Month: July 2014

Blessed be the Whistle-Blowers

Posted on by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

 

In the technological age we are living in, a person can just about make up anything regarding conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere. Given the ubiquity of illusion, we must wonder: Did this conversation actually take place between the President and the Israeli Prime Minister?

Now here is the transcript that appeared in the Israeli news on Channel One:

Damning evidence has emerged of US President Barack Obama’s dismissal of Israel’s position in favor of supporting the position of Hamas and its allies during ceasefire talks.

A “senior US official” leaked an audio recording of a telephone conversation between Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Channel One. In it the 35-minute conversation, which took place on Sunday, the US President appears downright hostile at points, and even cuts off Netanyahu in the middle of his protestations over a one-sided truce proposal which would have seen Hamas receive all its key demands, but that Israel ultimately rejected.

The following is an excerpt of the conversation, published in Hebrew by Channel One:

Obama: I demand that Israel agrees to an immediate, unilateral ceasefire and halt all offensive activities – particularly airstrikes.

Netanyahu: What will Israel receive in return for a ceasefire?

Obama: I believe that Hamas will stop firing rockets – silence will be met with silence.

Netanyahu: Hamas violated all five previous ceasefires, it is a terrorist organization which is dedicated to the destruction of Israel.

Obama: I repeat and expect Israel to unilaterally stop all its military activity. The pictures of destruction from Gaza distance the world from Israel’s position.

Netanyahu: Kerry’s proposal was completely unrealistic and gives Hamas the military and diplomatic advantage.

Obama: Within a week of the end of Israel’s military activities, Qatar and Turkey will begin negotiations with Hamas on the basis of the 2012 understanding [following the end of Operation Pillar of Defense – ed.], including Israel’s commitment to removing the siege and restrictions on Gaza,

Netanyahu: Qatar and Turkey are the biggest supporters of Hamas. It is impossible to rely on them to be fair mediators.

Obama: I trust Qatar and Turkey, and Israel is in no position to choose its mediators.

Netanyahu: I object, because Hamas is able to continue and to fire rockets and to use tunnels for terror attacks…

Obama – interrupts Netanyahu mid-sentence: The ball is in Israel’s court – it is obligated to end all military activities.

Interestingly enough, both the State Department and the Prime Minister’s office announced that this alleged conversation never occurred and it is fabricated. The news report is embarrassing for the President. Some things that are said in private should not be said in public—such is the way of diplomacy. The Prime Minister would certainly never publicly embarrass the President. Such behavior is unbecoming of an ally.

How do we determine the truth whether this conversation took place or not?

Channel 1 reporter claims that the PM-POTUS transcript legit: Despite rejections by American and Israeli officials, Channel 1′s Or Nahari insists that the transcript leaked to him by a “senior American official” is authentic, but acknowledges that the quotes he published were merely an excerpt from a longer conversation.[1]

Personally, I think there is ample reason to believe that the gist of this conversation is true. For one thing, the President has not always been truthful with the American public in the past. We know that he has cracked down many times on whistle-blowers threatens journalists who criticize Obama and spies on them. Secondly, he promised we could keep our physicians once Obamacare kicked in. Then again, he also told us that the Benghazi attack was because of a video and was not an act of terrorism. Then again, there is the IRS scandal which strongly indicates the current administration has had a hand in pursuing conservative political groups and donors.

Is there reason to be suspicious that this transcript might actually be “true”? I believe the readers of my column are intelligent enough to answer this question.

If I could make a recommendation to the President, it would go something like this:

  • Have a great five week vacation. By the time you’re back in the White House, Hamas will be defeated and one more terrorist threat will be eliminated from the Middle East. One behalf of the Jewish people, we want to thank you for not interfering with what Israel is about to do.

In short, “Blessed be the whistle-blowers, for they shall inherit the earth.”


[1] Cited fromt: http://pamelageller.com/2014/07/leaked-transcript-phonecall-obama-netanyahu.html/#sthash.LADZ5kVy.dpuf

 

Book Review: The Terrible Beauty of the Evil Man 5*

Posted on by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

 

Finis Leavell Beauchamp, The Terrible Beauty of the Evil Man

Kodesh Press  (New York, 2014); 396 pages; ISBN-13: 978-0692237885

Price $14.95

Philo of Alexandria once said that every person who has ever become a proselyte walks a similar path that Abraham, our Father, once walked. According to Jewish folklore, Abraham came from a highly dysfunctional home. One legend tells us that his father Terah had his son arrested for breaking the idols of his father’s business. Yes, for those people who become righteous proselytes, their journey is often a dangerous one indeed. The same may be said about the author Finis Leavell Beauchamp and his wonderful book, The Terrible Beauty of the Evil Man tells about a similar spiritual odyssey about a man who came to Judaism through a most remarkable serendipitous path.

Finis Leavell Beauchamp’s The Terrible Beauty of the Evil Man is fascinating story about a person who was raised in the Southern Baptist tradition. This Protestant movement has a substantial number of followers all over the world. When I was working on my doctorate at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, a couple of my classmates were Southern Baptists, who came from South Korea.  It was quite amusing to see them try to imitate the body language and cadence of the American preachers.

They are a highly charismatic denomination that believes in many of the folk beliefs that are mentioned in the NT, e.g., demons, exorcisms, faith healings, miracles, speaking in tongues—many of the things that Beauchamp personally experienced when he was a young boy in his parents’ home.

