Papal Bull

While the Pope's speech at Yad Vashem left much to be desired, he had no such restraint when speaking at a "Palestinian" refugee camp. Speaking before Israeli officials, government representatives and Holocaust survivors at the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem, the Pope could not bring himself to mention the words "Nazis", "murdered" or "six million", nor did he apologize for the silence of the Vatican during the war, and its apathy to the plight of the Jews. The chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, who is a Holocaust survivor, expressed disappointment at the pope's speech, saying that "there certainly was no apology expressed here. Something was missing. There was no mention of the Germans or the Nazis who participated in the butchery, nor a word of regret," Lau said. "If not an apology, then an expression of remorse."

Despite this, the Pope did not hold back in his call for an Arab terror state in the heart of the land of Israel and the return of the Jewish people to exile. Speaking before Fatah arch-terrorist Mahmoud Abbas, the Pope declared his support for "a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of... [their] forefathers". He used the opportunity to criticize Israel over erecting a security fence designed to prevent Islamic suicide bombers from blowing up Jewish men, women and children in cafes, restaurants and discotheques, a security fence only made necessary by relentless Islamic terror. Abbas, who is constantly referred to as a "moderate" in the West, used the opportunity to lament "the Nakba [catastrophe] 61 years ago" ie. the founding of the State of Israel. Straight from Yad Vashem, the Pope allowed himself to be used as propaganda for those who seek to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish State. PA spokesmen used the Pope's visit to reiterate the Arab "right of return", the flooding of Israel by Arab refugees with the intention of demographically destroying the state.

The Pope's pilgrimage is a case study in hypocrisy, falsehoods and lies. The Pope may have cried crocodile tears at Yad Vashem but he is far from expressing remorse over the Holocaust. His Church has been consistent in whitewashing its wartime record, reinstating Holocaust-denying bishops, promoting ludicrous and obscene comparisons between the Nazis and the IDF, as well as supporting the Durban II conference, in which a Holocaust-denying and genocide-enabling leader was the keynote speaker. The Pope has launched a campaign to exonerate Pope Pius XII, the Pope who closed his eyes as the Jews of Rome were round up from beneath his window, without hurting Jewish sensitivities. The Pope caused a huge scandal when he lifted the excommunication against a bishop who stated that there is no proof that gas chambers ever existed, and only relented after international outcry. Cardinal Renato Martino, the head of the Vatican Council for Justice and Peace and a former Holy See envoy to the United Nations, provoked an uproar when he repeated the revisionist libel that Gaza today resembles a Nazi concentration camp. In addition to this damning record of Holocaust-denial, obfuscation and unwillingness to confront the past, he met with Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, whose doctoral dissertation questions the veracity of the Holocaust and argues that Zionist leaders collaborated with the Nazis in the extermination of European Jewry. He writes in his thesis: "It seems that the interest of the Zionist movement, however, is to inflate this figure [of Holocaust deaths] so that their gains will be greater. This led them to emphasize this figure [six million] in order to gain the solidarity of international public opinion with Zionism. Many scholars have debated the figure of six million and reached stunning conclusions—fixing the number of Jewish victims at only a few hundred thousand."" This "moderate" Holocaust denier was also involved in the 1972 murder of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, and countless other terrorist attacks.

The Vatican has consistently promoted the internationalization of Jerusalem and taken a pro-"Palestinian" stance. It was only in 1993 that the Vatican recognized Israel. The reason for this hostility is that the State of Israel and Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem poses a tremendous theological problem for Catholicism. Church doctrine taught for millenia that Jews were "the witness", cursed to wander without a home as proof of their rejection of Jesus, and that they would never return to Israel. In 1948, and then again in 1967, an enormous issue was raised for theologians. By expressing support for a "Palestinian" state in the "land of their forefathers", the Pope is continuing this same deadly replacement theology. One would think that the supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church would at least have a cursory knowledge of Scriptures, which says quite clearly that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people. He must certainly be aware that there has never in history been a sovereign "Palestinian" state, nor was there ever a distinct "Palestinian" people, culture or entity. In fact, the "Palestinian people" were invented only in 1967 when it became apparent to the Arabs that a new strategy had to be devised to throw the Jews into the sea. Certainly the world's oldest people, with ties going back to the Bible, over 3500 years ago, should not be expected to give up its homeland to make room for the world's newest people, an artificial entity created 42 years ago. The people today referred to as "Palestinians" are squatters and invaders, having arrived in the 1900s from Jordan, Egypt, the Maghreb and Syria, attracted by the increased living standards caused by renewed Jewish settlement in Israel.

