Humble Opinions

For some reason, there is something about this world I cannot seem to understand. I am a pretty smart guy, so I don’t think it’s due to a lack of intellect. I read a lot of news every day, and have read many books on history, so I don’t think it’s due to a lack of information. I talk with people that live within the entire range of the political spectrum, so I don’t think it’s due to narrow-mindedness. Maybe it’s because I am too involved in the situation to be able to extract an objective view. I am hoping someone can clear something up for me:

On December 27, 2008, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead against the Gaza Strip, which was a retaliatory military campaign for the daily barrage of rockets being launched into Israel from Gaza over the last 3 years. A total of 6,000 rockets had been shot into Israeli civilian territory by a radical Islamic group named Hamas.

On August 15, 2005, Israel withdrew thousands of its citizens from the Gaza Strip, destroying a total of 21 settlements, thousands of homes, office buildings, entire neighborhoods. To accomplish this, they utilized 14,000 soldiers whom they paid out of their own pocket. They paid each family that was withdrawn from Gaza cash to purchase a new home elsewhere within Israeli territory. In summary, they caused thousands of Israelis to lose their jobs, their neighbors, their synogogues, and their communities. All this was done as a token of peace to the Palestinians.

Through the UN, many millions of dollars were collected (in addition to many direct donations from Saudi Arabia and Iran) to help the Palestinians rebuild on the prior Israeli territory.  Israel continued to supply the Gaza Strip (and continues to until this day) with electricity, and water - paid for out of Israel’s pocket (no UN reimbursements for that).

Instead of building Gaza up, turning it into a vibrant economy and living space, and reciprocating Israel’s peace offering, Hamas immediately seized control of the area and spent 3 full years shooting rockets into Israel (sometimes as many as 30 a day), and digging thousands of tunnels into Egypt from Gaza for smuggling Iranian weapons in. Yet, Israel continued to supply electricity, and power.

Finally, Israel decided enough was enough. It launched a highly organized, precise military campaign to invade the Gaza Strip, in attempt to halt the Hamas rocket fire. Israel successfully destroyed literally thousands of smuggling tunnels, TONS of weapons caches, and killed hundreds of Hamas militants (many times while they were amidst launching a rocket into Israel - you can watch this on YouTube if you’d like).

Unfortunately, hundreds of innocent civilians were killed during operation Cast Lead. A large part of this was due to the fact that Hamas was launching their rockets from civilian areas, using civilian houses, schools, hospitals, and mosques as weapon storage facilities, and were shooting at IDF soldiers from within civilian crowds. Nonetheless, every innocent civilian death is a tragedy, regardless of their ethnicity, or religion.

Operation Cast Lead attracted the attention of the entire globe. Every news station in every country in the world was covering its developments, and everyone seemed to have an opinion to weigh in. Leaders from all over the world made public statements siding with, or against Israel. American officials from all professions and areas of politics were on television giving their opinions. Tens of thousands of blog posts were made about the situation. Rallies all over earth were taking place against Israel’s actions. Rallies in London, rallies in Germany, protests in Iran, even Russians had plenty to say on the matter.

In short, it was a popular topic. Many were not embarrassed to lash out at Israel. I read several editorials daily comparing Israel to the Nazi regime. Etc.

Here’s the part I do understand: There are many people in the world that believe solely in peace. They think peace comes before religion, before ethnicity, before opinions, before everything. Nobody should be killed, ever. They support all types of humanitarian aid, and oppose all action resulting in the loss of life. For them, I see how operation Cast Lead can be a disaster, and something that must be openly spoken against and condemned. I see how they can oppose Israel’s decision to invade the Gaza Strip. Seriously, I get that.

Now here’s the part I don’t understand: On January 18, 2009, Israel ended its campaign, and Hamas / Israel declared unilateral ceasefires. Shortly after, Hamas returned to its normal rocket firing into Israel (albeit they claim it’s a DIFFERENT anti-zionist, anti-israel, anti-jewish group, and they’re completely innocent, even though they control the entire Gaza Strip). Here is a list of news articles covering the rocket launches that have occurred since Hamas’ declared unilateral ceasefire with Israel:

Where are the pro-peace, anti-war rallies? Where are the leaders of countries and their public statements? Where are the protests? Where are the debates, opinions, American officials, and politicians? Where are all the fiery blog posts (aside from this one)?

