Translate

Aug 29, 2011

The similarities between Libya & Iraq are plain to see...

 

The similarities between Libya & Iraq are plain to see: both countries preferred, or were planning to, keep oil revenue for the benefit of their citizens and both countries either had, or were planning to, trade their oil in another currency other than US Dollars.

 

Much of what was written about Iraq turned out to be fictitious, human shredders, yellow cake from Niger, weapons of mass destruction, and now it appears the situation in Libya before the NATO induced coup d'etat is not quite what the western media, especially the BBC & SKY, would have us believe.

 

In January 2011 the UN Human Rights Council issued a report on Libya praising their Human Rights record:http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/16session/A-HRC-16-15.pdf

 

World Health Organisation's Report on Libya: http: tryfocus/cooperation_strategy/ccsbrief_lby_en.pdf ANDhttp://www.who.int/countries/lby/en/ included the following comments:

 

1.    Libya provides free health care to all citizens, it has achieved high coverage in most basic health areas

2.    Births attended by skilled health professionals 100%

3.    Population with sustainable access to improved water source 94%

4.    Gross national income per capita $16,270

5.    Health care is available to all citizens of Libya free of charge by public sector.

6.    Libya boasts the highest literacy & educational enrolment rates in N.Africa

 

Primary education is both free & compulsory in Libya. Children between 6 & 15 attend primary school. 287,172 students were enrolled in Libya's universities.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Libya

 

 Libya had the highest life expectancy of all of Africa. http://t.co/CHeRzzE

 

Libya had the lowest infant mortality rate of all of Africa. http://t.co/cQ6Cf9x

 

Roger Lee

 

+++

Fun stuff to read, tell and watch:

Now FREE to watch all 91 minutes: "Defamation," from Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/3rvhdvc

Some of His Best Friends Are Jewish: The Saga of a Holocaust Revisionist By Nathaniel Popper. Link: http://tinyurl.com/3v6m88c

...an Israeli lawyer has filed a class-action lawsuit against former President Jimmy Carter, seeking $5 million in damages because his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" allegedly defamed Israel. Link: http://tinyurl.com/3pltqg2

"...when you have laws against questioning the Holocaust narrative, you are screaming at the other person to stop thinking!!!" ---Mike Santomauro. *Anthony Lawson's Holocaust Video "were the Germans so stupid"... Link: http://tinyurl.com/44nsrco

An anti-Semite condemns people for being Jews, I am not an anti-Semite.--Mike Santomauro. Link: http://tinyurl.com/42z9p8o

Start reading DEBATING THE HOLOCAUST in under a minute: http://tinyurl.com/3f8h874

Peace.

Mike Santomauro
Editorial Director
Call anytime: 917-974-6367

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
MARKETPLACE
A bad score is 598. A bad idea is not checking yours, at freecreditscore.com.
.

__,_._,___

Re: From Dr. Toben: Re: childish troublemaking - but it's brutal politics - and no guilt by association!

 

"...which does not extend to my questioning the premises of 9/11 and the nonsense that it was hijackers who did the job rather than simple implosions..."

this just rips to shreds the argument offered against the 6 million-gas-extermination story...anyone who believes the above nonsense should totally accept the holocaust story in its entirety but if not, ought to get the hell out of the doubting business because it makes us all look like gullible fools...

simple implosions? maybe if some of these idiots would have their brains "simply implode" things might go better for the logically critical among us...

fs

On Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 8:11 PM, Michael <RePorterNoteBook@gmail.com> wrote:
 




Begin forwarded message:

From: "Fredrick Toben" <toben@toben.biz>
Date: August 27, 2011 9:39:32 PM EDT
To: <Gpduf@aol.com>
Subject: RE: childish troublemaking - but it's brutal politics - and no guilt by association!

Gordon,

 

1. You have hit the low note her using words such as 'saved', 'credibility', 'coward', 'pitiful attempt', 'narcissistic' because the issue I am worrying about is far larger than some personal psychological impulse could ever grasp. It is not a matter of catching people out because truth stands on its own and does not attach to any individuals as such.

