Protesting God's Chosen People: What's Happening on America's College Campuses?

Originally I had intended to write about the protests taking place on several college and university campuses in America, however, I realized that there was much more going on here. The protests appear to be about  a number of issues such as college investments in the defense industry, at least partly, by disinvesting  of anything which supports Israel. 

They want  their school to disinvest of anything which supports Israel. They are also protesting Israel ending its so-called "genocide" of Gaza and occupation of Palestine. What's more is that the protesters have started shouting down Jewish students on campus and blocking them from class. In short, these are anti-Israeli protests, which is a rarity here in America. They have become anti-Semitic protests. 

In addition, the protestors would like to see a change in U.S. foreign policy towards Israel. Specifically cutting back or eliminating all military support and ending what some call America's "blanket approval" of supporting nearly everything Israel does, especially towards the Palestine.  

There's big money in war and no doubt the various institutions are making good money on their investments in the defense industry. Keeping the U.S. a war footing  is a great way to stimulate an otherwise lackluster economy. Also many of these colleges have 6+ figure contracts with the DoD and defense contractors to conduct research for them and don't forget, college campuses are stocked with potential recruits like fish in a pay lake!

While the students would like to see a change in U.S. foreign policy toward Israel, the exchange of goods aren't the primary concern of the students. Their focus is on what the U.S. provides Israel in terms of military aid. That figure is around $15 billion dollars. 

Of that, the majority of the money---$5 billion---goes towards Israel's "Iron Dome" which is used to protect Israel from missile attacks, primarily launched by Hezbollah and Hamas (and more recently, ISIS and Al Qaeda operating in Syria). In addition, the U.S. military, with President Biden's authorization, has agreed to replenish all of Israel's ammunition used in their war with Hamas.

The protestors are also calling for Israel to end its reprisal against Hamas because of all the deaths and injuries of civilians in Gaza. In listening to some of these protestors (many of whom are wearing a Palestinian "keffiyeh" or headscarf made famous by the terrorist group "Black September" when they murdered the Israel Olympic team in 1976), they seem to think that the war is Israel's fault.

The truth is that Hamas, a terrorist organization which hijacked the government in Gaza, attacked Israelis at a open concert on October 7th, murdering 1,139 individuals (695 civilians, 373 members of the security force, and 71 foreign nationals), not including the dozens who were beaten and raped, nor does it include the hostages taken by Hamas.

Israel, which had been enduring dozens of missile attacks by Hamas on a regular basis, made the decision to put an end to Hamas, and who could blame them? How many times do you have to keep getting hit by rocks before you decide to fight back? No other nation (the U.S., China, and Russia included) would have tolerated this, and Israel won't either.

As an aside, Russia has repeatedly responded to terrorist attacks by Georgian separatists and groups like ISIS-K with at least equal ferocity. Meanwhile, while not facing large scale terror attack, China has had a number of smaller scale terror, but nevertheless responded with equal zeal and intensity.

It should also be pointed out that while Hamas is "officially" the government of Gaza following the overthrow of the previous government, it is a terrorist organization first and foremost. It has regularly used civilians as shields. It routinely fires missile batteries hidden in schools or next to hospitals and mosques. Homeowners are forced at gunpoint to allow Hamas to store weapons and ammo in their homes. It intercepts humanitarian aid and sells it on the global black market to buy more weapons.

The people of Gaza see only a fraction of the aid sent to them. Recently, there was a report of dozens of UN and other trucks packed with food, fresh water, medical supplies, and clothes, however, they were hung up on the Israeli side of the border. Do you think that's out of spite by Israel?

No. It's because Israel was await for a safe opportunity to release the vehicles out of concern that Hamas will hijack the shipment and either sell it or store it for its own use. The other problem was that if Israel escorted the convoy in, there would be a strong chance the convoy could be ambushed, killing Israeli soldiers, aid workers, and Gaza residents. 

Other issues being promoted by the protestors is their claims that Israel is engaged in genocide and/or is an apartheid nation along the lines of South Africa (if you want to accuse anyone of genocide, look no further than here and our treatment of Native Americans). Israel is home to Christians, Jews, and Arabs. In fact, ethnic Jews comprise about 73.6% of the population while 21% are Arabs. While the majority of these a Muslim, there is a sizable population of Druze and Arab Christians. 

