JERUSALEM'S 49TH ANNIVERSARY OF LIBERATION FROM ISLAMOFASCISTS

Today, Israel celebrated 49 years since freeing Jerusalem from the grip of Islamic tyranny over in Jordan, and reunified it as the Israeli capital it is:

Jerusalem is celebrating 49 years since its reunification under Israeli sovereignty with a number of ceremonies and events going into Sunday evening.

The official state ceremony for Jerusalem Day will take place at the Ammunition Hill memorial site. Six torches will be lit in memory of those killed in the battle for Jerusalem. Those lighting the torches will be representatives of bereaved families and of the brigades that fought in the battle. Speakers at the ceremony will include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.

Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev said of Jerusalem Day: "Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, is marking 49 years since its reunification. This is the day that we commemorate those who fell in battle to liberate it and give thanks to the heroes who reunited the city.

"We have kept guard along your walls, City of David, and we are still keeping guard. The war for your security is not yet over. We will continue to defend and safeguard you. You will always be our Jerusalem of gold."

There's also a point to be made that Jerusalem doesn't appear in the Koran:

In contrast to the widespread misconception, Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran -- not by the name al-Quds, and not by al-Maqdis, as the city is most commonly referred to in Arab literature. This is most surprising, in light of the fact that dozens of passages from the Quran are predicated on stories from the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature, where Jerusalem is mentioned countless times. Relatively later on, some Islamic scholars noted that ''Al-Aqsa" ("the farthest") mosque -- from where the Quran says the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven -- was located in Jerusalem. [...]

For 1,300 years of Muslim rule in this region, not once was Jerusalem the capital of a caliphate. The Fatimid and Ottoman rulers even chose Ramla as their local capital. In 1845, on the eve of Zionism, only 15,000 people lived in Jerusalem, about half of them Jewish. From 1949 until the Six-Day War in 1967, the Jordanian sovereigns neither made it their capital there nor nurtured it. The Western Wall plaza area, where according to several Islamic scholars Muhammad tethered his mythological horse, Buraq, was in a state of disrepair, used as a garbage dump rather than a holy site for Muslim pilgrims from across the globe.

The only reason why the city is of any importance to Islam is because they're not the ones running it. Why, that's also the reason why some leftists/socialists want it to be forced under sharia again. And that's why we have to remain vigilant and not allow them to have their way.

THE AL-AQSA FRAUD

ARAB MUSLIMS HAVE - SINCE 1967 - TRIED TO MAKE THE WORLD BELIEVE THAT JERUSALEM IS IMPORTANT TO THEM.

BUT THE TRUTH IS, UNTIL JEWS GOT ALL OF IT - IN 1967 - IT WASN'T VERY IMPORTANT AT ALL.

SINCE THEN, THEY HAVE TRIED TO MAKE JERUSALEM IMPORTANT BY TRYING TO GET EVERYONE TO BELIEVE THAT JERUSALEM HAS THE THIRD MOST IMPORTANT SITE IN ISLAM: THE AL AQSA MOSQUE.

ARAFAT CALLED ONE OF HIS MOST THUGGISH UNITS OF FATAH "THE AL AQSA BRIGADES" TO EMPHASIZE THIS.

AND RIGHT NOW, THERE IS A THIRD INTIFADA BREWING OVER JERUSALEM:

Palestinians urge world: Stop Judaization of Jerusalem

The Western-backed Palestinian Authority urged the international community on Monday to "force it [Israel] to put off its attempts to take over Jerusalem and Judaize it".

The Palestinian cabinet, issuing a strong statement after a meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah, pledged "to confront Israel" as Israel Defense Forces troops clashed with protesters for a second day in the Jerusalem area.

Palestinian youths hurled rocks at Israel policemen and burned cardboard cartons and trash in the streets of Shoafat in Arab East Jerusalem, after Israel arrested a teenager it suspects stabbed and wounded a soldier conducting a security check on a bus.

The violence spread to the outskirts of Ramallah, where about 50 Palestinian teenagers took cover behind trucks and cars while hurling rocks at Israeli soldiers, who reporters saw responding by firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

One policeman was wounded by a rock and seven protesters were arrested. Nine Palestinians and two Israeli policemen were treated for minor injuries in scuffles that erupted in Jerusalem on Sunday, and 30 were hurt in similar clashes a week ago.

Palestinians have warned that the tensions flaring over access to a holy compound housing the al-Aqsa mosque, an area also revered by Jews as the site of an ancient temple, could, on the background of stalled peace talks, ignite a third uprising.

"JUDAIZATION" THE TEMPLE MOUNT!?!?!!? THIS IS THE HOLIEST SITE IN JUDAISM.

ONLY JEWS HAVE ANY REAL CLAIM ON THE SITE.

TO SEE IF ARABS HAVE ANY REAL CLAIM ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT, LETS LOOK AT HISTORY AND THE FACTS.

ALL THE TIME THAT THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE HAD IT, THE TEMPLE MOUNT WAS NEGLECTED:

THAT'S A PHOTO OF THE DOME OF THE ROCK. SEE THE WEEDS - THE NEGLECT? IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE A SITE REVERED BY MUSLIMS.

IF IT WAS REVERED BYT MUSLIMS, THEN - WHILE MUSLIMS CONTROLLED IT - THEY WOULD HAVE TAKEN BETTER CARE OF IT; (YOU NEVER SAW THE TAJ MAHAL LOOK LIKE THIS OR THE VATICAN OR THE LOUVRE, DID YOU?)

AND WHAT ABOUT THE SO-CALLED AL AQSA MOSQUE?

WELL - UNLIKE JERUSALEM, (WHICH IS NEVER MENTIONED IN THE KORAN -- NOT EVEN ONCE!) , THE AL AQSA MOSQUE IS MENTIONED IN THE KORAN; IT'S THE MOSQUE TO WHICH MUHAMMAD WAS MAGICALLY TRANSPORTED, SUPPOSEDLY. HE WAS TRANSPORTED TO "THE FURTHEST MOSQUE".

SO, ER ... UM: THE MOSQUE WOULD'VE HAD TO HAVE BEEN THERE WHILE MUHAMMAD WAS ALIVE. NO!?

Al-Aqsa Mosque

(Arabic:المسجد الاقصى, IPA /æl'mæsʒɪd æl'ɑqsˁɑ/,al-Masjid al-Aqsa (help·info) translit: "the Farthest Mosque"), also known as al-Aqsa, is an Islamic holy place in the Old City of Jerusalem. The mosque itself forms part of the al-Haram ash-Sharif or "Sacred Noble Sanctuary" (along with the Dome of the Rock), a site also known as the Temple Mount and considered the holiest site in Judaism, since it is where the Temple in Jerusalem once stood.[1][2] Widely considered as the third holiest site in Islam, Muslims believe that the prophet Muhammad was transported from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey.[3] Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad led prayers towards this site until the seventeenth month after the emigration, when God ordered him to turn towards the Ka'aba.[4]

The al-Aqsa Mosque was originally a small prayer house built by the Rashidun caliph Umar, but was rebuilt and expanded by the Ummayad caliph Abd al-Malik and finished by his son al-Walid in 705 CE.[5]

SO, THE MOSQUE ON THE MOUNT WASN'T BUILT WHILE MUHAMMAD WAS ALIVE.

