Assimilated Jews and the Plague of Darkness

In Egypt, 80% of the Jews did not leave but perished in the Plague of Darkness. These Jews simply could not separate themselves from the the gentile culture of Egypt and were not ready for the Redemption. It seems like a similar number of the assimilated Jews of the United States feel the same way.

Douglas Bloomfield, from YNetNews, warns of how Israel's new Foreign Minister, Avigdor Liberman, may alienate American Jews.

Lieberman, who was Netanyahu's chief of staff during the latter's first term as prime minister, said concessions to the Arabs "just invite pressure, and more and more wars. If you want peace, prepare for war." With declarations like that and his reputation as a racist who wants to drive out Israel's Arab citizens, Lieberman may be the best thing that has happened to pro-Arab lobbying in Washington since Yasser Arafat died.

But for the Jews he's bad news.

A recent survey for J Street, the Jewish "pro-peace, pro-Israel" lobby, conducted by Jim Gerstein, a Democratic strategist, showed Obama is "considerably more popular" among American Jews than Netanyahu by a 73-58 margin, and Lieberman's views are "resoundingly rejected by American Jews." The cornerstone of pro-Israel lobbying for more than 60 years has been Israel's yearning for peace in the face of Arab threats to destroy it. Israel, we've been taught and have taught others, is willing to take great risks, endure major sacrifices and accept painful compromises while the other side has insisted on its unrealistic and uncompromising demands.

Israel has ridden that image, despite occasional ups and downs, to a position of great strength in America and especially on Capitol Hill.

After Lieberman's declarations and Netanyahu's so-far lack of a convincing commitment to peace, Israel risks being branded an obstacle to peace.

There is a hard-core element in the Jewish community that will support Israel do or die, but the J Street data shows that fewer and fewer under 30 will, said Gerstein.

Their grandparents forged their ties with Israel during the vulnerable years of its birth and struggle for survival; their parents are of the post-1967 generation that grew up knowing the muscular Israel anxious to make peace. The 21st-century Jews see a different Israel, said a prominent pro-Israel lobbyist. "They see oppression, excess use of force and arrogance," he said. For many of them it is no longer the center of their Jewish identity.

Basically, liberal Jews are more comfortable with Israel carving itself up, uprooting Jewish communities, expelling hundreds of thousands of Jews and of millions of Israelis cowering in bomb shelters, all for the sake of "peace", rather than a strong Israel.

Following the recent war in Gaza, amidst false reports of Israeli "war crimes" and IDF atrocities, many liberal Jews felt torn between support of Israel and pictures of poor crying Arab women. These liberal supporters of Israel felt the need to somehow justify Israel's right to defend herself and of its citizens not to be blown to smithereens by Hamas Kassam rockets. And now that Israel has elected a new government that at least seems less interested in misguided "peace" processes, these Jews are squirming in their seats.

It is shocking that 60 years after Israel's re-establishment, liberal Jewry can be so fickle as to shift their support based on the policies of Israel's government. Most American Jews detested Bush yet few condemned America's right to exist or opposed the US war on terror. American Jews need not question Israel's legitimacy or be embarrassed by Israel. Whether the government is left or right, patriotism and nationalism is something that must run deeper.

Lieberman is absolutely correct in rejecting naive notions of "land for peace". Such an idea is absurd. If the Arabs want peace, then they can put down their arms and get peace. Israel has offered far too much land at too high a cost, for nothing. "Peace" is not worth the demise of the Jewish state. Carving up Jerusalem and making Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights judenrein, effecting marching back into exile, is not a price we are willing to pay to receive world approval. Of course, it is ludicrous that the victor of a defensive war should give land to an enemy which attacked it, and it defeated, 6 or 7 times in various wars. If anything, the Arabs should be offering Israel land!

A few years ago, a study showed that for many American Jews, the Holocaust, and not the State of Israel, played the central role in their Jewish identity. It is a sad testimony to the contemporary state of American Jewry when they feel most connected to the brutal and horrendous victimization and destruction of European Jewry as opposed to the living and vibrant reborn Jewish state. It shows a tendency to prefer to be the victims than to stand up for oneself, to be passive rather than assertive and to be the one being killed as opposed to doing the killing. In short, many liberal Jews identify more with Tevye the milkman from Czarist Russia, or Anne Frank, than with the Entebbe Mission or the triumphs of the Six Day War. Only among Jews can this pathological self-deprecation be found.

It is not wonder than American Jewry is in a speedy decline, sliding into obscurity with an over 50% assimilation and intermarriage rate. Within a generation or so, Jews in the United States will not even be an identifiable group, as intermarriage will have caused non-committed Jews to become extinct. With such an abysmal ignorance of Judaism and a lack of Jewish pride, these sad trends should not surprise anyone. I say to American Jews to please hitch yourself to the nearest synagogue or study hall and to learn Judaism, real Judaism, and to grow a little Jewish pride. Stop apologizing for Israel protecting itself and its citizens. We don't want another Yad VaShem or an international Holocaust Memorial Day. Israel doesn't have to grovel before the Arabs and endanger itself for "peace" to win your love or anybody else's. The Jewish future will be in Israel while those who are unable to see this may end up, G-d forbid, with the same fate as the 80% of Jews who did not leave Egypt.