In the beginning of his captivating book, Beauchamp writes a lot about an exorcism he had personally experienced as a young ten-year-old boy.  In one engaging paragraph, young Beauchamp writes about the details he remembered that remarkable day in Texas:

  • The distraction of that man’s breath freed my mind for a lone moment from the terror that I felt. My body shrugged, and I suddenly exhaled laughter. In the midst of that morbid room, I could only  think of how spicy was the cinnamon flooding through my nostrils.   I was horrified that I had laughed, and glanced at the men in the room. I tried to choke back any sound rising in my throat. The exorcist grinned. “It’s ok,” he said. “They know why you’re here,” he said, pointing to the bellicose demons inhabiting my breast. “And the Devil is a mocker. . .” (Page 20.)

On the back cover of the book, Beauchamp writes, “If you were locked up in an asylum, and left for years, or worse, were born in one, how would you learn to distinguish yourself from the others? How would you come to certainly know you were the one who was sane?”

As I read this book, I had a new appreciation for the complex journeys so many Jews by choice have made. However, in Beauchamp’s case, it reminded me much about Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. In this famous tale, Plato describes a deep subterranean cave where people have remained imprison since childhood. Enchained from the neck down to their legs, all they could see was the back of the cave and the shadows that were cast upon it. These prisoners could not even see the source of the shadows that were on the wall, much less believe that there was an outside reality—a radically different world that did not resemble anything they had ever known. However, what if the cave-dweller were given the capacity to see beyond the cave?

Judging from his experiences, Beauchamp may well have been the kind of prisoner that Plato was talking about!

Fortunately, for young Beauchamp, he survived to tell his unique tale.

As a person endowed with a profound sense of spirituality, the author continued searching until he found in Judaism a faith that spoke to his soul.  One of the most important distinctions that separate Judaism from Christianity is how each religion approaches faith. Christian across the expression prefer certainty; the knowledge that one is “saved” is the only thing that can bring solace to the Christian heart. In Judaism, there is no such thing as a justification by faith. In fact, in Judaism, the questioning of faith prods us to grow and discover—which is exactly what Beauchamp did.

As a boy, he always wanted to solve puzzles. This skill made his mother nervous, which was one of the reasons she thought he was “possessed.” But as he learned, solving puzzles is something many of the greatest philosophical and scientific minds have been doing since the beginning of recorded history.

Thomas Hobbes may have said it most eloquently: Curiosity is the lust of the mind. For heart-centered Christians like his family of origin, intellectual curiosity is always a threat because it raises uncomfortable questions and demands authenticity. In a nutshell, this is why the author continued his spiritual quest.

Finis’s decision to have an Orthodox conversion proved to be like a psychological  rollercoaster ride for the author. His observations about the political shenanigans within Ultra-Orthodoxy are absolutely on target. His insight that these rabbis possess a control over another person’s life was also accurate (cf. p. 327-331). His comment, “These rabbis may function as angels, but they may also function like tyrants” (p. 330).  It almost seemed to me as I was reading his book that the author may have felt a certain sense of déjà vu when he felt utterly helpless and subject to a controlling rabbinical sponsor, who could care less how his professional decisions impacted the life of this exceptional candidate for conversion. This is an observation that the author never explicitly makes, but I think it is implicitly obvious to anyone who reads between the lines.

Fortunately for Finis, he met a fine rabbi who he enjoyed studying with while he was in Memphis, Rabbi Ephraim Greenblatt. A good rebbe makes all the difference in the world for a Jew by Choice.

How true!

This book was not an easy read because of its naked intensity. One can only admire the courage that Beauchamp showed. His willingness to challenge the status quo is one of his most endearing qualities. It is my hope that he will never give up that trait even as he now practices Orthodox Judaism. Judaism can greatly benefit from people who have a healthy sense of curiosity, a willingness to question, and discover truth—no matter where that spiritual journey ultimately leads.  Finis Beauchamp’s candor and willingness to bare his soul is a rare quality among religious writers today, who often tend to write about other people’s spiritual narratives instead of sharing their own unique story with others.

Lastly, the author’s poetry in the back of his book as delightfully spiritual and rich.

 

No Mas Hamas!

Posted on by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

Ismail Haniyeh (R) with Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal

 

Yasser Arafat’s estate was worth almost one billion dollars by the time he had died.[1] It wasn’t because he was an enterprising capitalist. However, he did manage to take a substantial cut of money from the billions of dollars that the Western countries of Europe and the United States gave since he became the leader of the PLO.

This past week, the United States sent another forty-seven million dollars to Gaza. When a people like the Gazan Hamas Jihadists resort to using children as human shields, why should we think that the Hamas leadership will ethically care how they spend the money?

Yet, for all the suffering that has taken place in Gaza, they have a most unusual and surprising accomplishment: there are over 1700 millionaires living in Gaza.[2]

Pretty impressive, no?

How did they do it? Was it through American Express or Schwab, or E-trade investments made in the stock market? In a country that has no natural goods to sell, they have made money through the promotion of terror.

Yes, terrorism pays big dividends—even if it means the people must and will continue to suffer for the near future.

Mahmoud Abbas has declared, “Hamas is a corrupt leadership that doesn’t represent the Palestinian people.” Most of the Gazan Palestinians certainly agree with this statement. Unfortunately, they live in a mobocracy where the rule of thugs is supreme. Worst of all, the West continues to keep these people in power.

