Posted 30/1/2024
Polina, Molotov’s Jewish Wife
Robert Liebman
Hitler needed it, to pave the way for his powerful Wehrmacht to attack Poland. Stalin needed it, to buy time to bulk up his Red Army.* On 23 August 1939, their foreign secretaries delivered it: the non-aggression Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact.
Bitter enemies—Communist Soviet Union and Fascist Germany—instantly became allies.
A week later, on 1 September, Germany invaded Poland. The Second World War in Europe had begun.
Continue reading
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ilhan Omar. Rashida Tlaib. Three new American congresswomen, a shedload of mistakes.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-three-mistakeateers-ocasio-cortez-omar-tlaib/
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/israel-the-jig-is-up-because-the-end-is-nigher/
Roger Waters, Richard Falk, chronic hatred and a dose of reality.
The Contenders:
“As a Jew…” v “We the undersigned….”
The Contest:
Mirror mirror on the wall/Who is the smarmiest of us all?
“As a Jews” have an at-best tenuous link to the Jewish religion but invoke it cynically and dishonestly in political discussions. (On questionnaires I suspect most of them fill in the Religion line with ‘none’ or ‘atheist’)
“We the undersigneds” are superficially secular but are actually as faith-based as the “As a Jews,” maybe more so.
Obediently following the progressive line—”No enemies on the left”—they demand ‘rights’ and ‘justice’ for the Palestinians.
If, once, they could actually provide rational and compelling evidence—which rights, which injustices, and crucially, who is truly culpable?—instead of periodically repeating, mantra-like, these buzz words, the case would be closed. They could declare victory, and spare us their blooming letters.
Anti-Israel leftists insist on key emotive words—rights; justice; ethnic cleansing; pinkwashing—and the self-styled progressive flock intones them, in letter after letter after letter. Their obedience is sheep-like, and why not: they have much to lose. Express one doubt, make one false move, and your fellow progressives label you a ‘fascist.’ You are drubbed out.
Mirror Mirror Contest result: Dead heat.
Next contest: Big prizes for anyone who correctly guesses tomorrow’s new progressive buzzword.
A Christian, a Muslim and a Jew host a panel discussion on America’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The punchline: the Jew is a critic, not a supporter, of Israel.
The University of Winnipeg’s “My Jerusalem” event was a bit of a joke, as I explain in my TOI blog: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/whose-jerusalem-is-it/
What if a Noam Chomsky-like figure, or Chomsky himself, did an ideological u-turn and stated openly that he had been far too critical of the Jewish state, and too forgiving of the Palestinians?
Would many—indeed, any—anti-Israel radical leftists follow suit and change their own minds?
When Soviet leader Josef Stalin said “Dance!”, Nikita Khruschev shuffled his feet. Continue reading
Shelby Steele
Old news: When Syrians kill Palestinians, America’s radical left neither notices nor cares—even when hundreds, even thousands, are killed.
When an Israeli kills one Palestinian, the left becomes apoplectic with rage.
Man-bites-dog: When blacks kill blacks, America’s radical left has little to say—even when the death toll is tragically high and many victims are children. When a policeman kills a black, the left erupts in anger and indignation. Continue reading
When Israel emerged victorious from the Six-Day War in June 1967, the anti-Israel left in America, Britain and other western countries immediately pronounced judgement: the Jewish state was guilty of, among other things, “colonialism.” The main “other things” were “fascism” and “militarism.”
Israel did not plead guilty to these charges. Continue reading
A new anti-Israel slogan recently rode into town: “racist endeavour,” as in: “Israel is a racist endeavour.” Anti-Israel activists get a good bang for their buck with this compact phrase. “Racist” accuses Israel of being, well, racist.
“Endeavour” suggests that this racism is not accidental or incidental but is intentional, an integral part of Zionism. Continue reading
By Robert Liebman, timesofisrael.com, August 7th, 2017
Notorious anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan. Fugitive terrorist murderer Assata Shakur, a.k.a. Joanne Chesimard. Would-be police killer Baba Sekou Odinga.
