Saturday, November 23, 2024
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The Unknown Role of the German Government in Nurturing a Mein Kampf Curriculum

By
David Bedein
-

Thanks to the quiet freeze on American funds to UNRWA*, Germany, which presents itself as a democratic power, is now the leading donor state of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which services descendants of Palestinian refugees of the 1948 war
* https://israelbehindthenews.com/2023/04/21/financial-crisis-in-unrwa-why/of

58% of the current UNRWA budget is allocated to schools which indoctrinate Arab children to make war on Jews.

Please see our new movie UNRWA at War * https://israelbehindthenews.com/2023/04/21/financial-crisis-in-unrwa-why/ and our new study of the active role of UNRWA in the current war https://israelbehindthenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/p14-17.pdf

A recent tabulation of donations from UNRWA donor nations can be found here:

https://www.unrwa.org/how-you-can-help/government-partners/funding-trends

As such, Germany shoulders a responsibility to assure the people of Germany and the Jewish people that their money is not channeled in a non-peaceful direction. Yet, leading German government-funded foundations aid UNRWA with no conditions. https://israelbehindthenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/German-Legacy-Under-Chancellor-Merkel.pdf

A straightforward way to accomplish the above is to check what the textbooks issued by the Palestinian Authority and used in UNRWA schools, say about the Israeli/Jewish “other” and about the issue of peace with that “other”.

More than 1,000 UNRWA texts have now been examined by three journalists with PhDs in Islamic Studies.

https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/app/uploads/2024/05/E_114_24.pdf

It is imperative that an effort be made to provide this information in the German language.

Schoolbooks are the most revealing source of information regarding the values and aspirations a society seeks to instill in its youth.

Following a protracted state of war, these texts serve as a reliable indicator of the existence, or non-existence, of peace education.

The Oslo Accord signed by the State of Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993 opened a new phase in the Middle East in which both parties were supposed to advance towards a peaceful solution of that war.

In 1994, the Palestinian Authority (PA) was established by the PLO to rule the West Bank and the Gaza Strip which, until then, were fully administered by Israel.

The PA assumed most governmental powers in those areas, including education. In 2000, it started issuing its own schoolbooks in a process that lasted until 2006. A newer set of PA schoolbooks was published between the years 2016-2018.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for the 1948 Palestinian refugees and their descendants, which has been operating in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza (as well as in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon) since 1950, use the PA books in its schools. UNRWA, as a UN agency, is bound by the UN-endorsed principle of resolving all conflicts peacefully, as well as by UNESCO principles of peace education As a UN agency, all UN agencies should treat all member states equally, including the State of Israel.

It is imperative for decision-makers in Germany to know whether the PA textbooks used in UNRWA schools (as well as in all other schools in Jerusalem, judea, Samaraa and Gaza) advocate peace — or, instead, call for an armed struggle –, recognize the existence of Israel as a sovereign state in the region and the presence of its seven million Jews in the country as well as their holy places there, treat Jewish/Israeli individuals as they would other human beings, renounce terrorist activity against civilians, employ self-criticism in this regard, and so on.

It is incumbent upon Germany, more than any other nation, to exercise extreme care while dealing with issues closely connected to the wellbeing of the citizens of the Jewish State.

NOW PREPARING A PROPOSAL TO UNCOVER THE UNKNOWN ROLE OF THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT IN NURTURING AN UNPRECEDENTED PALESTINIAN MEIN KAMPF CURRICULUM.

The fate of the two state solution following the US elections

By
David Bedein
-

The idea of a  two state solution  will no doubt be high on the agenda of the new US administration, following Saudi demands for a Palestinian state as a condition for an  upgrade in Saudi relations with Israel.

Here are ten dilemmas posed by a Palestinian  State which are  too often swept under the rug, followed by 10 questions which  Middle East policy makers too often forget to ask.

