Posts filed under ‘Stormier times ahead’
Sober voices from Israel – Caroline Glick
CAROLINE GLICK
A lot of people hate Caroline Glick, a senior staff member of The Jerusalem Post, Israel’s premier English-language daily newspaper. They are usually the same people that hate Israel or readily find fault with everything it does or doesn’t do, or who whole-heartedly sympathize with Arab aspirations. These are people who find a lot of satisfaction reading newspapers like The New York Times and The Guardian and watching the BBC because of the traditionally jaundiced attitude of these purveyors of the half-truth and hype towards Israel. These are the kind of people that Plato was talking about when he said: “They deem him (make that her) their worst enemy who tells them the truth.”
The trouble with Caroline Glick – for all these people – is that she really knows the score about the global gang-up against Israel. She has knowledge and access to relevant revelations such as Arab attitudes and actions vis a vis Israel and the Jews, and she knows how to sort out all her facts to make a point clearly, succinctly and logically. Her knowledge extends to the other interfering nations, and the perfidy of the United Nations. Time and again she exposes the silliness or plain nastiness of American and other supposedly friendly leaders, envoys and journalists, hypocritically pretending concern about Israel’s welfare, while limiting Israel’s ability to defend itself and even function normally in its own territory. Like a Catscan exposing a malignancy, she points out the disloyalty and perfidy by all-to-many Jews and Israelis towards this beleagured country.
What gives her all this savvy? Well, firstly, she’s as alert and intelligent as they come. Furthermore, she’s been groomed from childhood for the role she now plays as – I hope she forgives us for saying this – a prophetess of doom. Her grooming started growing up in Chicago’s ultra-liberal, anti-American and anti-Israel stronghold of Hyde Park, where she learned first-hand the mindset of the people, many of whose liberality has been transformed from something wholesome and humane into blinkered perniciousness. Her academic background includes a BA in Political Science from Columbia University; a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University, bolstered by over five years – after immigrating to Israel in 1991 – as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces, including a stint as Coordinator of Negotiations with the PLO; as well as a position as Assistant Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (1997-1998).
During Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, she was an embedded journalist with the US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, reporting for The Jerusalem Post, the Chicago Sun Times and Maariv, as well as Israel TV’s Channel 2. She was the first Israeli journalist to report from liberated Baghdad.
So, she has accumulated an enormous amount of relevant knowledge and experience in her young life. Her articles have appeared in many of the foremost media sources around the world. She is also a senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC, frequently briefing senior administration officials and members of Congress on issues of joint Israeli-American concern. In addition to all this she is the author of Shackled Warrior: Israel and the Global Jihad, published by Gefen Publishers.
For anyone who genuinely wants to understand what the Israel-Arab conflict is all about, and why it continues as unresolved as possible, Caroline Glick is a voice that needs to be heeded by everyone. George Orwell said: “In a time of universal deceit telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” I can’t know if everything that Glick writes is the absolute truth. I doubt it because no one is that omniscient. Also, on occasion she slips into what to me seems to be misplaced hyperbole (but there isn’t an assertive writer who can’t be faulted for this, including R. Dobrin.) But she clearly helps set the record straight – the record which is so constantly and mendaciously distorted by much of the media everywhere.
She writes a regular column in The Jerusalem Post on Fridays as well as during the week. Countering her many detractors are the multitudes of grateful readers in Israel and all over the world who look forward eagerly to her revealing, inordinately knowledgeable columns on what’s really happening – even though her sober words don’t portend happy times. Caroline Glick is one of a number of excellent writers whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post. We hope to feature many of the others in future blogs.
Her website is: www.carolineglick.com
We present here a recent (slightly abridged) Jerusalem Post article of hers:
American Jews and the liberal
art of demonization
By CAROLINE B. GLICK – 7th September 2011
The US election season is clearly upon us as President Barack Obama has moved into full campaign mode. Part and parcel of that mode is a new bid to woo Jewish voters and donors upset by Obama’s hostility to Israel back in the Democratic Party’s fold.
To undertake this task, the White House turned to its reliable defender, columnist Jeffrey Goldberg. Since 2008, when then-candidate Obama was first challenged on his anti-Israel friends, pastors and positions, Goldberg has willingly used his pen to defend Obama to the American Jewish community.
Trying to portray Obama as pro-Israel is not a simple task. From the outset of his tenure in office, Obama has distinguished himself as the most anti-Israel president ever. He is the first president ever to denounce Jewish property rights in Jerusalem. He is the first president to require Israel to deny Jews property rights in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria as a precondition for peace talks with the Palestinians. He is the first US president to adopt the position that Israel must surrender its right to defensible borders in the framework of a peace treaty. He has even made Israeli acceptance of this position a precondition for negotiations.
He is the first US president to accept Hamas as a legitimate actor in Palestinian politics. Obama’s willingness to do so was exposed by his refusal to end US financial assistance to the PA in the aftermath of last spring’s unity agreement between Fatah and Hamas. He is the first US president to make US support for Israel at the UN conditional on Israeli concessions to the Palestinians.
Even today, Obama has refused to state outright whether or not he will veto a Security Council resolution later this month endorsing Palestinian statehood outside the context of a peace treaty with Israel. As he leaves Israel twisting in the wind, he has sent his chief Middle East Peace Processors Dennis Ross and David Hale to Israel to threaten Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu into caving to US-Palestinian demands and beg PA leader Mahmoud Abbas to accept an Israeli surrender and cancel his plans to have the UN General Assembly upgrade the PLO’s mission to the UN.
Given Obama’s record – to which can be added his fervent support for Turkish Prime Minister and virulent anti-Semite Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his courtship of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and his massive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and Egypt – it is obvious that any attempt to argue that Obama is pro-Israel cannot be based on substance, or even on tone. And so Goldberg’s article, like several that preceded it, is an attempt to distort Obama’s record and deflect responsibility for that record onto Netanyahu. Netanyahu, in turn, is demonized as ungrateful and uncooperative.
Goldberg’s narrative began by recalling Netanyahu’s extraordinary statement during his photo opportunity with Obama at the Oval Office during his visit to Washington in May. At the time, Netanyahu gave an impassioned defense of Israel’s right to secure borders and explained why the 1949 armistice lines are indefensible.
Goldberg centered on then-secretary of defense Robert Gates’s angry statement to his colleagues in the wake of Netanyahu’s visit. Gates reportedly accused Israel of being ungrateful for all the things the US did for it.
After presenting Gates as an objective critic whose views were justified and shared by one and all, Goldberg went on to claim that the administration’s justified antipathy for Netanyahu was liable to harm Israel. That is, he claimed that it would be Netanyahu’s fault if Obama abandoned traditional US support for Israel.
Goldberg’s article is stunning on several levels. First, his distortion of events is breathtaking. Specifically he failed to note that Netanyahu’s statement at the Oval Office was precipitated by Obama’s decision to blindside Netanyahu with his announcement that the US supported an Israeli withdrawal to the indefensible 1949 armistice lines. Obama made the statement in a speech given while Netanyahu was en route to Washington.
Then there is his portrayal of Gates as an objective observer. Goldberg failed to mention that Gates’s record has been consistently anti-Israel. In his Senate approval hearings during the Bush administration, Gates became the first senior US official to state publicly that Israel had a nuclear arsenal.
Gates was a member of the 2006 Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group that recommended the US pressure Israel to surrender Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights in order to appease the Arab world and pave the way for a US withdrawal from Iraq.
Gates did everything he could at the Pentagon to deny Israel the ability to attack Iran’s nuclear installations. He was also a fervent advocate of massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia that upset the military balance in the Middle East.
The Obama administration bases its claims that it is pro-Israel on the fact that it has continued and expanded some of the joint US-Israel missile defense projects that were initiated by the Bush administration. Goldberg sympathetically recorded the argument.