Roughly 45% of Jews living in Israel are "Mizrahi" or Oriental Jews, meaning they come from North Africa or Asia. 31.8% are Ashkenazi or European Jews. Many descend from survivors of the Holocaust (originally, most of the founders and settlers of Israel were Ashkenazi). 12.4% came from Soviet Russia or one of the Soviet Bloc nations. 3% are "Beta" Jews from Ethiopia (meaning they're also racially black Africans). Finally, about 7.9% are a mix.

About 21% of Israel's population is Arab. Most are Sunni Muslim, although there are some affiliated with the Shiite "Alawites". 18% are either Druze or Christian Arabs. Palestinians account for about 20% of Israel's population. It should be pointed out that the Palestinians in the West Bank also operate their own government (the same government had been ousted by Hamas in Gaza).

As an aside, while the overall population of Jews are shrinking in Israel, the population of Muslims are growing and will likely outnumber Jews within the next few generations. In addition, Israel is home to Christian Copts, Assyrian Christians, nomadic Bedouins, Samaritans, Armenians, and Circassians.

So, in looking at the demographics as noted above, it would appear these college protesters would have a hard time trying to justify their claim that Israel is actually a apartheid state in the sense that there are many diverse populations living in this small nation. 

I would be amiss in pointing out that Israel has repeatedly given up land in exchange for peace, ranging from the Sinai to the West Bank to parts of southern Lebanon and Western Syria.  In practically every occasion, the peace has been broken (and not by Israel), leaving the region in much the same position as it had been.

However, I don't want to make it appear that Israel has entirely clean hands and everything is the fault of the Palestinians, which is hardly the case. Israel's greatest flaw in dealing with the Palestinians has to do with the small but extremely influential Jewish hardliners. One such group is the "Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement". 

Their notoriety stems from their occupation of the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem and demands to allow Jews to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque (the third holiest mosque in Islam). Of course, behind their "demands" is a deep seated belief that the Temple Mount is historically theirs and the mosque needs to be removed so that a Third Temple can be built there. 

It's worth noting that there are many fundamentalist Christians who believe the same thing, albeit for slightly different reasons. They believe that the Third Temple was be built on the Temple Mount in order to facilitate the Second Coming of Jesus. 

Obviously, that doesn't set well with either Palestinians, moderate Jews., or with Muslims everywhere. Nevertheless, while it seems that all sides are aware of what would likely happen should anything happened to the mosque, the hard core extremists don't seem to care since, from their perspective, God will intervene on their behalf.

Groups like the "Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful" believe in the old boundaries of the Jewish Kingdom which allegedly stretched from Egypt's border to the Euphrates River in Iran and encompassing parts of Syria and Lebanon. They also believe that only Jews should live in Israel. That means forcing out anyone who doesn't belong there, especially the Palestinians.

As a result, these ultra conservative groups regularly establish illegal settlements (some seem to rise literally overnight). Often they force Palestinians out of their homes overnight, barely giving them time to pack. They routinely defy police and even the military sent in to stop them. While these Palestinians can and do file complaints with the Israeli government or try to resist, the government is typically reluctant to do anything. and the settlers usually prevail.

Currently there are over 279 illegal settlements, comprised of  around 3500 housing units in the West Bank which include approximately 700,000 settlers living there. There are around 200,000 illegal settlers living in East Jerusalem.  

But while these extreme Orthodox settlers are responsible for much of the land grab of Palestinian land, they aren't the only ones. The Israeli government is known to show up occasionally (complete with bulldozers) and just announce they are taking possession of the land.

In March of 2024, the government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announced they were seizing some 2000 acres in the Palestinian West Bank, which is suppose to belong solely to the Palestinian people and the Palestinian government. 

The ultra conservative finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in an illegal settlement, said there was "no room for half measures" and added that Israel has a historical right to Judea and Samaria (modern West Bank). U.N Human Rights Chief, Volker Turk called the move a "international war crime".  

So, what does all this tell us about the college protesters and their demands? Colleges aren't going to disinvest their interests in defense industry stocks any more than they're going to turn down multimillion dollar research contracts from the DoD or military contractors. It just ain't going to happen. Israel was the one who was brutally attacked on October 7th, but then too, they had been under regular missile attacks by Hamas. The October 7th attack (massacre would be a more accurate term) begged for a quick and severe response, which Israel delivered.

