Returning Home

For John, BLUF:  God will return His People to their land.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

From , by .

Here is the Reading, Jeremiah 31:7-9:

Thus says the LORD:
Shout with joy for Jacob,
    exult at the head of the nations;
    proclaim your praise and say:
The LORD has delivered his people,
    the remnant of Israel.
Behold, I will bring them back
    from the land of the north;
I will gather them from the ends of the world,
    with the blind and the lame in their midst,
the mothers and those with child;
    they shall return as an immense throng.
They departed in tears,
    but I will console them and guide them;
I will lead them to brooks of water,
    on a level road, so that none shall stumble.
For I am a father to Israel,
    Ephraim is my first-born.

Ephraim?  Who is Ephraim?  He is, per the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath, as well as the adopted son of his biological grandfather Jacob, making him the progenitor of the Tribe of Ephraim.

The point of the reading is that God will console the exiles of Israel, and will return them to their ancesteral lands.  Thus, the Jews returning to the Holy Land and forming the nation of Israel.  I, for one, would not wish to get in God's way in this matter.

But, as Father Mark Jette, down in Conneticutt, pointed out in an EMail, the Gospel (Mark 10:46-52) has a powerful lesson.  Blind Bartimaeus, upon hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was approaching, cried out "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me".  This is basically the Jesus Prayer.  It is short (3 Seconds) and yet powerful.  Invoking this short prayer is an effective way to orient the moment on God.

Regards  —  Cliff

Ignorant Students

For John, BLUF:  Asw a college graduate I am embarrassed at the way students at Columbia University, and elsewhere, are acting toward Israel and their Jewish Classmates.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Columbia's Student Protesters Really Have Embraced Hamas

From Hot Air, by Opinionator John Sexton, 8:40 PM, 10 October 2024.

Here is the lede plus seven:

I touched on this earlier this week when Columbia's anti-Israel group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), held a walkout/protest on the anniversary of 10/7, but I think it probably deserves more attention.

You may remember this guy, Khymani James, one of the student organizers at Columbia who made news earlier this year when a video circulated of him saying, "Zionists, along with all white supremacists, need to not exist." He added, "Be glad, be grateful that I'm not just going out and murdering Zionists."

After this made news in April, James was suspended and CUAD put out a statement, apparently from James himself, apologizing for his comments.

“CUAD and the Gaza Solidarity Encampment have made clear that my words in January, prior to my involvement in CUAD, are not in line with the CUAD community guidelines. I agree with their assessment,” the apology read. “Those words do not represent CUAD. They also do not represent me.”

This week, CUAD reversed course, not only saying it regretted its earlier statement but making it plain that the group supports violence, i.e. it supports Hamas.

The pro-Palestinian group that sparked the student encampment movement at Columbia University in response to the Israel-Hamas war is becoming more hard-line in its rhetoric, openly supporting militant groups fighting Israel and rescinding an apology it made after one of its members said the school was lucky he wasn’t out killing Zionists.

“We support liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance,” the group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, said in its statement revoking the apology.

The group marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by distributing a newspaper with a headline that used Hamas’s name for it: “One Year Since Al-Aqsa Flood, Revolution Until Victory,” it read, over a picture of Hamas fighters breaching the security fence to Israel. And the group posted an essay calling the attack a “moral, military and political victory” and quoting Ismail Haniyeh, the assassinated former political leader of Hamas.

One wonders what is happening at Columbia University.  From a cultural point of view there students seem to have slipped away from American, into some new grouping.  It is one thing to be against Zionism, or evewn the return of Jews to their ancesteral home, now Israel.  It is another to call for killing of Zionists.

Further, the student protestors seem to not give a fig for the 7 million Israelis.  What is to become of them.&nsp; To not care about them is to betray the progress our Western Culture has made in accepance of Jews.  It would be like the United States standing by and saying nothing as Liberia was buldozed into the Atlantic Ocean.  Morally unacceptable.

There is no doubt we need peace in the Middle East.  To get there e need to recognize the underlying animosity of Iran toward israel and the United States.  Not Irran as a whole, but the Mullahs of Iran, from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on down.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

A Fuzzy Picture

The Democrats in Congress often have a hard time supporting our Middle East ally, Israel.  And,they have no solutions to bring peace for all.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Ocasio-Cortez nailed with online backlash after bizarre response to pager attack on Hezbollah

Here is the sub-headline:

The congresswoman demanded to know if the US had any hand in the attack.

From The Blaze, by BLAZE NEWS, 18 September 2024.

Here is the lede plus three:

Democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York offered a bizarre response to the astounding pager attack on members of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

While many praised the ingenuity and precision of the attack on the terror group, Ocasio-Cortez issued a demand for assurance that the U.S. didn't provide any assistance to the operation.

"Israel’s pager attack in Lebanon detonated thousands of handheld devices across of a slew of public spaces, seriously injuring and killing innocent civilians," she wrote in a post on social media.

"This attack clearly and unequivocally violates international humanitarian law and undermines US efforts to prevent a wider conflict," Ocasio-Cortez added. "Congress needs a full accounting of the attack, including an answer from the State Department as to whether any US assistance went into the development or deployment of this technology."

Were civilians injured or killed in this event?  I am sure there were.  But, how?  The carelessness of the Hezbollah targets, the "soldiers" of a terrorist organization?  Likely.  Say a Hezbollah terrorist giving his pager to a young neice to play with.  Being careless often has consequences.