Seriously, I am begging someone to explain this phenomenon to me. What is going on?!?! I don’t get it. What happened to peace? What happened to no one attacking anyone? What happened to Hamas’ unilateral ceasefire? Am I losing my mind?

I am an open-minded, reasonable person. I do my research, and I accept what appears to be true. That being said, until I see at least an equivalent outroar from all over the globe, and groups of 10s of thousands of people gathering to oppose Hamas rockets being shot at innocent Israelis, I am absolutely uninterested in anything any of you have to say, ever, for the rest of time. I’m serious.

I would be very interested to see a group of civilians in another part of the world live under daily barrages of rockets. They would all need bomb shelters built around their neighborhoods, and they would need to spend their tax money to arrange city-wide sirens that can be sounded 15 seconds before a rocket lands. They would need to know where their children are at all times, and be ready to dash them into bomb shelters at a moment’s notice. They would have to be weary of going outside the house, and they would always need a plan for cover. And last but not least, they would also have to get used to being unheard by the world, and uncared for, even by those that support peace most virulently.

I await some explanations.

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Yeah, so I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m pretty sure the Nazi holocaust that allegedly systematically exterminated 6,000,000 Jews never happened. Think about it: Nobody hates Jews, nobody has ever hated or attacked Jews, and Jews are master slicksters. The Jews wanted to steal Palestine and make it into a Jewish-only state, so they faked the holocaust to gain worldwide sympathy.

Nice try, Jews. We’ve figured it out.

All of those videos? Those pictures? The fact that many concentration camps are now museums? The remaining survivors with tattoos on their arms? The rooms full of childrens’ shoes? The transcripts of the Eichman trial? You guessed it: FAKED by the Jews (I wonder how they got Eichman to play along, considering the whole hanging part).

Nice job, Jews. Bravo. You really pulled it off this time, and it looks like it worked, because now you guys have your own country - namely, the most racist country on planet earth!!

Okay, so enough of my sarcasm. Seriously, how mentally ill does a person have to be to deny the holocaust? Here’s an idea: I deny that World War I ever happened.

Aside from being the #1 most brutal, savage, sub-human plot ever carried out in the history of man, the holocaust happens to be literally the most documented genocide to ever have taken place. Like I mentioned earlier, there are actual videos of Nazis mowing down lines of Jews into enormous graves, videos of Jews being put into ovens, gassed, beaten - you name it. There are literally endless photos, and there are still survivors alive!

One thing I hear holocaust deniers saying is “well, let’s see the evidence.” Are you kidding? Yeah, you must be kidding. It’s almost impossible to NOT find evidence. For anyone with even the slightest doubt about whether the holocaust actually occurred, or it’s horrific extent, I recommend you pay a visit to the Yad Vashem holocaust museum in Israel. The sheer quantity of evidence is plainly ridiculous. It’s almost equal to denying that the Internet exists.

Now, the real question: Why? Why is it that people deny the holocaust? What do they gain by denying the holocaust?

1. People resent Jews. I know that sounds like somewhat of a blanket statement, but just look at the situation from a practical sense: Jews were absolutely slaughtered during the holocaust. They were complete victims in every way. The events that followed were:
   
   • The Jews established an independent, third-world country of their own, which barely had any food or running water.
   • They successfully deterred 7 invading armies on the 2nd day of their existence, outnumbered by at least 20 to 1, and having very little weaponry.
   • They went on to develop the only democracy in the Middle East, which now has enormous skyscraper buildings, the 2nd largest hi-tech industry on earth, the largest bio-tech industry on earth (amongst many other things).
   • Israel decisively won 5 wars waged against it.

   All this with both hands tied behind their back, and in a constant state of war with the surrounding Arab nations which outnumber them 1 billion to 7 million. You do the math.

2. The world is stunned by the last 60 years. For the last 2,000 years, the Jews that have been wandering from country to county (Iraq, North Africa, Spain, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the US, and more), without a homeland, army, or single governing body. The world got used to the Jews being perfect scapegoats, targets, and worse. Now that the Jews decide enough is enough, the world still has not adjusted to this enormous change.
3. It absolves them of guilt. Europe, and to extent the Western world, did nothing to help the Jews during WWII - many of them fully aware of the horrors being perpetrated against them. The allied forces specifically refrained from bombing the railroad tracks delivering Jews to Auschwitz, and other concentration camps. Denying the holocaust is a way to brush this fact under the rug, for the mentally ill.

