The Birth of Civility?

There is a debate going on in the pages of the Detroit Jewish News on "civility in our Jewish dialogue". OK, I can be civil. But if you don't like what I have to say, don't accuse me of being "divisive". Rather, offer a substantive argument showing me the error of my ways. There always has been and always will be a diversity of opinion in the Jewish community, civil or otherwise. So, Sharon Lipton and the JCRC will have to excuse me if don't attend their civility seminars. (I'd have to attend in my Purim costume anyway to maintain my anonymity.) Here at Talking Tachlis, we offer a fine platform for community members to air their grievances and engage in spirited debate. We are adults. We don't need to be told how to debate. If you don't like our position on the issues, don't avoid answering our charges by hiding behind "civility".

Civility, believe it or not, can be taken too far. Take for example, this letter by Robert Cohen, JCRC president, in January second's Detroit Free Press:

Although Terry Ahwal's guest commentary of Dec. 27 conveyed a one-sided picture of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it was encouraging to see it conclude with support for a two-state solution ("Gingrich's claim that Palestinians are 'invented' displays a pandering style of foreign policy").

Jews and Arabs often strongly disagree about where to lay blame for their conflict, but we can agree that both Israelis and Palestinians have suffered greatly. We cannot forget past events that brought Israelis and Palestinians to where they are today. But peace can only be realized if both peoples move forward toward a settlement they negotiate directly with each other based on a shared vision of a better future.

Lovely, isn't it? The very model of civility. It is even-handed, forgiving, non-confrontational, walking on the sunny side of the street with both hands outstretched in friendship.

The problem is that Terry Ahwal took the opposite stance. Read his column here.

Pretty nasty, isn't it? It's not only divisive (to the Metropolitan Detroit community) and confrontational, but it's a pack of lies, which anyone who knows anything about the history of the Middle East can easily expose. Unfortunately, as we know, when it comes to slandering Israel in the mainstream press, the slanderers are allowed to create their own facts; fact-checking be damned. The ultimate lie, sitting atop a stinking pile of defamation and dishonesty, is the final paragraph:

Gingrich should know that we Palestinian people live and exist and are the indigenous population of Palestine. For the interest of peace, Palestinians are willing to live side by side by Israel as equal and no amount of denial will eradicate us.

Do I really have to explain the unabashed mendacity of those fallacious claims? I don't think I do, but I think Mr. Cohen should have shown some support for the Jewish community and exposed Ahwal's lies in the Free Press. I'm sorry Mr. Cohen, but "one-sided" is quite a limp-wristed attack on a piece that demanded a strong response. But what's worse is the morally equivalent tone of what follows.

You credit Ahwal for his support of the "two state solution"? Palestinian leadership is interested in a one state solution, and guess which state that solution doesn't include.

Yes, Palestinians and Israelis have both suffered . . . at the hands of the Palestinians.

Anyone who has been paying attention knows that Palestinians and Israelis don't share the same vision. The Palestinian vision is a land without Israel and without Jews. That's more than strong disagreement. That has to be acknowledged when answering libels against Israel and against Jews. You want to compromise with evil? Move over, and let those of us who are willing to raise our voices speak.

Recall what Golda Meir had to say about compromising with our enemies:

I guess we have no choice. Either we do everything that is possible, and may seem to others as impossible, and just give up. Or we do everything that is really impossible and we remain alive. There’s one more basic thing that I think that people outside of Israel must realize, and if they understand and accept that, maybe other things will fall into place.

For instance, we’re not the only people in the world who’ve had difficulties with neighbors; that has happened to many. We are the only country in the world whose neighbors do not say, “We are going to war because we want a certain piece of land from Israel,” or waterways or anything of that kind. We’re the only people in the world where our neighbors openly announce they just won’t have us here. And they will not give up fighting and they will not give up war as long as we remain alive. Here.

So this is the crux of the problem: it isn’t anything concrete that they want from us. That’s why it doesn’t make sense when people say, “Give up this and give up the other place. Give up the Golan Heights,” for instance. What happened when we were not on the Golan Heights? We were not on the Golan Heights before ’67, and for 19 years, Syria had guns up there and shot at our agricultural settlements below. We were not on the Golan Heights! So what, if we give up the Golan Heights, they will stop shooting? We were not in the Suez Canal when the war started.

