This may be Bill Whittle’s finest summation yet. He certainly covers the themes that have been at the center of many private meditations, prayers and ponderings for those familiar with the Jewish scriptural references Mr. Whittle highlights. Thousands of years later and the same old argument continues:
Mr. Whittle names chapter and verse, or rather, he names one of them. The Scriptures limn the many fractures of the human heart, the myriad ways we fail ourselves and each other:
Genesis 26
Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
The LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”
So Isaac lived in Gerar. …
Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.
Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth. Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us.” And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there.
Quarrel over the Wells
Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them.
But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him.
Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah.
He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”
But he not only points out the sad and tedious repetitions — the Philistines filling in the wells three thousand years ago vs. the Palestinians’ deliberate destruction of the tremendous wealth handed to them in the form of those greenhouses — he goes further to ask American Jews why they voted in, why they support a man so dedicated to the destruction of Israel.
Now, with the stunning news of the multitude of tunnels dug from Gaza into Israel, the hinge of history has closed another door. Slammed it quite loudly.
Those tunnels were — are, but shortly will be were — changing the rules of this elaborate game the world has played at Israel’s expense. Who donated the dollars (actually, mostly euros) that made the tunnels possible? Who sold Hamas the concrete? Who helped them engineer and build those tunnels? They did it themselves you say? You live in a dream world.
This a culture created to play the role of underdog. Their job is to exist and to suffer and to make demands. Suffering, the right kind of suffering, bestows the right of entitlement, the right to stand eternally with one’s hand out, demanding more.
The PoorPalis can’t design tunnels; they don’t build bridges; they have no desire, nor the memory of any such desire, to see the embodiment of Beauty or Truth or Goodness. Music to soothe and restore? Art to change perceptions? Research to satisfy curiosity (however momentarily)? Such concepts are now beyond a people raised from infancy to hate a group of people they don’t know beyond the cartoon primers they read in school. This is not the hatred of close encounters, it is the deep, abiding misery that arrives on the tails of an inbred sense of entitlement with no hope of fulfillment. Not ever. Normal human desire to achieve has been replaced by an evil simulacrum of a deeply perverted need to destroy.
Palestinians do make murderous artifacts: cell phones crafted into detonators; clothing into vestments of death — for example, vests filled with bombs or chadors lined with enough explosive devices to take out a good portion of a market crowd. This is their cottage industry. These artifacts are their proud accomplishments because they love death more than life. Their joy is the Jew piñata: makeshift missiles cobbled together using the refuse of urban life and filled with nails and ball bearings and rat poison. A low-tech propulsion device and BOOM! the missile flies just far enough over the border to explode — if they’re lucky — into the midst of a group of school children. The addition of rat poison to the projectile is particularly sadistic, the infliction of mere death and injury not being a sufficient outlet for their craft.
Mr. Whittle holds the feet of American Jews to the fire. As a member of the Tea Party, determined to turn this country once again toward striving for justice and the rule of law, he asks American Leftist Jews why they elected and why they continue to donate to a president who has made plain his desire to see Hamas flourish at Israel’s expense. With no advice or counsel from those legislators who were elected just as he was, Obama saw fit to give Hamas hundreds of millions of dollars. He didn’t ask Americans; he didn’t seek the opinion of Congress; he simply gave a terrorist organization hundreds of millions of dollars.
Ah, the worm of Envy eats great holes in the heart of otherwise normal people. Obama is no different: he envies Israel’s record, in much the same way he envies the individual achievements of the heads of private businesses.
All by himself Obama has sown death and destruction and distrust all over the world; he calls the result ‘tranquility’.
No other world leader trusts him; none seem to like him.
The electorate has come to dread him — his “Friday night specials”, those unannounced dicta, mean tribulation for some faction of Americans, though which particular group varies with the whim of each new “executive order”.
For America’s Jews on the Left, you are powerful and influential. That is partly due to your own ethic of achievement. You have done much and all Americans admire that; part of what makes America a good place is its ability to sincerely admire achievement wherever it occurs. In fact, we admire achievement more than we feel sorry for the underdog.
But as history tells you, your amazing achievements would never remain secure if the rest of America became like the man your powerful vote helped elect. It is past time to begin to put your house in order, to let go the knee-jerk suspicions and old grievances. If you don’t do these things we will begin to question, as we are beginning to question other symbols of institutional achievement: are you trustworthy? Or, like the Philistines and like Obama, are you riven through with envy?
As an American and as an inheritor of a deeply Judeo-Christian moral order, I stand with Israel
As one who strives to uphold that moral order , I ask the American Jewish Left to do the same thing.
Excellent piece by Mr Whittle (not always my favourite); if I may say so, Dymphna, so was your post.
What do you dislike about Whittle’s philosophy?
He is not a realistic about human biological diversity, nor believes that white Americans or white Europeans should be able to protect the racial homogeneity of the homelands they created. This what I dislike about Mr.Whittle, but I’m sure you don’t share these concerns.
I actually do share some of those concerns, Oz, though I’d be worried about cultural rather than racial homogeneity; not necessarily the same thing. My problem with Mr Whittle and the Tea Party viewpoint, as I understand it (perhaps poorly?) is the assumption that leaving capitalists to do their thing will automatically benefit everyone.
I do believe this is Whittle’s basic premise. I care little who does a better job, the free market or the government, but I’m opposed to “big government” as I distrust its power. That distrust is proven right on a daily basis.
“not necessarily the same thing”
It is the same thing, as people naturally congregate with those of their own ethnic background, there will always be cultural differences between different populations in a country. This natural preference for segregation has been thoroughly studied. Secondly, we have not evolved the similarly, hence we do not have the same capabilities and behavioural tendencies, which doesn’t only influence how culture is shaped, but ensures that racial inequalities cannot be attenuated beyond what we see today. Its as nonsensical as demanding that men and women perform equally well in an athletic competion. Evolution simply doesn’t agree with our dreams of equality.
My point was that some immigrant populations (eg Afro-Caribbeans, non-Muslim South Asians, non-Hassidic Jews) generally integrate better than others, requiring little adjustment, by themselves or the host community, for us to rub along.
Unless such populations grow too large, they can certainly do reasonably well.
powerful article dymphna ..
Excepting for ~6:30-6:45, this is a splendid video. But because of that 15 seconds or so, better have a few apologetics worked out before you show this to any Jewish liberal (forget Leftists) or even some Jewish conservatives.
Yes antisemitism here was indeed mostly a long way from the pogroms and the death camps. But Whittles “long, long, LONG” will set a lot of nerves on edge and ruin his message. That is because lives were sometimes badly derailed, especially for Jews in 1930s America, due to native and institutional antisemitism getting added push from overseas influences up until war broke out. After the war, some of the bullying tried to resurface, but returning Jewish GIs made a few select hits and it ended before it began again.
“After the war, some of the bullying tried to resurface, but returning Jewish GIs made a few select hits and it ended before it began again.”
A casual acceptance of the legitimacy of this Jewish statement and its murderous results will be handy for Muslims returning from Middle Eastern jihad to the West. How would you feel if returning Muslim ‘soldiers of Allah’ start to MURDER anti-jihadists that Muslims label to be bullies of Islam?! How would you feel if those Muslim murderers are NEVER brought to justice? How would you feel if, years later, Muslim people are publicly bragging about and celebrating your unprosecuted murders – implying that such murders are a morally acceptable end to political and religious differences?
What Pascal is saying and celebrating here is that American Jews – acting in the name of Jews – instead of Americans – and instead of Western Christian civilization – changed the American political landscape using Jewish assassins or assassination squads in the USA. Details please. I would like to know who Jews murdered, and when, and why? I would like to know who Jews merely threatened, blackmailed, and/or bribed – against being a ‘bully’ – instead of being outright murdered?
Which leads us to ask which is the worse moral action: being a ‘bully’ (as privately and exclusively defined by American Jews furthering the interests of Jews) OR being the murderer, blackmailer, and/or briber of a ‘bully’?
I would like to know what the Jewish definition of non-Jews being a ‘bully’ was. Obviously, the Jewish definition of ‘bullying’ clearly differed from recognized violations of the then rule of law – or the Jews would have vigorously pursued that venue.
It appears that the Jews engaged in vigilante justice – or took the law into their own hands – or acted as judge, jury, and executioner. Vigilante actions SUBVERT the rule of law that is the underpinning of Western Christian civilization – and invite chaos and unending reciprocation.
I think that it is IMPORTANT that Jews read my rebuttal, since Jews live in an insular ‘world of the mind’ where Jews self-reinforce destructive moral behavior.
I did find the comment quite disturbing. Those Jewish GI’s shouldn’t have been carrying out hits against those they considered “bullies”, and instead promote immigration of those who felt affected to Israel.
An inbred sense of entitlement with no hope of fulfillment. Not ever. Normal human desire to achieve has been replaced by an evil simulacrum of a deeply perverted need to destroy.
An interesting view of Islam.
When I search amongst the moral rubble of modern America for voices of truth, few resonate more than Bill Whittle’s does. Each time I listen to, or, watch him on video, my mind almost instinctively asks the question – is this the man to lead America back to sanity? My attraction to Bill’s messaging is a result of his moral clarity combined with his deep understanding of the issues that brought us to where we are today. My admittedly almost juvenile instant enthusiasm for Bill is usually tempered a few minutes later, at the end of his presentation, by another question – does Bill want the toughest, the most important, job in the world, the Presidency of the United States of America? Putting what is left of the America I grew up admiring and loving, back together after the Obama debacle, will take herculean effort, stamina and courage.
I look around at the options – the names conservatives seem to rally around – and the following surface continually: Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Alan West, Chris Christie and Milt Romney. I’m sure there are others.
Much as I respect Carson’s intellect and integrity and West’s undeniable patriotism I reckon there will be blowback against another black president on the heels of the turncoat that is Obama. What a shame Carson wasn’t available as the first black presidential candidate when they ‘discovered’ the fraud Barry Soetoro. Chris Christie? – no thanks. Milt? – past his shelf life.
Here’s what the US Politics site has to say about the front-runners from both parties. From my perspective only Cruz has any value but I fear his relative inexperience (not that that stopped the Obama disaster) and concerns about his eligibility (born in Canada) will scare off support. The Democrat possibilities make me shudder. A coterie of liars and opportunists.
http://uspolitics.about.com/od/CampaignsElections/tp/2016-Presidential-Candidates.htm.
Bill Whittle for POTUS!!!!!!!
Bill asserts Israel has 500+ nuclear weapons. I hope it does but the number 50-200 is more commonly gestimated.
http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat.
http://armscontrolcenter.org/issues/nuclearweapons/articles/fact_sheet_global_nuclear_weapons_inventories_in_2014/.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/15/truth-israels-secret-nuclear-arsenal.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.598988.
“After the war, some of the bullying tried to resurface, but returning Jewish GIs made a few select hits and it ended before it began again.”
A casual acceptance of the legitimacy of this Jewish statement and its murderous results will be handy for Muslims returning from Middle Eastern jihad to the West. How would you feel if returning Muslim ‘soldiers of Allah’ start to MURDER anti-jihadists that Muslims label to be bullies of Islam?! How would you feel if those Muslim murderers are NEVER brought to justice? How would you feel if, years later, Muslim people are publicly bragging about and celebrating your unprosecuted murders – implying that such murders are a morally acceptable end to political and religious differences?
Sorry, my computer is really messed up today. You can erase the duplicate comments if it’s easy for you. 🙂
“After the war, some of the bullying tried to resurface, but returning Jewish GIs made a few select hits and it ended before it began again.”
You DO realize that MURDER is capital crime – which can STILL be prosecuted?!
A casual acceptance of the legitimacy of this Jewish statement and its murderous results will be handy for Muslims returning from Middle Eastern jihad to the West. How would you feel if returning Muslim ‘soldiers of Allah’ start to MURDER anti-jihadists that Muslims label to be bullies of Islam?! How would you feel if those Muslim murderers are NEVER brought to justice? How would you feel if, years later, Muslim people are publicly bragging about and celebrating your unprosecuted murders – implying that such murders are a morally acceptable end to political and religious differences?
I’m not familiar with the American experience, Egghead. However I do recall hearing the late (Jewish) hairdresser and style guru, Vidal Sassoon, describing how as a teenager in London just after the War, he joined in with Jewish ex-servicemen, some of whom had seen the concentration camps, in beating up fascist marchers. Illegal? Undemocratic? Maybe, but I wouldn’t have the heart to condemn them.
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t have the heart to condemn them”
I would. In a city where Jewish radicals such as Harold Laski flourished, who rose to the position of chairman in the Labour Party, you could expect the English in London to have a different perspective on “Fascism”.
Maybe the commentator would like to define what was meant by “a few select hits.”
I don’t mind at at all seeing bullied kids turn on their persecutors and beating them. Of course the school authorities take a “high moral tone” about it, expelling students for defending themselves. It reminds me of the high moral tone evinced here by several commentators.
But yes, I agree, even Nazis have the right to march and espouse their views.
I’m disinclined to do so because I was delighted by the immediate responses.
And, yes, I too agree “even Nazis have the right to march and espouse their views.” And that, my friend, is a two edged sword since espouse also includes expose.
See I was either not yet born or barely so when the events I am retelling took place.
Both Whittle and commenters overlooked that thing called institutionalized antijewish activity. These GIs knew of it before they fought the war. They witnessed its ultimate goal. They would have none of it afterwards. They were the generation of “Never Again.”
Fortunately for them they had large numbers of non-Jews who aided them. Sadly, too few Jews today understand this. It is why I commented to begin with — Whittle’s piece could be great if it didn’t understate the effects of institutionalized (let me be euphemistic) selective law enforcement.
We in the West are witnessing institutionalized racism today, only it hides under the banner called anti-fascism and anti-racism. Those living at the mercy of selectively enforced know what that means.
To understand what must be done, then understand that hit has many meanings. You want piece, then prepare for war. You want piece, then you want your enemies afraid to take you for granted. So I’m sure the tellers of my story liked the idea that they were more dangerous than they actually were. The truth went with them to their graves.
“To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem. To be incapable of committing mayhem is not the mark of the civilized, merely the domesticated.” ― Trefor Thomas
I get the impression that most readers and contributors of this site do not want to think they are too domesticated. Too bad there are so few who remember how bad things were circa 1944. All the more reason to be concerned is that there remain those who think the laws are there for their benefit. They are either on the wrong side of decency or they are not paying attention to recent trends.
I am under ZERO illusions that the current state of the Rule of Law is meant to benefit the common man. I know FIRSTHAND that the current state of the Rule of Law is intended to benefit the ruling class only – and the common man should understand that awful reality as the member of a jury or as a participant pursuing criminal or civil justice before all courts. Yet, I also know that this is the same situation as it has ALWAYS been. Under EVERY religious and civil form of human government, the rich and powerful have ALWAYS tailored the Rule of Law to privilege the rich and powerful over the common man.
So, let’s hear what Benjamin Franklin had to say:
“We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little partial, local interests, our projects will be confounded and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. And, what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing government by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war, or conquest.”
Jews who give official public sanction of vigilantism play a very dangerous game indeed because the same tactics may be used against Jews by others experiencing ‘kill or be killed’ tactics.
To argue for mayhem is a morally destructive argument.
Hello Pascal,
I appreciate your comments. They are what I was expecting, actually. I hope your comments were not too subtle for some of the commentators here who appear to be just dying to get something–anything–on the Joos that they can criticize or (preferably) condemn :). To further that end, the worst construction will always be placed upon anything said or written about the Joos.
At the risk of muddying the waters, I’d like to bring up another issue.
I live in very politically liberal area. A colleague who is a gay woman told me that her gay women friends who are Jewish (I presume not practicing but Jewish ethnicity) say that they hate Israel. Of course that’s crazy because Israel is the only Middle Eastern country which doesn’t persecute gays. I met a Jewish man who blames Israel for the rising antisemitism in the world.
This brings me back to my observation that for many liberals their left-wing politics trumps everything. In fact their left-wing politics IS their religion. And I don’t mean just among Jews. The Unitarian Fellowship, the Quakers, the Presbyterians, etc., etc. in my area might as well be attending a liberal social club with a gloss of religion when they go to church.
And they are very self-righteous about their beliefs. They think that they are on the side of the angels–that’s my term, many of them probably don’t believe in angels, but you get the point.
It’s difficult to change a religion even a secular religion. My sociologist friend tells me that the older generation of liberal Jews are not reproducing themselves and that the next generation of Jews will be more orthodox and more conservative (I’ve seen statistics to support that). It seems much too long to wait.
And I wonder what’s happening with the next generation of Presbyterians, Methodists, Unitarians, etc., etc. Will the next generation will be more conservative? Will we reach the edge of the cliff before the next generation?