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November 14, 2006
The Gathering Storm
By
Some of you have commented that I'm sending out much less
material of late. This is not your imagination. As I sit
in my little study in Jerusalem, overlooking the rolling
hills where David once fought Goliath, I feel overwhelmed by
a sense of helplessness as day after day the news gets worse
and worse.
There is a line from I, Claudius, the
mini-series on ancient Rome based on Robert Graves wonderful
book that keeps going through my head. It is spoken by
Claudius, the reluctant emperor who wishes to bring back
the Republic and end the corrupt monarchy. He says: "Let all
the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out." What Claudius
means, is let the horrors brought about by perversions and
lies and corruption come to fruition so that people will
clearly see what a state their world is in, and work for
change.
We are definitely in the mud. Israeli leadership is the
most incompetent and corrupt in her history. Everyone from
our Prime Minister to our President is under investigation
from everything from bribe-taking to rape. After all the
bitter lessons of the fake Oslo Accords, that had our
children dying in the streets, we have learned nothing, as
Olmert goes once again to the Americans with yet another
deadly plan to give our enemies more land, and with it, more
opportunity, to kill us.
It's not that Israelis don't know what is going on. They
do. But people are overwhelmed by the sheer pace of events
that unfold with frightening speed from month to month.
Still reeling from the rocket attacks on the North, we must
deal with daily rocket attacks on our South and the huge
weapons influx from the Philadelphi Corridor, once closely
guarded by the IDF, which is now open to endless weapons
imports from Egypt, thanks to a decision made by people like
Mofaz and Halutz to withdraw. Every day, some other suicide
bomber is apprehended. You don't hear about it, because we
don't die, but that doesn't mean our enemies have stopped
trying to kill us.
Some people -- the reserve officers whose lives were risked
in the last debacle in Lebanon -- have had the gumption to
rally to bring down the corrupt government, but most of us
are mired in confusion and simple fatigue. We get
sidetracked by foolishness, like the decision to turn
Jerusalem into a world-wide venue for gay rights activism,
an idea that backfired, exposing fanaticism and hatred on
all sides.
No, I didn't think the parade was a good idea,
but I was equally appalled by the violence and destruction
wreaked on Jerusalem by the parade's opponents. I also
found the activism against gay rights by the Chief Rabbinate
to be the height of hypocrisy. So concerned are they with
Jewish law and the holiness of the Jewish people that Chief
Rabbi Amar (whose own family was arrested not long ago for
assault and battery on his daughter's suitor) cancelled the
much anticipated Agunah Conference. The Conference would
have brought together Orthodox rabbis from all over the
world in a historic effort to come up with halachic
solutions to Jewish laws that encourage the blackmail and
extortion of Jewish women seeking a divorce, laws which
have turned the Jewish marriage ceremony into a life
sentence with no possibility of parole.
And while we focus all our time and energy on these
ridiculous little tempests in teapots, Iran goes on building
her atom bomb unimpeded, a bomb with our name on it. Olmert
smiles at us from the front page of newspapers as he shakes
the hand of a smiling lame duck president, confident that
the U.S. is going to stop Iran and save us. His own sons
already live in America, so I guess he isn't very worried.
But mine live here in Israel, and I am.
The world seems mired in the same kind of lethargy
and Jew-hatred which preceded the Holocaust.
Open any news channel, read any
newspaper, and the storyline continues to be the poor
Palestinians, even though they continue to support the most
corrupt, violent and dysfunctional regime on earth. The
lies covering up Islamic extremism and its agenda worldwide
continue to be flaunted by trendy films, TV shows, Hollywood
"stars", once-respectable newspapers, public-funded radio
shows.
The victory of the Democrats over the Republicans
while certainly in response to the Bush administration's
many failures, also no doubt shows a weakening of the
resolve to face the terrorist threat head-on, and a desire
to believe that there is another, easier way to secure our
freedoms, the way of negotiation, of easing the "grievances"
that the Muslims have against the West. As Brigitte
Gabriel writes in her amazing book, Because They Hate "Their
grievance is our freedom of religion. Their grievance is our
democratic process.''
