These things happened,
The publishing of Ulysses by James Joyce; The first swimmer crossed the English Channel; Calvin Coolidge became president; the first Winter Olympics took place; Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic Ocean; Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse; Herbert Hoover became president; the Stock Market crashed;Penicillin was discovered; the planet Pluto was discovered; Empire State Building was completed; Amelia Earhart crossed the Atlantic; Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Party became ruling party in Germany; Social security was established; Golden Gate Bridge was opened; Japan invaded China; Germany annexed Austria; World War II; Japan attacked Pearl Harbor; Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; 60 million people killed in World War II; 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust; Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier; the State of Israel was founded; United Nations was formed; NATO was formed; Korean War; Elvis Presley; Polio vaccine created; Disneyland Opened; JFK became President; I was born; Cuban Missile Crisis; JFK assassinated; The Beatles; Vietnam War; Star Trek series; first Super Bowl; Apollo 11 landed on the moon; Terrorists Killed Israeli Athletes at Munich Olympics; Watergate scandal forced President Richard Nixon’s resignation; the movie Star Wars; John Paul II became Pope; Iranian Muslim revolution; CNN was formed; AIDS discovered; Personal Computers were invented; Soviet Union collapsed; Apartheid ended; Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa; 2 different Bush’s became Presidents; Bill Clinton became president; the Euro currency was formed; 3,000 killed in 9/11 attack in New York; Iraq War; the Internet was created; Holland lost 3 World cup finals; Justin and Kim got married.
These things happened, in the 92 years between the birth of these 2 people, my mother Sipora Groen and my youngest family member and great-niece Jara.
If this doesn’t give you hope nothing does.
Leave a comment | tags: 6 million Jews, 9/11, Adolph Hitler, AIDS, Amelia Earhart, apartheid, Apollo 11, Atlantic Ocean, Atom Bomb, Austria, Bill Clinton, Calvin Coolidge, Charles Lindbergh, China, Chuck Yeager, CNN, Cuban Missile Crisis, Disneyland, Elvis Presley, Empire State Building, English Channel, Euro currency, George Bush, George W. Bush, Germany, Golden Gate bridge, Herbert Hoover, Hiroshima, Holland, internet, Iranian, Iranian revolution, Iraq War, James Joyce, Japan, Jara, JFK, JFK assasination, Justin, Kim, Korean War, Mickey Mouse, moon landing, Munich Olympics, Muslim, Nagasaki, NATO, Nazi, Nelson Mandela, Pearl Harbor, Penicillin, Pluto, Polio, Pope John Paul II, Richard Nixon, Sipora Groen, social security, South Africa, Soviet Union, Star Trek, Star Wars, State of Israel, stock market crash of 1929, Super Bowl, the Beatles, Ulysses, United Nations, Vietnam War, Walt Disney, Watergate, Winter Olympics, World Cup, World War II | posted in Uncategorized
IT IS MY GREAT HONOR TO POST THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH WRITTEN BY MY MOTHER SIPORA GROEN
My heart goes out to the Dutch people. It is a country who did so much for people in World War II. As a survivor of the Holocaust and born in Amsterdam and saved by Dutch people they are the last who deserve such heartbreak.
Sipora Groen
Leave a comment | tags: Amsterdam, Dutch, Holocaust, Nardus and Sipora Groen, World War II | posted in Uncategorized
A few days ago I posted how the Dutch Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber) voted to stops funding the Palestinian Authority with money that was going to terrorists in Israeli prisons. Although there is no specific evidence as of yet to back up this theory, one must question whether or not the downing of the Malaysian Airliner yesterday over the Ukraine was a terrorist attack on a plane with over 150 Dutchmen.
Would it be hard to believe that the Dutch would be targeted by Muslim extremists less than 2 days after making such a powerful statement? Surely it would not. And in a part of the world governed more by anarchy than order, who would find it difficult to believe terrorists would be able to find the opportunity to infiltrate and attack from such a physically and politically convenient location.
In the world we live in today this is not such a far-fetched scenario. I am not known to be a conspiracy theorist, but until we know exactly what happened, to disregard a collaboration of terrorist organizations would be an act of carelessness we can’t afford.
Leave a comment | tags: Dutch, Israeli, Malaysian Airliner, Malaysian Airlines, Muslim, Palestinian Authority, the Ukraine, tweede kamer | posted in Uncategorized
Liberalism, especially in this day and age is to some extent charitable. This coming from a long time self-proclaimed Liberal. However, when it comes to the situation in the world today and in particular to the targeting of Israel and the Jewish people, I am admittedly and proudly what would be considered a hawk as opposed to a dove. This is because when it comes to liberalism, I believe that just like charity, it starts at home.
The definition I found of Liberalism that best helps me illustrate my point is the following one.
Liberalism: a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties.
I am comfortable with that definition and support it fully. What I don’t support is putting the civil liberties of others before the civil liberties of the Jewish people, especially when in doing so I believe it is being done at the expense of the Jewish people. When I see people showing greater concern for the plight of the people of Gaza than they do for the people of Ashdod it angers me. As someone who has called himself Liberal I make the following demand of those who call themselves Liberal as well. If you are going to be so concerned about human rights apply that same concern to the ongoing disregards for the human rights of the Jewish people. Don’t read a news report about the tragedy of 4 Palestinian children being killed, because their leadership insists on war, as your rallying cry for what is right and wrong. On August 9, 2001 a suicide bomber exploded a bomb in a Sbarro Pizza in Jerusalem. 5 of the dead were from one family. The couple, Dutch Jewish immigrants, and there 3 children ages 14, 4 and 2. This was no accident. This was an achieved goal by the same type of people who put these 4 Palestinian children in the position to die in this current conflict. If you want to fight for human rights, God Bless you. Just don’t leave out the Jewish people.
Human rights and civil liberties are not about what is the flavor of the day, it is about genuinely and sincerely recognizing which people are suffering unjustly and without bias identifying the source of that suffering. Those who speak of a human rights crisis in Gaza conveniently ignore the fact that Israel would have no need to control Gaza if it were not run by terrorists living large off of funds meant to help their very own people. You want to care about the difficulties they live in, I can respect that. Just don’t pin it on the Jews because you are too ignorant or too frightened to put the blame where it belongs.
Take heed. These enemies want the same for us that Hitler and the Nazis did, and the Nazis did not spare the ignorant and frightened. They either used them to further their goal or they killed them first. You want to be Liberal, be one that loves your own at least you love others. If your fight today is with a fellow Jew because they are angered that Jews continue to be attacked and killed as we have been for thousands of years, then you have lost perspective. Or worse, you have a misguided and dangerous perspective.
The fact that I do not cry over the death of 4 Palestinian children does not mean I am happy it happened. The fact that I use the murder of 3 Jewish boys doing nothing other than going home from school as a rallying cry that enough is enough, doesn’t mean I support the killing of innocent Palestinians. And the fact that I assign blame to the Arab world for fueling a war I know Israelis and Jews throughout the world do not want, does not make me racist. It also does not mean I am any less Liberal. It just means I recognize the truth. If we are to say “Never Again” we can’t in turn hide and pretend when it is starting to happen again. If we do that we are facilitating our own tragic destiny. Something I am not prepared to do.
Leave a comment | tags: Bring Back our Boys, civil liberties, Dutch, Gaza, Hitler, human-rights, Israel, Jewish people, liberal, liberalism, Nazis, Never Again, Palestinian, Sbarro Pizza suicide bombings | posted in Uncategorized
A Malaysian jet was shot down over the Ukraine. It was on its way from the Netherlands to Malaysia. As of yet there is no indication whether or not this incident is at all connected to missing Malaysian flight 370, but the circumstances surrounding this latest mystery are still unclear.
Leave a comment | tags: Malaysia Flight 370, Malaysian, Netherlands, Ukraine | posted in Uncategorized
Unlike the festivities that took place in the Arab world when the 3 Yeshiva Students were reported as kidnapped and subsequently murdered, there is no joy in the Jewish world over the deaths of 4 Palestinian children. There are no Jewish children being put in front of a camera and told to hold up 4 fingers. There is no social media blitz with a 4 fingered salute celebrating their deaths. In fact, the Jewish way of thinking can be summed up with one finger, the pinky finger.
At the Passover Seder, the dinner celebrating the freeing of Jews from slavery in Egypt, when we recount the 10 plagues we dip out pinky finger into the wine and acknowledge the suffering of innocent Egyptians during each of the plagues. Our respect is so great that we dip twice when we get to the last plague, the killing of the first-born. The Egyptians were our oppressors and we were freed from this oppression. We celebrate our freedom. We thank God. But at no time do we celebrate the death and suffering of Egyptians. Next time you see a 3 fingered salute celebrating the death of innocent Jewish children take a moment to acknowledge a people who value life and despise murder, instead of the other way around.
1 Comment | tags: 10 plagues, 3 yeshiva students, Arab, Bring Back our Boys, Egypt, God, Jewish, Jews, Palestinian, Passover, Seder | posted in Uncategorized
Let’s be honest. World War III is already under way. Since we are in the beginning stages there is no comparison as of yet to the first 2 wars that took millions of lives, but inasmuch as it is spreading and infecting the entire planet, this is a battle of global magnitude.
