#$@%&#%!!!

No, that title is not a typo.  But I'm angry, and as I do not use curse words in the blog, that is the closest I can come to expressing my feelings.  Why am I so angry?  Other than the obvious...the leaders of Hamas tell us what they think and what they want to do.  Yet, the morons on the Left ignore all of that, repeat all the Islamist propaganda, and blame Israel for everything.  Let's take a look.

This is some of what I heard from the Hamas leadership.  They plan on repeating the atrocities of October 7 over and over and over again.  They want to kill all the Jews!  When the innocent people of Gaza die (the ones who do not support Hamas or cheer the deaths of Jews), Hamas tells us they are martyrs.  People die in every war anyway, they say.  And they claim that the people of Gaza are not their responsibility!  Hamas is the governing authority in Gaza, but the people are not their problem?  Those people are the responsibility of the UN, they say.  Everybody clear where Hamas stands?  I know my regular readers are, but what about people you know?  

So, following the atrocities committed on October 7, and given all the pro-Hamas protests around the country and the world, and given all the pro-Hamas protests and threats against Jewish students on college campuses, and especially given the actual statements of the Hamas leadership, we now have this.  An open letter was written by over 1800 "Jewish writers, artists and activists."  

"We are Jewish writers, artists, and activists who wish to disavow the widespread narrative that any criticism of Israel is inherently antisemitic."  That is stating the obvious - that any country may be subject to fair criticism.  But criticism of Israel after the events of October 7 has been mostly antisemitic.  But let's read on in this open letter to see what they really believe.  "Israel and its defenders have long used this rhetorical tactic to shield Israel from accountability, dignify the US's multibillion-dollar investment in Israel's military, obscure the deadly reality of occupation, and deny Palestinian sovereignty."  Wow!  So much to dissect there.  (To be clear, I selected this letter to comment upon because it is so indicative of Leftist thinking.  I could have just as easily taken almost any article or Op-Ed in the D-MSM.)

"Israel and its defenders" clearly does not include this group.  Jews who cannot bring themselves to support Israel, even at a time like this?  I am disgusted by these people.  "Dignify the US's multibillion dollar investment in Israel's military"...what morons!  The United States supports the ONLY democracy in the Middle East - Israel.  Israel has had to fight war after war for its very existence.  After the UN voted in November, 1947 to partition the British Mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state, the tiny country of Israel declared its independence in May, 1948.  The next day the Arab world made war on the new country in an effort to wipe Israel off the map.  Was that Israel's fault also?  The Arabs were given a state!  Why didn't they accept it?  Who should the US support?  Iran?  Syria?  Do I have to name them all?  Where is the democracy in the Middle East outside of Israel?

Let's go on with this open letter.  "Obscure the deadly reality of occupation."  In 2005 Israel vacated Gaza, and at times had to forcibly remove some of the 9000 Israelis living there.  They left behind industrial greenhouses, which the people of Gaza promptly destroyed, because Jews made them.  Instead of building, they immediately started launching rockets into southern Israel.  Eventually they were able to smuggle in more advanced missiles, all aimed at Israel.  I wonder how these idiots would like to live under a constant barrage of rockets and missiles.  And what about Egypt?  The southern border of Gaza is with Egypt, an Arab state.  No questions about why the Egyptians aren't helping their fellow Arabs, other than allowing the passage of ever more missiles into Gaza?

The letter continues.  "Deny Palestinian sovereignty."  When Israel ended its war for independence, fought from 1948 to 1949, Israel won.  The tiny country survived.  Jews around the world celebrated the existence of the first Jewish state in 2000 years, and the only Jewish state in the world.  Israel did not control Gaza after the war ended in 1949 - Egypt did.  Israel did not control the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) after the war ended in 1949 - Jordan did.  In fact, Egypt and Jordan controlled those areas for nearly two decades - right up to the next war, the 1967 Six Day War.  Israel at that time captured Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights.  But why wasn't a Palestinian state created when Egypt and Jordan had total control of the land?  

Again, let's discuss the idea of Palestinian sovereignty.  How many times have they been offered a state, only to refuse.  We'll just skip over the Arab attacks on Jewish businesses and people in the mid to late 1930's in Mandatory Palestine, before Israel even existed.  The idea of Jews living in the Jewish homeland was something the Arabs never tolerated.  That should be a clue for the Leftists - they will not agree to a Palestinian state as long as Israel exists.  Got it?  But let's go forward in time.  In 1947, the UN voted partition of the Mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state,  The Jews established the State of Israel.  What did the Arabs establish?  Anybody?  They declared war on Israel.  

Remember when Bill Clinton hosted Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, and PA leader Yasser Arafat.  After Clinton got Barak to offer the Palestinians a state, Arafat walked out on the President of the United States and returned to Ramallah to start the Second Intifada - when so-called suicide bombers blew up/murdered Jews on buses, in cafes, in malls and even at a Passover Seder.  

Remember in 2008 when George Bush hosted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA President Mahmoud Abbas?  Again, the US President assisted (pressured?) the Israelis to return land to the Palestinians for a state.  Once again, like his predecessor, Abbas left without agreeing to anything.  At what point in time will people believe this is NOT about land.  It is about a desire to kill all the Jews!  Hamas even says so!  (See the second paragraph of this post.)  And that, my friends, is a key difference (often stated in this blog) between liberals and conservatives - liberals let their beliefs dictate their reality, conservatives let reality dictate their beliefs.  (Although, I should change that to replace "liberals" who have remained classical liberals, with "Leftists.")

But, I need to be fair to the writers of this open letter.  They do condemn the attacks on the Jews in their open letter.  They do condemn antisemitism.  And, make no mistake, they are well educated people.  Just like the intellectuals in this country who supported Stalin in the 1930's.  Well educated people.  I also want to be clear that there were abuses carried out by Israel against Palestinians.  Sadly, that is what happens with wars.  And people tend to ignore the estimated 700-800,000 or more Jews who were displaced from Arab and Muslim countries after the founding of Israel.  Yes, some left voluntarily, but many were persecuted and expelled from those countries. 

What really bothers me the most is the timing of this "open letter."  I know there are leftwing Jews, and that some do not even believe that Israel should exist.  I understand that, like all Leftists, they will always categorize Israel as the "oppressor" and the Palestinians as the "oppressed."  After that, no further questions are asked.  But to draft such a letter after the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust?  It makes me so angry - hence the title of this post.    

(An afterword.  I have attended religious services at Chabad for years.  I have a great deal of respect for the five Chabad Rabbis that I know.  Following the teachings of the Rebbe, all the Chabad Rabbis teach that the Jewish people are one, and that Jews are commanded to love their fellow Jews.  So, I guess my question is - can I love them without liking them?  Can I love them and still think that they are leftwing morons?  Otherwise, I offer my apologies to these Rabbis, for whom I truly do have the greatest respect.)