170 posts
Latest Posts by thats-heresy - Page 3
Know Thine enemy
I am not a Jew and I’m not a citizen of Israel. I haven’t even visited Israel. I don’t trace my religion back to a holy site in Jerusalem and I don’t have a problem with Arabs or Muslims or Christians. I’ve read about Abraham, Moses, David and Solomon; the Umayyads, the Abbasids and the Ottomans; I know about the British, the Balfour declaration, Ben Gurion and Golda Meir. I know a bit about the Six-Day War and the Intifada. I might not have any personal stake in the Holy Land, but humanity certainly does - and I’m a human being.
The women, men, children, elderly people and soldiers who were kidnapped, tortured, raped, humiliated and murdered on Saturday by Hamas in sovereign Israel were human beings too.
Those who did it to them are not.
Imagine what kind of rational and ethical gymnastics you have to do to justify the cold-blooded murder of teenagers at a music festival; or watching a child, perhaps 5 years old, being prodded with a stick and made to cry for his mother in Hebrew while children of a similar age laugh and mock him? We don’t know that child’s fate and for all we know what followed may have been much worse. It’s depraved. To even enter a conversation about these disgraceful facts with a rehearsed retort about territory or Gaza being an “open-air prison” reeks of moral bankruptcy.
If you wail and scream about your land, dignity, rights, oppression and poverty but are willing to murder, rape, kidnap, torture or humiliate children; then I don’t have to listen to your reasons. When the video footage, photographs and stories of Saturday’s carnage come not from "Israeli propaganda” but from the Hamas terrorists themselves, then how am I to read anything else into it but that you want credit for these atrocities? You want me to know you did it. You want me to know you are proud of it. You want me to see you for who you are. Well, I do.
So, if you swarmed the Israeli Embassy in London, waving Palestinian flags and calling for genocide; if you went down to Times Square to celebrate a victory for decolonisation against “apartheid Israel”; if you sang along to “gas the Jews” chants at the Sydney Opera House or hung a “one settler, one bullet” Palestinian flag over Grayston bridge in Johannesburg then you’re telling me who you are. Well, I see you - and you’re my enemy.
I’m one of those people who believe civilisation is a real thing, and I’ve resisted the poison of moral relativists in the humanities departments of universities across the west who think that being nuanced about the idea of civilisation versus barbarism is a signal of intellectual prowess or critical self-reflection. Upon even a cursory investigation of these people or their positions, you will find every sign of pedestrian intelligence and self-absorbed navel-gazing, combined with a fetishisation of victimhood and always concomitant humourlessness. They too, are my enemies.
It is always interesting to note that only western liberal democracies tolerate and give succour to the most heinous arguments and positions in public protests. You couldn’t picket on the side of quite laudable things like education for girls in Taliban Afghanistan, gay rights in Syria, or against the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. The Ayatollahs of Iran wouldn’t allow women to protest the hijab there under threats of violence. But London, New York, Sydney and even Johannesburg will embrace marches where people actively call for genocide. This is not how allies behave.
Perhaps when the dust has settled we can examine the insidious links between Anglo-American leftism and antisemitism, between Europe never reckoning with what happened in the holocaust and their growing Muslim populations, and between ignorant regimes like mine in South Africa and their determination to stand alongside the worst human-rights abusers in the Middle East.
For now, it’s no big mystery that this has nothing to do with the existence of the State of Israel and everything to do with Jew-hatred - that great, festering wound in the side of humanity from which all prejudice flows. It has been there for thousands of years and every time we think it has healed, some monstrous collective claws it open again.
Hamas aren’t hiding the ball. Their leader, Ismail Haniyeh, safely skulking in Qatar, made this clear. He celebrated dead Jews, not territory won, nor Gazan lives saved.
I’m afraid there are only two sides in a war - your allies and your enemies. On September 11th, 2001, I knew whose side I was on. I feel the same today.
Gareth
Gareth Cliff
Likud Herut UK
Source
Die einst seriöse Menschenrechtsorganisation hat sich eine bedenkliche antisemitische Schlagseite zugelegt und fraternisiert mit Vertretern islamistischer Terrororganisationen.
