Memorial Day 2021

 
In gratitude to those who served our country and sacrificed their lives to make ours better.

Marjorie Taylor Greene: Please Shut Up!

 Can this woman please go away?

"Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is being widely lambasted for comparing the continuing coronavirus restrictions in the U.S. Capitol to what Jewish people suffered during the Holocaust.

'This woman is mentally ill,'  Greene said, referring to Pelosi (D-Calif.). 'You know, we can look back in a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second-class citizens — so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany and this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.'

Comparing anything to the Holocaust is wrong, and if anyone is mentally ill, it's Rep. Greene!

Hatred of Jews = Hatred of Israel

This column by Melanie Phillips about the vile, vicious antisemitism in England is a must-read.  Unfortunately, the Jew-haters won't be reading it. Here's an excerpt:

"On Sunday, London’s Jews were subjected to four hours of drive-by intimidation directed at the entire community.

A convoy of cars flying the Palestinian flag drove through one Jewish area of north London after another, with occupants screaming through a megaphone: “F*** the Jews, rape their daughters” and “Go back to Poland”.

According to the Campaign against Antisemitism, the convoy then reached Downing Street to join a demonstration against Israel which featured numerous antisemitic  signs including several equating Israel to Nazis. Some demonstrators wore Hamas-style headbands, and one was filmed yelling that Jews should “Go back to all the sh***y countries you came from”.

British politicians and other public figures were shocked at the Jew-baiting convoy.  Shocked!
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Even now, however, few in public life can bring themselves to acknowledge the symbiotic connection between hatred of Israel and hatred of the Jews — and that the latter creates the former, and not the other way round.
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Yet there’s still an absolute refusal in many quarters to acknowledge that the hysteria against Israel can only be explained — in its demonic irrationality and determination to libel the Israelis as child-killers, while excusing those who really are murdering and procuring the deaths of children and other innocents — as a profoundly unhinged obsession with demonising the Jewish people.

To repeat: there is no other conflict, issue, people or country in the world which has ever been subjected to such a campaign of systematic, obsessional and paranoid falsehoods and inversion of historical, legal and demonstrably factual reality. This is a unique pathology, directed uniquely at both the Jewish people and the Jewish state because it is the same unique disorder with the same unique characteristics. And it has one name. Antisemitism."

All I can hope for is that Israel finally obliterates Hamas and these other terrorist-Nazis this time and shuts up all the terrorist sympathizers for good.

Hamas, Celebrators of Death

class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">Another excellent column from The Times of Israel, this time by David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

But isn't it a shame we have to keep saying the same thing over and over again for years when it should be totally clear by now to these terrorist-deniers?

Israel and Gaza: Moral clarity, moral fog

The genocidal, death-celebrating Hamas terrorists drag Israel into reluctant confrontation, yet somehow the two sides are painted as morally equivalent

May 11, 2021, 5:49 PM

"At least 250 rockets have been fired at Israeli targets from Hamas-controlled, Iran-supported Gaza in the past 24 hours. To be clear, the goal is maximum death, destruction, and havoc.

Two centuries ago, the German poet Goethe said: “The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes.” For some observers of this latest round of attacks from Gaza, it’s as true today as it was then.

The polar-opposite differences between Hamas and Israel couldn’t be greater, yet, while a number of governments, including the U.S., have strongly condemned the attacks, it wouldn’t necessarily be obvious when listening to certain other foreign government officials, such as in Turkey, much less media outlets like BBC and The Guardian.

For some, it’s about absurd, 50-yard evenhandedness and moral equivalence, as if there’s no distinction between arsonist and firefighter, terrorist and intended target, tyranny and democracy. As if on September 1, 1939, German-Polish “clashes” occurred or, on December 7, 1941, Japanese-American “violence” erupted.

Or, still worse, it’s all, and always, about Gaza’s “innocence” and Israel’s “guilt” — essentially, one fine day, with nothing else to do but plan how to provoke peaceful, serene Gaza, the big, bad Israelis decided to attack.