One might think the West would not simply send a blank check to the thieves who are robbing their own people. In many ways, the West has created this problem through their cowardice and stupidity.

When President Obama insists upon an “unconditional ceasefire” from the Israelis, the Israeli Prime Minister would be wise to say, “No mas, Hamas.”

What the Palestinians need is not sympathy; they need tough love. It is time for the people to take complete responsibility for their collective misery. Israel has a golden opportunity to help create a new future for the people of Gaza.

Let us do our part in telling the President, Israel must finish the job it has started. Otherwise, the next Hamas missiles  hurling into Israel will be nuclear. This time is a moment to seize a victory and put an end to the thugs who exploit their own people in a manner that would make Genghis Khan blush.


[1] Gideon Alon,; Amira Hass (14 August 2002). “MI chief: terror groups trying hard to pull off mega-attack”. Haaretz. Retrieved 21 July 2007.

 

[2] http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/178715

Jihadist Islam is a Graver Threat than Global Warming

Posted on by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel
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  • The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.—Barak Hussein Obama

When we look at the violence that is taking place throughout the cities of Europe, it is clear that Jihadist Islam (a.k.a. Radical Islam) is no longer an aberration. When someone asked the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan what he thought of Moderate Islam, he sneered, “There is no such thing as Moderate Islam—only Islam.”

He’s correct. All you have to do is look at what is happening in Paris today. Muslim thugs are attempting to burn Paris to the ground. In Paris, Berlin, Rome, New York, Los Angeles, and wherever, we are no longer hearing, “Death to all Zionists!” We are now hearing, “Death to the  Jews!”

Does this sound vaguely familiar?

While many of us would much rather consider global warming as the most pressing issue of our day (I am not necessarily taking umbrage with this issue, I drive a hybrid!), many of us living in the West do not want to believe that Islam is at war with Western Civilization.

Unfortunately, nothing can be further from the truth. A Chaldean Christian friend of mine complained how the Chaldean Christian community in Iraq is being threatened either with the infamous Muslim poll tax, conversion, or death if they refuse.

When Erdogan boldly said, “There is no such thing as Moderate Islam—only Islam,” his comment unnerved me to my core. For many years and decades, I have been involved in creating Islamic-Jewish-Christian interfaith groups and dialogue around the country. I have met many fine Muslims and Imams who shared a mutual respect for one another’s religion.

But after watching how Jihadist Islam is behaving throughout the world, I must say Erdogan is right—there is no such thing as Moderate Islam. Clearly, the radicals have commandeered Islam and there is nobody on the horizon within the Muslim communities around the world who is going to challenge the religious crazies and cultists that claim to be the “authentic Muslims.”

While I still believe that such dialogue is important as it is necessary, I fear that the progressive voices within the Muslim community are becoming increasingly marginalized by the vast majority of Muslims around the world who are determined to reinstate the caliphate and created a theocratic state based upon Sharia Law.

For the record, I oppose all theocracies; they are a relic of a past and decadent age when rabbinical, ecclesiastical, and Islamic religious leaders exploited the masses and led their followers to endless wars of genocide and destruction.

In Jewish tradition, we are observing the period known as the “Three Weeks” culminating in the Ninth of Ab, the day when the First and Second Temple were destroyed (as well as other sundry historical events). Our ancestors in the Second Temple believed that Rome was the personification of the Evil and Satanic Empire. Apocalyptic imagery contributed to the demise of the Jewish Commonwealth. Judaism might have disappeared altogether had it not been for moderates like Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, who showed a willingness to live in peace with the Romans.

Medieval Christianity had plenty of blood on its hands. Its internecine wars between the Catholics and the Protestants are a grim reminder of how the followers of the same religious founder, Jesus, are capable of creating unlimited mayhem and destruction—all in his name!

Hindu Kush means the “Hindu Slaughter.”  In the year 1398, Timur Khan  moved across the Yamuna River in India and captured it. He put over 100,000 captives to death. Indian historians speak of Muslim genocides resulting the deaths of nearly 100,000,000 Hindus, Buddhists, and Jainists over an 800 year period. I believe these numbers are very conservative.

Just imagine how many people the Jihadists could kill if they had nuclear bombs? Timur Khan would be envious of today’s high-tech Jihadist.

The American historian Will Durant (1885-1981)  would like the West to learn from India, tolerance and gentleness and love for all living things.

He says in the book The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage page 459:

  •  …the Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precious good, whose delicate complex order and freedom can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading from without and multiplying from within.” Almost all the Muslims of South Asia are descendants of weaker elements of the population who had succumbed to forcible Islamic conversion.
  • “The Mohammedan conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history”. The Islamic historians and scholars have recorded with great glee and pride of the slaughters of Hindus, forced conversions, abduction of  Hindu women and children to slave markets and the destruction of temples carried out by the warriors of Islam during 800 AD to 1700 AD.  Millions of Hindus were converted to Islam by sword during this period. “
  • “The growth of Buddhism and monasticism in the first year of our common era sapped the manhood of India, and conspired with political division to leave India open to easy conquest. When the Arabs came, pledged to spread a simple and stoic monotheism, they looked with scorn upon the lazy, venal, miracle-mongering Buddhist monks, they smashed the monasteries, killed thousands of monks, and made monasticism unpopular with the cautious. The survivors were re-absorbed into the Hinduism that had begotten them; and eased the return of the prodigal by proclaiming Buddha a god.”

Some Islamic apologists among the West, may protest and accuse Durant—or anyone who has a dim view of Islamic military history as an “Islamophobe” may want to listen to the testimonies

As the learned and contemporary Muslim historian and Islamic jurist (Pakistan) Qazi Mughis-ud-din declared, in accordance with the teachings of the books on Canon Law:

  • The Hindus are designated in the Law as ‘payers of tribute’ (kharaj-guzar); and when the revenue officer demands silver from them, they should, without question and with all humility and respect, tender gold. If the officer throws dirt into their mouths, they must without reluctance open their mouths wide to receive it. By these acts of degradation are shown the extreme obedience of the zimmi [dhimmi], the glorification of the true faith of Islam, and the abasement of false faiths. God himself orders them to be humiliated , (as He says, ‘till they pay jaziya) with the hand and are humbled…The Prophet has commanded us to slay them, plunder them, and make them captive…No other religious authority except the great Imam (Hanifa) whose faith we follow, has sanctioned the imposition of jaziya on Hindus.

One of the most articulate spokespersons of Radical Islam is Ayatollah Khomeini. Unlike many of the Muslim apologists appearing in three-piece Armani suits, Khomeini was a real primitive and savage. His picture is on display everywhere throughout Iran. He symbolizes their vision—of a Shiite caliphate. Khomeini was an honest man—we owe him a debt of gratitude for being so direct.

  • Islam makes it incumbent on all adult males, provided they are not disabled and incapacitated, to prepare themselves for the conquest of [other] countries so that the writ of Islam is obeyed in every country in the world. But those who study Islamic Holy War will understand why Islam wants to conquer the whole w o r l d . . . . Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those [who say this] are witless.
  • Islam says: Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all! Does this mean that Muslims should sit back until they are devoured by [the unbelievers]?  Islam says: Kill them [the non-Muslims], put them to the sword and scatter [their armies]. Does this mean sitting back until [non-Muslims] overcome us? Islam says: Kill in the service of Allah those who may want to kill you! Does this mean that we should surrender to the enemy?
  •  Islam says: Whatever good there is exists thanks to the sword and in the shadow of the sword! People cannot be made obedient except with the sword! The sword is the key to Paradise, which can be opened only for Holy Warriors! There are hundreds of other [Koranic] psalms and Hadiths [sayings of the Prophet] urging Muslims to value war and to fight. Does all that mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make such a claim.[1]

Incidentally, Mohamed Elibiary is a senior member of President Obama’s DHS advisory team and he is an admirer of Ayatollah Khomeini and a believer in the Muslim caliphate. This only goes to prove that the inmates are controlling the insane asylum—America, it is time to wake up to the Jihadist threat that is in our midst.[2]

While the Shiite and Sunni ISIS are fighting it out to see who will be King Jihadist Muslim Supreme, make no mistake about it.

Jihadism is the greatest danger the world has ever seen. If we fail to learn from history, then we will, as Santayana prophesied, be condemned to repeat it.


[1] Ibn Waraq, Why I am not a Muslim (New York: Prometheus Books, 1995), pp. 12-13.

[2] http://pamelageller.com/2014/06/obamas-dhs-senior-dhs-adviser-mohamed-elibiary-inevitable-caliphate-returns.html/

Winners, Losers, & Whiners in the Latest Israeli-Gaza Conflict

Posted on by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

By now, many of us are probably wondering: Who are the winners and losers in the Gaza conflict? The answers we shall consider, might surprise you. Some of you might think that Israel has emerged as the biggest winner. At first blush, this might seem true.

There have been very few casualties in Israel, largely due to the Iron Dome anti-missile defense. In all probability, Israel will continue tweaking this technology so that it can provide even greater coverage and protection from the onslaught of Jihadist bombs.

Thankfully, the IDF allowed its jets to pummel the Jihadists in Gaza with minimal damage to the Palestinian population. Indeed, even Israel’s critics have praised Israel’s respect for human life. This is important for many reasons; Israel’s behavior has been measured and in control; they did not respond out of passion, but with methodical and rational precision.

Sun Tzu  wisely cautioned  in his Art of War,  “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.”

From Sun Tzu’s perspective, Israel has conducted itself masterfully and effectively. More importantly, the people of Gaza have come to a dramatic change of consciousness. Whereas in the past, Gaza Palestinians felt complete loyalty to Hamas, now for the first time in recent memory, the citizens of Gaza are blaming Hamas for the destruction and mayhem of their murderous attempt to destroy Israel.

Even the Arab world has turned against Hamas and has freely offered criticism of their recklessness and shameless exploitation of their people, using them as human shields for the world to see—repeatedly.

Even before the newest round of war occurred, the people of Gaza expressed frustration with their Hamas leaders’ failed policies. In fact, the vast majority of people now oppose Hamas altogether!

As you wince reading this provocative statement, you’re probably wondering: Why haven’t we read anything about this in the newspapers? Why hasn’t MSNBC, CNN, and other media outlets reported on this?

That’s because the media is invested in perpetuating the myth that Israel is to blame for everything wrong in the Middle East.

Palestinians are not stupid people.

