As Moses did to Egypt, Jews deserve leaders to better defeat our theo-political oppressors

Orthodox Rabbi Gerald Meister, a leader in Jewish-Christian relations, challenged Jewish leadership on their ineffectiveness in confronting the Jew-hatred in Muslim culture and politics, which underlies anti-Zionism.  (JooTube recorded this interview with Rabbi Meister in Nashville, February, 2012. He passed away erev Pesach, 2013).

"This Passover, Free Us From A Failed Jewish Leadership" Stella Paul in American Thinker, April 23, 2011.
This week is Passover, the season of deliverance, and I'm praying for deliverance from America's failed Jewish leadership.  As Jews confront the most dangerous era since World War II, whom are we stuck with for leaders?  A clueless bunch of mini-Pharaohs, strutting around proclaiming their moral superiority, blissfully unaware the Jewish people's mortal enemies are pulling down their pants and laughing at them.

Cataloguing their collective acts of evasion, cowardice, appeasement, and surrender is not for the faint of heart, but, luckily, I'm fortified by matzo balls and ready to rock.  At the Passover Seder, Jews recite Dayenu, a prayer listing the many blessings bestowed by the Almighty, each of which would have sufficed (Dayenu) in its own right.  Here, alas, is a woeful Dayenu of the failures of the American Jewish establishment.  Can anyone tell me why these preening big shots haven't been forced to resign in shame?  Why, in God's name, are our purported "leaders" still collecting cushy paychecks when their credibility is bankrupt?

If they only had allowed a storm of anti-Semitism to rise in the West, and hate crimes against American Jews to skyrocket to unprecedented heights, while they declined to muster even a listless response -- Dayenu -- they would have failed.

If they only had stood aside, shrugging, while America's college campuses became battlegrounds in the war against Israel, where anti-Semitic lies were force-fed to America's next generation of leaders, and Jewish students were intimidated and taught self-hatred and alienation from their own identities -- Dayenu -- they would have failed.

If they only had refused to educate the Jewish people about the growing threat from radical Islam, and remained silent about the long, tragic history of Jews forced to live as oppressed dhimmis under Muslim rule, as mandated by Koranic law -- Dayenu -- they would have failed.

Huckabee to Obama on Mid-East mission: Heed the lesson of Palestinians after Israel's Gaza withdrawal

Jerusalem Post columnist Caroline Glick posits the hidden agenda in Obama's snubbing the Israeli Knesset on his "charm offensive" trip to Israel, speaking, instead, before a liberal audience of American college students:

It is possible that in addressing the unelected radical Left in Jerusalem, Obama seeks to undermine the legitimacy of the Israeli government. But if that is the plan, then it would bespeak an extraordinary contempt and underestimation of Israeli democracy. Such a plan would not play out the same way his Egyptian speech did.

There are two possible policies Obama would want to empower Israel’s radical, unelectable Left in order to advance.  First, he could be strengthening these forces to help them pressure the government to make concessions to the Palestinians in order to convince the Palestinian Authority to renew negotiations and accept an Israeli peace offer.

While Obama indicated in his interview with Channel 2 that this is his goal, it is absurd to believe it. Obama knows there is no chance that the Palestinians will accept a deal from Israel. PA chief Mahmoud Abbas and his predecessor Yasser Arafat both rejected Israeli peace offers made by far more radical Israeli governments than the new Netanyahu government. Moreover, the Palestinians refused to meet with Israeli negotiators while Mubarak was still in power. With the Muslim Brotherhood now in charge in Cairo, there is absolutely no way they will agree to negotiate – let alone accept a deal.

This leaves another glaring possibility. Through the radical Left, Obama may intend to foment a pressure campaign to force the government to withdraw unilaterally from all or parts of Judea and Samaria, as Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee advised Pres. Obama to learn the lessons of Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gush Katif in 2005.  At a dinner held in Brooklyn on behalf of the Gush Katif Museum in Jerusalem,  Gov. Huckabee advised President Obama who intends to ask Israelis to make sacrifices for peace, “If that is the case, I would love to escort Mr. Obama personally to the Gush Katif Museum and say, ‘Mr. President, the Israelis have made many sacrifices for peace. Can you show me one sacrifice that the Palestinians have made for peace?’”


 
Mr. Huckabee declared that instead of asking the Israelis to stop building bedrooms for their children in the land that is theirs, the President should “demand that the Iranians stop building bombs” pointed at Israel and the rest of the free-world.

Mr. Huckabee said, “It is time we recognize that you don’t negotiate with people who do not believe you have the right to even exist, much less live next to you.”


The Palestinian example at Gush Katif was remembered by Sephardic Rabbi David Algaze of Havurat Yisrael in Queens, Rabbi Shalom DovWolpe, Executive Director of the Gush Katif Museum in Jerusalem, and Helen Friedman, Executive Director of Americans for a Safe Israel.  (Playlist controls on bottom center of window).

On first anniversary of French Jewish family murder by a French Muslim in Toulouse, French Pres. Hollande Pays Tribute

French President pays tribute to the seven victims of terrorist Mohamed Merah, says he remains committed to the fight against terrorism  By Elad Benari in Israel National News

French President Francois Hollande during a
memorial ceremony for the Toulouse victims

French President Francois Hollande on Sunday paid tribute to the seven people who last year fell victim to terrorist Mohamed Merah, saying he remains committed to the fight against terrorism 

"The fight against terrorism is global... and allows for no easing off, no weakness and no negligence," Hollande told a crowd of around 1,500 people that had gathered in the southwestern city of Toulouse for the service, AFP reported.

"Democracy is always more powerful than fanaticism," Hollande said.

A self-described Al-Qaeda sympathizer, 23-year-old Merah murdered Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, his sons Aryeh and Gavriel and Miriam Monsonego at the Otzar HaTorah school in Toulouse. Before that, he murdered three Muslim paratroopers of North African heritage. Merah was ultimately killed when he tried to flee a raid on his apartment.

Merah, a French citizen with Algerian roots and who in 2011 received military training in Pakistan, said he wanted to avenge the deaths of Palestinian Authority Arab children and punish France for sending troops to Afghanistan.

French police doubt that Merah could have acted alone, but the only person charged with helping him so far is his brother Abdelkader who has denied the charges, AFP reported.

Last month, however, police arrested two men in connection with Merah's killing spree, and in early December a 38-year-old man and his girlfriend were arrested on suspicion of links to the attacks but both were later released without charge.

France has seen a surge of 45% in the number of anti-Semitic incidents over the past year, since the Toulouse attacks.

Last week President Shimon Peres attended memorial events for the victims of the Otzar HaTorah massacre. He also met with the heads of the Jewish community of France and with a delegation of Imams including the heads of the Egyptian, African, Moroccan and Senegalese communities and heads of central mosques.

AIPAC Policy Conference addresses U.S. foreign policy and its effect on freedom and safety

Franco Frattini, Italy's former Foreign Minister joined Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird on the AIPAC Policy Conference mainstage with Robert Satloff (Center for Defense of Democracies) to explain the threat Iran and Islamist terror pose beyond Israel. 

Consecutive video clips from the AIPAC main stage:  Elliot Abrams and Dennis Ross with Frank Sesno;

Amb. Michael Oren with Frank Sesno 

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) on the main stage; 

US Medal of Honor recipient veteran Sgt. Major Ken Stumpf relates perceptions visiting I.D.F. 

US Medal of Honor, Lt. Col. Hon. Alfred Rascon shares his experience from Israel 

 

Breakout session:  Analyzing American power in the Mid-East under Obama administration's policies and actions in the wake of the post-Arab Spring. 

Former AIPAC president, David Victor moderates panel presentations by: Robert Satloff, Executive Director of Center for Defense of Democracies; Wall St. Journal's Bret Stephens; Ha'aretz military analyst Amos Harel, conveying his country's view of the Middle East in view of the upheaval in Syria and Egypt. 



Far-leftist, anti-Israel demonstrators were again present. The notorious Code:Pink's Medea Benjamin antagonized AIPAC attendees shouting agitprop through a loud P.A. system.  We inquired what information were they shaping their criticisms by.  Only a few AIPAC attendees challenged them.  We followed one young man who did, and then engaged them directly.  Their answers (in this playlist) may surprise you.