That, by the way, is a perfect illustration of reverse causality. Hamas has triggered a new round of conflict, based on lies about Jerusalem and abetted by religious incitement from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Yet that’s quickly forgotten, if ever it was remembered in the first place. The focus instead becomes on the suffering of the Palestinian people and Israel is quickly blamed, rather than the very Palestinian leadership responsible for the violence and escalation in the first place.

Indeed, Goethe was right. There are those who can’t, or won’t, see what’s right in front of them. Ideological blinders get in the way. Or an abysmal failure of imagination about the bloodthirsty nature of Hamas. Or a frightening gullibility that allows people to believe whatever the Hamas propaganda machine churns out. Or, of course, irredeemable hostility to Israel, the lone Jewish-majority state in the world.

It’s high time for moral clarity, not moral fog.

Hamas is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. That’s its official designation by the United States, European Union, Australia, Canada, and Japan (but not China and Russia). By stark contrast, Israel is a democratic country with an independent judiciary, the rule of law, free and frequent elections, freedom of worship, and a robust civil society.

Hamas has territorial ambitions on Israel. In fact, that’s putting it mildly: It would like to replace Israel in its entirety with a Muslim Brotherhood-ruled, Sharia-based state. Israel has no territorial ambitions on Hamas-ruled Gaza. To the contrary, Israel left it totally in 2005 to govern itself, something previous rulers, including Egypt and Ottoman Turkey, never remotely did. Israel hoped never to return.

Based on its genocidal ideology, Hamas has a vested interest in using its Gaza base for permanent confrontation with Israel. Israel, which, alas, can’t change its geography, has a vested interest in a peaceful, moderate, and developing state on its border.

Hamas, the sole ruler of Gaza since 2007, when it violently seized control from the Palestinian Authority, has, together with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, used the last fourteen years to smuggle in weaponry and develop military punch, rather than building the foundation of a responsible, prospering state. What could have become Singapore instead opted to model itself on Iran or Syria.

Israel seeks, as any nation would, to prevent Hamas from attaining its lethal goal. Would any other country on earth sit back quietly, heed outside calls for “de-escalation” or an end to “the cycle of violence,” or listen to sanctimonious lecturing from afar, while its citizens by the thousands rush to bomb shelters for years now, damage is inflicted on cities, including its capital city, and farms, the next terrorist plot is being hatched, and Israeli kidnapping victims are held for years? Of course not, and, as history has amply shown, few countries have demonstrated Israel’s restraint — yes, restraint.

For many years now, Hamas has had no compunction about deploying terrorist cells and weapons in civilian population centers in Gaza, fully aware that Israel has no choice but to appear to be targeting “innocent” people. Israel goes to unprecedented lengths to avoid falling into the Hamas trap, even having phoned and dropped leaflets in advance to warn civilians to leave target areas.

Hamas cynically tells the civilian population to stay put, not to react to Israeli warnings about imminent strikes. Tragically and tellingly, as far as Hamas is concerned, the more Palestinian casualties, the better.

Israel makes every effort to alert its entire population, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim, to Hamas missile strikes and move people into shelters as quickly as possible. Fortunately, Israel has also developed the remarkable Iron Dome anti-missile system to defend its territory, even as some critics have absurdly complained that it prevents a “fair fight.”

Hamas sees mosques as venues for stockpiling arms. Israel sees houses of worship, including mosques, solely as venues for prayer.

Hamas uses schools for weapons depots. Israel uses schools solely to educate its children, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim.

Hamas uses hospitals as terrorist redoubts. Israel uses its hospitals solely to cure the ill and injured, including, as I have witnessed, residents of Gaza who can’t find adequate care there.

