatred of Jews when everybody said it was just the far right. I don’t want to be right here, but I fear that I am. We need to stop helping them kill us. We need to stop thinking that they will like us, want us, and leave us alone if we just go along. History shows that never happens.
Invest in learning about Jewish values so you can apply them appropriately. Invest in Jewish practice that you find meaningful, whatever that may be. Visit Israel to see the reality, not what the Jew hating media tells you. Be proud to be Jewish and don’t hide. Don’t think it will just pass you by. The thought that keeps playing in my head is what far too many friends in Israel have said to me. “I hope you can move here before it is too late and they won’t let you leave.“
Before October 7, 2023, I have been concened about hatred and antisemitism. I have spoken about it frequently for more than a decade. When the hate groups started their public attack on Jews in Orlando, I spoke about it on the news with regularity. October 7th was still shocking and I haven’t stopped since then. This week I have reached a breaking point.
What brought me to my breaking point this week? The reaction to Hezbollah bombing a Druze village where kids were playing soccer. The Druze are are an Arab and Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion. They are citizens of Israel and serve in the IDF. They love Israel and are a part of Israeli society and culture. When anybody calls Israel an apartheid state, the Druze are one perfect example of how that is a lie.
I have been to Druze villages, met Druze people, and had a meal together. They are wonderful and warm people. This bombing broke my heart. 12 children were murdered as of this time with 4 coming from one family.
Not in order – 10 of the 12 names of the murdered children. Fajr Laith Abus Saleh, 16, Amir Rabie Abu Saleh, 16, Hazem Akram Abu Saleh, 15, John Wadie Ibrahim, 13, Izel Neshat Ayoub, 12, Finis Adham Safadi, 11, Yazan Naif Abu Saleh, 12, Alma Ayman Fakhruddin, 11, Naji Taher Halabi, 11, Milad Muadad Al-Sha’ar, 10.
The bombing made me angry but the response to the bombing and murder of these children playing soccer is what took me past the breaking point. The BBC headline was offensive. The example below shows what they wrote and what they should have written.
Then there are tweets like this where Hezbollah terrorists are celebrating the murder of these children. We saw the celebration on October 7th as Hamas recorded themselves ecstatic over murdering Jews.
Hamas has vowed to do October 7th over and over again. Hezbollah, another Iranian proxy, will do the same. The Iranian regime wants the eliminate the Jews and Israel. If the celebrations on October 7th weren’t enough (and they were more than enough), the celebrations of the murder of these Druze children shows the world who we are dealing with.
Audio recording of a terrorist celebrating killing 10 Jews with his parents on October 7
Yet the response from the world is shocking. Instead of being angry and seeing the evil of these terrorists, the Biden administration is urging a ‘measured response’. Vice President Harris (and prospective Presidential nominee Harris) has not said anything publicly. The UN remains silent. Amnesty remains silent. UNICEF remains silent. These are children, citizens of Israel, that were massacred. Unlike Hamas, there are no military bases here. There were no attacks from this Druze village. This was purely an attack on civilians but Hezbollah using rockets provided by Iran.
Victims from the Hezbollah bombing of Druze children playing soccer. May their memories always be a blessing.
Speaking of Iran, reports have come out that not only has Iran threatened war should Israel retaliate but American leadership has been talking with Iran to ensure them that they won’t allow Israel to respond in whatever way Israel determines necessary. Iran, two weeks away from breakout for nuclear weapons due to the disasterous JCPOA. Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. Iran, who wants to establish a caliphate and calls America ‘Great Satan’. Iran, who murders their own people.
I talk a lot about leadership and the lack of leadership that we face in today’s world. Our leaders are more interested in appeasement than leading. Their willingness to cave in and show weakness to avoid war has emboldened others to create war. Russia-Ukraine. Hamas-Israel. Hezbollah-Israel. China is threatening Taiwan. Iran, Russia, and China have joined forces to create a new axis of evil. Our leaders have forgotten that peace comes through strength, not through weakness and appeasement. They have forgotten that our Declaration of Indepence clearly states:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That is the promise of America and we are not living up to it. These children murdered in the Druze village and their families and friends have been robbed of this. Our leadership is more interested in staying in power than doing their duty and living up to American values and morals.