  1. Encirclement: Would a proposed state of Palestine not swallow up Jordan, most of whose population is Palestinian, leaving Israel with a hostile state from the Iraqi border to the Mediterranean Sea, with a corridor across the Negev between Gaza to Hebron? 
  2. Israeli Arabs: Would the Arabs of the Galilee and the Negev not sue to join the Palestinian Arab state and then demand the fulfillment of U.N. Resolution 181 – an Israeli withdrawal to the 1947 borders (evacuation of Nahariya, Acre, Nazareth, Jaffa, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat and Beer Sheva)? 
  3. .Terror: Would a new Palestinian Arab entity disband terrorist organizations? We asked this question before the Oslo process imported the PLO​ in 1993, which has never renounced terrorism or violence as a ans to liberate all of Palestine. 
  4. Armament: Why would there be any expectation that a sovereign Palestine be demilitarized, since all nation states maintain an armed force as an integral aspect of their new nation? 
  5. Refugees: How would Israel deal with expectations of the Arab countries and UNRWA residents who continue to demand that Israel must absorb descendants of Arab refugees and thereby displace thousands of Israelis from places like Haifa, Tfzat and Jaffa and 80 kibbutzim which rest on the property of Arab villages where Arabs left in 1948? 
  6. Air space: Would the Israeli Air Force be forbidden from flying over a new Palestinian Arabstate? 
  7. Alliances: What would prevent a Palestinian state from concluding military agreements with countries still at war with Israel?
  8. Water: Would a sovereign Palestine not carry out pirate drilling, and threaten the mountain aquifer of Judea and Samaria?
  9. Jewish sovereignty: Would the momentum for a Palestinian Arab state not erase the momentum of the right of the Jews to the Land of Israel in international consciousness?
  10. Loss of independence: Would Israel not become a subject to the sponsors of a Palestinian Arab state – today, known as the Quartet – the U.S., the EU, the U.N. and Russia?

​All this leads to questions which  Middle East policy makers ​should therefore  ask about a  Palestinian state

  1. Will you ask the Palestinians to recognize the ​Jewish state of Israel? 
  2. Will you demand that  the Palestinians finally ratify the “Declaration of Principles for Peace” signed at the White House in 1993? 
  3. Will you demand that the Palestinians cancel the PLO charter from 1964  that calls  for the extermination of the Jewish State? 
  4. Will you demand that the Palestinians cancel their unprecedented law from 2015 which assures a salary for life for anyone who murders a Jew?
  5. Will you demand cancellation of the new PA and UNRWA school curriculum, based on Jihad, martyrdom and “right of return by force of arms”?
  6. Will you demand the removal of weapons from PA and UNRWA schools?
  7. Will you insist that UNRWA dismiss employees affiliated with Hamas, Islamic Jihad or Fatah terror organizations?
  8. Will  you introduce UNHCR standards to advance resettlement of fourth- and fifth-generation refugees from the 1948 war who have spent seven decades relegated to refugee status? Current UNRWA policy is that any Arab refugee resettlement would interfere with a purported “right of return” to pre-1948 Arab localities.
  9. Will you demand an audit of donor funds that emanate from 68 nations for the PA and UNRWA, with little transparency?
  10. Given the active participation of the Palestine Security Force (PSF) in the current war, will you demand that the US cease its support of the PSF?

Partisan organisations such as United Nations Relief and Works Agency are an obstacle to peace

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Would you find it conceivable that an entire UN agency was created to perpetuate a conflict rather than solve it? Would it sound reasonable to you that a UN agency would knowingly pay salaries to terrorists? Would you agree to donate money to an organisation whose teachers educate to kill and abduct people and whose employees are recorded abducting innocent people? Does it sound reasonable that the intelligence branch of a terrorist organisation is embedded under a UN facility that feeds it with electricity and communications? That terrorists use UN institutions like schools and hospitals? That terrorists steal humanitarian assistance and use it to extort and control the population?

