Tag Archives: Netanyahu’s speech to congress

Open Letter to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi

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Dear Congresswoman Pelosi,

For much of the day I debated whether or not to write this letter, but since I had difficulty purging my mind of your earlier histrionics I felt I had no other choice.  The histrionics I am referring to were the disrespectful and unprofessional reactions you displayed during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech.  You went on to insult the Prime Minister further by making a point to leave the chamber before he did and then issued a statement that included the following comments.

I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech – saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5 +1 nations, and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation.

Ms Pelosi, I ask of you the following.  Just imagine if the leader of a powerful nation had sat and negotiated with Adolph Hitler.  And then imagine if that same leader had determined that negotiations were not only the right approach, but that they were working as well.  Now imagine that this misguided approach empowered and gave extra time to an evil regime to establish itself and start a juggernaut of evil that would result in 60 million people dying as well as a genocide that would result in the murder of 6 millions Jews, and millions more people including Serbs, gypsies and homosexuals.

I won’t insult your intelligence, because I now see how sensitive you are to that, by presuming you do not already know my point and to when and whom I am referring.  One can have a long debate as to whether or not President Obama compares to Neville Chamberlain, but there certainly is no debating the fact that Iran’s intentions for the 6 million or so Jews living in Israel are basically identical to the intentions Hitler had, and sadly was successful in carrying out against the Jewish population of Europe.

I present to you this question.  With what is at stake for not only the State of Israel but the entire world, so what if Prime Minister Netanyahu did insult the intelligence of the United States?  Why exactly does this bother you so much?  And to be quite blunt, with so many members of Congress giving him a standing ovation and so many people respecting and appreciating what the Prime Minister said, do you truly believe you can speak for this country when making this claim?  I know of numerous people, very intelligent people who greatly appreciated this speech.  I am sure Congress consists of numerous people of above average intelligence and most of the one’s I saw watching his speech seemed anything but insulted.

I offer this statement as an answer to most of these queries.  In taking this stance against America’s most important and most loyal ally, elements within the Democratic Party did exactly what they claimed they objected to the most. They politicized the speech.  And what made it even worse, and may very well be some of the source of your consternation, is that it did not make those who opposed the speech with vigor look very good.  Seeing as you were one of those people, I can see how you would be upset.

I want you to know that this letter comes from a man who has voted Democrat far more often than he has voted Republican and from someone who voted for Barack Obama.  This is not a letter from a right-wing Conservative.  This is a letter from a Jewish American man who loves the State of Israel, loves the United States of America, and loves peace and freedom.  And this is a letter from a man who can not for the life of him understand why anyone who loves any of those three would be insulted by Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech.

Sincerely,

David Groen

 

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A Jewish Leader Tells the Whole World…NEVER AGAIN

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I started this piece numerous times and when all was said and done I decided to just sit back and write it entirely from the heart.  After just listening to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress I am so overcome by emotion that I want to hold on to this moment, even if only for myself.

Part of what makes us who we are is our history.  Having just finished listening to the speech I can’t help but think of my family’s history.  It was 60 years ago when the reign of Hitler’s Nazi party ended.  60 million people died in WWII and 6 million Jewish souls were lost.  Among those murdered by the Nazis was an estimated 104,000 Dutch Jews, 75% of Holland’s Jewish population in 1940. Included in that number were 3 of my 4 grandparents, an aunt and uncle, and numerous other relatives I would never know.  My parents went through life with pain I can’t even imagine having lived through one of the darkest times in the world’s history.

As far back as I can remember I have heard the words “Never Again”.  Today I watched Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel who suffered in the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Buchenwald, receive a standing ovation in the United States Congress.  Today the leader of the Jewish state of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, stood up in front of the nation and the entire world and basically said NEVER AGAIN with the words “The days in which the Jewish people stay passive in the face of genocidal enemies; those days are over”.

This is only about politics to those making it about politics.  What this is ultimately about is the survival of not only the Jewish people but the survival of our modern-day civilization.  Today a Jewish leader stood up in front of the world and told the world that the Jewish people will never again be led to slaughter.  For that reason, as the son of Holocaust survivors, as a Jew, and as an American, I found myself moved to tears and say thank you to the State of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

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The Cowardice of Opposing Netanyahu

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I have a theory.  It is a theory that is certain to upset some people.  You see, although I realize that Benjamin Netanyahu is not always the most well-liked man, and has in the past taken a political posture some may see as offensive, I believe most if not all of the opposition to his upcoming address to the United States Congress is rooted in one very dangerous and unattractive character trait.  That trait is cowardice.

There are some who may be in such disagreement and even so offended by this statement that they may have already stopped reading, but to me there is little to no question that this is the basis of most of the opposition.  We live in scary times.  Being afraid does not make one a coward.  My father, may he rest in peace, admitted without shame that during the years he was on the run from the Nazis he did indeed feel fear, despite the impression he gave to many that he did not.  I will say again that the emotion of fear is not what makes one a coward.  In fact I will go one step further and say, that it is one’s reaction to fear that can make one brave just as it is one’s reaction to fear that can make one a coward.  It is on this premise that I maintain that the reaction many have to the fear of the future, is what indeed makes them cowards.

I have met people who do not want to be involved on any level with anything political because of the fear they have for what lies ahead.  I am not judgmental of this approach.  If one chooses to avoid involvement because it frightens them too much, granted they may not be deemed heroic, but they also are doing nothing to actively obstruct or oppose those that do.  They just want to stay far away.  People who run away from danger should not be judged harshly, partially because they have every right to do so, and partially because none of us know when we will make the same choice, but mainly because they impact themselves more than they impact anyone else.  But those whose fear is manifested in the obstruction of what is right, in order to gain favor in the eyes of those who are wrong, are indeed dangerous and irresponsible cowards.

I have tried to find a reasonable answer as to why anyone who claims to love modern civilization would have a problem with the Prime Minister of Israel speaking to U.S. lawmakers about the incredible danger of conducting negotiations on nuclear energy with Iran.  It seems we’ve come a long way from not dealing with terrorists.  Unfortunately we’ve gone the wrong direction. Where we once were a nation with the policy of not negotiating with terrorists, now we have a government hell-bent on conducting negotiations that would lead to the nation sponsoring so many of these terrorists having the ability to possess nuclear weapons.  It is so bizarre that it defies all logic.  Enter Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a man who understands and confronts this danger, and somehow he now becomes public enemy number 1. Somehow members of Congress that have very little to say about Hamas or Isis are emboldened and brave enough to boycott Netanyahu’s speech.  Why?  Because they are cowards.

They are not alone.  There is plenty of support in the press, from celebrities, and from the public as well. To put this phenomenon in simplistic terms, I believe the following mentality prevails.  If we go after the enemy of the bad guys now, maybe the enemy will show mercy on us later.  It’s a little like saying ISIS just needs jobs or the inability to call Muslims that commit acts of terror, Muslim terrorists.  If we don’t speak too harshly against them maybe we’ll be safer when the time comes.  After all, let’s be honest here. Benjamin Netanyahu won’t be sending Israeli hit squads to kill those who oppose him, but active opposition to Iran, Isis, Hamas, or all other equivalent elements of evil could indeed put one’s life in grave danger.  In some perverse way I believe the most high-profile opposition of Netanyahu, with the exception of his Israeli political opposition, is hoping they can establish some credit with the bad guys just in case their master plan of world domination continues on this dangerously successful path.  And all of this is being led by a President who at best is catastrophically misguided, at worst dangerously devious.  Or maybe he is just too scared as well.

I believe the individuals who hold the same level of disdain for Netanyahu’s upcoming speech are either ignorant to the truth and or just as cowardly. Again, anything one says to speak out against Netanyahu is likely to just fade into oblivion, but speaking out against the Ayatollah of Iran for example, well if the wrong person saw that you just might get hurt.

I know there will be those who will vehemently disagree with this theory, but I am almost arrogantly certain this to be the truth.  I will say that in many cases the fear and cowardice is almost subconscious and therefore not something I expect anyone to admit and in some cases even realize, but why else would people oppose anyone defending the future of freedom and modern-day civilization?  I know they will have their responses, claiming this is inappropriate political posturing on both Netanyahu and John Boehner’s part, but even if it is, how on earth could anyone not see that the message Benjamin Netanyahu is sending is so important that those other factors are just not enough to negate the need for his speech. Unless of course you don’t want to make the bad guys angry.  I for one would be far more afraid to oppose a person, in this case Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be asking Congress to protect the safety and security of every freedom and right we all hold dear, and I say without any fear that I support him 100%.

 

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How to Take action against the politicians turning their backs on Israel

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There are many ways to make this happen.  One way is to let them see the numbers.  Share this with everyone you know and ask them to do the same.  Make this post and others like it go viral.  Let those with no backbone or moral compass know that their jobs are at stake.

We as Jews, as Americans, as peaceful people who will not deal with terrorists and nations that sponsor terrorism MUST not sit back idly and allow our politicians to commit this egregious act of betrayal against the State of Israel and its Prime Minister.  It is our responsibility to let out politicians know that this is not only unacceptable but that there will be repercussions in fundraising and at the ballot boxes.  We must use every legal and ethical tool at our disposal to make it VERY clear that boycotting the Prime Minister of Israel’s address to congress is UNACCEPTABLE.  We must make it very clear that we will not vote, fund or support ANY politician that turns their back on the Jewish people, Israel, and it leaders at this crucial moment in history.   Furthermore, if Democrats choose to put misguided leadership before ethical standards, it must be made clear that the result will be the loss of Jewish support in this country.

There are many ways to make this happen.  One way is to let them see the numbers.  Share this with everyone you know and ask them to do the same.  Make this post and others like it go viral.  Let those with no backbone or moral compass know that their jobs are at stake.

 

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