Is there Anti-Semitism at all?

Mr. (sorry, Dr.) Isaac Barr <driheart@aol.com> wrote:

Below is the best Article about antisemitism that I read recently. MUST READ and THINK and forward to your rabbis.

Isaac Barr MD

https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/the-new-furies-of-the-oldest-hatred

I replied:

By engineering standards(*), there is no anti-Semitism in the world today.

I will explain:

If there are 100 molecules of gas in a cubic meter, then this is considered "vacuum" (complete emptiness); similarly, in the semiconductor industry, if one can achieve 10 dust grains in 1 cubic meter, then this would be considered "clean air".

On the same note, since around 95% of all "anti-Semitism" events turn out to be legitimate and just (in my view - I am expressing my opinion here) criticism of the policy of the Israeli government; and only 5% are true anti-Semitic incidents, then one can declare "anti-Semitism" practically non-existent, in the sense that it is not different than any other racist phenomenon, towards any other ethnicity. So we should call it another sad and unfortunate case of general Racism.

The incidents described in this essay, as recent examples of anti-Semitism (“two cars draped in Palestinian flags roared after an Orthodox man”  - oy-yo-yoi....) are 10 folds, 100 folds smaller than the atrocities, hate crimes, brutal attacks on Arabs in Israel committed by Jewish mobs - sometimes with the passive, or somewhat active, help of the Israeli police or the Israeli military. Hard to believe? - nobody wants to mess with Jewish terrorists, and their supporters in the Government - it's just not politically wise. You guys don't believe me? Come and stay here for a few days and you will see for yourselves.

(Just last week, the chief of Israeli police, Kobi Shabtai – a nomination of Netanyahu’s yes-man Amir Ohana, and thus not a wimp Liberal by any standard – was severely scolded by the same Ohana, for stating that there were terrorists on both sides… Truth has interesting ways to hatch up).

The term "Apartheid State" when referred to Israel is NOT an artifact of anti-Semitism; it is an accurate description of the situation in Israel: there is one law, one system of roads, one morality for Jews - and another system of laws, roads, budgets, etc., for Arabs. Check it out for yourselves.

Yes - your American weltanschauung, being part of your "animating ethic", demands from you to stop supporting the evil oppression of the Palestinians by the Israeli government, especially under a corrupt, crooked PM who "has no mandate to take critical decisions, while being prosecuted in court of law" - Netanyahu's own words, but referring to a previous PM Ehud Olmert (who was also indicted and imprisoned for corruption).

And contrary to the writer's demagogic statement - virtually nobody demands the demise of the State of Israel because its apartheid nature (yes, there will be a few, non-representative extremists - in the same way that you guys dismiss the Jewish terrorists); I have attended many anti-Israeli-government rallies, in Palestine and in the USA (not anti-Israel!), and never heard anyone demanding to cease the existence of Israel. Like it was done to South Africa, the goal of crying out "apartheid" is to end the apartheid regime, not the country itself. It was very successful over there, and it will eventually succeed in Israel-Palestine as well, Amen.

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(*) We must all live and behave by engineering standards, because this is what keeps our cell phones, computers, planes etc. going.

Cheers,

Avner E.

An open letter to Rep. Ilhan Omar, and my response

On Saturday, March 9, 2019, 1:11:11 AM GMT+2, Buddy Macy wrote:

Dear Congresswoman Omar,

As a member of both the House Foreign Affairs and Education & Labor Committees, you should be overjoyed by this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SfM-Q6fOlU!

And this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_qtHbcg9Vg!!

Sincerely,

Bernard Macy

My response:

Mr. Macy,

This is truly so wonderful, and heart warming, and touching.

Some Israeli people have been doing great things for the underprivileged.

I have been writing Wikipedia articles about such projects.

Here is one, still in a draft form:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Avneref/Haim_Teib

And another one (Sorry, only in Hebrew for the moment):

Oh, by the way - how is all this related to the brave and honest and truthful statements made by Rep. Ilhan Omar, about Israel's crimes against the Palestinians?

Listening to you guys on the Right, categorizing Rep. Omar's statements as "antisemitism", drove me to conclude that there is no real problem of antisemitism in the world today. Because 95% of all statements that you categorize as such, are 100% legitimate criticism of the Israeli government.