The answer to these questions is pretty clear to any reasonable person. However, believe it or not, this is the reality in West Asia with an organisation called the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). While Israel successfully absorbed 800 thousand Jewish refugees from the Arab world who were never compensated by anyone for the property left behind nor the loss of their livelihoods, 700 thousand Arabs who had to flee following the attempt of seven Arab armies to destroy the newly established Israel in 1948 received a completely different treatment. UNRWA was formed to perpetuate their status as “refugees” and never allow them to normalise their lives unless they manage to reverse the results of 1948.

That’s exactly what UNRWA is doing. With tens of billions of dollars so far in financing, it educates millions of Palestinian descendants that they shouldn’t rebuild their lives in the places they reside. Many of them were denied citizenship in the places they live in and where their children were born, like in Lebanon, for example, where they are denied not only citizenship but also banned from owning land or from practising certain professions. And even in those places where citizenship was granted to them, like in Jordan, they are still illegally entitled to refugee status which contradicts UNHCR rules. Instead of helping people to settle in, it educates them to go back to the places their ancestors had to leave four generations ago.

Unfortunately, UNRWA has been “successful” in fulfilling its mandate to the extent that millions of graduates from its schools have been taught to object to Israel’s existence for the last 76 years. Many of them became active members of terrorist organisations. No institution has been doing that “better” than the UNRWA schools in Gaza, where Hamas took over in 2007, where the teachers’ union is controlled by Hamas and many of its teachers are leaders in the Hamas terrorist organisation. Or, in Lebanon, where the leader of Hamas was in charge of educating 39,000 children, and the UN refused to fire him. Israel has presented multiple evidence to the UN on many occasions. Most of it was completely ignored.

Yesterday the overwhelming majority of the Israeli parliament said: Enough is enough. Israel will no longer cooperate with UNRWA. The legislation gives the government 90 days to make necessary arrangements to ensure humanitarian assistance to needy Palestinians — cynically used as pawns to advance political goals — are extended through other UN agencies and NGOs. Israel will continue to facilitate international assistance to this Palestinian population. We will continue to abide by international law. But we will not agree to continue to cooperate with UNRWA, a corrupt organisation that is completely compromised by terrorist organisations like Hamas. Their sole reason for existence is to eradicate the State of Israel. Israel calls all parties interested in de-escalating the conflict in the West Asian region to dissociate themselves from UNRWA in order to advance and secure peace and stability in our region.

The writer is Israel’s Ambassador to India

Lies, Truth, and the Moral Compass of Holocaust Education

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Reflecting on my time as a tour guide at the burnt vehicles compound, where remnants of cars destroyed on October 7th stand as stark reminders of recent horrors, I witnessed firsthand how the truth is often obscured by lies. Recently, while reviewing a list of scheduled groups, I noticed one titled “Denial of Nova.” My stomach turned. Were they coming to listen or to argue? Would I encounter open minds or hostility? Ultimately, they did not arrive — after an earlier meeting with a survivor, where they allegedly accused him of lying, their visit was canceled. This experience reminded me of how crucial it is to stand up for the truth, especially in an era when lies can be accepted with alarming ease.

Adi Rabinowitz Bedein speaks at the burnt vehicles compound in southern Israel, containing remnants of cars destroyed on October 7th.

We live in a challenging age for truth. As Holocaust educators, we face a mission that extends beyond conveying historical facts — we are engaged in a struggle against a postmodern relativism that argues that “truth” is flexible. Recently, I met a Jewish woman at a protest where I spoke in Vancouver. She perceived the slogan “From the river to the sea” as their “story,” revealing a troubling shift — lies, when unchecked, can become legitimate as “alternative truths.”

This protest was part of a broader journey I’m undertaking with my family, “Agents of Hope,” where we are traveling independently for a year throughout North and Central America, engaging with Jewish and Christian communities. Everywhere I go, I bring the story of October 7th through the lens of a Holocaust educator, sharing the urgency of combating misinformation and fostering a true understanding of tragedies, both past and present.

Adi Rabinowitz Bedein speaks at a rally in Vancouver, Canada.