But the truth is less sanguine. While jointly developing defensive systems, the administration has placed unprecedented restrictions on the export of offensive military platforms and technologies to Israel. Under Gates, Pentagon constraints on Israeli technology additions to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters nearly forced Israel to cancel its plans to purchase the aircraft.
It is an open question whether American Jews will be willing to buy the bill of goods the administration is trying to sell them through their media proxies in next year’s presidential elections. But if next week’s special elections for New York’s Ninth Congressional District are any indication, the answer is apparently that an unprecedented number of American Jews are unwilling to ignore reality and support the most anti-Israel president ever.
The New York race is attracting great attention because it is serving as a referendum on Obama’s policies toward Israel. The district, representing portions of Queens and Brooklyn, is heavily Jewish and has been reliably Democratic. And yet, a week before the elections, Republican candidate Bob Turner is tied in the polls with Democratic candidate David Weprin, and the main issue in the race is Obama’s policies on Israel.
To sidestep criticism of the president’s record, Weprin is seeking to distance himself from Obama. He refuses to say if he will support Obama’s reelection bid. And he is as critical of Obama’s record on Israel as his Republican opponent is.
It is encouraging to see that at least in New York’s Ninth Congressional District, American Jews are refusing to be taken in.
Talkbacks ()
Getting the word out – 1
TALKING ABOUT DOOMSDAY
It is my intention to get myself invited to speak to audiences everywhere in Israel and anywhere else on the entire globe, on the critical subject of how to prevent the advent of a doomsday situation. Apart from my book “How to Avoid Armageddon,” published by Online Publishing earlier this year, and dozens of articles, I have begun giving talks in my hometown Jerusalem. As part of my promotional campaign I have prepared a promotional video for YouTube. The text is as follows:
Despite the fact that in many countries all over the world the average person enjoys a level of luxury, comfort and convenience undreamed of, even by kings not so long ago, humanity now finds itself in the midst of one of the most crucial moments in history, with threats and challenges to our well-being, to our very existence, that have never been so daunting.
We all have a pretty good idea regarding these threats and challenges – the serious environmental and demographic problems and a depraved form of religious fundamentalism that keeps growing more menacing all the time – to mention just a few of the issues. And when observing the growing hostility towards Israel by over half the nations in the world … together with the enormous amount of rocketry aimed at it from neighboring countries, even a cautious skeptic might be able to see a possible correlation with biblical prophesy that talks about Doomsday.
But I want to believe that we can avoid such a terrible thing happening, whether we see it in the light of biblical prophetic warnings, or as a logical consequence to unfolding events and developments, and still bring about a Messianic era – if that’s what you yearn for. Pragmatically, it would mean working for a more just world order, promoting decent education everywhere, providing enough food and water for everyone, fostering mutual respect and appreciation among all people, and doing whatever is necessary in order to protect the environment and contain pollution, and of course thwart the demonic ambitions of nasty tyrants and dangerous bigots.
And yes, there are serious efforts being made all the time to deal with these issues. And there are many wonderful people devoting their lives to making this a better, safer world. But there are many conflicting interests and complexities slowing down or even blocking these efforts. So, how are we going to overcome all these conflicting interests and complexities. We have to do so, otherwise we’re all going to be in very serious trouble.
Well, I can tell you that we’re not going to need anything terribly revolutionary or based on ingenious scholarship or the revelation of any esoteric texts. No! All that is needed … is plain, common decency. That’s all. Plain, common decency, but with the main emphasis on truthfulness. Does that sound naïve, unrealistic, silly?
Well think about it – throughout history it has usually been the opposite of truthfulness; it has been half-truths, lies and other forms of deception that bungling, inept leaders, scoundrels and tyrants have used in order to gain and keep power and to wreak havoc and bring boundless misery into the world. And this has always been made possible through the gullibility and indifference of people everywhere.
So, how do we prevent man-made calamity and war? How do we resolve the Israel-Arab conflict? And how … will we avoid a global doomsday situation? Armageddon! Well, if it is usually falsehood that enables the wrongdoing and evil to be done, then the logical answer is … truthfulness in the sense of being honest about what we’re saying. Actually, this is humanity’s most important and precious value. And indeed, it is truthfulness and the earnest practise of it among more and more people everywhere that will enable our survival as a species.
And that’s what my talk is all about.
I’ll be happy to speak anywhere and to any group on this crucially important subject. You can reach me through my e-mail: friendlysting@yahoo.com Thank you.
Demonstrations in Israel
A Zionist success and
a failure
Gil Troy is professor of history at McGill University and a frequent contributor to The Jerusalem Post, well-known for his incisive, clearly written perspectives. He is the author of Why I Am A Zionist: Israel, Jewish Identity and the Challenges of Today, and The Reagan Revolution. Here are excerpts from an article that appeared in The Jerusalem Post on August 16th, 2011. It needs to be read by everyone who cares about Israel.
Israel’s social protests reflect two great failures for modern Zionism – and one extraordinary success. The success was demonstrated Sunday night when Professor Manuel Trajtenberg of Tel Aviv University (heading a government-appointed committee to find solutions to the current demands of the demonstrators) visited a Tel Aviv tent city. As a regular reader of the western media, I know what should have happened. Reading how the New York Times columnists Thomas Friedman and Roger Cohen, among others, eagerly linked the “Israeli summer” with “the Arab Spring” and the European riots, I expected the belligerent Israelis to pummel the professor, mobbing him, maybe robbing him too, British style, if they did not kill him.
Instead, the professor and the protesters exchanged views peacefully. “I can only help you do it,” Trajentberg said, acknowledging the protesters’ power.
The journalistic rush to globalize all these protests overlooked the Israeli exception. Israeli crowds, while passionate, have been peaceful. This civility is a Zionist achievement.
Israel’s Zionist founders were utopian; they dreamed of social perfection. Nevertheless, Israel’s creation resulted from pragmatism balancing out utopianism.
The bad news for modern Zionism is that these protests took place at all. The Zionist founders, be they capitalists like Theodor Herzl and Ze’ev Jabotinsky, or socialists like A.D. Gordon and Ber Borochov, shared a commitment to the dignity of all individuals. Today’s widening gap between rich and poor would have dismayed them. Today’s social pathologies would have shocked them. And today’s political paralysis, material excess and cultural passivity would have appalled them.
The early Zionists were can-do idealists, committed to building a better world, not just retreating into consumption cocoons or wallowing in self-pity.
This, therefore, is the devastating news for Zionism – that so few of the social protesters or media commentators see either the Zionist movement or Zionist ideology as helpful in achieving the social change the protesters demand. Just as Diaspora Zionists must learn that Zionism is about more than defending Israel when it’s attacked, Israeli Zionists must learn that Zionism is about perfecting the state, not just establishing it. Alas now, Zionism risks irrelevance in Israel, its great achievement.
Of course, in many ways this is a 21st century socio-economic conundrum, far beyond 19th century Zionist theorizing. All western democracies struggle with what Americans call the work force’s Walmartization.
Since the 1830s, the American democratic miracle, which culminated in the post-World War II creation of the first mass middle-class civilization, relied on thriving factories and corporations paying respectable wages. This social pyramid brought cultural and political stability too. Modern hi-tech economies use part-time workers and cheap labor, resulting in economic and political instability. At the same time, consumerism and libertine selfishness have undermined cultural values and collective commitment.
In the 20th century, socialism and communism failed even more spectacularly than did untrammeled capitalism, usually yielding flaccid economies and burdensome bureaucracies. Sometimes, totalitarian dictatorships resulted.
The cautionary tales must be remembered as we seek a more equitable distribution, a more humane capitalism.
