Vigil - It's liberty and justice or ethnic cleansing

The choice is simple - one either supports liberty and justice for all, the traditional American creed, or one supports ethnic cleansing. One can't support both, yet a great number of people in America do which is epic hypocrisy. A low point in American history was reached when President Biden declared he is a Zionist without the slightest hesitation. The mainstream press did noting to question this traitorous hypocrisy.

There is no approved version of ethnic cleansing. It was wrong when the United States did it to native-Americans, wrong when the Nazis did it to Jews in Europe and wrong when Israelis have been and are doing it to the native Palestinians.

What is astounding is that Zionism has taken such a grip on the government of the United States that liberty and justice for all is forgotten and even US presidents are standing with ethnic cleansing as if there were nothing wrong with it, encouraging it and supporting it in any way that the Israel's prime minister, Netanyahu, decides is right. Even the might of US armed forces, the state of the art weaponry of the US and the diplomatic veto of the US in the UN have been pledged to ethnic cleansing.

How is this possible? It has happened by way of the corruption of Congress by wealth and the effectively unlimited amount of wealth possessed by Zionists in America. America has been bought, AIPAC even boasting about it.

I am ashamed to be an American when we the people are pledged by our government to support the opposite of liberty and justice for all. I proudly display the Palestinian flag on my vigil because they are in the right as they refuse as best they can to yield their native land to colonizers.

The grip of Zionism on America must be broken. The next president, Trump, shows no indication that he will do anything to "make America great again" with a renewed pledge to liberty and justice for all. Instead he is threatening the Palestinians with "hell" even as they are already in hell living in fear for their lives as members of the Israeli Knesset make statements worthy of the Nazis, Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister stating that letting all 2 million Palestinians in Gaza die of starvation would not be immoral.

With American political leadership falling all over itself supporting Israel, it is up to you and me to start loosening the Zionist grip from the bottom up. I state it on the sign shown here, worn as I stood at the entrance to Northwestern University.

Vigil - Jews are just people, no more or less.

Before any of one of us are part of any group, before we have any identity that distinguishes us as individuals, we are all equally human. 

This is very important to understand as we watch what Israel is doing, and has done, to the Palestinians along with the view that Israeli Prime Minister expresses about Jews and non-Jews. 

As anyone knows, or should realize from an examination of human behavior, the very last thing that any individual or group should have is unlimited power. This was a fundamental concept in the formation of the United States; of the separation of powers among the three branches of the new government. It was also a guiding principal in European history - the balance of power. Countries might not like each other, but would ally with it if it looked like one country would overawe all. No group, no nation wants to be subservient to another.

The opposite of absolute power is absolute powerlessness. This was the situation of the Jews in Europe. At about 2% of the German population at the time of Hitler's rise to power, his use of the Jews as a target for abuse is a perfect example of the misuse of power, of the ease with which those who have it can do anything they wish to those who lack it, while feeling superior all the while. It is on open display with Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. How is it that America is supporting the oppressor without limit, a modern army with US weapons openly killing people who are powerless?

A significant reversal of power has come about as a direct result of the horror of Nazi Germany and the holocaust. The Jewish State, with the sheltering it has received for being that from the United States, has created a monster by protecting Israel's power and aiding it as the US has done both militarily and diplomatically for decades. Even the respect that the US had for international law, so well expressed by the urgency and design of the United Nations after WW2, along with the additions to the Geneva Conventions that came in response to Hitler's assertion of power are set aside for one country in the world - Israel, the US making it so.

The idea of restraining power has been turned on its head with the result in the powerless Palestinians being denounced while the supreme and unquestioned power of their oppressor, Israel, is praised with unlimited money and weaponry provided eagerly by Congress along with an outrageous lack of condemnation of this by the American people. How has this come to be?

The holocaust is learned about in the United States, holocaust education being required in several states to be taught before high school. In addition there are holocaust museums, memorials, movies, TV productions, books and many plays that deal either directly or indirectly with the holocaust. An American who doesn't know about the holocaust would have to have been a hermit his/her entire life. It is critical that this holocaust education ends with the event and does not mention what I am illuminating there, that the holocaust set the stage for the restraint of power to be turned on its head for Israel alone.

Nobody can learn about the holocaust without feeling remorse that it happened and sympathy for the survivors, few as they were. In Jerusalem, the Yad Vashem memorial is a place that all visiting diplomats are expected to visit. Netanyahu has referred to the 1967 borders of Israel, before it occupied the land it took in the war of that year, as "Auschwitz borders". He has said regarding the current slaughter Israel is conducting that he is leading the "forces of light against the forces of darkness" and has compared the situation in the US (2024) as similar to Nazi Germany in 1938.

Clearly the image is being put forward that the victims are the Israelis, that the world should recall the Jewish victims of the holocaust and transfer their innocence to the not-at-all innocent Israelis. The powerful emotional impact of the holocaust is used by Israel to claim defense in any operation it decides to undertake against any other country or in particular against the helpless natives over which Israel holds absolute and unquestionable power. It is a false vision that hides the reality of unending oppression, eviction and now outright slaughter by the party holding unlimited power, thanks to the black check issued by the United States.