#HRW
(Please god I had to block like 15 of them today)
Once HRW is relying on ICERD to define what racial discrimination is, they must then include the very next paragraph in ICERD, which applies directly to Israel - and which they do not quote in their report.
This Convention shall not apply to distinctions, exclusions, restrictions or preferences made by a State Party to this Convention between citizens and non-citizens.
This one paragraph completely destroys HRW’s “apartheid” argument.
Israeli laws do not distinguish between Israeli Jewish citizens and Israeli Arab citizens. They distinguish between Israeli citizens and non-citizens - which every nation on Earth does.
HRW and others will base their “apartheid” arguments on claims like saying that Jewish “settlers” in the territories have different laws than their Arab neighbors. HRW says that Israeli “policies include limiting the population and political power of Palestinians, granting the right to vote only to Palestinians who live within the borders of Israel as they existed from 1948 to June 1967.” But that is a lie - there are thousands of Israeli Arab citizens who live across the Green Line in French Hill, Beit Hanina, Beit Safafa and other communities, who can vote in Israeli elections, just like Israeli Jewish “settlers” can.
And if someone like, say, Peter Beinart decided to move to Ramallah to prove that Palestinians are wonderful people who wouldn’t murder him, he would not be allowed to vote in Israeli elections even though he is a Jew - because he is not an Israeli citizen.
Virtually every example of discrimination in the HRW report, as well as in other articles that make the claim of “apartheid,” is based not on whether someone is Arab or Jewish, but on whether they are citizens or non-citizens - the exact distinction that the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination made clear is not to be considered racial discrimination.
This one paragraph in the ICERD demolishes their entire 213 page report.
The authors of the Human Rights Watch report definitely knew this when they decided not to quote the other section of the ICERD that they base their entire argument on.
The short clips — none of them longer than two and a half minutes — offer poignant insights into day-to-day life in the Strip, an area that most outsiders cannot reach and whose residents directly suffer from the consequent lack of understanding.
We meet ordinary people telling authentic stories about common problems that are drastically exacerbated by Hamas’s control, ordinary people with expectations and aspirations and dreams — from running a pharmacy to working as a journalist to simply dancing — that they are forbidden from realizing.
All names have been changed, and CPC employed animation and voice-altering technology to protect speakers’ identity.
The participants consented to be interviewed for the sake of relaying their ideas and experiences to an international audience, noted CPC president Joseph Braude, adding, “They want these stories to be heard.”
You can watch the entire first week’s playlist of eight videos here.
It appears that UNRWA run refugee “camps” (cities) are perpetuating enmity towards Israel. Confrontation with Israel is taught in their schools, which have adopted the anti-Israel curriculum of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in violation of UN principles of peace and reconciliation.
UNRWA school textbooks contain many examples of indoctrination against Israel, and as well as the veneration of terrorists. Textbooks omit recognition of Israel. School books exclude any connection between the Jews and the land of Israel. It also appears that refugees are being primed for combat.
UNRWA summer camps actually give young “campers” paramilitary training, preparing for future war with the Jews. The goal is the “right of return” — that is to bring Arab populations to cities and towns, and end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.
UNRWA was supposed to be supervised by donor nations and Israel. That includes managing its school curriculum, which continues to indoctrinate and incite violence and terrorism 75 years after the establishment of Israel.
The donor nations and relief agencies that aid UNWRA have not meaningfully demanded a change in its policies, which support incitement to violence and the perpetuation of conflict.
7
Another update on David Morel, the security guard who was shot in the head by the terrorist who killed IDF soldier Noa Lazar in October at the Shuafat checkpoint.
This morning he put on Tefillin for the first time since he was shot. He still has a long way to go though so please pray for him!
David is a new immigrant from Brazil who also served as a combat soldier in the IDF.
Please pray for his complete recovery:
Refuah shleima le'Chaim David ben Ester
Documenting Israel
Me.
So ridiculous..
The right of return
I was privately asked about a post implying that Israel is refusing to allow the right to return to Palestinians that have been displaced even though Jews have had the right of return for a while now. I thought I’d answer in a post.
Let me address this by first of all pointing out that Palestinians currently do have the right to return… to the Palestinian-controlled territories. If an American Palestinian wants to move to Ramallah, Israel has no say in the matter, meaning in effect the Palestinians have the right of return to those parts of the historical Land of Israel.