Zionism can help by offering a collectivist counterweight rooted in nationalism and individual dignity rather than socialism or welfare statism. Israel can lead the world in pioneering new social solutions rooted in an enduring love of freedom, appreciation of markets and a sense of collective responsibility.
Thanks to Zionism, Israel already has its share of humane capitalists. Reading author Saul Singer’s latest writings, it becomes clear that the co-author of Start-Up Nation wants Israel to be a Values Nation, believing that the same ingenuity that made Israel a hi-tech center can make it a model society. Listening to developer David Azrieli, it emerges that this master builder invested in Israel when others would not because he believed in Israelis’ potential, and his entrepreneurial Zionism is about normalizing the country economically without sacrificing core values.
Watching the hi-tech guru Yossi Vardi pour resources and love into the Bialik-Rogozin School in Tel Aviv for children of migrant workers, it appears that there are many ways for those who have succeeded to re-invest in the community.
Traditional Zionism may not have the recipe for the 21st century that capitalist democracies need, but a Zionist sensibility can shape the Third-Way approach Professor Trajtenberg wants to help the protesters find. Zionism is about a sense of responsibility for one another. Zionism is about seeking social justice. Zionism is about instilling meaning, idealism and ethics into individual lives and the collective national enterprise. Zionism is about trying to perfect the Jewish state, not just establish it. Zionism is about bringing the best of Jewish values and the best of Western ideas into the altneuland, the old new land. And Zionism is about pioneering creative, cutting-edge solutions to seemingly intractable problems.
SURVIVAL IN A DANGEROUS PLANET
SURVIVAL IN A DANGEROUS PLANET
LET’S FACE FACTS
By RALPH DOBRIN
Author of “How to Avoid Armageddon”
To order the book click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid Armageddon
Many people all over the world see Israel as a racist, war-mongering, imperialistic country that keeps killing innocent people, and refuses to make peace with its neighboring countries. In the United Nations, Israel has been condemned more often than all the other nations put together. But how justified is Israel’s awful reputation? How much is it based on real facts and fairness?
After all, how can it be that one of the smallest countries in the world – yes, that’s Israel – would keep challenging the enormous Arab world that has a population 50 times larger and which possesses a major share of the world’s oil reserves, as well as active support from the rest of the over billion-strong Muslim world? Surely that doesn’t make sense. In fact one would expect that Israel would do whatever it can in order to live in peace with all the other nations in the Middle East.
And actually, despite all the bad things said about Israel, this is exactly what it has tried to do since it declared its independence in 1948. Many people seem to forget that Israel has repeatedly given up territories … from which it had been attacked and even invaded in the past – only to be attacked from these same territories again. Sinai with its oil fields and strategic depth had been returned to Egypt on three separate occasions before finally making peace, which incidentally today is more unstable than ever before. The Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon and most of the West Bank have all been relinquished by Israel, only to be attacked from these places all over again.
Every time that Israel defends itself, which is what nations normally do when attacked, often retaliating only after diplomacy fails, it is Israel that is blamed, censured and condemned in every international arena, while the real instigators, whether they are the armies of neighboring countries or terrorist militias, might face some censure from a few world leaders, politicians and thinkers – at least those blessed with genuine integrity. Israel is frequently and indignantly admonished by public figures and ordinary citizens all over the western world, joining the angry pressure from Arab and Muslim countries, many of which strive determinedly for an end to the Jewish state. Even though throughout history, in war it is the winning side that has always kept territory it conquered or determined what should be done with it, especially in wars of defense, as is the case with Israel. But people either don’t know this or choose to ignore it when they call for boycotts and sanctions against Israel in its lonely, desperate struggle simply to exist. And they don’t seem to care that relinquishing all these territories will almost certainly make Israel practically impossible to defend.
It seems that there are a lot of double standards involved in the way people relate to Israel. And bear in mind that double standards imply bias, hypocrisy and the purposeful ignoring of pertinent facts – in short … dishonesty! Which begs the question: is that what impels much of the media when censuring Israel, while downplaying or even ignoring the frequent attacks on it by Arab militants? Are boycotts, sanctions and divestment yet another expression of shameless dishonesty? Is it dishonesty and perfidy that moves some western governments to condemn Israel like a criminal entity whenever it defends itself?
If it’s not dishonesty then it’s ignorance of the real situation in the Middle East. And people who have something to say about the Arab-Israel conflict, whether they live in Israel or in the neighboring Arab countries, or elsewhere, should consider whether they really know what they are talking about. And then to question their integrity. Quite possibly they will find that they are actually spreading lies or pandering to falsehood or indeed supporting evil. And thereby they prevent any resolution the conflict.
And it is this same insular approach towards Israel – stemming from ignorance or bias – that portends a very unhappy future for this planet. It shows that humanity on the whole doesn’t understand the meaning of truthfulness. And accordingly, we won’t be able to cope with all the other serious, pressing existential threats and challenges to our planet. Because of the cynical promotion of half-truths and lies used by various interested parties, combined with public gullibility or indifference, pollution is not being adequately addressed; neither are poverty and other global demographic issues; militant Jihad is making dangerous inroads everywhere – to mention just a few of the issues that mankind must address sensibly and promptly.
For this to happen, humanity needs to learn how to face facts honestly. People everywhere need to learn the meaning of truthfulness and its vital importance. People need to be able to discern falsehood. These are not easy lessons, but they must be learned in order to ensure a decent future for all people everywhere. These are probably the most important lessons for each and every one of us and can be found in the book, “How to Avoid Armageddon,” which is available through Amazon or from the publisher Old Line Publishing or you can ask at book stores.
To order “How to avoid Armageddon” through Amazon, click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid Armageddon
Wilders Warns America
Wilders Warns America
Patriotic democrat or bigoted
rabble-rouser?
By RALPH DOBRIN
Author of “How to Avoid Armageddon”
To order the book click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid Armageddon
Because of his harsh, very risky criticism of Islam, Geert Wilders has become one of the most hated men among Muslims everywhere. The founder and leader of the Netherlands Party for Freedom, which has become a major party in his country’s parliament, and which promotes free market economics and European integration, the party is best known for its opposition to the Islamization of the Netherlands. His activities and statements have prompted a number of attempts on his life and he is constantly accompanied by body guards and changes his domicile to a new place every day.
Not only Muslims are upset. He faces prosecution by the Amsterdam law courts for what has been termed his “incitement to hatred and discrimination.” He was banned from entering Britain (the ban was subsequently removed). A number of cities in Europe on hearing his intention to visit them, had notified him officially that he is not welcome.
Small wonder that Wilders has faced so much opprobrium. He has compared the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf and says it should be outlawed in the Netherlands. He calls for a ban on the construction of new mosques. He is especially reviled by Muslims and Left wing liberals for his 2008 film on Islam, Fitna.
Compounding all this, Wilders has called the prophet Muhammad a “barbarian, a mass murderer, and a pedophile,” and referred to Islam as a “fascist ideology,’ adding that it is “violent, dangerous, and retarded.”
In July 2010, Wilders announced the International Freedom Alliance, a network of groups and individuals who “are fighting for freedom against Islam”.
Like all controversial figures, Geert Wilders prompts many questions. Is he a dangerous trouble-maker making waves in order to attract attention and build up a political base through ethnic hatred, or is he a sincere visionary, recognizing grave dangers to the future of his country and the rest of the free world?
On May 12th, 2011 Geert Wilders gave a talk at the Cornerstone Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Here are a few modified excerpts that might help provide answers to these questions:
Do you know why America is in a better state than Europe? Because you enjoy more freedom and that’s because you are still allowed to tell the truth. In Europe and Canada people are dragged to court for telling the truth about Islam.
I am an elected member of the House of Representatives in the Netherlands. Yet I am currently standing in court like a common criminal for saying that Islam is a dangerous totalitarian ideology rather than a religion. I risk a jail sentence of 16 months.
