Bo: Leave My Land Alone

So Benny Netanyahu and Benny Gantz (its all about the Benjamins), went to Pharaoh Trump and demanded in the name of God, leave My Land alone… Or, did they?

God has a sense of humor. He’s throwing this at Israel, at a time when Jews around the world have been reading in the weekly Torah portions, about Moshe and Aaron going to Pharaoh, demanding Pharaoh release the Jews to serve Him. Of course as everybody knows, Pharaoh refuses.

Last week the plagues started, this week, more of the same. Pharaoh continues to dig into his position, till the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn. Completely broken, Pharaoh finally blinks and caves in.

Has Trump caved in with his “peace plan?” Did Netanyahu tell Trump, “we’re going to worship the God of Israel, in ALL of Eretz Yisrael, the Land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, exclusively?”

Moshe told the elders of Israel, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb…” When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the door frame and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.”

Moshe continued, “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this service. When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’ tell them, ‘It is the Korban Pesach (Passover offering) to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Children of Israel in Egypt and spared our homes, when he struck down the Egyptians,’” (Exodus 12:21-27).

Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the Egyptians got up during the night, because there was a great outcry throughout Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. During the night, Pharaoh summoned Moshe and Aaron [ran through the streets terrified, looking for them – Ramban] and said, “Get up! Leave my people, you and the Children of Israel. Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your sheep and cattle, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” The Egyptians strongly urged the Jews to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” (Exodus 12:30-33).

American elections are coming, the impeachment trial knocks on the door, Trump’s campaign will get into full swing soon. He want’s to put his Middle East Real Estate Project in order, get it out of the way, and maybe get that blessing too…

But will he?

While Israel has waited 70 years for peace, the Jews in Egypt, waited 210 years, to get out of slavery and leave Egypt. Yet, instead of fleeing right away, Moshe (a known extremist and true Jewish leader, who killed an Egyptian earlier), tells Pharaoh, “What are we thieves, that we should leave at night? We will leave when we’re good and ready, with heads held high, in broad daylight, in full view of all Egypt,” (Mekhilta).

That’s a Kiddush HaShem, the world sees, the God of Israel’s Power and Majesty to free His people.

In the morning, Moshe instructed the Jews to ask the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, and for clothing. God made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for… (Exodus 12:35-36).

Pity Netanyahu and Gantz weren’t “tough” like Moshe and Aaron, telling Trump, lay off our land, and watch us apply sovereignty to all of it, in front of the eyes of the whole world. And, you’re going to recognize it. There’s no such thing as “Palestinians,” and there will never be a “Palestinian State.”

Maybe they would have been granted, all they demanded from Trump, like in Egypt? God just gave Netanyahu and Gantz, their chance at eternal greatness, and they blew it.

Instead, the peace deal that’s been announced, is a historic tragedy for the Jewish people, and a Chillul HaShem (slap in the face to the God of Israel, who gave it back to us in 1967).

How could any Jewish leader agree to compromise on God’s Land?

Meanwhile, some Temple Mount activists, working for freedom of Jewish worship and prayer on the Temple Mount, welcomed Trump’s plan. Officially called, “Vision for Peace, Prosperity, and a Brighter Future for Israel and the Palestinian People,” the plan calls for Jerusalem’s holy sites, to “remain open and available for peaceful worshippers and tourists of all faiths.”

Instead of recognizing the Jewish people’s exclusive rights to the Temple Mount, it keeps the status quo.

The plan says, “People of every faith should be permitted to pray on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, in a manner that is fully respectful to their religion, taking into account the times of each religion’s prayers and holidays, as well as other religious factors.”

Some Temple Mount activists claim that “the prayers of the Jews on the Temple Mount are now officially recognized by the United States,” and this recognition “advances the People of Israel in a major step toward fulfilling Jewish destiny at the site of the Temple.”

The activists plan to test this clause, by making an official request soon, to “allow every Jew to offer the Passover sacrifice on the Temple Mount, the most important commandment in the Torah,” this Pesach (Passover).

So, we will soon see the limits of the “peace plan,” who has gained “rights” and who has lost out...

For those religious Jews, who might object, really, there’s no good reason not to bring the Korban Pesach in our time. The Rambam (Maimonides), ruled that a Jew is obligated to offer the Passover sacrifice even when the Temple has not yet been built, even in ritual impurity, and even by today’s Kohanim (priests). Most of the halachic (Jewish Law) issues have been solved in the last couple hundred years, at least since the time of the Chatam Sofer, and particularly in our generation. Halacha is not the barrier. Go check it out. Also, see my article, “Getting Ready For Korban Pesach This Year.”

Although at first it was floated that sovereignty would be applied to the Jewish towns and villages in Judea and Samaria by next week, now Kushner and others are saying to hold off until after the next elections. And what excuse will be made after that?