Hamas aspires to kill as many Israelis as possible, with rockets fired indiscriminately (and some of which have misfired and fallen in Gaza, causing casualties). Israel seeks out the Hamas terrorist infrastructure, and, in the past, has even aborted operations when the risks of civilian casualties were too great.

Hamas, as the record amply shows, has no compunction about falsifying information, doctoring photos, staging scenes, and inflating numbers to make its case to the outside world. Israel, by contrast, goes to great lengths, even to the point of sometimes losing the edge in the “media race,” to verify information that it presents about its operations.

Hamas supporters explode in paroxysms of glee when Israeli targets are hit. Israelis don’t honk horns, shoot in the air, and pass out candy for doing what they wished didn’t have to be done in the first place, and voice regret when the inevitable mistakes occur. Apropos, what war in history has not included tragic mistakes leading to unintended casualties?

Hamas wouldn’t know how to spell the words “international humanitarian law,” much less adhere to it. Israel’s defense forces have specialists in international humanitarian law assigned to units in an effort to ensure maximum compliance, however difficult it may be under the specific circumstances.

Hamas shouts from the rooftops that Israel is a brutal enemy. Israel, unlike any other targeted nation in history, provides a hefty percentage of Gaza’s electricity and allows the transit of much of its fuel and foodstuffs, even as rockets are fired from Gaza into Israel, and even as, often forgotten, Gaza also shares a border with Egypt.

Hamas celebrates death, something too few outside observers can truly understand. Israel celebrates life, something observers should fully understand. And it is determined to defend life — as it should, as it must."

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If you want to read more great columns, subscribe to Melanie Phillips' free newsletter. "Everyone on the free list will receive the full text of pieces I write for outlets such as the Jewish News Syndicate and the Jewish Chronicle, as well as other posts and links to my broadcasting work."  You can also subscribe to her premium service. Another writer I've always admired is Caroline Glick.

In Only 5 Months: From The Best Friend Israel Ever Had, to The Best Friend Hamas & The Palestinians Ever Had

I read a powerful opinion piece at The Forward. Here's an excerpt:

Hamas rocketed my hometown — and the White House is responsible
By Gedalia Guttentag,  May 12, 2021

"There’s a direct line to be drawn between the White House’s policy of evenhandedness and the renewed bellicosity of the Palestinians.

For four years under President Trump, America unreservedly had Israel’s back. Beyond the more dramatic moves, such as recognizing Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem and relocating the U.S. embassy, America was in Israel’s corner — and the world knew it.

In the United Nations, Ambassador Nikki Haley torpedoed every anti-Israel resolution. When Palestinians were killed trying to storm the Gaza border in 2018, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the U.S. 'fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself.' Absent were the Obama-era warnings about “restraint”; the moral travesty of comparing a democracy defending itself with a terror organization bent on killing Jews. When the Palestinian leadership made it clear that it would be boycotting U.S. regional peace efforts, the U.S. stopped all aid to the Palestinians.

Palestinian leaders — and Arab states — noticed that the U.S. was backing Israel to the hilt. So not only was there relative quiet on Israel’s streets and in the skies, but a series of historic peace agreements between Israel and Arab states were signed last year — a direct outcome of the perception that America was solidly behind its ally, and that terror would no longer be an acceptable replacement for diplomacy.

Everything changed when President Biden entered office in January. While the Biden administration has stated their support for the Abraham Accords, the idea of further peace agreements or talks was quietly dropped. Biden quickly restored funding to the Palestinians. There was a sharp change in tone when it came to the region. In place of Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank and peace deals with the Arab world, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made early and insistent references to two-state solutions.
……..
Less than four months into Biden’s presidency, Israel has experienced more terror attacks and rockets from Gaza and the West Bank than it did at any point in the last administration. That’s surely not a coincidence: four years of Trump showed that full-throated support of Israel is not just moral, it is good policy as well, bringing peace and stability in its wake.

The current White House occupant seems not to have gotten the message. In true Obama-esque mold, Biden fails to understand that creating daylight with Israel emboldens Arab extremists to dream of ever greater gains from terror."

