Shabbat shalom!
In the midst of all the campus chaos and 24/7 reminders that everyone hates the Jews, we had a most pleasurable distraction in attending our grandson Max’s shabbat service at his school within Temple Sinai. “L’Dor v’dor” as they say, and a very welcome way to balance out the bad Jew news with some glorious grand child nachas.
Speaking of distractions, the sports world is offering plenty this month, including NBA and NHL playoffs (please Bruins, do not choke again!) as well as today’s 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, which makes it THE oldest sporting event in USA history and long considered “the greatest two minutes in sports”. The first Kentucky Derby was watched by a crowd of 10,000 people who saw three-year-old chestnut colt Aristides, ridden by jockey Oliver Lewis, triumph at Churchill Downs. The Derby has been held at the same venue since, even during both World Wars and the Great Depression of the 1930s. This year, over 150,000 are expected to descend onto the famed racetrack to watch the race, wear funny hats, and revel in the celebrations. My bet is on one of the entries from Japan, Forever Young, currently at 10-1 on the morning line.
Unfortunately, despite these wonderful distractions, I can’t seem to get passed my anger at the nonsense on campus’s across the country that dominated the MSM news this week. I’m sure you are all as tired, as I am, of watching the useful idiots being decamped by police from their designer “tentifadas” as one analyst described them. The latest is the discovery by police, not surprisingly, that these demonstrations are more organized than we thought, with suspicions falling of course on Qatari funded, Hamas supporting a-holes. Those suspicions were triggered by the discovery of “how to manuals” that started being distributed to pro Palestinian organizations and demonstrators even before October 7. One guide, called “De-arrest Primer,” teaches protesters to physically resist arrest or, in some cases, assault police officers or throw projectiles at them to protect fellow “comrades” from arrest. “Each de-arrest,” the guide states, “is a micro-intifada which can spread and inspire others until we may finally shake off this noxious ruling order all together.” Nice.
Yet for some reason, the ass hats running these “institutions of lower learning” keep acquiescing to their nonsense as they prepare for commencement exercises, some of which have actually been cancelled! Some of these kids missed their high school graduations due to the pandemic, and now they may miss their college graduation all-together, or be subjected to an onslaught of imbeciles shouting and protesting their support of murderous thugs from behind blockades, calling for death to all Jews “from the river to the sea”.
If you are detecting an angry tone here, you would be right. I have been enjoying a substack lately from Eve Barlow called, Blacklisted. I call her Angry Eve, because she has no patience any more for the anti-semitic nonsense spewing from these useful idiots on campus. Here is a short excerpt from her “Comedy gold” posting.
This is the skit SNL does not have the guts to write. Lo and behold we have an emergency shituation on our hands.
Can we PLEASE get an airdrop at Columbia university? We need 900 Acai Bowls, 1,300 Impossible Burgers on gluten free bread with sugar free vegan ketchup and 3,000 bottles of pH 9.0 electrolyte water. This is urgent @ UNRWA.
Please behold in this must-watch public address, the brightest minds of America’s Ivy League chosen elite:
Major props to the journalist who clarified the goings-on: “It seems like you’re sort of saying – we wanna be revolutionary, now would you please bring us some food and water.” They called it ‘“humanitarian aid” and they’ve demanded it. They need humanitarian aid! The students at Columbia must be provided with basic amenities for the resistance! The intifada will be catered! I present to you the sharpest thinkers of a generation. UNRWA, please help! WFP, where are you when the First World needs you?! Daddy Sinwar has ghosted these poor little slaves. Why is Daddy Haniyeh in Qatar in a luxury hotel and all they have are these REI tents? We must divert the food aid trucks from Gaza! These kids are starving!
Seriously, if the kids really wanted to do something to help the people of Gaza, they could follow the advice of NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof who argued in his column in The Times this week, universities “ending relations with Israel doesn’t help Gazans,” and could hurt students who rely on financial aid. He suggested that campus activists close down their encampments and raise money for Gaza humanitarian aid instead — or, better yet, spend the summer teaching English or learning Arabic in the occupied West Bank. But only if food aid trucks can deliver a decent Acai bowl of course.
On a more hopeful note, I was moved beyond my current anger by reading this essay from an Iranian, Amir Pars, who was once a typical Jew hater, but after reading an essay by Sam Harris’s “Why I don’t criticize Israel” blog post, had a complete change of heart.
He writes,
I tell you this to ensure you that my antisemitism credentials were solid. I not only know all the arguments, but I’ve vociferously expressed them loudly and proudly.
So, what happened? How did I go from despising and reviling every Jew, to today defending Israel every way I can, and idolise the Jewish people?
Like most other metamorphoses, it was a process. It started with Sam Harris’ outstanding blog “Why I don’t criticize Israel”. Although I “fought back” (translation: I tweeted disapprovingly at Sam Harris – see below), the seeds of moral vivication had been sown. For the rest of the essay, here is a link below.
