Stop Blaming Israel
The State Department's latest report on terrorism incredibly attempts to blame Israel for growing tensions while whitewashing the Palestinian Authority's responsibility for violence. Consider this excerpt:
"The PA [Palestinian Authority] has taken significant steps during President Abbas' tenure (2005 to date) to ensure that official institutions . . . under its control do not create or disseminate content that incites violence. . . Explicit calls for violence . . . are rare and the leadership does not generally tolerate it."
That statement is disgusting and obscene. There isn't enough space to list the many instances of official Palestinian incitement. But trust me, it is anything but "rare." Here, here, here and here.
Moreover, there is another form of official Palestinian incitement -- the PA actually subsidizes terrorism against Israelis. It just increased its budget for its so-called "martyr's fund payments" by 12% to more than $330 million a year.
The president, vice president and every major West Wing figure disagrees with the State Department's analysis. But outrages like this will continue until the stonewalling of confirmations is overcome and competent political appointees are in charge of the bureaucracy.
In the meantime, the individuals who produced this report, knowing it was at odds with administration policy, should be fired if possible or reprimanded and reassigned at a minimum.
Meanwhile, In Jerusalem. . .
If you need another example of Palestinian incitement, look at what is taking place on the Temple Mount, a compound that also houses the Dome of the Rock mosque.
Last week, three Palestinians smuggled weapons onto what they claim is one of their holy sites. Days later, they shot two Israeli police officers in the back. There have been numerous terrorist attacks in Jerusalem and near the Temple Mount, but last week's brazen murders on the site itself were extremely evil acts.
In response, Israel set up metal detectors to prevent the smuggling of weapons and additional attacks. All week long, imams and Palestinian officials have been inciting violence. They declared a "Day of Rage." They have accused Israel of upsetting the status quo on the Temple Mount.
Saudi Arabia does not allow people to wander freely at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. There are thousands of cameras and security officers. The Vatican uses metal detectors, as do mosques all over the world.
Only Israeli Jews are condemned for attempting to guarantee the security of a holy site. Not surprisingly, CAIR is trying to get in on the act.
And while jihadis do the dirty work on the ground, U.N. bureaucrats in tailored suits are doing their best to "ethnically cleanse" Jewish and Christian history in Israel.
UNESCO, a major U.N. body, has rejected Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem's Old City and declared Hebron, with the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a Palestinian World Heritage Site.
Israel's ambassador to UNESCO denounced the biased organization as "a full partner to the false incitement by Palestinians and radical Islam."
Long before there were Muslims or Palestinians in Hebron, the Jews were there. The real estate transaction when Abraham purchased that land is recorded in the Book of Genesis.
The Left Embraces Hitler
University of Chicago Professor Jerry Coyne recently posed this question:
"If you are allowed to abort a fetus that has a severe genetic defect . . . then why aren't you able to euthanize that same fetus just after it's born? After all, newborn babies aren't aware of death, aren't nearly as sentient as an older child or adult. . . It makes little sense to keep alive a suffering child. . ."
He goes on to suggest that evolving opinions about euthanasia are "the result of a tide of increasing morality in our world."
Murdering babies is the furthest thing from "increasing morality." It is a sign of growing decadence.
This is what happens when Judeo-Christian ethics are shoved out of the public square and society starts down the slippery slope of abortion on demand. Apparently, Professor Coyne would like to extend the culture of death beyond the abortionist's clinic and into the pediatrician's office.
But why stop there? How much more aware or sentient is an Alzheimer's patient? If suffering is the standard, why not euthanize the severely disabled or critically ill?
There is great irony here. The left accuses people who want to protect innocent life of being "Nazis." Well, the original Nazi, Adolf Hitler, fully embraced Professor Coyne's reasoning. Long before he went after the Jews, Hitler set out to eliminate people with disabilities and lower IQs.
The origins of the Nazi death camps can be traced to a September 1939 memo by Adolf Hitler in which he wrote that "after the most careful assessment . . . those suffering from illnesses deemed to be incurable may be granted a mercy death." He issued that memo after being petitioned by a father who wanted to euthanize his disabled child.
As we are seeing in Great Britain today in the case of Baby Charlie, free health care is not free at all. To paraphrase a famous saying, the benevolent state that is big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take your freedom and big enough to dictate who lives and who dies.
Trump Defends The West
The left's irrational, knee-jerk reaction to anything President Trump does was perhaps best displayed by the attacks on his tremendous speech in Warsaw, Poland, defending Western Civilization.
The president's praise for our values and culture and his vow to defeat militant Islamism was attacked as "racist," "religious paranoia" and "white-nationalist dog whistles."
Progressive elites couldn't be more wrong and out-of-touch.
Voters want a president whose foreign policy is more like Ronald Reagan's than Barack Obama's.
And 79% of voters say it is important for schools to teach the values of Western Civilization, but only 27% think they do a good job of it.
Thankfully, we now have a president who is willing to defend Judeo-Christian culture. If you missed President Trump's Warsaw speech, watch this brief video featuring some highlights. Share it with friends and family members.