TO DISFIGURE YOUR FACES

BACKGROUND TO THE WAVE OF PALESTINIAN 'POPULAR RESISTANCE' MURDERS

As with the rest of the world, the past 30 years saw Palestinian politics increasingly driven by religious fundamentalism. All fundamentalism, be it religious, scientific, materialistic or atheistic, share a common feature. It involves the constant introduction of fresh interpretations of old obligations which adherents must comply with in order for it to maintain a core of exclusivity. In fundamentalism there is no difference between getting the latest iPad, starting to wear the veil, arguing against evolution, arguing for evolution and praying on the Temple Mount. It is all driven by the basic need of belonging to the elect, something carried over from a childhood need for parental attention - and it is equally irrational and infantile - and dangerous.

Fundamentalism saw Muslims, including increasing numbers of Palestinians embrace a religious cult which calls for death and is proud of the murders it commits - Palestinians are now ideologically closer to Daesh than to the Arab nationalism of Yasser Arafat. They can no longer conceive of Israelis as humans but dehumanizes, by dealing with a collective - the IDF soldier, the Israeli settler etc. If this only happened in Israel it would be valid to attempt justification by claiming it is due to the disgrace of occupation or the loss of 'face' through administrative detention. As it has been happening all over Islam the argument falls away. Palestinians have embraced the constantly changing, and increasingly religiously demanding, fundamentalist Islam.  

The objective of the current wave of Palestinian violence is religious and not nationalistic and all because of an event Muslims believe happened long, long ago . . . 

One night in 621 CE when Jerusalem was still under Persian rule, the Prophet Mohammed levitated from al-Masjid al-Haram (the 'Sacred Mosque') on his flying horse Blinky, to al-Masjid al-Aqsa (the 'Farthest Mosque'). He tied Blinky to the outside wall, now the Western Wall, and went up onto the mount. Showing his supremacy he was the one to lead Jesus and Moses and all the other prophets, in prayers in the al-Aqsa Mosque. The mosque had originally been built by Adam, then by Abraham, Solomon and Herod - but had been destroyed. (At the time of the night journey there might have been a small synagogue on the Temple Mount but little more.) The Prophet then went to heaven by jumping from the rock of 'Dome of the Rock' fame, leaving behind a footprint which can still be seen. After having tea, he came back. Allah then blessed the precincts and this makes the Masjid al-Aqsa a holy place of prayer for Muslims.

Besides explaining the 'night trip', Surah 17 explains the sins and punishments of the Jews. The major sin of the Jews is their unwillingness to share their wealth with the suffering Palestinians. Everything they do they do for themselves, so Jews deserve to be punished by the Palestinians and so killing Jews is worship that draws us close to Allah (Broadcast by Hamas al-Aqsa Television, 2012). Their punishment is the disfiguring of their faces with the blade as Titus did at the time when he destroyed the al-Aqsa Mosque in 70 CE. The 'disfiguring' is not only about killing but it is about disempowering, and it is the work of Allah - for this reason the Palestinians use knifes. Stabbing one Jew with a knife takes away the power of the entire Israeli government, military, people etc.

The history of the mount according to Islam has Joseph, the son of Jacob, growing weary of hard work and hungry for the fleshpots of Egypt and he went there to do contract work. When the other Jews saw how well he was doing they also went to Egypt giving the keys of al-Aqsa to the Palestinians. The Jews, greedy for money, stayed in Egypt for 400 years working as slaves and became very wealthy until Moses made them come back. As they had bags full of money they bought all the best properties in Jerusalem and ignored the poverty of the Palestinians who had been looking after al-Aqsa. So they deserve to be killed.

Saeb Erakat, a Palestinian leader said Prime MinisterNetanyahu prevents Muslims from entering the Haram al-Sharif between 7 and 11 every day and he is saying that he will not allow ministers and MKs (members of the Knesset) to enter. But at the same time, he is allowing every other extremist to enter and pray in the al-Aqsa Mosque. The important thing about the statement is the use of two names. 'Haram al-Sharif' means 'the Sacred Sanctuary' and it came into use during the Crusades as a nationalistic battle cry. This was never popular with fundamentalists who regarded it as an 'innovation' - it wasn't in the Koran like Medina and Mekka. To give Jerusalem importance as a Palestinian nationalistic site it came back into use around 1920. In the 1980's the Palestinians started using the name al-Aqsa.

On 17 September the UN Security Council used the name 'Haram al-Sharif' after immense pressure from Jordan who had been on the on the Council 2014/2015. In general, 'al-Haram' is used to make the Temple Mount of nationalistic importance and 'al-Aqsa' to make it religiously significant. By using the term 'al-Haram al-Sharif' the UN Security Council, knowingly or not, recognized the Old City and East Jerusalem, as Palestinian territory - as it was under Jordanian rule. Erekat, in using both names, gives the Palestinian nationalistic ambitions a religious motivation to equal the claim of Israel.

Technically al-Aqsa is the mosque on the mount but in Fundamentalist Islamic religious terms, it is the entire Temple Mount area. Based on the Prophet Muhammad having fulfilled the messianic promise (according to Judaism), fundamentalist Islamic belief is currently hardening to include the right to rule Jerusalem (the Old City). The Jewish Messiach had to establish a kingdom which will consume all the evil kingdoms and stand forever, as according to Daniel 2: 44. All the Jewish rulers failed, but Muhammad succeeded and in accordance with Matthew 21: 43 he was not a Jewish 'cornerstone' - he is in Islamic understanding, if not words, the messiah. The entire Old City is therefore eternally part of an 'Islamic State' and 'defending' it is a religious obligation.

