Category: The Society

Posted on

Reclaiming Jerusalem One House At a Time: “Now is the Time to Buy”

Jerusalem, home to the Jewish nation for more than 2,000 years, is seeing a historic trend of Jews claiming ownership in its neighborhoods. We are all familiar with Jews living in the Jerusalem neighborhoods we normally visit. However, there are many brave Jews that take ownership of properties in dominantly Arab neighborhoods. They are taking the initiative to reclaim the land that rightfully belongs to them.

Buying property from Arabs is no easy task. According to the Palestinian Authority, selling land to a Jew is a crime, punishable by death. Hence, there is a conscious fear of selling land to Jews.

Ateret Cohanim, a non-profit organization located in Jerusalem, helps find and buy land from Arabs while protecting the Arabs from getting caught for their “crime.” Ateret Cohanim is responsible for the flourishing Jewish presence in the Muslim Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, the Village of Shiloach (Kfar Hateimanim) and Kidmat Zion (Abu Dis).

According to Jerusalem city councilman Aryeh King in an interview with Arutz Sheva, “more and more Arabs are offering properties for sale. Because of that the cost of properties that Arabs are selling is dropping and we are able to buy in areas that we never thought to buy.” It seems the Arabs are less hesitant to see to Jews nowadays. “There is a big wave of new Arabs who are offering properties, and we don’t have enough money to buy all of the properties that are being offered.”

When asked whether it is really possible to reclaim a majority of Jerusalem land, Ben Packer of the Jerusalem Heritage House replied, “We see this is true right now, but can’t know what will be in the future. Now is the time to buy!”

Posted on

Has Israel Asked for Too Much Aid from the USA?

Glenn Greenwald once again goes on another anti-Israel diatribe at the Intercept. His articlelaunches the typical vacuous attacks on Israel’s “occupation” of Judea and Samaria, where Arab Palestinians were encouraged to move to by foreign powers in order to block the Jewish return to their biblical heartland. He then meanders into the meme of Israel being  a wealthy country and circles back to the idea that ultimately Zionist Jews are just after money. All of this is tucked into the neat package of why everyone should oppose US foreign aid to Israel.

Let’s first establish that many Israelis, including this author are opposed to taking American aid.  We appreciate the gesture, but in fact are aware that it comes with far too many strings attached.  Despite what Glenn Greenwald posits in his article, the deal is essentially the same, where as Israel must spend much of its money on America weapons manufacturers as well as rules on how to use weapons and financing.  But this is not why many Israelis are against accepting foreign aid.  At its base foreign aid takes away a country’s ability to act within the confines of doing what’s best for it and its citizens.  In Israel’s case, Israel itself can likely live without the aid and if it does so it would be able to approach its own foreign policy in a neutral and patriotic sense.

So why does Israel accept the aid and if it is so displeasing to America, why does even Obama, Bibi’s erstwhile adversary freely give it?

One word: Control.

The Americans would love not to give Israel the kind of aid it does and although ideas like this have floated around for a while, American intelligence understands that a strong Israel not held back by American aid, could do what it pleases.  Israel could in fact do what it already has started to do and make deals and partnerships with rising powers. It could in fact leave the false two-state narrative behind and annex its biblically mandated land.  With India, China, and many other countries in the east rising, this control becomes very important for the American elite.  Israel is not the Ukraine. It has the largest amount of startups besides Silicon Valley and it boasts a unriveled innovation engine. Keeping Israel in the pocket of the American ruling class is a serious objective for both Republicans and Democrats.

So why does Israel continuously accept the aid if it can do much better on its own?  The answer comes down to money and connections.  There has always been a disturbing dichotomy between the globalist leaning elite in Israel and the typical citizen. The upper tier of the military still sees connections with the American security establishment as vitally important for a career post their military service.  They have good pensions and financial incentives to back US aid to Israel.  The Israeli populace sees very little of this money and instead receives conditions placed on the government’s maneuvarability.

