Dear World: I Don't Care, by Avi Lewis

light of 17 Heshvan 5784 | אור י"ז חשון ה'תשפ"ד

 

Dear World: I Don't Care, by Avi Lewis.
Used with permission.

 

Dear World: I don't care

I don't care that you sympathize with Hamas

I know you wouldn't tolerate any of the things they did to us if they would've done it to you

I don't care that you're outraged by Israel's response to the massacre more than the massacre itself

I know you would do everything to eliminate such pure evil if you experienced it yourself

I don't care that this doesn't fit neatly into your carefully constructed narrative of 'Israel as aggressor' and 'Palestinian as victim'

The truth hurts sometimes, but hey, don't let the facts get in the way of your feelings

I don't care if you think we are at fault, that we had it coming, that Hamas' actions didn't occur in a vacuum (or to deny they ever happened)

If you feel that the poster of a kidnapped child hurts your cause, maybe yours is a lost cause

I don't care about your calls for a premature ceasefire, about your demand that we provide them with electricity, that we stop fighting for 'humanitarian reasons'

What of a humanitarian gesture to release our 230+ hostages — elderly, children, babies snatched from their cribs?

I don't care that you've rallied for Palestine as part of your march for LGBTQ rights, trans rights, workers' rights, socialism, climate change, intersectionality, Black Lives Matter, fighting Islamophobia and 'all forms of racism'

Your gullibility would be laughable if it wasn't so hypocritical. None of those things exist under Hamas

I don't care that you 'love Jewish people — just hate Israel', that you have some friends that are Jewish, that maybe you're ethnically Jewish yourself — and therefore you're entitled to levy every libel in the playbook against us

Words matter. They lead to actions. When a lie is repeated often enough it's accepted as truth. You are laying the groundwork for more attacks against us

 I don't care that you wave the flag of 'human rights', that you've become overnight experts in international law, that you shout fancy slogans you don't understand such as proportionality, occupation and apartheid

Your humanity is selective. In your mind, human rights don't apply to us because we are undeserving. You didn't speak up when our women and children were horribly assaulted

I don't care if you think we are colonialists, imperialists, and settlers and that we should just go back to where we came from

We are back to where we came from

I don't care if you believe in a one state solution, a two state solution, a federation, an internationalized Jerusalem or any other theory drawn up in your ivory tower

We won't readily hold out our necks and endanger our lives in order to satisfy your thought experiments and placate your conscience from afar

I don't care if you consider yourself anti-Zionist but not antisemitic

We've seen enough Jews around the world attacked over the last 3 weeks under the guise of 'anti-Zionism'

I don't care that you think we are too powerful, too technologically advanced, too sophisticated

If we didn't build ourselves up to this point, we'd get eaten alive by Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Iran and Palestinian terrorism

I don't care that you blame us for 1948 refugees, for the fact that they have no state, for the keys that they wave in their fantasy of 'right of return'

Three weeks ago we got a glimpse of that 'return' looks like and what it means for our children

I don't care if you think we aren't real Jews, that Zionism has nothing to do with Judaism, that Jews are a religion and not a nationality and so we deserve no state

Your denials have zero impact on the strength of our ideals and the self-affirmation of our identity

I don't care that you accuse us of flaunting the myriad of UN resolutions, inquiries and statements

They reflect more on the institutional decay of the UN than on us

I don't care about your media coverage, the lies, the equivocation, the acceptance of Hamas talking points and statistics

Your echo chamber is just another weapon in their strategic arsenal

I don't care that you accused us of bombing the Al Ahli hospital

It was only a matter of time before you found a symbol for Israel's wickedness. The subsequent retractions were a fig leaf once the truth emerged that Islamic Jihad was responsible and that the hospital is still standing

I don't care that you see us as a criminal state, a terror state, usurpers, baby killers, Christ killers, Khaybar Jews or any other depravity that exists in your mind

Your libels lay the groundwork for our dehumanization. Rings a bell. We will fight it

I don't care that you've inverted the truth by accusing us of genocide

If positions were reversed and Hamas held the power we do now, you'd see what a genocide looks like

I don't care that you're angry, boiling and outraged

I don't care that you're glued to your TV screens and Telegram channels

I don't care that you're mad

I don't care if you're out on the street, waving your flag and chanting your slogans

We won't die silently the way you want us to

For the first time in 2,000 years we are organized, we are motivated, and we will defend ourselves

We fight for light over darkness

Morality over evil

Not that it matters to you — but we will stick to the rules and hold the high moral ground not because you expect it from us, but because they are a value for us

We will do so ethically and thoughtfully, for we are the People of the Book

Our power and strength are our necessity, because the alternative for us is:

Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Pittsburgh, Toulouse, Farhud, Hebron, Birkenau, Belzec, Babi Yar, Kristallnacht, Kielce and Kishinev

Do you think for a moment that we would return to that reality just to make you feel a little better?

You are deeply mistaken

World,

For so, so long, I really, deeply cared

I cared about fitting in

I cared about what you think

I cared about being a model citizen

I cared about setting a personal example of how a tiny people in a tough neighborhood could still be a Light unto the Nations

How the world's oldest minority — now a majority here — could treat its own internal minorities par excellence amidst the complicated and messy reality of ethnic conflict

How we could painfully dismember parts of our homeland and offer them on the platter of peace to Palestinians that want neither peace nor some parts (they want all of it)

How we could dazzle you with USB sticks, drip irrigation, operating system kernels, Nobel Prize winners, swallowable medical cameras, deep tech, quantum mechanics, generative AI and cures for disease

But now I'm finally accepting that you don't care

You never did

You don't see and you don't hear

And because I cared about what you think so much, that so deeply hurts

...but you don't have my best interests at heart

You take issue with my base identity, with what I represent

Don't expect me to wait for your approval this time

It doesn't matter what I do, you're not going to change

It doesn't matter how I act, because your issue is with who I am

Now I'm going to block out your noise, and do what it takes to win this war

Today
Finally
I no longer care

***

Interviews with Real Puerto Rican Jews: Arroz con Devorah Video Show

the light of 21 Tammuz 5780

Some of my readers might remember Juan Epstein, the "Puerto Rican Jew" character from an American situation comedy ("sitcom") television show from the 1970s called "Welcome Back, Kotter."

I apologize for this corny introduction; the sitcom was the first time I had ever heard of Puerto Rican Jews, and they were presented as a running joke. (I even have relatives I've referred to as "my Juan Epstein cousins" in the Bronx, because of this show.)

Most people who watched probably don't realize that there really are Puerto Rican Jews — real sons and daughters of Israel, from the island of Puerto Rico — and that they have been around for over 500 years. No joke.

In real life, they are anusim who arrived in PR from Spain (Wikipedia), keeping quiet so as not to attract attention from the Inquisition — which, although it was officially called off in 1968, is said to have an office in Rome to this day.

It seems they hid very well, since even Wikipedia doesn't know about the families to be represented in the Arroz con Devorah show with Devorah Esther as our host.

Geula shlemah (complete redemption) is coming soon, and it is hoped that many from this group will be joining us here in Israel. I personally asked the question about how they view Israel's land reclamation process, and how relevant it is to them, and I hope they will be discussing the issue in future shows.

The main topic of discussion is how Devorah Esther's guests discover their families' Jewish past, and what happens after they complete their conversion (back) to Judaism.

Here's the introduction to the series, and for the rest you can go here (the most recent series is on top, and the cover photo looks like the one below.).

Devorah Esther's new book, The Last Anusah, is also available on Amazon.

Tizku l'mitzvoth ! תזקו למצוות

P.S. Despite the Spanish title of her show, Devorah Esther interviews in English, with Spanish, Hebrew, and other languages lightly sprinkled in.

Turkey collaborates with Palestinians to take land from Israel? And is the US helping them?

4 Shevat 5780


I started writing this article last month, and things have only gotten worse (and better) since then.

This news should have broken wide open in October 2005, when Haaretz published this article by Danny Rubinstein (for once, not behind a paywall, as far as I can tell). That is when he first reported (according to Google) that Turkey sent the Ottoman Empire archives to the Palestinian Authority so that they could examine them for lands they want to take back from Israel. Most of these are in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.


People who knew back in 2005, after the Gush Katif expulsion of Jews, must have forgot about it (or did they keep it a secret?). Well, now it's back, and I hope we're taking it seriously. Not that we should consider going back to the lands we were exiled to; but that we should fight for our land and our lives!

It's possible that we can win by argument - after all, King David bought the land around the Temple Mount/Har haBayit with money; Avraham Avinu bought the Double Cave in Hevron (Ma'erat haMachpela) to bury his wife Sarah, with 400 PURE SILVER shekels; and one more that I don't remember (and Google doesn't help. They keep saying the Arabs owned it first!) Kever Yosef (Joseph's Tomb - see comments below, thank you Dan G!), all of which are recorded in the Tana"kh/Jewish Bible. This precedent was set by the Jews before we became "the Jews"!

The Ottoman archives should be considered prima facie evidence of the Ottoman occupation of the Holy Land, as far as I understand the term (maybe there's a better one?). Yes. I said OCCUPATION of Jewish Holy Land! We don't know from which Jew each piece of this land was bought with money, as those who set the precedent did, and not by violence -- rape, pillage, murder of civilians and only G-d knows what else!

They certainly didn't think they had to conquer the land from any Jewish army. There was none. The land was almost deserted because of the dispersion by the Romans some 1500 years prior, and while there have always been Jews here and there in the Land, how well do you really think they could have defended themselves from the Muslims who claim it now?

But they are clever. They knew that without any Jews here, they couldn't survive here either. So, they made harsh rules, but they had to let some Jews stay, even if they were a minuscule minority in 1516 CE.

And now they plan on trying to hand over the land from their previous occupation to the current occupiers, the Palestinians!

The rest of us have heard about all this through the good auspices of Israel Hayom and Israel National News (Arutz 7), who published these articles on Tuesday, 1 January 2020. Apparently they got their information here, most likely from the primary source and not from a web page, like I did here.

Now that the subject has been brought up again, I've been expecting this story to be taken up by all the Israeli media, and then by the world's media. Certainly, it will go very well with the news of all the attacks on Jews and Israelis around the world, saying, JEW, GET OUT.

Commenters in the US have been asking two pertinent questions: If we're supposed to get out of the US, then why are these same people who are telling us to get out saying that Israel is not our real homeland? And where should we go?

I hate to be harsh, but you have been living in the exile, plush as it may be, or not. Wake up. The nations aren't exactly giving you options. The plan is to kill every single Jew on the planet, so an attempt was made to brainwash us to believe that we have no land to call our own, so that you who are still out there will oppose those who resisted the brainwash (that's me and all my fellow Israeli Jews), and thus have no place to go when they kick us out of all their countries.

I'm not saying that every Israeli Jew isn't brainwashed. A lot of the leadership seems to be, judging by the way that, when the nations demand us to jump, their only response seems to be: "How high?"

BUT, if you don't believe in G-d and the Jewish Destiny, you have no other options. If you do, then join us here for the fight for our lives and for our Land. Now is the time. With His help, we will win.

Do you remember when the Israeli seer Nir ben Artzi said in May 2016, during the US election campaign season: "Remember: G-d will choose the president that only loves the Jews in Israel."? Translated here (but please, no emails there, as the blogger passed away went to Shamayim nearly two years ago!). Here's the blog search for Nir ben Artzi's comments on aliyah at The Absolute Truth. I'm curious to find out how you find them in retrospect.

The Ta'ir Neri site, where NbA's divrei Torah originate, now has an English translator. Here's his Parashath Bo' 5780 translation. According to this, we've come much further than we were four years ago.

Back to 2016 for a paragraph: Heads should have been going up by the millions. Some of those who were, are here now. I hope that my readers from lands far flung from here will now follow as best they can.

In the meantime, when the Palestinians come knocking on the doors of the High Court, seeking to take back lands that have deeds from the 1500s, we need to be prepared with hard questions. Like these:

• Whose land was it before it was that of the person named on the deed?
• How much did the previous owner get paid for the land?
• If it wasn't a proper purchase, what was it?
• and more???

I suspect that most of the answers, upon proper investigation, to be: No evidence of previous owner, no payment, and a takeover of some kind. In other words, REAL OCCUPATION. For 400-plus years, right up until 1948 and even until the present day (which would make it over 500 years).

I'm counting on the whole truth to be revealed, once and for all time. Jewish traitors will also be revealed where these were, or are, a factor.

@Shurat haDin, are you ready for this one???

Is this hishtadluth (human effort) enough to attract Mashiah Goel Yisrael???

#MeJew

***
And, in the meantime, is it possible that the Arabs and their spear point, the Palestinians, recognize who their real enemy is???

And, the US has come out openly to "compassionately" divide our land. Here's a report:

"US Ambassador David Friedman told reporters that before Israel decides to apply sovereignty over the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria the Trump administration wanted to form a committee with Israel to discuss the issue, but stressed that it could not be said how long this would take.

"It's a process that requires effort, accuracy and calibration and you have to make sure that the annexation matches the map in our plan," said Friedman.

"We will look at the Israeli proposal and examine it and make sure it is in line with our plan. We will set up the committee as soon as possible and work on it immediately and try to end quickly but I do not know how long it will take," the ambassador added."

I don't think HaShem cares how "compassionate" it is. The Creator of the Universe says NO DIVISION OF ISRAEL -- and that's final!


I'm beginning to think that it's not so much whether the local Arabs/"Palestinians" will accept the deal, but what the Israeli Jews are beginning to do in response, even with no answer from "the other side." G-d forbid — we make room that we don't have, and then they'll come to kill us again — G-d forbid!!!

Thank you so much, DJT and Jared Kushner. How the "mighty" will fall because of you! 

And the Jews will get Geulah Shlemah, be"H!!!

Do not do unto others...

19 Kislev 5776

Today marks the commemoration of the expulsion of Mizrahi Jews from Arab lands worldwide. This is the event's second year.

Y.J. Draiman writes:

Arabs expelled over a million Jews from Arab countries and confiscated their land and assets totaling over 15 trillion dollars. The Jewish exodus from Arab lands refers to the 20th century expulsion or mass departure of Jews, primarily of Sephardi and Mizrahi background, from Arab and Islamic countries.

The migration started in the late 19th century, but accelerated after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. According to official Arab statistics, over 989,000 Jews were forced out of their homes in Arab countries from 1948 until the early 1970's. Some 650,000 resettled in Israel, leaving behind personal property valued today at more than $990 billion. Jewish-owned real-estate left behind in Arab lands has been estimated at 120,000 square kilometers (four times the size of the State of Israel). Valued today at about 15 trillion dollars. More at The Jerusalem Post

 *** 

The Times of Israel staff writes:

At Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed that there be an expansion of education on the heritage of Jews from Arab countries and Iran, and that consideration be given to a proposal to establish a Prime Minister’s Prize for academic research into the issue. More at The Times of Israel

 It would be better for the world if the Jewish refugees were treated on a parity with the Arab ones. Read this: Jewish Nakba can no longer be ignored

***********

Zvika Klein, an Israeli journalist, found a creative way to help ordinary people among the nations understand what happens to Israelis when headlines concerning their country are slanted by the likes of the BBC. The Algemeiner explains:

Klein told The Algemeiner...shortly after the clip was posted to YouTube for the first time, and following a morning of stabbing attacks in Jerusalem — that the purpose of the video “is to convey a message to the world media about Israel reportage. There are many mistakes, as we saw in the BBC headline on which we modeled our own.” (After exposure on the part of watchdogs the Committee for Accurate Middle East Reporting in America and HonestReporting*, Israel’s Government Press Office demanded a correction and apology from the BBC, threatening to rescind its press accreditation in the country. The BBC complied.)

Reactions to a headline covering the Paris massacre. 

Do you like it when terrorists are portrayed as victims in your country? No? Don't do it to Israel!

Klein added that because France was a nation in mourning, he did not consider it appropriate to tell the people he interviewed that they were part of an experiment, and to ask them if they now understand why Israel gets angry when treated that way by the media.

“Everyone was still in a state of trauma,” he explained, adding that the effect of the newly posted video remains to be seen. “But in its first few hours on line, it has been viewed by approximately 50,000 people worldwide.”

I hope this video will not be noticed only by Israelis, or only by Jews, but be a lesson learned by the world. Also, I hope people will realize that Jewish refugees count too!

...[I]t happened that a certain [non-Jew] came before Shammai and said to him, 'Make me a proselyte, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.' Thereupon he repulsed him with the builder's cubit which was in his hand.  When he went before Hillel, he said to him, 'What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbour: that is the whole Torah, while the rest is the commentary thereof; go and learn it.' (Shabbat 31a)

*link not found in the original