We don’t know what the future holds. We don’t know how Israel will respond to this attack. Will it be full scale war with Hezbollah? Will it also be war with Iran? What will the United States do if it is war with either or both? How will the UN blame Israel for being attacked?
One thing we know is that Israel will protect her citizens. This Druze village was an Israeli village. The people murdered were Israeli citizens. It will not go unanswered. The question is how will the world respond? Will they support Israel’s right to defend herself and exist? Will they stand on the sidelines quietly? Will they criticize Israel, refuse to support her, and potentially support Iran and Hezbollah? Will they pay attention to the fact that the children murdered were Druze-Israelis and not Jewish Israelis?
Approximately 83% of the Druze population serve in the IDF. They are passionate about their country Israel. They are patriots. In Lebanon, 5% of the population is Druze. When Israel attacks, will the Lebanese Druze help Israel with Hezbollah? So much is unknown as a result of our approach of appeasement. Is this the time when China will attempt to take Taiwan? Will Russia use this as an opportunity to increase their efforts in Ukraine?
The world is unstable in a way it hasn’t been for decades because of a lack of leadership. The fear of war has only created the reality of war. Having just returned from Israel less than 2 weeks ago, my heart breaks for this Druze village and the Druze people. It breaks for the IDF soldiers who are now preparing for war with Hezbollah and their families. Leadership is hard. It is challenging. It is making tough decisions because they are the right ones, not because they are easy or because that’s what a section of the vocal public says they want. Leaders lead. They take risks because they understand that playing it safe often ends up doing just the opposite.
We are all Druze
I went to minyan this morning. It’s not something I do regularly but it is something I do monthly because it’s run by friends and the Rabbi who I learn with. The people there are friends and I enjoy being together as a community. I use the time to really think about both what I have been learning with Rabbi Ehrenkranz and my connection with God. Today, I chose to wear my IDF Tzizit. I don’t wear tzitzit and haven’t since I was in Jewish Day School in 5th grade. Yet today, I had to wear them. I had to do whatever it may take to help the Jewish people. I put on Tefillin and my tallis. I prayed with my friends. I asked God to keep Israel, the IDF, and the Jewish people safe. I prayed for the souls of the Druze children who were murdered. I was an active part of the Jewish community.
We all have a role to play. We need to hold our leaders accountable. They need to hear our voices. We need to be connected as Jews, whatever that means to you. Some do it through prayer. Some do it through actions. Some do it through Tikkun Olam. Some do it through study. Some through ritual and some through holidays. Others through food. It doesn’t matter what you do, only that you do something and it is meaningful to you.
How will you take action today to benefit the Jewish community, Israel, and the world? What role will you play in ensuring a bright future? Our actions matter, whether it is with our friends, our neighbors, our local community, our statewide community, or our country. Every one of us has the ability to change the world one person at a time. I urge you to take the time to do that before it is too late.
I had a totally different topic for this blog post and was in the middle of writing it when the alerts came out that Iran had launched drones at Israel. It quickly became 50+, 100+ and the final report is more than 300 drones. Iran launched cruise and ballistic missiles. Yemen has launched drones. Hezbollah launched drones and rockets. The US came to the support of Israel. American forces intercepted drones in the skies over Iraq and Syria.
This image, from the NY Post, shows where things came from yesterday.
Reports indicate that British fighter jets stationed in Cyprus will assist in intercepting the drones. Jordan launched planes and shot down those that came through their airspace. Egypt closed it’s airspace and said they would destroy anything that came through it. Iran has said they will attack US bases if there is any US offensive involvement. There was no way I could finish the blog I intended to write with this going on.