And finally, for some additional comedy relief, check out this offering from an Israeli comedy team. Over the top, a bit funny, but also embarrassing. This is a satirical bit that will probably never appear on SNL.
Ok, enough student bashing this week and stressing out anyone with micro aggression sensitivities. Lot’s going on in Israel and beyond, with hopefully some progress on freeing some of the hostages.
And this just in, BREAKING NEWS FROM THE JNR, with confirming sources from Ha-aretz and Times of Israel: With Arab and American mediators pressing intensely for a temporary ceasefire, several reports Saturday said Hamas was prepared to accept the latest proposal, in light of assurances from the United States that there will be a “sustainable cessation” of the war.
But, do not believe for one moment anything that Hamas says, as they are not likely to free anyone until they get Israel to agree to stop the war, and that is not ever going to happen, even with all the Israeli domestic pressure to make a deal and the US making assurances of a “sustainable cessation”, whatever that is.
So, without further aJew, here is your latest compendium of carefully curated content from the likes of The Times of Israel, Ha-aretz, Kveller, Jewish Boston, JTA, and several other notable journals of Jewish news.
- Campus roundup
- “Dissent must never lead to disorder,” President Joe Bidensaid in his first address about the pro-Palestinian protests rocking campuses nationwide.
- Pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up an encampment in the main quad of Binghamton University, a school known to attract Jews but not activists.
- Dartmouth was heralded for its reaction after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Now it’s the latest campus to be rocked by protests.
- After Northwestern University brokered an agreement with protesters, members of the school’s antisemitism committee resigned, saying they were not consulted.
- The Philadelphia police department declined a request from the University of Pennsylvania to disband the Gaza solidarity encampment.
- Pro-Israel protesters at UCLA reportedly attacked four student journalists, sending one to the hospital.
- Protesters at Rutgers cleared out after reaching a deal with administrators.
- The University of Minnesota and protesters reached an agreement to end the dayslong encampment on the campus.
- To get protesters off lawns, some universities agreed to consider ending investments in Israel. But that’s not a simple task.
- A new survey found that 47% of U.S. voters believe colleges should ban pro-Palestinian protests.
- War in Gaza roundup:
- Hamas to agree to hostage deal? Believe it when you see it.
- Kibbutz Be’eri said that Dror Or, one of its residents who was taken hostage, is now believed to have been killed on Oct. 7with his body being held in Gaza.
- Ella Chaimi — whose husband, Tal, was murdered on Oct. 7 — gave birth to her fourth child, a baby boy, on Thursday in Israel.
- AIPAC and the Republican Jewish Committee have both stopped fundraising for 15 Republican lawmakers who recently voted against emergency military aid for Israel.
- Turkey said it would temporarily pause trade with Israel, until an “uninterrupted and sufficient flow of aid is allowed into Gaza.”
- Organizers at next week’s Eurovision Song Contest said Palestinian flags will not be allowed, but fans can wave the flag of Israel, which is participating in the competition.
- Apple TV+ will delay the release of the third season of Tehran, the Emmy-award winning Israeli spy drama, until after the war.
- Local boy makes it big? 🎭 Alex Edelman will receive an honorary Tony Award for his one-man Broadway show, Just for Us, about growing up Orthodox in Massachusetts and, as an adult, attending a neo-Nazi meeting in New York. It is now streaming on Max. (Hollywood Reporter)
- Why top Democrats opposed bipartisan bill targeting antisemitism in universities: The House passed the Republican-led Antisemitism Awareness Act Wednesday by a bipartisan 320-91 vote. But 70 Democrats voted against the bill because it adopts a controversial definition of antisemitism which some Jewish advocacy groups say stifles legitimate criticism of Israel. The bill now moves to the Senate.
- Just how accurate is the Peacock series The Tattooist of Auschwitz? The show, about the real-life love story between two Holocaust survivors, is based on a 2018 international bestselling book which caused a stir for getting numerous facts wrong. The museum at Auschwitz stopped recommending the book. Now, the producer of the new series told us how important it was for her to get things right.
- Quotable ➤ “Jews are experiencing the hate that we white people have been experiencing the last decade.” — Far-right political commentator Charlie Kirk on his Tuesday show. A broken clock is right twice a day.
That’s enough already! Let’s be careful out there, and in closing, here is a quick nod to a classic piece of music recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall in London, to honor the memory of Mike Pinder, one of the founders of The Moody Blues who passed this week. He was 82. The Moody Blues were formed in Birmingham, England in 1964, as part of the British Invasion. Their second album, 1967’s Days of Future Passed, was one of the first concept albums and I am listening to the LP as I complete this posting. It features their unique fusion of psychedelic and progressive rock and fused it with the world of classical music. Pinder was the last surviving member of the original five members of the group. Let’s hope the campus craziness swiftly becomes Days of Future Passed. Enjoy.
Brad out.
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