Re-Open the Keystone XL Pipeline!

Hey Biden! You stupidly shut down the Keystone Pipeline on your very first day in office. Now you're dealing with a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, resulting in  panic and shortages of gas that are affecting people who actually go to work each day.

Why are we forced to be this vulnerable?  Why don't you smarten up and re-open the Keystone Pipeline before terrorists decide to attack other oil pipelines across the country?

"This is War": Jew-Killers & Jew-Haters at Home & Abroad

It's bad enough what's happening in Israel:  

"Massive barrage targets Tel Aviv area, at least 1 killed"
"Gaza terrorists fire over 250 rockets into Israel since Sunday. Gantz warns Hamas: 'For each day you fire on Israelis, we will set you back years'".

"This is War’: Violent Arab Gangs Stalk Jews in Lod, Warns Former Lawmaker
Jews are taking down mezuzot from their doors in Lod to avoid being attacked by Arab mobs, Israel’s Channel 20 reported.
By United with Israel Staff and AP
After Arab rioters torched portions of the Israeli city of Lod on Monday, they continued threatening Jewish residents on Tuesday night.
Israel’s Channel 20 interviewed eyewitnesses, including former Israeli lawmaker Amit Halevy, who called what he saw in Lod nothing short of  'war.'
According to Halevy, there are not nearly enough police and Arab gangs are trying to break into Jewish houses. He called for the army to be sent in"

The usual despicable garbage are responding here -- and not in Israel's favor: 

"Rep. Ilhan Omar accuses Israel of ‘terrorism’ following airstrikes on Gaza
Members of the progressive 'Squad' are coming out to accuse Israel of  'terrorism' and calling for a shift in US policy toward the Jewish state — as tensions in the region reignite and Defense Forces respond to Palestinian militants showering hundreds of rockets over Israeli cities, including Jerusalem."

You can donate to the emergency campaign for Israel at United With Israel.

The Wayward Chinese Rocket Booster

From Space.com: "A huge Chinese Long March 5B rocket booster is falling back to Earth in an uncontrolled  descent, with reentry currently expected on late Saturday (May 8)." 

That's wonderful. Personally, I'm hoping that it falls somewhere in China itself. What better poetic justice would that be after all the harm, death, and destruction they've already caused us from COVID? We don't need any more suffering here.

Otherwise, the rocket booster should fall into the ocean, and China should be barred from ever again sending a rocket up into space.

Holding Oil Hostage

First the shutting down of the Keystone XL Pipeline, now this. I'm sure John Kerry and his ilk must be very happy.

Per the Washington Post: "A ransomware attack led one of the nation’s biggest fuel pipeline operators to shut down its entire network on Friday, according to the company and two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.  While it is not expected to have an immediate impact on fuel supply or prices, the attack on Colonial Pipeline, which carries almost half of the gasoline, diesel and other fuels used on the East Coast, underscores the potential vulnerability of industrial sectors to the expanding threat of ransomware strikes. It appears to have been carried out by an Eastern European-based criminal gang — DarkSide, according to a U.S. official and another person familiar with the matter."

The True Number of COVID Deaths

Before people prematurely celebrate the end of the pandemic, they ought to read this shocking news from STAT:

"A new analysis of the toll of the Covid-19 pandemic suggests 6.9 million people worldwide have died from the disease, more than twice as many people as has been officially reported.

In the United States, the analysis estimates, 905,000 people have died of Covid since the start of the pandemic. That is about 38% higher than the current death estimate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 561,594. The new figure also surpasses the estimated number of U.S. deaths in the 1918 flu pandemic, which was estimated to have killed approximately 675,000 Americans.

The analysis was conducted by scientists at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation."

This is mind-boggling. Shouldn't this be the lead story on all the news networks, and shouldn't knowing  the real numbers cause people to re-think their behavior?