Chag Sameach!

Demographic Demon Exposed

From Arutz-7:

Demographer Yoram Ettinger tells Arutz-7 that Palestinian Authority data about its growth spurt are distorted, untrue, and wildly contradict World Bank figures. He says there are 2.6 million Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, and not the 3.8 million reported by the PA.

The PA's Central Bureau of Statistics released over the weekend the results of its 2007 census, showing that its population increased by more than 30% over the course of the past ten years. Ettinger doesn't buy it.

"It is very astonishing," he said. "The census that was ostensibly carried out in 2007 has findings that are almost exactly the same as the predictions made by the PA's CBS ten years ago - even though over this period there were many dramatic and unexpected developments politically, economically, militarily, and sociologically. There was a war against terrorism, a Fatah-Hamas war, a great increase in unemployment, more planned parenthood, fewer teenage pregnancies, more divorces, more people going abroad to work - and yet still there were no changes from the forecast of ten years ago. This is very hard to accept."

"Moreover," Ettinger continued, "the PA's findings directly contrast with what the World Bank has found. The World Bank says there have been both a great drop in fertility and a great increase in emigration. For instance, there is a full 32% disparity between the PA's prediction ten years ago of how many 6-year-olds there would be now and those there actually are; instead of a growth of 24%, there was actually a drop of 8%... The '97 census even counted Jerusalem Arabs twice - once as Israeli-Arabs by Israel, and once by the PA's CBS as if they lived in the PA... The PA's numbers are exaggerated by approximately 53% over the true numbers."

Ettinger's conclusion? "I would say that not only is there no room for fatality or fear that the Arabs are close to a majority, but there is actually a solid and large Jewish majority of 67% in the area between the Mediterranean and the Jordan (not including Gaza), and the momentum is growing in our favor... The demographic issue is no longer a 'problem,' but a 'strategic asset.'"

Another example provided by Ettinger concerns the birthrate during the period from 1995 to 2007: "Israeli-Arab births during this 12-year period remained stable at around 39,000, while at the same time, the Jewish birthrate grew by 40% - from 80,000 to 112,000 a year. This is a pretty good indication of what can be expected here in the next one or two generations."

The true numbers, Ettinger says, are as follows: "Within the Green Line [pre-1967 Israel], there are currently 1.4 million Arabs, compared with almost 6 million Jews. In Judea and Samaria, there are 1.5 million Arabs, and not 2.3 million, as they claim. In Gaza, there are 1.1 million, and not 1.5 million."

Similar to CAIR's unsubstantiated claims of a 9 million strong Muslims voting bloc in the US, the PA intentionally distorts the true number of Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza to terrify Israel. This is contrary to the facts. As Ettinger said, there has been a drop in Arab fertility and a huge increase in emigration from the Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Earlier this year, the Mufti of Jerusalem issued a fatwa against emigration from "Palestine", in the hopes of styming the flood of migrants.

As we saw a week or two ago, about a quarter of the population of Gaza rushed out to Egypt the second that the security wall was destroyed. Clearly, the population wants to get out of that hellhole. Israel has a golden opportunity here. How fast do you imagine the Arabs running out if they would be provided with compensation and plane tickets to the other Arab states or to the West?

Israel's military leaders are already calling for a full-scale invasion of Gaza, and yet, this seems eerily deja-vu. The IDF will sweep into Gaza, do its utmost to prevent civilian casualties by putting its soldiers in needless danger, and after the loss of tens of good Jewish boys (G-d forbid), the mission will be declared completed and the IDF will sail out. Israel will invade and pull out, invade and pull out. (Didn't anybody ever tell Israel that pulling out before the job is done leaves both unsatisfied?) This is because the corrupt anti-Jewish leadership has no solutions. Because Israel tries its hardest to run away from its Jewish identity and act Western, it is stuck in an existensial crisis where it cannot properly defend itself. If Israel believed in its own right to the land, it would have no problem telling the Arabs that they had better ship out. Gaza's population is extremely young and most would like the chance at a better life than rocket attacks, terrorist thugs, electrical shortages and lack of basic civil infrastructure. Most of them would jump at the chance to leave.

It is plain to all except the leaders of the US and Israel that there will never be peace between Israel and the Arabs, especially since they are motivated by their bloodthirsty, warmongering religion to slaughter every Jew that they can find. The only solution is separation. Israel spends billions of dollars each year on useless "defensive" equipment like fences, bunkers, security guards at every entrance, etc. That money would be much better spent if it were used to create a fund for Arab emmigration.

"And ye shall drive out the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein; for unto you have I given the land to possess it." -Numbers 33:53. There is no alternative.

Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard

Peace is not worth it!

US President George W. Bush on Thursday called Israeli settlement expansion an "impediment" to the success of revived peace efforts and urged the Jewish state to follow through on its pledge to dismantle unauthorized settler outposts. (From YNetNews)

Bush and his Israeli judenrat are living in a bubble. Which "revived peace efforts" does he seem to be talking about? Does Bush mean the "peace" that brought Islamic Jihad rockets down on a hotel in Ashkelon? Maybe he's talking about the Arab attempts at peace by building pipe Qassams in the West Bank city of Casbah, the same West Bank that is slated to be given over to those peaceful Arabs. He's probably talking about the peace that allowed the Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade to fire a rocket at a Jewish settlement, Shaked, which is an impediment for the peace that the Arabs so clearly want.

Most likely, Bush is talking about the peace of the grave that the Arabs were quite happy to provide for David Rubin HY"D and Achikam Amichai HY"D, the two Israeli hikers who were brutally murdered by "moderate" Fatah policemen, with weapons provided by Israel, at the behest of Bush. Is anybody beginning to see a pattern? Let's clarify: Israel releases terrorists, hands over weapons and gives funds to the Arabs as part of a "goodwill" gesture, and the greatful Arabs respond with murder and violence. Obviously, Israel is the impediment to peace! And now, Bush is on his way to Israel to revive peace of the grave talks. Instead of forcing the Arabs to take responsibility, they are allowed to kill and attack Israel and Israel condemned for building settlements in Judea and Samaria. Rather, Israel should settle the land to its hearts content, forcing the Arabs to come to a quick settlement before they lose more land. "And they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people lightly, saying: 'Peace, peace', when there is no peace." (Jeremiah 8:11). There is no peace, no willingness for peace, and yet Bush and Olmert continue to prat on about peace! Peace immediately! Peace at any cost! Bombed houses and dead Jews are "sacrifices for peace". We are prepared to offer and give up anything on the altar of peace!

There is no peace! Bush may demand that Israel withdraw from Judea and Samaria but that would put Israel's most populous cities within range of Hamas rockets. "Hamas fires a rocket with a range of 12.5 miles from Judea and Samaria, it will hit Dizengoff Center (one of Tel Aviv's most popular commercial shopping hubs)," warned Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday afternoon after Gaza terror groups fired a long-range rocket towards southern Israel earlier in the day. The rocket, a 12.5 mile range Grad, hit one of Ashkelon's northern neighborhoods. Speaking at a Likud Secretariat meeting Netanyahu warned that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak "say that the country should withdraw to its 1967 borders. And it is clear that if we leave Judea and Samaria, it is Hamas that we will find on the other side of those '67 borders and they are already in possession of those Katyusha rockets." Israel's withdrawal will only provide one type of peace. It will provide the peace of death, the calm that will fall on the region once Hamas and Fatah are done slaughtering Jews, once Israel is thrown into the see. And this is no peace!

Zionism's goal is/was to provide a Jewish state, in peace or in war. "Peace" is not worth throwing tens of thousands of Jews out of their homes, arming our enemies, co-operating in our own demise or allowwing millions of Arab refugess into Israel. We must not be prepared to sacrifice the Jewish dream for "peace"! Should Bush have a problem with this, he is no true friend of the Jewish people. Let him consult his history books to find out what happened whenever Israel compromised with the sons of the desert, and let him consult the Bible which he claims to believe in, to learn the fate of those who stand against G-d's nation.

Palestine: A Case Study

The Jihadist lobby in the US and Europe have succesfully convinced many people that Muslim terror attacks on Israel will end when the "Occupation" does. When Israel leaves, Palestinians will magically lay down their arms and beat their swords into plowshares, or so we're told.
Truth is, Palestinians already have their own state. Since Israel "disengaged" from Gaza two summers ago, Palestinians have had a de-facto state. Interestingly enough, this state is neither democratic, free nor peaceful. In fact, the Palestinian government has said on a number of occasions that they will not recognise Israel. The Hamas Charter reads: "Israel exists and will continue to exist until it is obliterated by Islam as it has obliterated others before it". Hmm... that's a far cry from 'kumbaya' and 'Give Peace a Chance'.
Maybe Israel didn't sacrifice enough. Of course, once Israel evicts 100 000 Jews to placate hordes of vicious animals, Palestinians will hold hands with Israelis and sing 'We are the Children, We are the World". I don't think so. Even if Gaza isn't enough for them, that's no excuse for rockets raining down on schools in Sderot or suicide attacks on bakeries in Eilat. In 1948, when the Jews got a tiny little, barely defensible, which was much smaller than the original borders promised by the British, they didn't riot. The Jews didn't murder Arabs. Rather, they celebrated and built a democracy that cherishes human rights and freedoms. Maybe that respect for human life and rights is one not shared by every culture, such as the Islamic one. That is a lesson that the West would be wise to learn.