It’s because Egypt and Syria and the other Arab countries refuse to acquiesce to our existence. Therefore there can be no compromise. They say we must be dead. And we say we want to be alive. Between life and death, I don’t know of a compromise. And that’s why we have no choice.

I await a response. But please be civil. I'm very sensitive.
Cowznofski

Allan Gale and the Hypocrisy of the JCRC

What does Pastor Terry Jones have to do with The Walk for Israel?  Personally, he has nothing to do with it and probably has no idea that the Walk even took place this Sunday.  However, there is a connection, and a somewhat unsavory one at that - not, certainly, on the part of Pastor Jones, but rather on the part of our very own Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC).

Readers may remember a previous post on Richard Nodel, the volunteer president of Detroit’s (JCRC), and his unsavory alliance with Imam Al-Qazwini from the Islamic Center of America, the mega mosque in Dearborn.  We exposed how Nodel stood in solidarity with the imam against Reverend Jones’ right to free speech, a right that Jews in particular should hold dear considering how many times throughout history we have had that right denied to us.

As is seen in this video taken at the Pastor Jones' rally, those who Nodel stood in solidarity with, are Israel haters - jeering and booing at the Israeli AND American flag.

Now, Allan Gale the Associate Director of the JCRC, wrote a commentary this past Thursday for the Jewish News titled, Let The World See: We Walk For Israel. Gale espouses the merits of standing up for Israel and attending the Walk for Israel.  Unfortunately, what should be words of wisdom, end up only showing the duplicity that permeates the JCRC.

In his commentary Gale says:

There are threats that Israel and world Jewry need to remain vigilant against. Although Osama bin Laden is now gone, the Al Qaida terrorists are still out there, with their "soldiers" and sleeper cells, targeting Israel and Jews. The Hamas rulers in Gaza, the Hezbollah power brokers in Lebanon, the Holocaust-denying, Israel-threatening and nuclear bomb-pursuing Iranians, the Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad and the Palestinian terror organizations of Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -these are enemies of Israel that continue to operate daily and that celebrate the deaths of Jews. 

Wise words…but disingenuous at best.  After all, Gale works for and is in a position of importance at the JCRC as its associate director.  When Richard Nodel, the president of the organization, stood in solidarity with al-Qazwini, in Dearborn less than a month ago, did Gale speak out against this affront to the Detroit Jewish community, Israel, and Jews around the world?  After all,
al-Qazwini has made his opinions clear about Jews and Israel, and according to many articles is a Hamas supporter.

In an article in FrontPageMagazine.com in 2005, Joe Kaufman wrote about Qazwini:  

In an October 2004 speech to mark the beginning of Ramadhan, Al-Qazwini described how Judaism and Christianity are lower forms of humanity than Islam, Judaism being the lowest. He stated: “Generally, human being [sic] goes through his or her life through certain stages -- infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood -- as when you start your education, you go to an elementary school, then you move to high school, then you go to university, get your degree and find a job. This is how the entire humanity did. It was, in the beginning, preventive teachings. And then there was Judaism. And then, when the humanity advanced, there was Christianity. And now, when the humanity had advanced one more step, Islam came to be the universal, the university.”

In a news article that came out in The Boston Globe, dated October 23, 2000, it was reported that, during a lecture he was giving inside a university classroom, Imam Sayed Hassan Al-Qazwini had “expressed...hostility towards Jews.”

Provided all of the above statements, this hostility seems evident in much of the Al-Qazwini family. It exhibits a pattern of prejudice and bigotry aimed at those that are not of the Islamic faith, primarily those that are Jewish.

Why didn’t Gale take exception to Nodel discrediting the entire Detroit Jewish community let alone the organization that he has worked at for decades (28 years according to the JCRC website) by shilling for the local muslim imam who has no affinity, and in what it appears from his actions and words great disdain for Israel and Jews?  Why didn’t Gale stand up for freedom of speech, a deeply held liberty by both Americans and Israelis when Nodel stood in solidarity with Qazwini against Pastor Jones. Now he requests that all of us - the Jewish community -  stand up for Israel?