This is what makes the position of institutions like the Lemkin Institute — named after Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term “genocide” — so troubling. The institute condemned Israel for supposedly committing “genocide in Gaza,” a statement that betrays Lemkin’s legacy. Lemkin, a Jewish scholar who lost his family in the Holocaust, created the term to highlight the genocide inflicted upon Jews and others by Nazi Germany.

Yet today, this term is distorted to support narratives that overlook the clear intentions of Hamas towards the Jewish people — a group that has repeatedly expressed its desire to annihilate the Jewish population. October 7th was a clear manifestation of this chilling intent, and the indoctrination of Palestinian children toward these goals is a fact, not just a perspective. When institutions designed to preserve and teach the truth about genocide distort it, they endorse and validate lies that put lives at risk, and they undermine moral clarity.

In the context of Holocaust education, I often encounter educators who believe Holocaust centers should serve as bridges between cultures. While the intent may be noble, I have heard arguments suggesting that they avoid discussing Israel to foster these connections. However, I challenge this notion. In a world where genocide centers teach about “the genocide in Gaza,” perhaps it is better for them not to invoke the memory of the Holocaust at all. Holocaust education is primarily about preventing harm to Jews — and, by extension, Israelis — while combating antisemitism.

Today, one cannot separate antisemitism from the war in Israel — the connection is all too evident, especially as protests against Israel reach the doors of Holocaust centers. This troubling reality reinforces my commitment at the Network for Innovative Holocaust Education (NIHE), where I have integrated a monthly focus on contemporary antisemitism into our programming. Holocaust educators today need the courage and support to address current issues and express their messages in the most authentic way. If we shy away from discussing the connection between antisemitism and the attacks on Israel, we jeopardize the opportunity for a distorted use of history to become the dominant narrative.

A friend of mine, the father of a young man who sacrificed his life to save others at the Nova festival, regularly visits the burnt vehicles compound with a message that, unfortunately, sounds like a cliché but is profoundly strong — he calls for unity. He urges people to talk to one another, even if they disagree on political matters. This call resonates with a lesson I learned from the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks — morality is the “we” in “I,” the vital thread that connects us all. Without it, truth loses its foundation, and we risk being isolated, adrift without a shared moral compass.

Silence is not an option. This work has shown me time and again that speaking the truth is not just about sharing facts — it is about anchoring ourselves to a shared morality, insisting that facts matter, and pushing back against a tide that says otherwise. Lies hold power, yes, but so does standing firm in the truth. Holocaust education is not merely a recounting of history; it is a call to moral action, a rejection of the insidious effects of lies, and a continuous struggle for a world where truth is a thing we can believe in.

Adi Rabinowitz Bedein, is a Holocaust educator from Israel, Yad Vashem tour guide, and founding director of the Network for Innovative Holocaust Education (NIHE).

An Obstacle to Peace

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

WOULD YOU FIND IT conceivable that an entire UN agency was created to perpetuate a conflict rather than solve it? Would it sound reasonable to you that a UN agency would knowingly pay salaries to terrorists? Would you agree to donate money to an organisation whose teachers educate to kill and abduct people and whose employees are recorded abducting innocent people? Does it sound reasonable that the intelligence branch of a terrorist organisation is embedded under a UN facility that feeds it with electricity and communications? That terrorists use UN institutions like schools and hospitals? That terrorists steal humanitarian assistance and use it to extort and control the population?

The answer to these questions is pretty clear to any reasonable person. However, believe it or not, this is the reality in West Asia with an organisation called the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). While Israel successfully absorbed 800 thousand Jewish refugees from the Arab world who were never compensated by anyone for the property left behind nor the loss of their livelihoods, 700 thousand Arabs who had to flee following the attempt of seven Arab armies to destroy the newly established Israel in 1948 received a completely different treatment. UNRWA was formed to perpetuate their status as “refugees” and never allow them to normalise their lives unless they manage to reverse the results of 1948.