Which means that when Palestinians keep talking about the right of return, they’re not talking about the right to return to their own self-governed territories, they’re talking about the right to return to the territories which make up the State of Israel. The Jewish Virtual Library has a good summary on how in international law, the right of return only applies to individual nationals, it’s not an obligatory right that has to be granted to entire groups of people. That means that every country which does grant a right of return to an entire group of people does so because it chooses to, not because it is compelled by international law. In other words, it does grant this right when it believes it’s in the best interest of the country or of the population the country is meant to serve. When Palestinians demand the right of return not to the parts of the land that they govern, but to the parts which make up the State of Israel, it’s equivalent to country X demanding that country Y will grant automatic citizenship to descendants of country X instead of country X giving those people a right of return to its own borders. That’s something that doesn’t exist anywhere in the world. And, in fact, if country X did try to make such a demand, country Y would likely see this as a threat, because of the way that a big concentration of nationals loyal to another country had been used along history. This is how Hitler used the people of German descent who were living in Czechoslovakia to take over Sudetenland (and later using this initial split of the country to take over all of Czechoslovakia), or how Russia has used the substantial population of Russian descent living in the eastern parts of Ukraine to demand those territories.
To make the current situation clearer, I’ll add that many Jews were originally from territories that are now under Palestinian control (meaning they were displaced from those places, not from the parts of the Land of Israel which today make up the Jewish state). Those Jews don’t have a right of return to those parts of the Land of Israel either, they can’t return to Gaza, they can’t return to areas A and B of Judea and Samaria, they can’t return to Jewish communities that existed on the eastern side of the Jordan river and which were ethnically cleansed by the Jordanians as a part of Jordan’s actions against Israel during the latter’s War of Independence (despite reaching a peace agreement between Israel and Jordan, signed in 1994). To be accurate, even within the State of Israel, Jews don’t have a free right of return to every place they used to inhabit. In antiquity, all of Israel used to be Jewish. Even in later times, there still were Jewish communities in places like ShefarAm, Nazareth, Pekiin and Huseifa, all places that were originally Jewish towns. They are today all under Israeli rule, but the Jews don’t get to return there. The demographics of these places had been irreversibly changed.
Certainly when we look at borders between countries, two states for two people where each gets to self-govern means the right of return is and will remain limited geographically for both groups.
If the right of return won’t be limited, it’s clear which of the two groups will become the minority, losing in practice the right to self-determination. Because it has to be emphasized that the right to self-determination is not considered a right that is fulfilled when a group of people is a minority. As long as a group is a minority, its power to determine its own fate is dependent, either (in a democracy) on the good will of the majority (for example, in the 1920′s and early 1930′s in Germany, Jews who made up 0.8% of the German population didn’t get to decide who will lead their country, they were dependent on the majority of Germans voting against the Nazis… and we all know how that turned out) or it’s dependent on the minority’s use of force to override the majority (which is the case in Syria, for example, where the Alawi minority reigns over the Sunni majority through the use of force. We all saw how bloody that got during Syria’s civil war, and nobody wants that for Israel). If the Palestinian right of return were to be applied without limitation to the entire Land of Israel, it would be the Jews who would become a minority and lose the right to self-determination.
This is why the push for the right of return of Palestinians to all of Israel is considered such a red flag by a majority of Jews. Because it’s understood to be a tool in destroying the State of Israel serving as the one place where Jews get to have self-determination, and to deny Jews this universal right is discriminatory in nature, and therefore considered by many to be antisemitic. This is one of the reasons why so many, including actual governments, have declared the BDS movement (which calls for the boycott of Israelis and Jews) antisemitic, because one of its three stated goals is a return of Palestinian refugees to all of Israel. Note here that the one of the founders of BDS is Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian man living in Israel thanks to his marriage to an Israeli Arab. He states he wants a right of return of Palestinian refugees, while ignoring the right of Jews to return to Israel. He knows exactly what this means for Jews.
