Let me start by being very clear. These journalists did not deserve this fate. They were brutally murdered by savages who have no respect for human life and will do anything no matter how vile it may be to further an agenda. They will murder and torture people to achieve their goal of global domination. They are in many ways similar to the Nazis, with one terrifying distinction. They put as little value on their own life as they do on others. That makes them harder to stop. So my hearts go out to the families of these two journalists and I hope they both rest in peace.
However, there is another point that needs to be made here and one that draws another comparison to the horrors committed by Nazi Germany. When the Nazis occupied Europe they were able to find Jewish people willing to be members of the “Judenrat”, the Jewish committees set up to administrate the activities and fates of the bulk of the Jewish populations. Many of the Judenrat’s members believed that by working with the Nazis they would suffer a better fate than those whose deportation and subsequent murder they were facilitating. It was not till most of their work had been completed that most of them would come to realize that they indeed would suffer the same fate and would be murdered at the hands of the Nazis.
It has been reported that both James Foley and Steven Sotloff were sympathetic to the Islamist cause. Perhaps they too felt that by showing a degree of solidarity and support they would be in a better position to survive the new horrors appearing on the horizon. If that was their vision, and I don’t know that it was, they too were shown to be tragically wrong. I am not indicting the two journalists by any means. Their deaths are tragedies and they were committed by barbaric murderers who are capable of unspeakable horrors. The message I am relaying to everyone is that if indeed people ever believe that by supporting Islamic extremists you are safe, understand that you will end up as safe as the members of the Judenrat and these 2 journalists.
As Winston Churchill once said: “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” I hope James Foley and Steven Sotloff rest in peace, I also hope the world learns a lesson from their murders.
If there is one thing you learn being a child of Holocaust survivors, it is that no matter how much you try to put yourself in their shoes, you just can’t. It is with that knowledge and awareness that I write this letter to you, those survivors that are condemning Israel over its actions towards the Palestinian people. Despite the shock your comments and sentiments have caused to so many of us, (CLICK HERE TO READ STATEMENT) out of the respect I have for what you went through I have chosen to write this letter as more of a plea for you to come to your senses than a criticism of your actions. I will make it a given that your intentions are pure, even if I and many more like me believe they are misguided.
No one who survived the horrors of Nazi Germany needs a lesson from me or from anyone else of my generation as to the actions committed during what is one of the blackest mark in the history of humankind. Having spoken often to my parents, my father of blessed memory and my mother who is, thank God still alive and well, I have as good of an understanding as I can in my position, as to what took place. I know that Hitler hated the Jews from the start. Targeted them, scapegoated them, dehumanized them, and ultimately murdered them in massive and devastating numbers. He made the elimination of the Jewish race more than just an emotional cause, he made it a government sanctioned law. Even before the mass murdering started, he left no doubt that he wanted Jews to be no part of society, not only in Germany but everywhere his Nazi party occupied. As is so clearly stated in the definition of Genocide, once he managed to rally the support of a desperate German nation behind him, Hitlerspecifically targeted the Jews in a deliberate and systematic attempt to exterminate the Jewish people. I will spend the next paragraph outlining the similarities between what Nazi Germany did to the Jews and what Israel is doing to the Palestinians.
It will be a very short paragraph. THERE ARE NO SIMILARITIES!
As I previously stated, this is more than a letter to all of you. This is a plea. I am practically begging you to come to your collective senses. Israel has not been perfect in its treatment of Palestinians, but it’s not only done more for them than many other nations do for a minority population, it’s done more for them than any Muslim nation in the world has done.
Please read the Hamas charter. It calls for the elimination of Jews from Israel and the murder of Jews worldwide. With that in mind I ask you this question. Had there been a Jewish army in 1943 or 1944 would it have been wrong for that army to bomb Berlin, even if in targeting official government locations it would have killed German women and children?
I appreciate and agree that dead women and children dying in war is always a tragedy. I just urge you to realize that the deaths are not always the fault of the ones dropping the bombs.