Last week, my friend Lars Hedegaard, a journalist from Denmark, was fined because in a private conversation, which was recorded without his knowledge, he had criticized the way women are treated in Islamic societies. And recently, another friend, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, a human rights activist from Austria, was fined for saying that Muhammad was a pedophile because he had married a 6-year old girl and raped her when she was 9. Unfortunately, there are many similar cases.
So, I am especially happy to be in your midst because here I can say what I want without having to fear that I will be dragged to court. You cannot imagine how we envy your First Amendment. But beware, because the day when America follows the example of Europe and introduces so-called “hate speech crimes” – used to punish only people critical of Islam, that day America will have lost its freedom.
I am here today with a warning; with a battle cry: Wake up, Christians of Tennessee. Islam is at your gate. Do not allow Islam to gain a foothold here.
Islam is dangerous. Islam wants to establish a state on earth, ruled by Islamic sharia law. Islam aims for the submission, whether by persuasion, intimidation or violence, of all non-Muslims, including Christians. The results can be seen in Europe.
Islam is an ideology of conquest. It uses two methods to achieve this goal: the first method is the sword. Demonstrating this is the flag of Saudi Arabia, which shows a huge sword, just below the Islamic creed. The message is clear. Without the sword Islam would not have been able to spread its creed.
The second method is immigration. Islam’s founder Muhammad himself taught his followers how to conquer through immigration when they moved from Mecca to Medina. This is called al-Hijra.
In Europe we have been experiencing al-Hijra for over 30 years now. Many of our cities have changed beyond recognition. They now have within them a second city, a state within the state, a government within the government. A Muslim city, a city ruled by the Koran.
We now find ourselves in this situation because we adopted the concept of cultural relativism, which determines that all cultures are equal. However, Islam is spreading like wildfire because the Koran explicitly tells Muslims that they are “the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind” and that non-Muslims are “the worst of creatures.”
Islam is spreading like wildfire everywhere in the West where political, academic, cultural and media elites lack the guts to proudly proclaim, as I believe we all should proclaim: Our Judeo-Christian Western culture is far superior to the Islamic culture. We must be proud to say so!
Multiculturalism is a disaster because it made us tolerate the intolerant, and now intolerance is annihilating tolerance. In the name of tolerance, we should claim the right not to tolerate the intolerant. Let us no longer be afraid and politically correct, let us be brave and bold. Let us tell the truth about Islam.
I want to make clear that I do not have a problem with people. I always make a distinction between the people and the ideology, between Muslims and Islam. I have no problem with Muslims, but I do have a problem with the totalitarian Islamic ideology of hate and violence. The fact that there are many so-called moderate Muslims, does not mean that there exists a moderate Islam. A moderate Islam does not exist and will never exist.
And because there is no such thing as a moderate Islam, the Islamization of our free Western societies is a definite threat. Only two weeks ago, the British press revealed how the so-called “London Taliban” is threatening to kill women who do not wear veils in the London borough of Tower Hamlets. In some neighborhoods Islamic regulations are already being enforced, even on non-Muslims. Women’s rights are being trampled. We are confronted with headscarves and burqas, polygamy, female genital mutilation, honor-killings where men murder their wives, daughters or sisters because they do not behave in accordance with Islamic rules. Polls show that the influence of those Muslims who live according to Islam’s aggressive requirements is growing, especially among young people.
Among 15-year-old German Muslims, 40% consider Islam more important than democracy. Among Muslim university students in Britain, 40% support sharia. One in three of those students considers it legitimate to kill in the name of Islam.
Christians are asked to follow the example of Jesus. Muslims are ordered to follow the example of Muhammad. That is why Islam is dangerous. While Christianity preaches love, Islam preached hatred and practices violence – hatred and violence for anyone who is not a Muslim.
If you wear a cross or a kippah in certain urban areas in Europe today, you risk being beaten up. In the capital of my own country, Amsterdam, a tram driver was forced to remove his crucifix from sight, while his Muslim colleagues are allowed to wear the veil. In June 2008, the Christian church authorities in the Danish town of Arhus paid Islamic security guards in order to assure that church goers are not harassed by Islamic youths. Talk about protection money!
On March 31st, 2010, Muslims entered the Roman Catholic cathedral of Cordoba, Spain, and attacked the guards with knives. They claimed the cathedral was theirs. Last month, the bishops of Sweden sent out a letter to priests advising them to avoid converting asylum seekers from Islamic countries to Christianity, because the converts would risk losing their lives.
In Amsterdam, the city authorities in register polygamous marriages. The authorities in Rotterdam serve only halal meals in municipal cafeterias. Theaters provide separate seats for women who are not allowed to sit next to men. Municipal swimming pools have separate swimming hours for men and women. Muslim lawyers do not have to stand when the judges enter court rooms!
Meanwhile, in Amsterdam, Jews are again being harassed in the streets. Even political leaders acknowledge that life has become unsafe for Jews in Holland. Their solution? They advise Jews to emigrate. But I say: Jews must not leave, violent Muslims must leave!
What is needed is a spirit of resistance. Because resistance to evil is our moral duty. This resistance begins with expressing our solidarity to Christians, Jews, indeed, to the millions of people worldwide, who are the victims of Islam.
We can see what Islam has in store for us if we observe the fate of the Christians in Islamic countries, such as the Copts in Egypt, the Maronites in Lebanon, the Assyrians in Iraq, and Christians elsewhere. Almost every day, churches are arsoned and Christians are assassinated in Islamic countries. Their homes are burnt. Rivers of tears are flowing from the Middle East, where there is only one safe haven for Christians. You know where that is. The only place in the Middle East where Christians are safe is Israel.
That is why Israel deserves our support. Israel is a safe haven for everyone, whatever their belief and opinions. Israel is a beacon of light in a region of total darkness. Israel is fighting our fight.
The jihad against Israel is a jihad against all of us. If Israel falls, we, too, will feel the consequences. If Jerusalem falls, Athens, Rome, Amsterdam and Nashville will fall. Therefore, we all are Israel. We should always support Israel!
Make no mistake: Islam is also coming for America. In fact, it is already here. America is facing a stealth jihad, the Islamic attempt to introduce sharia law bit by bit. Last March, a judge in Tampa, Florida, ruled that a lawsuit against a mosque and involving the control of $2.4 million should proceed under Islamic law.
Be aware that this is only the beginning. This is how it started in Europe. If things continue like this, you will soon have the same problems as we are currently facing. Leaders who talk about immigration without mentioning Islam are blind. They ignore the most important problem that Europe and America are facing.
There are five things which we must do. First, we must defend freedom of speech.
Second, we must end cultural relativism and political correctness. We must repeat it over and over again, especially to our children: Our Western culture based on Christianity and Judaism is superior to the islamic culture. Our laws are superior to sharia. Our judeo-christian values are better than islam’s totalitarian rules.
Third, we must stop the Islamization of our countries. More Islam means less freedom. We must stop immigration from Islamic countries. We must expel criminal immigrants. We must forbid the construction of new hate palaces called mosques.
Fourth, we must take pride in our nations again. We must cherish and preserve the culture and identity of our country. Preserving our own culture and identity is the best antidote against Islamization.
And fifth, we must elect wise and courageous leaders who are able to address the problems which are facing us, including the threat of Islam.
Geert Wilders – a democrat and patriot or bigoted rabble rouser? Depends on one’s perspective, doesn’t it?