What About Bibi’s Request for Even More Money

Glenn Greenwald points out what only seems like chutzpah on the part of Bibi Netanyahu in asking for even more money. The truth is, that Israeli intelligence provides a lot of unfettered access to Russian, Iranian, and Syrian movements in the Levant and Middle East.  America has by and large outsourced its intelligence gathering to Israel and in doing so, the terms of the agreement must change.  This is far more like a job than it is aid. America, doesn’t and at this point can’t afford to put boots on the ground and so Israel does it for them, giving valuable intelligence on enemy goings and comings that the US can’t get anywhere else.

Like usual Glenn Greenwald gives a half-baked position on an Israel centric issue.  Whether one agrees with US aid for Israel or not, the reasons for opposing it must be built on a solid factual foundation or else the argument risks slipping into old-fashioned antisemitism masked in anti-Zionist propaganda.

Posted on

Germans Rise Up: Angela Merkel Must Go

Angela Merkel

“Despite the great unease these events inspire, fear can’t be the guide for political decisions,” Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany said on Friday, in reference to the growing outcry  from German citizens regarding her immigration policy.  She has stuck to her belief that Germany should work to keep an open immigration policy and integrate the migrants streaming into her country.

stubbornness can be an asset in politics, but in Merkel’s case it very well may be her undoing. The chorus of voices have grown stronger over the weekend.  The first Merkel “Must Go” rally attracted 5,000 protestors with 1000’s more across the country. More important for Merkel is that a key ally the governor of Bavaria who defended her Willkommenskultur – welcoming culture – towards refugees has now come our against it.

With her citizenry turning against her, she sees her rule slipping away. The question remains, are Germans ready to throw Angela Merkel out and what will be next?

A new survey found that 83 percent of Germans now see immigration as Germany’s biggest challenge.  This is twice as many as a year ago.

Recent attacks have lent strength to the right-wing movement, which has long called for stricter immigration methods, specifically in Bavaria.  This is where Merkel has faced the heaviest criticism from high-profile politicians.

With Merkel’s deal with Turkey looking increasingly likely to fall apart, the last visages of support for an open immigration policy will fade as the Erdogan agreement was the only thing lending fuel to the idea that the immigration situation could be manageable.

Posted on

Bruce Mayrock and the Hebrew Roots of the Free Biafra Movement

Bruce Mayrock

When 20-year-old Bruce Mayrock set himself on fire in front of the UN Building on the 30th of May 1969 to protest the world’s silence in relation to the Biafran genocide, little did he know he would be the most publicized non-Igbo activist to be killed during the 3 year Biafran struggle for independence from Nigeria.  The struggle ended in loss. Millions of Biafrans, mostly Igbo were systematically killed at the hands of their enemies.   Women and children were raped, tortured, killed, and starved to death. Nigeria was aided by the British and the Americans through a blockade, which prevented needed supplies from reaching Biafra.

It is doubtful that Mayrock attached a Jewish connection between himself and the Biafran struggle. In those days the Hebrew roots of the Igbo were fairly unknown in the West.  Mayrock was doing as a Jew what he felt was right. But like all things there are some cosmic connection to Bruce Mayrock’s immolation.

We now know that before the British and other European countries colonised, enslaved, and missionized the West Coast of Africa, tribes like the Igbo had a plethora of Hebrew practices and still retain obviously Jewish practices. Many of these have surfaced in recent years: brit milah (circumcision), chupah (wedding canopy), ritual slaughter, separation of meat and milk, day of rest, and many more. Many practices were forcibly suppressed by European missionaries, with those same missionaries telling the Igbo that they were pagans.

The Biafra struggle has many facets to it.  One of the most fascinating is the struggle has awoken the ancient connection of the Igbo and many of the other smaller tribes around them to their connection the people of Israel.  The free Biafra movement is as much about spiritual and cultural freedom as it is about political independence.