Following is the transcript of the video:

  • Fatima: “Where have you been, Abdullah? I waited a long time for you, and you didn’t come.”
    Abdullah: “I was on my way to Ramallah, Fatima. The roads were packed and the [Israeli] roadblock was shut and crowded. Very crowded. I tried to convince the soldiers that you were waiting for me, but it didn’t help.”
    Fatima: ” Abdullah! You’re always apologizing. While you were having a good time with her, you left me waiting a long time for you.”
    Abdullah:”You must know that I’ve never ever cheated on you. It’s the [Israeli] occupation! The occupation killed our beautiful moments together, and kept me from getting to you. Damn!”
    Fatima: ” Abdullah! You always go back to the same old excuse: The [Israeli] occupation! The occupation! The occupation! Was it the occupation that made you spend all that time with her?” — PA TV (Fatah), July 26, 2014

Here’s a better joke: How many Palestinians does it take to change a light bulb? None! They sit in the dark forever and blame the Jews for it!

RECENT POLLING  2014

According to one recent poll, 450 Palestinians were asked about the state of the current crisis. Allowing for an error of 4%, this is what they discovered.

  • 70% of the Gaza population agreed or strongly agreed that Gaza should maintain a ceasefire with Israel.
  • 57% of the people said that they preferred the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas’s position, which “officially”  renounces violence against Israel, a clear majority.
  • 73% of the Gazan population believes that their people ought to adopt “proposals for nonviolent popular resistance against the occupation.”
  • 78% of the Gazan population believes that Hamas leadership is corrupt.
  • 15% of the population supports the Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal.
  • 56% of the workers would prefer to work in Israel rather than in Gaza if there was a good, high-paying job. Such a statement amounts to a desire to establish normalization with Israel, if it means they will have better lives.

WINNERS VERSUS LOSERS:

So, who are the real winners?

On the surface, it’s probably a close tie between the Gazan Palestinian people and Mahmoud Abbas.

In light of the humiliation of Hamas in the latest conflict, the world can rest assured that Hamas will most likely lose the next election—especially in light of the destruction they have brought to their communities.

Third place winner goes to Israel. The people no longer have to live in fear of being destroyed by the Palestinian bombs; Israel held its dignity and respect for human life like a badge of honor. Every American Jew should take great pride in how Israel conducted itself in this latest conflict.

Fourth place goes to Egypt and the Saudis for supporting Israel. Both of these countries recognize the dangers that Hamas poses to these relatively stable regimes.

Fifth place goes to President Obama for not interfering with Israel this time as he has before. Despite my criticism of the President in the past, I am heartened to see a different response for a change.

Who are the biggest losers?

Obviously, it’s Hamas. And let us add, Iran.

Let’s not forget the Muslim Brotherhood. Let us not forget, this particular Jihadist terror group has always been anti-Semitic and hateful toward Israel.

The Evil Empire of Jihadist Terror, a.k.a., Iran’s cynical exploitation of Palestinian hatred of Israel has succeeded in stoking the winds of war three times now. But on an optimistic note, it looks like the Palestinian people may be close to experiencing a new awakening.

The real question is: Will they taken advantage of a new and productive way of relating? Or will they succumb to the old pattern where, “The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity”?

Enquiring minds want to know!

Humpty Dumpty, Gaza Jihadists and the Meaning of “Cease Fire”

Posted on by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

 

  • “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” —Alice’s  Adventures in Wonderland

Anyone following the news might wonder: Why is Israel entering into Gaza—again?!

Didn’t they just they agree to have a “cease fire”?

As mentioned before, the Jihadist view of a “cease fire,” means, “Israel must cease while we may still fire!”

In Wonderland, words may sound alike, but each word is as much as condition as a thing, no matter whatever terminology or nomenclature is used. Words have a substance beyond their context, and the citizens of Wonderland use words freely to mean whatever meaning they wish to impose. This explains the Israeli and Gazan Jihadists problem quite succinctly. The Gazan Jihadists use language differently from most normal people, much like Humpty Dumpty’s theory of language!

In Wonderland, words may sound alike, but each word is as much as condition as a thing, no matter whatever terminology or nomenclature is used. Words have a substance beyond their context, and the citizens of Wonderland use words freely to mean whatever meaning they wish to impose. This explains the problem quite succinctly!

One would think the Jihadist could want a respite after their humiliating defeat at the hand of the Israeli army. This is probably the reason why the Jihadists of Gaza can’t end the battle quite yet.

You see, it’s all about looking good to the other legion of Islamo-fascists threatening to blow the Middle East up in one colossal war. Then again, the Jihadist Islamo-fascists of Gaza hope that maybe ISIS or Hezbollah will stop their fighting and join them in their quest to destroy Israel—once and for all!

But what about their suffering? Jihadists never care about the people they claim to protect. Their people’s only utility is to serve the masters who control them; in this case, the Jihadists of Gaza wish to use their people as human shields.

While the conflicts and Israeli incursions into Gaza is nothing new, there is something different we have not seen in the past. This time around, we have seen a remarkable change in the Arab street. Countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and others condemn the Hamas attacks as reckless. One broadcaster named Amani al-Hayat from ON TV, which is affiliated with the Egyptian regime, blamed  Hamas was to blame for Israel’s “massacre” in the Gaza Strip and said that Hamas deliberately created the crisis in Gaza so that the Rafah crossing would be opened.