I suspect Representative Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is just looking for reasons to whinge against Israel.  I wonder if she is one of those "river to the sea" types, who has no ideas what to do with eight million Israelis who would be displaced by her desired solution?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Peace in the Holy Land

For John, BLUF:  The differences between the State of Israel and the People of Gaza, represented by Hamas are, at this time, irreconcilable.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Why America Has Failed to Forge an Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire

Here is the sub-headline:

Pressuring Belligerents to Talk Rarely Works—and Sometimes Backfires

From Foreign Affairs, by Professor Eric Min, 24 July 2024 .

Here is the lede plus two:

On May 31, U.S. President Joe Biden announced a three-phase proposal to end the war in the Gaza Strip.  He called, first, for a temporary cease-fire tied to partial withdrawals of Israeli forces, limited hostage exchanges, and an influx of aid.  Negotiations would then begin and, if successful, lead to the second phase, involving a permanent cessation of hostilities, tied to full withdrawals and complete hostage exchanges.  The final phase would see reconstruction efforts begin in Gaza, and the exchange of the remains of Israeli hostages.

Despite the fanfare with which it was announced, this proposal was just one of many to have been made since the war began.  Indeed, Israel and Hamas had previously rejected similar plans advanced by Egypt and Qatar.  And, like the other proposals, the Biden plan has fallen flat.  Although these mediated initiatives have not succeeded in forging peace, they represent attempts to end the ongoing suffering caused by the war.  It can’t hurt to try.

Or can it?  The historical record reveals that such diplomatic interventions often have hugely negative consequences.  Outside powers have almost never been able to impose lasting cease-fires without support from the belligerents themselves and, perhaps more troublingly, external efforts to facilitate diplomacy can make wars worse. Rather than bringing peace, there is the uncomfortable likelihood that diplomacy which takes place regardless of what is happening on the battlefield, can actually exacerbate a war.  The United States and its allies should pressure Hamas and Israel to change their wartime conduct, instead of seeking to impose negotiations when neither side has expressed an interest in a settlement.

I began reading this article with a degree of skepticism, and in the end remained skeptical.  I am not a diplomat, and don’t even play one in Summer Stock.  However, I am married and have three adult children.

Professor Eric Min lays out the issues involved in obtaining a cease fire in Gaza.  However, the author has reconvinced me that peace between Hamas and Israel is not possible.  Hamas thinks Israel should cease to exist.  Israel holds a “Never Again" mentality.  How can that be reconciled?  A two-state solution does not meet the goal of Hamas.  Without Palestinian acquiescence the two-state solution is not viable.

The author talks about "providing valuable humanitarian aid to innocent civilians caught in war’s crossfire."  Given that, from a Hamas point of view, this is a Peoples War, the concept of innocent civilians differs from the idea of the Residents of Dresden in 1945.  Hamas, with a majority support in Gaza, uses civilians as a shield behind which to operate.  They place military facilities in tunnels under schools and hospitals.  Further, we have long term stories of Hamas "taxing" humanitarian aid.  Civilians in Gaza, are, in a way, part of the Hamas way of War.

We hear about the International Criminal Court, but the focus is on Israel.  Which, COL John Spenser tells us is working harder than anyone in the past to protect civilians.  US Rep Rashida Tlaib holds up a sign to Prime Minister Netanyahu calling him a war criminal.  Yet, I don't hear people talking about how the ICC has indicted Yahya SINWAR (Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (“Hamas”) in the Gaza Strip), Mohammed Diab Ibrahim AL-MASRI, more commonly known as DEIF (Commander-in-Chief of the military wing of Hamas, known as the Al-Qassam Brigades), and Ismail HANIYEH (Head of Hamas Political Bureau) for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 7 October 2023.

We seem to have forgotten that Hamas has promised future repetitions of Operation al Aqsa Flood (7 October 2023).  Do we doubt this promise?  I would not.

Our Vice President recently said:

It is time for this war to end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self determination,

From my time in the Air Force Procurement dodge, I remember that the goal was a contract that provided a product on time, to specification and at price.  The tag line was “pick two.”

The Palestinians in Gaza wish to return to their homes in what is now Israeli national territory, homes abandoned in 1948, with the hope of returning after the Arab Armies had defeated Israel.

There is nothing to be had in the way of a cease fire in Gaza as long as Hamas has a degree of control in Gaza.  Why would they (Hamas) agree to a cease fire?  They gain nothing by accepting a cease fire.  The status quo results in Israel being more and more branded as evil.  We can see the impact as we look at demonstrations on US Campuses, or in front of Washington, DC's Union Station.

America hasn’t failed to forge an Israel-Hamas cease-fire, because there is none to forge.  We need either a form of metanoia within Hamas or a mass migration of Israeli Citizens to another land (the US would be OK with me).  The author, Professor Min, seems to miss this point.

Regards  —  Cliff

The End of Employment

For John, BLUF:  While Israel was helping residents of Gaza to prosper, the Haamas Government was working to make that all go away.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The betrayal by and of the Palestinian workers

From The New Neo, by The Hidden New Neo, 22 June 2024.

Here is the lede plus one:

There are so many aspects of the October 7 attacks that were horrific – but one element that can get lost in the focus on the more barbaric events involves the Palestinian workers who, prior to 10/7, were gainfully employed in Israel.  Many of them (we don’t know how many, but a substantial number) acted as spies for Hamas while they were pretending to be friendly to the Israelis they would be helping to torture, murder, and rape.