Religion needs a physical space to enact the defense of Allah. So defenders of al-Aqsa are the defenders of Allah and the mount is a sort of 'horcrux' which needs defending as it can be destroyed by 'evil' forces. Those who fall are martyrs and they will go straight to heaven and every drop of their blood is holy. In Islam, the importance of the mount is enhanced by the blood spilt fighting over it - the mount increases in holiness.

Since 1187, prayer on the Temple Mount by non-Muslims has been prohibited but in 1967 at the end of the Six Day War, Rabbi Shlomo Goren led prayers on the mount. His prayers, in Islamic pseudo-scientific religious belief, interfered like radio signals with the efficient 'radar' of Muslim prayers. The Muslims believe the twin minarets of the Mosque of Omar neutralize the prayers from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This bizarre 'science' presents a plausible reason for choosing the Twin Towers as a target - it blocked prayers from New York

When Mahmoud Abbas on 16 September 2015, 'explained' how the al-Aqsa is ours and they have no right to defile it with their filthy feet he was giving the fundamentalist 'scientific' interpretation of Sura 5: 6. Here it clearly states the face and hands must be washed and then it says; Rub your heads and your feet to the ankles. Extremists interpret it to mean, 'rub the head with water and wash the feet' even though the Koran says nothing of the sort. As extremism has grown, washing of feet has become an insane obsession. If a 'believer' touches the ground, for example on the mount, where an 'un-feetwashed' person walked, the prayers of the 'believer' is neutralized and made null and void.

After the initial 1967 spate of Jewish prayer, Moshe Dayan very quickly put a stop to it and the status quo on the mount was reaffirmed with prayer by non-Muslims prohibited. In recent years there has been a steady increase in the number of Jewish and Christian tourists who wish to pray on the Temple Mount and they quite correctly believe they do have such a right. But it is not an absolute right.

In the 'Temple Mount Case' heard in the Israeli high/supreme court in 1969, all the judges ruled Jews have the right to pray on the Temple Mount. But, the court ruled against Jews praying on the mount because of an established status quo from old (British mandate) court rulings and the principle of religious freedom not being an absolute right in a secular state. If there is a chance prayer would lead to public disorder, it is prohibited. The judgment is considered part of the Israeli 'constitution'. The permissibility of prayer is no small matter - pagan prayers outside a synagogue in Caesarea led to the 70 CE war, which destroyed the Temple.

Arab/Palestinian/Islamic groups possibly understand the high court ruling better than ultra-religious Jews. They know Jewish prayer can be prevented through public disorder. It is simple. The police are obliged to prohibit Jewish prayer on the mount, if the Arabs kill Jews.  

Judged by activity on the internet there are more people who want to kill Jews than defend them. There is little real cause for this desire but this does not curb their enthusiasm. Murdering Jews are not done in response to circumstances - it is done as soon as favorable conditions for murdering prevail. And it is not something unique to Palestinians or a recent phenomenon.

In the book of Esther everybody's life was protected by the Persians king and his soldiers. Haman received permission to remove the protection of the king from the Jews for one day - he did not get permission to use the army. He knew there were always people willing to kill Jews. All President Abbas (and the sheiks and muftis) has to do to unleash the Palestinians is to say he will not condemn those who murder - remove the moral condemnation and there will be those willing to kill Jews. Something used by Hajji Amin al-Husseini and Hitler and many others before.

The 'official' and common understanding is the attacks are carried out by 'young lone terrorists' - 'lone wolves'. This is based on the failure of older people to grasp what Facebook and other social media is all about. Terrorists with Facebook are never alone. They function within a 'community' structure and they are part of organizations. These organizations are completely invisible and use fake internet identities - there are more fakes on Facebook than real people. The largest group of internet 'friends' is operations of intelligence services of countries like Iran, Russia and Pakistan, and organizations like Daesh, Hezbollah, the PLO and al-Qaeda. They don't want money - they are phishing for minds. Western nations (and Israel) have no idea how to counter the recruitment, incitement and directing of the 'lone wolves' by these organizations.

Due to religious warping, the Palestinian leadership, and seemingly the Palestinian people, is unable to change course. By continuing their violence against Israel, they are self-destructing and will soon be irrelevant. Giving any form of encouragement to them is support for fundamentalism - and is no different than support for Daesh or Saudi Arabia. In a world fighting for freedom in the face of Islamic oppression, the fear of being politically incorrect is no longer an option so it must be said; religious rights are not absolute for the Jews or the Christians - and neither is it for Islam. In the Western world and Israel, Muslims do not have the right to murder in the name of Allah. 

OG, KING OF BASHAN - PART ONE

History, like art, should provide an understanding which makes it possible to explore the world.

 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.’ And Semjâzâ who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.’ Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecation upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it.

The Book of Enoch

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives, whomsoever they chose. And the Lord said: 'My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for that he also is flesh; therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.' The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.

Genesis 6: 1 - 4

King Og, ben-Hiya, ben-Semjâzâ was the ruler of Mt. Hermon long, long ago when it was part of the Kingdom of Bashan. (The Land of Rephaim). Og was one of the “giants” or Nephilim. He was the son of Hiya, who was one of the sons Semjâzâ (the Angel) and was begat with one of the comely daughters of man.   

For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants.