So, I’m going to write about where we are. These are my opinions. They are my hopes, dreams, concerns, and fears. I will be wrong about many of them, and we will find out in the coming days what I was right about, what I was wrong about, and what things are yet to be determined. I’m going to write them now anyway, even as things are developing moment by moment and by the time this is published, some of what I write may be dated.
Most people expected an Iranian response after the bombing of the headquarters of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria. The IRCG is a branch of the Iranian military that has been designated by the US as a terrorist organization. The retaliation was expected to happen after Ramadan, so it’s not a surprise that Iran did something. I’m not sure anybody expected that it would 300+ drones with bombs, cruise, and ballistic missiles, or that it would come from Iran, Yemen, and Hezbollah. As I watched TV, last night, reading my WhatsApp updates from both the IDF and the Bernie News Network (an amazing way to get updates), I am filled with so many different emotions.
My first reaction was “this is what happens when you allow evil to remain.” I have written at length about evil and how it needs to be destroyed. The world’s inability to eradicate evil when we see it, leads to things like this. Hamas is evil and must be removed. There are no excuses to not remove them. The leadership of Iran is evil. As Iranian people. I have friends both of Iranian decent and who live in Iran currently and they hate the government. Hezbollah is evil. The Houthis are evil. As long as we are willing to allow evil to remain, to continue, for any reason, we put the world at risk. Yesterday was a good example of why Israel must go into Rafa and eliminate Hamas. It’s why we can’t continue to attempt diplomacy with Iran. Their government is evil and cannot be trusted. They only respond to strength.
My second reaction was to reach out to my family and friends in Israel to check on them. With this many drones and missiles fired at Israel from multiple directions, the entire country is on lockdown. Everybody is concerned. My friends with young children were playing games with them to keep them calm as they were in their safe room. Those with adult children serving in the IDF are concerned not only about their own safety but the safety of their children. Those without children at home were trying to sleep but obviously couldn’t. And my friends that are single were sharing their confidence in Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and the Arrow 3 Israel has in place. I reached out to two friends in the IDF. One responded that ‘it will be a long night’. The other, a high-ranking officer, did not respond as I’m sure he was involved in high level, secret meetings about the response to Iran’s attack, when and how Israel will enter Rafa, or some other critical matter. October 7th was personal for me and many diaspora Jews. The attack today is another personal attack, a day I won’t forget.
Drones and missles over Jerusalem being shot down by Iron Dome and David’s Sling.
As I watched the news, once again I was amazed as people blamed Israel for Iran’s attack. People defending the Iranian government and this massive attack. People trying to separate Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis from Iran. I found myself getting very angry listening to them spin responsibility, saying Israel deserved to have 300+ suicide drones ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles fired at the entire country, targeting civilian and military targets. The video of Iron Dome in effect over Temple Mount is a spectacular example of targeting non-military targets.
Drones flying over the Temple Mount. Thanks to Iron Dome, nothing was damaged and nobody injured.
I think about our US government and those who voted against funding Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and the Arrow 3 technology. These are defensive technologies, designed only to save lives. They have no purpose other than to save the lives of civilians from terrorists firing rockets, missiles, and drones at Israel. The members of the US House and Senate who don’t support Iron Dome funding are even more clearly antisemitic. The only reason to have them is to save the lives of all Israeli citizens and those who live in Israel. When they vote against this funding, they are saying that Israeli lives don’t matter. On a day like today, when hundreds of rockets and missiles are fired at Israel, the need for this technology is even clearer. I’ve written about how October 7th has changed me. The events of today have impacted me as well. Those who won’t support Iron Dome and defensive technology designed to save lives are people who I view as wanting me and all Jews to be dead. If they had their way, many Israelis would have been killed. My friends and family. If I happened to be there, me. And they’d be happy if I was killed here. That makes them people who shouldn’t be in office and who I feel an obligation to do what I can to have them lose their positions. Today, and their actions, have made me an activist.
The Arrow 3 system defeating a ballistic missile in space. This video has gone viral on X with over 850k views since I posted it.
