Biafra, Israel, and the Hypocricy of the West

Reports continue to race in about scores of wounded and dead Biafrans. With the violence initiated by gangs backed by the Nigerian government, one tries to grapple with the sheer trantsparent morality of both the White House and the State Department. Obama’s foreign policy has always been an enigma and yet the Biafra is the most baffling of all. The American government continues to back a divisive Islamist over the law abiding people in Biafra.  Yet it should not come as a surprise to those that have watched the US government’s treatment of Israel that, America relishes in playing both sides against one another.  After all conflict is good for business, America’s arms business.

In the case of Biafra, which is home to a growing Jewish population as well as a Hebraic form of Christianity, the pretenses of balancing the conflict have gone completely out the window. The question is not is Biafra different, but why is it being treated different?

 

Echoes of the Slave Trade

Within Biafra, the Igbo are the most populous.  They also happened to have made up the majority of the slave population ripped from West Africa and transferred to the Americas.  The presence and perseverance of the Igbo in a similar fashion to the Jewish Nation is a reminder of just how eternal spirit and hope are.  The West hates to be reminded of its hypocrisy.  Biafra is a constant reminder that in truth the West stands for little.  

The pronouncements of rights and freedoms are just that, clever talking points given to stake the moral high ground while painting others as deficient in the realm of ethics. Yet one must be blind not to see the ridiculousness of it all. The West was the largest perpetrator of the destruction of the African continent, including Israel which rests on its North Eastern tip than any other group of Nations.  Starting with the crushing of the Judean Revolt all the way to destructive policies of post colonial Africa, the West has wiped out whole cultures and memories causing everlasting trauma.

Biafra reminds us who the real enemy is.  The Hausa to the North, much like the Arabs that surround Israel are pawns, enabled by those Arabist bureaucrats at the State Department as well as the neo-colonial policies of Europe. Biafra and more specifically, the Igbo reveals how hollow Obama’s and the Lefts pseudo empathy of African suffering really is. By picking Islam over traditional indigenous cultures,  they have shredded Pan Africanism the same way they have called into question Israel’s very connection to its Land.

Biafra, more than anything exposes the lie that Obama and the West actually care.  They don’t, unless it is about money.

The parallel struggles of Biafra and Israel are a reminder that good people need to stand up. Yet, the situation is also a wake up call to Israel, that now is the time to become the leader it is destined to and take a central role in protecting and freeing Biafra. Doing so will send a message to the World, that morality is something worth fighting for.

Mark Toner: “The most right-wing coalition…”

Lat week, the USA State Department weighed in on the shake up in Israel’s cabinet.

“We have also seen reports from Israel describing it as the most right-wing coalition in Israel’s history,” Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, said. “This raises legitimate questions about the direction it may be headed in.”

The State Department was referring to Bibi Netanyahu’s inclusion of right wing nationalist party Israel Our Home into the government coalition.  The move saw the Prime Minister replace Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon with Russian Firebrand Avigdor Lieberman as Defense Minister.

The real question though, is given the massive shift in the last elections to the right in Israel, the American government should take a step back before meddling in Israeli internal politics as they often do.

During the last Israeli elections the left wing saw a massive influx of cash through backdoor avenues from the State Department.  In most countries that would be a crime. As Israel and America increasingly find themselves moving farther apart, Israel has staked out new partners in the emerging economies of Asia and Africa.  With antagonism from Foggy Bottom only increasing, one should expect this trend to continue.

 

Are American Jews Being Denied US Citizenship?

 

There is a pending court case set to break open systemic anti-semitism in the Department of State.  Typical US Citizenship policy enshrined in law makes it clear that children born to two US citizens abroad automatically become citizens of the United States themselves.  Section 301 (c ) of the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act) states that a child born to at least one United States Citizen are automatically citizens no matter where they are born in the world. The only stipulation is that at least one of the parents has ever resided the United States. No specific period of time for such prior residence is required.

A US policy shift starting 2007 ignores the law and has created a nightmare for Americans living outside the USA. With 85,000 US citizens in Israel, the policy change seems almost entirely directed at them. The policy, which is in conflict with the actual law, states that at least one parent must have been a permanent resident of the USA.

In 2011 the State Department actually revoked the citizenship of two children due to this policy and has since denied many more. After an appeal, a legal adviser to the Jerusalem consulate stated that in fact the children should be eligible for citizenship. Despite this the State Department overrode his opinion.