Gale goes onto say:

Media relations also are of key importance. Israel has English speaking, well-trained spokesmen and spokeswomen in its armed forces and government. They cater to the largest foreign media contingent in the world.


Now it is our turn to help Israel's public image by walking on May 15.

Seriously?

Just wondering, did you plan on inviting Imam al-Qazwini to be there standing in solidarity with the rest of the Jewish community, like your boss did with him?


Mr. Gale, the President of your organization has made our Jewish community look like a bunch of fools in the eyes of the rest of the world.  And you have the audacity to talk about public image, and helping Israel?

But perhaps most offensive was the final statement:

This Sunday, we can provide Israel with our personal solidarity and commitment by walking, gathering, singing and praying. Please come, to stand up, to pick up a banner and to shout it out -we love and support Israel.   

You see, you can’t have it both ways. Either live by your words or live by your actions. But choose one. Your organization, and by extension you, can’t cozy up to those who wish both our demise and the demise of Israel, and then expect us to believe the drivel that you write comes from your heart, telling the rest of us to stand up for Israel. That Mr. Gale, is the mark of a hypocrite.

And Pastor Jones’ connection? It’s as simple as this - thanks to his appearance here in Michigan, we were given an up front and personal depiction, once again, of the betrayal that the JCRC has perpetrated on the Detroit Jewish community. We owe him a debt of gratitude for exposing the truth about this two-faced organization and its leaders, and the dangers they present to us all.

-posted by Aerie

This is a Leader?

Woody Allen -
- We were married by a reformed rabbi in Long Island. A very reformed rabbi. A Nazi.

First of all, I never knew that the reform movement had a leader. Second of all, once I discovered that fact by reading this article reprinted in the Detroit Jewish News, I began wondering who decides who our "leader" is. I was never consulted, nor was I given the opportunity to vote. Third of all, until now, I wouldn't have cared whether or not there was a reform leader.

After reading about Rabbi Jacobs (who I am not comparing to a Nazi, more on that later), I care. Over the course of the past week, I've reread the article a number of times. I get angrier each time I read it. Rabbi Jacobs talks a good game about how he supports Israel. His actions show a disconnect.

I don't believe that all Israel supporters or members of the Jewish community have to walk in lock-step to prove our "Jewishness" or our loyalty to Judaism or to Israel. We are an opinionated, stiff-necked people, and we are going to disagree with each other. I can live with that. I cannot accept as a leader, however, one who allies himself with organizations, who, no matter how much they deny it, are working solidly, hand in hand, with the worst of Israel's enemies.

After joining in protest sponsored by Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity, Jacobs attempts to comfort us by stating,

he disagrees with 99 percent of what the movement, which has been described by the Jewish Agency for Israel as anti-Zionist, stands for.

One of the complaints of Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity is

Two settlements have been established in the heart of Jaffa in recent years with the declared intent of Judaizing the town.

We can't have cities in Israel being "Judaized" now, can we? And does Rabbi Jacobs support the term "settlements" to describe areas of Jews building in Israel? Gaza is judenrein, and Fatah is demanding the same of their proposed state in Judea and Samaria, where the dehumanizing terms "settlements" and "settlers" are used to describe Jewish neighborhoods and neighbors. But to approve of those terms within Israel? And they're honored by J Street, one of those other rabid - ahem - cough -"pro-Israel" - cough - gasp - choke - organizations.

Speaking of J Street, Fatah's Jewish voice,

“I support the goals and visions of J Street, but I’m not defined by it,” Rabbi Jacobs said,

And this means exactly what? We are supposed to mollified because he ONLY supports J Street, who claim,

Israel’s settlements in the occupied territories have, for over forty years, been an obstacle to peace. They have drained Israel’s economy, military, and democracy and eroded the country’s ability to uphold the rule of law.