 

2. Although this is a 'battle-of-the-wills' the aim is larger than any individual involved in it because we are dealing with objective and verifiable facts – and the protectors of any official conspiracy theory, such as Holocaust-Shoah and 9/11, for example, will do everything necessary to ensure the lies and deception remain covered - for whatever reason. I see it as my role, as a teacher, to lift the veil of deception so that we may in a civilized way and with maturity observe and understand what is around us. With Immanuel Kant I share the delights in reflecting on the moral law within me and the starry heaven above me, and from such impulses then develop a world view – a clear Weltanschauung without fear or favour!

 

3. You know the pattern of deception used on a daily basis by politicians, and that is why it is refreshing when someone comes along and cuts through the bullshit. Recall the Lawson video about Netanjahu addressing the US Congress and it fawning 27 or 29 standing ovations on him. That's treason! But you are not supposed to use that word anymore – unless they can use it against their critics. What about the bankers and developers ripping the guts out of nations? Etc…

 

4. It was Eric Hufschmidt who first began labelling Revisionists as 'Zionists' – he labelled Willis Carto, Ernst Zündel and me as such – now you did the same with Anthony Lawson.

 

5. It just does not make sense to do such labelling because in the most recent case Lawson has produced the goods, verifiable goods, especially on 9/11 here in Australia when he assembled the clip featuring John Bracken and Jon Fain – where Bracken demands Fain stick to the facts but Fain only insults Bracken and refuses to debate the science behind the 9/11 argument.

 

6. Also note that I am not re-writing the Third Reich history – that's an impossibility because the Third Reich has come and gone. What I am doing, as are other Revisionists, is bringing the historical record in line with proven facts that ideological warfare has constructed over them – lifting the lid and letting the facts speak for themselves. For example, I question the 6 million figure, the existence of gas chambers and the notion of a state-run systematic extermination program – but I forget I have a muzzle on me …which does not extend to my questioning the premises of 9/11 and the nonsense that it was hijackers who did the job rather than simple implosions.

 

7. I thus see my task as doing some useful work such as removing the lies that surround and even make up the historical period referred to as the Holocaust-Shoah. This narrative, and then the 9/11 narrative among others such as the Climate Change debate, is so full of deception and outright lies that it kills off a people's soul, as is the case with the Germans who are wallowing in Holocaust guilt.

It has nothing to do with any feeling or worry about popularity – I think I raised the example of the fellow I met in prison who was worried about not being liked: 'Nobody like me. I suck cock, I bend over – it not help.'

 

8. So, Gordon, your below comments remind me of someone who still has such worries about being liked or disliked rather than fearlessly questing for the truth of a matter. Is it not a choice between Truth and Paradise? In fact, in your comment I detect a tone therein used by some of the YouTube individuals who continued to attack me and reminded me that I am facing imminent bankruptcy – see Adelaide Institute newsletter 583 and note how Vaughan 1978 refers to the shame of it all and that I am in for it like David Irving in his failed defamation action against Lipstadt, etc. What is forgotten by this fellow, of course, is that I did not begin the legal action –

 

9. I assume you will not respond to my previous emails wherein I pose specific questions.

 

Cheers

Fredrick

 

 

 

 

 

From: Gpduf@aol.com [mailto:Gpduf@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, 27 August 2011 11:38 PM
To: toben@toben.biz
Subject: childish troublemaking

 

Frederick,

 

Your sending personal emails around the net shows me that you may be saved after all.

 

 Maybe this will help you but you certainly have lost any credibility with me.  Peddling dissension is Zionist work and I can't imagine how you get sucked into this, not you.  I am ashamed of you.

 

The only loser here is you.

 

You are a coward.  I have caught too many, Libya, Wikileaks, 9/11, who have sold out.

 

Your pitiful attempt can't be worth much.

 

Your endless harping on the same subjects, rewriting the history of the Third Reich, right or wrong, has made you a target and cost you much.

 

I agree that it is wrong and your personal fight for freedom of speech is admirable.

 

However, in other ways, gossiping and your attempts to manipulate others are not putting you in a good light.

 

My problem with Lawson and now with you is that you live in narcissistic personal squabbles while the planet is burning down around us.

 

Hey, send this around too.