Here is the list of the 9 who voted against Iron Dome and the two who voted ‘present’ in case you want to be an activist as well.
From Top L-R Reps. Jesus Garcia, Raul Grijalva, Rashida Tlaib, Thomas Massie, Andre Carson, Marie Newman, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Hank Johnson. (Composite/AP)
Israel isn’t alone. Despite some of the challenges with the Biden Administration and the House and Senate, the United States joined with the UK and Saudi Arabia to deploy jets from Cyprus to defend Israel and shoot down drones and rockets before they arrived in Israel. Jordan directly intercepted drones targeting Israel. Egypt closed its airspace and activated its air defense systems. Not too long ago that would have been an unthinkable thing to say. A few days ago, it was Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iraq trying to talk Iran into not doing anything. Another unthinkable statement just a few years ago. Both Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are still on track to normalize relations with Israel in the future. Despite the rise in antisemitism, despite the worldwide criticism of Israel in the war with Gaza, despite the negativity Israel faces in the media, Israel is not alone. As Jews, we don’t have to be alone either. We can build relationships with different groups to that we are there for them in their time of need and they will be there for us in our time of need. Just like it took Israel a great deal of effort to make the Abraham Accords a reality and it’s taking hard work to get Saudi Arabia and Indonesia to normalize relations, it takes a lot of hard work to build those relationships. So start now.
A cruise missile shot down in Jordan. 8 months ago, the idea of Jordan helping defend Israel was unthinkable.
While the drones and missiles that Iran fired have largely been neutralized today with minimal damage and injuries, it is far from over. Israel will retaliate. Iran has threated the US directly and any other nation that gets involved to help Israel. Will China and/or Russia get involved? Is this the start of World War 3 or will it pass. Nobody knows at this point but what we do know is that we must remove the evil for if we don’t, it will grow. It will spread. It will come to the United States, and we will face attacks on our own soil. We will be in a far worse position for allowing it to remain than to do the hard work to eliminate it. Eliminating evil isn’t easy. It isn’t pretty. It won’t come without criticism from those who don’t understand the power of evil and the cost of eliminating it. We must do it anyway. The cost of removing evil is less than the cost of letting it remain, grow, and flourish.
As we move into a new day, we have heard that the Biden administration has told Israel that while Israel will always have the support of the US in defending herself, the US will NOT be involved with any retaliation against Iran. Once again, the infatuation of this administration with diplomatic attempts with the Iranian government, who doesn’t believe in diplomatic solutions and only strength, is astonishing. They are correct that the incredible defense by Israel and her allies is a major win against Iran but without a response, Iran will only see weakness. The message they receive is that this time it was stopped but we can do it again and again until it actually works. There must be consequences. The lack of consequences is why the government of Iran continues to terrorize and brutalize their citizens. It’s why they ignore the nuclear sanctions and continue to develop a nuclear weapon. The Iranian government lives by the words my father ingrained in my while I grew up, “Talk is cheap” and “Show me, don’t tell me.” Iran needs to be shown there are consequences and a slap on the wrist or telling them they were bad doesn’t do it. Israel will respond because they understand the need for strength. They understand that without showing strength, you lose. And losing for Israel means not existing.
I spoke to a friend of mine in Toronto late last night. I didn’t realize that while I was captivated by the news and checking on my friends in Israel, in Toronto they were in the streets cheering Iran’s attack. While the Israeli people were being terrorized by the sirens, hiding in safe rooms, listening to the explosions above their heads, Jews in Toronto were being terrorized by people in the streets. This is another example of the power of weakness. I was immensely sad chatting with my friend in Toronto. She shouldn’t have to go through this. Her husband and sons shouldn’t have to go through this. The Jews of Toronto shouldn’t have to go through this. Canadians will support the rights of anybody EXCEPT the Jews. This is the world we live in today and unless we are willing to be activists, unless we are willing to stand up and speak out, unless we are willing to show strength and fight back, we will live in terror. I refuse to live in terror or be a part of allow this to continue. That’s my choice – you have to make your own and live with it.