Wait a minute: Why is Hamas angry at Egypt for closing the Rafah crossing?  There are two basic reasons for this. Neither Israel nor Egypt wants the Palestinian Jihadists to ferment trouble in the Sinai Peninsula. In addition, the Jihadists of Gaza supported the Muslim Brotherhood in their fanatical attempt to establish Sharia Law in Egypt. The Egyptians said to the Jihadists and to our President—we do not want your support for the Muslim Brotherhood, they are religious fascists.

I suspect the non-Sharia states of the Arab world are getting weary of the Palestinians failing to get their act together in Gaza. For all the hundreds of billions the Western world has sent Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank, all they have done is purchase more weapons of mass destruction, while its leaders steal millions of dollars to put in their bank accounts.

While it is true that the citizens of Gaza are clearly the victims of  Hamas, who has placed them between their weapons arsenals and the Gaza families, we must not forget the it is the Gaza Palestinians who voted for Hamas. They are the ones who consciously chose a terrorist organization to represent them. Until they make the important decision to evict Hamas as their leaders, they must also bear the responsibility of the mayhem that exists in their country.

Israel never ceases to amaze me with their humanity for the Gazan people. Not only do they send no less than 1,200 truckloads of goods to enter the Gaza Strip during just one week during the week prior to Operation Protective Edge., they even fixed the electric power lines, leaving Gaza without electricity. They were quite literally and metaphorically, “sitting in the dark.”

The time has come for the Western nations to start encouraging the Palestinian people to take real responsibility for everything wrong that is in their lives. If God forbid, Israel disappeared from the Middle East tomorrow, they would still have to deal with the corrupt leaders and internecine religious wars that has become the trademark of Jihadist Islam since their inception.

The time has come for the Palestinian people to create a new social contract with a government that will help bring hope, prosperity and freedom to their lives. But to realize this possibility, they must stop using Israel as their scapegoat.  The Jihadist Islamic world’s inability to respect human rights for all its people is what is at the heart of this problem.

In Gaza, Every Day is Groundhog Day

Posted on by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

 

Have you ever wonder what the Palestinian notion of a “cease fire” is? The answer is simple: Israel “ceases,” while the Palestinians fires.

Only the mind of a Kafka could dream up of a scenario where illusion and delusion are the only realities that Israel faces.

In the past, Israel has accepted “cease fires” while the Jihadists Empire of  Iran gives new and more deadly weaponry for the next inevitable conflict Israel will face in the next couple of years or less.

Like a scene from “Groundhog Day,” Israel has been there, done that, and even has the tea-shirt to prove it. Ben Franklin and Albert Einstein both said that, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Steven King said even more succinctly; Hell is repetition.

What should Israel do? For one thing, go through the same motions over and over again will only lead to greater bloodshed when Iran gives their fellow Gazan Nazis nuclear tipped missiles to attack Israel, transforming Israel into a nuclear wasteland.

The way we change the future is by changing the present. Israel must steer the course and fulfill its promise to eradicate Hamas.

Gaza Palestinians have become emboldened largely by Iran’s willingness to keep the tensions hot. The insanity of trying to get them to relinquish their nuclear program is another delusion Western diplomats have indulged themselves for a very long a time. Hoes does one deal with a rabid dog or a goring ox?

Let me give you a hint: It’s not through placating it.

The real problem that the thugs of Gaza have with Israel has nothing to do with the “occupied land” of the West Bank.

It’s ontological. Israel’s existence is what really bothers the Jihadist world. As Arafar once told the Italian journalist, Oriana Fallaci in a 1970 interview, “The  question of borders doesn’t interest us. Palestine is nothing but a drop in an enormous ocean. Our nation is the Arabic nation. The PLO is fighting Israel in the name of Pan- Arabism. What you call Jordan is nothing more than Palestine.”

Arafat’s henchman, Feisal Hussein said after the signing of the Oslo Accords that the peace process with Israel was nothing more than a “Palestinian Trojan Horse to conquer Israel.” Although it worked for the Greeks, it will not work for Palestinians. We have Jewish history to thank for that.

Unlike the Palestinian Authority headed by Abbas, Hamas is at least honest to a fault about its intentions.

Sometimes wars are necessary. The current struggle with Gaza is an excellent case in point. Although nobody knows what the future will bring, one thing is for certain: the past solutions tried have not worked. Israel has no choice but to take its own destiny into its own hands. In some ways, this present time is more opportune than other times; Hamas has alienated much of the Arab world, who look upon Hamas like a violent child that is totally out of control.

Does this mean for suffering for the Palestinians?

Unfortunately it does, but the Palestinians alone are collectively and individually responsible for allowing the Jihadist Nazis run their lives. For them to be free, the Palestinians will have to form a new social contract with their future leaders—one that will hold them accountable for their corruption and evil.

Until then, their suffering is inevitable.

Instead of using their moneys to build missile arsenals, they would be much wiser to start transforming the Gaza Strip into an Arabic Philippines that offers its people prosperity, abundance, and genuine hope.

In the meantime, West needs to re-impose their sanctions against Iran, which has become as Netanyahu noted, “a true empire of terror.”

For the Love of Life

Posted on by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

 

 

Nothing wakens Jews up like a little bit of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semites have a unique way of reminding us why we are special as a people.

Whenever I speak to my Bar/Bat Mitzvah students, I like to tell them that, “If we stood for nothing, the rest of the world wouldn’t care what we say or do. But the fact is that the Jew stands for something great; we believe in Tikkun Olam—bettering the world around us.”