The Jews of America, who could do so much to strengthen
their sisters and brothers in Israel, continue to be
influenced by the anti-Israel propaganda. That a large
portion of funds raised for the Israeli victims of the war
in Lebanon by the UJC were earmarked for Israeli Arabs, who
openly sided with Nasrallah, is one symptom
The complete abandonment of the Jews of Gush Katif by
American Jewry, so eager to help Arabs, is another. The
government is supposedly helping them, you'll hear these
people say. It's their own fault for not signing on the
dotted line in time, for resisting government policy.
The fact that everyone, even those who did sign, remain
jobless, homeless and poverty-stricken because of their
crime of living in an area that defended Israel's south from
terrorist bombardment for many years, is unforgivable. It's
as if we Jews have adopted the "hate the settler" philosophy
of our enemies, and wish to join the forces that want them
punished for their crime of being Zionists, and patriots,
and self-sacrificing, and loyal.
Jonathan Pollard, the spy who did not harm anyone, or any
American interest, remains behind bars because he is a Jew
who helped Israel, having long ago paid for any wrong doing,
serving more time than spies who gave information to
America's worst enemies and caused irreparable damage to her
security. And Jews are afraid to stand up for him. That is
another sign.
The rockets continue to fall on Sderot and the Negev from
Gaza. Each time we try to stop it, the world press gathers
like jackals to condemn us.
Misinformation, outright propaganda abounds. I'm sick of it.
It's like emptying a flooded cruise liner with a teaspoon.
In his book The Gathering Storm, Churchill wrote: "How
easily the tragedy of the Second World War could have been
prevented: how the malice of the wicked was reinforced by
the weakness of the virtuous; how the structure and habits
of democratic States.... lack those elements of persistence
and conviction which can alone give security to humble
masses; how, even, in matters of self-preservation, no
policy is pursued for even ten or fifteen years at at time.
We shall see how the counsel of prudence and restraint may
become the prime agents of mortal danger; how the middle
course adopted from desires for safety and a quiet life may
be found to lead direct to the bull's-eye of disaster."
Perhaps we have passed the point of no return. Perhaps our
accumulated mistakes and crimes have created a downhill
momentum that can no longer be stopped by human effort, but
only Godly intervention, i.e. a miracle. Churchill wrote
that he gained comfort from the fact that when Nazi Germany
finally showed her true face, in a way that even the most
naive could not ignore, "my warnings over the last six years
had been so numerous, so detailed and were now so terribly
vindicated, that no one could gainsay me... I slept soundly
and had no need for cheering dreams. Facts are better than
dreams."
I doubt that the storm that is gathering, threatening all we
love, and cherish and believe in, will allow us even that
scant comfort. I do not want to be "terribly vindicated." I
want to live out my life, and die in a good old age, my
children and grandchildren safe and healthy around me, free
citizens in the land of their forefathers. This is my
dream. May God help us.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at November 14, 2006 08:06 AM
Comments
Seraphic Secret is private property, that's right, it's an extension of our home, and as such, Karen and I have instituted two Seraphic Rules and we ask commentors to act respectfully.
1. No profanity.2. No Israel bashing. We debate, we discuss, we are respectful. You know what Israel bashing is. The world is full of it. Seraphic Secret is one of the few places in the world that will not tolerate this form of anti-Semitism. That's it. Break either of these rules and you will be banned.
This is so troubling and heartbreaking. What can concerned Americans do to help, Robert?
Posted by: Joannah at November 14, 2006 10:43 AM
Joannah:
Good question. There is no one overriding answer. There are however several things we can do.
1. Make sure your Church supports Israel.
2. Naturally, this goes for your local politicians. If they are not responsive, throw your support to an opposition candidate. Money talks. You can find out how each politician in America stands on Israel by checking the website of AIPAC.
3. You can donate directly to the people of Gush Katif. I linked to them in the article.
4. Education. Make sure the curriculum in your local school is not filled with Arab propaganda. We have run into a sneak attack here in Los Angeles and have been fighting a small but vocal group of terrorist enablers who almost manages to include Hamas positive material in the LAUSD educational program.
5. Organize prayer groups for the three Israeli soldiers who are still in captivity.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.seraphicpress.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 14, 2006 11:31 AM
Excellent suggestions. I've been telling my family and friends about your blog. My family is praying for Israel.