Understanding for a moment that 60% of African-American have Igbo ancestry, it is not by accident that the power structure in America wanted to drive a wedge between the civil rights movment and the Jewish community.

As the awareness is spreading that the Igbo and Jews are actually long-lost brethren, both enslaved and abused by European and Arab cultures, the immolation of Bruce Mayrock takes on a far more powerful iconic symbol than ever. Understanding for a moment that 60% of African-American have Igbo ancestry, it is not by accident that the power structure in America wanted to drive a wedge between the civil rights movement and the Jewish community. These forces are essentially the same forces that have created separate narratives between the Igbos and Jews keeping the first from recovering the roots stolen from them and the latter from embracing their lost brothers and sisters. These lost brothers and sisters in America may just be some of the very same African-American neighbors Jews regarded as outside of the Hebrew National consciousness.

Bruce Mayrock maybe have killed himself, but his immolation revealed the deep despair that was occurring in his heart, witnessing another genocide of a Hebrew people, so shortly after the European Holocaust.  Freeing Biafra and the Igbo from their cultural, spiritual, and political occupation is a cause the Jewish world must take on themselves both as a rectification of the past and a need to restore a more complete Israelite and Jewish nation.

Posted on

The Elor Azaria Trial: “How can you explain to the mother whose son was killed because he didn’t shoot?”

Elor Azaria Trial

The Elor Azaria Trial drags on with the prosecution continuing its harsh cross examination of Elor Azaria. In one exchange even the judge piled on aiding what has become the left leaning military’s judicial branch in heaping scorn onto the young soldier.

The following exchange occurred in the afternoon testimony between the military court judge and Elor Azaria:

“If the terrorist is neutralized and doesn’t constitute danger there is no need to shoot him,” said Azaria. “Even forbidden to shoot him,” added the prosecutor. Azaria responded by emphasizing: “It is forbidden to shoot him if he doesn’t constitute a danger.”

“Based on the circumstances, if you have any reasonable suspicion that the terrorists has the means to carry out an attack, you don’t see it, but you know that you suspect it, then that is enough to neutralize him. Why? Because we are taught that if there is a suspicion then you don’t wait,” he said.

“Doesn’t this phrase not mean the opposite? That is to say, when there is a doubt you are not supposed to open fire in order to avoid mistakes,” the judge interupted seemingly going after Azaria’s understanding of the terminology.

“I understand from this sentence,” Azaria replied, “that when there is a doubt, a fear that a terrorist (could strike) you neutralize him.”

Asked whether—with the knowledge of hindsight that the terrorist did not have a bomb on his body—he would have shot him, Azaria said, “I think that I acted as I was supposed to.”

“With the suspicion that I had you don’t take the risk. He could blow himself up and you would feel guilty that you did nothing about it. How can you explain to the mother whose son was killed because he didn’t shoot because he only suspected.”

“If you had known at the time that he did not have an explosive under his clothes would you have shot him?”, he was asked to which he replied: “That is the whole point, ‘if.’ I don’t know. I had two concerns in mind, an explosive and a knife. If I had known that a check had been conducted I would not have shot him in the head.”

As the trial continues most observers outside the elite section of the military and certain government quarters recognize the government’s case is not only weak but wil have ramifications on soldiers performing in fluid combat situations. Even the new defense minister Avigdor Lieberman sensing the implications of such a conclusion has demonstrated support for Azaria.

Why is the Military Court So Obsessed With Convicting Elor Azaria?

The IDF Military Courts have become populated with left leaning officers and judges. Often times these judicial “experts” that have taken great pains to create military law that hinders soldiers.  Yet, the ultimate reason for the Azaria witch hunt is the negative PR the government felt the Betzelem Video of the incident created.  Former Defense Minister Yaalon, started the witch hunt by claiming Azaria was a “radical,” and equated him to ISIS.

The fact is that most soldiers are given tremendous leeway in fluid situations in order to ensure that the soldier does not second guess to the point where it will kill him.