Consider the Noble Prize, which has been given out  since 1901 for achievements in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. In 1969, they added Economics as one of the new fields of endeavor. To date there have been over 850 individuals of various nationalities who have received awards for their unique contributions. At least 20% of the recipients have been Jews, who represent .02% of the world population. Overall, Jews have won a total of 41% of the all the Noble Prizes in  economics, 28% of medicine, 26% of Physics, 19% of Chemistry, 13% of Literature and 9% of all peace awards.

Mind you, these are only secular achievements. In terms of spiritual achievements, Jews are and have been conscience of the world. Our values are very different from the rest of the world.

The latest war with Gaza Jihadism shows the disparity between the culture of death that is championed by Gaza Palestinians and their Muslim allies, e.g., Syria, Iran, ISIS, and others, versus the culture that champions life—Israel.

If Israel wanted to completely destroy Gaza, it would not take very long. Israel goes out of its way to warn the Palestinian citizens to get out while they can. Injured Palestinians routinely receive health care free of charge at Hadassah Hospital and other Israeli medical facilities.

Amazingly, Israel continues to provide gas and electric to the people who are shooting bombs at them. Did the British provide the Nazis with gas and electricity during WWII?

You know the answer.

Israel goes out of its way to avoid as much collateral damage as possible because Jewish ethics teach us to respect and cherish life—even the lives of our enemies. Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount:

  • ·         You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow. [1]

What does this passage teach us? An Orthodox rabbi and Dead Sea Scroll scholar named Dr. Pinchas Lapide once explained to me that this passage teaches us how to de-hostilize an enemy.

It does not mean we have to be victims to gratuitous violence, but it does mean that we need to hold on to our collective sense of humanity. The Palestinians leadership uses billions of dollars to create shelters for their weapons and not their people. Israel spends billions of dollars to create shelters for their people.

One of my favorite Jewish philosophers and teachers, Eric Fromm, writes about two opposite impulses that are struggling for supremacy in the world. He refers to them as necrophilia vs biophilia.

He explains that necrophilia, or the “love of the dead” is an ideation that is attracted to everything that is dead, e.g., corpses, decay, filth, dirt. The goal of necrophilia as political and religious phenomena is to transform everything that is living into death. This is exactly what Jihadism is all about. It is a death-force that aims to destroy life as we know it for the glorification of Allah, who behaves more like the bloodthirsty deity of the Bible known as Molech.

Jihadists love saying, “We love death more than you love life”

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAOzy2zwyxo

The worse part of necrophilia is that the people this philosophy affects makes them totally indifferent to life and even attracted to death.

This would explain why being a martyr for Islam is so important. In the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians have museums celebrating the sacrifice of his human bombs; museums decorated with Israeli body parts across the wall.

Sounds like a museum made for Freddie Kruger.

Israel in contrast believes in what Fromm calls, “Biophilia” is the love of life, the attraction to everything that lives and grows. Preserving life and preventing death is one form of biophilia. Biophilous tendencies can be much more varied and tend to integrate and unite, to fuse with different and opposite. Biophilia is life that changes, grows, and develops to the changing circumstances of the environment. Fromm believed that for biophilia to emerge, there has to be certain circumstances to enhance its growth, e.g., the absence of injustice, the love of creativity, the presence of freedom, and the spirit to innovate.

In spiritual terms, biophilia encourages people to search for self-awareness, aspirations, and moral growth. Israel continues to develop technologies that improve the fabric of life while the Palestinian culture of death, which worships a god who loves shihads (martyrs) has produced a moral decadence that threatens the peace of humanity.

Let me add that any society is capable of embracing necrophilia. Last week, when some Israeli teenagers burned the body of a poor gay Palestinian boy, these individuals became Molech worshiper who demands the sacrifice of children to sate its savage appetite.

The time has come for the Palestinians and Israelis to work together and embrace a new paradigm of life that brings prosperity to all of its people.


[1] Matthew 5:38–42.

A National Disgrace: The Fort Hood Jihadist Attack — Five Years Later

Posted on by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

The LORD then said: “What have you done! Listen: your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil!”  Genesis 4:10 

 “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:16)

“ When a man makes a vow to the Lord or binds himself under oath to a pledge, he shall not violate his word, but must fulfill exactly the promise he has uttered” (Numbers 30:2-3)

Political correctness says, “It is forbidden to mention Islam and terrorism in the same sentence.” Terms like “jihadist” and “terrorist” and “War against Terror” have banned from the current administration’s lexicon. On November 5th, 2009,  Dr. Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others, while shouting to the top of his lungs, “Allahu Akbar” (“God is Great”) in Arabic. Was this a terrorist attack? Not according to President Obama, this was a case of “workplace violence,” despite the fact that Hasan had numerous correspondences with the American  Al Qaeda  terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki.

In one of those emails that took place between December 2008 and 2009, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki, “I can’t wait to join you” in the afterlife. Hasan also asked al-Awlaki when jihad is appropriate, and whether it is permissible if innocents are killed in a suicide attack.[65] In the months before the shooting, Hasan increased his contacts with al-Awlaki to discuss how to transfer funds abroad without coming to the attention of law authorities.”[63]

Although the news is somewhat dated, the families of the Fort Hood victims have yet to receive a special financial assistance, despite the Obama administration’s promise to take care of the families of the fallen and the wounded.