Continued settlement growth undermines the prospects for peace by making Palestinians doubt Israeli motives and commitment, and by complicating the territorial compromises that will be necessary in final status talks. The arrangements that have been made for the benefit of settlers and for security – checkpoints, settler-only roads, the route of the security barrier* – have all made daily life more difficult for Palestinians, deepening hostility and increasing the odds of violence and conflict. A majority of Israelis have recognized this reality and oppose settlement expansion, yet their views have been outweighed by a small, vocal pro-settlement minority.

If this is a pro-Israel stand, the Manson family took a solid pro-Tate, LaBianca stand. And Rabbi Jacobs doesn't even pretend to be against 99% of what J Street stands for.

He said he wholeheartedly supports the work of the New Israel Fund, a group dedicated to civil rights and religious pluralism in Israel.

Maybe I'm not seeing the same things Rabbi Jacobs or the NIF is seeing, but from what I've been reading and seeing, these people would spend their time more productively in promoting civil rights and religious pluralism in the nations surrounding Israel. But in what must be a concerted effort at self-blindness, NIF says, on Goldstone's retraction of his report,

When the Goldstone Commission began its work, the organizations then called on the government to cooperate with the Commission, out of belief in the importance of transparency, and out of concern for Israel's international image. The government's refusal to set up a commission of inquiry, and then its refusal to cooperate with the Goldstone Commission, altered the findings of the Goldstone Report, with negative results.

So NIF joins Goldstone in blaming Israel for the bit of blood libel that bears his name. History has proven, when in doubt, blame the Jews, or in this case, the Jewish state. This gets the wholehearted support of Rabbi Jacobs. But I suppose it doesn't define him.

Just to show what an actual Israel supporter writes like, read Melanie Phillip's take on Goldstone's mendacity. Unlike Rabbi Jacobs, Phillips is not afraid to take sides and does not use weasel words to hide her feelings or her politics.

On the issue of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, he said he strongly opposed global BDS, which seeks to eliminate the Zionist state, but drew a distinction between such efforts and those who boycott products made in Jewish communities in the West Bank.

He said the Reform movement has not taken a position yet on the boycott of West Bank settlements but that “we do take positions on the hardest issues.”

Oh, I get it. He doesn't want to eliminate the the Zionist state, he merely wants to weaken it and insure that Judea and Samaria are ethnically cleansed in order to become Islamic terror states unpolluted by infidel Jews. But the Reform movement hasn't taken a stand. I'm not waiting for the Reform movement to tell me how to think. I will fight against BDS without making distinctions.

Getting back to the Woody Allen quote - as I said, I'm neither calling nor comparing Rabbi Jacobs to a Nazi. That line is from one of Allen's 1960s stand-up routines. That was a time when Jews were able to breathe a sigh of relief and ridicule their former unlamented, deceased tormentors. Israel was firmly established. Jews in the United States were taking advantage of their freedom to excel in a multitude of fields. Even in Europe, things seemed to be improving.

Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Mel Brooks' The Producers - the list goes on of humor made at the expense of the Seven Year Reich. There was a freedom to laugh out loud and publicly. It came from an absence of fear. And we are still laughing.

As time passed, Jews grew more secure, and in spite of its enemies, Israel grew stronger. We became complacent. Complacency led to a willful blindness so complete that a rabbi who openly colludes with our current genocidal enemies (even though he is against 99% of what they stand for) is being chosen to "lead" the Reform movement.

I don't have to explain our Islamo-Nazi enemies to anyone who has rejected this willful blindness, and it's useless to explain it to those who have accepted it.

During our Passover seders, we remind ourselves that, in every generation, a new enemy arises. Did Rabbi Jacobs and his followers skip this portion of the Haggadah? Do they really not get it?

If Rabbi Jacobs truly doesn't understand that taking both sides of the argument is not leadership, he isn't fit to lead.

If he doesn't understand that he can't stand up to our enemies while standing with our enemies, he's not fit to lead. And if he can't even recognize those enemies, he's dangerous.

If he doesn't understand that a leader must have the fortitude to take a strong stand, or he will only lead his followers into the abyss, he is not fit to lead.

Where Rabbi Jacobs is leading, I have no interest in going.

by Cowznofski

Who Invited the Vampires Into Our House?