The program was meant not only to help Palestinians economically, but to show goodwill and most of all to lay the groundwork for better relations between Israel and the Palestinians.  The Palestinians’ betrayal of all this goodwill was profound; one can hardly imagine a worse one.  The resulting destruction of all trust the Israelis might have still retained up to 10/7 in the word of Palestinians and the potential goodwill of the ordinary Palestinian “man in the street” meant that it would be difficult or actually impossible for any such program or any such rapprochement again.

This is commentary on an 18 June 2024 Gatestone Institute article by Middle East Scholar Bassam Tawil, Israel Gave Work Permits, While Palestinians Planned Oct. 7 Massacre.

It turns out that by the eve of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, Israel had issued 18,500 work permits to Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.  After the attack, these work permits were revoked, resulting in a loss of roughtly USD $24 million per month.

Hamas, the Government of Gaza, must think that this will all be made up and more (almost USD $216 million to date) when they push out all the Israelis.  But, there will be a price to be paid.  I don't see the Citizens of Israel going quietly, unless it is to come to the United States.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Refugees from Palestine

For John, BLUF:  President Biden is floating anothe5r "feel good" move with regard to the conflict in the Middle East.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden's Plan to Resettle Thousands of Gaza Refugees Is Insane, Warns Expert

From PJ Media, by Columnist Rick Moran, 18 May 2024, 1:13 PM.

Here is the lede plus one:

Earlier this month, the Biden administration floated a trial balloon, suggesting "senior officials across several federal U.S. agencies have discussed the practicality of different options to resettle Palestinians from Gaza who have immediate family members who are American citizens or permanent residents."

No other Middle Eastern country is crazy enough to want large numbers of Gazans to enter their country.  The history of Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria suggests that the refugees would look to overthrow the government or launch terrorist attacks against Israel from within their borders.

This apparently isn't deterring Joe Biden.  Perhaps it should.

This is differentt from my proposal to brng all Israeli Citizens who are willing to the United States.  My proposal is based on the idea that Palestinian militant groups are not likely to make peace with Israel any time in the future.♠

The proposal by President Biden is not to bring random Palestinians to the United States, but rather those with ties of people already here.  This is an important distinction, if you believe in the idea of assimmilation.  If the sponsors have assimilated into the general US population then the immigrants are likely to become peaceful members of the overall population.

However, a move to bring in random Palistinians will create the situation Mr Moran describes in his article. : There is a reason neighboring nations, such as Egypt and Jordan, will not accept (more) Palistinian refugees. : Those refugees have a history of causing trouble in their new host nation.  I see not reason to think things would be different in the United State.

Finally, there is the question of what such refugee action would do to fix the problem in the Middle East.  If President Biden brings 200,000 thousand Palistinians from Gaza to the US, that will still leave 1.8 million disgruntled Gaza Citizens, prepared to conduct Urban Guerilla Warfare and supporting Hamas or like organizations

This is, at heart, a feel good move on the part of President Biden, perhaps garnering some more votes in Noivember.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  i am reminded of the story out of the Balkins where a reporter is talkng to someone at their doorfront.  The person being interviewed points up the street and says that house five up on the other side of the street used to belong to my family, four hundred years ago.  In some parts of the world memories are very long.

Supporters of Hamas

For John, BLUF:  As an American I am saddened by masses of college students exercising their First Amendment rights in support of Hamas, a terrorist organization.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Columbia Protestors Clarify They Only Want Death To America After America Is Done Paying Their Student Loans

From BabylonBee, 23 April 2024.

Here is the lede plus two:

NEW YORK, NY — As pro-Palestine groups continued to gather on campus following the establishment of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, Columbia University protestors clarified that they only want "Death to America" after America is done paying their student loans for them.

"Death to America… in like, 3 or 4 years when I graduate!" shouted one student protestor. "America truly is the ‘Great Satan' that ravages and oppresses other countries and deserves to be wiped off the face of the earth…as soon as the American taxpayers finish paying off our tuition loans!

"But as soon as that's done, then, yeah, totally, death to America!"

Over the top?  Maybe.  But, it is The Bee.

On the other hand, these student protestors are both ignorant and over the top.  They are an embarrassment to freedom loving people.  Further they seem oblivious to the attitudes of Hamas and like groups toward women and those who identify as LGBQT+.  Where are they getting their education on various societies around the world?

Finally, these demonstrators seem oblivious to the fail of those living in what is now Israel, Jews, Palestinians and Beduins alike.  Should they just die?  Should they all be "transported far beyond the northern sea!"  Likely, if there is not another Holocost, those people would end up in America.  While I would be sad to see the demise of Israel, I would be happy to welcome those 9.9 million new Citizens to our melting pot.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Israeli Military Operations in Gaza

For John, BLUF:  The linked article is about a piece in The Atlantic about anti-Semitism on campus, but it also talks to Israeli operstions in Gaza.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Let's Talk About the Absolute Worst Thing in the World

From PJ Media, by Commnentator Stephen Green, 27 March 2024, 10:45 AM.

Here is the key excerpt:

But there is no Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip, no matter what lefties and other concern trolls might have you think.

Let me share something utterly remarkable with you.

Urban combat is about as bad as war gets. That's not just for the soldiers doing the fighting — it's also for the civilians caught up in it. Typically, civilian casualties far outnumber military casualties in city fighting.

Until now.

John Spencer is the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point and an infantry combat veteran.  He's just back from the Gaza Strip, where he witnessed the extraordinary measures Israel has taken to avoid civilian casualties.