I was asked by a person the other day how I could stand in front of a synagogue with my signs that oppose what Israel is doing. How dare I ask American Jews where they stand regarding Israel.

This is nonsense. As I have explained in a previous post, as an American, along with all the members of the synagogue who are Americans like me, I am responsible when our leader, the president, says "We stand with Israel" to declare that he does not speak for me. If I am silent, he speaks for me. In exactly the same way, When Netanyahu says he is the leader of all Jewry worldwide as the head of the government of The Jewish State that flies a flag with the Star of David on it just as is often displayed on a synagogue, it is the responsibility of Jews worldwide to say if he truly is speaking and acting for them or not. Silence is approval and anyone is free to ask the question about support to break the silence. There is a move on campus to forbid asking the question of Jewish students.

The outcry that there is rampant antisemitism in the US by supporters of Israel is absurd. Prime examples of those doing this are Alan Dershowitz and Jonathan Greenblatt. It is a bold attempt to distract from the atrocities of Israel under a blanket of sympathy that Jews have received for the holocaust and the undeniable antisemitism in America in the past. It seeks to hide the reality of an oppressor behind a feeling that has nothing to do with that reality, masking the oppressor with the image of victim. The proof of it is in the outright denial by the antisemitism chorus that anyone might think poorly of Jews due to the bloodbath that Israel has been conducting for well over a year now. It is an attempt to say that Jews can do no wrong, and that is precisely what Netanyahu is trumpeting to the world as he slaughters with no end in sight. The effort is to associate a sympathetic feeling for Jews with Israel, that has nothing at all to do with Israel's behavior, is irrelevant to it.

I end where I started - there is no special group of people. All human beings, Jews included, are capable of the worst and the best human behavior. There are a multitude of examples of Jews exhibiting the best of human behavior. Israel shows a multitude of examples of Jews engaged in the worst.

Vigil - "Whatsoever is true"

This is one of the signs I was wearing prior to the presidential election, stressing that when it comes to Israel, Americans would have no choice if they considered only the major party candidates, both of whom were beholden to Zionism. I displayed this sign at the entrance to Northwestern University. I was near the NU entry arch that features the university motto in Latin: "whatsoever is true". Because NU has shut down the truth about Zionism/Israel I wanted to display it on my sign.

I have since realized that the more one puts on a sign, the less likely it will be read. This not only because of TLDR but also because the lettering must be small if many words are used. Since most of those passing at the entrance to the university were walking, they could take the time to read all of it, not so with passing cars. Also, letter size determines how far away the sign can be read.

Vigil - Accepting Responsibility

While on my vigil, I had a conversation with a man who came up to ask me if it isn't wrong to be standing in front of a synagogue, that it might be construed as antisemitism. Why not stand in front of a church since I am not a Jew? It was clear he had no idea of why I am specifically in front of the synagogue. But I had to laugh because not only have I heard the yell that I am an antisemite, but a Nazi as well. 

I handed him one of my hand warmers and we proceeded to talk. I wanted to express my idea about individuals or groups accepting responsibility. I mentioned Israeli PM Netnayahu claiming that Israel is the home of all Jews and that he is their representative before the world as the head of The Jewish State. My interlocuter insisted that Netanyahu was wrong, that all Jews are not supporters of Zionism/Israel. I am the first to admit this to be true but let's look at the logic of responsibility.

President Biden announced he is a Zionist and said "we (Americans) stand with Israel". Just as in the case of Netanyahu's claim to speak for all Jews, Biden does not speak for all Americans. Nevertheless, when one is a member of the group over which a person claims leadership, to be silent is tacit acceptance of that claim. Americans are under the wrong impression that one can be a member of a democracy and be silent except when voting. In a case like Gaza where every American is implicated in slaughter, one must say where one stands. Jews are not exempt from this.

I stand on the street with my sign because I adamantly reject both Zionism and Biden's claim that he speaks for me in supporting Israel. A number of Americans, including the mayor of Evanston and the entire city council of Evanston have remained silent when I ask them individually if they stand with liberty and justice for all and against ethnic cleansing by Israel. Silence means tacit acceptance at the least and can easily hide outright support. It shows the moral courage of a fly on the wall.

The Jews of Jewish Voice for Peace reject Zionism and are openly demonstrating the rejection in public. Most American Jews remain silent. Again, silence means tacit acceptance if not outright support. A large number of prominent Jews very forcefully proclaim unconditional support of Israel, Chuck Schumer, Ben Shapiro, Alan Dershowitz, Bill Ackman, Haim Saban, Miriam Adelson and a great number of lesser known Jews. To their credit, as with the JVP members, they stand up and say what they think. 

What is wrong with silence in these two cases, of Americans remaining silent when Biden speaks and of Jews remaining silent when Netanyahu speaks? The man talking to me on the street felt quite strongly that Jews should not be asked to say whether or not they support Zionism.

If anyone, stranger or relative or acquaintance, came up to me anywhere and asked me my view on what Biden has said, they would not be wrong to do so. It is my responsibility as a member of the group over which Biden declares leadership that I say if I support his statements or not. My silence would say he does. The same is true of any Jew who is asked by anyone if they support what Netanyahu says. To believe, as my interlocutor did, that Jews are to be protected from such questioning is wrong. It is nothing less than protection from personal and group responsibility for one specific group, just as the United States has specifically protected Israel from all responsibility for what it has done and is doing, to the horror of the rest of the world.

All over America, synagogues should be making statements that they support liberty and justice for all and reject ethnic cleansing, that is the American way. There can be no in-between as the two philosophies are polar opposites. To be Zionist and American is hypocrisy. But I know of only one such synagogue that has done so. This silence is nothing but a failure of responsibility, a desire to not be known for one view or another. It is moral cowardice hoping that no opposition will arise one way or another. If the majority in a congregation are Zionist, then the dissenters should issue a statement of dissent.

I await the day, continuing my vigil, for the rabbi of Beth Emet to make a public statement that the synagogue stands for liberty and justice for all and not for ethnic cleansing, whether done by Israel or anywhere else. Silence is shameful, not my standing with a sign that says PALESTINIAN LIVES MATTER in front of a synagogue! This is not an issue of forcing a statement, it is of a moral responsibility to make one.

The sense of obligation to say where one stands must come from within the individual or group and the only action by Beth Emet that I have seen in public is adamantly opposing a ceasefire resolution before the 50,000 were killed that is now the case. Now that atrocities have been done and continue, calling for a ceasefire is only protecting image. Denouncing the cause, ethnic cleansing, is a necessity and until that happens, to say "never again" is meaningless.

The Beth Emet Vigil (began 11/24)

Who am I? Click on "about the author" at left. To get back here, click on the site graphic above.

Below are two pictures of me as I stand vigil at the corner of Dempster and Ridge in Evanston. I have been avoided by both the Roundtable and Evanston Now, though I did manage to get one letter published by the Roundtable, at least it was still up the last I checked. If you read the letter just linked you will understand why I have deliberately chosen Beth Emet for my vigil. The response was a call to the police who arrived to confirm my freedom to stand where I am with my signs.

If you came here directed by my sign telling of this website, stay tuned and you will be updated on what happens. The response to my presence has been 10:1 favorable and the detractors show their hate by the profanity they use shouted from a car now and then or with obscene gestures that accomplish nothing. Today behind my back someone stole the Palestinian flag I fly. I have another.

I will remain on post into the indefinite future until the rabbi of Beth Emet issues a public statement that the congregation stands with liberty and justice for all and against all ethnic cleansing including that being done by Israel for 76 years, now expanded to outright slaughter, similar to how Israel started in 1948. I have invited the rabbi and congregation to come out and join me, it would be in perfect keeping with the prominent Black Lives Matter banner that Beth Emet displays on its building. All lives matter.

Comments are very welcome, but if they are nothing more than personal attack or laden with profanity they will be deleted. I stand for liberty and justice for all as any American should, not the horror of ethnic cleansing as too many do. As you can see from the history of this blog (to the right) I have been studying Israel in detail for many years and admire the Jews who denounce what Israel is about (Israeli organizations listed at upper right). Feel free to browse any of my many previous posts.

Don't hesitate to come speak with me on the corner as many have done. I enjoy the conversation and welcome it. America must escape the awful grip of Zionism, it is un-American. As things stand right now we have lost our country to one with 1/40th of our population and are aiding slaughter in defiance of the foundation of the United States. It's wrong, I am calling it out and so should you. Remember, the US is called the land of the free and the home of the brave. Are we? Why not show it?

 

the right to defend itself

For as long as I can remember, the phrase "Israel has a right to defend itself" has been used as a conversation stopper, supposedly an unquestionable statement.

All the European colonies with the exception of Israel are gone in light of the fact that occupying the land of another people is unjust. The US pushed for the end of the European colonies...except for Israel. The United States was a colony that succeeded in exterminating the natives and becoming the country we know of today, though Americans largely agree the destruction of another civilization was wrong, easy enough to say when the process was completed long ago.

Israel wishes to achieve what the United States achieved but is confounded by the large number of native Palestinians who will not go away on their own and the outrage of the world at the attempt by Israel to now exterminate to the extent that it can as allowed by the United States.

Thus the "right to exist" argument is a fallacy as Israel has been from the start an aggressive project with might making right using the holocaust as a justification. Here is a list of "rights" that Israel has established for itself...

> Israel has the right to ignore all international law

> Israel has the right to disregard the sovereignty of its neighbors

> Israel has the right to offensively attack anyone anywhere outside of its borders yet to any response Israel claims defense

> Israel has the right to any weapon made by the United States to be used as desired

> Israel has the right to take the land from the natives

> Israel has the right to kill and mistreat the natives in any number, in any way and for as long as it wishes

> Israel has the right to install members of the US Congress with Zionist wealth applied to campaigns, with no questions asked, not a word said about foreign interference.

In summary, Israel has the right to do anything it wants to do.