The last month has defined the issues.

The “Washington Post” has been doing incredible work. The paper may not be profitable, but it’s definitely worth reading. Yesterday there was this story:

“Hamas built an underground war machine to ensure its own survival – Vowing self-sufficiency, Hamas turned a maze of tunnels in Gaza into weapons factories and well-stocked fortifications. A year after the war began, parts of the group remain deeply entrenched.”

Free link: https://wapo.st/3Ycthfj

This is what Israel is up against. No matter which side you are on, you’ll find this investigation of Hamas’s war effort both illuminating and fascinating. The most important point is that the weapons were not being shipped from Iran, they were not coming through the border with Egypt, rather Hamas was building their arsenal, their rockets, from scratch in their tunnels. No one knew this previously, unless you were in Hamas yourself. And if you were, you were aware that a big action was coming, they’d been planning October 7th for years.

And in today’s “Washington Post” there’s another deep dive:

“Mossad’s pager operation: Inside Israel’s penetration of Hezbollah – New details emerge of Israel’s elaborate plan to sabotage Hezbollah communications devices to kill or maim thousands of its operatives.”

Free link: https://wapo.st/3NfkRNV

This is what the denigrated mainstream media does. Investigate, tell the story, but those on both the right and left hate the “New York Times” and there’s not a whole lot of respect for the WaPo or the “Wall Street Journal” either. TV news is the land of opinion. And that’s what you get in the scuttlebutt online. The internet has unleashed everybody’s fury. Everybody’s got an opinion and everybody wants to express it and everything is up for grabs. Most of America believes there is no truth, or won’t listen to a contrary opinion. I must admit that the right was correct about college campuses, they’re indoctrinating students into an us vs. them perspective, where those with money and power are the enemy, no matter what their bona fides and efforts might be. Sometimes those with the power are not the oppressor, sometimes the little guy is just plain wrong, or a terrorist.

For one year hate has been rained down upon Israel and the Jews. And don’t separate them, because the haters don’t. On the UCLA campus Jews were labeled Zionists irrelevant of their beliefs and prevented from passing and so much more. So when people tell you it’s only Israel they hate, don’t believe them.

As for those against Israel, I point you to this article in the “New York Times”:

“Pro-Palestinian Group Is Relentless in Its Criticism of Israel, and It Isn’t Backing Down – Within Our Lifetime, a group formed by New York students, has galvanized pro-Palestinian activists who are calling for the end of Israel — and facing accusations of antisemitism.”

Free link: https://t.ly/TQdo9

Once again, the actions in Lebanon and the rocket attack by Iran have defined the issues very clearly.

It used to be about the poor people in Gaza, victims of the bloody, genocidal Israelis.

But now that the war has spread to Lebanon, people have become aware of what Israel is up against.

So what you’ve got here, in America anyway, if not the world, is the Palestine or die people,  those who think the Israelis should get out of Gaza, and should be prosecuted for war crimes while they give their country up to the Palestinians, from the river to the sea baby, and those who support Israel and its actions, and those who either don’t care or are afraid to take a side for fear of some retribution, some loss. Israel has been defined as the bully here, the aggressor, even though Hamas attacked the Jewish homeland, and if you say otherwise…

Even Biden and Harris are afraid of the pro-Palestinian posse. They’re pussyfooting, fearful of alienating anyone who might vote blue. Forget doing what is right, one must question how big the anti-Israel/pro-Palestine group really is. Do you kowtow to a vocal minority?

So now that Israel blew up pagers and walkie-talkies and then bombed Hezbollah in Lebanon…

People can get the complete picture. Israelis in the north had spent months in retreat from their homes because of bombing by Hezbollah. Netanyahu, possibly the most hated person on the face of the earth, who engenders more vitriol than Ticketmaster, decided that this could no longer be the case, he wanted his population to be able to go back to their homes. Which meant fighting Hezbollah, which like Hamas, is a terrorist group.

In Lebanon there were cheers and jeers when Nasrallah was killed. So many of the rank and file were sick of living under Hezbollah, which isn’t even the government.

And in Gaza… It’s the same. But you don’t hear any contrary opinion, any outcry from the residents, because that will set you up for not only reprisal, but probably death.

Now one thing has been made perfectly clear. Most of the media has no idea what is happening in the Middle East, never mind the public at large.

We’ve been subjected to Thomas Friedman’s bloviations about peace and a two state solution for the entire year. But this is not what the Palestinians, want, they want Israel GONE!

As do a lot of the protesters in the U.S.

But now everybody can see what is really going on.

Iran is behind the terrorists, otherwise why would the Ayatollah bomb Israel?

So do you lay your arms down, as even Macron is urging today…

Or you can be the United States, which gets into wars and never wins, ultimately retreats. I mean if you’re going to fight, why do so if you’re afraid of going all the way to victory?