"By my analysis," Spencer reported for Newsweek on Monday, "Israel has implemented more precautions to prevent civilian harm than any military in history — above and beyond what international law requires and more than the U.S. did in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

The net result — and this is that "utterly remarkable" thing — is that civilian casualties do not outnumber military losses.  The best estimate is just one civilian casualty for each military casualty.

Israel has accomplished this unprecedented feat "in intense urban warfare against an enemy trying to maximize its own civilian casualties."

Nations like South Africa,♠ and demonstrators here in the United States (and elsewhere_ who are demonstratying against Israeli operation is in Gaza, are playinbg the Hamas game.♥ 

I am on an internet discussion group with the gentleman cited, retired Major Johhn Spencer, a former Infantryman and with the Urban Warfare Studies section of the Modern War Institute at West Point.  I believe he should be listened to.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff
♠  South Africa went to the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of Genocide.  While they didn't get everything they wanted, they furthered the line that Israel is doing bad things in Gaza.
♥  To be honest, Hamas is doing a brilliant job working the political (informatonial) side of this conflict, and could seriously hurt Israel's standing in the world.

Clarity in Pennsylvania

For John, BLUF:  In the 2022 election I saw Candidate John Fedderman as weak and undesirable.  As he has recovered his health he has shown his true colors and his down the middle views.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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John Fetterman Plays Against Type

Here is the sub-headline:

His emergence as a pro-Israel moderate hasn’t surprised Pennsylvania political observers.

From The Wall Street Journal, by Reporter Salena Zito, 1 January 2024, 1:09 pm ET.

Here is the lede plus three:

It’s a warm December morning, and Sen. John Fetterman is walking along the Great Allegheny Passage across the Monongahela River from his home in Braddock.  “I spend as much time as I can out here,” he says of the trail, which runs 150 miles from downtown Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md.

Mr. Fetterman has been in the U.S. Senate just under a year, during which he’s recovered from a campaign-season stroke, checked himself into Walter Reed hospital for depression, and ruffled feathers on both sides of the aisle.  In September it was reported that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had relaxed the Senate’s unofficial dress code to accommodate Mr. Fetterman’s preference for wearing hoodies and shorts.  (That move backfired, leading the body to adopt a formal requirement of business attire.)

Of late, however, Mr. Fetterman has drawn the ire of the Democratic left for his unapologetic support of Israel, for his support of a bipartisan solution to the border crisis, and for his cheeky criticisms of the indicted Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.).

None of this is a surprise to Pennsylvania political observers.  “Now that his health has finally improved, the national press and the country are finding out the real John Fetterman,” says Jeffrey Brauer, a political scientist at Keystone College.  Mr. Brauer thinks that Mr. Fetterman’s difficulty communicating after his May 2022 stroke, combined with his casual dress and his combative approach to moderate primary opponent Conor Lamb led outsiders to assume Mr. Fetterman was a card-carrying progressive.

I admit that Ms Zito provides a different picture of Senator John Fetterman from the one I have been holding up until just recently.  I will say that I have a lot of trust in what Ms Zito says on the political front.  She always rings true to me.

The question is, oin my mind, how will this impact any shake-out in the Democatic Party.  For sure the war between Israel and Gaza has brought strains within the Party,♠  Part of our natinoal strength over the last two and a quarter centuries has been our ability to cut a deal.  The last time we forgot how to do that we had a Civil War.&nbs; I am hoping the varioous strains in the Democratic Party will find a way to work together, for the good of the nation.

Mr. Fetterman said “I would be the last man standing to be absolutely there on the Israeli side on this with no conditions.”  On this point he will not be alone.  I will be there with him.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Is Israel at war with all of Gaza or is it just at war with Hamas?  This may sound like a nuance, but if there are two million Gazans made at Israel it is a major issue.  It is just tens of thousands of members of Hamas it is a different issue.  The hopes for peace turn on this.

AP Suppresses the Truth

For John, BLUF:  If we can't use correct terms we can not effectively communicate ideas.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Bipartisan House Coalition Urges AP to Change Stylebook Rule Advising Against ‘Terrorist’ Term for Hamas

Here is the sub-headline:

“The decision by the AP to avoid using terms such as ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’ due to their perceived politicization is deeply unsettling.”

From Legal Insurrection, by Blogger Stacey Matthews, 23 December 2023 at 06:00pm.

Here is the lede plus two:

For several decades now, the Associated Press Stylebook has become the gold standard among many mainstream media organizations for, among other things, guidance on terminology that they suggest journalists should either use or avoid using when covering stories.

Unfortunately, this has meant that these same outlets over the years have willingly subjected themselves to falling in line with the AP‘s politically motivated evolution on the use of words like “abortion,” “riots,” “man” and “woman,” and even “the,” an evolution that conveniently almost always seems to match up with whatever Democrats and their affiliated special interest groups happen to be calling for at any given time.

As Legal Insurrectionc reported in October, the AP was, per their Israel-Hamas Topical Guide, only allowing their reporters to refer to Hamas terrorists as “militants,” “fighters,” “attackers,” or “combatants” despite confirmed reports of the atrocities committed against 1,400 Israeli civilians, including kidnapping, torture, rape, murder, and the beheading of infants.

At the risk of appearing arrogant, I would posit that the Hamas strategy is to evoke an over reaction from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamib "Bibi" Netanyahu, thus garnering condemnation on the part of other nations, isolating Isreal on the international stage.  How would one provoke Bibi?  Through acts of depravity against the Israeli People.  In common parlance this is terrorism.