It's true that the situation in Gaza is beyond critical. It is quickly approaching a human catastrophe on an epic scale, yet Israel is prepared to render immediate aid. Nevertheless, Hamas continues to see the people of Gaza only as pawns and human shields. What happens to them matters less than making Israel look bad in the world's eyes, which it has done.

Hamas has the added advantage of winning the propaganda war with American college students who have swallowed Hama's "BS" hook, line, and sinker. As an aside, it also shows how little American college students know about the Middle East and how lazy they've become in doing their due diligence when it comes to proper research before staging protests.  

Lastly, Israel is not technically an apartheid state. It has a wide and diverse population with the largest minority---the Arabs---likely to dominate the nation within the next 100 years if not sooner. However, where the students are correct is the treatment of Palestinians.

Despite the Israeli government's rhetoric about equality, it's clear that the Palestinians are treated no better than second class citizens...at best. They remind me of Native Americans during the "Great Westward Migration". Any lie and by any means will do as long as they're gone. Somehow, the people of Israel must do what the government is to afraid to do, and that's to say "no" to the extremist.

One more thing about the protestors. Something has been happening on these college and university campuses which I didn't think was possible in America. It's not the brazen defying of administration (that's pretty cool actually) although there will be consequences. No, what we've started seeing is the rise of anti-Semitism among some of the students and its tolerance by others. Anti-Semitism is an evil as vile as any. It should be snuffed out wherever it's found.

The Israeli people must link arms with the Palestinians. They must see and accept them as neighbors. Israelis need to remember Rabbi Hillel's famous quote "what is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor". Until this happens, the situation will continue to worsen until something unforgivable happens. When that occurs there will be no more Palestinians and no more Israel. Only tears.

 

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Biden's 'Sword of Damocles': Israel and Gaza. Is There No Way Out?

(NOTE: This is a evolving story). President Joe Biden is facing mounting pressure to withhold military and financial support from Israel until, at least, the situation in Gaza is resolved. The "Gang of Four" or "The Squad"--- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), have all voiced their outrage at Israel and support for the Palestinians (including the actions of Hamas and its allies), along with a number of other Democrats such as Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) . Many also opposed the $735 million dollars weapons sale to Israel a week prior to the missile attacks on Israel.

However, not all Democrats are taking an anti-Israel stand. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are among several Democrats who've spoken up about Israel's right to exist and right to protect itself. At the same time, Ben Rhoades, a top foreign policy advisor for Obama, is urging Biden to reconsider our relationship with Israel in light of changing political and economic realities (such as the rise of China, the increasing influence of Iran and the resurrection of the Taliban in Afghanistan).

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has spoken in support of Israel, and has urged Biden to renew America's commitment to stand by the only democracy in the Middle East, and one of our staunchest allies. Senator Mitch McConnell, speaking on the Senate floor, harangued some of his fellow senators for their stance against Israel. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) spoke out in support of Democrat and New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang's comments supporting Israel's right to defend itself, while coming under criticism from  fellow Democrats for "supporting genocide".

The conflict now unfolding in Israel is nothing new. It has existed since the moment of Israel's rebirth in 1946, after nearly 2000 years of Diaspora and a mere three years after the Holocaust. In fact, terrorist attacks began almost immediately after Great Britain, which controlled what was called "the Palestine Mandate" as it was known then, and the resettlement of Jews starting in 1946; many settling on self-sustaining farms called kibbutz's.  This lead to the formation of the para-military Palmach (along with the Haganah), the forerunner of the Israeli army.

Since 1948, Israel has fought eight wars, suffered the murder of its athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972, and hijackings (the most famous of which was Entebbe), faced numerous uprisings, and endured hundreds, if not thousands, of attacks on its civilian population by dozens of terrorist organizations; the majority of which sponsored by rogue states such as Libya, Iran, Egypt, and Syria; several of whom promising to "wipe Israel off the map". 

To date, over 3750 rockets, many of which containing construction grade rebar as shrapnel, have been launched at Israel by Hamas and its allies, with roughly 90% being intercepted thanks to it's "Iron Dome", which is comprised of a comprehensive system of interlocking missile batteries, artillery, radar, high energy lasers, supported by coastal "corvettes" ships (ironically, made in Germany) and air support (and likely, some satellite intelligence provided by a friendly nation or two).