Deuteronomy 3: 11

Og survived the flood because Noah was a kind man. The flood came so suddenly that Noah forgot to pull up the ladder hanging over the side of the ark. When the worst of the storm was over the portholes were opened to get fresh air and Noah found Og hanging onto the ladder outside a porthole. Noah took pity on Og, and after getting him to agree not be bad anymore (Og wasn’t in any position to refuse) he fed him through the porthole. Og survived the trip hanging onto the ladder and in all the excitement after the beaching on Ararat he ran away and went to live on Mt. Hermon. Being what he was, he promptly went back to being a bad giant. 

Many bulls have surrounded me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

Psalm 22:12 

The Bashan, later known as Gaulanitis/Jaulan/Golan) is the plateau east of the Jordan River, north of the Yarmuk River to Mount Hermon. It is an agriculturally important area as the western part gets Mediterranean winter rains with mist in summer and it has fertile red-brown loam volcanic soil with a good drainage bed of ash. Being just far enough from the ocean to dry out properly, cattle do well in this area making it suitable for permanent settlement. Because nutrients are easily leached from the soil and there is no replenishing from flooding rivers, the soil has to be managed correctly. This has never been the case. Populations come and go depending on the vitality of the soil.

The depletion is made worse by erosion due to overgrazing by sheep and goats and deforestation. The forests of the Golan have been cut down since Roman times but they survived until the Turks came with their railway line. They had no coal and burned wood in their trains - and the ancient forest of the Golan disappeared. As did the farmers - who early in the 20th century, became displaced persons and moved to Jaffa. This was long, long ago - and definitely before 1967, so nobody can blame Israel.

Even before this happened, the Hebrews took possession of the land:

• And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan, towards the rising of the sun. (Deuteronomy 4:47)
• And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan. So Og king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. (Numbers 21: 11)
• The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. (All the region of Argob, with all Bashan, was called the land of the giants. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and called Bashan after his own name, Havoth Jair, to this day.) (Deuteronomy 3: 13 - 14)

The Assyrians took many of the Hebrews into exile, as did the Babylonians, and the beef of the Bashan became part of the myths in exile:

Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. (Micah 7:14)

And it wasn't long before the Hebrews did go back to the Golan.

After the conquests by Alexander the Great (332 BCE), Greek immigrants flooded the Philistine and Phoenician cities along the coast and as these cities were overwhelmingly Greek they quickly assimilated. East of the Jordan they established themselves along the major trade routes in large numbers. Here they lived amongst the Hebrews without mixing - sometimes in the same cities, sometimes in their own but always in positions of control.

During his 84 - 81 BCE campaign Alexander Janneus took the Golan from the Greeks and brought it under Hebrew control. It was soon lost to the Romans under Pompey in 64 BCE who restored the Greek cities to their former owners but abandoned the bulk of the country to Arabs who once a year drove massive flocks of goats and camels across any greenery on the land. The rest of the year, they robbed all who moved. The land emptied. Herod the Great conquered it, and with soldiers and a Babylonian Jew in charge, restored law and order (and freedom from taxes). The Arabs were driven out and the population exploded as farming became possible.     

After the 132 CE Roman-Hebrew War when Hadrian forbade Jews to live in Judea, many of them moved to the Golan establishing over 170 communities. During the original settlement of the Golan, settlements were concentrated at the northeastern corner of the Kinneret and then thinned out towards the east, north and south. Over time, these communities split into distinctly Jewish or Christian towns with the Jewish towns concentrated near the Sea of Galilee and the Christian towns in an arch around them. The communities experienced a period of great prosperity based on the export of olive oil under the rule of the Byzantines. After the defeat of the Byzantines by the Arabs, both the Jewish and Christian communities vanished from the Golan almost overnight. It is tempting to say that this was due to persecution but that would not be true. It was the change of political masters that caused the collapse of the olive oil industry. This was the wealth of the Golan and as it was dependent on export trade to the west, it stopped when the harbors had been destroyed. From then on, the Golan had remained virtually unpopulated until the Ottomans started forcefully relocating people like the Druze and Circassians to the area.

The Golan was given to the French after WWI, and so landed in the hands of the Syrians and it emptied of people. After 1967, it became a part of Israel - people came back and today it is again famous for its beef. And lately, its Californian style wines.

NEVER AGAIN - PART TWO

LIKE LAMBS TO SLAUGHTER

But I was like a docile lamb that is led to slaughter.

Jeremiah 11:19

The Final Solution was preceded by the murder of 90 000 mentally ill patients (like homosexuals) in a program called T-4. In August 1941, it was stopped after the churches protested. The mass murder of Jews started soon after but the churches did not protest - and the murders carried on until the end of WWII when the Nazis had been defeated.

The initial plan was for Jews to be destroyed through work. Most of the deaths during the initial phases were due to extremely harsh working conditions and severe deprivation with active murder being the exception. The large-scale organized murders, especially through the use of gas chambers, came after the Americans entered the war at the end of 1941.

The tendency is for historians to portray the Jews as powerless and unable to resist but this is not quite the case. Uprisings like the massive effort in the Warsaw Ghetto shows what could have been done. After 300 000 Jews had been murdered, the people of Warsaw no longer believed the lies their leaders had been telling. (The leaders prohibited armed resistance, insisting everything will turn out okay.) In January 1943 the Warsaw Jews, with a little outside help, took up arms against the Germans.

The resistance held for more than five months - they were at war with the Nazis for longer than France was. This demands respect and should have taken place everywhere. In the camps, there were acceptably successful uprisings. The Russian Jews gave the Germans a hiding at Sorbibor - October 1943, and then at Treblinka (October 1944) and Auschwitz (October 1944) there were escapes.

The most significant Jewish resistance was the partisans - especially in France and the Soviet Union. These Jews fought with great efficiency right from the beginning. There were tales of great heroism and it inspired future generations of Israelis.

There were therefore opportunities to fight back but far too many Jews went to their deaths like 'lambs to slaughter' - this is an unpleasant fact. The important question is, "Why?"

In Warsaw, Emanuel Ringelblum put together an archive of people in the ghetto's observations. He also made notes of his own and famously wrote, this must never happen again and was involved in and part of the resistance. He escaped the ghetto and died while in hiding. Much of his writing was speculation, an attempt to understand and provide answers. He noticed and could not understand the passivity of the Jewish masses - it is not an illusion, it is a reality noticed at the time. Jews he said died without a whimper. Why, he asks, are fathers, mothers and all the children murdered without protesting?

It is true the Zionist Jews, the secular better-informed leaders and the financially able, left Europe and left the rest without militant capable leadership. If the Jews had been left completely leaderless, there would have been chaos, as among civilians in any war, but it would have been impossible for the Germans to murder as many as they did. But there were leaders and the majority was guided by them. These leaders had too much authority, were obeyed too readily and worse of all they based their decision-making on religion as they understood or wished it to be. This obscured the reality from their religious followers. Their power came from their being rabbis - and rabbis were appointed on the authority of God, as 'Lord of the Place'. They were not easily questioned.

The rabbis refused to take advice from anyone they did not regard as Jewish, not Reform Jews or Zionists or Gentiles, as they had no respect for them. During the initial phases of the Final Solution, they made a deliberately calculated move based on the shoal principle which since the Maccabees had been their survival mechanism. They, like a school of fish, relied on the predator eating its full and leaving a remnant. This is sacrifice at its most basic. Caveman 'sacrificed' to the saber-tooth tiger living at the back of the cave. They thought the Nazis would get 'satiated' like the tiger. They were unable to conceive of the reality of the potential for absolute evil in humanity. Those who were selected to die were glad because they were the elect, the chosen who was to be the 'holocaust' - the whole burnt offering who would bring forward the coming of the Messiach. Their sacrifice would herald a world of great bliss for all humanity, so they were happy; singing to the gas chambers.

The rabbis claimed the Jews are bound by oath not to rebel against the nations of the world. This was based on a deliberate misinterpretation of passages from Songs (2: 7, 3: 5, 8:4). The passages are a warning for women not to tease until they can please. This extremely good and sensible advice is not very holy, so the rabbis put a more spiritual spin on it. They said it meant Jews had sworn not to fight to defend themselves until the Messiach came. They also saw an oath not to return to Israel and they saw something else - something completely disastrous. Something which turned Judaism, a religion for life, into a death cult. They saw a promise of the coming of the Messiach if the Nazis (or anyone else) abused them to an extensive degree. They have waited for this event for a long time and now they could make it a reality by not resisting. By going to their deaths, literally 'like lambs to slaughter' - except they were singing.

When the Messiach did not turn up, they took their followers to their deaths because death was preferable to admitting they were wrong.

Note: The concept of the Messiach and the expectation of him is based on Alexander the Great - the all conquering hero and savior who brings justice. Before Alexander, there was no thought of such a Messiach in Judaism - nor in Christianity. 

80% of European Haredi were murdered - two-thirds of the six million Jews who died.

WHERE WAS GOD?

The Final Solution is one of the salient points in the history of the world.

As history unfolds, we learn more and more about the world, God and ourselves. This learning should change our perspective. (We learnt the earth moved around the sun. The earth was still the same. The sun was unchanged. But we had to deal with a brand new universe - even if it was unchanged - created by a fresh perspective.) Not to be prepared to alter perspective when faced with historical progress is dogmatism and dogmatism comes from arrogance in our own infallibility.

The Final Solution changed our perspective both of God and of humanity. The question, "Where was God?" is an expression of dogmatism - an attempt to keep our understanding of God the same as before the horrors which took place. It is at the same time an attempt to keep the same opinion of humanity.

Some people believe the Jews were murdered in sanctification of God's name. Others believe they were sin-offerings. Others still, believe it was the work of Satan. This is simply not the truth.

They were murdered because the world knowingly allowed Hitler and the Nazis to come to power without fighting back. They were murdered because anti-Semitism was allowed to be spread by overly liberal governments who allowed freedom of speech. They were murdered because of the false beliefs of the Haredim.

In the words of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest (~ 130 CE), one of the ten martyrs who died with Rabbi Akiva: When a field is covered by weeds, shall a farmer complain to God? No; let him blame himself for his carelessness and neglect. Hitler should have been weeded and those who are actually prepared to read the Bible would see God is unchanged and he is where he has always been. God is not a pacifist and He does not love humanity, and He will not turn up to save them in the nick of time by sending a Messiach. This is the new perspective which has to be embraced.  

Before WWII, humanism and respect for humans became quite a big thing - the Final Solution changed the perspective. Humans are despicable and act horrifically. Since the Final Solution, this has been proved repeatedly. When the Nazis said they were going to murder all the Jews, they meant it. As the Arabs and Persians mean it today.