If the precedent is not changed, an incalculable amount of American Jews will be deprived their right to Citizenship at birth.

“For almost 10 years there has been an unconstitutional policy depriving American children of their citizenship. Although the law states a child born to 2 American citizens is automatically receives Citizenship at birth, countless children are being prevented, and some have even had their Citizenship revoked, their natural born rights,” Michele Wolgel, litigator for the case said. “This unlawful deprivation is specifically impacting American Jews born and living in Israel. If the precedent is not changed, an incalculable amount of American Jews will be deprived their right to Citizenship at birth.”

Is This Policy Really Directed at American Jews Living Abroad?

Although the policy remains agnostic in tone, most consulates abroad stick to the letter of the law, which seems to indicate that a day visit to the United States is sufficient for residency.  This is backed up by procedure, enshrined in American Citizenship policy for all embassies and consulates. Section 1133.3-1 of the U.S. Foreign Affairs Manual, which specifies that “No specific period of residence is required” in such a case.

In Israel, the American Jewish expat community is growing and highly influential. They also happen to be no friend of the State Department’s policy on Israel.  It does not take much to connect the dots on using a leftover policy from the Bush Administration to force a change in the relationship between American Jews and their new residence in Israel.

Why Has Israel Waited So Long to Crush The Palestinian War?

With this morning’s attack at the entrance to Kiryat Arba, the current Intifada continues to creep from knives to guns. In the last few attacks in Jerusalem and now back in Kiryat Arba, Palestinian Arabs have used serious weapons to attack.

These attacks have flipped what appeared to be “random acts of violence” to an armed uprising.  The question isn’t where we are, which has become clear to most people in Israel, but how are we going to deal with it?  

Incitement and Geopolitical Considerations have Slowed Israel’s Reaction

In order to answer that question, it is important to understand that most of what we are witnessing could have been avoided. The government has gone out of its way to try to politicize the attacks instead of crushing them from the beginning.  We can see this most clearly in the ongoing finger pointing at the Palestinian Authority’s use of religious and racial incitement against the Jewish  people.  Yet one has to wonder where the government has been up until this year.  We all know both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, headed up by lifetime President Abbas, utilize children’s TV and radio to brainwash their populace.  In fact this has been going on for sometime. Another thing the government has been aware of is the Palestinian illegal arms build up in much of Judea and Samaria.  

By allowing this Intifada to simmer behind the point of a knife, the government has fed the notion to the Leaders of Fatah and Hamas that guns and bombs could in fact be used.  If the government had crushed the knife attacks in the beginning by going after the leaders’ livelihood and in fact their lives, the Arab street in Judea and Samaria would have gotten it. However, that would have required Bibi Netanyahu and Bogie Yaalon to treat this as a war.  They have not been ready to do that yet.  Understandably, their hands are tied into a larger geopolitical maneuver and declaring war on the Palestinian Authority would derail in their minds from dealing with Iran, while fending off a hostile White House and State Department.

Given the balance that needs to be struck between geopolitics and a homegrown war within Israel by Arabs who migrated to the Land within the last 150 years, a new approach must be undertaken to withstand the growing violence in Israel.

Implosion of the Palestinian Authority will Bring About a Paradigm Shift

Hints to a new course of action and trajectory by the government has been bubbling up into the media over the last few months. It is no secret that the PA is in the midst of an internal crisis.  Most Arabs and others dwelling within the Palestinian Authority areas have grown to hate the leadership as both ineffectual as well as corrupt.  Violent Palestinian Authority cops and officials use their power to steal public funds and shake down opponents.  With the above facts, the Israeli government seems to be inching towards allowing the Palestinian Authority to collapse on its own in a staged manner.  After the collapse local forces from within the various clans that make up the multi faceted Palestinian society can rebuild their relationship with Israel in the proper way.

In that approach, Israel will increasingly move towards a one state solution in a phased manner, all the while ensuring violent elements are removed and reinforcing local leaders.  

Crushing the Terror Groups Should Begin Now

Considering the fact that the PA is ineffectual as well as in a free fall, the Israeli government should make it clear that there is no longer any tolerance for any sort of attack.  By beginning now it can set the stage for lessening a chance  for a complete explosion when the Palestinian Authority’s collapse enters its final phase.

Geopolitics aside, the government in Israel must not only prepare for the day after a Palestinian Authority collapse by speaking about it, but it must be proactive ensuring the violence we have witnessed not only does not increase towards anarchy, but firmly puts it back in its place.