 

g

 

 

 

 ===============================================




--

email: fpscott@gmail.com

 

Frank Scott writes  political commentary and satire which appears in print in The Independent Monitor and online at Mathaba and the blog Legalienate

 



http://legalienate.blogspot.com


__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
MARKETPLACE
A bad score is 579. A good idea is checking yours at freecreditscore.com.
.

__,_._,___

[eFreePalestine] Video "by" CNI

 




Begin forwarded message:

From: Alison Weir <alisonweir@gmail.com>
Date: August 29, 2011 9:04:17 AM EDT
To: WIB-LA <WIB-LA@yahoogroups.com>, al-awda <Al-Awda@yahoogroups.com>, efreepalestine <eFreePalestine@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [eFreePalestine] Video "by" CNI
Reply-To: eFreePalestine@yahoogroups.com

 

We are surprised but pleased to see that someone has been inspired to make a video of the introductory article on our new Council for the National Interest website and has posted it on YouTube.

We suggest that after viewing the video, people go to the article itself to access the embedded links for more information on the statements that it contains.

Please feel free to share this information with others.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6KOD5iicdU
Article: http://www.councilforthenationalinterest.org/costs.html
Website: http://www.councilforthenationalinterest.org/home.html



--
Alison Weir
President, Council for the National Interest
Executive Director, If Americans Knew


"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
MARKETPLACE
A bad score is 598. A bad idea is not checking yours, at freecreditscore.com.
.

__,_._,___

Officials charges Israel taking Palestinian organs

 




Begin forwarded message:

From: Alison Weir <alisonweir@gmail.com>
Date: August 29, 2011 9:28:58 AM EDT
To: WIB-LA <WIB-LA@yahoogroups.com>, efreepalestine <eFreePalestine@yahoogroups.com>, al-awda <Al-Awda@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [eFreePalestine] Officials charges Israel taking Palestinian organs
Reply-To: eFreePalestine@yahoogroups.com

 

Official charges that Israel is taking organs from Palestinian bodies again:

http://www.councilforthenationalinterest.org/component/k2/item/682-official-charges-that-israel-is-taking-organs-from-palestinian-bodies-again.html

--
Alison Weir
President, Council for the National Interest
Executive Director, If Americans Knew


"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
MARKETPLACE
A bad score is 598. A bad idea is not checking yours, at freecreditscore.com.
.

__,_._,___

Hostility Toward Germans: Part II

 




Begin forwarded message:

From: James Damon <jamesmdamon@yahoo.com>
Date: August 29, 2011 12:08:27 PM EDT
To: James Damon <Jamesmdamon@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hostility Toward Germans: Part II

Hostility Toward Germans Part II: German Self-Hatred and Leftist Ideology

Written by Manfred Kleine-Hartlage  

Translated by J M Damon

Following is a translation of a German blog posted at <http://korrektheiten.com/2011/08/04/deutschenfeindlichkeit-teil-2-deutscher-selbsthass-und-linke-ideologie/>


[Part I of my lecture on "Hostility Towards Germans" dealt with the ideology that has resulted from the anti German narrative in the West.
I described how and why this ideology has always been and will always be inappropriate for Germany.
In the following section I discuss the consequences that necessarily derive from the adoption of this narrative by the Germans themselves.
In conclusion I discuss the role played by leftist ideology in the overall complex of hostility toward Germans.]

German Adoption of the Western anti German Narrative

As the result of the powerful effect of various venues of American propaganda following World War II, a cataclysmic shift took place in German political thinking. It was a shift in the direction of the Anglo Saxon ideology of revolutionary liberalism and later Marxism. In both cases it consisted of the acceptance of the basic assumptions of the revolutionary Meta-Ideology.

Among other things, this created a "We – You" differentiation based on ideology rather than ethnicity or national political basis.   The new norm was accepted as a matter of course, until "We" were no longer Germans or even the Europeans. "We" became a party in the global ideological civil war ("The West," "Western Community of Values," or "The Free World"). "We" became whoever shared revolutionary Utopian ideals.

Following the demise of the Soviet Union ever larger portions of the Left have come over to this "We," as is quite obvious from the comet like careers of former "'68ers".