That’s exactly what UNRWA is doing. With tens of billions of dollars so far in financing, it educates millions of Palestinian descendants that they shouldn’t rebuild their lives in the places they reside. Many of them were denied citizenship in the places they live in and where their children were born, like in Lebanon, for example, where they are denied not only citizenship but also banned from owning land or from practising certain professions. And even in those places where citizenship was granted to them, like in Jordan, they are still illegally entitled to refugee status which contradicts UNHCR rules. Instead of helping people to settle in, it educates them to go back to the places their ancestors had to leave four generations ago.

Unfortunately, UNRWA has been “successful” in fulfilling its mandate to the extent that millions of graduates from its schools have been taught to object to Israel’s existence for the last 76 years. Many of them became active members of terrorist organisations. No institution has been doing that “better” than the UNRWA schools in Gaza, where Hamas took over in 2007, where the teachers’ union is controlled by Hamas and many of its teachers are leaders in the Hamas terrorist organisation. Or, in Lebanon, where the leader of Hamas was in charge of educating 39,000 children, and the UN refused to fire him. Israel has presented multiple evidence to the UN on many occasions. Most of it was completely ignored.

Yesterday the overwhelming majority of the Israeli parliament said: Enough is enough. Israel will no longer cooperate with UNRWA. The legislation gives the government 90 days to make necessary arrangements to ensure humanitarian assistance to needy Palestinians — cynically used as pawns to advance political goals — are extended through other UN agencies and NGOS. Israel will continue to facilitate international assistance to this Palestinian population. We will continue to abide by international law. But we will not agree to continue to cooperate with UNRWA, a corrupt organisation that is completely compromised by terrorist organisations like Hamas. Their sole reason for existence is to eradicate the State of Israel. Israel calls all parties interested in de-escalating the conflict in the West Asian region to dissociate themselves from UNRWA in order to advance and secure peace and stability in our region.

With tens of billions of dollars so far in financing, it educates millions of Palestinian descendants that they shouldn’t rebuild their lives in the places they reside. Many of them were denied citizenship in the places they live in and where their children were born, like in Lebanon, for example, where they are denied not only citizenship but also banned from owning land or from practising certain professions.

Biden administration gives Israel until November 13 to implement its demands to improve humanitarian situation in Gaza – or military aid will be suspended. The humanitarian aid enables Hamas to continue its terror operations.

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

The Biden administration is putting maximum pressure on Israel, threatening to suspend military aid if Israel does not fully implement its demands before November 13, Axios reported.

Biden has thus far avoided suspending military aid, but the move is “gaining more support inside the State Department,” the site reported, quoting a US official.

The threat follows an October 13 letter sent by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to their Israeli counterparts, warning that if the humanitarian situation in Gaza did not significantly improve within 30 days, it would affect the weapons the US supplies to Israel.

Over half of all humanitarian aid to enter Gaza is taken over by the Hamas terror group, and used to fund its continued terror operations. According to officials, the increased humanitarian aid taken over to Hamas is significantly extending the war in Gaza.

In a Thursday press conference with Austin, Blinken said, “Both of us and our teams are tracking very carefully Israel’s responsibilities to meet the letter of the law … with regard to the provision of humanitarian assistance.” They emphasized that although Israel has made progress, more needs to be done.

Meanwhile, Israeli and US officials said that Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer has been tasked with drafting the response to the letter from Blinken and Austin, but that the letter is expected to be finalized and sent only after the US elections next week. Its contents are likely to be influenced by the results of the elections.

On Friday, the State Department stated: “Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer. The Secretary and Minister discussed necessary steps for regional de-escalation. The Secretary emphasized the importance of ending the war in Gaza and bringing all of the hostages home, as well as charting a path forward in the post-conflict period that provides governance, security, and reconstruction. He discussed the dire status of humanitarian conditions in Gaza, reviewed steps that have been taken to improve the situation, and urged further actions to surge aid to civilians. The Secretary and Minister discussed ongoing efforts to reach a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon that allows both Lebanese and Israeli civilians to return safely to their homes. The Secretary reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and Iran-backed proxy groups.”