But the United States is not Israel.

As for Netanyahu and Israel, they’re far from perfect. But now it’s perfectly clear, that it’s not only Hamas in Gaza, but the Palestinians and the Iranians and the Yemenites too want Israel wiped from the face of the earth.

It’s no longer about collateral damage in Gaza. Innocent people dying.

Now we’re down to the real nitty gritty.

So you may hate Israel and the Jews. You’re entitled to. But when you’re out protesting on behalf of Palestinians it’s now clear it’s not only about saving the supposed innocent, but hamstringing Israel, believing that the Palestinians have greater rights to the land than the Jews.

As for the Jews… For so many years, decades, young Americans were not exposed to antisemitism. I’m not saying it didn’t exist, I’m saying it wasn’t palpable. But now it is. And now the battle is more than Gaza. So if you’re a Jew and siding with the Palestinians…

Nobody likes war, nobody likes innocent people dying. But sometimes you’re attacked and have to respond, which is all Israel did in Gaza and Lebanon. And the nature of war is innocent people dying, ask the Allies about Dresden.

As for the America First people… Israel is our only bastion in the Middle East. You want a Christian nation? You have no idea how many Muslims are on the planet, you can’t put your head in the ground. Is every Muslim a terrorist? Of course not, but Hamas and Hezbollah are.

And then you’ve got the situation in Ukraine. The ultimate domino. Take your finger out of the dike and who knows what other Russian satellites of yore Putin goes after.

Would I like to watch Netflix and listen to music, ignore all this?

And it’s really not that complicated, even though it is controversial. You either support Israel or you do not. There’s no halfway anymore. You can’t say you support Israel but believe the war in Gaza must stop because of the havoc on the general population… Now you either want Israel to survive or you don’t. Which side are you on?

You get to choose.

Then again, if you’re pro-Israel, if you flaunt your Jewish heritage, watch out on college campuses. If Blacks were oppressed like Jews it would have been stopped immediately. But when it’s Jews…

Do you see this outcry when people are killed in Sudan or Syria?

Of course not.

Because it’s about the Jews.

And now it’s perfectly clear. You can’t hide behind humanitarianism anymore. Now the issues are palpable, defined. The terrorists against the Jews. America’s ally against a network of Middle Eastern nations that want Israel literally wiped from the map.

Once again, you’re entitled to believe whatever you want. Best if you familiarize yourself with the facts, but when has that stopped anybody in the social media age.

And fearful Jews… There’s talk about an election of Trump being the end of democracy, if Israel goes, where does it leave the Jews? Now if you’re a victim of antisemitism you can go to Israel, but if the country doesn’t exist…

So ironically, by doubling-down in his efforts against terrorists, Netanyahu has helped his case. Now the issues are black and white. Are you for Israel and what it takes for the country to survive?

Or not.

But Israel has money and American support and all that technology…  The war is just not fair!

Since when has war been fair?

So now when you see the Palestinian protest in your neighborhood know… This is not about the death of innocents, this is about the hatred of Israel and the Jews.

And believe me, it’s been a long game. Just like Hamas in Gaza, as delineated in that article. BDS was started by the Palestinians, they penetrated college campuses while the Israelis were asleep. To the point where even Jews were in support of the plight of the Palestinians…

But now?

Don’t tell me about the rank and file, who might be ready to step up for Hamas as put forth in the first article. The bottom line is Israel is fighting terrorists, well-funded terrorists, but so many in the world believe they need to lay down their arms and…negotiate? The Palestinians have been offered their own country again and again, but have rejected this, because they insist that Israel must go.

If you read the reviled mainstream press, this would be clear.

But today too many live in self-reflecting echo chambers.

The truth is the world is a complicated place. And sometimes the solution is not easy, sometimes you have to defend yourself. You wish you didn’t have to, but if their goal is not only your defeat, but your extinction, is there really a choice?

I haven’t been to Israel in fifty years. I can’t remember the last time I was in a shul. As for belief in God? Judaism is a questioning religion, you don’t have to believe in God to be a member of the tribe.

As for all this horsesh*t, this blowback because the Jews are supposedly the “Chosen People”… I mean if you’re not laughing… This is what every underdog, every marginalized people do to puff themselves up against strong odds. If you think the average Jew believes themselves to be special and entitled…you don’t know many Jews, and if there are Jews who believe this, they’re delusional.

But I have relatives who left Russia for Israel. They avoided the ovens. They got out early. They saw the handwriting on the wall.

If you’re a Jew and you don’t see the handwriting on the wall today…

When are you going to make a stand? When they’ve got a knife at your throat?

I don’t want more, I just want what everybody else does, a safe life and the ability to prosper.

But if you’re a Jew…

Now it’s all out in the open. Now it’s clear. Now is the time to speak up.

And I just did.