In short, the world can say what it wants, and continue condemning Israel for its self defense, while comparing them to the Nazi regime (which itself is insane), but in the end:

“We’re just not going back to those gas chambers” - Benyamin Netanyahu

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Around 5 weeks ago, I moved from New Jersey to Jerusalem. Many people wondered why I decided to move, and when asked the reason, I found myself advancing a wide range of answers - everything from the inspirational, to the spiritual, and even the practical (”well, I have a lot of friends there”). Now, being Israeli for 5 weeks, I would like to list some of the reasons I decided to move, and add my present-day opinions, now that I have a bit of hindsight on the matter.

(1). Israel is the only country that actively protects Jews worldwide

You may not know this, but there are Israeli mossad agents in every single country on planet earth. I kid you not. If you’ve done a bit of reading into history, and intake regular quantities of Middle Eastern news, you’d know how vulnerable Jews are worldwide (if you disagree, I assure you I can change your opinion). Let’s leave anti-semitism out of the picture for a moment. The state of Israel as a country is rather controversial in the world. Terrorism against Jews in any country can send a serious message to the state of Israel, and that is why Israel takes on the unbelievable burden of watching out for Jews all over the world.

It may not seem like a big deal for Jews living in America, under the security and protection of the world superpower, but when the situation hits the fan for the Jews (and believe me, it does), circumstances can become dire. That is why I feel the safest living in a country full of Jews, run by Jews, whose #1 priority is to protect Jewish lives.

(2). This is the chance our ancestors waited over 1800 years for

The 2nd temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans, and the Jewish people were exiled, and dispersed from Israel to locations all over the world. In their daily prayers (3 times a day) Jews have been praying for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and their temple for over 1800 years. Rewind just 100 years ago: Millions of Russain Jews were living in ghettos, poor, starving, and 40% unemployed, where it was illegal to practice any form of Judaism whatsoever. The Jews of that period in time would literally have done any possible thing to be freed from their oppression, let alone to have a state of their own, where Jewish observance was not only legal, but facilitated.

Now that the chance to live in a Jewish land of Israel has returned for the first time in 1800 years, I would think it an unimaginable lost opportunity to just ignore it, and live somewhere else. We’ve been wondering from country to country for centuries already.

(3). We’re making history

Read some history books. In approximately the year 378 BCE, the Persian king Cyrus The Great set forth an edict allowing Jews to return to their homeland, and rebuild their temple. A mere 5% took him up on his offer. Not only that, but later on, when the temple was finally rebuilt and the 2nd Jewish commonwealth was underway, 75% of world Jewry lived outside the land of Israel. Our Rabbis and Sages say that had the Jews risen to the opportunity that Cyrus The Great had helped to provide, the 2nd temple may not have been destroyed.

To put it mildly, their great grandchildren and their descendants felt they made a disastrous decision, and the Jewish people have paid wholesomely for it, for millennia. When the history books of the 21st century are written and studied by future generations, I don’t want to be looked back on poorly.

(4). Israel needs Jews!

Having lived in Israel for 5 weeks at this point, I can say definitively that Israel needs Jews living here. In just 60 years, the country has gone from practically nothing, to a first-world country, often times leading the way in technology and science. I believe this is solely due to the unparralelled talent, and drive the Jewish people have, collectively.

I like to think of myself as a talented individual, and thus, one of the reasons I decided to move to Israel was so that I can put my talents toward improving the Jewish state. There are a lot of smart Jews living in Israel, and let me just say, it’s apparent.

(5). Everything you do is a Mitzvah

There is only one country on earth where picking trash up off the ground is a Mitzvah, and there is only one country on earth where sweeping the ground outside your apartment is a Mitzvah. You guessed it: Israel.

(6). What do you want to do with your life?

Believe it or not, there will come a point in time that you will look back on your life, and begin to judge whether you lived your life satisfactorily. For me, when that time comes, I desperately want to be able to list the multitude of things I dedicated time and energy toward during my lifetime that helped build Israel into a better place. I also hope at that time, I can say that I successfully raised a generation of children that will continue the legacy of the Jewish people.

Maybe they’ll each have their own blogs. That would be awesome. I know a good programmer they can hire.

(7). The food here is ridiculous

Seriously, if you like food even a little, you would love living in Israel. The ice coffee is in slurpee consistency! Enough said.

(8). Hebrew is sickly cool

עברית היא שפה קדושה ומגניבה

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