A lawsuit was eventually filed at the United States Court on November 5th, 2011. The lawsuit claims that government has done everything it can to protect the shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, and their own interests while marginalizing the victims. The suit is seeking $750 million in damages.

One of the Fort Hood victims who survived wanted to meet with President Obama face to face, and the White House denied his request.[1]

Where is our outrage? This is not a Republican or Democratic issue–it is an issue about justice and compassion for the victims. To be silent in this case, is to be complicit.

The Republican Party missed a real opportunity to make the Fort Hood Massacre center stage during the last Presidential election.

Have we as Americans become so apathetic that we do not recognize the dangers we are facing with a resurging Al-Qaeda movement that has declared a new country in the land that we swore to protect—Iraq?


[1] http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/white-house-denies-09-fort-hood-victim-meeting/story?id=23288867

 

The Orwellian Presidency

Posted on by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

The news on NPR piqued my curiosity this past week.

A large number of journalists have unleashed a scathing attack on the White House’s practice of censoring news-stories and  media coverage, limiting access to only his top officials and overall. Thirty-eight prominent journalists charge that the Obama presidency routinely suppresses the freedom of speech that defines one of the most important American values enshrined in the United States’ Constitution.

We would expect Richard Nixon to behave this way, but Barak Obama? What’s wrong with this picture? The Society of Professional Journalists, said “efforts by government officials to stifle or block coverage has grown for years and reached a high-point under his administration despite Obama’s 2008 campaign promise to provide transparency.”

In a letter signed by these journalists, they listed several examples of censorship and efforts to block reporter access. Among them:

  • Officials blocking reporters’ requests to talk to specific staff people.
  •  Excessive delays in answering interview requests that stretch past reporters’ deadlines.
  • Officials conveying information “on background” — refusing to give reporters what should be public information unless they agree not to say who is speaking.
  • Federal agencies blackballing reporters who write critically of them.

The letter further asserts:

  • In many cases, this is clearly being done to control what information journalists — and the audience they serve — have access to. A survey found 40 percent of public affairs officers admitted they blocked certain reporters because they did not like what they wrote,” added the letter.[1]

Now, there is a lot that the journalists did not say in the letter that should have been said for the world to hear and remember. Let us turn the clock back to 2008, when President Obama made this point of one his most important promises during his political campaign:

  • Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled as they have been during the Bush administration. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.

Hindu theology teaches us that we live in a world of maya, “illusion,” where things are not always what they appear to be. This is especially the case with politics, where illusion is the only reality.

After Obama won his election, President Obama has distinguished  himself as the most aggressive President ever in attacking whistleblowers and bringing the full weight of the law down on them. In fact, in 2012, rather than promote protecting whistleblowers in his campaign, the campaign bragged about how it cracked down on whistleblowers:

The ghost of Richard Nixon must be green with envy for President Obama has done more than any other administration to forcefully and legally harass through the offices of Eric Holder, the Attorney General who pursued and threatened to prosecute anyone who allegedly leaked  classified national security information…. The Obama administration has prosecuted twice as many cases under the Espionage Act as all other administrations combined. Under the President, the Justice Department has prosecuted six cases regarding national security leaks. Before he took office, federal prosecutors had used the Espionage Act in only three cases.[2]

One of the great American whistleblowers, Daniel Ellsberg wrote regarding Edward Snowden, made the following statement in his blog:

  • Snowden is the quintessential American whistleblower, and a personal hero of mine, Leaks are the lifeblood of the republic and, for the first time, the American public has been given the chance to debate democratically the NSA’s mass surveillance programs. Accountability journalism can’t be done without the courageous acts exemplified by Snowden, and we need more like him. . . . The secrecy system in this country is broken. No one is punished for using secrecy to conceal dangerous policies, lies, or crimes, yet concerned employees who wish to inform the American public about what the government is doing under their name are treated as spies. Our ‘accountability’ mechanisms are a one-sided secret court, which acts as a rubber stamp, and a Congressional ‘oversight’ committee, which has turned into the NSA’s public relations firm. Edward Snowden had no choice but to go to the press with information. Far from a crime, Snowden’s disclosures are a true constitutional moment, where the press has held the government to account using the First Amendment, when the other branches refused.[3]

Yet, he continues to be hounded by the Obama Administration.

Three days ago, Reuters News reported a news-story, a Russian MP claims that the US kidnapped his son from the Maldives on bogus cyber-fraud charges and may be preparing to offer him as bait in a swap deal for Edward Snowden. Roman Seleznyov, 30, was arrested at Male international airport as he was about to board a flight to Moscow. He was forced by US secret service agents to board a private plane to Guam and was later arrested. The Russian ministry slammed his detention as “a de-facto kidnapping.” Moscow considers the kidnapping “a new hostile move by Washington,” and accused the US of ignoring proper procedure in dealing with foreign nationals suspected of crimes. “The same happened to Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko, who were forced to go to the US from third countries and convicted on dubious charges.”[4]

Without missing a heartbeat, the assault on our freedom of privacy and speech continues to expand its tentacles across our country while Americans are asleep at the wheel.

When you consider the NSA’s program to spy on every American, what you have is the makings of an Orwellian State.

Courtesy of President Barak Obama


Notes:

[1] http://washingtonexaminer.com/censorship-38-journalism-groups-slam-obamas-politically-driven-suppression-of-news/article/2550647

 [4] http://rt.com/news/171188-russian-hacker-kidnapped-america/