To order “How to avoid Armageddon” click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid Armageddon
The ultimate immorality
The ultimate immorality
Trying to destroy a nation
through lies
By RALPH DOBRIN
Author of “How to Avoid Armageddon”
To order the book click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid Armageddon
All over the world there are a lot of people who are very angry with Israel – and that’s the truth. In 1948 hundreds of thousands of Arabs who had been living in Palestine fled their homes and became refugees – and that’s the truth. During six days in June 1967 Israel attacked Jordan, Syria and Egypt and enlarged it’s territory four-fold. This is also the truth. Another truth is that Israel launched an intense military attack into the Gaza Strip on December 27, 2008, which lasted for about three weeks. I think that every rational person – no matter who and no matter where – can accept that these statements are true; they are all easily verifiable and the wording as such does not reflect any bias because they reflect The Truth.
But what exactly is The Truth? One doesn’t need to be a great thinker to know what is meant by the truth on a day-to-day level. After culling various dictionaries in order to get a concise definition, I think most people could agree that the truth about something requires exact conformity to fact or actuality. To this I would add that any notion or belief, no matter how strongly felt, doesn’t necessarily represent The Truth.
Now, apart from measurable items and certain things that have happened to me personally, I can’t really be sure that I have the absolute truth about very much. My life is based mainly on assumptions, most of which seem to work pretty well for me. For instance, I assume on the basis of what I’ve heard and read, that eating fresh fruit and vegetables is beneficial to our health; so is cutting down on meat and most processed food stuffs. Also pollution and global warming are said to be real threats to our future. So, even though I don’t have the academic training to verify these claims myself, my common sense acknowledges that I should eat accordingly and also conserve electricity and water and gasolene usage for my transportation. In doing this I think that I am abiding by a growing consensus all over the world. A consensus probably based to a fairly large extent on the truth.
But let’s take a subject that doesn’t have a complete consensus – like the Holocaust. How can I be sure that the conventional view about the Nazi genocide of Jews in Europe does indeed reflect The Truth? After all, I wasn’t in Europe during those terrible years. And maybe controversial historian David Irving, or Bishop Williamson or President Ahmedinijad have actually got it right when they declare that the Holocaust is really a hoax. But as a Jew my immediate reaction is that these prominent people are very wrong. On the other hand, if I take into consideration the tendency for bias that most of us have as a result of years of mental conditioning, I should consider that as a Jew I might actually have a distorted view of the events of the thirties and forties of the last century. Let’s face it, more and more people throughout the world agree that the claim of Holocaust is a lie. Can they be right? Let’s see if we can check it out as honestly and objectively as possible.
Well firstly, I do have a personal connection. It’s not going to convince any hard-lined denier, but it gives me a certain perspective. My grandmother barely survived Theresianstadt and a few other concentration camps and joined us after the war in South Africa. I’m pretty sure that she didn’t fabricate the stories of forced eviction from her home, the years of starvation, the daily shootings or the many deaths of her family members. Then later, when I arrived in Israel in 1957, I kept seeing people with concentration numbers tattoed on their forearms. Many of these people said that they had lost most of their family members. Would a sizeable proportion of Israel’s population have tattoed numbers on themselves for fun or lied about the deaths of their loved ones?
Furthermore, apart from the overwhelming evidence given by survivors and liberating soldiers on the mass killings, the Holocaust was thoroughly documented by the typically orderly German government itself. After the Nazi defeat, millions of documents were found by the Allied forces, recording the transports to labor and death camps, as well as the daily numbers of Jews killed and where these killings took place.
The Nazis themselves had produced films on the killings. Furthermore, Post-World War II Germany has fully accepted that during the Nazi regime, about six million of Jewish civilians throughout Europe were murdered. If the Holocaust deniers were indeed right, would Germany as an official, free and independent state be willing to admit to such an inordinately heinous legacy?
There are many issues in life that one can’t prove in accordance with absolute, scientifically conducted criteria. Often, the best that the individual can do about certain vital issues, is to conclude without a reasonable doubt – in the same way that is accepted in a court of law. And if I also consider the countless other readily accessible data regarding the Nazi period, it is clear that David Irving, Bishop Williams and the President of Iran, together with all the other Holocaust deniers are in fact engaging in falsehood. They are lying. They are liars.
But the lie of Holocaust denial is taken one step further. Israel is accused of doing to the Arabs what the Nazis had done to the Jews. And again, let’s not jump to immediate conclusions – let’s consider that maybe, just maybe this indeed, is The Truth. After all, huge crowds of people often take part in massive protest demonstrations against Israel, not only in Arab and Islamic countries but in Europe and the whole American continent. So, there must be something to justify their indignation against the Jewish state.
One of the accusations against Israel is that it is an aggressor nation. On the face of it this seems to be a valid statement. After all, Israel has often acted aggressively against Arab countries. This is the Truth and I would be lying if I said otherwise.
But what should be asked is: does it make sense for Israel, with a population of a mere six and a half million Jews to take on the whole Arab world, now over 300 million, thus making it about fifty times more populous than Israel – and possessing a large part of the world’s oil reserves, which gives them enormous global influence and wealth. There are other factors in the Israel-Arab conflict which clearly put Israel at a ridiculously impossible disadvantage. So, are the Jews of Israel crazy to be fighting Arabs, which includes angering the rest of the billion-strong Muslim world?
No, the Jews are not crazy. Neither are they deluded about any superhuman abilities or convinced that the Messiah will appear and save them. Furthermore, they are not intrinsically any more physically aggressive than other nations. Indeed, traditionally, until recently they have been known to be physical wimps. But tragically, they are forced continuously to defend themselves against the ongoing Arab quest to uproot Jewish sovereignty from the sliver of land that constitutes a tiny fraction of the original Palestine. For over 90 years Arabs have attacked Jews in their ancient homeland. At first the Jews were quite helpless against the assaults and the killings. But they quickly learned how to defend themselves. Since Israel’s Declaration of Statehood, neighboring Arab states have twice launched full-scale invasions against Israel and once (in 1967) were arrayed on Israel’s vulnerable borders for yet another invasion which was pre-empted by Israel in order to prevent the annihilation that the Arabs had promised over and over again. Apart from the invasions, there has been hardly a single day when an Arab country or terrorist organization wasn’t bombarding Israeli towns and villages with rockets or sending terrorist squads to cause mayhem, or engaged in the planning and preparation of a future onslaught.
This is a very brief background to why Israel has needed to act aggressively from time to time. (Incidentally from the outset, Arab aggression against Israel has always led to more and more misery of Arabs. The Arab refugee problem was totally unnecessary and would never have happened had they not launched a war of annihilation against the Jews in the first place. This is a Truth that very few people mention.)
Anyone who ignores Arab aggression against Israel in this conflict is in fact engaging in selective omission. That’s the same as falsehood. That’s being a party to lies. And there are plenty more false accusations that are constantly directed at Israel by the Arabs, their fellow-Muslims, and shamefully, by a large percentage of people in Europe and the Americas.
Among the many accusations leveled against Israel is that it is expansionist and wants to conquer Arab lands! But if Israel is expansionist, then why did it cede the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, not once but on three separate occasions – each time after Sinai had previously been used as a staging point by Egypt for invasions against Israel? Similarly, if Israel were expansionist, why did its armed forces withdraw from a large part of Judea and Samaria (aka West Bank) in the framework of the Oslo Peace Accords? Here too, the army has needed to return from time to time to the ceded areas in order to cope with the intense terrorist activity. We have seen exactly the same pattern regarding Lebanon. Clearly, claiming that Israel is expansionist is yet another crude fabrication.
The reality is that Israel, one of the smaller nations in the world is trying desperately to prevent yet another genocide on its people, while being hamstrung by media bias, international sanctions, boycotts and censure every time it tries to defend itself. Also, unlike any other nation facing constant military aggression, Israel is invariably restricted in its scope to defend itself by it’s supposed friends when it needs to prevent military aggression or retaliate.