While Israel survived this first attack by Iran with minimal damage, it is only the beginning. The world must face the fact that Iran is evil. Their own people hate their government and have tried to resist while the world stood by and watched. Now it is Israel who will fight back. Who will escalate the situation. The world can’t sit by quietly. They must choose a side. Let’s hope they choose good over evil. Let’s hope they understand the fight they are in and that the price, while high, to eliminate evil is worth it.
Am Yisrael Chai
PS:
Jews are used to being attacked and persecuted. As such we have developed a sense of humor that even in horrible times, we use to cope. Here are two items that in the midst of this horror, I found amusing and lightened my spirit just a little. I hope they do for you.
I remember being in high school and learning the ancient Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” and thinking to myself, what could be better than interesting times? I hate being bored, so interesting times would be exciting and fun.
Ah, the naivety of the young.
These are interesting times and as such are not so wonderful times. The rise of hatred over the past decade is frightening. The rise of antisemitism over the same time period and the exponential growth in the past 6 months is overwhelming. I read and listen to so much discussion and none of it seems to focus on the real challenge and the real solution.
We have been taught not to like each other. We have been taught that ‘the other’ is against us, will harm us, and that if they get what they want, we won’t get what we need. This seems to be fairly universal, regardless of who you are and who ‘the other’ is. We villainize them. We make broad generalizations about them. We make assumptions about them. The one thing we don’t do is actually engage with people who are different from us. That one thing we don’t do is the one thing that we need to do.
In November 2019, I had the honor and privilege of participating on an Encounter Immersive Experience. We spent 4 days meeting with, listening to, and learning from members of Palestinian civil society. I said it and used the word – Palestinian. So let’s set some ground rules for the rest of this post.
The Palestinian people do exist. They may have had different names over the years from Arabs to Bedouins, to Palestinians. We, as Jews, used to be called Hebrews and Israelites. Accept the fact that these people do exist, they live in what I will call ‘Greater Israel’, and aren’t going anywhere.
As a result of the 1967 war, Israel conquered territories. This happens in many wars and is a reality of millenniums. The area on the west bank of the Jordan River has different names. For purposes here I am going to call is Judea and Samaria, the ancient names for that land. Some may call in the West Bank. Some may call it Palestine. I am calling it Judea and Samaria.
Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are evil. Most Palestinian people don’t like them. I will discuss this later in this post however understand that there is a difference between Palestinian people and terrorists. If you insist on generalizing that they are all people or are all terrorists, you can stop reading here if you want. There is a difference.
Now back to my 4 days with leaders of Palestinian Civil Society. I remember thinking how 4 days seemed so short. This is such a complex issue; how could we only spend 4 days with them? There were 4 of the most intense days of my life. By the third day I was grateful that it was only 4 days because on how intense they were.
During these 4 days, which I wrote about at the time, and you can find about 17 blog postings in the beginning of this blog from that time period, I had the ability to meet with many different people. I had a chance to ask questions, listen to other points of view, and listed to people who had an entirely different history and narrative than I do. I met people who I really like and stay in touch with even today. I met people who I despised and who I am sure despised me only because I am Jewish. I met people whose effort to change and challenge everything that they know were inspiring. I met people who are a direct cause for the increase in hate, terrorism, and everything that led up to October 7th. I saw things that made me sad. Some were out of necessity, and some were simply terrible government policy. It was a life altering experience that only made me a stronger and more powerful Zionist but also made me a better human being because I began a journey of understanding some of the deep challenges and how much work it will take to find a solution, to make peace, and to get beyond the damage that has been done in the past so that we can live in a different future.
I have written a lot about how October 7th has impacted and changed me. I wrote about what seeing the 47-minute Hamas video was like. Recently I saw the documentary about the massacre at the Nova Music Festival and I shared what that was like. The past 6 months have been focused mostly on being a Jew in today’s world and in the United States. It has been focused on the challenge of being a Zionist, loving Israel, in a world that is openly hostile, willingly believes lies and knowingly uses inflammatory language that is not accurate. I have paid attention to my friends called up in the reserves, their children, either called up or who are currently serving in the IDF. What I haven’t done is think too much about my Palestinian friends and what life has been like for them.