Cheers,

Avner E.

To the President of the United States of America, Mr. Barack Obama

Mr. President, Sir,

Towards your visit to Israel next week, please allow me to convey to you some thoughts which your hosts will not tell you.

But first, a brief background: On November 4, 2008, the historic day that you were elected President, I lived in the US, although I did not have the right to vote. I remember that day clearly, as one of the most exciting days of my life. I saw beautiful people, Black and White and Asian and Hispanic, tears in their eyes, saying that in their wildest dreams they had never imagined that they would live to see an African-American person elected for the highest office. They said that they didn’t support you because of the color of your skin, but because your words have filled them with hope and inspiration, and that those words were mobilizing them for action, to do what is good and just in this world. Only then I fully realized, what it really meant for a great leader to motivate and encourage people.

Ever since then, you sir, have provided me with many reasons to be content from your election: you managed to pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, rightfully known as the Obamacare act; With great effort, you have amended some of the economic destruction which had been left over by your predecessors, the Bush family and their gang; you have consistently supported the expansion of Civil Rights, the rights of minorities, same-sex marriage, ceasing the hypocrisy of the illegal interrogation at Guantanamo; you have acted courageously to reach out to the Muslim world and Muslim cultures, and more.

However, in one issue, which is particularly close to me being an Israeli citizen, you gave me some disappointment. By this I mean, the Israeli issue and in particular, the Zionist-Palestinian Conflict (wrongly known as “The Israeli-Palestinian” or the “Israeli-Arab” Conflict.

Mr. President,

All Israeli governments have always walked on the boundary between arrogant, vain conceitedness, and childish whining; between manic euphoria of Messianic Days, and the depression of pessimism and despair. This is a country whose citizens are demanding from their government a feeling of security, at the expense of security itself; who will not be satisfied with less than absolute personal security for every (Jewish) citizen (as if such perfect security exists in any country) – at the cost of security for all, including securing the future, welfare, health and education. A country whose residents stick their heads in holes in the ground, ignoring what is taking place within walking distances from their homes, and hopping from festivity sprees, as if tomorrow’s reality only existed in fairy tales. The Israeli public is a rare collection of brilliant talents, with wide islands of excellence, but at the same time it is a collective of straying individuals asking for decent leadership, a request left empty handed. Every community, be it comprised of the most gifted and well educated (such as, for example, university professors), needs leadership and inspiration; who else knows this better than you, sir, who provided such inspiration to one of the biggest communities on this planet, at times of hardship.

The Jewish people have always been blessed with extraordinary skills and talents in all walks of life – save the realm of State leadership (Jews have excelled in positions of consulting and managing key functions such as finances and administration in great empires throughout history – but only as seconds to the country leaders). The political discourse in Israel involves an odd and impossible mixture of power-addiction and arrogance, with existential anxiety from every hiss of the wind. We keep telling you the Americans, over and over again: We do not need your help, as we are strong and self-sustained; but dare you not make the tiniest cut in your aide to us, or we will get back to you come election day, through the powerful Jewish network (which we shall call Anti-Semite to whoever even dare to suggest that it exists!) We do not need your favors, just leave us alone – but please don’t abandon us to the mercy of the Security Council.

I understand your concern, you being the U.S. government, from putting too much pressure on Israel. You "need the Jewish Vote", You are afraid that the Israeli public should unite against any kind of outside pressure, and you do not want to get in return the “Unintended consequence”. So I must tell you, the honored President of the United States: Have no fear! You no longer need the “Jewish Voice" (if such a thing really exists – than the anti-Semitists are correct!) in order to be re-elected; on the other hand, this vote shall be yours forever, anyway, should you reach out to the State of Israel, and help her escape this injurious situation and return to the original Jewish values. The vast majority of the Jewish public, both in your country and in ours, is far from extremism, it does not support the settlements project from ideological reasons, and a great majority of us have already come to realize that the Occupation is corrupting us. Many of us feel disdain for our petty, crooked and hedonistic politicians. The Israeli public, by enlarge, is in a state of stagnated despair of the situation, and I think I can prove this: the majority of the public supports the well-known compromise with the Palestinians, and yet – it also supports the bloc of parties which makes sure that this compromise shall never materialize! How is this possible? – In my view, this is a typical syndrome of despair and fear: we generally don’t support the Right wing ideology, but yet we unite behind it, due to the lack of any foreseen alternative. This is due to what the Right does best – the art of Fear, and the illusion of Power. The Israeli public feels the lack of leadership, and only because of this it prefers the known and the comfortable. Most Israelis today are motivated by a sense of survival, and by short-term calculations. If only there was a man or a woman who came even close to you sir, to give them a bit of inspiration, vision, some hope for the future – they would rise to the challenge, and follow that leader through shine or rain.

