Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: ‘Black people have to know that when they mouth antisemitism, they are using the exact same kind of reasoning that white supremacists use against blacks’

Posted on November 18, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

DOC EMET PRODUCTIONS
Staying or Leaving: It is a Matter of Life and Death
Phyllis Chesler
October 30, 2022

…We have seen a quantum leap in antisemitism and anti-Zionism in the 21st century, both in the Islamic world and in the West. There are too many examples to cite. However, the difference between today and 80 years ago is that we now have a Jewish state where we are welcome. This is a huge and miraculous game-changer. We must ask, however, since Israel is such an important refuge, why do so many educated and assimilated American Jews savagely criticize it? Do they feel that such virtue signaling will “save” them? Or redeem an imperfect Judaism? Is it psychologically safer to target Israel than to take on the antisemites? READ MORE

COMMON SENSE Bari Weiss: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Kanye, Kyrie, and Antisemitism
‘Black people have to know that when they mouth antisemitism, they are using the exact same kind of reasoning that white supremacists use against blacks.’

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“The Republican Party has a historic opportunity to revive the old Reagan coalition. The person standing in the way is the 45th president, writes the former attorney general”

Posted on November 18, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

COMMON SENSE
Trump Will Burn Down the GOP. Time for New Leadership
Bill Barr
November 21, 2022

During the Republican primaries in 2016, I supported, in succession, every alternative to Donald Trump. I did not see him as our party’s standard-bearer. He was not my idea of a president. I could see that he was grossly self-centered, lacked self-control, and almost always took his natural pugnacity too far. While he could be compelling, I found myself cringing at his frequently juvenile, bombastic, and petulant style. I also saw Trump’s strengths. I liked the clear and direct way he staked out a position and his willingness to state unpleasant truths that many were afraid to say. I appreciated that he was willing to confront head-on difficult issues—like unfair trade deals, or our allies’ paltry defense spending—that other politicians dodged. Above all, Trump had accurately diagnosed, and given voice to, the deep frustration of many middle-class and working-class Americans who were fed up with the excesses of progressive Democrats; the shameless partisanship of the mainstream media; and the smug condescension of elites who had mismanaged the country, sold them out, and appeared content to preside over the decline of America. READ MORE

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“Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Tuesday called the US Justice Ministry’s decision to investigate Abu Akleh’s death “a serious mistake,” adding that Israel would not cooperate with it”

Posted on November 17, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
FBI investigation of IDF ‘undermines the Pentagon’s own conclusions’
Yaakov Lappin
November 17, 2022

A decision by the FBI to investigate the Israel Defense Forces over the May 11 death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin undermines the official positions of the Pentagon and the United States State Department, both of which welcomed the IDF’s own investigation into the matter, an Israeli expert on US-Israeli relations told JNS. Professor Eytan Gilboa of Bar-Ilan University described the decision to launch the investigation as scandalous. “Not only is it a vote of no confidence in the IDF’s investigation, but also in the Pentagon, since the US Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Lt. Gen. Michael R. Fenzel, himself welcomed the IDF’s investigation. So, this activity by the FBI is undercutting the US’s own position,” he said. READ MORE

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Ukraine continues pressing for Israeli air defense systems

Posted on November 17, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Zelensky says Netanyahu to consider air defense systems for Ukraine
November 16, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday asked prime minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu for air defense systems, according to multiple Ukrainian media outlets. Zelensky also said that Netanyahu will consider the request and will “deal with this issue as soon as possible,” according to Ukrainian media. Zelensky clarified that Ukraine is not asking for “weapons that can attack” but only asking for defense systems to protect Ukrainians. This isn’t the first time the Ukrainian government has asked for Israeli defense systems.  On October 18, The Ukrainian government sent an official letter to Israel, requesting air defense systems. READ MORE

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“For decades, left-wingers have been falsely claiming that Israel’s governments didn’t want peace and that the decisions of Israel’s voters should be either ignored or overridden by American governments that took up the cause of “saving Israel from itself.””

Posted on November 11, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Don’t apologize for Ben-Gvir or anything else about Israel
Jonathan Tobin
November 11, 2022

…As the leader of the Conservative movement of Judaism in Israel put it in Haaretz, having Smotrich and Ben-Gvir around the cabinet table won’t just impact life in Israel. It will also hurt Jews elsewhere. Citing a much-discussed New York Times column by Thomas Friedman, Yizhar Hess claimed that a right-wing government will mean that Jewish students, already under siege by anti-Zionists, will no longer be able to credibly speak up on behalf of the Jewish state. That’s because the presence of these so-called “fascists” in Netanyahu’s cabinet will, in this telling, mean that the “good Israel,” that nice Jews feel comfortable about defending, is now either gone or about to be legislated out of existence. In its place will be a different country, run by extremists and horrible people who oppose peace and want to oppress minorities. Even if the people in this new bad Israel will be Jews, they will be the sort of Jews no self-respecting American Jew will want to be associated with. READ MORE

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“As Arab states exited the anti-Zionist arena, a range of other actors stepped in: Palestinians, Islamists, the Iranian and Turkish governments, and leftists”

Posted on November 11, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

COMMENTARY
Israel’s Partial Victory
Daniel Pipes
Winter 2022

The State of Israel celebrates its 75th birthday in 2023, a year that will also mark a major but generally unnoticed milestone in the Arab–Israeli conflict. During Israel’s first 25 years, from 1948 to 1973, Arab states—with Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in the lead, followed by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon—fought it five times with conventional armed forces. They built up huge armies, allied with the Soviet bloc, and fought Israel on the literal battlefield. After 1973, the states quietly bowed out and remained out over the next 50 years—which is to say, for twice as long as the era during which they actively fought Israel. The few exceptions to this cold peace—notably, a Syrian aerial confrontation in 1982 and an Iraqi missile attack in 1991—help make the point. Their brevity, limitations, and failure enforced the wisdom of not confronting Israel. READ MORE

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Trump: “You do have people in this country that happen to be Jewish that are not doing the right thing for Israel”

Posted on November 11, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

I24news
Trump criticizes American Jews over U.S. midterm voting
November 14, 2022

Former U.S. President Donald Trump slammed American Jews for “not doing the right thing for Israel” in last week’s midterms during his speech to the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) on Sunday.  The right-wing organization presented Trump with the Theodor Herzl Gold Medallion in recognition of his support for Israel and the Jews, according to ZOA chairman David Schoen. He cited the Abraham Accords negotiated by the U.S. and the move of the American embassy to Jerusalem among the main achievements of Trump’s administration…“The United States and Israel are not just allies on a military basis, but economically and politically. We’re allies morally, culturally and spiritually and we always will be, at least if I have anything to do about it, Trump said. READ MORE

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“The controversial comedian walks a tightrope between ridiculing West and seeming to justify his anti-Jewish remarks”

Posted on November 11, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

JTA
Dave Chappelle focuses ‘SNL’ monologue on ‘the Jews’ and Kanye West’s antisemitism controversy
Andrew Silow-Carroll
November 13, 2022

Hosting “Saturday Night Live” for the first time since he faced widespread criticism about jokes ridiculing transgender people, comedian Dave Chappelle opened the show with a lengthy monologue about … “the Jews” — namely, the controversy surrounding rapper Kanye West’s recent antisemitic comments. In the lengthy monologue, Chappelle danced along the lines he was mocking, emphasizing that he was not antisemitic while arguing that “it’s not a crazy thing to think” that Jews control Hollywood and insinuating that Jews have been making Black people into scapegoats for their past trauma. READ MORE

NEW YORK POST Jerry Seinfeld: Dave Chappelle’s ‘SNL’ monologue ‘calls for a conversation’ Jerry Seinfeld has given his thoughts on Dave Chappelle’s controversial “Saturday Night Live” monologue. Seinfeld, who is Jewish, addressed the comedic routine — which centered around Kanye West’s antisemitic tirades and “normalized antisemitism” — in a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter. “I did think the comedy was well-executed,” the 68-year-old comedian told the outlet. “But I think the subject matter calls for a conversation that I don’t think I’d want to have in this venue.

THE NEW YORK SUN Eli Lake: Give Dave Chappelle a Shtetl Pass Mr. Chappelle exposed the absurdity of these public apologies in his opening joke. After reading from a brief statement denouncing antisemitism, the comic waits a beat: “And that, Kanye, is how you buy yourself some time.” I don’t speak for every Jew, but this one finds that joke hilarious. The target of the barb was not the Jewish people. It was Kanye West and the ADL. Dave Chappelle deserves a shtetl pass.

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“Privileged” whites and those labeled as “white adjacent” must accept a future where they will face ‘progressive bigotry’ until there’s complete racial parity in all areas of life”

Posted on November 11, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

CAMERA BLOG
Woke Antisemitism: How a progressive ideology harms Jews
Adam Levick
November 16, 2022

The American linguist and political commentator John McWhorter coined the term “Woke Racism” to refer to the latest wave of elite, radical, ‘anti-racist’ campaigners who posit that racism is so deeply embedded in the fabric of American life that it’s impervious to traditional civil rights and anti-racist legislation. In order to level the playing field, liberal democratic systems of government – which aren’t up to the Utopian task of achieving perfect racial parity – must be radically re-constituted to allow for what Ibram X. Kendi, author of “How To Be An Anti-Racist”, refers to un-ironically as “anti-racist discrimination” against groups who are ‘disproportionately successful’. READ MORE

DAILY NORTHWESTERN Lily Cohen: I am more proud of my Jewish identity than anyone can ever hate me for it “When similar situations have taken place on campus in the past, I’ve remained silent, writing down how offended, hurt and angry I am, leaving it in the safety of my Google Drive. But, nothing ever changes, so I’m done staying silent. I’m done being blamed for the actions of the Israeli government. I’m done being told I’m undeserving of a safe, secure Jewish homeland. 

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Clean Speech Illinois

Posted on November 11, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

CLEAN SPEECH ILLINOIS 2022

Our communities are torn apart by division and strife. The way we speak is both the problem and the solution. Clean Speech Illinois is a community-wide education and awareness campaign to unite us in the practice of Jewish mindful speech, to build a more positive, respectful, and peaceful world. Gossip, slander, disparagement are contaminating our relationships and social environment – and until now, there’s been no programs to address this problem. Clean Speech is taking a stand to spread shalom (peace) throughout our communities by cleaning up our conversations, one word at a time. Sign up here to get involved.

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