More than that, most conflicts around the world aren’t resolved through a mutual and unlimited right of return. When two countries were in a conflict and many people were displaced on both sides, conflicts were usually resolved through eventually agreeing that there was a population exchange, and whatever harm befell one country and its population, it was more or less balanced off by whatever harm befell the other country and its population. A population exchange is a bad thing, since it points to many people being displaced, but once it has occurred, recognizing it can allow both sides to move on. The Israeli-Arab conflict could have been resolved like that long ago. About 800,000 Arabs were displaced in Israel during its War of Independence (most of them because they fled the war that their own side started), about 850,000 Jews from Arab countries were expelled from those countries following Israel’s victory in that war, and most of the Jews displaced from Arab countries ended up in Israel. Agreeing that this was an exchange of populations, that Israel would take care of the displaced Jews, and the Arab countries would take care of the displaced Arabs (presumably by creating a new Arab state on the parts of the Land of Israel that Egypt and Jordan had occupied during Israel’s War of Independence) could have been a resolution for this conflict over 70 years ago. In fact, Israel agreed to this when it told the UNWRA in 1952 it assumes all responsibility for the Jewish refugees expelled from Arab countries. Here’s a mention of Israel taking that responsibility in an excerpt from an essay looking into how UNWRA today discriminates in favor of the Palestinian refugees in comparison with how all other refugees worldwide are treated by UNHCR (for example, mentioning that refugees treated by UNHCR have no right of return):
If this conflict wasn’t resolved through accepting the mutual population exchange, if the Arab countries didn’t create a Palestinian state on the lands occupied by Jordan and Egypt, if the Palestinians today continue to insist on the right of return even as they gain citizenship in other countries, and they insist on a right of return specifically to the territories that now make up the State of Israel, it’s because they’re not interested in a resolution. They know that applying the Palestinian right of return to all of the land will effectively wipe out Israel as the one Jewish state, and that’s what those who are advocating for it are really interested in.
Here’s a statement by a UN official from 1952, convinced that the Arab states are purposely using the Arab refugees as a political weapon against Israel:
Here’s what a leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization said in a 1977 interview he had with a Dutch newspaper:
“There are no differences between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. We are part of one people, the Arab nation. Look, I have family members with Palestinian, Lebanese, Jordanian and Syrian citizenship. We are one people.
Only for political reasons we do carefully maintain our Palestinian identity. Indeed, it is of national importance for the Arabs to insist on the existence of a Palestinian people to oppose Zionism.
Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity is only there for tactical reasons.” - Zuheir Mohsen, PLO, March 31, 1977
The old titty twister, must be innate with primates.
Yom Hazikaron begins tonight, where we honour Israel’s 24,000 fallen soldiers and victims of terror.
May their memories be a blessing.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies
Shim’u, echai, ani od chai Ushtei enai od nisa’ot la’or Rabim chochai, ach gam prachai Ulefanai shanim rabot misfor
Ani sho’el umitpalel Tov shelo avda od hatikva
Over mizmor midor ledor Kema’ayan me’az ve’ad olam Ani sho’el umitpalel Tov shelo avda od hatikva
Chai, chai, chai, ken, ani od chai Ze hashir sheSaba shar etmol le’Aba vehayom ani Ani od chai, chai, chai, am Yisra’el chai Ze hashir sheSaba shar etmol le’Aba vehayom ani
Homim yamai (Chai, chai) Velelotai (Chai, chai) Uveshamai, amud ha’esh od kam
Ashir bli dai (Chai, chai) Efros yadai (Chai, chai) Leyedidai asher me’ever yam
Ani sho’el umitpalel Tov shelo avda od hatikva
Chai, chai, chai, ken, ani od chai Ze hashir sheSaba shar etmol le’Aba vehayom ani Ani od chai, chai, chai, am Yisra’el chai Ze hashir sheSaba shar etmol le’Aba vehayom ani
Shim’u, echai, ani od chai Ushtei enai od nisa’ot la’or Az ko lechai lechol orchai Ulevanay hamevakshim lachzor
Ani sho’el (Ani sho’el) Umitpalel (Mitpalel) Tov shelo avda od hatikva
Chai, chai, chai, ken, ani od chai Ze hashir sheSaba shar etmol le’Aba vehayom ani Ani od chai, chai, chai, am Yisra’el chai Ze hashir sheSaba shar etmol le’Aba vehayom ani
Chai, chai, chai Ani od chai, chai, chai
Want to Fall Asleep in 2 Minutes (or Less)? Steal This Proven Military Sleep Secret
“The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
What Is the Military Sleep Technique
The quick sleep formula has 3 important parts:
Muscle Relaxation
Focussed Breathing
Visualization (Optional But Highly Recommended)
Here Are the Steps Involved:
Free yourself from all the chores and sit on your bed’s edge. Ensure that your bedside light is off and your phone is on DND mode.