Israel’s vulnerability is progressively and seriously aggravated with Iran’s advance in its nuclear weapons program, and the hundreds of thousands of rockets of all sizes, including devastating war-heads aimed at Israel from all directions. Furthermore, the regime changes throughout the Arab world might very well lead to even more fundamentalist influence and fury, heralding a situation in which Israel will find its back to the wall with very little chance of defending itself, short of unleashing its nuclear arsenal at its attackers.
And yet, with this precarious background, the pressure on Israel to unconditionally relinquish even more territory to its foes, who have made their demonic intentions crystal clear, has never been greater. A number of words come to mind when considering this attitude – cynicism due to the need for regular oil supplies, abysmal obtuseness and ruthless global power struggles. One word sums it all up and it is immorality … of biblical proportions.
To order “How to avoid Armageddon” click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid Armageddon
Things that people say about Jews – Part 3
Continued from Part 2:
http://truthandsurvival.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/things-that-people-say-about-jews-%e2%80%93-part-2/
THE HOLOCAUST:
Doubts, delight and hope that it will happen again
Part 3 in a 3-part series
By RALPH DOBRIN
Author of “How to avoid Armageddon”
Available through Amazon
Click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid armageddon
BASED ON A VIDEO CLIP PRESENTED BY MEMRI
It seems that the Arab world is fascinated by the Holocaust. It is featured on many talk shows, some appearing on this MEMRI video. Experts by the warped standards of scholarship when it comes to Jews, give their views, which are gleefully swallowed by the Arab public. Versions on the subject vary. What they all have in common is their flight in fancy. There was no Holocaust. Or only 30,000 Jews were killed. The Jews lie about the figures so as to gain world sympathy and money from Germany.
Although there is an encouraging sign of honesty and scholarship in a program presented by Al Fara’een TV of Egypt in January 2010. It came in the form of the interviewee, who clearly knew the subject well and tried to set the record straight for the interviewer and the viewers.
The program starts grimly with scenes of Nazi leaders, parades, concentration camps, barbed wire and groups of Jews being herded by German soldiers. A woman’s voice explains pleasantly: “Hitler and some of his aides realized that the German Jews were becoming a big headache. So Hitler began sentencing them to be burnt in camps … Hitler began to invade Europe … with every victory many Jews fled. No one can deny that the Jews were one of the main reasons for the defeat of Hitler in World War II after he had come very close to conquering the world.” Dah!!!
She continues: “The Jews managed to reach some of Hitler’s advisors and present them with ideas of a German invasion into Russia when it was snowing heavily. They also encouraged [Hitler] to send his forces to North Africa in a time of great heat.” (One can only wonder at the sources of the commentator’s unique information.) “Hitler was defeated after having burnt a not insignificant number of people who adhered to Judaism in Europe. We acknowledge that there was indeed a Holocaust of the Jews in some camps. But we completely disagree with the figures presented by the Jewish organizations and by Israel regarding the number of Jews burnt. Any observer can see that it was the Jews who provoked Hitler and drove him to take these measures.” Blame those nasty Jews for everything – even Hitler.
Now she comes to the whole point of the program: “The Jewish organizations and Israel claim that about three million Jews were burnt in the Holocaust. But we say the figure did not exceed 150,000. Others say the figures did not exceed 30,000. We condemn what happened to the Jews from 1933 till the end of the Second World War. But this does not mean that the Jews can extort the Germans this way. Germany should not continue to pay for the Holocaust mistake until Judgment Day.”
The gruesome film and the commentary end and an interview begins with Dr. Sa’id Okasha of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. He is a man who clearly knows his subject.
Interviewer (a pleasant young woman): “Were Jews burnt in Europe?”
Okasha: “I have reservations about raising this issue. I don’t know why the Arab world cares so much about the number of Holocaust victims.”
Interviewer: “Maybe because of the false claims made by the Jews about this.”
Okasha: “If the Nazis had killed 30,000 people like the figure in your report just because they were Jews, would it not have been a crime? Whenever you kill a person because his religion is different from yours it is a crime against humanity.”
Interviewer (interrupts): “But let’s talk about the figures. This is important to us because the Jews say it is three million.”
Okasha: “No, the Jews say six million, not three million. There are many mistakes in your report.”
Interviewer (wide-eyed): “This is the first time I hear this figure.”
Okasha: “This is the figure discussed in all the literature.”
Interviewer (confrontational): “We have conducted research and so on.” (sic)
Okasha: “In all the literature (it says that) in Auschwitz alone four million died …”
Interviewer (interrupts): “Well, we concluded the Jews say three million. We mentioned three figures – three million, 150,000 and 30,000.”
Okasha: “On what did you base this report? Where did you get three million, or 30,000?”
Interviewer: “And where did you get six million. Our figures at Al Fa’reen TV say this.”
A man called Ahmad speaks on the phone from Cairo: “The figures of the victims of this massacre is extremely exaggerated. The number of the Jews in the whole world was no more than two million.”
Okasha (amused): “Where did you get this figure?”
Interviewer: “… The Jews try as much as they can to exploit their Holocaust … in order to gain the sympathy of the world. They say they are an oppressed people. They say, ‘We have suffered a big holocaust and we want …’ “
Okasha tries to explain but the Interviewer continues: “Why are we focusing on the Jews. Because the Jews exploit this Holocaust and they present figures that are not true.”
Okasha: “The Holocaust was a real crime against humanity by targeting a large number of races including the Jews. There were Gypsies, Slavs and the handicapped.”
Interviewer (stops him): “Mr. Sa’id, we didn’t invite you here to cause trouble for us.” (This is surely a howler in the annals of television interviewing!)
If there is an encouraging sign in all this, it is the presence of Dr. Sa’id Okasha. He exhibited intellectual honesty and the courage to say things that quite possibly, few of his listeners wanted to hear. Judging by this appearance he is a courageous, independent-thinking model on intellectual values – something many western academics and journalists should learn to follow as well.
But it is the last part of MEMRI’s video that is the most distressing. Sheikh Amin al-Ansari spoke about Jews on Egypt’s Al-Rahma TV. Giving a commentary on newsreels from the Holocaust, this is how he related the dreadful scenes:
(In a quiet, measured tone): “Let’s watch the holocausts that the Jews underwent, which were Allah’s way of wreaking vengeance upon them. Let’s watch what the German army did to them.” (Screen shows a series of the usual horrors). He continues calmly: “This of course is part of the corruption of Germany by the Jews.” (Again the Jews are blamed for the depravity of the time). “These are corpses of dead humans and the shattered bones of Jews. (Military music is heard in the background.) Here we have a crematorium where Jews were burned. These are Jews who are being prepared to be burned. Look at these Jews (all naked) dying of hunger or by gas. Note the humiliation on his face. Allah be praised! Abasement and humiliation we brought down upon them and they became deserving of Allah’s wrath. Look at the starvation the Germans inflicted on them. Look what humiliation. And these are people being buried alive. Does this look like a human being? He is being placed in a ditch to be buried alive. This is a pile of bodies … Concentrate on this my brothers. Look they are tying five heads together. These are bodies. Here they are drilling a hole in this man’s back with a nail. This child awaits his turn. Watch their humiliation. And these are corpses, Allah be praised. The Jews are oppressors. They are being deported … These are bodies of the Jews being loaded like animals. Watch the tractor clearing away the corpses of the Jews.”
He begins to speak more quickly and with excitement: “And these are refugees awaiting their turn to be killed. A German soldier (actually, judging by the beret it’s a British soldier liberating the camp!!!) will come now. You will see a Jewish woman kiss his hand. Notice what humiliation, fear and terror have struck her. See how much she is kissing his hand. Watch her humiliation. This is what we hope will happen but at the hands of the Muslims … (Not only does this man of Allah fail to recognize evil at its ultimate worst, he mistakes the woman’s deep relief at being liberated for humiliation. Can this be because he so desperate to see the Jews humiliated and crushed.!)