Posted by: Joannah at November 14, 2006 12:16 PM
Joannah:
Karen and I are pleased our suggestions are helpful. Thanks so much for recommending Seraphic Secret to family and friends. May we humbly recommend Robert's novel "The Hebrew Kid and the Apache Maiden." It's a lovely and powerful novel of faith and love in the American West.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at November 14, 2006 01:20 PM
Robert,
I too have wondered about the parallels that Naomi draws between Churchill's "gathering storm" and the gathering storm that's now upon us -- America, Israel, and the West. Ultimately, I suspect that what will finally rouse us beyond political correctness and indecision will be another 9/11-type attack -- or perhaps a nuke going off in Israel, London, or New York. (See the current issue of Foreign Policy for how easy it would be for terrorists to build a do-it-yourself nuke).
This tragedy will amount to another Pearl Harbor --- in respect to its emotional impact. And all the better if the Democrats control Congress; if Guantanamo is closed down; and if we're in headlong retreat from Iraq, or out altogether. All the better if the cheering on the West bank and the Arab world is so loud that even the mainstream media can't ignore it.
All the better if the next attack is aided by Iran and North Korea -- and by the revelation of national security secrets in The New York Times. And all the better if intellectuals in the West say it's all our fault!
It's terrible to imagine. But I sense this is what ultimately may provide the West with the moral clarity that Hitler provided Europe when he finally showed his true face.
Posted by: David at November 15, 2006 09:40 AM
I do my best to educate my own daughters and my Civil Air Patrol Cadets about the true history of Israel and the arabs but I often seem to fight the nonsense they are taught in school. My prayers are with you and with Israel and I only wish our government would pay attention to the fact that a world in which Israel no longer exists would be a world in which the United States would no longer exist as anything other than a shadow of itself. Many prayers for you and your family and your country, hopefully Netenyahu or someone else can help in time...
Posted by: Merry at November 15, 2006 10:48 AM
Anyone who quotes "I Claudius" is aces with me!
I certainly hope all the poisons don't hatch out, but there is so much B.S. that needs to be exposed that I can see why some would just like to see a few examples explode in someone's face./
Of course, the cancelled Agunot Conference is another issue that deeply saddened me. I still really respect people who want to live a Jewish moral life so desperately that they give up their familial autonomy to a Rabbinic hierarchy. I know that's a foreign idea to many people, but to religious Jews it's great act of faith in G-d and man. So to see these women betrayed is very heart-rending. This is not about Halacha, but about power, greed etc. In fact, it sounds like a chapter in "I Claudius"
Posted by: Jake at November 15, 2006 12:09 PM
"Jonathan Pollard, the spy who did not harm anyone, or any American interest..."
WHAT?
Pollard caused enormous damage to U.S. national security. He gave Israel top-secret U.S. military intelligence and diplomatic codes; names of nearly 100 U.S. agents in the Mideast, who were then "turned" by Israel; NSA code-breaking techniques and targets; intercepts of foreign communications; and U.S. war-fighting plans for the Mideast.
According to CIA sources, Pollard provided Israeli intelligence with names of important American agents inside the former Soviet Union and Russia who had supplied information on East Bloc weapons and war plans.
With remarkable chutzpah, Israel, which receives up to $5 billion in U.S. aid annually, refuses to return documents stolen by Pollard, or allow U.S. intelligence to debrief Mossad agents who ran Pollard in order to learn the full extent of the disaster. While Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu kept calling for Pollard's release on "humanitarian" grounds, he refused to free prisoner of conscience Mordechai Vanunu, now serving 18 years in solitary confinement in Israel for telling a British newspaper about Israel's nuclear arsenal.
Pollard is no Jewish patriot. He is a traitor who sold out his country, and fellow intelligence officers, for money, then claimed he was being persecuted by anti-Semites.
Victim he is not. To the contrary, Pollard is a poster boy for anti-Semitism. His treason unfairly exposes all American Jews to hate, and accusations of doubtful loyalty.
Jonathan Pollard is a traitor of the worst kind. He should stay in prison.
Posted by: Chris at November 16, 2006 10:02 AM