Antisemtism - Alive and Well in Germany

Kristallnacht - Germany 1938

This story in the Jerusalem Post is an OUTRAGE! Who says Antisemitism is long gone from Germany. It seems to be quite alive and well.This is truly sickening! 

A regional court in Germany has decided that a brutal attempt to set fire to a local synagogue in 2014 was an act meant to express criticism against Israel’s conduct in its ongoing conflict with Hamas.

A German regional court in the city of Wuppertal affirmed a lower court decision last Friday stating that a violent attempt to burn the city’s Bergische Synagogue by three men in 2014 was a justified expression of criticism of Israel’s policies.

Johannes Pinnel, a spokesman for the regional court, explained the court’s decision regarding the three German Palestinians who sought to firebomb the Wuppertal synagogue in July 2014. The court said in its 2015 decision that the three men wanted to draw “attention to the Gaza conflict” with Israel and deemed the attack not to be motivated by antisemitism.

Israel launched Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014 to stop Hamas rocket attacks into Israeli territory.

The court sentenced the three men – Muhammad E., 31, Ismail A., 26, and Muhammad A., 20 – to suspended sentences for tossing firebombs at the synagogue. and causing €800 worth of damage.

The original synagogue in Wuppertal was burned by Nazis during the Kristallnacht pogroms in 1938.

Wuppertal has a population of nearly 344,000 and is located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The court noted that the men had consumed alcohol and there were no injuries to members of the synagogue.

A 13-year-old boy who lived near the synagogue and noticed the flames called the police. Several days before the fire, a person sprayed “Free Palestine” on one of its walls.

After the court’s ruling, Volker Beck, a leading Green Party MP, said the “attack on the synagogue was motivated by antisemitism” and blasted the court for issuing a decision stating that the goal of the attack was to highlight the war in Gaza.

“This is a mistaken decision as far as the motives of the perpetrators are concerned,” he said, adding that the burning of a synagogue in Germany because of the Middle East conflict can be attributed only to antisemitism.

“What do Jews in Germany have to do with the Middle East conflict? Every bit as much as Christians, non-religious people or Muslims in Germany, namely, absolutely nothing. The ignorance of the judiciary toward antisemitism is for many Jews in Germany especially alarming, ” said Beck.

Rex Tillerson on Israel

Secretary of State designate Rex Tillerson (WJD)

When Rex Tillerson was one of President-elect Trump’s candidates for Secretary of State, I was a bit worried about his views with respect to Israel. Mainly because I had no clue what the position of this wealthy chairman of Exxon-Mobil from Texas - actually was. I could find no record of any statement by Mr. Tillerson on this subject.

Since people in the oil industry are not known for their sympathy toward the Jewish state - they might tilt more towards a natural ally  - the oil rich Arab states.

I was therefore hopeful that the any of the other candidate’s on Trump’s short list would be chosen. Their record was public and clear. They were all known to be strong and outspoken supporters of Israel. More than any past Secretary of State has been since Israel’s creation.

To my dismay at the time, it was indeed Rex Tillerson that was chosen. But my fears have just been allayed by Mr. Tillerson’s testimony before congress yesterday. It appears he joins the other distinguished group of candidates for the job. His support for Israel is just as strong as theirs. And he has now made his view public. From World Jewish Daily:

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, told a senate committee during his confirmation hearing that the U.S. must “recommit” to its alliance with Israel.

According to YNet, in a barely concealed swipe at the outgoing Obama administration, Tillerson slammed the recent United Nations Security Council resolution condemning settlements as “not helpful” and likely “undermines” the possibility of peace talks.

He also slammed Secretary of State John Kerry for his speech bashing Israel shortly after the vote on the resolution, which the U.S. failed to veto.

“The secretary’s speech, which followed that UN resolution, I found quite troubling because of the attacks on Israel and in many ways undermining the government of Israel itself in terms of its own legitimacy and the talk,” Tillerson said.

He made it clear that Trump’s policy toward Israel will be quite different, saying, “We have to recommit … that we’re going to meet our obligations to Israel as our most important strategic parter in the region.”

He added, “Israel is, has always been and remains our most important ally in the region,” he said. “I think in the Trump administration, the president-elect already made it clear and, if I’m confirmed, I agree entirely and will support (Israel).”

Message to Rabbi Marvin Hier

Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (JTA)

Message to Rabbi Hier: Do not succumb to pressure by the misguided . Please do not insult the incoming President of the United States by backing out of your commitment to be one of six clergymen selected to offer a benediction at his inauguration ceremony.

I wish these people would stop being so high on themselves. They may think they have the moral high ground here by protesting Mr. Trump at every single opportunity. But they do themselves and the Jewish people no favors by constantly showing how much thy hate the new President.

I have no proof of this. But my feeling is that most of these people are of the progressive social engineering mentality that never saw a conservative politician they liked. That they are protesting Trump so often in ways that they have never protested any other conservative politician is because they now feel they have license to do so. Why? Because Mr. Trump's rhetoric has been so terrible and worthy of condemnation all by itself. Even to some of his supporters. So they feel they can get away with it, without people discovering their true agenda.

But it's just excuse - an opportunity that they can get away with. They can bash him much more freely for the real reasons they hate him: his conservative political views.  

I have no respect for people that will not give the legitimately elected President of the United States a chance to prove himself before he even starts... and protests him every chance they get asking people to boycott his inauguration. Even his election opponents will be there... Republican and Democrat. People that clearly did not vote for him: The Clintons... The Bushses... They understand that every freely and democratically elected official should get the chance to serve the people that elected him. There will be plenty of time to protest him once he is in office. Now is not that time. And those that do so expose themselves for who they really are: Leftist fascists!. 

Palestinians: Israel is the Wrong Target!

Sultan Abu Al-Einein of the Fatah Central Committee. (screenshot - Jpost)

Memo to Fatah: I don’t understand your logic. The US is moving its embassy to Jerusalem and you attack the Jews?! You should be attacking the US! From the Jerusalem Post:

The Palestinians will start a new violent uprising if Donald Trump's incoming White House administration relocates the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a senior Fatah official indicated this week in an interview translated by MEMRI. 

"I believe that any American act of stupidity will ignite the Palestinian territories," Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu al-Einein told Egypt's Alghad TV on Sunday. 

Al-Einein, an aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also pointed to Israeli "arrogance" and settlement activity along with the potential US maneuver as provoking Palestinian violence.

"We must prepare for a confrontation with the new US administration, which has clearly and audaciously declared that Israel and its settlements are legitimate and legal," he asserted. 

The Palestinian official charged that Washington and Jerusalem "will bear responsibility for the return of the bloodshed in the Palestinian territories."

The Trump team has said that the US president-elect considers moving the embassy a "very big priority." 

Throughout his campaign for the presidency, Trump repeatedly said he would move the US Embassy if elected – a political promise past US presidents have frequently made, yet has never been held. 

Longstanding US policy is to treat the status of Jerusalem as an issue to be settled in final-status negotiations with the Palestinians.

Trump's pledge to move the mission has been met with mixed reactions from Israeli officials.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has questioned whether it would be wise for Trump to prioritize moving America’s embassy upon taking office. