Trump Signs EO Against Campus Anti-Semitism

I’m in a slight rush this morning.  But something overlooked last week amidst the UK election and US shampeachment news is that President Trump signed an executive order directing and empowering the Department of Education to go after anti-semitism on college campuses.

I was very glad to see this.  It is much needed.  Two examples:

Harassment of Jewish and pro-Israel students has been going on for a long time. At Temple University in August 2014, SJP members called Daniel Vessal, a Camera on Campus fellow and a member of the Jewish fraternity AEPi, “kike” and “baby killer,” and punched him in the face. Vessal explained that he tried to engage SJP members in dialogue, but “people at the table were calling me a ‘baby killer’…And then this kid just rocks me in the face as hard as he can. My glasses flew off. After a two-second blur I had no clue what had happened. I couldn’t believe the kid actually hit me. When the police came over and were filing the report the kids at the table were screaming ‘You Zionist pig, you racist, that’s what you get.’” Police did not arrest the attacker.

In May 2016, Eliana Kopley, a sophomore at the University of California at Irvine (UCI), was trying to enter a screening of an Israeli documentary about the IDF called “Beneath the Helmet” when she was accosted by an angry mob screaming “Long live the Intifada!” and “F**k Israel!” The protesters prevented her from entering the building where the film was being shown and even chased her into a nearby building, where they pounded on the doors and windows while continuing to scream their slogans. Police ultimately escorted Kopley into the screening. The UCI chapter of the SJP was thrilled with this thuggery and praised the mob.

It will take more than an EO to bring justice, free speech, and sanity even back to U. S. campuses.  But Trump’s EO is an appreciated step in the right direction.

Democrats Go Deeper into Anti-Semitism

One would think it would be a no-brainer that a country has the right to bar from entry those who are publicly bigoted against its people and who are allied with those who oppose its very existence.  But if one’s brain is infected by anti-semitism, then apparently Israel has no right to bar from entry virulent anti-semites Ilhan Omar and Rachida Tlaib. (Israel did actually allow Tlaib entry to visit her grandmother, but she then refused the offer in what appears to be a set up designed to make Israel look bad.)

But for the rational, it is indeed a no-brainer that Israel is well within its rights to bar and defend itself from anti-semites like Omar and Tlaib. 

Now, of course, Omar and Tlaib are playing the victim – and lying to do so.  What astounds is that House Democrat leaders are backing them up and attacking Israel over this. Even relatively moderate Steny Hoyer has said Israel’s decision is “deeply disappointing,” “disrespectful,” and “unacceptable.”  And key House committee leaders are aiming to make life difficult for U. S. Ambassador to Israel and for Israel’s Ambassador to the U. S.

This anti-semitic double standard from Democrats is appalling. Heck, the U. K. has barred entry to people with less grounds.  Does only Israel not have the right to bar those hostile to its people, values, and even existence?

Early this year, I warned against the rise of anti-semitism in the West, here and while leading worship at my church.  That I was right to do so is sadly becoming more and more evident.

Democrat POTUS Candidates Wear “Ethically Bankrupt” T-Shirts

Well, not exactly.  But the t-shirts they wore the other day sure sent that message.

Allow me to explain.  Over the weekend, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) held his “World Famous Fish Fry,” and Democrat candidates for President came like sea gulls to a sea food dumpster.  They proudly wore “Clyburn” t-shirts, too.

The problem, ignored by the Democrat “News” Media but one I’ve noted before, is that Jim Clyburn has shared a stage with the notorious racist anti-semite Louis Farrakhan and has since refused to denounce him.

Let’s flip that.  If a Republican Congressman had shared a stage with white supremacist anti-semite David Duke and then refused to denounce him, do you think Republican candidates for President would come flocking to his fish fry?  No, Republicans would instead be getting in line to denounce him and to disassociate themselves from him.  And candidates would be recruited to primary him, too.

But not so with Democrats and Jim Clyburn. Heck, he remains the number 3 in the Democrat House leadership.

And the Democrat POTUS candidates come flocking to eat his fish and wear his t-shirts.

Face it. Democrats and their double standards are ethically bankrupt.

A Reminder: European Anti-Semitism is Not Just a Nazi Trait

Alan Dershowitz provides a timely reminder that Anti-Semitism in Europe is not just a trait of the Nazis.  As we rightly look back on D-Day and World War 2, we must be aware of hoary myths, such as that Europeans valiantly resisted Hitler’s predations on Jews.  Well, some did, however . . . .

Why have we seen such an increase in anti-Semitism and irrationally virulent anti-Zionism in western Europe?

To answer these questions, a myth must first be exposed. That myth is the one perpetrated by the French, the Dutch, the Norwegians, the Swiss, the Belgians, the Austrians, and many other western Europeans: namely that the Holocaust was solely the work of German Nazis aided perhaps by some Polish, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian collaborators.

False.

The Holocaust was perpetrated by Europeans: by Nazi sympathizers and collaborators among the French, Dutch, Norwegians, Swiss, Belgians, Austrians and other Europeans, both Western and Eastern.

If the French government had not deported to the death camps more Jews than their German occupiers asked for; if so many Dutch and Belgian citizens and government officials had not cooperated in the roundup of Jews; if so many Norwegians had not supported Quisling; if Swiss government officials and bankers had not exploited Jews; if Austria had not been more Nazi than the Nazis, the Holocaust would not have had so many Jewish victims.

Dershowitz looks at this and earlier history and notes that the revival of European Anti-Semitism should not surprise. And he adds (although he is Left of Center himself) that it is far from just a right wing trait, but frequently a Leftist one as well.

"Oh no," we hear from European apologists. "This is different. We don't hate the Jews. We only hate their nation-state. Moreover, the Nazis were right-wing. We're left-wing, so we can't be anti-Semites."

Nonsense.

The hard left has a history of anti-Semitism as deep and enduring as the hard right. The line from Voltaire to Karl Marx, to Lavrentiy Beria, to Robert Faurisson, to today's hard-left Israel-bashers is as straight as the line from Wilhelm Marr to the persecutors of Alfred Dreyfus to Hitler.

The Jews of Europe have always been crushed between the Black and the Red – victims of extremism whether it be the ultra-nationalism of Khmelnitsky to the ultra-anti-Semitism of Stalin.

Dershowitz omits the role that Muslim migration has had in increasing Anti-Semitism in Europe.  But even if the gates had not been opened to Muslim mass migration, Leftist Anti-Semitism would still be a problem in Europe. 

Look at Jeremy Corbyn and his Labour Party. That old Leftist is not Muslim, but Labour has become more openly Anti-Semitic under him.

And that includes the Labour candidate in the Peterborough by-election today.  As much as she is now tries to hide it, Lisa Forbes has a documented history of Anti-Semitism.  And British Jewish organizations are speaking out about it:

“The revelation that Labour’s Peterborough candidate Lisa Forbes liked a racist Facebook post accusing Theresa May of having a “Zionist Slave Masters agenda” as recently as April – and previously welcomed a post indulging the bizarre conspiracy theory that Mossad and the CIA are behind Daesh – brings in to question her suitability for public office.

Ms Forbes has now apologised, saying she had not seen these words, but this stretches the limits of credulity, especially given the high profile problems in Labour and the previous antisemitism scandals in Peterborough Labour circles, such as Alan Bull and last November’s resignation of two senior councillors, who said they had been pressured against when trying to complain about antisemitism.

Ms Forbes also says she will seek antisemitism training. This is somewhat ironic given her previous rejection of the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

We are fed up hearing that Labour opposes antisemitism while repeatedly hearing excuses that its members accidentally missed the racism that was staring them in the face.

Unless Labour disowns Lisa Forbes as a candidate, it will only confirm the Party’s shameful descent into the racist mess for which they are now being investigated by the EHRC.”

So when someone tries to feed you the “nonsense” that Anti-Semitism and racism in Europe and elsewhere are traits of the Right, not of the Left . . . well, I will leave it up to you what to say.  But do not fall for such dangerous myths.

Democrats’ Planned Resolution Against Antisemitism is a Sham.