So, why is the AP (and others, like the BBC) avoiding words like "terror"?  I would say it is a way to clean up Hamas and make them more attractive to the West.  Change them from the ruthless fighters they are into peaceful people yearning ot be free and forced by circumstaances to kill their oppressors.  It is a much better sounding story.  Yes, it is a distortion of the truth, but for a "good cause".

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Seeking a Dismount Point

For John, BLUF:  the major problem with the war in Gaza is that no one has a clue as to how this ends.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Israel's War Against Gaza Should Not Be America's War Too

Here is the sub-headline:

In the wake of the atrocities committed on October 7th and Washington’s tacit acquiescence in Israel’s maximalist war aims, the dubious notion that vital American interests are still at stake in the Greater Middle East has taken on new life.

From Common Dreams, by Dr Andrew Bacevich.

Here is the lede plus three:

One way of understanding the ongoing bloodbath pitting Israel against Hamas is to see it as just the latest chapter in an existential struggle dating back to the founding of the Jewish state in 1948. While the appalling scope, destructiveness, and duration of the fighting in Gaza may outstrip previous episodes, this latest go-around serves chiefly to reaffirm the remarkable intractability of the underlying Arab-Israeli conflict.

Although the shape of that war has changed over time, certain constants remain. Neither side, for instance, seems capable of achieving its ultimate political goals through violence. And each side adamantly refuses to concede to the core demands of its adversary. In truth, while the actual fighting may ebb and flow, pause and resume, the Holy Land has become the site of what is effectively permanent conflict.

For several decades, the United States sought to keep its distance from that war by casting itself in the role of regional arbiter. While providing Israel with arms and diplomatic cover, successive administrations have simultaneously sought to position the U.S. as an “honest broker,” committed to advancing the larger cause of Middle Eastern peace and stability. Of course, a generous dose of cynicism has always informed this “peace process.”

On that score, however, the present moment has let the cat fully out of the bag.  The Biden administration responded to the gruesome terrorist attack on October 7th by unequivocally endorsing and underwriting Israeli efforts to annihilate Hamas, with Gazans thereby subjected to a World War II-style obliteration bombing campaign.  Meanwhile, ignoring tepid Biden administration protests, Israeli settlers continue to expel Palestinians from parts of the West Bank where they have lived for generations.  If Hamas’s October assault was a tragedy, proponents of a Greater Israel also saw it as a unique opportunity that they’ve seized with alacrity.  As for the peace process, already on life support, it now seems altogether defunct.  Prospects of reviving it anytime soon appear remote.

Reading Andrew Bacevich's article I find it doesn't answer the long term question—How does this end?

There are possibly two questions there for Americans.  The first is how we avoid a repeat of the outcome of the Wannsee Conference of 1942.  In the wake of World War II we committed to "Never Again".  Are we backing off that commitment?

While I have great hope the Abraham Accords will create a new Middle East (notwithstanding Iran's opposition), I think success depends on Israel's confidence that it will not being abandoned.

But, if the Abraham Accords fail, then what?  A second Holocaust?  What a blot that would be.

Dr Bacevich offers nothing in that direction.

Then there is internal American politics.  While the Coastal Elites may not give a fig, across the fruited plain are God fearing people who believe "Those who support my People, I will support."  This is a political fact of life.  The students and faculty of Harvard, MIT and Penn may laugh at such silly thinking, but I expect politicians like Rep Jim Jordan of Ohio hear it.  Then, with this crisis you have the Second Reading for the Second Sunday of Advent, which sounds a little like global nuclear war (That is Roman Catholic liturgy, but Protestants read the same Bible).

If Israel goes down, there may be millions of refugees.  Are they coming here?  Worse would be no refugees.  Then it would be more like the Vendee during the French Revolution.

My conclusion is there is no plan there.  No "what if" thinking.

And, here is a comment on the original article by retired Atmy Ranger Colonel Keith Knightingale:

Unfortunately, there does not appear to be any viable solution other than some sort of military occupation which is a transitory solution.  Worst case is the IDF occupies.  Best case is some form of mixed Arab/Western/Asian force.  Good luck in forming the latter.  So, for the foreseeable future, we have no possibility of a permanent solution.  Both sides will continue to hate each other and the US will be pilloried for its support choices and our forces imperiled for the foreseeable future.  And Iran will find many ways to keep the pot boiling and we will do little to contain those efforts.

We have no idea.  Do you?

Regards  —  Cliff

Democrats and Jews

For John, BLUF:  I give a lot of credit to Hamas for an effective propaganda campaign that has pulled in a large number of well meaning people.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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How the Democrats betrayed the Jews

Here is the sub-headline:

The sick thrill of antisemitism has a price

From UnHerd, by DAVID MAMET, October 23, 2023.

Here is an excerpt:

Why do Jews vote Democratic?  Partly from tradition — conservatives have heard a Liberal Jew, when asked to defend or explain various absurd or inconsistent Democratic positions, shrug and joke:   “I’m a Congenital Democrat.”  I understand, for I was one, too.

But there is no more cosy mystery in the antisemitism of the Democratic Party; Representatives are affiliated with the Democratic Socialists and pro-Palestinians, calling for the end of the state of Israel — that is, for the death of the Jews.  And Democrat Representatives repeat and refuse to retract the libel that Israel bombed a hospital, in spite of absolute proof to the contrary, and will not call out the unutterable atrocities of Hamas.  The writing is on the wall.  In blood.