NEVER AGAIN

Haredim have to be taken care of by a government which allows them no freedom outside their own communities because they are like children. Extremely dangerous children - but incapable of protecting themselves. They cannot be allowed the leeway and authority they get in Israel because they are simply too irresponsible - they will provoke a catastrophe. They need a strong government who will keep them in their place while at the same time allowing them to practice their religion as they see fit in their 'shtetls'. This they had while they were under Islamic rule, be it under the Ottomans or in Yemen, Iraq, Iran etc. Under such a government, they will be safe - Israel cannot protect them and they will destroy Israel. They will sing while the nuclear bombs rain down on Tel Aviv - they are a death cult. (Reform and secular Jews might not be real Jews in the eyes of the Haredim but they are good enough for a sacrifice.)

A close look at anti-Semitism shows it to be based on personality flaws which already exist in the individual before they encounter their first propaganda. The word 'Jew' can as easily be replaced with the word 'tree' and would still hold true in the concepts. It can be fought because people with personality flaws flock together to get power. Constant, constant, constant attack to prevent the flocking and then individual can twitter and make no difference. Not one anti-Semitic sentence must go unchallenged - even to a ridiculous degree.

Anti-Semitism morphed into mass murder only when the Germans felt their lives were threatened. Arab propaganda has learnt from this and constantly portrays Israelis/Jews as mass murderers. (The 2014 Gaza War is a case in point.) The Arabs want the hatred to turn into horror and to a large degree, this is happening in Islamic circles but not so amongst secular Palestinians. They are no longer eager to provoke another Intifada. A withdrawal from the Zionist 'conquest settlements' and an incorporation of the Haredi settlements into a future Palestinian state will prevent the morphing from hate to horror.

The most important way to prevent another 'Solution' is for the majority of the international community to be fair. This can be done by being skeptical of the flood of anti-Semitic/anti-Zionist/anti-Israel propaganda. Jews are humans and Israel is not perfect but neither are any other people or country in the world. All Jews and Israel ask for is to be judged by the same measure as other people and countries. Before condemnation:

• Establish the facts from a variety of sources - make sure the story does not have the same origin
• Make sure the facts make some sort of sense - there is little point in killing one child in a war
• There has to be an external precedent - the same type of event with the same response
• Do not react based on emotion or prejudice - stay calm and be even handed
• Place yourself in the shoes of the Jews or Israelis - how you would have responded

This is not asking too much.   

NEVER AGAIN - PART ONE

The SS men loaded the children into wheelbarrows and dumped them into the fiery ravines.

Living children burned like torches.

Sara Nomberg-Przytyk, Auschwitz, 1943

This post deals specifically and only with the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis ending with WWII in 1945. It does not cover the murder of 5 million Gentiles - the insane, gypsies, communists etc. The term used to describe this mass murder is 'Final Solution' and not 'Holocaust' as is commonly used by historians. The term 'Final Solution', German - 'Endlösung', is a more accurate term than ‘Holocaust’ or the Hebrew word 'Shoah'.

'Holocaust' ('sacrifice') implies there was a purpose in mind or a purpose was achieved. Proving this is impossible and therefore equally difficult to disprove. For example: Jews sinned and God punished them - making Hitler an innocent instrument of God. Or: The Zionist orchestrated it to force the creation of the state of Israel - making the German people the most gullible on earth.

'Shoah' which means ‘catastrophe’, falsifies the true nature of what happened. A shoah is a natural event beyond human control (Amos Oz) and this was not the case. It was very much an event under human control which could have been prevented by humans.

'Final Solution' is the most accurate term as it describes what the Germans tried to achieve - solving a perceived 'problem' which has been around for thousands of years - the 'Jewish problem'. The Nazis were right; murdering all the Jews is a way to solve this 'problem'.

But then so would murdering all the gentiles - a Zionist is a Jew who shoots back.

So, maybe it is best if there are no problems which needed solutions of any kind.

The Final Solution raises four important questions

• Why did the highly civilized Germans murder Jews?
• Why didn't the Jews fight back?
• Where was God when this was happening?
• How can a similar event be prevented?

HATRED AND HORROR

The Germans (and others) came to hate the Jews after a fresh wave of anti-Semitism which swept Europe at the end of the 19th century. This was followed by an overwhelming horror filled fear. The combination of hatred and horror led to the Final Solution coming into being.

The term 'anti-Semites' was first used in 1879 to describe a group of Germans who viewed Jews as being part of a 'Semitic race'. This 'race' they believed would never fit into German society. So effective was the propaganda at the time, few people, even now, realized there is no such thing as a 'Semitic race'. It belongs firmly in the pseudo-scientific conspiracy field but like all good conspiracies, it had a nugget of truth to it.

There are different 'groups' of related languages. Speaking a particular language does not imply belonging to the dominant race of a 'group'. This is simple logic - English speaking, New York, Chinese, aren't Anglo Saxons. Whether he was a real figure or not is immaterial, the Bible goes to a lot of trouble to explain Abraham was not 'Semitic'. He and his family were called 'Hebrews' - 'outsiders'. Racially they were Persians - Aryans (the term 'Iran' is the local pronunciation) - they were not Arabs.

During the 19th century, Jews slowly became part of mainstream German society and by 1870; all forms of discrimination had been lifted. The largest part of German Jewish society tried to integrate in both society and the modern world. This was possible because they had changed much of their religious practices. The new Judaism was called 'Reform' and it was very accepting of and similar in practice to Christianity. 

At this time, modernism swept the world with a series of unsettling events with Albert Einstein proving time is an illusion, Sigmund Freud showing unexpressed emotions never die, and Karl Marx encouraging workers to rebel because they had nothing to lose but their chains. This provoked strong opposition especially in Germany where a large part of the population was trying to hang on to the 'good old days'. The world, as the Germans saw it, became filled with uncertainty. Resentment of the emancipated, liberal Jews grew. The 'Bolshevik' Jews were especially blamed for periodic financial downturns but never praised for upswings in the economy.

Modernism brought about a Christian theological revolution driven by German theologians who were trying to bring religion in line with the new understanding of the universe. The result was a more modern approach amongst liberals and a far more careful reading of the Bible amongst conservatives. The result was a splintering of the protestant church but by 1900, almost all the churches had accepted that scripturally, the Jews were 'God's children'. As an unintended consequence, the entire issue of the 'chosen people' surfaced again especially amongst Germans who were more exposed to the new theology. For the deeply religious, this was not an issue but for ordinary Christians it was a crisis. No matter how the theologians tried to placate, all they understood was they were no longer amongst 'the chosen' and this created jealousy and eventually hatred. 

The Roman Catholic Church increasingly tried to correct social ills associated with modernism resulting in a new liberal theology. A unique type of anti-Semitism came into being. An article in an official Church publication (Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche) of 1930 provides one of the clearest examples: Two types of anti-Semitism can be distinguished, one national and politico-racial, the other politico-governmental. The former combats Judaism simply because of its racial and national foreignness, the latter because of the excessive and deleterious influence of the Jewish segment of the population of a given people. . . . The legal order of the system of competition in modern private economies has Judaism's fingerprints (or rather, the mark of its spirit and its character) all over it, as if it had been cut to its measure. . . . Only anti-Semitism linked to the rise of moral decadence (the decline in births) represents an internal anti-Semitism. The Catholic Church encouraged their members to be good 'natural' or 'internal' anti-Semites and fight Jewish decadence.  

Some German Christians believed God need to be upgraded to a 'God of the Germans' - a God sympathetic to Germans. This idea was spread by people like Professor Ernst Bergmann who said either we have a German God or none at all and it is because we believe in Him and not in our own German God that we are defeated in the struggle of the nations. Hitler was seen as the new messiah (We have faith, deep and unshakeable faith that he (Hitler) was sent by God to save Germany - Hermann Göring). 

Though the belief Jews poison wells and use children's blood in the making of unleavened bread was still common in Eastern Europe, it had little credibility in the more sophisticated and skeptical Germany where proof of every assertion was required. In its place myths which could not be proved one way or the other gained traction. The most popular of these occurred in various forms. Jesus was said not to have been a Jew but an Aryan called Jesus ben-Pantera.

The early Christian church spoke of ‘Jesus, the son of a virgin’ with the Greek word for ‘virgin’ being parthenos. The Jews heard it as Jesus ben-Pantera or ‘Jesus the son of a panther’. As the name ‘Pantera’ was not a Jewish one, they decided it must have been a Roman one and concocted and entire tale around it. Mary, they said, was unfaithful, Joseph divorced her and she took up with her Germanic Roman legionary called Pantera. This is how it is written in the Babylonian Talmud.      

When Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf expressed his fear of the Jews, he gave voice to a common phenomenon. (While thus examining the working of the Jewish race over long periods of history, the anxious question suddenly occurred to me whether perhaps destiny, for reasons unknown to us poor mortals, had not unalterably decreed the final victory for this little race.) The ancient Egyptians were scared of the Jews; and he said to his people, “Look the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we (Exodus 1: 9). The book of Esther explain it neatly, If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.

The belief of a superior race being in an unfair position to do better in life is a particularly dangerous form of racism as it easily grows into violence. Haman, in the book of Esther wanted all the Jews killed, as they were a threat to his high position. And like the Nazis, he saw himself as the victim who couldn't compete on a level playing field. It is true we have made discriminatory laws, but they are directed not so much against the Jews, but for the German people, to give economic opportunity to the majority. (Adolf Hitler, 1933)

The Germans believed they were the superior people but the Jews were underhand and sneaky and so got the advantage. Richard Wagner's music drama, Nibelungen Ring (completed 1874) was constructed from a variety of traditional stories and songs reflecting the culture of the late 19th century - tales with which his audience could associate. In the beginning, there were the gods who were awesome, giants who were dumb, dwarfs or nibelungs who were evil (half the dwarfs were black, the other half Jewish), and nymphs who were good. Later another hero (a superior human) called Siegfried was created. He killed some of the dwarfs but was then treacherously slain. The Germans believed themselves to be part of the superior race of Siegfried who tries to rid the world of dark dwarf (Jewish) evil. And they believed themselves betrayed by their own government and the world.   

Added to the strange mix of half-believed myth were conspiracy theories. They are popular as they, like myths, account for the vagaries of life and personal failure - they provide a justification of actions. The most impactful anti-Jewish conspiracy theory is a booklet called 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'. Because it was written for the barely literate, it remains one of the most influential works in history and it was (and still is) used to sway the plebian masses. Hitler used it as proof - the existence of the Jews is based on one continuous lie is shown in incomparable manner in the Protocols. The 'Protocols' was closely linked to the theory of the Jews being responsible for the German surrender during the First World War and the punishment imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. (The stab in the back theory.) 

Going from anti-Semitism, with little violent action, to the Final Solution however was a massive step and the crude propaganda of media like Der Sturmer, offended Jews and Germans alike and was a complete failure. The average German wasn't roused to violent action by the crude pornography - they were disgusted and blamed the liberal Weimar Republic for the freedom of speech which allowed such filth to be published. The Jews were equally offended and left the country. In 1933, there were approximately 520 000 Jews living in Germany. During the next six years under Nazi rule 300 000 emigrated. These were the wealthy and leaders who left the 200 000 most vulnerable mostly Haredim behind - 180 000 of them were murdered.

On 9 November 1938, Germans were offered the chance to murder all the Jews with no repercussions. The night became known as Kristallnacht - named for all the broken glass of smashed Jewish shop windows (and Gentile owned shops) lying in the street. For the Nazi high command, the night was a complete disappointment because there was no mass murder - 91 Jews were murdered. The night was unpopular with Germans in general and the insurance companies who had to carry the cost were furious. Hitler ordered Goebbels to get the German people ready to murder Jews. What he produced was the most successful propaganda campaign in history.

The majority of Jews in Germany belonged to a conservative unnoticeable integrated prosperous middle-class. But two Jewish groups created a completely different perception - an unfavorable one. The one group was the highly aggressive and often violent Bolsheviks with their connection to the Soviet Union the other was the Haredim. By 1939, the Bolsheviks had mostly left the country after vicious encouragement and a large number of murders. The other was the Haredim, and Goebbels had tehm in his sights.   

Haredi Jews were the most conservative and reactionary group in Europe. They stood against all modern art, science and human development and wanted the world to remain frozen in the Middle Ages. From around 1870, fleeing Russia and Poland, hundreds of thousands started streaming through Western Europe mostly on their way to America. Some settled near towns and cities where wealthy Jews were to be found. For the first time Germans, Gentiles and Jews, saw them for what they really were as they were no longer confined and isolated in shtetls. It was a shock. Jews and Gentiles, alike, took an unfavorable view of their superstition, pagan religious practices and medieval customs. (As they did of the behavior of the Gypsies and Polish peasants.)

The result of the anti-Semitism - hatred - was to lay the foundation and build the walls. The roof was horror. The Germans feared the Jews would take revenge for what had been done to them. Goebbels capitalized on their fear and concentrated on demonizing and dehumanizing the Jews making them seem as cruel and vengeful as possible.

The most successful part of Goebbels' campaign was a film called Der Ewige Jude ('The Eternal Jew') where Haredi Jews were depicted with real footage from Polish shtetls. They are equated with the spread of rats. Right near the end there was a cruel scene showing a Haredi ritual animal slaughter. Hitler, who was a vegetarian, was so shocked when he saw this scene in October 1939 he made his final decision ordering, this Jewry must be annihilated (as Goebbels had written in his diary after he had seen the film).

The film was released to the general public in 1940 and it had the effect Hitler wanted. What the German public saw were 'rats' - a primitive people behaving like rats - coming to slaughter them and their families with great cruelty, and they took the final step. The impact was as if the zombies of World War Z were a real thing. The Germans believed they were acting in self-defense to protect their way of life, and their lives. There is a form of logic to this. They believed if the Jews were all dead, the Allies and especially America would no longer have a reason for war and it would end. Germany would then be able to get a just peace, free from the 'evil Jewish influence'.

HAREDIM: TIME FOR A DIVORCE

ISRAEL RAMBLES

 

HAREDIM: TIME FOR A DIVORCE

It is time for Israel and the Haredim to part ways and for the Haredim to become a part of the future Palestinian state. The divorce is due to irreconcilable differences but it could become a win, win, win situation.

The word Haredim is used to describe all the ultra/fundamentalist/extreme religious Jewish groups whose origins can be traced back to some form of isolation from mainstream society. The term 'Haredim' is almost exclusively used to describe 'The Religious' of Israel as it is only in Israel where there is non-cooperation with the government.

BACKGROUND AND BELIEFS

The Haredim formed in response to Jewish emancipation and enlightenment in Europe in the late 18th and 19th centuries. It is therefore a modern invention with many recently adopted traditions and customs. It is successful because all its forms are based on excluding the 'outsiders' who live in the modern sinful world. In all its manifestations, it forms a single fundamentalist cult as it turns myths and stories into reality.

Haredi rabbis (leaders) know what they teach is fiction, but justify the use of stories (mixed in with some history) as it is used to explain inexplicable events or illustrate a greater truth. This is done to remove the random nature of reality and infuse it with the guiding hand of God and to present Jews (the 'chosen people') in a positive light.

As there is little possibility of meaningful religious discussions with Haredi, there is no need to know anything more about their history and beliefs. Even though the right of their beliefs do not have to be defended, the right to their religious beliefs has to be absolute even if it means they have to get a self governing 'state'.

BEARDS

A noticeable feature of Haredi men are their beards and Haredim pay a lot of attention to their beards, which are regarded symbols of virile manliness, wisdom and freedom from leprosy.

The beards of the Haredim are no different to the tattoos of Tel Aviv - it is all about self-image and this is important for both groups. But they offend each other to a violent degree and should not be forced to travel on the same bus, work together or interact in any way. (In any case, breakfast-beard is disgusting and Israeli tattoos pathetic.)

Separation is the only way to ensure basic human rights for both groups without constant legal interference.