Everyone who knows me even somewhat knows that I am not a racist or bigot. It goes against everything I believe in to target one group of people. As the son of Holocaust survivors I find the persecution or targeting of any group to be as abhorrent as any other crime. I get no pleasure in the suffering of innocent people even if they are part of a society committing acts of evil. Indiscriminate murders, acts of terror and the killing of innocents is the behavior of all types of people from all societies and from various walks of life. Nevertheless, whether they want to admit it or not and despite their efforts to justify it, the Muslim world can not deny that the source of most civil unrest, acts of aggression, and terrorist activity are from within Muslim societies and nations. Let me repeat my personal sentiment. Attacking one group of people is contrary to my basic belief system. With that said, I believe the masses within these societies are victims as well. They are pawns and weapons in the war against civilization. An uprising within their midst may be the only thing that ultimately stands in the way of the death of millions, of which they will be included.
I don’t truly believe Islam is to blame. When you see Hamas leadership laughing it up on a private jet while Gaza gets bombed you realize that these leaders are no different from any other self-serving tyrants and murderers throughout the ages. They are in it for power and fortune and use their religion as a sickening way to rally the masses towards their way of thinking. The evil they commit against their own people is almost, if not as bad as the evil they commit against their so-called enemies.
If we don’t call it what it is, it will never get better. As difficult as that is, I truly believe we have no other choice.
2 Comments | tags: Bring Back our Boys, Gaza, Hamas, Holocaust, Islam, Muslim, World War III | posted in Uncategorized
I have not been one to complain about CNN over the years, but to make a headline, “Cease-fire effort collapses as rockets, airstrikes continue”, is a transparent attempt at avoiding the truth. Hamas did not accept the cease-fire, Israel did.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/15/world/meast/mideast-crisis/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews
To keep this critical fact out of its headline and only dance around what is the most important news surrounding the cease-fire effort indicates that in reporting today’s events, CNN put a distorted concept of objectivity ahead of credibility. To report that one party wants the violence more than the other is not biased journalism if it is based on actual statements by both parties. CNN executives know this and should demand that their reports have a journalistic integrity that is clearly lacking here.
Leave a comment | tags: CNN, Hamas, Israel, Middle East, mideast | posted in Uncategorized
Quick answer: morality in our eyes is not subjective, so therefore there is a clear distinction between right and wrong. During a recent conversation with my brother regarding the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, my brother made a statement that for me summed up the current situation as well as any statement I’ve heard or read till now. “Those who are attempting to keep a scorecard between Israel and Hamas have lost their moral compass.” He went on to say, “no country on earth should have to live under a constant barrage of missiles.” Although I agreed with him 100%, there was one aspect of the conversation that gnawed at my brain the remainder of the day. What exactly is morality?
1-a particular system of values and principles of conduct, especially one held by a specified person or society
2-the extent to which an action is right or wrong.
So yes, to many of us who will read this, there is no question that the actions of our enemies is wrong, therefore immoral. I’ll go as far as to say that the leadership that leads their people in these acts of aggression and terrorism also know that their actions are immoral and wrong. But people do what is wrong for personal gain every day in all parts of the world. The problem is, the one I consider to be the biggest problem facing us, is not in the leadership and their mentality. They could be eliminated much easier than the loyal followers they have created. The problem lies in the indoctrination of the masses and the fact that they have rallied around a manipulation of philosophies within Islam to influences millions towards a different morality. They have not actually lost their moral compass, they have done something far more sinister. They’ve reinvented it.
All parties that want a solution agree that a re-education is needed. What many do not agree on is how to conduct and start that re-education. But if we do not accept that this different morality exists and search for answers, we may be completely overrun by it with very tragic results.
2 Comments | tags: Bring Back our Boys, Gaza, Hamas, Islam, Israel, morality, reeducation, terrorists | posted in Uncategorized
Yes I am born and raised in the United States, and as everyone knows I am proud to be Jewish. However, the name of the website is Holland’s Heroes, with its origins being the experiences of my parents in Nazi-occupied Holland.
Well today I have a pride for my Dutch background I have not felt in quite some time as Holland steps to the plate and shows the world what it means to do the right thing by approving a motion stopping financial aid that was being used by the Palestinian Authority to support terrorists in Israeli prisons.
Holland: ‘Not With Our Money,’ Slash Funds to PA
I have always said that what sets the Dutch apart is that it is truly a nation that tries to be fair and tolerant towards everyone. That approach sometimes puts them at odds with my viewpoint, but today with this action they showed the sincerity in their beliefs.
Today as much as ever, I am proud to be Dutch.
Leave a comment | tags: Dutch, Holland, Jewish, liberal, Nazi, Nazi-occupied, Palestinian Authority, tweede kamer, United States | posted in Uncategorized
Holland's Heroes 