I can see why many Jews are Democras.  I used to be one myself.  But, when you find yourself with strange bedellos it may be time to change beds.  There now seem to be a number of Critical Race Theory, Antonio Gramsci loving, Green Thinking Democrats who have abandoned the ideals of The Land of Opportunity for mythical future state where all are equal and looved and there is no competition or pain.  There is no such place this side of Heaven.  But, in search of their goals, some of these Democrats will abandon their friends and past partners.

Good luck to t rest of us.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The End Times; An Alternate View

For John, BLUF:  There is no doubt the earth will end, but when and how are open questions.  One point of view is that the Creator will end His crestion and msy well do it soon.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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End of Daze
Author:  Andrew Fox
Kindle Version:  265 Pages
Publisher:  Aggadah Try It
Language:  English
ASIN:  B0BYHC3YGM
Publication Date:  30 March 2023

I picked up this book on the recommendstion of Blogger and Writer Sarah Hoyt.

I am glad I did.  Recent events in the Middle East raise the question of if these are the End Times.  If we pay attention to the likes of Author Hal Lindsey (The Late Grest Plsnet Earth) we note the return of Jews to the land of Israel (1900 years ago the nation of Judea).  This is a possible sign of the fulfillment of Biblical End time Prophecy.

The perspective of The End of Daze is a combinstion of science Fiction and of Jewish prospective.  It is this second view, with its liberal sprinkling of Yiddish and Jewish practices and traditions that made it interesting. 

Another aspect of a fictoinal look is thst the writer can pose some interesting situstions, such as when a radical Muslim group acquires a nuclear artillery shell from a nation from the former Soviet Union.  Such a weapon can be a game changer. . But the story also deals with those who cannot accept what G_d is trying to do and fight Him.  That is a story as old as time.

A quick read, with an interesting alternative perespective.  Well worth the effort to read, and available on the Kindle.

Regards  —  Cliff

If Not Now, When

For John, BLUF:  The current conflict between Israel and Hamas may well represent God acting to gather the Jewish People from where they have been scattered for the last 1900 years.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

First Reading

From Ez 34:11-12, 15-1.

Here is the Reading:

Thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
As a shepherd tends his flock
when he finds himself among his scattered sheep,
so will I tend my sheep.
I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered
when it was cloudy and dark.
I myself will pasture my sheep;
I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD.
The lost I will seek out,
the strayed I will bring back,
the injured I will bind up,
the sick I will heal,
but the sleek and the strong I will destroy,
shepherding them rightly.

As for you, my sheep, says the Lord GOD,
I will judge between one sheep and another,
between rams and goats.

If Scripture is to be believed, and it is, God will gather the People of Israel, who have been scattered.  Do we wish to get in the way of God?  Do we wish to stand athwart the path of history, yelling "STOP"?  I would think not.

As a result of the Jewish-Roman Wars the Jewish population in Judaea was greatly reduced and many Jews were killed, sold into slavery or driven away.  The Roman Government renamed the area Syria Palaestina.

Would it not be possible that God is correcting this injustice toward His People?

Regards  —  Cliff

American Support for Israel

For John, BLUF:  I have been surprised and disappointed by the reactions to the Hamas slaughter of Israelis on 7 October.  But, these outbreaks do not represent all of America.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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In red America, standing up for Israel isn’t controversial

From The New York Post, by Professor Glenn H. Reynolds, 21 Novwember 2023, 6:48 p.m. ET.

Here is the lede plus seven:

In some parts of the country, standing up for Israel is controversial, even dangerous.

On the campuses of places like Harvard, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania, anyone who dares to wave an Israeli flag — or, increasingly, wear a kippah in public — is at risk of being assaulted by angry mobs of people with their faces covered.

In Los Angeles, a pro-Israel protester was allegedly killed by a pro-Palestinian computer-science professor.

(Judge Ryan Wright slashed the prof’s bail from the original $1 million to just $50,000.)

Many parents of Jewish students are concerned, and rightly so, about their kids’ safety at these institutions.

Even off campus, the streets of New York and many other big blue metropolises seem kind of dangerous for Jews these days.

Things are a bit different in my neck of the woods.

I live in Knoxville, Tenn., home of the University of Tennessee, where we’ve seen none of this sort of violence.

I think it is fair to say that in much of the United States citizens of the Protestant faith have been caught up in what some call Christian Zionismn.  This understanding that the Jewish People have a role in God's plan for the end times.

To the larger issue of civility in today's America, I think the Professor captures the point in a quote from Adlai Stevenson, "A free society is one in which it is safe to be unpopular."  When I think about it I think Free Speech includes the right to be wrong.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Not Unified

For John, BLUF:  The Biden Administration is not united on Israel vs Hamas, and neither is the nation.  It is not like the situation in the wake of 911.  And this is not good.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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400 Government Officals Sign a Letter Objecting to Biden's Israel Stance

From PJ Media, by Columnist Lincoln Brown, 14 November 2023, 12:46 PM.

Here is the lede plus three:

Many years ago, after a hard day of radio journalism and program directing, I stopped at my favorite brewpub for an IPA and some chicken wings.  I noticed a few friends who worked for a government agency and struck up a conversation.  I mentioned having seen a story on TV at the gym about the federal government offering free health care to illegal immigrants.  I opined that there were plenty of Americans who should receive that consideration before it was extended to people who entered the country unlawfully.  One of the women looked at me, blinked, and said, "Well f**k you!"

Alright, then.  Good talk.  It wasn't the response I expected but considering the fact that people in the federal ecosystem function in an echo chamber, I guess I should not have been surprised.  Mike Lee once told me that the people inside the Beltway are essentially unaware of the America or the world outside the Beltway.  And with the advent of curated media, it should not be an eye-opener that the same mentality extends to many federal employees.  That may go some ways to explaining the letter sent Tuesday to President Joe Biden that was signed by over 400 government officials.