SPIRITUAL NEEDS

Haredim are a spiritually needy people. One of the groups which make up the Haredim is the Hasidim. In 1735 a Polish faith healer, miracle worker, exorcist and amulet salesman called Israel ben-Eliezer announced it had been revealed to him he is a baal shem tov - a 'master magician' and he brought together the various hasidim ('pious ones') and catered to their spiritual needs. There seems to have been a need for this kind of service and the 'need' spread at an astonishing rate. By the end his life the Baal Shem Tov had 40 000 needy followers.

This incredible spiritual need, which can never be satisfied, remain a dominating force among Haredi. A modern rabbi with 150 followers can get 30 requests for spiritual comfort a day. It is a psychological illness stemming from a lack of sincere un-prescribed individual attention starting with parents and then in later life, spouses.

The Haredim can offer the world nothing but this need, a thirst that can never be quenched, so it is best for the entire world if they live in isolation.

RETURN TO THE GHETTO

Moses Mendelssohn (1729 - 1786) found a way for the Jews to leave the ghetto. He believed they first had to be ready and willing to leave religiously before they took the first steps. This necessitated a change of attitude towards Judaism. What he propagated was a God who left the minds of Jews free as the 'Law' only concerned itself with morality as it pertains to behavior. This allowed Jews to leave the ghetto but what they found was a culture where their religious practices were unacceptable - so those who refused to accept the modern Germany moved to America and Palestine.

Goebbels tried to make a propaganda film to show the Jews as primitive and disgusting - adherents of a religion filled with the superstitious pagan practices of Eastern European peasants from the Middle Ages. No such Jews were to be found in Germany or Austria - even poor Jews were highly sophisticated and cultured. In the Prague ghetto, he found exactly what he was looking for and Jud Suss became the world's most successful propaganda film.

It cannot be denied, the Haredim cling to unpalatable practices and customs. They are not acceptable to Mendelssohn's Jews or the wider world and as there is no chance of them changing it is best if they go back to the ghetto, where they can protect their way of living without causing offence.

The Haredim are happy to do this as they see the separation in religious terms - the same as separating milk and meat.

'SCHOOLS'

The first new yeshiva (from the Hebrew 'to sit') was started in Lithuania at the start of the 19th century. It was 'schools' where ultra-Orthodox students studied in an organized fashion on a large scale. Their studies were limited to religious subjects as determined by the rabbis who ran the schools. The spread and success of subsequent 'schools' were based on the original model which saw students to a large degree separated from their families and isolated from society. In the 'schools', a nurturing extended family life, so important to develop self-worth, is replaced by an authoritarian rabbi who literally has power of life and death. Parental love and discipline, essential for proper development of responsible freedom, is replaced by an institution which demands complete subservience and obedience. Interaction with society, essential for the development of critical thinking, is replaced by peer pressure.

Today the 'schools' form the foundation of the entire Haredic culture. To put this in perspective; it is like having hundreds of Wacos, geared to create thousands of brainwashed abuse victims in one small country. And it is a country where the majority of people are completely and very strongly opposed to this form of education.

The situation does not have a good prognosis. The 'yeshiva boys' walk around with pent up frustration and massive aggression looking for fights. They push non-Haredi women out of the way to get on the trains, behave rudely to female tourists and make nasty comments about women in the IDF. This annoys everyone who has different customs. Unfortunately, the police protect them and take their side but sooner or later some female soldier is going to lose it. And if she has a Mini Tavor, there is going to be a disaster.

It is best to avoid this scenario.

PUSHING HISTORY

The Haredim believe they are pushing history forward and they are right. The Haredim are quite happy to create animosity between them and other Jews and Gentiles. They refuse to accept Jews as 'Jews' because they are not 'Jewish' enough. The history of animosity they see as inevitable but it is not acrimonious enough to enable the split.

The animosity and separation between Haredim and Reform, between ultra-Orthodox and secular, should be encouraged to create a new Israeli Judaism.

The majority of Israelis has their rights as well - it is time they are freed from the black-boot of Haredic oppression.

LOYALTY TO THE STATE OF ISRAEL

From the time of the first Haredim in Palestine in the 1920's, the loyalty of the Haredim has been suspect. They had all along made their own deals with the Arabs and claim they can live in peace with the Palestinians if it wasn't for the constant Zionist provocation. Most likely, they are right.

Without loyalty, they cannot serve in the military. This is especially true of Haredim attitudes and expressions after wars when they make themselves guilty of faultfinding to a treasonous degree. They do this because they need to blame somebody for the failure of their prayers. A terrible example was the 1973, Yom Kippur War. Because their prayers failed to keep individuals safe, the Haredim were unable to see the saving miracle of the war and described it as a calamity brought about by God as punishment for the sin of the secular Israelis.

It is best Haredim and other strongly religious people do not serve in the military at all.

IT IS DONE

It is impossible for the state of Israel to continue to exist with the Haredim as an integral part. As government after government try to accommodate them, it has become clear politicians are chasing a unity dream, which no longer has any credibility. The Haredim never wanted to be part of Israel and they do not want to be a part now.

A clean divorce between Israel and the Haredim offers the brightest future for both groups. It is also one of the few ways to bring about a peace with the Palestinians. Israel needs to dissociate from the Haredim and allow them to make their own deal with the Palestinians about the West Bank, Old City and East Jerusalem settlements. This is something they claim they can do and they should be given the opportunity - they might even be able to negotiate a return to Gaza. To deny them the chance, is to infringe on their human rights and treat them as children.

In such an agreement, the Haredim can get control over their own affairs in their own 'cantons'. The Palestinians will be rid of the Zionists. And Israel will be able to lighten its economical and military load.

Everybody is a winner.