To see the MEMRI video, click: http://vimeo.com/16779150
To order “How to Avoid Armageddon,” click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid Armageddon
RESCUING THE PLANET – Part 1
LIES WILL KILL US ALL
By RALPH DOBRIN
Excerpts from his book “How to avoid Armageddon”
Available through Amazon
Click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid armageddon
Even though today, anyone can conduct instant audio and visual communication with people on the other side of the world using, a cheap, pocket-sized mobile phone, we still haven’t gone very far with the basics of how to talk with each other. Many of us don’t even know how to listen properly. Much of the time when someone is talking to us, our minds are not fully focused on what is being said. We don’t always tell the truth. We often exaggerate or tell half-truths and indulge in fibbing. Also we haven’t learned how to discern falsehood, even when it is obvious, even dangerous. And we still can’t always tell right from wrong.
If we don’t learn these basics, our scientific and technological advances will prove to be disastrous for mankind and the planet as a whole, and indeed, our technological sophistication will prove to be our downfall. Fully realizing this must be the first step in rescuing the planet from ourselves, and indeed for some time now, more and more people all over the world are involved in searching for ways to reduce the damage we inflict on the environment, while striving for social justice, equality and an end to poverty, tyranny and war. (However, the goodness of these people, sometimes accompanied by naivette, can be nefariously exploited by self-serving barons of economical, political or jihadist power.)
As we mentioned earlier, success in scientific and technological endeavors demands a high level of truthfulness. Similarly, wise decision-making at all levels demands this same high level of truthfulness. In other words, truthfulness must become our most important value.
Actually the expectation of truthfulness from others – the desire that others not lie to us – is a very basic instinct. Note how indignant we become when someone lies to us. We loathe hypocrisy. Lifelong friendships are sometimes abruptly terminated on the spot if we perceive that someone has twisted or hidden the truth from us. Marriages sometimes break up because of intrigue, even when infidelity is not involved.
One reason for our resentment towards falsehood – in others – is that it indicates that we cannot trust or depend on this other person. In family and friends it hurts even more, because we sense that the trust we automatically felt because of our kinship or fraternal ties, has been betrayed and could even be the source of harm to us.
Our aversion to falsehood is probably instinctive. It’s a universal sentiment, like the disgust and revulsion caused by exposed feces. I think that our disgust with feces stems, not only from the smell and the messiness, but also from our innate knowledge that uncovered feces can be a source of disease. Similarly, an unburied corpse, whether human or animal, exudes a warning smell and also, the sight sends us a signal – watch out this is dangerous for your health! We perceive a corpse with disgust, not only because it might remind us of our own mortality, but also because instinctively we know it poses a threat to our health if not promptly disposed of. In a similar way, falsehood is perceived by all humans as a threat. It might not reach our olfactory senses, and although most of us might not be sensitive to this perniciousness when we ourselves lie, we instinctively recognize it when lied to.
This doesn’t mean that we all have to be straight-laced, stick-in-the-mud, humorless bores. We can still be our true selves. We can still joke if that’s what we like doing, or smile readily if we feel that way. We can even tell tall tales – as long people can understand that our stories are figments of the imagination, just for the purpose of amusing others.
Honesty is largely a question of upbringing. Parents teach their children norms of behavior, customs and values that can have an influence – good or bad – on their general attitudes to morals, other people and to life in general. An adult who fibs or blatantly lies or readily believes untruths, is probably not going to teach his or her children any differently.
Notice, throughout this book we have very seldom used the word “truth,” although in Chapter 4 – The root of nearly all evil, we briefly discussed its meaning. Truth is like the air we breathe. Everyone knows what air is and its indispensability for life. But very few people know much about its chemical composition, or how exactly it sustains life. Similarly, everyone knows what truth is, but only people who have studied philosophy might be able to explain exactly what is meant by this small but abstruse word. Furthermore, in the same way that air is indispensable for life, truth is really all about life. And conversely, lying is a breech against life itself.
Every object on earth has its set of truths, as we mentioned in Chapter 4. A table is incontrovertibly and truly a table. It possesses certain easily assessed truths such as size, weight, function and other properties. There are facts about the table that can be examined and lead to the revelation of more and more facts, although we would be hard pressed to know all the possible facts relating to that table. But we can be truthful about what we know, what we perceive (which might even be an illusion or misconception and we should be truthful about recognizing this too). We can be truthful about any value judgment we make regarding that table – whether, for instance the table in question is suitable for a certain purpose. Although truthfulness about this point implies that its suitability or lack thereof is merely our personal feeling or opinion and does not constitute a binding law of nature. We can be truthful about our perceptions and our feelings about things. And if we are able to express these perceptions and feelings in a clear, respectful manner, there is every chance that we will be able to convey them to anyone else who is calmly open to our opinions. Truthfulness elicits respect. And respect elicits truthfulness. The two go together as indispensable factors in the success of any joint endeavor.
This in a nutshell is the answer to solving most of humanity’s problems whether on a personal, local, national or global level. (To be continued)
To order “How to Avoid Armageddon” click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid Armageddon
http://truthandsurvival.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/rescuing-the-planet-%e2%80%93-part-2/
The Apocalypse: who needs it? – part 2
Continued from “The Apocalypse: who needs it?” – part 1
http://truthandsurvival.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/the-apocalypse-%e2%80%93-who-needs-it-%e2%80%93-1/
How to prevent it?
By RALPH DOBRIN
Excerpts from his book “How to avoid Armageddon”
Available through Amazon
Click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid armageddon
According to biblical prophesy it will be an unimaginably horrendous time for all involved, leading to widespread destruction and death. In the end God will defeat the invading armies and it will take seven months for all the dead to be buried. After this final battle all the nations of the world will acknowledge the Almighty. Indeed, according to Ezekiel this is what it’s all about. Chapter 38, verse 16 says: “… I will bring you against my land as everyone watches, and my holiness will be displayed by what happens to you, Gog. Then all the nations will know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel again affirms this in the same chapter, verse 23: “Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.”
But can it be plausible that the Creator of Life would orchestrate events and direct certain people in such a way that it would bring on a global catastrophe that will dwarf all the previous calamities that have befallen humanity, just so as to bring them in line, or make them aware of His existence? On the one hand, supposing, as Scripture teaches, that we are indeed, created in the image of the Supreme Creator, how can humanity be expected to behave in any way other than how we have been behaving? After all, that’s how we’ve been made by the Almighty himself and in His image, no less. Therefore, punishing us in such a devastating way as described in the Scriptures, for behaving according to the way He has made us, would seem utterly unfair.
The second reason why God’s supposed apocalyptical intentions, as stated in the Bible, don’t make sense, is the very pettiness ascribed to Him. According to Ezekiel Chapter 38, the Almighty needs to show off his might? That the ominipotent, indescribably wondrous Creator of the Universe would need appreciation, admiration and acknowledgement, like some petulant, spoiled pop star or megalomaniac tyrant, boggles the mind. To infer that the infintely ineffable Almighty would be moved to cause so much grief, suffering and death to billions of creatures He himself created, so as to show the peoples (who might survive) just how mighty He is, sounds like the height of blaspheme.
With apologies to folks who believe absolutely that every word in the Bible is truly the word of the Almighty, doesn’t one’s instinct for rightness and survival cry out indignantly against such merciless, cruel and vengeful concepts. The vast majority of people cannot know what hidden lessons there are in the Scriptures, or even if there are any, or whether the texts are really the word of the Creator of the Universe. And surely no normative, sane person really wants to see the world incinerated. Even folks who yearn for the Advent of the Messiah – whether in the form of Jesus, the Mahdi or in a Judaic form – must realize the terrible destruction in store for us that the Scriptures predict before this happens. It would mean that they, their children, their parents and other family members, friends and people all over the world, would face a most ghastly situation.