At this point, all that’s occurred, is that the United States has officially recognized Palestinian national aspirations for an independent state, and Netanyahu as head of the State of Israel, has praised that. He glowingly told a Fox interviewer, “It gives the Palestinians national dignity.” Whose Prime Minister is he?

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “It’s the first time the Israelis have ever conceded to a map, that actually lays down real outlines of what this will look like and what this means, and it provides a clear pathway for a Palestinian state.”

A far cry from Moshe and Aaron and true Jewish leadership...

 

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2020/5780 Pasko

75 Years After Auschwitz And Not Much Learned

They come, they cry, they pay homage, and they leave. And where do they go back to? To places where anti-Semitism is growing by leaps and bounds. Where Jews are endangered once again.

They, are the over 50 world leaders, including Putin and Pence, coming to Israel, for the Fifth World Holocaust Forum. The event, entitled “Remembering the Holocaust: Fighting Antisemitism,” at Yad Vashem. This year marks the 75^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Neither they, nor most Jews have learned much in those 75 years.

This event at Yad Vashem, comes after some hundred parliamentarians from across Europe gathered at Auschwitz this week, and were urged by the Brussels based European Jewish Association, and the Action and Protection League of Europe, to toughen anti-Semitism laws in their countries.

They need to be urged?

They participated in a two-day program. Day one, they took part in a symposium in Krakow, and a gala dinner.

Of course, what’s a commemoration of genocide against the Jews, without a party?

The meetings and dinner speeches, addressed the need for increased Holocaust education in Europe, a strengthened commitment to passing national legislation to fight hatred towards Jews, and outlaw the sale of Nazi memorabilia. Followed by a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and memorial service, on day two.

Thanks to the internet and modern social media, Judeopathy is more globally pervasive today than in the 1930s.

One only needs to mention attacks on Jews in recent years in Pittsburgh, Poway, Brooklyn, Jersey City, Monsey, Toronto, Paris, Prague, London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Moscow, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Uman, and on, and on, and on…

Do I make my point?

For example, the number of attacks on Jews and anti-Semitic vandalism, reported to the police in France, surged 74% in 2018.

There’s also been a meteoric rise in anti-Semitic incidents across the United States in recent years. The Anti-Defamation League reported a 58% increase in such incidents, between 2016 and 2017, many of them in schools or on college campuses.

And, in November 2019, the FBI released data, that showed that Jews and Jewish institutions, were the overwhelming majority of targets, of religion-based hate crimes in 2018, as they have been every year since 1991, in America.

The stigma of the Holocaust is over. Anti-Semites openly voice their views. Judeopaths are free to roam wild. Jews and Israel are no more cut any slack. The killing season has started again. Little has been done to curb it. So, politicians worldwide, will do what they do so well, pay lip service.

In this World of Illusion and falsehood, selfies rule supreme. Mourning some dead Jews, spouting some trite lines, laying a wreath at Yad Vashem, and making sure the media sees you virtue signaling the right thing, is what counts.

A wise rabbi once said, “I’d rather be a live Jew that everybody hates, than a dead Jew that everybody mourns over.”

World leaders will “do the right thing,” and then go back home. Attacks on Jews will continue to grow, and politicians will continue to condemn them, and then do little, to nothing, to stop it.

Jews should work with friendly non-Jewish allies and the authorities in various countries, BUT, Jews shouldn’t put all their trust in them, to protect them. If we learned nothing from the 1930s and 1940s, at least Jews should have learned the importance of active self-defense, as permitted to the full extent of the law wherever they reside.

So, what about the Jews? What have they learned in 75 years?

Well let’s look at America for example. In America they’ve learned to build Holocaust museums, memorials, and to promote educational programs in schools, to raise awareness about the Holocaust and the evils of anti-Semitism.

Is it working? It doesn’t seem so, since anti-Semitic attacks are up up up.

Who hasn’t read about the Holocaust memorial or synagogue defaced...

Who hasn’t read about the Jewish child in school, abused by his or her peers, AFTER a Holocaust lecture or movie was shown. Swastikas appear on lockers, or in bathroom walls, etc. It happens, sorry to say, quite frequently.

What about promoting Jewish self-defense awareness? With so many attacks on Jews, in synagogue, at Jewish centers, kosher groceries, or just walking down the street, it seems reasonable. Jews should be arming themselves to the full extent of the law.

Its well known that a shooting or stabbing attack is shortened, and casualties minimized, with the introduction of a second weapon. Israel has seen that often, not just police or soldiers, but also armed Jewish civilians have stopped Arab shooters, stabbers, and attempted car rammings.

But, guess what, in America, Jews are proportionately more vocal and active in promoting gun-control than the general population.

Lest you say that’s only liberal and more secular Jews (who are a clear majority of Jews in America); only days after the Monsey attack on Hasidim last Hanukkah, members of the same community that was attacked, spoke out against taking up weapons.

A writer and activist from Monsey, Shimon Rolnitzky wrote:

“And we must be wary of those who say that guns are the answer. From the time that Haredi children are very small, we learn to despise weapons...They educated us to be pacifists and talked to us about how nice it will be when the Messiah comes, when “nation shall not lift the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4).

“The great majority of Haredi Jews do not want to take up weapons. Jews who come to the Hanukkah lighting of their Rebbe, like those who had to struggle against a murderer with a big machete on Saturday night, are generally the type of people not to kill a fly. I still remember when I brought home a toy gun for Purim and my mother took it, saying that “Jews don’t have a use for guns.”

It seems that even after the Holocaust, and with increasingly violent attacks in America, Jews still haven’t learned the lesson of active self-defense.

Yet, Hanukkah celebrates the military victory of the Jews against the Seleucid Greeks.

And, Purim celebrates salvation from a genocidal decree. Not only did the king hang Haman and his ten sons, but the Jews killed 75,800 “Nazi Party” members also… (Esther chapter 9).

I’m sorry to say that these Hasidim, don’t seem to have learned the lesson of Hanukkah or Purim either.

As that Rabbi said, referring to the need for Jewish self-defense, “I’d rather be a live Jew that everybody hates, than a dead Jew that everybody mourns over.”

That’s the most important lesson to learn from Auschwitz, and what about Aliyah too!

 

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2020/5780 Pasko

Shemot: D’Nile Isn’t Just A River In Egypt

In this week’s Torah reading, Parshat Shemot, we move from the Book of Genesis, to the Book of Exodus; from stories about the founding family of the Jewish people, to the “Am Bnei Yisrael,” the nation of Israel in Galut, exile. And, who calls the Jews a nation first? The Pharaoh of Egypt, himself (Exodus 1:9).

Let’s review the basic story. Pharaoh becomes paranoid that the Jews might become a fifth column against them, in case an enemy nation invades Egypt. He decides to recruit them for “Egyptian national service,” read slavery, to better control them, maybe even stop their population growth. Since that doesn’t work, he carries out an infanticide (ordering baby boys drowned), to decimate the Jewish male population.

Yocheved, Moshe’s mother, after giving birth, puts baby Moses, in a basket amongst the reeds by the Nile river, hoping to save him. He’s found by Pharaoh's daughter, brought home, raised in the palace, yet surreptitiously nursed by his mother, and grows up knowing he’s a Hebrew.

When he gets older, Pharaoh appoints him chamberlain over the palace. One day he goes out to check out the situation of the Hebrew slaves, and sees an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Jew. He kills the Egyptian, and buries him in the sand. The next day he sees two Jews fighting (Dathan and Abiran), and when he tries to intervene, one of them asks him, if he’s planning on killing him like he killed the Egyptian? Realizing that the murder is well known, Moshe gets scared, and when he finds out that Pharaoh heard about the killing, Moshe decides to flee Egypt.

Moshe goes to Midian, and rests by a well. Jethro’s daughters come to the well to water their father’s sheep, are harassed by other shepherds and saved by Moshe. They go home and tell Jethro that an “Egyptian” man helped them. Moshe lives with them, and later he marries one of Jethro’s daughters, Zipporah (Exodus, chapters 1 and 2).

Rav Tzvi Yehudah Kook was known to remind people, about a teaching of the Rebbe of Ostravtza (Ostrowiec), R. Meir Yechiel HaLevi Halstock. The Rebbe taught, when people meet and ask each other where they’re from, a Jew should always reply, “I come from Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel.”

Rav Tzvi Yehudah explained that there’s a midrash (Deuteronomy Rabbah 2:5), that criticizes Moshe in comparison to Joseph. Joseph identified with Eretz Yisrael. He told the people in prison, “I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews” (Genesis 40:15). Therefore he merited to be buried in Israel. Moshe, by contrast, didn’t acknowledge his homeland in the incident with Jethro’s daughters, when they told Jethro, “an Egyptian saved us,” Moshe remained silent. Therefore Moshe didn’t merit to be buried in Eretz Yisrael.

The Rebbe of Ostravtza asked, why the midrash finds fault with Moshe for not saying he was from Eretz Yisrael? After all, Moshe was born in, and grew up in Egypt, the exile (much like many Jews around the world today). The Rebbe answered, that because of God’s promise to give the Land of Israel to Abraham’s descendants, the Jewish people, Moshe belongs to the Land, he is inextricably connected to it. And so are all Jews today.

Rav Tzvi Yehudah explained that because of the long exile, Jews have become accustomed to think that life in Galut, exile, is normal. They think of themselves as Americans, Russians, French, Brazilian, etc. and forget that Eretz Yisrael is their natural, healthy, Divinely-intended place to live.

One only needs to mention attacks on Jews in Pittsburgh, Poway, Brooklyn, Jersey City, Monsey, Toronto, Paris, Prague, London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Moscow, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Uman, and on, and on, and on…

Do I make my point?

In November 2019, the FBI released data that showed that Jews and Jewish institutions, were the overwhelming target of religion-based hate crimes in 2018, as they have been every year since 1991, in America.

With rising anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism worldwide in the last several years, increasingly violent and deadly attacks on Jews have occurred, including in that most “safe of places,” “it couldn’t happen here,” “the Goldene Medina,” America.

Its not just the neo-Nazis and far-right who are increasingly attacking Jews in America, but also their “friends” on the left, including too far gone BDS, pro-Palestine Jews themselves. Blacks, Muslims, and everyday non-Jews are also getting into the act.

When are the Jews going to become Jew-Woke?

D’Nile isn’t just a river in Egypt.

The parsha continues with Moshe getting his revelation at the burning bush. God sends him back to Egypt, to tell the Hebrews that the redemption is coming soon. Met by his brother Aaron on the way, they return to Egypt and tell the Jewish elders the good news, “And the people believed. And they heard that God had remembered the Children of Israel, was concerned about them, and had seen their affliction...” (Exodus chapters 3 and 4).

Moshe and Aaron then go, as commanded by God, to Pharaoh, and tell him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”

Pharaoh answers them, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

Pharaoh denies that there is any power greater than himself. Pharaoh claimed to be a god himself. Not yet grasping what’s really taking place, he begins his fatal plunge into total denial of the new reality about to unfold before his eyes, that will lead to the destruction of his country.

D’Nile isn’t just a river in Egypt.

He lashes back at them, “Moshe and Aaron, why are you bothering the people from their labor? Get back to your work!” Pharaoh then orders that straw be withheld from the Hebrew brick makers. He tells the Egyptian taskmasters to let them go and gather straw for themselves, but that they must keep to the quota, or else.

The Jewish foreman are then beaten for not keeping to the quota of bricks produced, and they complain to Pharaoh, about the lack of straw. He replies, “Lazy, that’s what you are, lazy! That’s why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ Now get to work. You won’t be given any straw, but you must produce your full quota of bricks.”

They leave Pharaoh and find Moshe and Aaron waiting to meet them, they curse Moshe and Aaron saying, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

So quickly has the joy of promised redemption, turned to bitterness and disgust with Moshe and Aaron.

Similarly, the joy of Israeli independence in 1948, and the liberation of Jerusalem in 1967, has evaporated for many Jews in the exile, to be replaced by anger toward Israel, and the so-called “occupation.”

Moshe himself then returns to God and asks, “Why Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Is this why You sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he’s done evil to this people, and You have not rescued Your People at all.”

The vision of redemption is fading quickly, even for the reluctant messenger, Moshe. God then answers him, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, because of My Strong Hand he will let them go; because of My Mighty Hand he will drive them out of his country” (Exodus chapter 5 and 6:1).

First came bitter slavery, then the hope of redemption, then like the birth pangs of labor before the baby is born, even greater suffering. After such great stress, the Jewish people in Egypt focus exclusively on their suffering and it’s “causes,” Moshe and Aaron; rather than the end goal, Redemption, Freedom, leaving the Egyptian Exile and return home to Eretz Yisrael.

Just like the denial of the Jews in Egypt during the Redemptive Process, so too, many Jews worldwide, since 1948, have denied the Redemption taking place in our days, with the rise of the State of Israel, and the freedom to come back to the homeland.

As Rav Tzvi Yehudah said, Jews became accustomed to think that life in Galut, exile, is normal, even with the increasing anti-Semitism, brutality and murder taking place there. They’re in denial that Eretz Yisrael is their natural, healthy, Divinely-intended place to live.

D’Nile isn’t just a river in Egypt!

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2020/5780 Pasko

Vayera: Mother Sarah Was The First Kahanist!

This past week’s Torah reading, Vayera, coincided with the 29^th remembrance of the murder of Rabbi Meir Kahane. The former member of Knesset, leader of the later outlawed Kach party, and founder of the Jewish Defense League in America (JDL), Rabbi Kahane fought to protect Jews from anti-Semitism in America, increase Jewish identity and national pride, and to free Soviet Jewry.

But he was probably best known for advocating the transfer of Arabs out of Israel, to a new life somewhere else, to put an end to the Arab-Jewish conflict in Israel.