In the name of God and all that is good and decent I ask all of you to stop this madness. The last line of your statement may be the most important one in that it references the phrase “Never Again”. I agree that “Never Again” means NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE, but it also means that sometimes actions, often harsh and painful actions, need to be taken to back up that phrase.
When World War I ended and Germany was defeated, their punishment for being the aggressors was so severe the economy plunged into depths that caused poverty and hunger of immense proportions. I am not condemning this, merely stating this to address the circumstances leading to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Hitler fed off of the desperation of the German people, found a perfect scapegoat, and promised Germans a better life. All they had to do was follow his leadership regardless of how evil and heinous the outcome. He took their awful life and promised a good one, in the process convincing the masses the suffering of others was of no consequence. As we all know the strategy worked with tragic precision and Hitler reigned in Germany till his defeat by the allies in 1945. Hitler used the suffering of the German people to push his agenda, and like many fascist regimes before him the process was successful.
One can hope and pray that history will show that Israel never allowed Hamas to grow into the killing machine the Nazi party was, but it certainly wont be for lack of trying. What sets Hamas apart in the early stages of its rule over its people is something even more cynical and morally repugnant than the Nazis in their establishment of control over their people. While the Nazis took the pain and suffering of the people to establish the regime, Hamas has actually created the pain and suffering to create theirs. Israel left Gaza to its own means in 2005, and as Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer said, “we hoped it would become a Singapore, instead it became an Iran”, implying what could have become a booming economy, technologically advanced, with a secure present and optimistic future became just the opposite. Hamas took their funding and rather than help the population, they became Iran’s proxy, training terrorists, building terror tunnels and making their corrupt leadership perversely wealthy while keeping the money out of the hands of the community. Rather than having to answer for their misappropriation, they used the suffering it caused to channel their desperation into hatred and the belief that death was better than life. With the life they gave them in Gaza it was an easy sell. The video in this piece shows what happens to people when they feel the best outcome to their life is death.
While Hitler took the desperation he found and turned it into mass hysteria with his promises of a better life, Hamas has formed a new and cynical blueprint. Create the desperation and then promise a better life, even if it is through murder and suicide.
Traditionally anti-Semitism in Europe was government sanctioned. The Spanish inquisition, Russian pogroms, Nazi Germany, Stalin’s U.S.S.R., all consisted of horrors and destruction for the Jews that were carried out by the ruling parties of each of these regimes. In each one of these examples Jews were being eliminated because they were fraudulently declared a threat to the environment being created and were therefore, for all intents and purposes, illegal and harmful residents. Today however, regardless of whether you call any particular nation in Europe a friend of the Jews or not, the anti-Semitism being generated comes more from mobs than governments. At least for now.
These mobs are primarily organized and dominated by the Muslim communities of various countries. Nothing represents the advancement of the Muslim cause in Europe more than France, where the mobs have turned so hateful and violent, Jews are starting to pick up and leave. The behavior of these mobs is the precursor to what will ultimately be a much bigger issue in Europe, a radical new demographic. That’s a technical way of saying an Islamic takeover.
I do not make this statement to be racist. I would love to see a world where we all can live together in peace. I know there are good and bad people in all races and religions, and yes, I have met many good Muslims. But I also know, that only one group has leaders in their midst declaring a desire for world domination, a term not connected to such a significant threat since the days of Adolph Hitler. Ironic that the Jews are being called Nazis, isn’t it? I understand the Muslim fanatics drawing the comparison because it gets the people going and helps their cause. Although they should know, that even though Hitler may have killed the Jews first, in a Europe such as the one we see today, if a Hitler-type rises to power, the Muslims would at worst be second.