But it's not good enough. Twelve people have been killed in Israel, including two children thus far. In Gaza, 232 individuals have died, of which 65 were children, 1900 were wounded, and over 58,000 displaced as a result of Israeli airstrikes. 

Although Israel has made peace with some of its former enemies, including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, the violence continues, but why? And why Gaza? Why would a tiny strip of land along the northern Sinai, bordering with Egypt to the west and Israel to the east, want to take on the massive military might of Israel? Isn't this about Israel's right to exist? Doesn't Israel have "clean hands" in this fight? The short answer is no. 

Israel is not without a measure of guilt. It can't hide solely behind its claim of right to exist or self-defense.  Gaza is a defacto imprisoned state.  Because Hamas remains committed to destroying and engaging in terrorist tactics, Israel, along with Egypt, imposed a blockade around Gaza in 2007, which extends to a three miles limits into the Mediterranean, and covers all air traffic in and out.

As a result of the blockade, Gaza is essentially isolated.  Only the most basic supplies are reaching the people inside, and even that is tenuous. According to a report by the United Nations, 1/3 of critical drugs remain out of stock at any given time. 35% of Gaza's farmland and 85% of its territorial fishing waters are completely or partially inaccessible due to the blockade. 54% of the approximate 1.6 million people living in Gaza are classified as "food insecure" and 75% receive some form of international aid.

In addition, of the 1.6 million living in Gaza, nearly 50% are under 18 years of age. 38% live at or below the poverty level. 26% of the eligible workforce is unemployed, including 38% of the youth. 85% of the schools are force to operate on a double shift, in part due to the sporadic availability of electricity.

Most of the major infrastructure has either been destroyed, is damaged or in need of parts, and rendered inoperative by the lack of fuel and/or electricity. As a result, 90% of the water from the Gaza aquifer is undrinkable. Just under 212 million gallons (80 million liters) of raw sewage is dumped directly into the Mediterranean daily.

All requests for aid, be it housing, infrastructure, hospitals, schools---whatever---must be submitted to the Israeli and Egyptian governments for prior approval. Thus far, only a tiny portion has been approved.  As a result, much of what enters Gaza is smuggled in.

 In fact, Hamas has invested much of its resources into digging tunnels and acquiring weapons. Many of the tunnels are used for both smuggling badly needed supplies into Gaza as well as arms, while armed terrorists sneak into Israel. As a result, Israeli troops conduct daily seek and destroy missions. The Israeli military also claims that Hamas regularly uses civilians as cover for their military operations, which, in turn, serves, as anti-Israel propaganda.

Case in point, Israel routinely alerts civilians of incoming missile attacks or shelling 24 hours prior via air leaflet drops and megaphones.  While civilians are "allegedly" forced to remain in place, Hamas often moves its operations to another location (usually at the very last moment while firing off one finally volley to trigger the Israeli response). The result is dead civilians. Sadly, the use of civilians, especially women and children, as a shield has long been a tool of terrorists.

So, what can be done? The situation between Israel and the Palestinians is untenable. It amounts to nothing less than a mutual death grip on the other. Terrorism is the last tool of the weak. Israel is the regional powerhouse. The only democracy in the Middle East, and a reliable friend of America's. Egypt, on the other hand, participates in the blockade while largely turning a blind eye to the smuggling, especially of Humanitarian supplies, while trying to keep out weapons as much as possible.

Our near unconditional support of Israel has earned us a lot of enemies around the world, but especially in the Middle East. The rise of extreme Islam is a indirect result of our support and Israel's existence. It was one of the reasons for the cowardly 9/11 attack, as well as the attack on the USS Cole, on our embassies (mainly in Africa), and U.S. troops everywhere.

The pro-Israeli lobby is one the most powerful in Washington, which can call on tens of millions of Jews and Christian Evangelicals throughout the country at a moment's notice. That's a lot of voters. It's also one of the wealthiest lobbying groups with hundreds of millions of dollars in its coffers.

Meanwhile, in Europe, which was once a diehard supporter of Israel, is now faced with millions of newly arrived Muslims; a silent invasion of Europe which has proven to be successful largely due to the naiveté of European politicians (I won't call them "leaders"), especially Germany's Angela Merkel. At the same time, radical Islam is on the rise not just in the Middle East, but in Africa and Asia (even China isn't immune. It's facing increasing problems in its northwestern provinces among the Uyghurs).  