The Vatican has a lot of chutzpah. The original Jewish olim from Eastern Europe left for Israel because Church-taught hatred had made life so miserable for the Jewish people. During our entire sojourn in Catholic lands, we never had a moment of rest as we were persecuted and oppressed. The Church taught that Jews were wicked, sons of satan, and forced them to wear distinctive clothing and live in ghettos. Thousands of Jews perished at the hands of crusading swords or on the racks of the Inquisition. Entire communities in France and Germany were wiped out during the Crusades as mobs burst into Jewish homes and demanded: "Kiss the cross or kiss the sword!" The Holocaust, the most horrendous crime humanity ever committed, was only possible because of the two-thousand years of Christian anti-semitism. After watching the Oberammergau Passion Play in 1934, Hitler said out loud: "Perhaps I am rendering to Christianity the best service ever!" Having left, for the most part, Catholic lands for our own soils, the Pope has now followed us, demanding that we give up our land. Jews left Christendom yet Christendom has chased after us, pointing us back to the exile, to subjugation and lowliness.

I would like to point the pontiff to the Book of Joel. He would be wise to read and digest the fourth chapter, which speaks of the fate of those who divide up G-d's land. "For behold, in those days and in that time when I return the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and I will take them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will contend with them there concerning My people and My heritage, Israel, which they scattered among the nations, and My land they divided... And Egypt shall become desolate, and Edom shall be a desert waste, because of the violence done to the children of Judah, because they shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall remain forever, and Jerusalem throughout all generations. Now should I cleanse, their blood I will not cleanse, when the Lord dwells in Zion." 61 years after the return of Jewish independence, and 62 after the liberation of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, the world still disputes our rights to our home. We must not fear since even when Edom ie. the Church and the West will be a "desert waste", "Judah will remain forever!" Pope may come and go, but the Jewish people are firmly planted in their homeland.

Inverted Values

I got the idea for this post from Batya Medad's excellent post SAVED!! but I want to share it in my own words, with my own spin.

A Dutch court has ruled that the chestnut tree that stood outside the cellar where Ann Frank and her family hid, will not be felled. The suggestion that the 150 year-old tree which gave Ann Frank comfort during her hiding should be felled was met with protests. The tree is old and weak and there is a danger that it could fall into a building or injure someone but conservationists insist that the tree is stable and that it would be a tragedy to felle it. The head of the movement to save the tree said, "the worldwide attention for this tree shows how important this tree of Anne Frank is."

At the same time as protests where under way to save an 150-year old rotting tree, PM Olmert is preparing to travel to Annapolis and carve up Jerusalem. Unable to wait until he has the chance to hand chunks of Israel over to the Arabs, Olmert has just released 400 Palestinian terrorists and handed over millions of dollars and weapons over to Fatah. Head of the Manhigut Yehudit faction of the Likud, Moshe Feilgin issued this press release: He suggests that it would be much more efficient for Olmert to simply shoot a number of Jews every day. "Why bother with all the bureaucracy?" he asked.

The Prime Minister of Israel is prepared to spend billions of dollars to uproot 200 000 Jews from Judea and Samaria, to put Israel into an extremely indefensible position and to return to the pre-67 borders, or the 'Auschwitz Line' as it is known. And who are our wonderful peace partners, the "moderates"? Why of course the same Fatah whose charter states that: "Armed struggle is a strategy and not a tactic, and the Palestinian Arab People's armed revolution is a decisive factor in the liberation fight and in uprooting the Zionist existence, and this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine is completely liberated." (Article 19) Or what about Article 25: "Convincing concerned countries in the world to prevent Jewish immigration to Palestine as a method of solving the problem." And the Hamas charter which says that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." Seems like great peace partners!