Over the past few weeks, I have been talking a lot with various people about the future. As the US is demanding a permanent ceasefire and a 2 state solution (Hamas is the obstacle to the ceasefire as they have openly called for more October 7th massacres and still are holding hostages), I found myself thinking about who would be that partner for peace. Obviously, Israel and the government have to make their own changes and hopefully that will come soon. But what about the partner? Who would it be? It’s not Hamas or Hezbollah. It can’t be the Palestinian Authority (PA) who not only is corrupt and whose people hate them, still has not condemned the October 7th massacre nor have they had elections in 19 years! So again, who can this partner be?
I found myself thinking of my friend Ali Abu Awwad, founder of Taghyeer, the Palestinian National Nonviolence Movement. I met Ali on that trip and was amazing at what he said. There was real leadership about building a country that would live in peace with Israel. The line he said that I will always remember is, “Peace will not come through Jewish blood. It will come through Jewish hearts.” He then added, “we need to prove to the Jewish people that they can trust us because we have only showed them that they cannot.”
Ali and me together when he visited Orlando and spoke to our community.
Imagine leaders who are not calling for ‘intifada’ or ‘jihad’ but instead are calling for peace and understanding. Imagine leaders who came from a place of hatred and have overcome it to work with Jews, with Israeli, to build a better society. Imagine a leader whose mother was a high-ranking PLO leader, who spent time in an Israeli prison at the same time as his mother and was able to move beyond hatred. Imagine a leader whose brother was killed by the IDF and found peace and acceptance by spending time with a Rabbi whose son was killed by terrorists. That is Ali Abu Awwad. Just before Covid shut the world down, Ali spoke in Orlando. The room was at least half Israeli. They were primed for a fight. They were primed to hear somebody blame Israel and make the Palestinians innocent victims. They didn’t get what they expected. They heard somebody taking responsibility for their part in the hate. They heard somebody who gave hope for a different future.
I realized I hadn’t reached out Ali in quite a while. I hadn’t checked on him and asked how he was doing? then I began to think of some of the other Palestinian people that I met and considered friends. I hadn’t reached out to them either. What type of friend am I to be so overwhelmed with my own grief that I don’t check on my friends. So I began doing so. I reached out to Ali and am awaiting his reply.
I reached out to my friend Mahmoud. His family owns the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem. I spent a day with Mahmoud in 2019 walking around East Jerusalem, visiting the Palestinian theater, learning about the Palestinian arts community, and having coffee and a conversation at the bookshop. We finished the day at his home with another deep conversation. I wrote about that day in this blog post.
The day with Mahmoud was difficult and very meaningful. It is something that I think about regularly because of the power of his words. He is not a fundamentalist. He does not hate Jews. He does not want the destruction of Israel. He wants to live freely. He wants a government that represents him and takes care of him. It was very difficult to hear him say that if there was a public works project in his neighborhood, he wouldn’t ask the municipality of Jerusalem to fix it because they wouldn’t. And he wouldn’t/couldn’t ask the PA to fix it because even if they could, they wouldn’t. He felt helpless so he would just get people together to fix it himself or live with it being broken.
Mahmoud and the Educational Bookshop. I look forward to returning for another cup of coffee with him.
He talked about how challenging it was for him to be in West Jerusalem and how he felt there, how uncomfortable and that he was a focus of constant attention. He shared how he didn’t feel he belonged or was welcome there and how much that bothered him. It bothered him so much that he didn’t like going. He talked about how he would go to Tel Aviv, and he felt he didn’t stand out, he wasn’t a focus of attention like he was in West Jerusalem. And how that both made him feel welcome and how it also troubled him – why was it so different? He could disappear in Tel Aviv and just be a person while he felt he couldn’t do that in West Jerusalem. It didn’t sit well with me then – that’s not the Israel I love – yet with the rise of antisemitism in the past six months I have begun to understand it in a way that is very uncomfortable.