The New York Times obtained a copy of the letter, signed by appointees and staffers across 40 agencies.  It began by denouncing the Hamas attack on Israel but also stated:

We call on President Biden to urgently demand a cease-fire; and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity, and other basic services; and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

As an aside, that extract is 53 words in a single sentence.  One should avoid sentences over 20 words! or so I was taught.

The thing that fascinates me is the people calling for a cease fire with no idea of what comes next.  Nor any indication of how Hamas would respond.  My understanding has always been that staff are not supposed to bring problems, except with propsed solutions.  A ceasefire is not a solution.  A plan for getting Palestine (with or without Hamas) is a solution.  I am not seeing such a thing.

The author may be close to the mark with his remark about those inside the Beltway not having a feel for the rest of the nation.  Not all of them, but a significant portion of them.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Larger Issue in Gaza

For John, BLUF:  The war between Hamas and Israel is being blown up into a bigger conflct.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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THE ISSUE IS NOT THE ISSUE

From Power Line Blog, by Blogger Steven Haywrd, 30 October 2023.

Here is the lede plus one:

Ever since David Horowitz broke from the radical left back in the 1980s, he has been trying to warn conservatives that they don’t really understand the core principle of the left, and the depths of the left’s power-mad depravity.  Conservatives too often think that the Israel-Palestine conflict, or civil rights, crime, income inequality, transgender ideology, climate change, etc, etc., are discrete issues to be argued against the left with reason and facts.  To which Horowitz replies:  The issue is not the issue—the issue is revolution!  (And a key corollary is: the more violent, the better.  Hence the approval and celebration of Hamas on October 7.)

The aftermath of October 7 ought to have revealed this truth more vividly than any event of the last 50 years.  October 7 provided the spark for massive pro-Hamas demonstrations throughout the world and especially on college campuses.  It is legitimized and brought out of the shadows the anti-Semitism long latent on the left, just waiting for a catalyst to organize spontaneously to vent their rage and hate.  But it represents more than this.

I believe the larger view is captured in this news photo out of London:

I object to the banner for using the term "White".  I think they mean Caucaasian.  The banner suggests some eugenics issues, perhaps that Caucasians are genetically unable to coexist with homo sapiens.  Shades of Adolph Hitler and Msrgsret Sanger.

I think this local dustup between Hamas nd Israel is being blown up into a Caucasians vs People of Color conflict.  One can substitute Colonialist for Caucasian.  It is “The West” vs the rest.

With those Jewish Faith in Israel being descendants of those who lived there two thousand years ago and the Palestinians being descended from those who lived in the same general area two thousand years ago, I am not sure I would be drawing stark racial comparisons, but then I am not someone who is against the free market, common law, freedom of expression and the renaissance and scientific revolution.  I guess these demonstrators think that Genghis Khan was a Caucasian, or at least Caucasian adjacent.

I am hoping President Joe Biden will come up with a way of calming these younger Americns of college age.  For one thing, I don't like hearing chants of "Genocide Joe."  I would hate to see all those expensively educated men and women turned into a modern day Klan, riding against the Jews and those of us who support them.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Kudus to Sanders

For John, BLUF:  Many from the Democratic Party are calling for israel to back down with regard to Hamas and Palestine, but not all.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Wait... Who Actually Just Said NO to a Ceasefire with Hamas?

From PJ Media, by Writer Stephen Green. 6 November 2023, 8:00 AM.

Here is the last part of the Post:

But back to Bernie Sanders who, despite the growing pressure on the Left to force Israel into a ceasefire, stood fast on Sunday.  On CNN's "State of the Union," anchor Dana Bash asked, "Some of you fellow progressives say that there should be a full-on ceasefire which would require an agreement on both sides to halt the fighting.  Do you support a ceasefire and if not, why not?"

Sanders didn't hesitate when he answered, "I don't know how you can have a permanent ceasefire with an organization like Hamas, which is dedicated to turmoil and chaos and destroying the state of Israel."

"And I think what the Arab countries in the region understand is that Hamas has got to go," Sanders added.

He's right on both counts and kudus to Sanders for getting it right this once.

I agree, kudos for Senator Sanders.  I don't always agree with the Senator from Vermont, but I find his position here straight forward and correct.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Corruption of the Mind

For John, BLUF:  There are signs that Academia has become a hotbed of Anti-Semitism.  Why would we send our children there?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Yet Another Anticolonialist Professor Getting a Plum Job After Attacking Israel

From , by Mr David Strom, 6 November 2023, 6:31 PM.

Here is the lede plus six:

I have been incredibly (and justifiably) harsh on most of the anti-Israel protesters and academics, but I do believe that there is plenty of room for debate about Israel’s response to the 10/7 attacks. People of goodwill can disagree on the best path forward for Israel.

But damn, there really are few people of goodwill out there. Most of the protesters and Israel-bashers as just antisemites and/or anti-White/anti-Western.

This is true both of the protesters in the streets and the academics who have openly sided with Hamas or at least Palestinian radicals. Most of them just hate Jews, almost all make it clear that they want Israel wiped off the maps. “From the river to the sea” means that precisely.

For some reason, New York City is not just the home of more Jews than any other city in the world but is also antisemitism central in academia. I just wrote about how the City University of New York is filled with vile antisemites, and now I see that NYU just hired a professor who felt “affirmed” by Hamas’ rape and murder rampage on 10/7.