Come to think of it, I do recall somebody about 60 years ago who wanted the 'obliteration' of Israel, the Jewish Nation, and I also do remember that many Jews could not escape his evil grasp because "concerned countries" were convinced to "prevent Jewish immigration to Palestine as a method of solving the problem". Nah! That couldn't happen again! Look at how people protested the felling of Ann Frank's tree!

It couldn't happen? Has the world really changed? I don't see any huge protests to stop Israel from being chopped up or "wiped off the map". Actually, I'm sure that the people who were most instrumental in saving Ann Frank's tree at most will shrug about the plan to initiate a Final Solution to the Zionist Problem, if not wholeheartedly support the 'liberation of Occupied Palestine'-- ***cough,cough*** Somehow, people seem to be willing to contribute money to build big Holocaust monuments or to make Holocaust studies part of the curriculum but are awfully apathetic about the prospect of a second one.

The world's favourite Jew is Ann Frank, the suffering, weak Jew. The only good Jew isn't necessarily a dead one; only a week one. But for the fighting, free Jews in Israel, the world has no patience. A Jew is acceptable as long as he stays quiet, keeps his head down and doesn't make much noise; in other words, returns to the ghetto. That's why the same people who contribute huge sums to Holocaust education will indulge in all the ridiculous slander about 'Zio-Nazis' and the 'Palestinian Holocaust' and every other vile libel that aims at delegitimizing the Jewish State. The anti-semitism of the past has morphed into a fierce anti-Zionism. Instead of the Jews plotting to take over the world, the US went to war for Israel. Instead of the Jews using Christian blood for matzot, Israel kills Arab babies for fun. Instead of the Jews being a debased race, witnesses to the suffering of those who reject G-d, Israel is an illegimate colonialist state and has no right to exist.

The way for Germany and the world as a whole to make ammends for the Holocaust is not to apologize since words are meaningless. It is not to fill Europe with monuments to the destroyed communities but to resolve to fight the modern day Nazis, those who wish for the Jews 'to be pushed into the sea'. We don't want ammends, reparations or memorials but for the world to stand in support of our right to live in our own land. Unfortunately, just like during the Holocaust, the world will most likely remain silent.

Have the Germans done Tshuva?

On the side is a picture of the Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. Despite all of the museums and Holocaust memorials in Germany, I want to know, have the German really done Tshuva- repentance? Do the Germans of today deserve blame for the sins of the previous generation?
In Judaism, when somebody sins, they must beg for forgiveness and fast in regret. What has Germany done? Said they're sorry a few times? Build some monuments? I don't want any monument; Hitler, of accursed memory, wanted monuments and museums to the destroyed race of the Jewish People. He planned to turn the Altneu-Shul synagogue in Krakow into a museum about the Jews.
In Germany, there are still many big buildings that used to be synagogues that are now used as opera houses. Jewish property was seized and never returned. If the German people truly want to atone and do tshuva for their role in the genocide of the Holocaust, the German Parliament should declare a national fast day. The Pope himself should declare a fast day in regret for the inaction of Pope Pius XII and the Catholic Church. Most importantly, Germany should be on guard against the modern day Nazis, the Islamofascists. Consider the following alarming example of Sharia uber alles in Deutscheland. Robert Spencer writes: Beaten and threatened with death by her husband, a young Muslim mother of two in Germany petitioned a Frankfurt court for a speedy divorce. German law mandates a year-long waiting period between separation and divorce, but also contains “hardship” criteria that allow for that period to be shortened. However, Judge Christa Datz-Winter decided that this was not a “hardship” case. According to Spiegel Online, Datz-Winter quoted Qur’an 4:34, which says that “men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other,” and that men should punish disobedient women: “admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them.” After all, Datz-Winter pointed out, both husband and wife were Moroccan. Germany must declare support for the inalienable right of the Jews over the entire Land of Israel.
Germany has the responsibility to do tshuva for their role in the Holocaust and to lead the world in the fight against totalitarianism and anti-semitism, most notable in the modern day form of Islamofascism. To do any less is an incomplete tshuva and a disgrace to the memory of the 6 million martyrs.