But was he the first to advocate expelling enemies attacking Jews?

In fact, in this past Torah reading, Vayera, we find Sarah, telling Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son [Ishmael – father of the Arabs], for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” Sarah had seen Ishmael constantly picking on little Isaac, (Genesis 21:9-10).

The Torah continues, “The matter greatly distressed Abraham regarding his son [Ishmael]. But God said to him, ‘Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.’” But they can not live together in the same land. So Abraham listened to God and expelled him and his mother, (Genesis 21:11-14).

There you go, right from the start of the Jewish people, the solution to attacks on Jews, is to expel the perpetrators. Mother Sarah in her woman’s wisdom, sees the future, that the Arabs and the Jews can’t live together, and God backs up her demand on Abraham, to expel Ishmael.

Later, God codifies it in the Torah, “You shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you...You shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.” And then warns, “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they shall trouble you in the land where you are settling,” (Numbers 33:52-53, 55).

Even the nations understood this, in the 20^th century, several internationally sanctioned population transfers were implemented, to separate warring peoples.

Most notably, the Greco-Turkish agreed mutual expulsion in the 1920’s, of about 1.6 million people, and the Pakistani-Indian exchange, after British decolonization in 1947, where 10-12 million people were displaced.

Then there was the forced expulsion of about 12-14 million ethnic Germans (between 1944-50), from central and eastern Europe, to create more homogeneous states, after the war.

So, as Rabbi Kahane documented in his book, “They Must Go” (1981), population transfers and forced expulsions had been being used, long before his proposal to transfer the Arabs out of Israel. In fact, his plan was quite merciful, by international standards, since he proposed offering money to the Arabs to leave.

Even some Arab leaders had previously suggested transfer as a solution to the conflict.

For example, in 1939, Mojli Amin, a member of the Arab Defense Committee for Palestine put forward a proposal for the transfer of Arabs from Palestine. This proposal was published in Damascus and distributed among Arab leaders. Amin proposed that all of Palestine be given to the Jews.

“Furthermore, I hereby propose that all the Arabs of Palestine will leave and be divided up among the neighboring Arab countries. In exchange for this, all the Jews living in Arab countries will leave and come to Palestine,” Amin stated.

Amin proposed that this exchange of populations, should be carried out in the same way as the Greco-Turkish population exchange, and that special committees should be established to deal with the liquidation of Jewish and Arab property. He realized that at first there would be great difficulties, but he hoped they would be finally solved. (Joan Peters, From Time Immemorial, (New York, 1984), p.25, and Proposal, 21 May 1939, [CZA S25/5630]).

Later, in 1946, Britain awarded Transjordan (what had been 75% of the Palestine Mandate) independence, and Abdullah ibn Hussein became its King. His Prime Minister was an Arab jurist named Ibrahim Pasha Hashem.

In July 1946, Alexander Kirkbride, from the British Legation in Amman, reported on his meeting with King Abdullah and the Prime Minister. Various ideas for the future of the Palestine were discussed and Kirkbride wrote that Abdullah was, “for partition and he feels that the other Arab leaders may acquiesce in that solution although they may not approve of it openly.”

In Kirkbride’s meeting with Ibrahim Pasha, Pasha proposed a population transfer, to avoid future conflict in Palestine. Kirkbride reported that, “He [Pasha] went on to say that, in his opinion, the only just and permanent solution lay in absolute partition with an exchange of populations; to leave Jews in an Arab State or Arabs in a Jewish State would lead inevitably to further trouble between the two peoples. Ibrahim Pasha admitted that he would not be able to express this idea in public for fear of being called a traitor.”

About a month later, a telegram sent from Amman to the British Foreign Office stated, “King Abdullah and Prime Minister of Transjordan both consider that partition followed by an exchange of populations is the only practical solution to the Palestine problem. They do not feel able to express this view publicly because having regard to the possibility of the Arab area of Palestine being joined to Transjordan they would be regarded as prejudiced.”

We can see from this, that King Abdullah had now joined his Prime Minister in favoring population transfer. (Kirkbride to Wikeley, 29 July 1946, p.1-2,[PRO FO 816/85], and Telegram, Prodrome to Foreign Office, 23 August 1946, [PRO FO 816/85 C208213]).

For an excellent review of the subject, check out, “A Historical Survey of Proposals to Transfer Arabs from Palestine 1895 – 1947,” by Rabbi Dr. Chaim Simons (2004 – it can be found at chaimsimons.net).

An expression in the midrash and early Torah commentators, is “Ma’aseh Avot Siman l’Banim,” the deeds of the fathers are signs/guides to their children. Mother Sarah was teaching her children, us, the Jewish people, an important lesson.

When will we learn it?

