“Lenin always insisted on the most violent solutions”

Posted on September 30, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

NEW CRITERION
Leninthink
by Gary Saul Morson
October 2019

…As we approach the 150th anniversary of Lenin’s birth, understanding him grows ever more important. Despite the fall of the Soviet Union, Leninist ways of thinking continue to spread, especially among Western radicals who have never read a word of Lenin…Those who do not understand him mistake his ideas for those of radicals like the anarchist Peter Kropotkin, who argued that violence was permitted when necessary. That squishy formulation suggests that other solutions would be preferable. But for Lenin maximal violence was the default position. He was constantly rebuking subordinates for not using enough force, for restraining mobs from lynchings, and for hesitating to shoot randomly chosen hostages.READ MORE

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“Saudi Arabia, home to 15 of the 19 hijackers of 9/11, is desperate to see America take up its cause by attacking Iran”

Posted on September 29, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

NATIONAL REVIEW
Keep It Steady and Cool with Iran, America
by Victor Davis Hanson
October 1, 2019

Expect more desperate Iranian efforts to prompt a U.S. military response in the Persian Gulf. Trump’s sanctions have cut off 90 percent of Iran’s oil revenues. Soon Tehran’s shattered economy will be followed by more pent-up domestic unrest of the sort that Barack Obama ignored in 2009, when he felt that the continued viability of the murderous theocracy fed his bizarre dreams of enhancing a new Shiite, Persian hegemony to counterbalance the Sunni Arabs. In contrast, America’s newfound role as the largest gas and oil producer in the world has not only lessened the importance of imported oil, whether from enemies such as Iran and Venezuela, or purported friends like Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies. READ MORE

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If and when Bibi returns mandate, “Gantz would then have 28 days to build a coalition”

Posted on September 28, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Netanyahu likely to return mandate to Rivlin
by Gil Hoffman
September 28, 2019

Barring unforeseen flexibility by Blue and White in coalition talks with Likud on Sunday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will already return his mandate to form a government to President Reuven Rivlin before Rosh Hashanah begins Sunday evening, Likud sources said Saturday. Sources close to Rivlin said he was prepared to receive the mandate back from Netanyahu and that there was no meeting or formal procedure required. If the mandate is returned, Rivlin may hold additional consultations but would formally task Blue and White leader Benny Gantz with forming a government by Thursday, the day when the new Knesset will be sworn in. READ  MORE

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New York area Hezbollah cells “gather intelligence, provide logistical support, and carry out operations, although only Tehran decides if and when to strike U.S. targets”

Posted on September 27, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

FDD
New Indictment Adds to Evidence of Hezbollah Terrorist Activities in the U.S.
by Emanuele Ottolenghi
September 25, 2019

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the indictment last week of U.S. citizen Ali Hassan Saab, a resident of Morristown, New Jersey, and suspected Hezbollah agent. The indictment provides mounting evidence that Hezbollah has patiently and quietly built up its terrorist infrastructure on U.S. soil. Hezbollah-planted sleeper cells are critical to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s strategy of asymmetric warfare, especially as tensions escalate between Tehran and Washington. Iran views terrorist operations as a legitimate policy option but recognizes the advantage of plausible deniability. READ MORE

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#BDS has one goal: the destruction of the State of Israel “cleverly masked behind the veneer of fighting for human rights and legitimate criticism of Israel”

Posted on September 27, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

NEWSWEEK
Why BDS Fails My 3D Test on anti-Semitism
by Natan Sharansky
September 25, 2019

The global resurgence of anti-Semitism that we are experiencing today began almost 20 year ago, mainly in Europe. At the time, I was serving as Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs and was grappling with the question of how to distinguish between legitimate criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism. That is when I came up with what I call “the 3D test for anti-Semitism”—the three Ds are demonization, delegitimization and double standards…My 3D test shows that if we see these same tools of delegitimization, demonization and double standards that were used against Jews in the past being used against the collective Jew, the Jewish State, today—we know we are witnessing a new face of the old anti-Semitism.READ MORE

Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs releases report, “Behind the Mask: The Antisemitic Nature of BDS Exposed”that provides great detail on the links between BDS and anti-Semitism

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“As pressure to treat the Jewish state like a pariah has grown, so has the list of authors who refuse to allow their books to be published in Israel – or even translated in Hebrew, the language of the Jewish people”

Posted on September 26, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

AISH
Authors Snubbing Israel
by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller
September 24, 2019

…British writer Kamila Shamsi won the prestigious Nelly Sachs literary prize, bestowed every other year by the city of Dortmund in Germany. A Nelly Sachs award comes with 15,000 Euros (about $16,500) in prize money and celebrates authors whose work contributes to the promotion of understanding between different groups of people. There was only one problem: far from bringing people together, Ms. Shamsi books divide groups and inflame passions. For years, she’s forbidden any of her works to be published in Israel.When this outrageous fact was pointed out to the Nelly Sachs prize committee, they decided to take a principled stand. For the first time, they revoked their award. READ MORE

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Reps. Brad Schneider and David Schweikert ask White House ‘to explain’ lack of exemption

Posted on September 26, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH INSIDER
Exclusive: Congressmen press Trump on Israeli steel tariff waiver
by Jacob Kornbluh
September 26, 2019

Congressmen Brad Schneider (D-IL) and David Schweikert (R-AZ) have asked the Trump administration to explain why Israel has not been granted a waiver on new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. In a letter sent to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Wednesday and obtained by Jewish Insider, the two lawmakers — both members of the House Ways and Means Committee — noted that while the administration has granted exemptions to a number of key allies, including South Korea, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Mexico, the tariffs remain on imports from Israel, an ally and reliable strategic partner. READ MORE

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Bibi seemed to be saying: “Look, I can’t do this by myself, and General Gantz can’t do this by himself. So we’re going to have to end up, one way or another, doing it together”

Posted on September 26, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

NEW YORK SUN
Of the 3 Dramas That Grip the Globe, Israel’s May Take the Cake
Editorial
September 26, 2019

Of the three political dramas gripping the world right now, the most astounding may be in Israel, where President Rivlin, after the second election stalemate in five months, has just invited the incumbent prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to try to form a government….To complicate matters, it looks like Mr. Netanyahu is about to get indicted for bribery and other matters. He would be immune while he’s prime minister, but could not remain as premier — or any other minister — if he’s under indictment. No one wants to go back to a third election, no matter how vibrant Israel’s democracy. So what does Mr. Rivlin, the head of state of the Jewish state, see as a way forward that will thread all of this. READ MORE

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Muslim Brotherhood goal: “return the Muslim world to the time of Islamic Caliphate”

Posted on September 26, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
The Muslim Brotherhood Must Be Confronted
by Tawfik Hamid
September 27, 2019

The White House has, since April, been considering officially designating the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). This designation would follow in the footsteps of countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, which have first-hand experience and understanding of the serious threat the MB represents. The MB’s modus operandi typically works through four stages: Preaching, sharing, use of violence, full control. It would therefore be wise to confront them sooner rather than later, before they manifest their full power. READ MORE

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“As the year 5780 begins, political division is the predominant theme in both Israel and the United States”

Posted on September 26, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Can you forgive your political foes? And can they forgive you?
by Jonathan  S. Tobin
September 27, 2019

…In Israel, two attempts to elect a Knesset in one year may not have been enough. The stalemate that has prevented the formation of a new government is not so much about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies as it is about him. That has been complicated by the re-emergence of the ongoing conflict between secular and religious Jews. But that may not be as bad as what’s happening in the United States. Americans seem divided into two warring camps that don’t merely disagree about whether President Donald Trump should remain in office as much as they simply cannot tolerate each other’s existence. READ MORE

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