Among the US demands is that 350 aid trucks enter Gaza each day by November 13.

Already in September, Channel 12 News – a left-wing media outlet – reported that Hamas has profited by at least a half billion dollars from humanitarian aid entering Gaza. The terror group takes control over the aid, hides it in warehouses, and later sells it to the Gazan population, earning a lot of money from it, which is then invested in recruiting new terrorists and paying salaries to existing terrorists.

The channel’s Almog Boker noted that approximately 200 aid trucks already enter Gaza each day, something which has “actually become the main oxygen pipeline for the terrorist organization.”

Dilemmas

By
Michael Kuttner
-

We are faced with a situation in which difficult choices have to be made.

The story of creation which we read in Synagogues last week tells us in the first few sentences that the world was void and that darkness prevailed.

Surveying the state of the world today one can almost come to the conclusion that we have again returned to that period of darkness when chaos ruled and order had not yet been established.

The approaching date of 5 November will mean different things to different people in various continents and countries.

For those living in the UK, its occupied territories and remnants of a past English empire this date represents the anniversary of the gunpowder plot when terrorists tried to blow up Parliament and take power. For the vast majority of revelers who still light fireworks and burn effigies of Guy Fawkes the historical lessons are most likely lost in the mists of time. Forgotten is the fact that the aim of the plot was to assassinate the Protestant monarch and install a Roman Catholic successor.

As usual the Jews were caught in the middle of this mayhem and not for the last time had the challenge of deciding which side might be best to support. Given the lamentable track record of the Roman Catholic Church this was not such a hard choice.

Scroll forward to the current situation and we find that once again British Jews face dilemmas of determining how to navigate between a rising Islamic jihadist movement and politicians who speak with forked tongues. On the one hand political parties profess to combat Jew hate while at the same time condemning and sanctioning the Jewish State for tackling terror. This, in turn, generates anti-Jewish incitement and violence.

This year, 5 November will be a defining date for American Jews as they cast their ballots in an election which promises to be full of fireworks and explosive repercussions no matter which side wins.

One thing can be confidently predicted.

The legal profession will be having a field day challenging the results while trying to prove fraud, illegal voters and tampered ballots. When one looks closely at the US electoral system one has to wonder exactly how fair and democratic it actually purports to be. Instead of the winner being chosen by the popular vote there is an electoral college representing the states of the union which allocates votes according to the size of each state. Thus, on many occasions the winning Presidential candidate received a minority of votes.

Even worse is the ludicrous situation whereby in many places no identification is required in order to cast a ballot. This in turn enables non citizens and illegal individuals to vote. No wonder every four years there is an uproar with this year promising to be a vintage and vitriolic outcome.

An American friend of ours who originally hails from Chicago remembers the time when the Democratic mayor of that city urged people to vote early and often.

The very concept of fair and free elections should be the ability of citizens to choose from as wide a selection of candidates as possible. In the vast majority of democracies this is indeed the case. However in the “land of the free” voters only have two realistic choices when it comes to choosing a President and Vice President. Someone who is neither a Democrat nor Republican has zero chance of ever being elected.

How representative of a diverse society can that be? It in effect disenfranchises large sectors of the population. Furthermore, when the two alternatives on offer are uninspiring or plainly unsuited, where can voters turn to look for someone more qualified? In the USA they can either refuse to vote or waste their ballot on a protest candidate who everyone knows has no chance of making it to the White House.

Perhaps this is the reason for historically low voter turn outs when compared to other democracies.

All these factors will be crucial as 5 November looms.

American Jews face a dilemma as they prepare for Election Day. Historically they have voted almost en masse for the Democratic Party especially since the days of FDR. It is somewhat ironic that they became “genetic democrats” given that the Party was closely tied to slavery and racial discrimination in the south and that FDR refused sanctuary to Jews fleeing Nazi genocide in Europe. Whatever the reasons for this generational loyalty, the current trends in both political parties should give American Jews some serious things to think about this time around.

Here is the conundrum.