When Speaker Nancy Pelosi put Freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar on the Foreign Relations Committee, it was already well known and documented that the Congresswoman from Mogadishu was an antisemite in line with her Islamist tendencies.  With that committee being so important and privy to classified information, putting Omar on it was reckless and dangerous at the very least.

So – surprise! or not – Omar has doubled down on her antisemitism.  So to cover their rears, the Democrat House leadership is preparing a resolution condemning antisemitism.  But unless Omar is removed from the Foreign Relations Committee, and there is little indication she will be, the resolution is a sham.  Not to mention that it might not even mention Omar by name.

House Democrat leaders don’t care about the antisemitism in their midst.  Otherwise Omar would not be on the Foreign Relations Committee in the first place.  They are just trying to appease both their Jewish and Muslim supporters along with Leftists, who are chock full of antisemites.  The Left would not take effective real action against Omar well.

I hope Jewish Americans along with all decent Americans won’t let them get away with this sham.

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Housekeeping: I deleted an earlier post on my disdain for what Utah has become politically because it had become a target for spammers.

Anti-Semitic Incidents Up in UK

I’ve noted here the revival of anti-semitism in the West.  So it is with sadness that I see there continues to be a marked increase of anti-semitic incidents in the UK:

CST has today published our 2018 Antisemitic Incidents Report, which shows that CST recorded a record high total of 1,652 antisemitic incidents in the UK last year. 2018 was the third year in a row that CST has recorded a record high incident total and means the problem of rising antisemitism in our country continues to grow.

Thoughts After Holocaust Remembrance Day

We rarely note secular observances at my church.  We do recognize mothers and fathers during Mothers and Fathers Day.  (But we do NOT allow those days to hijack our services as so many churches do.)  And that may be about it.

But during announcements yesterday while leading Morning Prayer, I could not allow Holocaust Remembrance Day to pass unnoted.  For, as I told the congregation, this is personal with me.  About half the kids I went to school with were Jewish.  And I remember as a youth watching documentaries on the Holocaust and thinking the West has learned its lesson; there will never be a revival of anti-semitism in the West again.

I was wrong.  There is a revival of anti-semitism today.  

Although I avoided getting into politics in a church setting, and although I freely admit no political party is immune to anti-semitism, in the U. S. it is the Democrat Party that is enabling a revival of anti-semitism. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s appointment of the anti-semitic Congresswoman from Somalia, Ilhan Omar, to the House Foreign Affairs Committee where she will be privy to sensitive intelligence is particularly alarming and outrageous.

As I told the congregation, we Christians should pray as to how to combat anti-semitism in our midst.  The best way I can think of is to call it out.  The exposure of the anti-Jewish bigotry of the leaders of the Woman’s March took a while to be effective.  Nonetheless that organization has now lost much of its power and credibility as several prominent Lib/Left women have disassociated themselves, to their credit.

I think similarly we should be unceasing in calling out those who embrace Louis Farrakhan and refuse to disavow him.  I’m talking about you, James Clyburn.

There is more that must be done.  But calling out anti-semitism among political and religious leaders is a good start.

Again, it is sad that we in the West have come to this yet again.

Look Who Introduced the House Resolution Against Steve King

First off, I am among those who find Rep. Steve King’s (R-IA) recent comments about White supremacy and White nationalism unacceptable.  And I have said so in another public venue. 

And I am glad to see Republicans in the House acted quickly to strip him of his committee assignments.

But that makes a serious problem in politics today all the more glaring.  Those in the Democrat Party who defend or even associate themselves with racism (usually against Whites) or antisemitism get treated with kid gloves.  Heck, one such Congressman, James Clyburn (D-SC), has shared a stage with the vile racist antisemite Louis Farrakhan and has since refused to condemn him.  And Clyburn is not only a Democrat in good standing in the House; he is No. 3 in the House Democrat leadership.

And look who introduced the resolution condemning King’s remarks – James Clyburn.

Now the resolution rightly passed with almost unanimous support.  Even Steve King, to his credit, voted for it.  But James Clyburn was the wrong man to introduce it.  Once again, the Democrat Party’s double standard on racism and bigotry is glaring.