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.
(c) 2019/5780 Pasko

Jordan Isn’t Palestine, Its Part of Eretz Yisrael

Some misguided Jews on the political right, have promoted for the last forty years, the idea that, “Jordan is Palestine.” Jordan isn’t Palestine, its part of the promised Land of Israel. And, peace with Arab states that occupy parts of the Jewish people’s inheritance, is a lie from the start.

The Arabs don’t want peace, because they are thieves and squatters, always worried the owners will come home, and demand their ouster. What better way to assuage their guilt than to claim its theirs.

And, “Jewish” leaders that offer peace, make peace, and give them the impression that the Jewish people can trade off some of its patrimony for a worthless piece of paper, do them a disservice.

Israeli politicians that behave that way are “enablers,” allowing the religion-drunk Muslims who conquered the Jewish people’s land in the 7^th century, and later, the 19^th century Arab squatters, to continue living in their delusion.

But the God of Israel, His promises to the patriarchs and matriarch of the Jews, continued on through the words of the prophets of old, and their recent fulfillment; seen by all today, in spectacular living Technicolor, by their decedents, Jews, Israelis, successfully rebuilding their national life in their ancient homeland, Israel, proves them all wrong.

It should be a wake-up call to all those still deluding themselves.

Co-dependent Israeli politicians, such as Prime Minister Netanyahu, who recently took part in a Knesset meeting, that marked the 25th anniversary of Israel’s “peace treaty” with the Kingdom of Jordan, need a 12-step program.

During the gathering, Netanyahu claimed that there’s a direct link between a resolution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and the larger conflict between Israel and the Arab world. “If we are able to achieve normalization with the Arab world, then the conflict with the Palestinians will be solved,” peace could be achieved, Netanyahu said.

But who wants peace with thieves and squatters, dare I say, Arab settlers.

Netanyahu discussed the state of Israeli-Jordanian relations. He noted recent denunciations of Israel by Jordanian leaders, including King Abdullah, and the termination of Israel’s twenty-five year lease over border areas of the Arava and Naharayim.

Abdullah quickly flew there to participate in a Jordanian flag raising ceremony, to stake their claim.

Let’s remember that the illegitimate Hashemite dynasty, set up by the British, to help the Arabs steal 75% of the Palestine Mandate from the Jews, are living in Eastern Eretz Yisrael.

“We are helping the Jordanian king, both overtly and covertly,” Netanyahu said, referring to security cooperation against ISIS and the homegrown Muslim Brotherhood. Yet, “...they also claim that we’re undermining the foundations of the Al Aqsa Mosque [on the Temple Mount], and that can set off the Middle East,” he continued.

Notice the Jordanian’s perfidy...

Netanyahu isn’t in complete denial yet, “The agitation in Jordan, which isn’t really related to us, and the Islamization there and in Egypt are very powerful forces.” So, Netanyahu recognizes that under the surface of a false “peace,” between regimes, tensions are mounting and Islamists are percolating.

PS: The hatred never went away, just by signing some paper.

He then said that despite the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, Israel “never really achieved reconciliation with Jordan or Egypt, because of the Palestinian issue.” That’s his take on it.

Its because Egypt, Jordan and the rest of the Arab/Islamic world, want the Jewish people to give a Kosher stamp of approval, to the Arab/Islamic theft and occupation of parts of the Land of Israel, and formally give it away to the so-called Palestinians.

About the failure to achieve a final status agreement with the Palestinian Authority, (and for the life of me I can’t understand why this should trouble Netanyahu); he said the Palestinian Arab population was internally divided, and hostile towards Israel.

“Why isn’t there peace with the Palestinians? I look at Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] and ask: ‘What about you?’ They aren’t ready to accept us. Half of the [Palestinian] people back Hamas and want to annihilate us, and the other half don’t want to fight with the first half, while itself suffering from internal conflicts.”

Seems the only thing saving Israelis, from another prime minister giving away part of their ancient homeland to Arab settlers and the occupying authority, is its not safe… they hate us!

Israel needs real Jewish leaders who will stand up and tell the Arabs, the Muslim world and everyone else, the God of Israel brought us back to our homeland, He’s fulfilling his promises, and the thieves should leave and go home.

Jordan isn’t Palestine, or a Hashemite kingdom, it’s part of the Land of Israel.

Give it back to the Jewish people now!

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.
(c) 2019/5780 Pasko

St. Yitzhak Rabin Day is Coming to Israel Again…

 

St. Rabin Day is coming to Israel again. If you’re on the political right, its time to run and hide before you’re accused of incitement to murder.

Or maybe a million or two, brave men and women, should hold a quite vigil by the Knesset, on the theme, “I didn’t kill Yitzhak Rabin, and I don’t feel guilty.”

The annual leftist-inspired guilt fest of St. Yitzhak Rabin (patron saint of lost “peace,” with the so-called Palestinians), has come around again, this year.

The phenomena of martyrs being deified, canonized, and raised to super-human status, has a long history among obscure antinomian messianic groups within the Jewish people.

 

St. Rabin is only the latest one...

Every year at this time, we are reminded that the “Kingdom of Heaven and Peace on Earth,” didn’t come about because of Netanyahu and the right-wing mobs.

Everyone who participated at a right-wing demonstration, everyone who opposed the “peace process” (half the country), everyone who questioned the orthodoxy of the Left; that “peace in our time,” was just around the corner (if Arafat would only have stopped “catch and release” and kept those nasty terrorists in jail); are guilty. You unbelievers, you had a hand in pulling the trigger!

And so, the leftist orthodoxy has a new victim this year, a new “sacrifice for peace,” Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a professor at Bar-Ilan University. The wheels of the inquisition are turning quickly.

 

What’s his crime?

 

He dared raise the issue of, “Who killed Yitzhak Rabin?”

The orthodoxy already “Knows” the “Truth,” how dare he question it. He must be “disciplined.” If the left had the power, he probably would be sent to a “re-education camp” or the “Gulag.” So Bar-Ilan University, that bastion of “academic freedom, free speech and free thought,” is going to muzzle him from talking out of turn. His free trip to represent the university at an academic conference, was canceled.

Not good enough “punishment” for a heretic, University Rector Prof. Miriam Faust, summoned Dr. Kedar to the Disciplinary Committee, just for saying that he thought convicted assassin Yigal Amir was not actually responsible for the murder of PM Yitzhak Rabin.

Kedar spoke recently at a right-wing rally in support of PM Netanyahu. Kedar claimed that Rabin had been the victim of a political conspiracy, and raised the question, that Amir was not the real assassin.

“Twenty-four years ago, the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered,” Kedar told the crowd, “and the attempt to hide what happened continues to this day.”

Kedar accused the Left of turning the assassination into a political weapon against the Right for something, “Yigal Amir might not have done”.

“The guilt of the Right continues to this day,” he said. “And how do I know it’s been silenced? For 25 years I was in the Intelligence Corps. I’ve seen tens of thousands of documents that are ‘confidential.’”

“Why [are documents relating to the murder] confidential?” Kedar asked the audience, answering: “Ladies and gentlemen, much of the investigation into Rabin’s murder are still in secret documents to date.”

Kedar continued, “Why is he [Amir] sitting in solitary confinement? So that he won’t tell people the truth?” Kedar then called for a “real investigation of Rabin’s murder.”

By the way, according to a poll conducted recently, by the Roshink Research Institute, for those organizing the upcoming Rabin Memorial, 19% of Israelis support a pardon for Yigal Amir, and 18% reported they are unsure whether, to pardon him or keep him in jail.

 

So it seems that many Israelis have their doubts too.

 

Yet, Bar-Ilan University was swift in responding, “The Bar-Ilan University administration strongly condemns Dr. Kedar’s comments. The things he said and his opinions, are his own, and do not represent the university and its employees. We believe that there is no place for these kinds of statements in Israeli society.”

Notice, one is not allowed to question the orthodoxy...

 

 

But, let’s not forget, two things:

1. In 2001, Yitzhak Rabin’s grandson during a radio interview, revealed that Leah Rabin (Yitzhak’s wife) had expressed doubts and had questions about Rabin’s murder herself. And, Dalia Rabin-Pelossof (Yitzhak’s daughter) has also expressed this in the past.

 

If the Rabin family themselves have raised questions, why is Dr. Kedar being “burned at the stake?”

2. Bar-Ilan University is where that “wild weed” Amir grew, he was a law student of theirs, at the time. Who were his teachers? What did they teach him? Is Bar-Ilan’s guilt complex over-reacting?

Defending Kedar, attorney Dan Yakir, of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, sent a letter to Bar-Ilan University’s management, “We are very concerned about the University’s decision to invite Dr. Mordechai Kedar to a disciplinary committee, to suspend him from representing the University at conferences abroad, and prevent his participation in an [upcoming] conference as a University Representative.”

Dr. Mordechai Kedar is a PhD, a faculty member in the Department of Arabic at the University and research associate of the BESA Center for Strategic Studies.

Yakir wrote, that Dr. Kedar’s remarks about Prime Minister Rabin’s murder were stated outside the walls of the academic institution and that the lecturer did not purport to represent the university.

“These steps constitute an improper violation of freedom of expression and academic freedom. Therefore, we would like to see to it that the disciplinary discussion to which Dr. Kedar is summoned and the suspension of his participation in overseas conferences be canceled,” Yakir wrote.

Labor-Gesher leader Amir Peretz was quick to condemn Kedar’s remarks. Again capitalizing on the murder, to besmirch all those who opposed the “peace process” in 1995, Amir said, “Netanyahu and his supporters are again on the balcony in Zion Square. The mouth is Kedar’s mouth, maybe the text too; the atmosphere is Netanyahu’s atmosphere.”

 

Proving Kedar’s point!

And, let’s not forget the so-called “Rabin Legacy,” about the “peace that could have been,” that’s always mentioned every St. Rabin festival.

The true legacy is that, after firing on the ship, the Altelana, in 1948, St. Rabin, commanding soldiers on the shore, ordered the fledgling IDF to open-fire on defenseless Irgunists in the water, fleeing the sinking ship, killing many.

 

Much Jewish blood was on St. Rabin’s own hands…

Not to mention the 30,000 machine guns his “peace process” gave to arch terrorist and serial murderer, Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, that led to the Oslo War (the second Intifada), over 1,500 Jews murdered and thousands more maimed.

 

What a legacy for St. Rabin.

 

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2019/5780 Pasko



A Tale Of Two Jews: Ben-Ami and Ben Shapiro

I turned on my computer, to check out the news, and was confronted by two different versions of Jews today.

The classic boot-licking, sniveling coward, appealing to the love of the gentile world. A Jew in name only, cut off from his people, civilization, traditions and homeland. A Jew, ready to help “enemies” of the Jewish people, sell Israel down the river, without a paddle. Son of a “Yored,” (lit. going down), Israeli father who left Israel for greener pastures in the “Goldene Medina” the US. The classic court Jew, only in it for the money and prestige, that selling out his people can bring to himself.

And ironically, his last name in Hebrew means “son of my people.”

Then there’s the proud, publicly identified by his kippa Jew (this at a time when many Jews are taking off their Kippas in public, do to rising anti-Semitism), Ben Shapiro.

Shapiro, is a conservative commentator in America, and “public” Jew. In Jerusalem recently, he was thrown off the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, by Wakf guards, for having the audacity to do, the most natural thing in the world, on the Temple Mount, pray to the God of Israel.

Shapiro, after experiencing the degrading behavior of Muslim guards towards him (something experienced by Israeli Jews regularly), telling him that a Jew can’t pray on his own holiest site in the world, called for building a synagogue on the Temple Mount.

Shapiro said in his recent podcast, “It is absurd that you are not allowed to openly pray up there. [Jews] should obviously be allowed to openly pray up there. Muslims not only are allowed to openly pray up there, they have the Dome of the Rock and a mosque up there.”

He continued, “In fact, I think there’s a strong case to be made that Jews should be building, if they can’t build the Temple, because there’s the Dome of the Rock right there. They should at least build a synagogue up there so you can have regularized prayers. If Muslims are able to build a school on one end which they have done, it seems to me the Jews should be able to build a synagogue in a space that is roughly the size of three football fields.”

Shapiro, to his credit is publicly standing up for Jewish rights in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount.

While “Ben-Ami,” who heads a so-called “Jewish” organization in America, that can’t even use the word Jewish in its name (only the letter J); said at the group’s annual conference, “Our [American] aid [to Israel] is not intended to be a blank check.”

This left-wing “Jewish” Middle East policy group, is trying to pressure US Democratic presidential candidates and the Democratic Party, to include in its platform, a call on Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria, the Biblical Heartland. Something that would put Israel at a strategic disadvantage, and endanger all Israelis.

The group’s leaders and student activists recently published a “call to action,” to modify the Democratic platform to more overtly condemn “settlement expansion” and to “support Palestinian aspirations.”

Ben-Ami called on candidates, to reverse Trump administration policies that favored Israel over the Palestinian Authority.

That’s right you read it clearly, a Jew, called on American politicians to favor “Palestinians” instead of Jews and Jewish rights, to parts of their Jewish ancestral homeland, Judea and Samaria.

To her credit, in response, presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar, said it was “not a good idea to negotiate these things in public.” Then later, said she would oppose aid cuts, because she believed Trump had made the region more dangerous for Israel by pulling the United States back from the Middle East. “That is why I am so wedded right now, to make sure we are actually continuing the aid,” Klobuchar explained.

There you have it, the state of the Jews in America today, one assimilated and anti-Israel, using his Jewish identity as cover, while actively working against Jewish national interests; and the other, a proud, open Jew, who fights for Jewish rights.

Throughout Jewish history, going back to the Torah itself, we’ve seen this manifest over and over again, the Real Jews vs. the Erev Rav, the mixed multitude that left Egypt with them, and intermarried over time.

Its the tale of two Jews: Ben-Ami and Ben Shapiro.

 

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2019/5780 Pasko