The stupidity in all of this however is with the non-Muslims in Europe who are taking the side against Israel and the Jews. I am not referring to decent people who are saddened by the events taking place in Gaza. I am referring to those who are falling for the propaganda machine being used against Israel and the Jews, a machine getting a trial run before it takes on its much bigger target, anyone not Muslim. Those who feel these mobs will stop at the Jews is not only not paying attention to what is happening, they are not being honest about its source. If these mobs care so much about dead children, where have they been till now? Ask them how many children have been murdered in Syria? Or better yet, tell them. Over 9,000. Let me repeat that. Over 9,000 children have been killed in Syria. Where are the mobs protesting that? Where are the signs equating the Syrian flag with the Swastika? Then there is Mosul, a city of 1.8 million. Interesting number. Why? Because Gaza has 1.8 million residents. But here is the difference. 150,000 Christians were recently attempting to flee because if they did not they would be slaughtered or forced to convert like those Christians that did not leave. I am sure there are thousands of children in that number as well, but unlike Gaza, where the Israeli government actually wants people to see the truth, Mosul is unreachable by the press. This allows ISIS to run rampant murdering and destroying anyone and anything they feel doesn’t help towards their goal of an Islamic Caliphate. Where are the mobs protesting this? Where are the signs comparing ISIS to Nazis? Nowhere.
My point is that for these mobs it is not about the concern for the well-being of children, it is either about pushing their agenda or voicing their hatred for Jews. When the time comes that governments need to fight against evil entities such as ISIS in Iraq or Boko Haram in Nigeria, or a nuclear Iran, just to keep Europe and the rest of the civilized world safe, the mobs will form all over again, and just like they are doing now, will pretend it is about dead babies.
It’s a stroke of genius. Identify what hits a chord with the population, and whether your words and images are factual or not, pound them into the psyche of the masses. It’s a model used throughout the ages with more devastating consequences in the 20th century than any other. Most notably Hitler’s Nazi party which preyed on the economic misfortunes of the populace to assign blame to anyone they felt would stand in the way of their agenda, or even worse, use a scapegoat to rally strong support. By the time throngs of people were shouting Heil Hitler, most of them were just spewing out structured opinions and no longer thinking for themselves. Which is in many ways what it is all about.
Many people, whether they wish to admit it or not, feel comfort and security in allowing leaders to choose their path. It’s the draw of religion. A friend of mine once told me, people buy with emotion and then justify it with logic. Tyrants and dictators are selling a product, and when people are downtrodden and desperate they’re buying that product. People who like their life may protest, and may even have opinions laced with hate, but they hardly ever commit acts of violence in the name of civil disobedience. What Hamas is doing is following a model, and doing so with precision tactics.
Their biggest advantage is also their biggest deception. They are not in it alone. Backed by Iran, a nation that was taken over in 1979 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a man who used the same model to rally enough of a nation behind him to take over a government and start a global revolution, Hamas is a microcosm of a much bigger threat. That bigger threat is one the world needs to be aware of, but won’t be as long as those most threatened appear to be mostly from one group. That one group is the same group initially targeted by Hitler. The Jewish people. Yes there were others the Nazis hated and persecuted almost immediately. Homosexuals, gypsies, Poles, were all hated by Hitler, but from the start the Jews were the cause of everything bad in Germany. They were called subhuman, a word that popped into my head earlier when seeing how the United Nations Human Rights Council showed its usual disregard for the human rights of the inhabitants of the Jewish State of Israel. But maybe they see Jews as subhuman too. It just doesn’t support their current agenda to admit it.
The lesson of previous models, specifically of World War II should be obvious. To some it is and yet they choose to disregard it. To others, those caught up in the fervor of Hamas propaganda, they have bought into the mass hysteria often created by evil dictators, and in doing so they are doing what was done before, go after the scapegoat, which once again is the Jewish people. Although it seems to be easy to let others think for you, they are making the same tragic mistake. They do not see that which has always been the case when following this model, that the goal is world dominance. Ultimately that means there is no room for any major group of people with different ways of thinking, as already evident by the way Christians have been brutally murdered in places like Iraq and Nigeria .
If the right people with the right amount of power wake up to the true dangers facing civilization, a full-scale World War III may be averted. If they don’t, and continue to get caught up in the hysteria of lies and deception, civilization as we know it is in danger. It’s that horrifying, that deep, that simple, and yes, just a matter of time. Let’s hope people study the model and learn from history.
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.
Relatively quiet during this most recent crisis in Israel is the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas once again has been presented with an unprecedented opportunity, and rather than make the most of it, he did what he usually does, willingly and cynically disregard it. The opportunity of which I speak was for him to make believers of even the most extreme skeptic as to whether or not he truly is a worthy peace partner. Instead, as always, Abbas chose to take the easy and corrupt way out.
There are two types of dangerous politicians. The evil ones whose intentions are to cause division or suffering, and the weak ones who make all their decisions based on their own personal standing and position. Abbas, now a politician with a terrorist resume, has traded in his militant status to become one of the most transparent politicians in the region, if not in the world. His every move is a calculated way of dancing between appearing willing to make a lasting peace with Israel and conning the world, while appeasing the hardliners not only within his ranks but with Hamas in Gaza as well. His comments generally are indicative of the poor character of the man, as he does what so many of those who are truly his partners, the ones who do not want peace do, fabricate statements because of their expedience. Case in point, his comparing Israel’s current military action to the Nazi death camps that killed 6 million Jews. The ridiculous dishonesty of the statement surely can not be based in ignorance. Does he not know that the Nazis openly stated their desire to wipe Jews off the planet? Does he not know the Germany’s campaigns and raids targeting Jews were not attempts to provide a safer non-violent Germany, but solely to kill them? Does he not know that the death toll of Palestinians is significantly lower than it could be because the Israeli Defense Forces make every attempt NOT to kill civilians, in sharp contrast to Hitler’s Germany that hunted down Jews and murdered them? Of course Abbas knows. But what good would it do politically for him to acknowledge that? Where does he gain by doing what is right? His place as head of the PA is dependent on motivating the angry mob and placating the ambitious terrorists in his midst. What better way to do this than to demonize Israel once again at what he sees as another opportune time. While Israeli politicians will speak out against and act against bad behavior of their constituency, Abbas makes excuses or distorts the facts for his. It may not be right, it may not be moral, but for a politician with a poor character such as Abbas, it certainly is expedient.
And here in lies one of the biggest problems facing Israel. Should by some miracle the terrorist organizations get eliminated from the equation they still have a major problem. They are left with a so-called peace partner who is nothing more than a terrorist turned self-serving politician. To put this in the harshest and scariest of perspectives, consider this point. He’s seen as the good one.
When it comes to sports, destiny is a very biased concept. Had Brasil won yesterday without the services of their superstar Neymar and their captain Silva, the host nation of the FIFA 2014 World Cup would have been buzzing about how destiny favored this soccer powerhouse. Instead Brasil’s team laid the proverbial egg, didn’t show up for the game at all, and lost 7-1 to a very good German team. Undoubtedly all German fans are now talking about their destiny. I would like to put my own personal spin on the subject of destiny and show how it favors Holland.
Four years ago Holland, The Netherlands, lost in its 3rd World Cup Final appearance to Spain. They began this years campaign with a 5-1 whipping of the reigning champs. In about 4 hours they will face Argentina in the semi-final. Argentina who was the host team in 1978 and defeated Holland, then making their second final appearance. After Germany’s victory yesterday, if destiny keeps to form, Holland will face Germany on Sunday with an opportunity to finally lift up the World Cup as champions. 40 years ago in 1974, it was Germany, then the host country, that defeated the Netherlands in their first ever appearance in the World Cup. Like Holland or not, from the perspective of destiny it could not play out any better.
And then there is my favorite Dutch fan, my mother Sipora Groen. At 92 years old she is enjoying the games as much as anyone else and would love to see Holland finally call themselves World Cup Champions. So I say it again, and hopefully will be making this plea again after today and before Sunday, WIN IT FOR MY MOTHER.
I often feel guilty when I come out in favor of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) taking the harshest of approaches. After all, who am I to say this? I live in New York. I do not live in Israel, I do not live in Judea, Samaria, or Southern Israel. I do not have children being called up to fight and risking their life to do the things I comfortably encourage from a safe air-conditioned home in the United States.
Who am I? I am a human being, I am a Jew, and I am the son of Holocaust survivors. I have made every attempt in my life, both in practicality and in theory to learn lessons from the past. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not. If there is one lesson I have learned, and I truly believe it may be the most important lesson of our time, one that could mean the difference between the death or survival of modern civilization, it’s that we can not apply rational standards to irrationally thinking people. Do I believe the answer is to wipe out anyone who lives by those irrational standards? Of course not. Do I believe re-education of the greatest kind is needed. I do. I also believe that sometimes the only way to begin that re-education is by a show of force of the most enormous proportions.
Two of the most civilized nations today, and strong American allies, are Germany and Japan. Go back 70 years ago to the year 1944 and no one would have thought that to be realistic. Yet the world was saved, at least temporarily by the drastic change in direction initiated by the allied forces basically pounding the two nations into submission. Many people who wanted nothing more but to live a decent life died in the process, on both sides, but the fact remains that with the strong force brought on to both of these nations, history was changed for the better.
We face a similar threat today, at least as far as its potential danger, even if the landscape is very different. Many people such as myself, who believe a powerful approach is needed against our enemies, are getting criticized for our viewpoints. “Jews don’t act like that, the enemies do”, is one of the things I have heard. To that I reply, yes, in the past we did not. But we also say Never Again.
I find the murder of any innocent person to be tragic. But I also believe in the phrase coined by our ancient Rabbis in Ethics of our Fathers, “im ain ani li mi li”, which translated into English means, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me.” As a Jew, my sad assumption is that as a collective, there will be no one. There are many righteous people who have and would sacrifice their lives to protect innocent people, Jew and non-Jew alike, but there are no nations or groups who will look after the Jewish people any better than their fellow Jews will.
So although I feel somewhat guilty for sitting in comfort and speaking in favor of force by the IDF, as a Jew who has learned from history I would feel more guilty if I did not.
I am a self-proclaimed Liberal. I believe in being tolerant. However, like everything else in life, tolerance has a breaking point as well. Today mine was broken. With the murder of Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16, I no longer believe a peaceful solution is possible with our Palestinian enemies. Yes, I said enemies. I did not say partners, I did not say neighbors, I did not say counterparts. Just as the Germany that existed between 1933 and 1945 were enemies of not only the Jewish people but the entire civilized world, so too the Arabs in and around Israel have developed into the same opponents of decency not seen since Nazi Germany.
I am by nature, a pacifist. I am no “tough guy”, nor do I ever proclaim to be. However, tolerance and liberalism needs to be saved for human beings who you have differences with, not with animals set on the destruction of anything decent. With that said I wholeheartedly support the harshest of actions. I also will no longer, and urge every human being who believes in what is right to do the same, support any government’s policies that stand in the way of Israel doing what needs to be done.
And now I will make a statement totally removing myself from my Liberal positions. All of you out there, be you anti-Semites who like seeing Jews suffer, residents of civilized nations who thinks it is only the problem of Israel and the Jewish people, or Liberal Americans, Jew and non-Jew alike, listen very carefully. They’re coming for you as well. Like the Nazi sympathizers who thought they were exempt, anyone who supports this cause or does not fight against it will only be useful for as long as they are needed to push their agenda. Once they do, if they can reach you, me, all of us, they will kill us as well.
To President Obama I say this. At best you are exhibiting a similarity to Neville Chamberlain, at worst you’ve picked the wrong side. Either way you’ve got it wrong. You want a legacy Mr. President? Try using your powers as leader of the Free World to keep it free. If nothing else please stay out of Israel’s way.
Sadly I now feel that the slogan “Bring back out Boys” needs to be changed to “Avenge our Boys”.
Let me start by being very clear. These journalists did not deserve this fate. They were brutally murdered by savages who have no respect for human life and will do anything no matter how vile it may be to further an agenda. They will murder and torture people to achieve their goal of global domination. They are in many ways similar to the Nazis, with one terrifying distinction. They put as little value on their own life as they do on others. That makes them harder to stop. So my hearts go out to the families of these two journalists and I hope they both rest in peace.
Holland's Heroes 