THEREFORE IT CANNOT BE THE ONE IN THE KORAN.

BTW: THE DOME OF THE ROCK WASN'T BUILT UNTIL AFTER MUHAMMAD WAS DEAD.

The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount

The Dome of the Rock (Arabic: مسجد قبة الصخرة‎, translit.: Masjid Qubbat As-Sakhrah, Hebrew: כיפת הסלע‎, translit.: Kipat Hasela) is an Islamic shrine which houses the Foundation Stone, the holiest spot in Judaism, and is a major landmark located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It was completed in 691, making it the oldest extant Islamic building in the world.[1]

The Dome of the Rock is located at the visual center of an ancient man-made platform known as the Temple Mount, which Muslims refer to as the "Noble Sanctuary". The platform, greatly enlarged under the rule of Herod the Great, is the site of the Second Jewish Temple which was destroyed during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. In 637 CE, Jerusalem was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate army during the Islamic invasion of the Byzantine Empire.

The Dome of the Rock was erected between 685 and 691 CE. The names of the two engineers in charge of the project are given as: Yazid Ibn Salam from Jerusalem and Raja Ibn Haywah from Baysan. Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan who initiated construction of the Dome, hoped that it would “house the Muslims from cold and heat” [2] and intended the building to serve as a shrine for pilgrims and not as a mosque for public worship. [3] Historians contend that the Caliph wished to create a structure which would compete with the existing buildings of other religions in the city.

HERE IS WHAT WE KNOW TO BE TRUE ABOUT MUHAMMAD'S LIFE-SPAN: HE DIED ON JUNE 8, 632:

Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh (Arabic: محمّد; Transliteration: Muḥammad;[2]pronounced [mʊħɑmmæd] ; also spelled Mohammed or Muhammed)[3][4][5] (ca. 570 Mecca[مَكَةَ ]/[ مَكَهْ ] – June 8, 632 Medina),[6] is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of God (Arabic: الله‎ Allāh), the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the Qur'an 33:40–40. Muslims thus consider him the restorer of the uncorrupted original monotheistic faith (islām) of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets.[7][8][9] He was also active as a diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, reformer, military general, and, according to Muslim belief, an agent of divine action.[10]

THE RASHIDUN BUILT UP THE TEMPLE MOUNT - NOT MUHAMMAD:

Rashidun From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs (الخلفاء الراشدون al-Khulafā’u r-Rāshidūn) is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first four Caliphs who established the Rashidun Caliphate. The concept of "Rightly Guided Caliphs" originated with the Abbasid Dynasty. It is a reference to the Sunni tradition, "Hold firmly to my example (sunnah) and that of the Rightly Guided Caliphs" (Ibn Majah, Abu Dawood).[1]

The first four Caliphs who ruled after the death of Muhammad are often quoted as the Khulafah Rashidun.

The Rashidun were either elected by a council (see The election of Uthman and Islamic democracy) or chosen based on the wishes of their predecessor. In the order of succession, the rashidun were:

Abu Bakr (632-634 A.D.)

Umar ibn al-Khattab, (Umar І) (634-644 A.D.)

THE ARABS AND MUSLIMS HAVE NO REAL CLAIM ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT, CERTAINLY NOT ONE WHICH SHOULD TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER THE JEWISH ONE.

BESIDES, MUSLIMS HAVE BEEN DOING TO THE TEMPLE MOUNT WHAT THEY DID TO THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY AND THE TOMB OF JOSEPH DESTROYING IT!

TEMPLE MOUNT:



TOMB OF JOSEPH:


THEY DID MUCH THE SAME THING TO THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY, TOO

BASICALLY WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO VERY PLACE THEY'VE EVER CALLED HOME AND RULED: DESTROY IT.

WE MUSTN'T APPEASE THIS EVIL AND DESTRUCTIVE IDEOLOGY.

WE MUSTN'T LET ARABS OR MUSLIMS - OR THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY - TAKE CONTROL OF ONE INCH OF JERUSALEM.

NEVER AGAIN.

(EARLIER POST HERE.)

JERUSALEM AND THE SO-CALLED "AL AKSA" MOSQUE - AL-AQSA IF YOU PREFER...

Jews have continuously lived and worshipped in Jerusalem - and Judaism has held it as its spiritual center - for over 3000 years. It is literally mentioned in the Bible THOUSANDS of times. Jews have always prayed facing Jerusalem. IOW: Jerusalem is really very important to Judaism.

IS JERUSALEM REALLY IMPORTANT TO ISLAM?

The rational answer is: NOT UNTIL AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE ISRAEL. In fact, it is not mentioned even ONCE in the Koran.

There is PHOTOGRAPHIC evidence - WHICH PREDATES THE STATE OF ISRAEL - which proves how not only how UNIMPORTANT Jerusalem is to Islam, but how UNIMPORTANT THE SO-CALLED "AL AKSA" Mosque is to Islam.

Here are links to 3 photographs of the "AL AKSA" Mosque which are from the 19th Century, and show it to be virtually abandoned, definitely neglected, and in total disrepair; REMEMBER: these photos were taken at a time when MUSLIMS ruled the region. PHOTO #1, PHOTO #2, PHOTO #3. [More photos HERE.]

If Jerusalem and the "Al Aksa" Mosque were truly important to Muslims then it would have NEVER EVER been allowed to look as it does in these 3 photos. If Jerusalem was truly important to Muslims, then the Ottoman Empire might have made it the regional HQ. THEY DID NOT.

Rational persons have no choice but to conclude that the contemporary claims made by Muslims on Jerusalem and the "Al Aksa" Mosque are NOT based on any historical fact - or even original Koranic thinking, but are an ARTIFACT of the second half of the 20th century, and specifically of "radical/political Islam." [More HERE and HERE.]

ANYONE who argues that Jews should give up their rightful claim on ALL OF Jerusalem - and the Temple Mount - on behalf of an entirely BOGUS 20th Century claim made by radical Muslims is either irrational, unjust, or an anti-Semite. TAKE YOUR PICK.

Justice cannot ever be based on a lie.

WHY DO SOME ARABS CALL THEMSELVES "PALESTINIANS?

There never has been a sovereign nation state called "Palestine".

Rome conquered the Israelis and renamed the area Palestine after the enemies of the Israelis.

It wasn't sovereign and there were no Arabs there.

It was part of Byzantium after that and then changed hands a lot until it became part of the Ottoman Empire.