And yet, whether one agrees with any eschatological supposition or not, one cannot ignore the alarming signs showing that humanity needs to do some very serious soul-searching regarding the survival of this planet. We are at a stage in our social and moral evolution where we are still trying to work out the best form of social organization, which also means a different kind of leadership and governing frameworks, acting wisely, selflessly and effectively and superbly well prepared for their role.
Also, because of the connection we all have with each other in today’s globalized world, what happens, for instance, in Caracas, Venezuela can have a bearing on the man in the street in Aukland, New Zealand. A despot’s rage in Zimbabwe can influence foreign policy in the Russian Duma or the price of platinum in Hong Kong. Political power in the hands of a few benign-looking zealots who control the army, media, schools, banks and oil reserves in their theocratic country, can set off a regional conflagration that might encompass the entire globe.
Many theologians of all faiths believe that the prophecies are really warnings to heed the Almighty’s commandments. If we don’t follow the Almighty’s commandments, according to many clerics, we will reap fire, brimstone and the whirlwind. In secular terms it means doing whatever is necessary in order to contain pollution, climate change, poverty, rampant population growth in undeveloped countries, and to thwart the demonic ambitions of misanthropic tyrants and dangerous bigots.
Whether seen as biblical prophesy or as a secular metaphor for the dangers ahead, I like to believe that we can all still work to avoid Armageddon. What is needed is not something revolutionary or brilliantly innovative, workable only as the result of ingenious scholarship or the revelation of any esoteric texts. The key is really astonishingly simple. It’s plain, common decency. Interestingly, the ancient Jewish sages taught that common decency comes even before Torah (the Bible) – “Derekh eretz kadam latorah.”
To order “How to avoid Armageddon” click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid Armageddon
The Apocalypse – who needs it? – 1
It’s something no sane person
should want to see
By RALPH DOBRIN
Excerpts from his book “How to avoid Armageddon”
Available through Amazon
Click: www.amazon.com type: how to avoid armageddon
Can it really be that the dreadful visions prophesied in the Scriptures are indeed being played out? Are we reaching a point when only Divine intervention will redeem humanity, or as Scripture predicts – only a limited number of deserving souls will survive Armageddon?
Despite all the wonderful advances that humanity has made in every field in the last few hundred years, a rosy future, or indeed any future, is not a foregone conclusion. Pollution now affects every part of our world, reaching the depths of our oceans and beyond the stratosphere. Also, whether caused by humanity or not, there have been drastic climatic changes in the last decade, manifest in the form of deadly heat waves and cold spells, typhoons and flooding of unprecedented fury, as well as droughts longer than any in living memory and widening desertification. If all this is not enough cause for alarm, a large part of humanity is still ruled by totalitarian dictatorships, some of which rigorously promote religious bigotry, hatred and an end to most of the liberties that have so desperately been fought for in the last few hundred years. Also, wars continue to rage in many parts of the world and there is a distinct threat of nuclear proliferation among people for whom mutually assured destruction is no deterrent.
Divine intervention – if it is a realistic expectation – while yearned for by millions of devout adherents of various religious denominations, is something that any thinking person should not want to see. In Christianity, divine intervention supposes something absolutely dreadful – an apocalyptic replay of the worst scenes of devastation of the Second World War, multiplied many times over. It’s the End of Days, powerfully described in the Book of Revelations in the New Testament, and presaged in the Gospels of Matthew (King James Version) 24:15-22, Mark 13:14-20 and Luke 21:20-33 in connection with destruction of Jerusalem, preceding the general destruction that will herald the Advent of Jesus.
In Judaism, the end of the world is alluded to in a number of biblical and talmudical texts, wherein tumultuous events will lead to a new order in which God is universally recognized as the ruler over everyone and everything. According to Jewish tradition, the end of the world will come with the great battle involving Gog and Magog, who will attack Israel. This is the terrible battle referred to as Armageddon, in which God, according to the Bible, will totally prevail and bring about the end of all evil.
The word Armageddon is derived from the Hebrew place name, Har Meggido (Mount Megiddo), which is located 40 kilometers south-west of the Sea of Galilee. It was the location of a number of decisive battles in ancient times, and is the site predicted in the Bible of a future, epic battle between the forces of good and evil. In modern usage the term has become synonymous with any cataclysmic event. Hence the eponymous title of this book.
Islam too, has parallel scenarios. Redemption is believed to be at hand once the Muslim redeemer, the Mahdi appears, expected at a dreadful time when the world will be wracked in unprecedented slaughter and destruction. That’s quite possibly why Iran’s President Ahmedinijad is so full of smiles as he baits the democracies of the world, daring the Western Powers to try and stop him, while he gets closer to acquiring nuclear weaponry. The obliteration of Israel is frequently affirmed, directly or indirectly, in his predictions, so often accompanied by a happy smile. Apocalyptic prophesy, it seems, might not be such a far-fetched proposition. And it delights many people that they can play a role in its fulfillment.
Interestingly, eschatology, the study of mythological and religious writings about a future globally cataclysmic time, can be traced back to the earliest days of civilization. The concept of the end of the world appears in diverse cultures and religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Nordic mythology. Among the native peoples of North and Central America, similar beliefs were held.
Even the hardened skeptic cannot ignore the correlation between biblical prophesy and many of the events that have taken place in the last eighty years, such as the “ingathering of the exiles” alluded to in the Books of Jeremiah 29:14; 31:8; Isaiah 11:12; 27:13; 56:8; 66:20; Ezekiel 11:17; 20:34; 37:21 and elsewhere. Perhaps these predictions referred to the return of the Jews to the Land of Israel from Babylonian captivity, although that return was clearly not from “the four corners (or furthest extremities) of the earth” as prophesied, and as the modern return to Israel has indeed been, with people coming from every continent. Another prophesy by Isaiah (35:1) “the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose,” seems to have materialized by the Jews who began growing all kinds of fruits, vegetables and flowers in areas of the Land of Israel that for almost two thousand years had deteriorated into arid wasteland and malaria-infested swamps. Even in the more arid Arava and Negev deserts, thriving agricultural settlements appeared, which drew the astonishment of agronomists from all over the world.
Another event that can arguably be associated with prophesy, brings to mind Isaiah 40:31, which says, “They will soar on wings like eagles.” This too can refer to the ingathering of the exiles. But it could have a far more specific and dramatic application. As a result of the Arab-Israel War of 1947-9, Jews living throughout the Arab world were attacked by angry mobs and threatened by many of the governments. From Morocco on the Atlantic Ocean, to Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula in the east, Jews needed either to lay low or to flee for their lives. A particularly spectacular rescue mission took place following the war, when almost 50,000 Jews from Yemen, Aden, Djibouti and Eritrea were secretly flown in 380 flights from Aden to Israel. What made it even more dramatic was the fact that very few of these Jews, living in countries where camel and donkey still provided the main forms of transport, had never seen an airplane in their lives. Devout folks all, it was natural for them to see the strange flying objects descending from the sky as huge, metallic eagles that had arrived to return them to safety in the Land of Israel, as Isaiah had prophesied 2,500 years earlier.
The most sobering prophesy – at least for the writer living in Israel – observing how the increasing isolation of my country in the face of impossible odds, tallies with numerous biblical references such as: “I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle …” (Zecharia 14.2)
Also the dreadful passages referring to Gog and Magog in the Book of Ezekiel (Chapters 38 and 39), involving a confederacy of nations, does not seem so far-fetched when witnessing the present-day knee-jerk antagonism towards Israel by over half the nations in the world – those comprising the 22 members of the Arab League and over 35 Muslim states, in addition to a large number of the developing countries, as well as Russia and the Communist regimes.
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Continued at: http://truthandsurvival.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/the-apocalypse-who-needs-it-%e2%80%93-part-2/