For the victorious powers, this new definition of the We-group, based on ideological allegiance meant a latent contradiction in their self-identity as nations. This was true not only for the Russians, who had fought more for Mother Russia than Communism (but whose victory served Communism more than Russia); it was also true for Americans and Britons. It was not easy to equate "My Country Right or Wrong" with the latest scheme to "make the world safe for Democracy." As we have seen, these contradictions were just latent for the wartime Allies since they had fought as nations rather than as standard bearers for abstract ideas.

Among us Germans the contradictions were more than latent. They could not be ignored the instant we adopted the narratives and Utopian ideologies of our victorious enemies, as we did after the Second World War. A national "We Group" is a supragenerational community that includes past generations as well as those yet to come. The logic that compels a German Chancellor to participte in Allied victory celebrations in Paris, Normandy and Moscow implies that both world wars were battles in European and global civil wars.
They were gigantic struggles won by "The Western Community of Values" or simply "Democracy" (in Russia's case, it was Utopian ideology as such) over the Forces of Darkness, and since "we" (re-educated, reconstructed Germans) belonged to this community of values, "we" were among the victors whereas "the Germans" (i.e. the strange people which called itself "the Germans"), the embodiment of all evil, were the losers.

The German adoption of Western Ideology and of Meta-Ideology in general implies a loss of identification with our own VOLK. It compels us to consider our own VOLK as the enemy, to abhor ourselves as an outgrowth of evil and to hate our own forbears. Germany is the only country in the world that erects monuments to traitors and deserters, the only country in which it is considered exemplary to spit on the grave of one's grandparents. The historical narrative of the victors – with its global political concepts, its highflown Utopian worldview – can never be the narrative of Germans who want to be German. If they adopt it, it will be at the cost of self-obliteration. The contradiction between being German and being part of a historical subject called "Western community of values" is  unbridgeable.

The problem is underscored rather than solved by lame efforts to unite incompatibles in formulaic compromises such as "constitutional patriotism."
This hostility towards one's own VOLK is specifically German, as is illustrated than by the fact that the so-called "anti Germans" (as they call themselves!) comprise the only political grouping that refers to itself with the word "German."  Not even the Neonazis do that, as they refer to themselves simply as "nationals," emphasizing that they consider nationalism to be something good in itself – not only for Germans but for everyone. The anti Germans, by contrast, express the opposite wish: they want to eradicate the German VOLK, but not necessarily the very concept VOLK. Interestingly, they are attempting to do this through ideological rationalization, precisely what I identified as the foundation of anti German hostility in Part I of this series: The idea that Germany is (or was) the epitome of anti Utopian, anti globalistic counterrevolutionary force normally goes unstated except among anti Germans. My analysis is not far removed from that of the anti Germans; only the qualifying prefixes are reversed.

Leftist Ideology

Inner logic compels societies that support the fundamental assumptions of liberal Utopianism to quickly become involved with its hostile twin, Marxism – Socialism. In general terms we can refer to them both as Leftist Ideology. Whoever condemns society's power imbalances on the basis that they are not founded in rationalism, and believes these imbalances are evil and must be stamped out, should not be surprised when the imbalance between rich and poor also comes under the crosshairs of criticism. Whoever champions freedom and equality as universally valid, and as basic values of society, has to deal with opposition to freedom in the name of equality. The Marxists who actively oppose capital because its power is not rationally legitimate but rather arises through automatism (derived from the nature of capitalism itself), leading to the mastery of one class over the other, rely on the same logic as the liberals who polemicize against church and king. In some regards Marxists are more consistent than liberals, since they condemn all social inequalities. For example, they condemn inequality between rich and poor; employed and unemployed; the citizen and the state; and between parents and children as well as majority and minority (either ethnic or religious).

From the point of Leftist ideology the more powerful party is illegitimate simply because it is more powerful. This implies that it should not be allowed to deal with the weaker on the basis of "merely formal" equality before the law, but must be actively disadvantaged. Correspondingly, from this point of view, it is not injustice to plunder the rich for the benefit of the poor or the employed for the benefit of the unemployed. Leftist Ideology assumes that the law and the state are repressive, since they use the same measuring stick to measure dissimilar entities, instead of causing what is unequal to be equal; and needless to say, there are no laws to protect the majority from the minority. On page 28 of "DEUTSCHE OPFER, FREMDE TÄTER" Götz Kubitschek and Michael Paulwitz cite a typically Leftist position asserting that racism against Germans cannot exist. This is because racism is a medium of repression that by its very nature cannot be inflicted on a majority by a minority because of the minority's lesser social power to enforce its will.

In simple language this means that the "weaker party," that is, an ethnic minority, is allowed to do everything, whereas the "stronger" (in Germany, the Germans) are not allowed to do anything, but must endure everything.
The power that is presumed to be stronger is automatically the evil power since it benefits from the alleged repression (that it also reinforces.)

Furthermore: since the mere existence of power disparity is the "evil" to be faced and fought, a belated "equalizing" injustice will no longer suffice.
The very basis of the power imbalance must be eliminated: wealth itself; or, as is especially pertinent to our theme, the ethnic majority must be eliminated.
From the point of view of the Left, a majority VOLK or ethnic group has no right to exist.

The Left is not satisfied with representing the interests of the "weak;" it is determined to delegitimize the "strong." In our country the Left deligitimizes the interests of Germans, Christians, men, nonfeminist or nonlesbian women, whites, heterosexuals and gainfully employed workers. In other words, the Left opposes the interests of the majority and seeks to either force these majorities into the minority or else annihilate them altogether. This is the logic behind the policy of de-Christianization, de-Germanization, de-Europeanization, feminization and the promotion of homosexuality.
Only the gainfully employed cannot be abolished; however, it is permissible to pick their pockets, since they have placed themselves in an evil and repressive position just by existing from the fruits of their own labor.

It is self-evident that such a policy cannot possibly be democratic, since it is systematically directed against the majority. Thus leftist ideology naturally results in the propagation of demophobia (fear of the masses), de-democratization and coups d'etat. Of course it finds allies in minorities of every description.

All this has to do with the psychology of minorities in general, which is characterized by deep resentments. The minorities feel that the way of life of the majority, in which they are unable and unwilling to participate, should at least be spoiled for the majority. A good illustration of minority resentment is the bum who urinates in the vestibule of the bank. Racism against Germans is just one variation of this sort of resentment although a significant one.
Leftist ideology seeks to mobilize such destructiveness.

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
MARKETPLACE
There's one number you should know, your Credit Score. freecreditscore.com.
.

__,_._,___

Syria’s WMDs: The Scaremongering Begins Anew (for another war for Israel)

 

Aug. 29, 2011

Eileen Flemming wrote:

My friend in Syria just informed me that the Philippine government has called for all their nationals to leave the country. He spoke to the British council and was told the British government is gearing up to evacuate all Brits to Turkey at a days notice and the money has been sent and is deposited. He added, "With September right around the corner I have no doubt that something very bad is brewing and will probably be here before the U.N. vote for Palestinian statehood…"

More:

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
MARKETPLACE
A bad score is 596. A good idea is checking yours at freecreditscore.com.
.

__,_._,___

Aug 28, 2011

Re: Israel at the crossroads - Halacha or Zionism




Begin forwarded message:

From: JHSibal@aol.com
Date: August 28, 2011 3:14:56 PM EDT
To: ReportersNotebook-owner@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Israel at the crossroads - Halacha or Zionism

Reading this I am once again reminded of the anthropologist James Mooney's book, Ghost Dance. In his work--along with Leslie Spier--he outlines how a culture under pressure begins to change and ultimately self-implodes. It turns away from reality and focuses on those aspects of the culture which separate it from others. Fast & loose, it does this by many methods, including re-instituting arcane rituals, cultivating a persona of superiority, and supporting the fantasy of being a people "chosen" by supreme divine forces (god or gods).
 
Elaborate strategies are devised to make the members of this cult impervious to reality, and in the case of the American Indians, there was the invention of ghost shirts which were said to repell bullets and harmful forces (most likely drawn from Mormon endowment garments, warm by pious Mormons today, including members of the US Senate).
 
The steps in this process have been described by another anthropologist, Wallace, as:
 

I. Period of generally satisfactory adaptation to a group's social and natural environment.

II. Period of increased individual stress. While the group as a whole is able to survive through its accustomed cultural behavior, changes in the social or natural environment frustrate efforts of many people to obtain normal satisfactions of their needs.

III. Period of cultural distortion. Changes in the group's social or natural environment drastically reduce the capacity of accustomed cultural behavior to satisfy most persons' physical and emotional needs.

IV. Period of revitalization: (1) reformulation of the cultural pattern; (2) its communication; (3) organization of a reformulated cultural pattern; (4) adaptation of the reformulated pattern to better meet the needs and preferences of the group; (5) cultural transformation; (6) routinization-the adapted reformulated cultural pattern becomes the standard cultural behavior for the group.

V. New period of generally satisfactory adaptation to the group's changed social and/or natural environment.

When one looks at Israel today the similarities are truly frightening. The Ghost Dance movement ended with a holocaust of destruction at Wounded Knee and the fragmentation of belief which only now--more than a century later--is being repaired. Israel has over 250 very, very high yield atomic bombs. And more and more Israeli politicians are saying they have missiles which can reach London, or Paris or Berlin.(Not to note, Iran.) 

One can only shudder when one considers this evidence from anthropology as it is combined with the Masada myth--a misunderstood belief which is still prevalent in Israeli society. In this fantasy, the criminal Jewish zealots holed up in Herod's former palace (who were raping and robbing fellow Jews as well as others) are said to have committed mass suicide rather than surrender to the Romans. This was based on an uncritical reading of an ancient text and a bad excavation of the site--not formally published at the time--and I suspect not published due to political reasons. The IDF swore an oath to these "martyrs" for decades.

However, this specious reading couldn't hold water. When the weight of the pig bones found among the human remains became too much to explain away--offerings to the Roman dead most probably & no DNA analysis has been done on these remains---the IDF swearing ceremony was abandoned. But the Samson Solution--to destroy everything--is still very strong in Israeli society. Which of course, makes the whole idea of Islamic suicide bombs moot.

So "Israel at the Crossroads" might just be the whole planet being held hostage. JHS

In a message dated 8/27/2011 10:39:26 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, RePorterNoteBook@Gmail.com writes:





Begin forwarded message:

From: "David Turner, LCSW" <dt.lcsw@gmail.com>
Date: August 25, 2011 11:41:40 PM EDT
To: "David Turner, LCSW" <vapto@globalweb.net>
Subject: 110825 - IL- Israel at the crossroads - Halacha or Zionism

While many of my recent writings have focused on the Christian roots of antisemitism and the Holocaust, my real subject is the future survival of the Jewish people, Zionism. And while I believe that our survival depends upon understanding of the place of Judaism within Christian theology, and how that theology impacted on our experience of persecution in the Diaspora, I also fear that Israel, the Diaspora's creation as refuge for our threatened, is compromised by Israeli politics. This article addresses one such concern.

 

Text Box:

Antisemitism and Jewish Survival

 

 


Israel at the crossroads: Halacha or Zionism?

 

"…in a few decades most of the Jews in Israel will be religious… So to really join the Israeli society will entail real conversion."

Coalition chairman Ze'ev Elkin (Likud)

 

 

Before statehood orthodoxy worldwide, including within Eretz Israel, was generally opposed to Zionism and the creation of a secular homeland and refuge for Diaspora Jewry.  Faced with the 1948 fait accompli Israel's orthodox minority redirected their challenge to the secular character of the Zionist state. To even begin to understand why Diaspora Jewry are offended by what coalition chairman Elkin derisively refers to as the "so-called conversion bill;" to understand why the Diaspora might feel it a "slap in the face" for Israel to even consider such legislation, it is necessary to recognize just how far Israel has, over the decades, drifted away from its Zionist roots.

 

In the sub-heading to its article discussing the conversion "impasse" JPost writes, "Insiders to unity talks between Orthodox MKs, non-Orthodox movements and Jewish Agency say they are not bearing any real fruit." Except to these "unity" talks one of the parties, Israel's Orthodoxy as represented by Shas and United Torah Judaism, chose not to participate.