This nation has no problem dealing with the difficulties and suffering – if they come with the hope of a better future. Nietzsche said: “(S)he who has a Why to live for, can bear almost any How.”

If only the public knew, with its utilitarian senses, the price of refusal, deadlock, and stubborn stupidity (you know what I mean) – they would kick their outdated leaders out into history’s trash cans. Most of the Israeli public – including parts of the Right, even some ultra-Orthodox, and certainly the Arabs – have no interest whatsoever in the continuous suffering for the caprices and Messianic fanaticism of the current government.

There will always be extremists and fanatics, who in their arrogance believe that the voice of God speaks from their mouths; for whom, matters of national considerations are seen as nonsense. But they are a minority in my country, thank God. And the majority will be able to defeat them, even if it will take force, God forbid (but I believe it will be required, unfortunately). Even in your country, there has been a terrible civil war, which ended in a triumph of justice and equality. Well, not so much, but much better than before the war.

So I, as an Israeli who loves this Land (not so much the State), and who is worried about the future of this state; as a father of two young men serving in the Settlements Defense Forces (better known as the IDF), and as a former American who felt the spirit of history on the day you, sir, were elected President – I ask you: Please, next time that a proposed resolution to condemn the State of Israel is brought to the UN Security Council – please DO NOT VETO IT! Please vote for the condemnation, for sanity, for the historical reconciliation and against this selfish, sectorial and criminal government. Next time that the American public demands from you to cut the foreign aid budget, because they are fed up with funding lunatic regimes, while the US has a 16 trillion dollars debt – thou shalt not be afraid! Please cut the aid to Israel, an aid which allows its government to continue to fund the evil settlements project, which is unjust and illegal (even in the view of the Israeli law!), an aid which funds a minority in my country, living at the expense of the Israeli public and US tax payers, does not produce anything valuable, working in administrative work, and with its Chutzpah argues that it is the “real essence of Israel.” Such acts on your side will surely be answered by hysteric criticism from loud minorities, but also by the vast support of the sane majority, in Israel as well as in the American Jewry. Easy it shall not be, but I am confident that you, as a true leader, who sees the well-being of his country as his primary goal, rather than his own survival in power, shall work this through. Go in this way and be blessed! God that you and I believe shall be on your side, Amen.

God bless you, God bless America, and those who are in favor of the Audacity of Hope.

The Oslo Accord, Settlements, and anti-Semitism

Dear readers,

Here is another interesting correspondence that I had with Mr. Shamrak:

Me: "Check out the recent increase in anti-Semitism (the real one), it's all because of the occupation."

Shamrak: "The sharp rise of anti-Semitism began immediately after the Oslo agreement!"

First, that's another "inaccuracy" of yours (this is in order not to say the L word).

Check the chart below:

The chart above was taken from the Anti-Defamation League web site: www.adl.org , which you should consider a reliable source. I met with their Director, Mr. Abe Foxman. This is by no means a Leftist organization.

The chart clearly shows a decline in anti-semitist events, following the year 1993 (when the Oslo process began). There is, however, a clear rise after the year 2000, the year that the negotiations failed, and the Second Intifada started, during which the Israeli military killed hundreds of innocent Palestinians.

So, with all my resentment to anti-semitism, like any other form of racism - I can't blame them for being antisemitic.

Not only did the occupation not subside, but on the contrary - since 1993 the number of Jewish settlers has grown by 150%, as of 2008! That's 2.5 times over:

(source: Israel Bureau of Statistics).

In addition, it's interesting to look at the correlation between Anti-Semitic incidents, and the number of victims of Israeli terror, among Palestinians.

After 1993, there has been a steady decline in casualties; which fits well the trend of anti-semitist events. But then, after 2000, the number of dead Palestinians has sharply increased again. Here are the data:

Between 1987 (first Intifada) and 1993, 1,100 Palestinians were killed by the IDF, and another 62 by Israeli civilians. Among those, 241 and 13, respectively, were minors under 17. That's an average of 157 and 9 killed per year, respectively. Clearly, many if not most of the dead were innocent people.

After 1993 and on to 2000, however, the number dropped to 39 per year (a reduction of 75%). Notice, however, that the Israeli civilians (most of them settlers) who killed Palestinians, were not so impressed by the Oslo accord, and their average per year remained at around 7.

Then, between 2001 and 2008, a staggering number of 4,791 Palestinians were killed by the IDF, that's 532 per year.

No wonder that the Palestinians hated us more than the usual, before 1993 and after 2000.

check out also this:

www.ifamericansknew.org

regards,

Avner

An answer to Steven Shamrak, vol. 1

Dear readers,

Below is a response to an article I received by email, from Mr. Steven Shamrak.

Mr. Shamrak is a very knowledgeable individual, who runs a very patriotic "pro-Israeli" web site (from Australia), called "Shamrak's report" (http://www.shamrak.com/ .

If you read further, you will figure out for yourselves why I put "pro-Israeli" in big quotes.

I embedded my humble response to his claims, marked with yellow highlighting. I hope that you find this interesting, maybe even entertaining.

Why is Israel Suspicious of United Nations?

1. Before 1990, Security Council passed 175 resolutions, 97 were directed against Israel (It is 55% of all resolutions).

2. Before 1990, UN General Assembly voted on 690 resolutions, 429 were directed against Israel (It is 62% of all resolutions).

Where did you take those numbers from?

regardless, I agree that the UN is biased against Israel.

That doesn't mean, from a logical point of view, that Israel is innocent.

3. The UN was silent when Jordanians destroyed 58 Synagogues in Jerusalem.

4. The UN was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

5. The UN was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

6. The UN was silent while for 18 months Israel was terrorized by indiscriminate suicide bombing campaign unleashed by PA leadership.

7. There are 60 Muslims countries in the UN. As well as many more are others Arab oil dependant states.

This is is like saying that over 100 Christian countries should take care of refugees from Ruanda (they are Catholic).

8. Israel is the ONLY MEMBER OF THE UN THAT IS NOT PERMITTED MEMBERSHIP ON THE SECURITY COUNCIL.

That is not true. you must be meaning that Israel WAS the only country not belonging to any geographical group from which members are selected. But since 2000 Israel is a temporary member of Western Europe.

9. Israel is the only country excluded from the U.N.'s regional group system… Since Israel does not belong to any group, it is the only country of 190 member states that is not eligible to serve on the numerous U.N. commissions…

See 8. above.

10. In recent years, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights has annually passed five resolutions condemning Israel. This year, they passed seven. By contrast, each of the following countries/regions has been the subject of only one resolution: Afghanistan, Burundi, Congo, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Russia/Chechnya, Sierra Leone, Southeast Europe and Sudan…

11. Nov. 29 is the United Nations Day of International Solidarity with the Palestinian People. No other people has a U.N. Day of Solidarity…

12. Israel is the only state to which a special investigator with "an open-ended mandate to inspect its human rights record" is assigned by the U.N.

13. It is the only state targeted by two special committees and special units of the U.N. Secretariat ostensibly devoted to the Palestinians but in reality dedicated to Israel-bashing worldwide, costing millions of dollars a year.

14. UNIFIL, the U.N. force stationed on the Israel-Lebanon border, hid a videotape of Israeli soldiers being abducted by Hezbollah in October 2000. After finally admitting to having the tape, the U.N. would only show an edited version (in which Hezbollah faces were hidden) to the Israeli government.