“Affirming.” How nice.

NYU announced the appointment of Eve Tuck, a professor of critical race and indigenous studies at the University of Toronto, on Oct 9 — just two days after Hamas terrorists massacred 1,400 Israeli civilians.

Though her work is focused on native peoples, she has found common cause with Palestinian terrorism — including defending Hamas’ deadly rampage.

What has happened ot higher education?  I guess I could settle for the students not learning history in their K-12 education.  Not learning about World War II, about the Holocost, about the Holodomor, about pograms against the Jews  But, it seems to be spreading across the teaching faculty.  That is scary.  It wuld radicsally change this nation, as Natoinsl Socilism did Germsny after World War I, and not for the better.

Higher Education was, I thought, about explore all aspects of an issue and coming to a reasnoable set of conclusions.  It appears I was wrong.  It appears to be bout imposing one's prejudices on young minds, changing the path of Western Civilization of Democracy.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

What Does Hamas Want, and Who Understands it?

For John, BLUF:  I find much of the news and many of the demonstrators are showing a lack of in depth understanding of the issues involved in this Hamas/Israel conflict.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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France’s Nightmare Is Yours Now

Here is the sub-headline:

How the Oct. 7 massacres in Israel gave birth to a global pogrom

From The Tablet, by Mr Marc Weitzmann, 30 October 2023.

Here is the lede plus four:

I was staring at my phone in blank incomprehension watching the worldwide demonstrations of enthusiasm that followed the bloodiest pogrom since World War II—the “gas the Jews!” of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Sydney, the “fuck the Jews!” in London, the Nazi salutes in Paris, the Nazi flags in New York.  I was scrolling through footage from some of the most prestigious universities in America sinking further every day into their own shit—the Washington University pro-Hamas students yelling “fuck Israel!” and “you guys are all fucking gays!”; Columbia students gathering to celebrate the massacre in Israel one day after a Jewish student was beaten with a stick outside the main library; the Cherry Hill East high school student who screamed his hatred to his Jewish fellow classmates in the hall; the antisemitic demonstrations at UCLA.  There was the Stanford professor who forced his Jewish students to identify themselves before grouping them in a corner so that they could feel “what the Palestinians feel,” the UC Davis associate professor who warned the “Zionists journalists” that they should “fear us” (whoever that “us” is) because “we can find their addresses and their children’s schools,” and who ended her post with hatchets and blood-drip emojis.  I was seeing “keep the world clean” signs decorated with a Star of David pushed into a garbage can, exhibited by pro-Palestinian supporters in Washington Square Park and Warsaw.  And, of course, I saw video of passersby everywhere tearing down posters of Jewish kids kidnapped by Hamas in the hope of making the victims disappear, even while their murderers were being publicly celebrated in the streets.  I was watching all of this from the viewpoint of a French Jew who for years has lived with the absolute conviction that if the shit really hit the fan in his own country, there would always be the U.S.  It made no sense.

Then I came upon a video taken right after Oct. 7 that I had previously missed.  It showed a professor at Cornell university named Russell Rickford, a Black Lives Matter supporter.  Standing under the rain, among the signs, in front of the demonstrators, Rickford was screaming into his microphone: “It was exhilarating!  It was exhilarating!  It was energizing!  I was exhilarated!”  The “it” was the pogrom.  Mentally, I immediately thanked Rickford for his unabashed honesty.  I knew exactly where I was now.

The whole planet had become France, and Mohamed Merah had returned.

Merah was the 23-year-old killer of Algerian descent raised and born in the city of Toulouse, France, who on March 19, 2012, entered the local Ozar Hatorah school with a Parabellum 9-millimeter and a .45 ACP and shot at close range one of the rabbis in the school along with his two sons, Gabriel, 3, and Aryeh, 6.  He then chased little Myriam, age 9, across the courtyard, grabbed her by her hair, put his weapon’s barrel against her head and pulled the trigger, before walking back quietly toward his scooter. Like the Hamas pogromists of Oct. 7 he had equipped himself with a GoPro camera so the slaughter could be filmed and widely seen.  Since social media was still relatively new, he sent his videos to the offices of Al Jazeera, where—Qatar being Qatar—the journalists waited for the emir’s orders to know whether they should air the images or not. Under pressure from the French government, the videos were not aired.

Merah’s murders changed everything in France—for the worse.  It also provided a sickening preview of how the massacre of Oct. 7 is likely to change the lives of Jews in other Western countries.

People in France rejected as outliers those who warned about the lack of assimilation by immigrants from Afroca (and in particulsr, the Africsn Mediteranian Litoral).  See for example the reaction to the Jean Raspail novel Camp of the Saints.  But, France has seen a number of events in which people have been murdered in the name of Islam.

That said, Muslims have settled peacefully into our nation and peacefully entered into our political life.  This is as it should be.  However, the plight of Palistinins has created sympathy here in the United States.  Sympathy without understanding or any long term solutions.  This is unhelpful.  It results in scape-goating Israel and Jews.  That is not only not helpful, but it is wrong.

The demands from Hamas are fairly unlimited.  See, for example. this interview with Hamas Spokesman Ghazi Hamad: "We Will Repeat The October 7 Attack, Time And Again, Until Israel Is Annihilated; We Are Victims – Everything We Do Is Justified."  The source is MEMRI. I realize I come to this issue from a specific position. but from this position I am appalled by the lack of insight regarding the issue, the lack of people thinking through the end state, and the rabid anti-Semtism.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff