Pamela Geller writes: We live in times when those who control the establishment media and mainstream organizations are increasingly afraid of confronting the true evils of our day, and cowed by the forces of Islamic supremacism and oppression. It saddens me to number the Los Angeles Jewish Federation among these compromised elites, but it cannot be denied in light of their cancellation of my planned address there this morning. LA’s failed Jewish leadership follows in the rich tradition of its forbears who worshipped the golden calf. Imagine: Zionists are not welcome at the LA Jewish Federation.
I am extremely happy to report, however, that the proud Jews of the ZOA Western Region, led by the indefatigable Orit Arfa, were not willing to go quietly into the night. Within half an hour of when the event was supposed to take place, they swiftly organized a protest outside the Jewish Federation building, and called out the Federation leaders for capitulating to the Islamic supremacist Jew-haters of Hamas-CAIR. Scores protested in defense of free speech. They also quickly found an alternative venue, The Mark, where an enthusiastic crowd gathered to hear the address that the Jewish Federation was too frightened to allow to be heard. Mention must be made of Steve Goldberg, who went toe-to-toe with the craven Jay Sanderson of the Federation, who actually claimed that he was afraid that Muslim protestors would storm the building — when we all know it wasn’t that at all.
Of course, I had to speak about what had happened, and about how the Jewish community’s acquiescence to the marginalization of freedom fighters is ultimately self-defeating to the point of suicide — and above all, about how we have to challenge the left’s control of the narrative. We take for granted as acceptable what a sane society would identify as monstrous evils: the “Palestinian” genocidal jihad against the Jews, and the jihad against the West and against civilization in general. We tolerate Islamic honor killing, female genital mutilation, polygamy, cultural annihilation, enslavement, and so much more — for fear of being accused of “Islamophobia.” We have to challenge all this and call evil what it is. If we don’t, history shows us where all this leads.
A man contracted to work on anti-Zionism campaigns within the past year was appointed as Director of Jewish Outreach for the New York Republican State Committee last week, The Jewish Channel can report.
Additional controversial positions include advocacy on behalf of violent criminals and alleged sexual abusers in the ultra-Orthodox community, and the argument that ultra-Orthodox Jews should vote Republican because it is the party of larger government assistance programs.
Kenneth Lowenstein, founder and director of the LA Shmira Patrol, spoke in shul Sunday evening about taking note of suspicious behavior and reporting threats to the police.
He begins his talk with an anecdote about a tattooed skinhead in his 30s who stopped by the LINKLA shul on Robertson Blvd last week and made various “Heil Hitler” salutes. Somebody saw him and ran into Petco and called 9-1-1. Making such salutes is not a crime, but police take note of such behavior. We can’t beat people up for saying things we don’t like, but if people are publicly invoking anti-Semitism, they should be noted and recorded.
* Those Muslims who want to murder Americans (from Iran to home-grown American terrorists) and destroy the American way of life and America’s role in the world as a fighter for freedom and goodness.
* The massive increase in non-military government spending, welfare dependency, food stamps…
* Denial of difference between the sexes, same-sex marriage, etc
* Putting equality over freedom
* Illegal immigration
Posted inPolitics|Comments Off on Top Five Issues Facing America
JTA reports: “Conservative blogger Pamela Geller is lashing out at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles for what she says was its decision to cancel her Sunday appearance. Geller, a fiery critic of Muslims, liberals and mainstream Jewish organizations, took to her blog, Atlas Shrugs, to blast the L.A. federation, comparing modern-day Jewish leaders to those who did not do enough to protest the Nazis in the years leading up to the Holocaust.”
Above: Pamela Geller, Steve Goldberg, Orit Arfa and Robert Spencer.
Rabbi Hershel Rabbs Remer: “I like that she compared the Federation to the Jews in 1933 Germany.”
“You should give that video a much stronger title, such as Geller trashes the Jewish Federation, calls them the enemy, and says anyone that gives money to the UJF is giving to Hamas. That’s your headline! Of course, you will ignore my suggestion, because you prefer self-sabotaging your own career.”
Above: Three left-wing Jewish women showed up to protest Pamela Geller. I spoke with Lauren Steiner (we met about 20 years ago) and Dorothy Reik.
Above: Jesse Rosenblum, President of the ZOA Orange County branch, who had an informational meeting for college students canceled by the JCC.
On the sidewalk in Beverly Grove, the small group protesting Geller were not Muslims, but fellow Jews.
Lauren Steiner, Dorothy Reik and Linda Milazzo hadn’t planned on protesting outside. They had come to hear Geller speak, and were planning on confronting her with tough questions during the question-and-answer session.
The discourse quickly devolved into name-calling. Milazzo got into it with one of Geller’s supporters. She called him “paranoid.” He retorted that she and her cohorts were “disgusting.”
It ended with members of the Zionist organization taking away Milazzo’s sign, which said: “Pamela Geller’s hate speech is not welcome in Los Angeles.” Milazzo had used their paper and markers to make it, they said.
ZOA West’s director Orit Arfa emailed at 10:25 a.m. Sunday:
Unfortunately, with just a few hours notice, the Jewish Federation has backed down on its agreement to let us host Ms. Geller in its conference room. The topic of the talk is: “Islamic Jew Hatred as the Root Cause of Failure to Achieve Peace.” As tenants of the Jewish Federation, the ZOA has the privilege of using the conference room with advanced notice, which the ZOA has secured with the management weeks in advance.
While the Jewish Federation has expressed security concerns (which in and of itself bespeaks of the intimidation tactics of Muslim groups), we believe that the Jewish Federation has succumbed to political pressure by Muslim groups and extremist Jewish groups not to let a rational voice criticizing Islam and its war against Israel be heard on its premises. These Muslim and Jewish groups have blown up the blogosphere with lies about Ms. Geller and harsh criticism of the ZOA for hosting her at the Jewish Federation.
This backing down is exactly the type of appeasing behavior that Muslims groups seek, and it effectively shuts down free speech. Furthermore, it is inconsiderate to the people who signed up to hear Ms. Geller.
Please join the ZOA outside the Jewish Federation building from 11 am to protest this form of intellectual bullying that only serves the Islamic agenda of shutting down free speech and fostering animosity between Jews, who must stay united during these dangerous times of assaults against Israel and Jews the world over.
The Jewish Federation does not have to agree with Ms. Geller’s message, but we urge the Jewish Federation not to succumb to pressure and to act with honor, dignity, and courage by honoring to its advance agreement to let the ZOA host its event at the Jewish Federation building.
Free speech is a fundamental American and Jewish value!
If you’re in LA, come to the Jewish Federation at 6505 Wilshire Boulevard at 11AM. We will be protesting this craven capitulation of the Jewish Federation to Islamic supremacist Jew-haters.
In a jaw-dropping act of cowardice and submission, LA Federation is not allowing ZOA (Zionist Organization of America) to hold the event where I was scheduled to speak this morning.
Jewish leadership is on the trains and thinks we will go quietly. This is tragic. Imagine, without so much as firing a shot, they’re caving in to a Hamas front group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Hamas’s fundamental goal is the annihilation of Israel.
This mirrors Nazi Party Representatives attending a 1933 Berlin Jewish Community charity drive gathering — back on December 20, 1933, three thousand Jews attended the first official Jewish gathering in which uniformed Nazis participated. The mass meeting was arranged by the Berlin Jewish community to open the special campaign for winter relief. And we know how that worked out.
Is it any wonder that the American Jewish left has become a problem for Israel? Who are these people? What is their role? What is their mission? What’s the point of Jewish lay leadership if they submit before their executioners? Shame on our cowardly leadership for throwing one of our own under the bus. We expect that from kapos, not from proud Jews who should hold the freedom of speech as a fundamental Jewish value.
Joseph F. Cotto: The security and stability of Israel are integral to promoting a favorable American foreign policy in the Middle East. What do you think that the federal government can and should do to aid Israel?
Pamela Geller: Everything it can. Make aid to Egypt and other countries contingent upon their stopping belligerent actions against Israel AND ending antisemitic teaching in their countries. Israel is on the front lines of the global jihad. Stop pressing Israel to make more concessions to the “Palestinians.” Defund the UN, now largely driven largely by the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation). The OIC is the largest international world body, comprised of 56 Muslim countries plus the “Palestinian” Authority. It is a would-be universal caliphate. It may look different from the caliphates of the past (the Ottomans, Fatimids, and Abbasids), but it already has significant power through the United Nations. The agenda is driven by the Sharia, Islamic supremacism and Islamic Jew-hatred.
Cotto: It is election season once again. How do you think that the foreign policy views of President Obama and Mitt Romney measure up in an increasingly challenging world for American interests?
Geller: An Obama re-election would be a disaster for America. He has worked against our interests internationally in every possible way.
Cotto: In the past, you have stated negative feelings about the fact that American Jews overwhelmingly support the Democratic Party. Now it appears that this voter base might be beginning to erode. Why do you believe that most Jews have Democratic sympathies, and do you think this will continue during the years ahead?
Geller: The Democrat party has historically positioned itself as the party of the outcast and downtrodden; Jews, with a history of antisemitism elsewhere, have naturally gravitated to aiding those who have been discriminated against and hated without reason. But the Democrats have now betrayed Israel, and many Jews are realizing that.
Cotto: Now that our conversation is at its end, many readers are probably wondering about how you came to be such a force in political commentary. What in your life led to this point?
Geller: No one can set out to become a “force in political commentary” by means of some calculated plan. I stand out in today’s political landscape because I tell truths that most are afraid to enunciate. I have the courage of my convictions.
Orit Arfa, executive director of the ZOA Western Region, emails at 7:30 pm Sunday:
Dear ZOA supporters, friends, and frenemies,
There were many highlights and lowlights before, during and after the event with Jewish heroine Pamela Geller today.
Of course, the biggest lowlight was being told by the leadership of the Jewish Federation, only a few hours before the event, that they were unilaterally cancelling our pre-arranged talk with Pamela on “Islamic Jew Hatred as the Root Cause of Failure to Achieve Peace in the Middle East.”
As a Jewish professional, I worried about all the people who signed up, paid money, and were on their way to see us–how would I let them know? There was no way I was going to cancel the event. I was determined to find a new venue if the Federation didn’t change its mind.
Then, of course, as a Jew and lover of freedom, I was saddened that the Jewish Federation caved, as we suspect, to pressure of Muslim and left-wing Jewish groups to make us cancel Pamela, whom those groups love to hate. (It’s hard to find balanced coverage in the media, so I’ll refer you to Pamela’s blog for the backstory.) In all fairness, the Jewish Federation has not yet responded, but this is our strong suspicion based on its record.
I was inspired, though, by the tremendous support that we received from the community who shared their outrage at such treatment by the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, where we enjoy our tenancy and which has provided a wonderful space for us to do our work, where we have a free exchange of ideas with Jewish community professionals. Those people who stayed with us to the end did now cower and stood up for us. Thank you on behalf of the ZOA, the Jewish people, and people of integrity.
And, of course, we are so grateful to the local Jewish hero, Marvin Markowitz, who, at the last minute, opened up a space for us to hold the talk, a fabulous events hall called The Mark on Pico, just near Factor’s Famous Deli, which he also owns, and which I encourage all of you patronize (best omelets and coffee!). He was not afraid of what the intellectual bigots would think or say and he acted with courage and honor.
Steve Goldberg, ZOA National Vice Chairman and LA Chapter Chair, it is an honor to work with you. Your strength and courage inspire me every day. Thank you for your dedication to the ZOA and to truth.
Paul Schnee, our local President, you were there every step of the way.
And Pamela–thank you for being such a strong, fearless woman and for not being afraid of speaking the truth about Islam’s war against Israel and the Jews, for suffering all the hatred and lies that you suffer, and for not giving up. You are an inspiration to us all.
But my biggest highlight came at the end of the event, when my sister dropped into the Mark with her kids for pizza (we treated everyone to lunch). I light up every time I see them. They are so sweet, so kind, so beautiful. I look at them, and sometimes I want to cry when I think about all the Jewish children who were massacred because they were Jewish children–innocent goodness who never got a chance to realize their potential, unlike my nieces and nephews who are privileged to grow up in a great country that protects individual rights. And I think how, unlike their counterparts in the Middle East who are given guns to play with when they are in kindergarten, my nieces and nephews grow up on Jewish values of love, noble aspiration, and doing real good in the world.
I look into their blue eyes, and when they say, “I love you, Dodah,” I want to hug them for eternity and do whatever I can to protect them (watch out when I’m a mama!). And I think how hateful jihadists, like Nazis before them, make kids their targets because they are Jews!
I, along with the ZOA, am not fighting against anyone–not against other Jews, not even against Muslims. I’m fighting FOR something: the right for Jews to live freely and happily in America, Israel, and wherever they so choose. I’m fighting for those kids–those amazing, beautiful, adorable, loving kids–whom I want to grow up without fear. And self-defense can never come from appeasement and fear of criticism because then you are never truly alive, you are never truly free, you are never truly living without fear.
They call us haters–but read between the lines of what the Muslim Brotherhood backed groups say (CAIR, ICNA, etc). They don’t really act to thwart Islamic terrorists. They don’t really care if Jews are massacred. They’ll say Palestinians have no choice in their fake fight against the “The Occupation.” They have a choice. We ALL have choices. That’s how God created us. But they pose as civil rights activists.
If you are pro-civil rights, then the only rational choice you have is to be pro-Israel, the only country that respects individual rights in the Middle East.
And I’m sad when I think I can’t rely on my Jewish leadership to do whatever it takes to protect me and fellow Jews because they are concerned about its image, about being called names like “right-wing” and “extremist.” They didn’t care that they inconvenienced me, their tenants, and all the people–Jews and non-Jews alike–who came to hear Pamela. They were concerned instead of how hosting Pamela would look in the eyes of others.
I never wanted to be a crusader. I never imagined that I would have to fight for Jewish lives. I thought when I moved to Israel years ago (and then came back), I’d be able to pursue dreams that had nothing to do with war and peace. But the Islamists killed and harmed innocent people I knew and loved, in heartless cold blood, blowing their bodies to bits. And instead of fighting back, we gave into their demands. But I have to defend what I love. You have to defend what you love.
We hope the Jewish Federation will behave with more courage in the future. It would be nice if they apologized, but we won’t hold our breath. However, please share with them your disappointment and shock at this treatment. You don’t have to agree with what we say, but you should support integrity and free speech.
Please take the time to write a note to the leadership of the Jewish Federation. We ask you to refrain from name-calling and insulting letters. We’d like them to see rationally the error of their ways and hopefully we can achieve fruitful dialogue through this episode.
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see—
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
I’m thinking about the line, “Where is death’s sting?” That’s not a Jewish sentiment. In Jewish life, there’s no denial that pain, suffering and death sting. Judaism doesn’t discount this world and emphasize that in the next world things will be much better better. Instead, Judaism and Jews relentlessly keep their focus on this life (though Judaism has always affirmed a belief in the afterlife, it has never emphasized it, nor used it much as a palliative for suffering in this life). When you go to a Jewish funeral, there’s little talk about where is death’s sting. We don’t wax eloquent about earth’s vain shadows fleeing.
Reading this hymn and listening to it, it is easy to understand the appeal of Christianity which focuses on individual salvation to the next world where things will be much much better. That makes it much easier to not get too upset about what happens in the here and now.
Because Jews do get upset about the here and now, they have much more influence on the world, per person, than do Christians or members of any other religion.
As a convert to Judaism, I notice a distinctly Jewish urgency to life while my Seventh-Day Adventist upbringing taught me passivity (which is why Adventists have virtually no influence on this world outside the fields of health and medicine).
Lawrence Hoffman says Reform Judaism had an early preference for Christian hymns with the particularly Christian verses removed.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Jonathan S. Tobin writes: Last week’s release of a new demographic study of Jewish life in Greater New York created an understandable stir, as it revealed that the Orthodox are forming an increasingly large percentage of the population. Assimilation, intermarriage and negative population growth are reducing the number of liberal and secular Jews while the Orthodox, and in particular the Haredim, are experiencing exponential growth. Though the implications of this trend will potentially alter virtually everything about Jewish life in the region, given that Orthodox Jews tend to be far more conservative than the rest of the community, the political implications of this pattern are inescapable. In a city like New York where 74 percent of all Jewish school-age children are Orthodox, there is little question the traditional dominance of secular and liberal Jews is not likely to persist in the long run.
That this would upset liberals is understandable. But that ought not to excuse the willingness of the editorial page of the Forward when discussing the Orthodox community to engage in the sort of language it would never excuse were such words directed at non-Jews. The impending dominance of non-liberals has caused the newspaper that began its life in 1897 as an advocate for socialism to vent its spleen in such a manner as to label many Orthodox Jews as the “undeserving poor,” whose inappropriate life choices ought perhaps to render them ineligible for government assistance if not the aid of the rest of the Jewish community. While the decision of the Forward’s editorial board to belatedly join a decades-long discussion about the merits of the welfare state is welcome, the piece makes it abundantly clear this shift is motivated more by open distaste for the Haredim than any misgivings about liberal ideology.
The conceit of the piece is that the Orthodox growth is being fueled in large measures by that community’s belief in the value of large families. The Forward, speaking in a voice that drips with upper and middle class condescension for the poor as well as contempt for the Orthodox often heard in liberal Jewish circles but rarely published, implies that most of these children probably shouldn’t be conceived, because their religious parents may not always have the material resources the Forward’s editors think they should possess before adding another soul to the community’s numbers. To their way of thinking, if some of these Orthodox families are not entirely “self-sufficient,” their voluntary choice to reproduce should push them to the back of the line when Jewish agencies are doling out aid to the poor and also calls into question the wisdom of so much government aid being given to them.
Yori Yanover writes: Israel Maimon, Chairman of the Facing Tomorrow 2012 conference steering committee, is proud of the way the event “attracts the world’s greatest minds and personalities, all of whom come together in Jerusalem each year to discuss how we can make the most of tomorrow’s opportunities.”
Like any major summer junket, the conference assembles both has-been and just-been celebrities: Henry Kissinger, Tony Blair, Cisco Systems Chairman John Chambers, President Peres, Ernst & Young Chairman James Turley, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (who just strained his hip).
Under the auspices of Israeli President Shimon Peres, this charmed crowd will be in Jerusalem Tuesday, “to tackles vital issues, initiatives and decisions that must be implemented to guarantee a better tomorrow for the world, the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”
I checked out some of the discussion forums, trying to assess if there was anything there that would blow my mind. So I checked out “Tomorrow’s Religion: Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?”
“What is the role of religion in shaping tomorrow? How will it influence the development of human society? Can religion, which is part of the current problems, become part of tomorrow’s solutions?”
The answers to these crucial questions will be provided by Professor of the Study of the Abrahamic Religions Guy Stroumsa (moderator); by University College Anthropologist Jonathan Benthall; former Minister for Social Affairs and World Jewry Rabbi Michael Melchior (who is on the short list to succeed Rabbi Jonathan Sacks as GB Chief Rabbi); University of Edinburgh Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies Mona Siddiqui, and Trinity College Professor Mark Silk.
The panel does includes a real rabbi, then, alongside a slew of academics, each of whom will share a portion of the 90 minutes allotted this weighty topic (Thursday, June 21, 2:00 – 3:30 PN). No room will be made for people who actually engage all day long, every day, in their religion, which is why, even if the panel had 10 hours, they would still not be able to come up with exciting answers to whether religion is part of the problem or the solution.
Posted inYori Yanover|Comments Off on Presidential Conference “Facing Tomorrow” While Facing Away from Observant Jews
If you are new to the complicated world of selling Rolex watches, you need not be alarmed. Tons of both new buyers and sellers are becoming prevalent with each new day, and there are tons of records out there for you to read so that you can gain some knowledge on selling these expensive watches. When it came time to sell my rolex, I was thrilled to find different support forums and trade posts that let me know a couple tips and tricks for the watch selling industry. When attempting to sell rolex watches, there is a great deal of thought required to seal the deal and get the resale value back in full. As long as your Rolex watch is in good condition (basically no broken parts or mechanics), it will be able to sell in almost no time. People who want Rolex watches are almost always put on a waiting list of some sort. This makes the resale value very high because people don’t have to wait the sometimes required 5 to 10 years of being on a waiting list. Even if the Rolex watch has been on your wrist for a good amount of time, it still has not lost any value. Rolex watches, over the years, always aquire value and as long as they are not damaged they are still extremely valuable. Keep in mind that black rolex watches in particular are in very high demand because of how fashionable and beautiful they are. No matter what you are wearing or what type of day it is, wearing a black Rolex watch is always classy and respectable. When you try to sell your Rolex, make sure that you have all the papers in order. You want your customers to realize that you are the real deal and that your Rolex watch is legitimate. This is very important, easing the consumers anxiety. Buying power is high, but with scammers all over the market people want to make sure that they are spending their money for the true value. Rolex watches are very elite and cost a good amount of money for a good reason. The quality and time it takes to craft a beautiful Rolex watch is unmatchable in the watch industry. Find the original documents from when you first aquired your Rolex watch and make sure to have copies of them readily available for customers. It also helps to have a signature from a Rolex official stating that your exact watch is legitimate. Although it may be a bit difficult to obtain the signature, it is worth it in the end because it will steadily increase the number of interested consumers. The customer is always right (unless they are trying to scam you) so take extra precautions to protect both them and you. Either way, as long as you know how to sell an item (and yourself) then you should have the right skills that it takes to successfully sell a Rolex. If not, try and try again!
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"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff)