 

In fact Binyamin Netanyahu had promised passage of the bill during coalition negotiations with the religious parties. And except for the unfortunate timing of the vote, "[a period] of particular tension between Netanyahu and the administration of US President Barack Obama, and voices from the North American Jewish communities subtly insinuated that their support and efforts for Israel on Capitol Hill would be made more difficult if such a bill… became law," it is very likely that the "conversion bill," only a stalking horse for "Who is a Jew," would today be law of the land. 

 

Elkin's remarks were made before an audience of Orthodox rabbis and, as chairman of the governing coalition, his comments must be taken to represent official government policy. I discussed in some detail the process by which Israeli politics have drifted towards Halacha as state law in an earlier submission. Although Ben-Gurion was the first to open coalition politics to Orthodox influence, the process speeded up considerably with the 1977 election victory of Menachem Begin. "It was public knowledge that Begin had promised the Orthodox leadership in Israel that, if elected, he would endeavor to change the Law of Return to insert the controversial phrase, 'conversion in accordance with Halacha' in the definition of Jewish identity." In the end both Begin and Netanyahu both were forced to step back from their commitment because of American Jewish opinion, and Halacha has so far remained distinct from state law.

 

Israel's drift from Zionism is perhaps not surprising since the term "Zionism" itself has all but lost its original meaning in Israel and the Diaspora. Conceived as a response to the relatively "tame" threat of 19th century pogroms, Pinsker and Herzl could not imagine the radical solution to the West's Jewish Problem that would be attempted merely four decades in the future. Yet today, six decades following that event, the Holocaust's implications for future Jewish survival are all but overlooked. According to conventional wisdom from Israel to California Zionism culminated in the creation of the State of Israel. Today's Zionist shell has, with rare exceptions, become a domesticated Diaspora "pride" focused on Israel; and for Israelis the designation for Israeli nationalism.

 

But is 19th century Zionism's radical vision of the risks facing Jewish survival no longer applicable? Is the purpose of building a Jewish homeland to serve as refuge for our Diaspora fulfilled? That certainly appears the case according to the machinations of Israeli politics!

 

In 2009 the Jewish Agency released results of a survey stating that, "Anti-Semitic incidents in western Europe peaked to a level not seen since the close of World War II." And perhaps not surprising there has also been a resurgence of right-wing political parties with an antisemitic agenda. While evidence that another Holocaust is imminent is not present, neither is there the comfort of knowing that the antisemitism that inspired the Holocaust has itself vanished. In fact all evidence indicates that not only were the pioneers of Zionism correct in their analysis of the dangers to our Diaspora, but the threat continues…  and will continue so long as Jews choose to live in the Diaspora.

 

Israel's political institutions and leadership have lost contact with the state's Zionist mission, its Zionist roots. The Diaspora created the state not as a home for its current residents, but for the entire Jewish people regardless of degree of adherence to Halacha. In 1970 Ben-Gurion commented that the new "Grandchild" amendment to The Law of Return is Israel's response to Hitler, that the Law and its Amendment "are the heart of what defines Israel."

 

If our Diaspora believes that the present state of relative calm and acceptance it finds itself in represents its eternal future, well that is just the human condition. German Jewry also believed that their fatherland was "exceptional." Was not German Jewry the most assimilated, intermarried and accepted Jewish community at that time? How many foresaw what awaited their community and every Jew within reach of Germany's inspired dream?

 

Which brings us back to the "conversion law" and its significance as an issue of Zionism: Israeli secular parties are voluntary hostage to Orthodoxy for coalition creation. And the reason is clearly that it is politically cheaper to buy religious support on the backs of our Diaspora than to compromise ideological "principles" with secular parties ideologically hardly distinguishable from themselves. And so "Jewish identity according to Halacha" becomes an internal matter for the state without regard to its impact on our nation beyond.

 

Which is the real message delivered by the coalition chairman before his audience of orthodox rabbis: the government lost this round in the debate over Who is a Jew. But not to worry, "[victory] will come, but in the next generation… [because] in a few decades most of the Jews in Israel will be religious… So [for future "Jewish" immigrants] to really join the Israeli society will entail real conversion."

 

 

Other writings on this topic:

 

1. The abandonment of the Diaspora: Israel and 'Who is a Jew'

2. Conversion, Kulturkampf and the future of Israel

3. The Jewish Problem and the Diaspora

4. Is Israel still Zionist?