Israel regards its situation with Palestinians as an internal security issue, and as such, it's own private affair. Yet, the same argument could have been made with Nazi Germany and the Jews (as it was for a time). Israel seems to have learned a lot from the Nazis, especially when it came to the establishment of ghettos (most notably the Warsaw Ghetto), and now is facing its own uprising in Gaza.  

Unlike Nazi Germany, it's not as easy to hide or cover-up in today's around the clock media coverage. At the same time, violence on civilians, be they Palestinian or Israeli, is never acceptable (and by "violence" I mean killings as well as depriving people of the basic necessities such as food, water, and medicine. It matters little to the desperate if they die fast or slowly).

Israel and Egypt needs to end their total blockade of Gaza while insisting on new free and fair elections which excludes terrorists. The people of Gaza deserve the right to live in peace without either a Israeli or Arab gun pointed at their heads. Humanitarian aid must be the first thing allowed in along with parts to repair water, waste, and electrical installations, along with hospitals. Territorial fishing and farming rights need to be immediately restored. Terror can only thrive in hopelessness.

Meanwhile, Gaza must guarantee no further attacks on Israel. Whether they want to acknowledge Israel or not is irrelevant. That's a child's game.  It exists and will continue to exist. Period. However, it will not tolerate attacks, be it by missiles or cowards in the night with bombs or guns. That means it must end its dealing with terror states like Iran, Pakistan, and China.  It also means aggressively removing terrorist organizations like Hamas from Gaza.

Israel and Gaza must build a new relationship with each other. Trade would be a great start. It would not only build both economies, but create relationships. Both sides need to treat each other with respect. They don't have to like each other, but mutual respect doesn't require "liking" the other.  Gaza must also be free to choice its own political and economic destiny without interference from Israel or any other nation (so long as that choice doesn't include the ability to wage war or engage in terrorism). 

The U.S. must encourage peace in the region with more than words. The best way to do this is do cutback on selling Israel offensive weapons. Israel already has its own weapons industry which also happens to be one of the best in the world. To paraphrase the Bible, let's sell plowshares instead of swords. Let's provide Gaza with the same economic opportunities too.

We must also stop trying to "Americanize" other nations. We need to accept that not everyone wants to like us, or even deal with us.  We invaded Afghanistan to pursue those responsible for 9/11. We found and killed most of them, except the one most responsible, Osama bin Laden. He was being protected by a supposed ally, Pakistan. Nevertheless, "justice" was served. At that point we should have packed up and left. We didn't, and more people died or were injured.

We invaded Iraq a second time to remove Saddam Hussein. Why? He was a spent force. Nothing but a loudmouth bully. We could have keep him pinned in indefinitely, but we wanted to create a potential launching pad against Iran. Defeating Iraq's military was easy. So was grabbing its oil and gas production. Establishing a lasting peace has proven to be almost impossible. Same with Libya. There are other ways beside war to bring rouge nations or their leaders to heel.

Israel and Egypt can do better than try and cut off Gaza from the world. Meanwhile, Hamas is not the spokesperson for the Palestinians. If anyone was in this situation, it was the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Meanwhile, the Israeli government needs to reel in these "settlers" who seek to kick families who just so happen to be Palestinian, off their land and out of their homes, citing their "right" to the land just because they're Jews, which is what started this round of violence in the first place.

Israel is a nation of laws. It has a duty to treat everyone---and I mean everyone---equally. Would they allow Palestinian settlers to remove a Jewish families because their family once lived there? Absolutely not. So why allow these Right Wing Jewish zealots to do it? Remember the quote from the great Jewish sage and rabbi, Hillel, "what is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole of the Torah. The rest is commentary".  Egypt and Jordan are friends with both Israel and the Palestinian people. Make use of that. They would be the perfect choice to negotiate a lasting peace between both parties.

Israel must decide if it's going to be a nation of laws and equality or a nation no different from Nazi Germany and it's warped concept of "Aryan Superiority". It cannot claim moral superiority while exercising immorality against any people, nor can Hamas claim victimhood while instigating terror or using its own people as hostages. The hatred and distrust may always remain, but the fighting and dying must stop once and for all. 

 

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