I watch what is happening in places like New York, California, Michigan, and Canada, and feel very uncomfortable and unwelcome as a Jew. This isn’t the America that I love. There are places around the world that I won’t visit now as a Jew. This isn’t the world that I want to live in.
I think often of something that Mahmoud said to us in his home. He said that if Zionism means that the Jews have a claim to the land and that the Palestinians also have a claim to the land, then he supports Zionism. It was incredibly powerful when he said it and even more powerful today. When a Palestinian man living in East Jerusalem can come to that type of understanding, it gives me great hope for the future. Zionism isn’t colonialism. It isn’t racism. It is the belief that the Jews have a right to self-determination in our historic homeland. In fact, the Declaration of Independence has some very clear definitions in it that need to be highlighted. They include:
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.
Simply put, we have a right to our own sovereign State and self-determination. It’s very clear.
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.
While Israel is a Jewish state, it is a place for everybody who lives there. It is based on freedom, justice and peace – this language is very different from the charter of Hamas and the PLO. And it guarantees social and political rights to all. Unlike Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and others, we do not want to a place for us alone.
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.
Full and equal citizenship and due representation. Powerful words. Powerful ideals.
WE EXTEND our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, 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.
That last line is so important, especially during these times. While we may not have a current partner for peace with the Palestinians, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our part to find one. The Abraham Accords and potential normalization with Saudia Arabia and Indonesia create even more opportunities. We cannot let the horrors of the past stop us from the beauty of the future. When I think of Mahmoud’s words back in 2019 and Ali’s passion and mission, that’s what I find myself going back to.
We cannot let the horrors of the past stop us from the beauty of the future.
Ali and Mahmoud both want a world where people live in peace, together, building countries that care about their people. They are both incredible leaders with a following. We cannot afford to ignore them and let those who preach hate; Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the Palestinian Authority, etc., be in control.
Mahmoud and I have been emailing and when I’m in Israel in May, we are planning for me to go visit him at his bookstore in East Jerusalem, walk around the neighborhood once again, talk, share a long cup of coffee or tea, maybe have lunch or dinner, and talk. And talk. And talk. Learn from each other. Deepen our friendship. Because we both want the same thing. A brighter future together.
One of my favorite people that I met on this trip was Mohammad. I wrote about them in this blog post at the time. He and his wife Hiba, and their baby son hosted us for dinner at their home in East Jerusalem. They come from an amazing family. Hiba’s family is the Muslim family that holds the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It’s an amazing story and if you don’t know it, you can begin to read about it here. They both had Master’s degrees. She worked for the UN, he worked for an NGO that took him into Gaza on a monthly basis. We formed an instant connection and talked at length about the different challenges. The fact that the PA hasn’t had elections since 2005. How corrupt the PA is and how they do nothing for the people except steal money. How if there ever were elections, they could never vote for the PA, meaning that even Hamas would be a better choice because MAYBE they would do something for them (we haven’t talked about that since October 7th and I look forward to it in the near future) while they know the PA won’t do anything. I asked about them running for office and their response was demoralizing as they didn’t believe that they would win and if they did, they wouldn’t be able to do anything without being killed.
Mohammad, Hiba, their son and me at their home in East Jerusalem.
We made a promise to get together again on my next trip so he could take me to his favorite restaurants, bakeries, ice cream shops, and we could continue our conversation. Covid delayed my next trip, but I reached out before it, only to learn that Mohammad and his family had moved to Japan where he was working on a Ph.D. We haven’t been able to coordinate his trips back with my trips back yet, but in our last correspondence we are going to try later this summer when they will be there for a few months. In the meantime, they have a new baby that I want to meet. He offered his home for me to stay when I visit, and I plan to take him up on the offer. This is a beautiful family. Wonderful people. True friends. And Palestinians. It is possible.
The last friend from this trip that I have been in contact with is a woman named Suzan. She is a Palestinian Christian who lives in Bethlehem. She also hosted us at her home for dinner where we had an amazing conversation. She worries about the declining number of Christians in Bethlehem. She worries about the role of women in Bethlehem. She is privileged because she also has a German passport so is able to travel much easier.
Suzan (far left in the black dress) and four of us at her home for dinner.
Suzan is an artist and runs an art studio. The Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans shop is an amazing place highlighting a variety of artists, mostly women, and I encourage you to check it out and if you see something you like, to purchase it. (Full disclosure – I encourage you to purchase as much as you can from Israeli artists and Israeli businesses. I have purchased many pieces from Israeli artists since October 7th. If you need help finding Israeli artists or businesses, please let me know and I’ll be happy to share my favorites and many others with you.)
Her focus is on women artists and fair-trade practices. She was very frustrated that she was being told by the city government that her future shows and community events could not include Jewish women. She told us that she didn’t care what they said, she was still going to invite the Jewish women to participate. And she was going to continue to sell the works of Jewish women artists in her shop. She didn’t care what they said, she was going to do what was right. What was moral. What was ethical.
Put those words together. Moral. Ethical. Palestinian. Generalizations simply don’t work. There are terrorists. There are people who hate and are evil. I have met many of them, especially on that trip in 2019. There are also many good people. Great people. Caring people. People who you’d want as your neighbor. As your friend.
I hope to see Suzan either in May or later this year. When I met her, it was just after she harvested her Olive trees so I saw the harvest. Maybe this time I can see the trees filled with olives, filled with life. Wouldn’t that be an incredible symbol.
Suzan with her harvest of olives from her trees
These are four examples of wonderful, amazing people. People I call friends. People I would be honored to have as neighbors. People I trust. Good people.
I met terrorists. You can read about my lunch with a member of Hamas, a murderer, and a member of the Al Aqsa Brigade in this post. There is a difference between my friends who are Palestinian and the terrorists. And I met people who were terrorists and are on a journey towards something different. There is hope for the future but only if we are willing to do something different than the past. That difference isn’t just up to us but it can start with us. We can change our language. We can use our contacts to meet Palestinians who want peace, who don’t hate, who don’t support Hamas or the PA, who will invite you into their home, share a meal, a coffee, and who you will come to really like. We can help them rise up and together we can ensure the terrorists aren’t in power, don’t have the ability to kill Jews and oppress the Palestinian people.
I’m not being pollyannish. I’m not being naïve. I am being hopeful. I am talking about creating a systemic change. I’m talking about taking action to stop the funding to UNRWA and the PA. Ensure a new government ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people’ is set up in Gaza (sound familiar?) We can lobby our government to force elections in Judea and Samaria, so Abbas’s 4-year term finally comes to an end before he serves 20 years of a 4 year term. We can encourage the leaders in Israel to work with these leaders who want peace in a methodical manner to build trust. As Ronald Reagan famously said, ‘Trust, but verify’.
The Israeli national anthem is Hatikvah, the hope. Let’s make sure we don’t lost hope. Then the terrorists win and we all lose.
IDF soldiers singing Hatikvah after October 7th just before they prepare to enter Gaza and defend Israel.
I look forward to sharing stories, pictures, and maybe even some videos and conversations with my Ali, Mahmoud, Mohammad and Hiba, and Suzan. As deeply as October 7th has damaged and changed me, I won’t let it drive out hope. Hope in the good people. Hope for a better future. And in the words of Theodore Herzl, “If you will it, it is no dream.” I’m going to put the work in. I hope you decide to as well.
PS
I came across this video of IDF soldiers rapping about the lies that are told about them. It’s very powerful and timely.
Sadly, it was recorded 10 years ago, showing that these allegations have a long rooted basis in antisemitism, Jew hatred, and bigotry. Enjoy the video as it’s powerful.
keithdblog 