Now relax your face. If you haven’t done it before, here’s an easy way — first, tighten your face through a wince, and then let your facial muscles relax naturally. Also, let your tongue drop down in any manner in your mouth.
After relaxing your facial muscles, let gravity pull down your shoulders as if it has no energy of its own. Let your arms hang sideways.
Now, inhale and exhale slowly, focusing on the “swishing” sound of your breath.
You can follow the 4–7–8 breathing method: Count to 4 while taking a deep leisurely inhalation, 7 counts of holding your breath, and exhale through 8 counts.
Allow gravity to soften your thighs and lower legs with each breath.
As your entire body feels energy-less, repeat the phrase “Don’t think, don’t think” as a chant. You can also substitute this chant with any positive affirmation.
Optional but highly recommended: If you’re not good at silencing your mind, visualize yourself sitting at a tranquil place like mountains, beaches, boats, a rocking chair, etc.
Within a few seconds, you’ll drift off to sleep.
Caveat: The effectiveness of this method depends on practice and how well you can silence your mind from the “restless” thoughts of daily activities.
Should You Try Out the Military Sleep Method?
The answer is yes!
If you’re struggling to fall asleep or wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep, this method might be for you. It has a 96% success ratio after six weeks of practice.
There are many reasons why you should try out the military sleep method. Here’s why:
I. You’ll Fall Asleep Faster
One of the biggest benefits of the military sleep method is that you’ll fall asleep faster. This is because you’ll be learning how to relax and clear your mind before bed.
II. You’ll Wake Up Feeling More Refreshed
The reason you wake up without zeal and energy is not having a sound sleep.
Since the military sleep method focuses on silencing the mind and relaxing the body, you’ll wake up refreshed in addition to sleeping faster and better.
III. You’ll Be Less Tired During the Day
Tiredness is one of the main reasons why people don’t get enough sleep.
When you use the military sleep method, you’ll be less tired because you will sleep whenever you want during the day. It also means you’ll be more productive and have more energy to do things you enjoy.
IV. You’ll Have Fewer Nightmares
Nightmares are a common problem for people who don’t get enough sleep. When you use the military sleep method, you’ll have a more restful night’s sleep causing fewer nightmares.
V. You’ll Be Less Stressed
Stress is cyclic.
Stress = Sleep Problems = Poor Productivity = Stress
When you use the military sleep method, you’ll be less stressed because it teaches you to relax and fall asleep faster.
No matter what your reason is, learning how to sleep faster can be a huge help when you have less sleep time during exams, project deadlines, business audits, layover flights, social functions, etc.
So, if you’re looking for a way to get more restful sleep, wake up feeling more refreshed, and be less tired during the day, then you should definitely try out the military sleep method.
It’s an easy way to get the sleep you need so that you can feel your best! The best way to determine if this military sleep technique is worth it is to give it a go and experience.
And who knows — maybe you’ll be able to fall asleep in two minutes or less!
“Happiness consists of getting enough sleep. Just that, nothing more.” — Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers
Source: Darshak Rana (Medium). Image via Freepik.
The surreal sci-fi and fantasy themed creations of Philip Hofmänner - https://www.this-is-cool.co.uk/the-surreal-sci-fi-fantasy-artworks-of-philip-hofmanner/
שבת שלום
May this weekend be peaceful and safe. And a quiet and calm Shabbat to all the people of Israel.
Parashat Metzora: Leviticus 14:1 - 15:33
Strange mythical sea creatures and spooky children are the subject of these beautiful and macabre creations by Luzhan Liu - https://www.this-is-cool.co.uk/the-beautiful-and-macabre-creations-of-luzhan-liu/
Never forget.
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
January 27 marks the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.
In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated this day as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD), an annual day of commemoration to honor the victims of the Nazi era.
From 1940 to 1945, more than 1.1 million men, women and children were killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp. 90% of them were Jews. All were innocent. Today, we remember
Never Again.