America’s top feminists—leaders of several well-attended progressive, gay and anti-Trump marches—openly and unapologetically admire the unadmirable.
Bari Weiss, New York Times Opinion Section editor
“Will progressives have more spine than conservatives in policing hate in their ranks?,” asked Bari Weiss in a recent [August 1, 2017] New York Times op-ed.
My answer: “No!” It’s too risky. Continue reading
By Robert Liebman, Jewish Chronicle (UK), March 10, 2016, slightly modified July 2018
The radical left can chew gum and protest two or more causes at the same time. In fact, as self-proclaimed humanitarians, they should cast a wide net. Why, then, in a wicked world, do western boycott activists focus only on Israel? Continue reading
On June 26, 2018, 28-year-old political novice Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez soundly (57-43 per cent) defeated ten-term Democrat incumbent Joe Crowley in the primary contest for a seat in Congress. Continue reading
By Robert Liebman, originally published in Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), January 10, 2015
Several recent initiatives reveal the deep intent of many academic BDS supporters to attack Israel at any price, even if their own credibility and integrity foot the bill. Continue reading
By Robert Liebman, originally published by SPME (Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, December 10, 2014; this version slightly modified and images added, August 2, 2018.
More than fifty tenured Princeton academics recently signed a petition urging divestment from companies which supply military-related equipment to Israel. The organizers hope that many more of their colleagues will join them. The petition threw the local Jewish community into uproar. Continue reading
By Robert Liebman, Jewish Chronicle, May 9, 2014, this version slightly modified, and images added, August 1, 2018.
Alongside notifications of jumble sales and concerts, an article in the newsletter of my local church propelled the needle on my Oy-ometer off the scale.
Israel, this article proclaimed, was cruelly and arbitrarily mistreating the residents of a Palestinian Christian village. The writer supported her contentions with evidence that was weak (where it was comprehensible) and blatantly biased. Continue reading
By Robert Liebman
This is a slightly modified version of an article that originally appeared in algemeiner.com, June 10, 2015.
June 10, 1967 marked the end of the Six Day War and the beginning of the radical left’s hate affair with the Jewish State.
Although Israel neither welcomed nor wanted this conflict, the Left declared that Israel, not the invading Arabs, had been ‘militaristic,’ ‘colonialistic,’ and ‘fascistic.’ Continue reading
By Robert Liebman, Times of Israel, December 24, 2016 – slighted modified and photographs added, July 26, 2018
“Which Side Are You On, Boys?”
The fiftieth anniversary of the Six Day War in 2017 is likely to be overshadowed by commemorations for the one-hundredth anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. Each is monumentally important.
Leftist detestation of Israel did not begin with Israeli statehood in 1948 or the Suez crisis in 1956. Continue reading
By Robert Liebman, Times of Israel blog, May 5, 2014 – slighted amended and photographs added, July 25, 2018
If you want to criticise Israel in terms so extreme as to definitely impress your friends and neighbors, you can amass an impressive intellectual arsenal by boning up on Middle East history.
Or you can save yourself considerable time and energy by learning a dozen or so emotive buzz words. Simply utter them and you win the argument as if by magic. Continue reading
By Robert Liebman, Times of Israel blog, March 4, 2014 – slighted amended and photographs added, July 24, 2018
A collision between a paedophilia advocacy group, a civil-liberties organisation and the Labour Party has resulted in a major British political scandal. The kerfuffle has nothing at all – and everything — to do with Israel. Continue reading
The Beeb Mangles the Meringue – Again
By Robert Liebman, July 20, 2018
Little Isaac’s birthday party descended into catastrophe if not downright tragedy.
He invited all 20 of his classmates to his birthday bash but, on the day, numerous transportation delays in London stranded 19 guests. Only Ahmed, his neighbour, showed up – as did the cake from a nearby bakery.
The two boys amused themselves until cake-cutting time, when Ahmed insisted that the entire cake should be his. Pandemonium ensued – shouting, fisticuffs, tears. Continue reading