As we watch the events unfold in Egypt, we listen to the multitude of experts warn us against letting the Muslim Brotherhood gain a foothold in that country.  Bob Sklar, Editor for the Jewish News had an excellent column, The Right Brotherhood? in this week's JN.  He spells out in detail the dangers of this organization bent on waging jihad in, "pursuit of a shariah-governed global Islamic state known as the caliphate." 

We all remember the stories about not inviting vampires into our homes, because without an invitation they cannot enter, and you remain safe within you own house.  So while we are all pondering the fate of Egypt and the implications of the Brotherhood there, one has to wonder who is watching our front door? 

In our Jewish community there are many organizations that are looked to for advice, protection, and information.  Whether an NGO like the Jewish Community Relations Council, The Jewish News, or our local temples and synagogues, we like to believe that they have the best interests of our Jewish community and the Jewish people at heart.  We assume that they do their due diligence before they partner with outside organizations like CAIR or the Arab American News.

But after this writer read today’s Jewish News, one can only conclude that not only do these organizations not know better, they fail to take even the requisite few minutes needed to find out who they are inviting into “our” house.  In fact, their modus operandi is to want to be “friends and neighbors” with anyone and everyone no matter their history, background, or motives.  And now it appears that they have opened the front door and invited in the vampires that are just waiting to suck (or in the case of the Muslim Brotherhood – slit a throat here or there) the blood right out of all of us.

The JN article “Faith Filled” 2/10/2011, about the world faith Sabbath, held at Temple Israel on January 30^th, reported that many religious leaders from around the metro Detroit area were invited to participate in the event. 

Alarmingly, one of the participants was Imam Achman Salie.  A five minute Internet search revealed a bevy of information about Salie, and all of it very disturbing.

It was easy to find out that the Imam is a faculty member at Oakland University who “works closely” with the MSA (Muslim Student Association).  The MSA, according The Investigative Project has its roots in the Muslim Brotherhood.  But that is not Salie’s only connection to the MB.  He is also on staff at the Fairfax Institute and listed on the instructors page.  That seems innocent enough, until you find out that the Fairfax Institute is part of the International Institute of Islamic Thought or the IIIT as it is more commonly known. 

And who exactly is the IIIT?  Andy McCarthy, former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and renowned author and expert on Islam and jihad in his article International Institute of Islamic Thought and the Muslim Brotherhood clearly lays out the connection between the IIIT, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Holy Land Foundation Trial. According to McCarthy, "To begin with, the Brotherhood is prominently cited in DOJ’s coconspirator list for the HLF case. More significantly, central to the HLF prosecution was the Brotherhood’s 1991 internal memorandum, discussed in my column. The IIIT is expressly identified by the Muslim Brotherhood in that memorandum as being among “our organizations and the organizations of our friends.”

So, this begs the question: If Imam Achman Salie is tied to the MSA and the IIIT and if the both these organizations are tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, then why in the world would Temple Israel invite the vampire into our house?

posted by Aerie

2/15/2011 Update:

Here is the description about Salie as he is listed on the Fairfax Institute website:

Imam Achmat Salie holds the Alim Fadil Kamil degree in Islamic Jurisprudence, graduate degree in Arabic, MBA in E-Commerce, and doctrorate in Business Leadership.  He is the coordinator of the Islamic studies program.  He contributed to the book by Sally G. Bingham, Leading Religious Voices Speak Out on Our Sacred Duty to Protect the Environment.  He works closely with the Muslim Students Association at OU, offering advising and counseling, and speaking at on-going interfaith events. He directs the Islamic Center and participates on the advisory boards of the Islamic University Bank, Huda Montessori and Michigan Interfaith Power and Light. He is at work on a book and articles exploring the theme of Muhammad as CEO and servant leader.  He can be reached at mailto:salie@oakland.edu  Courses:  Islamic Literature, Islamic Ethics, Muhammad and the Quran, Muslims in America, Introduction to Islam, History of Islam.

Shhh - Be Vewy Quiet. We'we Hunting Wight Wing Wadicals.

So when exactly do right wing radicals attack? We've been warned about  the rise of right wing militias, right wing hatred, right wing violence, right wing anti-Semitism. The threat is so dire, that various ethnic media have partnered in order to study this phenomenon, get us some scary numbers, and make us aware of the threat from these right wingers.

