New Year Reflections, Part II (A Look Back At Those We Lost in 2021)

The 12/28/21 edition of the USA Today had a look at those celebrities (for lack of a better term) that passed away in 2021.  They separated the names by category, such as sports, music, entertainment and the like.  As I do not recall ever doing a post such as this, I thought I would comment on the ones I will miss the most.

In sports, it would the great Hank Aaron.  His 755 career home runs easily beat Babe Ruth's 714.  Aaron consistently hit 30 or more home runs in a season, and did so for 15 of his 23 playing years.  He finished with 2,297 runs batted in, and a .305 batting average.  Although his home run record was technically broken by Barry Bonds, I never accepted that.  Bonds broke the record during the steroid era, and so Aaron has remained the home run champ to this writer.  Aaron was 86 years old.

Jackie Mason has long been my favorite comedian.  He started out as a Rabbi.  He made fun of his fellow Jews, politicians and others, and was definitely not politically correct.  He was conservative, and a strong supporter of Israel.  Mason always knew how to set up a joke, and then deliver it with perfect timing and with his distinctive voice.  Mason died at 93.

I will also miss another strong supporter of Israel - Sheldon Adelson.  Adelson was the Chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands.  He and his wife donated huge sums to the Republican Party.  He also donated $140 million to the Birthright Israel Foundation, which provides an all expenses paid trip to Israel to young Jews in the Diaspora.  He spent $25 million to build a high school in Las Vegas, and donated $7.5 million to various universities to fund medical research.  As with this writer, he started out as a Democrat, then switched to being a Republican.  Adelson died at 87 years of age, and is buried at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel.  

In the field of music, I was sad to see the passing of Don Everly of the Everly Brothers.  Unlike the Righteous Brothers, Don and Phil were actual brothers.  Much of their music is from the 1950's, and I am only familiar with it because I have a brother who is four years older, and who constantly had the radio on.  Who so it seemed.  The Everly Brothers had classic hits, such as:  "Bye Bye Love," "Wake Up Little Susie," "All I Have To Do Is Dream," and "Cathy's Clown."  Don was 84.

The list would not be complete without mentioning Rush Limbaugh.  I only listened to him occasionally.  Dennis Prager's show generally aired at the same time, and I have always preferred the give and take style of Prager with his callers, to the more frequent monologues of Limbaugh.  Yet, so many conservative talk radio hosts have made it clear that they owe their careers to Limbaugh.  In that sense, he was the father of conservative talk radio.  Rush was 70 years old.

Last, but certainly not least, is Bob Dole.  He was a true war hero, serving in the Army's 10th Mountain Division.  It is well known that he lost the use of his right arm during WWII.  It happened while trying to rescue a fellow soldier.  He served in the House and the Senate, and ran as Gerald Ford's running mate in 1976, but Ford lost to Jimmy Carter.  He made a run for the presidency three times, but only one of those times was he his party's nominee.  That was in 1996, and he lost to Bill Clinton.  Dole served as Senate Majority Leader on two separate occasions.  He was a Republican and a conservative, but was able to work across the aisle, at a time when that was still possible.  In helping to defeat the Nazis and totalitarianism, he truly was a member of the Greatest Generation.  Dole was 98 years old.  

Actually, there is one more name.  But, as the list in the USA Today was published on 12/28, I could not have seen the passing of this woman on 12/31.  Betty White was a mere 17 days from her 100th birthday.  She had a career that stretched over seven decades.  My best recollection of her was from the Mary Tyler Moore show, portraying Sue Ann Nivens.  White was a volunteer in the wartime American Women's Voluntary Services, during which time she had various stateside duties.  A major passion of hers was the welfare of animals.  A shame that she could not have had a big 100th birthday celebration.           

New Year Reflections, Part I (The UN Continues Its Antisemitic Ways)

Some background.  In the May 16, 2021 post (Israel at War - Again), I discussed this past May's conflict between Israel and Hamas.  Following that conflict, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation sought a resolution from the UN Human Rights Council (as inaptly named an entity as is imaginable) that would establish a permanent commission on human rights violations in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.  

At the behest of Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority, the HRC complied.  With a vote of 24 to 9, with 14 abstentions, they voted to seek funding from the UN General Assembly for that permanent commission.  It would be the first such permanent commission.  

The resolution included language to "...urgently establish an ongoing, independent, international commission of inquiry to investigate, in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, all alleged violations and abuses of human rights law leading up (to) and since 13 April 2021."  The very wording of the resolution makes clear that the Palestinians are "occupied," giving rise to a presumption that Israel is at fault.

The resolution invests the commission with the power to "...investigate all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, racial or religious identity."  The "protraction of conflict?"  I'll be sure to look for the detailed discussion of all the wars started by the Arabs, in the hopes of wiping Israel off the map.  I'll look for a discussion of the thousands upon thousands of rockets and missiles launched into Israel by the Palestinians.  And I'm sure the commission will discuss the repeated promises by the Palestinians to control all the land from the (Jordan) river to the (Mediterranean) sea.  I just won't hold my breath.

Not surprisingly, the UN General Assembly voted in December to fund this permanent commission, with a vote of 125 to 8, with 34 abstentions.  Voting "no" was the US, Israel and Hungary, along with 5 small southeast Pacific island nations.  Sadly, many Western democracies could not find the courage to vote "no," but abstained instead.  Those countries include Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and The United Kingdom.  Voting in favor:  France and Norway, among others.

France is said to have the largest Muslim population in the Western world, with 5,720,000 Muslims constituting 8.8% of the country's population.  Germany's Muslim population sits at 4,750,000, equal to 5.7% of their population.  The UK has a Muslim population of 4,130,000, or 6.3% of the country's population.  Norway's Muslim population of 142,800 is enough to equal 5.7% of their population.  The Netherlands' Muslim population is 880,000, which is 5.1% of the country's population.  By way of comparison, the US has 3,450,000 Muslims; but given the size of our country they constitute only 1.1% of the population.  

So why are these Western societies siding against another Western style democracy?  No doubt their votes reflect an ongoing antisemitism that has infected Europe for centuries.  Combine that with an increasing influence of the growing Muslim population in Europe, and it is clear that Israel can only rely on a precious few friends in the world. 

Ironically, on the same day as the UN General Assembly vote, the Palestinian Atlas Center for Studies and Research released a new poll.  As reported in the Jewish Journal, "45% of respondents hold the Palestinian Authority responsible for the perennial crises in the Gaza strip, with 25% saying they hold Hamas responsible.  Only 15% of Palestinians blamed Israel."  Perhaps, as in many countries, the people are wiser than their leaders.  

Recall that President Trump took the US out of the UNHRC, acknowledging their unrelenting anti-Israel bias.  As with everything else, Biden reversed that policy, asserting that the US can have greater influence by remaining a member.  Influence?  The US could not even get the major European powers to oppose this anti-Israel resolution, nor persuade countries such as France and Norway to at least abstain.  Some influence.  I question the point of the UN's existence.