15. UNESCO, in Paris, began passing resolutions about protection of Jerusalem holy sites and access for Muslims in 1968. No resolutions about protection or Jewish access were passed from 1946 to 1967 when Jordan controlled Jerusalem and barred Jews from entering…

It is Time to "Leave Egypt"

by Steven Shamrak - August 31, 2002

It is Time to "Leave Egypt". I respect people who do not know and do not care about Arab-Israel conflict. They are honest enough to admit that paying bills and raising children is more important for them. At the same time, there is a danger when someone forms opinions under the influence of selectively presented information, provided by generally bias toward Israel in the press. People become attached to the belief system they have adopted and it is difficult to change it. I would like to tell them following:

1. Israel is on a front line of the war between Arab-Muslim expansionism and Western democracy. This war has already shifted to America and Europe.

2. According to UN own legal opinion: Judea, Samaria and Gaza does not belong to any country at the moment. Therefore, it is wrong to call them ‘Occupied territories’. They used to be a part of Jewish land. There was never Arab country in the Palestine.

Irrelevant.

3. So-called Palestinians are Arabs who moved to the territories during the last 130 year, after the Jews started re-vitalizing the land.

Irrelevant.

4. Arabs have no intention to live in peace with Jews.

This is racism.

5. Arabs respect charisma and strong leadership. It is the time for Israel and her government to show it and stop terror.

This is even worse racism.

6. Enemies and so-called friends have never treated Jewish people as equal. They will never support Israel unconditionally, They do not respect facts where Israel is concern (remember so-called Jenin massacre).

No one should support nobody "unconditionally". In fact, this is the biggest sin of American Jewery, for which many of them feel deep regrets, facing the acts of the Israeli governement.

7. After 54 years of wars and terror, it is time to “leave Egypt”, become an Independent nation, equal among equals. It is time to regain self-respect. No more double standards!

8. Israel was created to fulfill 2000 years old national inspiration of Jewish people. The time is Now!

Goal and Strategy of Islam.

by Steven Shamrak

September 11 and Bali bombing, unfortunately, did not bring the understanding of politics of Islam to the Western homes. Only after Madrid bombing population of the Western countries is coming out of the lethargic sleep. Too much attention was given to Arab-Israel conflict during the last 50 years. Too much responsibility for global terror committed by Muslim terrorists is blamed on Israel. Information about the real source of the conflict is still being concealed from the public.

According to Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens, Islam has a simple and direct four-point plan for establishing eventual world dominance. All steps are being implemented simultaneously:

1. Totally destroy and eliminate Israel as a country.

2. Defeat or neutralize the power of the United States by terrorism and world opinion. Destroy their will to stand-alone.

3. Bring all Muslim Nations into an Islamic Theocracy such as Iran.

4. Infiltrate all major European Countries, Canada, US and Australia with Islamic immigrants.

Moshe Arens is an aeronautic engineer. his knowledge about Islam is no better than anybody else's (but I still respect his views, he is one of very few honest persons in Israel's Right wing).

World domination of Islam is the Goal. It is time to realize it. The war is global. It had started when Mohamed began spreading “the true religion” around the world, some thirteen hundred year ago. It is the war for survival of Western civilization and Israel is just caught in the middle of the fight between two giant religious ideologies.

For hundreds of years, in the "middle ages", Islam was the culture of enlightenment, science and humanity, while Christianity, especially Catholicism, represented the worst type human persecution and cruelty.

today things have turned around to some extent (Christinan countries such as the US are still involved in large scale terrorism), but this has nothing to do with Religion.

In response to "Anti-semitism Now," an article by Irit Linoor

Irit Linoor, a very articulate and ex-Leftist Israeli journalist and a public figure, published this in Ynet:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3212503,00.html

Here is the Hebrew version:
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3211771,00.html

I don't agree with Linoor, although she makes very good points. I didn't think about some of the points she raised (the suits being inspired by Tarantino, or "the last supper"), but they are very good points.
But the main theme of her article is wrong, I think. What difference does it make if it's a Palestinian movie or not? Is a Palestinian who lives in Holland any less Palestinian than we are Israelis?
The suicide bombers are criminals, but not Nazis. The movie is not anti-semitist, it's a great movie about the tragedy of the occupation. Linoor has decided long ago that there is no partner, and this is her right. But I don't agree that you can't sympathies with terrorists. I can sympathize with Dan Halutz or GW Bush... who are far worse than any Hamas terrorist.
But I admit that I cannot compete with her expressions skills.