<sigh>
In over a thousand articles, I think we have only made glancing references to Israel on 3 or 4 occasions.
We wrote one (two-part) story about the way CNN covered Gaza firing rockets into Israel in 2021. And that's it. Do we have strong feelings about Israel? Yes, but when thousands of others have written about Israel, with much deeper resumes than I, I feel like my opinion is woefully insufficient.
When the end times come however, I want to be crystal clear as to my stance on Israel, as I wave to those flailing around me, falling into the pits of hell.
2,000 years ago was a looooong time ago, but that's where most of this mess started. Historical facts are that Jesus was a Jew. Indisputable. Jesus was crucified by the Romans. Indisputable. The Romans killed Jesus based off of the ruminations of the Jewish Leadership, Jesus wasn't breaking Roman Law. Indisputable.
When I minored in Religious Studies in college, my professor said "the historical Jesus existed and you can trace his steps. The contemporary argument should be whether he's the Son of God or not."
Do I hold any Jews accountable for the death of Jesus today? No.
Do I hold any Italians accountable for the death of Jesus today? No.
Is there anything that happened 2,000 years ago that should make you do something to another human being today? N-O-T-H-I-N-G.
Would I be angry if a Jewish Person moved next door to me? No.
Would I be angry if everyone on my block moved out and all Jews moved in? No. I might be suspicious, but my home value just went up.
Where am I going with all of this?
Simple. Israel is about the size of New Jersey. Israel's population is about the size of New Jersey.
The Jews are the Old World's Scapegoat, plain and simple. A hundred years ago everything bad that happened in Europe, from France to Poland, was blamed on the Jews. Every country had a minority Jewish Population, no country had a majority Jewish Population.
During the Holocaust, Hitler slaughtered millions of Jews, not just from Germany, but from all territories occupied by the Germans. When the war was over, were the Jews offered a homeland in Europe when the European Map was being re-written? Nope.
Even before the Second World War, Jews fled Europe by the hundreds of thousands in the Fifth Aliyah.
After the fall of the Nazi Regime, the Russians extended the Iron Curtain all the way to central Germany. Almost all of those Jewish communities on the map were wiped out. Were the Jews offered a homeland in Russia? Nope. Why did Jews flee to Israel? For the first time in modern history, they were the majority, albeit on a tiny speck of land.
As soon a Israel declared independence, its five Arab neighbors declared war on them immediately. Which is where our story really begins.
If you were an Arab in 1948, you could live almost anywhere in the Middle East without hassle. As a Sunni, you could live just about anywhere in the Middle East and fit in with the local populations (except for Iran.) For a country about the size of New Jersey, I find it very hard to believe that Arab Nations felt so threatened that they were afraid that Israel was going to take over their countries.
Do you know why Arabic Nations really hate Israel, TODAY? It's because Israel is a Unitary Parliamentary Republic, much like Iceland or Finland. The Middle East is loaded with Kings, Ayatollahs, and Despots. The leaders of the countries in the Middle East are still using the 'Jew as a Scapegoat' Philosophy employed by Europeans a century ago.
Let's say you are barely scraping by in Syria. Your country has been ravaged by Civil War and the Arab Spring a decade ago is nothing but a distant memory. Are your problems problems related to what happens in Jerusalem? No. It has to do with Damascus' disregard for human life.
Let's use Iran an another example. If there's no Jews in Iran, how does Israel hurt a mostly closed society? Long answer short, they don't.
The Israelis have been very clear with the Palestinians: Renounce violence and you can have a Palestinian State. Then Palestinians reply "death to Israel." You cannot negotiate with those who wish you dead.
In theory, Gaza should be like Dubai or Doha. If Arab countries supported Gaza with money instead of weapons, imagine what could be developed there, Gaza is a prime strip of real estate on the Mediterranean Sea. Instead of Palestinians renouncing violence and developing the assets they have, the rest of the Arab world have used the Palestinians as patsies.
This is the truest cartoon I have ever seen about the Palestinians. Let's break it down for even the most simple minded.
Gaza is an occupied territory. When they fire missiles at Israel, they are not firing from an army base. There is an United States Armory a few blocks from my in-laws home. I know where it is, the neighborhood knows where it is, and, due to satellite technology, I assume that our enemies know where it is.
In Gaza, there are no Hamas Army Bases. They smuggle weapons through underground tunnels and fire at Israelis from homes, schools, hospitals, and markets. When Israel shoots back, Palestinians wail that the Jews are killing the innocents.
That political cartoon above, though accurate, was yanked from the Washington Post due to Palestinians worldwide decrying its existence. How do I figure that its accurate? Say I'm a Hamas fighter, I shoot a missile at an Israeli neighborhood from my balcony. The Israeli Army responds with a missile of its own and blows up my apartment complex. Who's fault is it that my kids are dead?