For those eternally wedded to the Democratic Party, do they ignore the steady erosion of support for Israel and an increasing progressive anti Israel animosity?

Will “Trump derangement syndrome” override doubts about the drift of the Democrats to the leftist fringes of unhinged hate against Israel?

Rising assimilation and detachment from anything to do with Israel is growing among millennials. On the other hand, can those for whom Judaism and Zionism are synonymous, still stick with a candidate who prevaricates about support for the Jewish State?

Jews are no longer safe on the streets of many American cities where crime and rising hate endanger them and their communal buildings.

Much is made of the second gentleman being Jewish but his attachment to anything Jewish is merely an electoral mirage. Apart from Kamala making a “mean” brisket and his latest promise to put up a mezuzah at the White House any manifestation of Jewish solidarity is fleeting.

Trump at least has a Jewish daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren whose commitment to Judaism is absolute and not fake. His previous term as President produced the Abraham Accords, recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital, transfer of the US Embassy to the city and recognition of the Golan as part of Israel. In addition, Iran and other terror groups were left in no doubt as to the consequences of their continuing campaigns of murder and mayhem.

One of the dilemmas facing Jewish voters is the doubtful and shady characters which associate themselves with both candidates. Knee jerk haters of Israel and Zionists on the left and conspiracy theorists, isolationists and Jew haters on the right make a lethal combination.

How will American Jews navigate between these extremes?

Will they close their eyes, shut their ears and hold their noses as they vote for Harris despite her word salads and less than clear commitment to Israel’s security? Will her willingness to accept lies and slanders against Israel as valid positions rather than unacceptable libels make any difference?

Will Trump’s unpredictability and association with dubious holocaust deniers turn off potential Jewish voters who no longer see the Democratic Party as their natural home?

An overwhelming percentage of Jewish Israelis polled prefer Trump (66%) to Harris (17%). Will this pattern repeat itself in the USA? It seems highly unlikely.

These questions highlight the USA’s totally bizarre electoral system whereby there is only a choice between two possibly unacceptable candidates.

Last but not least, 5 November this year is a holy day in Australian life. It is the day when one of the world’s famous horse races takes place. Melbourne Cup day is an occasion when for a short while, time stands still as the horses race towards the finishing line and money is won or lost.

I cannot help but compare this event with what will happen in the USA on this day.

Australians will have a wide choice as up to 24 horses will compete. Contrast that with the miserable choice of only two competitors offered up to Americans.

Horses with unacceptable handicaps are scratched (cancelled) before they even reach the starting gate. Contrast that with the US where anyone no matter how unqualified and unsuited they may be still qualifies to compete.

In the Melbourne Cup there is a clear winner and it is not always the most favourite. There is no dispute about who crossed the finishing line first. Contrast that with the legal mayhem surrounding the US race and the declared winner.

The horse race is conducted in a fair and transparent manner. Contrast that with the murky shenanigans associated with every American electoral contest.

This 5 November promises to be a vintage occasion in every respect.

Place your bets and sit back to watch the inevitable resulting fireworks.

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach at the Yom Kippur War

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach is interviewed by the Dutch TV and sings to soldiers in the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War.

When 120 Years Finally Arrives

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Now, when humanity began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, the princes and judges saw how pretty the girls were, and they took themselves wives from whomever they chose. [Genesis 6:1-2]

The story of any man is rooted in his father. If his father was just and honest then chances are his child will act the same way. The junior has seen the value of following G-d’s ways and will respond accordingly. And, of course, the opposite is true: A man who has seen cruelty and lies in his home will see this both as normal and necessary.

Featured Post Rabbi Avi Goldberg: A man who lit up the world

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

It was late at night. I was walking home from one engagement or another, weighed down by the war, the losses abounding around us, the daily grind. I was reading the news on the phone as I walked, but something made me look up, and there was Rabbi Avi — my neighbor and one of the pillars of my community, a man who led us in prayer, learning, music, and volunteer work countless times.

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