March 26, 2010 (Detroit, MI) - WDET-FM, the Detroit public radio station owned and operated by Wayne State University, today announced an important issue-oriented collaboration focusing on Right Wing Extremism with four of the region's most-read independent newspapers, The Jewish News, The Arab American News, The Michigan Chronicle and Latino. The five media entities have established a partnership to raise awareness of the growth of Radical Right movements in Michigan, and the country at large. The Michigan media entities have collaborated with the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil rights organization and one of the authoritative research institutions in the areas of hate groups, discrimination and exploitation.

Mikel Ellcessor, WDET's General Manager says, "The explosive growth of three distinct groups, the Tea Party movement, the Patriot movement, with the militias as their paramilitary arms, and the nativist anti-immigration movement has been underway for the past year. While these are distinct movements with their own animus, there is a well documented, and rising, level of extreme rhetoric coming from all three groups. This rhetoric has contributed to an environment that is fostering violence from the extreme right and multiple instances of domestic terrorism."

This report came out back in March of 2010. Since then, how many incidents of right wing violence have we seen? How many violent attacks have there been from Tea Party members? More or less than attacks against Tea Party members?

We've been warned to be on guard against the Michigan Militia since the mid 1990s. Since then, they've been responsible for how many violent attacks? The same number of times Jerusalem is mentioned in the Qu'ran: zero.

On the other hand, we know world wide that there have been almost 17,000 deadly Islamic terror attacks, some of them right here in the United States. Others have been attempted or planned. Shouldn't the Jewish News, instead of partnering with terror apologist and Helen Thomas supporter Osama Siblani, be watching out for the real source of violence? Rather than struggling to put a right wing face on every episode of random violence in order to gain political points, doesn't it make more sense to fight for the survival of the Jewish community and be honest about where a lot of this violence originates?

And rather than partner with Osama Siblani, the Jewish News needs to take some space and really expose him. He has been written about in past issues, but has his hatred ever been the subject of a feature article?

Leaders of the Metro Detroit Arab community stood strongly behind Hamas' and Hezbollah's attacks on Israel, condemning the American and Israeli governments and calling for the Muslim and Arab world to defeat Israel.

A July 14 press conference and rally at the Islamic Center of Detroit mosque attracted about 225 persons, mostly males ages 30-50, as well as young children and teens holding signs condemning Israel. The event was organized by the Palestine Office of Michigan and the Conference of Arab American Organizations (CAAO) representing 43 local Arab American organizations.

and

The publisher of the Arab American News and past-president of the CAAO, Osama Siblani, implored Muslims and Arabs to speak out, saying U.S. interests were being harmed by American support for "a criminal state called Israel," and "a bunch of terrorists led by Ehud Olmert that are trying to take the United States on an adventure."

"Don't be afraid. America needs you. Humanity needs you. You are the only people that can make a difference," he said.

That kind of vicious hatred toward Israel is passed over in favor of a hysterical examination of Tea Party violence? Then there is Siblani's spirited and dishonest defense of Helen Thomas,

Siblani declared, "We do not understand why a remark against a political group—the Zionists—would be interpreted as being anti-Semitic."

But as we know,

The mention of "Zionist" ownership of media or control of the government is often a thinly veiled reference to Jews and echoes classic anti-Semitic libels.

None of this should surprise anyone, for as the ADL points out,

The Arab American News, a dual language—English and Arabic—weekly, has a history of publishing anti-Semitic articles. Published out of Dearborn, Michigan, the newspaper, founded in 1984, claims to be “the largest, oldest and most respected Arab American newspaper in the United States.” The newspaper’s founding publisher and editor-in-chief is Osama Siblani, who has expressed support for Hamas and Hezbollah.

So, the question is: why does Horwitz partner with a man who is clearly at war with the Jewish community, not only locally, but globally. And this is not the only business deal between Horwitz and Siblani.

What does Horwitz get out of this? If this is one of those demonstrations of multicultural solidarity so popular amongst some citizen-of-the-world types, then we have a long road of trouble ahead of us.
by Cowznofski