HERE'S THE SEQUENCE FROM WIKI:

After the fall of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, political rule was held by the following powers:

• 586–539 BC: Babylonian Empire
• 539–332 BC: Persian Empire
• 332–305 BC: Empire of Alexander the Great
• 305–198 BC: Ptolemaics
• 198–141 BC: Seleucids
• 141–37 BC: The Hasmonean kingdom in Israel established by the Maccabees, after 63 BC under Roman supremacy
• 37 BC–70 AD: Herodian Dynasty ruling Judea under Roman supremacy (37 BC–6 AD and 41–44 AD), interchanging with direct Roman rule (6–41 CE and 44–66 AD). This ended in the first Jewish Revolt of 66–73 AD, which saw the Temple destroyed in 70 AD.
• 6 AD Census of Quirinius and establishment of Roman Iudaea Province
• 70–395: province of Roman Empire first called Judea, after 135 called Palaestina by the Romans to spite the Jews following the Second Jewish Revolt (The Bar Kokhba Revolt). In 395 the Roman Empire is split into a Western and an Eastern part.
• 395–638: Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire
• 638–1099: Arab Caliphates and subject rulers
• 1099–1187: Crusader states, most notably the Kingdom of Jerusalem
• 1187–1260: dominated by the Ayyubids of Egypt and Damascus
• 1260–1516: dominated by the Mamluks of Egypt
• 1516–1917: Ottoman Turks, having previously conquered the Byzantine Empire in 1453
• 1918–1948: British mandate of Palestine under, first, League of Nations, then, successor United Nations; the Emirate of Trans-Jordan was separated from the rest of Palestine in 1922, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan became independent upon the expiration of the League of Nations Mandate in 1946.

From 638-1009 the Arabs didn't call themselves Palestinians and didn't call the region Palestine.

The Ottoman Empire has it for a long time - and never called it Palestine and never called anybody loving there Palestinians. Because there was no such people, co such language, no such culture.

Here's an Ottoman map - click to embiggen:


When the Ottoman Empire was defeated in WW1, the British Empire got it and called it British Palestine.

At that time, only Jewish residents called themselves Palestinians; Arabs called themselves Arabs - and saw themselves as part of the Ummah, not any other empire.

So why do some Arabs they now refer to themselves as "Palestinian" CHOOSING to call themselves subjects of a colony!?

It's a HOAX. One of the biggest ever. Only Marxism and ANTHROPOGENIC GLOBAL WARMING are bigger hoaxes.

They call themselves this name to make it seem like the land shouod belong to them.

SMART and INFORMED people folks don't fall for this BS, and many of these folks refer to these Arabs as the FAKEISTINIANS.

BOTTOM-LINE: Giving Arabs another nation-state and calling it Palestine is appeasement, and appeasement has never brought peace.

AND ANOTHER THING:

I believe that Israel should cede Judea and Samaria to Arabs AFTER Russia cedes Chechnya and Spain cedes the Basque region and the British cede Northern Ireland and... and so on.

COME ON ALL YOU ANTISEMITIC GENTILES: LEAD BY EXAMPLE!

NEWT GINGRICH ACKNOWLEDGES THAT "PALESTINIANS" ARE AN INVENTION

Specifically, one to delegitimize Israel's existence. From AGI (via Jihad Watch):

(AGI) Washington - The Republican White House candidate Newt Gingrich has accused Obama of taking sides with the Palestinians. The former Speaker and election front-runner also said that the Palestinians are 'an invented people.' Gingrich said that were he to be impartial between a civil law-abiding society and a group of terrorists shooting missiles every day, this would not in fact constitute being impartial but would mean favouring the terrorists. Mr Gingrich does not differentiate between the ANP and Hamas. Interviewed on Israeli TV, Gringrich said 'I believe that the Jewish people have the right to have a state,' while 'we have invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community. [That's why] they had a chance to go many places.'

Interestingly enough, the PLO terrorist Zahir Muhsein admitted this in 1977:

The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.

Gingrich's bold statement has not gone over well with Fatah and Hamas. From AP/USA Today (also via Jihad Watch):

JERUSALEM (AP) – A slew of Palestinian officials reacted with dismay Saturday to Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich's statement that the Palestinians are an "invented" people.

The Jewish Channel, a U.S. cable TV network, released excerpts of the interview on Friday in which the former House speaker said Palestinians were not a people because they never had a state and because they were part of the Ottoman Empire before the British mandate and Israel's creation.

"Remember, there was no Palestine as a state — (it was) part of the Ottoman Empire. I think we have an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs and historically part of the Arab community and they had the chance to go many places," Gingrich said, according to a video excerpt posted online.

The Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, demanded Gingrich "review history."

"From the beginning, our people have been determined to stay on their land," Fayyad said in comments carried by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. "This, certainly, is denying historical truths." [...]

Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi said Gingrich had "lost touch with reality." She said his statements were "a cheap way to win (the) pro-Israel vote."

A spokesman for the militant Hamas rulers of the Palestinian Gaza Strip called Gingrich's statements "shameful and disgraceful."

"These statements … show genuine hostility toward Palestinians," said spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

No, they are reality, and Gingrich, simply put, has found footing in reality by acknowledging facts. For this, Gingrich deserves a lot of applause.

Update: here's a longer transcript of Gingrich's interview on the Wash. Post.

ISRAEL COMMEMORATES 100TH YEAR TO THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

In Israel, despite the cowardice still taking place in official government recognition, commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 1915:

Hundreds of Armenians and Israelis alike took part in events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in Israel Friday, despite Israel's failure to recognize the mass killings as genocide.

Armenian Jerusalemites gathered in their quarter of the old city on April 24th for a commemorative ceremony during which the head of the Armenian church of Jerusalem rang the bells at the Church of St. James 100 times, symbolic of the centenary of the massacre.

Israel does not formally recognize the genocide diplomatically, nor is the historical event taught in Israeli schools.

Turkey, one of Israel's few peaceful friends in the region, vehemently denies that the deaths were part of a “genocide.” Although it does acknowledge that many Christians were killed by Turkish Ottomans during World War I, it insists that the deaths were part of warfare, and not systematic in nature.

Well here's where this article turns stupefyingly propagandistic. After several years of Recep Erdogan's anti-Israelism unmasked, Turkey cannot be called one of its few "peaceful" friends. And the Post has the gall to claim otherwise? That's very low. Also worth noting here is how this weakness has played into the hands of an anti-religious left-wing party:

“As Jewish people, who went through the Holocaust and know what Holocaust denial means and fight it to this day, we have the moral imperative to show sensitivity to the tragedies of other nations and not deny that genocide took place in the past and continues to happen today.” Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Gal-On said while speaking at the commemoration ceremony in the Armenian quarter. "We must understand the implications of ignoring [other genocides] and recognize the suffering... just as the pope and European Parliament did by recognizing the Armenian Genocide.”

What's ludicrous is that she's one of the same people who've been adamant about endangering Israel to the PLO/Hamas, which obviously makes her own alleged support for Armenia hypocritical. Yet it's amazing a party like Gal-On's would still care, because some liberal politicians quietly dropped support for recognition of Armenia's tragedy when they realized it would only anger Turkey's Islamists, whom they see as allies, and you can be sure Meretz would too.

And Reuven Rivlin didn't make things any better after he upset an archbishop with a weak description:

A quarter of a century ago, as an MK, Reuven Rivlin broke the taboo on acknowledging the Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.

Later, as speaker of Knesset, he defied government attempts to have the same subject removed from the Knesset’s agenda and gave the podium to MKs from across the political spectrum to air their views. The Armenian Genocide was a subject of consensus for all legislators.

On Sunday, Rivlin invited some of those former MKs to the President’s Residence, along with Armenian religious and lay leaders, writers Haim Gouri and Haim Be’er, plus IDC President Uriel Reichman, and noted historian Yehuda Bauer, who had also identified strongly with Armenian suffering.

In his address, Rivlin noted that in 1915 members of the Armenian nation were being massacred and some of them found shelter in Jerusalem, including among members of his own family. No one in Jerusalem denied the massacre, he said. “We are morally obligated to point out the facts as horrible as they are and not to ignore them.”

This year, for the first time, the Knesset sent a delegation to Yerevan to mark the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.

Rivlin said in his opening remarks that the Armenian people were among the first victims of modern mass killing.

Archbishop Aris Shirvanian took Rivlin to task, reminding him that he was in the Knesset when Rivlin spoke of the Armenian Genocide. To now refer to it as a “mass killing” was a regressive move, he said.

“I am disappointed,” said Shirvanian, chiding the president.

“This was a backward step on your part. You should have been more courageous as president.”

And I agree with the priest. Maybe it was just a gaffe Rivlin made. But if he chose his wording deliberately, that was incredibly stupid, and it won't do anything to change the thinking of a country that supported the Mavi Marmara jihadists a few years ago.

HOW DOES IT HELP ISRAEL IF WE LET THE TURKS BLACKMAIL US INTO NOT BEING HONEST ABOUT THE GENOCIDE OF ARMENIANS?

The ADL caused such a scandal this past week by balking at proper recognition of Turkey's genocide of millions of Armenians in 1915 that it was forced to reverse its position.

But it also led to some very eyebrow raising discoveries about what kind of positions various other Jewish organizations may have on the issue, now being discussed by the Jewish Exponent:

The Anti-Defamation League's reversal last week of its position on the Armenian genocide has set off a flurry of diplomatic activity in Turkey and Israel.

Officials in Ankara and Jerusalem, in coordination with American Jewish leaders, were working this week to contain the fallout from the ADL's statement, which recognized the World War I massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "tantamount to genocide."

The ADL was forced to reverse its longstanding position -- shared by other major American Jewish organizations -- of neutrality on the genocide question amid growing dissension within its own ranks.

Jewish leaders warned that recognizing the genocide, as Congress is now considering, could undermine American strategic interests in the Middle East, and Turkey's robust military and economic partnership with Israel. Also deemed at risk was the security of Turkish Jewry, which sent a letter earlier this year opposing a congressional resolution on the matter.

If Turkey refuses to admit their guilt, then all they're doing is implying that they're still an enemy country that shows no sorrow for its past acts of evil (and it should be noted that even Arabs and Kurdish Muslims were involved in the genocide, not only Turks). At the same time, it's bad for Jews and many other nationalities if they can't be honest and open about important historical events.

The ADL's initial refusal to take a full-fledged stand led to a fallout with the Armenian community too:

Though Jewish groups have toed a careful line on the genocide question for years, the issue exploded last month after the town council of Watertown, Mass. -- home to one of the country's largest Armenian communities -- voted to sever ties with an ADL anti-bigotry program in protest of the organization's refusal to acknowledge the genocide.

After the vote, the ADL's regional director in Boston, Andrew Tarsy, switched gears and condemned his organization's position. Tarsy was promptly fired by Foxman.

The Boston ADL leadership rebelled, and with pressure mounting, Foxman reversed himself last week, acknowledging that the "consequences" of Ottoman massacres of Armenians were "tantamount to genocide." Tarsy was reinstated Monday as Boston director.

Foxman, if you ask me, is a big problem, as IMO, he's a pretty jelly-spined chairman, and isn't it time he left his post already? I think so.

The subject has been in discussion in Israel too recently. Likud MK Ruvy Rivlin spoke about it earlier this week in a new daily paper called Yisrael HaYom, and is in favor of recognizing it. It should be fully recognized here, as it would help in making a case for the Jewish cause as well. And the US Congress should certainly recognize it too, and there should be major memorials founded in the US for it as well.

The Turks aren't the only ones who deny involvement in major crimes - the Arabs continue to deny their own involvement in the Jewish Holocaust, particularly Haj-Amin el-Husseini, the chief leader of the palestinian Arabs at the time.

(It should also be said that the Ottoman empire over the centuries treated the Jews in Israel more fairly and kindly than the local Arab Muslims did.)

SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ CHAMPIONS ISRAELI RIGHTS

The New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez has given a speech where he answers Barack Obama's misleading speech in Cairo. Sen. Menendez said:

Far too many misrepresent the significance of the Holocaust, especially in regard to the State of Israel and her people. And far too many people deny it happened altogether, out of bigotry, hatred, and spite. In the face of so much misunderstanding, I am compelled today to speak up about the role of the Holocaust in Israel’s history and Israel’s challenges in preventing anti-Semitic murder from continuing to happen. The Holocaust was the most sinister possible reminder that the Jewish population in exile was in constant jeopardy. It was a definitive argument that anti-Semitism could appear anywhere, and its horrors galvanized international support for the State of Israel.

But let us be very clear: While the Shoah has a central role in Israel’s identity, it is not the reason behind its founding and it is not the main justification for its existence.

The extreme characterization of this mistaken view is the following: The Western powers established Israel in 1948 based on their own guilt, at the expense of the Arab peoples who lived there. Therefore, the current state is illegitimate and should be wiped off the face of the map.

This flawed argument is not only in defiance of basic human dignity but in plain defiance of history. It is in defiance of ancient history as told in biblical texts and through archeological evidence. It ignores the history of the last several centuries. Because of what is at stake, it is well worth reviewing this history in detail, and let me make a modest attempt at a very broad overview.

There has been a continuity of Jewish presence in the Holy Land for thousands of years. Jewish kings and governments were established in that area that is now Israel several millennia ago. After untold years of Jewish sovereignty, based in Jerusalem, the land of the Jewish people fell repeatedly to invaders—Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and many others. Jews were repeatedly massacred and expelled, and the departure of so many from the land they had always called home developed into an unparalleled diaspora. From the 16th century until the earliest 20th century, the land that is now Israel was under the control of a distant Ottoman caliphate based in Istanbul, and during this time, as earlier, many Jews returned to their ancestral homeland.

The Ottoman Empire collapsed after World War I, and the treaty granted Great Britain a mandate over the area then known as Palestine. The League of Nations endorsed and clarified this mandate in 1922, requiring Britain to reconstitute a Jewish national home within the territory they controlled, in accordance with the declaration made by British Foreign Secretary Balfour in 1917, making the restoration of Jewish communities in that area a matter of international law. By the time World War II had ended, there were more than 600,000 Jews living in the British Mandate of Palestine.

In 1947, the United Nations approved a plan to partition the territory into Arab and Jewish states. The Jewish Agency accepted the plan. The Arabs did not. On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel declared its independence. On May 15, five Arab nations declared war. Despite being surrounded on all sides, Israel prevailed and expanded its borders, providing a small additional measure of security against attacks which were certain to come and did. So to be clear, the more than 700,000 Palestinians who left Israel were refugees of a war instigated by Arab governments, bent on seizing more land for themselves. But the Arabs who left Israel after its modern founding weren’t the only displaced population in the Middle East. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of Jews who left Europe during and after the Holocaust in the 20th century, more than threequarters of a million Jews fled or were expelled from their homes in Arab and Middle Eastern nations—in cities that many of their families had lived in for nearly a millennium. Their possessions were taken, their livelihoods were destroyed, victims of nationalism and hatred of Israel.

Read the transcript in its entirety. And, you can go here for a video of Menendez's own speech. He deserves much praise for being a US counterpart to Benjamin Netanyahu in correcting Obama's propaganda.

Reliapundit adds:

MENEDEZ IS ONE OF THE MOST CORRUPT PEOPLE IN CONGRESS.

FROM ONE OF THE WORST MACHINES: THE NJ MACHINE.

TOTAL SCUM.

EXCEPT HE PANDERS WELL TO JEWS ON ISRAEL AND TO CUBANS.

150 years later, Jewish home in Old City becomes Jewish again

A house in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City has been bought by an American and become residential for Jews again.

A house dedication ceremony was held and a mezuzah was affixed on Thursday at Beit Shechter (Schechter house), located in Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter, 150 years after the home was transferred to an Arab family when Jews had to leave the area. The house thus returned to Jewish hands.

Very likely this was during the time of the Ottoman Empire.

There was also a mezuzah slot found:

Two days earlier, as renovations were taking place inside the house, the original slot for the mezuzah was discovered.

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, head of the Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva, the main catalyst in the home's recovery as it has been in other parts of the Muslim Quarter, was the one who affixed the mezuzah into place, following which a special dinner was held and dancing took place. The American Friends of Ateret Cohanim annual dinner will take place on June 1st in New York.

There's a video interview available at the link in the full article.

PRO-ISRAEL GROUP CREATES ZIONIST SUPERHERO

The Jerusalem Post reports about "Captain Israel" a kind of local variation on Captain America, which is going to serve partly as an educational book about Israel's history and the hero's nemeses will include allusions to anti-Israelists who condone boycotts, divesting, and sanctions (abbreviated as "BDS"):

Roz Rothstein, the CEO of Stand With Us, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that the comic book was being developed at this point in time because “as Israel’s Jewish connection to Israel and the land is always being challenged, we wanted to reestablish our Jewish roots and make sure that everyone understood the history, stuff we know and take for granted and that others try to chip away at.”

She said the comic was devoted to “establishing a hero, establishing roots, [and] countering the venomous BDS movement.

We’re in the business of branding the movement so that it’s clear that the players that promote boycotting Israel are not well-intentioned.”

Indeed, in the unreleased second issue, Captain Israel will face his first arch-nemesis as he “exposes the extremists behind the Venomous Snake Charmer BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions),” a sharp-fanged serpent meant to represent the world’s supporters of the BDS movement against Israel.

[...]

The comic book’s first issue was released in a limited run to attendees of Stand With Us’s annual Festival of Lights event on December 12. This week they’ve decided to begin promoting the first issue, which focuses on an interpretation of Jewish history and the events that led to Israel’s founding, as well as the subsequent wars with the neighboring Arab states.

The history lesson is narrated by Captain Israel, who “was there when Jewish civilization and national identity were founded 3,000 years ago in the land of Israel.”

Very impressive. I think even Armenia should try something like this (maybe call their protagonist "Captain Armenia" or "Captain Yerevan"?), that could even provide some historical context into the Turkish Ottoman Empire's massacre of 1.5 million Armenians during WW1.

Israeli military finally strikes Iran's nuclear facilities

Israel's air force has begun a serious operation to destroy Iran's nuclear sites:

On Thursday evening, the long-anticipated Israel strikes began, targeting the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear sites and other key military facilities. The objective of Operation Strength of a Lion is to end the Iranian nuclear threat once and for all, as well as to destroy, as much as possible, the Islamic Republic’s ability to continue to wage war against the Jewish state via its proxies, Hamas, Hizballah, and the Houthis. The entire state of Israel was on emergency alert; the Israeli Home Front Command issued instructions to all Israeli citizens to comply with guidelines that would be issued as part of “preparations for a significant threat.”

Almost immediately after the air strikes began in Tehran, the propaganda war also entered a new phase. The Iranian military posted on X: “Remember, we didn’t initiate it.”

Ah, but it did. The Islamic Republic of Iran initiated this Israeli strike on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas operatives, funded and directed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, brutally tortured and murdered 1,200 Israelis. The Islamic Republic of Iran initiated this Israeli strike when its leaders regularly screamed “Death to Israel” (as well as “Death to America”) and repeatedly vowed to destroy Israel. As recently as May 17, the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, declared: “The Zionist regime, which is the dangerous and lethal cancerous tumor of this region, must undoubtedly be removed, and it will be.”

In fact, the Islamic Republic of Iran initiated it by regarding Israel as an enemy from its earliest days. The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic in 1979, replaced the Israeli embassy in Tehran with an embassy of “Palestine.” He decreed that the last Friday of the Muslim fasting-and-feasting month of Ramadan would henceforth be known as Al-Quds Day. Al-Quds is the name that modern-day Arabs and Muslims use for Jerusalem, and Al-Quds Day from its inception was the occasion for an orgy of hatred for Israel, jihadist saber rattling, and declarations that the Jewish state would soon be completely destroyed and a new genocide of the Jews would begin. [...]

The existence of Israel is an insult to Islam. The Qur’an tells Muslims: “Drive them out from where they drove you out.” (2:191). The Arab Higher Committee ordered the Arabs to flee the new Jewish state in 1948, as the Arab leaders were confident that they would soon destroy the new state, and then the Arabs would be able to go home. Instead, Israel won. Nevertheless, the imperative to “Drive them out from where they drove you out” still applies, for the land of Israel was once the property of the Ottoman Empire, and was ruled by Islamic law.

Extrapolating from Qur’an 2:191, it is a staple of Islamic doctrine that any land that was once under Sharia rule must be ruled by Muslims forever. The command to drive the non-Muslims out is considered to come from the supreme god himself; it is not to be ignored, and cannot be negotiated away. As soon as Iran became an Islamic Republic, it was therefore duty-bound to regard Israel as its mortal enemy. And it did so, with alacrity.

So yes, the Islamic Republic did indeed initiate this conflict. If it didn’t pursue Israel’s destruction so relentlessly, the Israelis would have no quarrel with Iran. But Israel is determined to survive, and so it struck Iran on Thursday.

Well, Israel should be outraged even when non-Jews/Israelis are victims of the Religion of Peace. Because regardless of where it begins, Israelis will be victimized sooner or later as well, and that's tragically and horrifyingly what happened on October 7, 2023. That Iran's been ruled by sharia for over 4 decades is also throughly wrong, morally or otherwise.

The current strike has thus far yielded important results:

Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) confirmed in the early hours of Friday morning local time that Israeli airstrikes on targets in the country eliminated Major General Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Other arms of Iran’s state news apparatus confirmed several other high-profile regime members, including two nuclear scientists, were killed in the strikes. While unverified reports suggested that Salami may be far from the only high-ranking Iranian regime official to have been targeted successfully in the operation, he is the only one whose death the Iranian government has confirmed at press time.

Salami has sustained a place as one of the most prominent and belligerent senior leaders in the Iranian Islamist regime, regularly threatening attacks on America and Israel. In what was perhaps his final public appearance on Thursday, Salami declared that his forces were “war-tested and experienced,” prepared for war against its enemies.

The IRGC is both a U.S.-designated terrorist organization and a formal wing of the Iranian Armed Forces. Among its chief operations is to sustain relations between the Iranian terror state and its jihadist proxies, such as the Houthis in Yemen and Lebanese Hezbollah, and with fellow rogue states such as Venezuela and Cuba. [...]

Another Iranian state media outlet, PressTV, reported early Friday that the strikes had “martyred … several other senior IRGC commanders and nuclear scientists. [...]

The Times of Israel, citing Iranian state television, reported that Israel apparently also bombed one of the most prominent uranium enrichment facilities in the country, the Natanz facility, several times. Scattered but anonymous reports about potential disruptions in Iran by undercover Mossad agents have also surfaced, though Israel has not confirmed them.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the airstrikes during a national address on Friday morning, identifying the strikes as “Operation Rising Lion.”

“This operation will continue for as many days as it takes,” he asserted, stating that Iranian officials were actively taking steps to “weaponize” its enriched uranium stockpile, calling Tehran a “clear and present danger to Israel’s survival.”

“We are defending the free world from the terrorism and barbarism that Iran fosters and exports across the globe,” Netanyahu continued. “Many around the world — even if they won’t say so openly — know in their hearts: thanks to your determination and courage, citizens of Israel, and thanks to the bravery of Israel’s fighters, the world will be a safer place.”

Salami was one of the most powerful people in Iran and a top military leader; his loss will significantly damage Iran’s military operations. The general regularly threatened to attack neighboring Israel and celebrated the deadly activities of Iranian proxies such as Hamas, whose brutal terror spree against Israel on October 7, 2023, prompted Israel to declare war against Hamas in its enclave in Gaza.

No doubt, those nuclear sites contain plenty of radiation, and the explosions at Natanz could make it uninhabitable for a while. And the jihadist general can roast in hell for his crimes. Let's hope the IDF will bring about more impressive results in the war against Iran and its proxies now.

REMINDER: THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PALESTINIAN PEOPLE" - THEY ARE JUST ARABS

TRUTH:

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview with Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism. For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In 1974, the late Syrian President, Hafez al-Assad, declared:

"It would be fitting for us to mention to the responsible Israeli authorities that we view Palestine not just as an inseparable part of the Arab nation, but as a part of Southern Syria." In 1987, he reiterated himself at a conference in Amman, "A country named 'Palestine' has never existed." Jordanian King Hussein responded, "The appearance of the national Palestinian persona serves as a response to Israel's claim that Palestine is Jewish."

Arafat said this in 1970, with candid simplicity, told the reporter Arianna Palazzi:

"The question of borders doesn't interest us... From the Arab standpoint, we mustn't talk about borders. Palestine is nothing but a drop in an enormous ocean. Our nation is the Arabic nation that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea and beyond it..... The P.L.O. is fighting Israel in the name of Pan-Arabism. What you call "Jordan" is nothing more than Palestine."

FACT:

"In the history of the world, Palestine has never existed as a nation. The region known as Palestine was ruled alternately by Rome, by Islamic and Christian crusaders, by the Ottoman Empire and, briefly, by the British after World War I. The British agreed to restore at least part of the land to the Jewish people as their ancestral homeland. It was never ruled by Arabs."

THERE IS AN ARAB STATE ON WHAT WAS ONCE BRITISH PALESTINE: IT IS CALLED JORDAN AND IT CAME INTO EXISTENCE AROUND THE SAME TIME ISRAEL DID.

FROM NOW ON, I SHALL CALL THE MADE UP COUNTRY NOW CALLED JORDAN "ARAB PALESTINE" BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT REALLY IS.

SHALOM.

(MORE HERE.)

AHMADINEJAD, THE HOLOCAUST, PALESTINE AND ISRAEL: THE ILLOGICAL ANTI-SEMITISM OF ANTI-ZIONISM EXPOSED

AP:

During a question and answer session, Ahmadinejad appeared tense and unsmiling, in contrast to more relaxed interviews and appearances earlier in the day.

In response to one audience, Ahmadinejad denied he was questioning the existence of the Holocaust: "Granted this happened, what does it have to do with the Palestinian people?"

AP:

Why is it that the Palestinian people are paying the price for an event they had nothing to do with?

BLOOMBERG:

He said Palestinians were paying for the Holocaust with the violence in the Middle East...

Ahmadinejad's line of attack in this case reverted to the one in which he MIGHT deign to admit that genocide against Jews MIGHT have occurred in EUROPE, but that this event does not justify the existence of an artificial and "colonialistic" Jewish state which exists at the detriment of so-called "Palestinian" Arabs.

This attack on Israel is RIDICULOUS and flies in the face of historical facts:

FACT: Jews have CONTINUOUSLY lived in the geographical region comprising Israel and Gaza and the West Bank. At the time Mark Twain went there - and as documented in his account and in the era's editions of Baedeker's - the Holy Land was MOSTLY populated by Jews. The Arabs in the region were nomadic Bedouins and did not outnumber the Jews. Jews were the largest segment of Jerusalem's population.

FACT: Zionism as a modern movement began in the 19th century - and that too was before WW2 and the Holocaust.

FACT: The idea of RE-establishing - EMPHASIS ON "RE-" - a Jewish state in the Holy Land PREDATES WW2 and the Holocaust. IT WAS NOT A RESPONSE TO THE HOLOCAUST. The Balfour Declaration declared that the UK would create a Jewish state in the region once ruled by the Ottoman Empire.

FACT: Before the British Empire assumed LEGAL dominion over the Holy Land it was NOT Arab ruled; it was ruled by TURKS - THE OTTOMANS. The British dominion over Palestine was legal and internationally approved. At the time, ONLY Jews called themselves Palestinians; Arabs called themselves ARABS, and believed they were part of the UMMAH, the transnational Arab "nation" and not of any particular nation.

FACT: The original Balfour Declaration would have given the Jews ALL of British Palestine - and area which includes - REPEAT - INCLUDES ALL OF WHAT IS TODAY CALLED JORDAN. After WW2, Jews were then offered a tiny part of eastern Palestine. They accepted it anyway. The Arabs refused to accept it.

FACT: The Jews fought a war of INDEPENDENCE against the British Empire and Arabs and WON. They captured more land in this war then the POST-WW2 British had offered them. Like the international borders of most nations, Israel's borders were the result of war's won; the original borders were established by victory in war in 1949. The borders expanded after Israeli victories in subsequent wars by "neighboring" Arab nations. Israel's current borders - LIKE MOST EVERY NATION IN THE WORLD - are a result of its victories in wars.

Even Ahamdinejad's less disgusting position (that a supposed European Holocaust perhaps occurred but that it still doesn't "justify" Israel's existence) IS WRONG ON THE FACTS, AND IT HOLDS ISRAEL TO A DIFFERENT SET OF STANDARDS THAN EVERY OTHER NATION IS HELD TO.

When Jews or Israelis are held to a different set of standards than everyone else IT IS ANTI-SEMITIC. And wrong. And immoral.

All Arabs in Gaza, the West Bank and the rest of the world need to do to improve their lives and end their suffering is to cast off the shackles if Jihad and join the modern world in democracy and pluralism.

Then they can live in peace and prosperity and with dignity - like the Arab citizens of Israel, the freest Arabs in the world.

[NOTE:

1949 Armistice Agreements

In 1949, Israel signed separate armistices with Egypt on 24 February, Lebanon on 23 March, Transjordan on 3 April, and Syria on 20 July. The new borders of Israel, as set by the agreements, encompassed about 78% of mandatory Palestine as it stood after the independence of Jordan in 1946.

Considering the original British mandate (including Jordan, which was included within the Mandate in the summer of 1921, but excluded from the provisions for a Jewish National Home), however, Israel was created only on 18% of the total area of Palestine and Transjordan.

This was about 50 percent more than the UN partition proposal allotted it.

These cease-fire lines were known afterwards as the "Green Line". The Gaza Strip and the West Bank were occupied by Egypt and Transjordan respectively."

AHMADINEJAD AND HIS JIHADIST COMRADES IN AL QAEDA, HAMAS, AND HIZBALLAH WOULD EVEN ALLOW JEWS THIS LAND.]

Israeli animator sugarcoats and ignores the belief system that led to October 7, 2023

The Jerusalem Post recently spoke about animated shorts produced by an Israeli entrepreneur who's worked in animation, and produced a series of short cartoons called "God's Gang", which cannot seem to get its "point" across without including a character representing Islam, and even then, the rest of the cast in the cartoon shorts reeks of stereotypical development:

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s – a group of four superheroes from different religions, all working together to save the world.

That’s the premise of God’s Gang, a series of interfaith cartoons on YouTube that was created by Israeli hi-tech entrepreneur Nimrod-Avraham May, who developed this channel out of a desire to promote tolerance and love.

May said that he was inspired to create this interfaith story when he thought, “I know many people who are not Jews or Israelis who are kind and compassionate and truthful and positive and friendly and loving, and why not build these bridges instead of bombing them?... The show is not a show about religion or faith.... It’s a show [whose] underlying message is promoting coexistence and unity, the teaching of love,” he said. But he chose to convey these messages via children’s action-adventure and comedy cartoons.

The hit success of God's Gang

Since the series began running last September, it has become wildly successful, acquiring 1.5 million subscribers in just a few months. May has added to the YouTube channel, in addition to the cartoons themselves, videos about different aspects of the series, with everything from lessons on how to draw the characters to content about how the series was developed. There is even a video where May reads what he calls the “mean comments” out loud and discusses them.

But the heart of it is the cartoons themselves, which feature the four superheroes – and heroines: Sumuslim, a Muslim who fights sumo-style and whose power is “hypno-storytelling,” with which he mesmerizes listeners with tales from Arab lore; TaekWonHindu, a “big sister” to the group, who loves heavy metal and fights with Taekwondo, and uses “third-eye telepathy” with animals and can multiply her arms like various Hindu gods; Ninjew, a basketball-loving Jew who has a kind of laser vision and employs “special Kabbalah invisibility powder”; and Chris Cross, a Southern Baptist street preacher who uses karate (with an unbeatable flying kick), whose power is that when he turns his cheek, he can deflect anything thrown at it.

Well this is certainly telling, and most pathetic how Mr. May apparently cannot muster the courage to differentiate between religions and make clear there's such a thing as both good and bad religions, and good and bad ways to practice one. And what's this about the Jewish character emphasizing "invisibility"? Even if that alludes to going into combat cloaked, it sounds on the surface like he's written hiding himself based on his ethnic background, which isn't a very healthy idea either. But of course, what's really offensive is Mr. May's apparent sugarcoating of Islam. This is a religion that calls for smiting necks of kuffar (infidels/non-Muslims) in Sura 47:4 of the Koran, approves of sexual violence in Sura 2:223, and many of these verses and other such content of the "religion of peace" played a part last year in the October 7, 2023 bloodbath in southern Israel, yet Mr. May has the chutzpah to shrug all that off by giving Islam a role it doesn't deserve in his cartoon project? Does he even know about the antisemitic verses in the Koran, including 5:60's reference to Jews as "sons of apes and pigs"? What May's doing is perpetuating a vehement refusal by people like him to investigate what could lead to bigoted behavior by anybody, based on selective PC. And that's continuing to seriously harm the world's ability to combat Islamic terrorism.

Depending how you see this, it's funny how an Arab character isn't considered for the role of a Christian, nor does May and his staff think of emphasizing an Armenian for the role, most likely because somebody would want to point out how Christians have been persecuted in Muslim countries, and the Turkish Ottoman empire's slaughter of Armenians during WW1 was motivated by the Religion of Peace. And the sugarcoating of Islam in May's cartoons is also hurtful to Hindus, because in India, there've been only so many horrors perpetrated by Islam in the span of over many years, and that too gets swept under the rug by ignoramuses like May. Does he really think realists are going to appreciate how he creates a moral equivalence between Islam and other religions that're still long persecuted by Islam? Men like May clearly never consider communities like 9-11 Families, Black Christians in Nigeria who've been murdered by jihadists, Israeli victims of Islamic terrorism, victims of the jihadists at the Bataclan in Paris, France, or even apostates from Islam like Rifqa Bary. By whitewashing Islam, men like May marginalize the people who really deserve the spotlight for heroism and appreciation. May continued to reveal the following:

THE IDEA for God’s Gang first came to him in 2006, May said. “I had joined Disney Channel right after they acquired Fox Entertainment from Haim Saban; two months after I joined, we were all invited to the Disney Channel Executive Summit, and I was in the marketing department. We all pitched ideas about what can make Disney great, and I offered them an interfaith Power Rangers.”

But the entertainment giant didn’t go for the idea. “Luckily, they left it for me. I feel it’s my life’s mission.”

A mission to obscure any serious issues that could be raised about the Religion of Peace? Well sadly, that appears to be just it. Most interesting he mentions Saban, whom I don't exactly consider a "national treasure" for Israel, any more than most other leftists of their kind. Saban's been one of the biggest Democrat donors, and while he may have recently been critical of the outgoing POTUS Joe Biden, it doesn't excuse how he's long been the kind of leftist who simply won't stay out of political affairs, among other questionable career specialties. To be sure, Disney was already far gone politically even during the mid-2000s, yet for the time, that didn't convince them to take up the kind of project he sadly crafted, which some Islamists will be quite pleased with, based on how it excuses their religion's dark record.

May said that he had grown up in a liberal, secular home, where his father was a Holocaust survivor and his mother was an orphan, with no family. Being without a family “was a proof for her that there is no God,” he said.

But after life threw some unexpected experiences at him, “I realized that I might have been wrong in thinking that this universe doesn’t have a governing entity, aka creator, source, God, the universe,” he said.

He began exploring his identity and studying Judaism, on his own and with rabbis, and gradually realized, he said, that all the teachings could be summed up in “two simple words: ‘one’ and ‘love.’”

The more he delved into Jewish mysticism, he realized “I had to do a big tikkun.... We were chosen to spread light.... I decided to commit myself to bringing people together. It’s a difficult mission.”

Coming from the world of marketing and entertainment, he said, “I was ready to tell the story of how we can get together.” Keeping in mind The Beatles’ lyrics to the songs “Give Peace a Chance” and “Come Together,” he chose to launch God’s Gang, which he had put aside for over a decade. “I decided to bring them to life during COVID, not knowing what the future would bring.”

Aware of the sensitivity of creating a cartoon with characters from different religions, he appointed a board of advisers, an “interfaith council” from all religious points of view, with whom he consults on every detail of the series, “just to make sure that we’re not harming anyone or touching on any sensitive topics that we shouldn’t get into.”

Among those he has brought on board is Rob Kutner, the head writer, who has won five Primetime Emmys, whose credits include The Daily Show and The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. He also hired creators from Disney, Netflix, and DreamWorks.

The article is evasive of clearer answers, but it's not hard to guess he hired a committee that's much like the "sensitivity readers" hired by some leftist book publishers to work on the scripting. Even his alleged finding of faith is suspect, as he's clearly left-wing in his viewpoints, and the article largely obscures issues like October 7, 2023. Does he know lyrics like "give peace a chance" have also been exploited by leftists who ignore these serious issues involved? And then he even employed people who worked for one of leftist Steven Spielberg's companies. That's got to be telling too.

May is currently funding God’s Gang himself, and he said he is actively looking for partners, which will enable him to produce more episodes. He hopes to create four new episodes this year.

There is also an online store selling God Gang-themed merchandise, the profits from which May is channeling back into the cartoons: “This logo promotes love, and I want this to be the most recognized trademark in the world associated with the values that we’re promoting.”

In the upcoming episodes, new characters will be added, possibly a Buddhist and an atheist, although May said that the core of God’s Gang would remain the same. So will the message.

Does Mr. May know Muslims have persecuted and attacked Buddhists too? Even atheists aren't immune. Writing up roles for Buddhists in a cartoon like this isn't going to excuse the serious issues occurring in real life. I for one will not be funding his cartoons and merchandise, if he doesn't have the courage to make distinctions between good/bad religions, and ask whether it's possible, in allusion to the 10 Commandments, to use God's name in vain for any particular religion formed. I get the awful feeling that, if National Socialism were a full-fledged religion, ditto communism, he'd blur distinctions between those and other religions too.

Earlier in the year, the JTA had more fascinating details to tell about Mr. May and his propaganda cartoon:

But some Jewish viewers have criticized the creators for showing what they felt was a surprising lack of cultural sensitivity.

“There’s a part where the Muslim character throws a falafel bomb,” Sam Cooper, a Maryland-based pop culture critic, said in an interview. “I assume the goal of the show is to teach tolerance and educate people about other religions, but they don’t seem to be very good at that.” (Kutner said the character, Sumuslim, aspires to be a chef, but in hindsight the decision to have him prepare a big exploding falafel ball was “a little unfortunate.”)

Cooper also lamented that the Jewish character, Ninjew, is short and has big glasses and a nasally voice. “I’ve seen this stereotype in so many shows,” she says in her review. “Jewish guys aren’t allowed to be cool. They’re usually depicted as effeminate, nerdy and weak. And then our boy Ninjew is all that and then some.” (May defended Ninjew, describing him as “a handsome Jew” with non-stereotypical blue eyes and blonde hair.)

Shekhiynah Larks, a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant in the Bay Area and a fan of animated shows, questioned the decision to make Chriscross, the Christian character, a Black Baptist street preacher who wears an Afro and bell-bottoms.

“Conceptually, I really like the interfaith gang, but all of the characters seem like weird stereotypes,” said Larks, who is Black and Jewish. “The Black character made me think the creators haven’t seen a Black person since the Blaxploitation films.” (Kutner said Brandon Jones, a Baptist pastor who serves on the interfaith council and is Black, loved the character.)

Yes, this is pretty troubling alright. The Jewish character is made to look absurdly pious in a way that suggests he'll never be depicted as a ladies man, and one of the commentors at the Post article noted, "Question: why does this self-proclaimed egalitarian cartoonist depict Islam as a gargantuan muscle bound djinn dwarfing the other three religions and looking down on them over his left shoulder, with the Jews getting a pint sized myopic nerd?" Yes, what's with that? Not every Muslim adherent is tall, after all. Is May scared his Muslim audience will be offended? A clue as to the wokeness involved. Interesting a DEI specialist was quoted here, and even he found it appalling. As for the Black character having an Afro hairstyle, it could've been worse - in more recent times, there was a stereotype to depict Black men as bald, as happened to Luke Cage under Brian Bendis when he was at Marvel, IIRC (even Black women were put through humiliating ideas like that, as seen in modern Black Panther comics and even the sequel movie). But, a valid point is made that it's ridiculous to make it look like Blacks should all have Afro hairstyles.

I think the most galling thing about people like May is that they believe their ethnic background will actually keep anybody else from taking serious issue with any and all leftist ideologies they embrace, though as the above makes clear, of course there's also Christians who find it ludicrous, and Judeo-Christian critics certainly did find the part involving falafel used as an explosive weapon by the Islamist disturbing. May, regrettably, is just one in a whole ocean filled with leftist ideologues, mainly because only so many conservatives over the years trashed and threw away serious chances to build their own competition, and now, look where we are. I strongly advise parents who're realists to keep their children away from May's morally equivalent propaganda that clearly whitewashes the Religion of Peace at the expense of other religions with better values.