I am going to put this in all CAPS: THERE IS NO REAL PALESTINIAN ARMY BECAUSE THERE IS NO REAL PALESTINIAN GOVERNMENT. THERE ARE A BUNCH OF PALESTINIANS FIGHTING A PROXY WAR FROM THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOODS. Hamas and Hezbollah declared war on Israel. Please point to Hamas and Hezbollah on the Map.
Again, let's say I hate my Jewish neighbor. I can't afford a million dollar rocket to blow them up. How do dirt poor Palestinians afford weapons to shoot at Israel from their homes?
If you are a brainwashed Middle Easterner shrieking at me that the Israelis are the occupiers. Let me pause to shift the tone a bit.
First of all, let's talk a little more about weapons. If the shit went down in America, could I either find some weapons or make some weapons? I sure could.
I would get a copy of the Anarchist Cookbook and start having some fun. Right now I have the right ingredients in my kitchen and garage to whip up some Molotov Cocktails.
Do I know someone who could make a Fertilizer Bomb? No comment.
Do I know someone with fake walls with Guns behind them? No comment.
Now you're already shooting holes in my analogy, saying Gaza doesn't have a WalMart or a Tractor Supply. That's exactly my point. Somehow Gazans are able to shoot military grade hardware into Israel. Where do those resources and training come from?
When outlets like CNN release loaded articles like: Do Palestinian Lives Matter to the World?
They fail to ask the follow up question: Does Hamas accept a Israel's right to exist? Let's answer that right now: They do not. Right from the Hamas Mission Statement:
That is anti-Semitism in its most basic form.
Israel is a Jewish state. The only Jewish state in the entire world. The Arab World encompasses a land mass larger than Europe.
What if I said Iran shouldn't exist?
Iran is a Muslim state.
If I was inclined to put Iran in my website's mission statement, I would say Iran should change its government. Me saying Iran should be obliterated would be interpreted as Anti-Shia rhetoric because the religion is the government.
But guess what? We actually do have a mission statement and it doesn't have anything to do with Iran. Here's a cut and paste job from the cover of our own website:
BEACON OF SPEECH IS FRED HUNT'S INTERPRETATION OF FREE SPEECH
We are a Libertarian Leaning Website with seemingly no focus.
The Blog under Fred's supervision continues to exist.
Do I talk about existing until my enemies are obliterated? I do not.
I talk about existing under the good graces of the U.S. Constitution.
In far away (from Israel) Arab nations such as Algeria, Bahrain, and Somalia, what does it matter if Israel exists? The existence of Israel simply makes Arab nations mad, Israel isn't in charge of any other country in the region.
It's real fucking simple. Jews have a right to exist. How are we even having this argument in the year 2023?
You say you just want Israel to be destroyed? Where are the Jews supposed to go? You scream "what about Palestine?" You do not listen well. I am going to write it over and over on the chalkboard until you get it through your thick goddamn skull.
Palestine gets a state when they say Israel has a right to exist.
Palestine gets a state when they say Israel has a right to exist.
Palestine gets a state when they say Israel has a right to exist.
Palestine gets a state when they say Israel has a right to exist.
Palestine gets a state when they say Israel has a right to exist.....
Probably America's most reprehensible take on Israel is Rashida Tlaib's. Tlaib has repeatedly referenced "Israeli Apartheid." You know what? It's time to deport her. Seriously. I am not using hyperbole.
According to Ex-German Leader Adolf Hitler, he hated the Jews because they weren't White. Hitler's ideology influenced the Far Right. According to U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib, she hates the Jews because they are White? Repeated use of the term apartheid connotes whiteness. She re-frames the Palestinians as dark skinned victims to garner sympathy from minorities in the United States who aren't familiar with the complex political realities on the ground in the Middle East. Even the most casual American Minority citizen is aware of the term apartheid. Tlaib's ideology influences the Far Left.
Editor's Note: Direct message to Rashid Tlaib: All you have to do is tell your friends that you support the 2 State Solution and recognize Israel's right to exist. Read the chalkboard. You can be elected President of a Peaceful Palestine.
You know why she's not interested? Because she believes in the Hamas Mission Statement.
Fred Hunt, you support Israel because it's on the other side of the world. I bet you don't even support a Native American Homeland in your own country.
You'd be wrong.
5 Years Ago, we wrote in support of a Native American Homeland in Eastern Oklahoma, restoring boundaries of 1907's Indian Territory---
You now what? Don't try to deflect the thrust of the article. In this specific Hamas/Israeli conflict, if you don't recognize October 7th as a Palestinian Act of War, you are simply prejudiced.
End of story.
Editor's Note: Addendum 11/29
This guy at Zero Hedge makes an even better point: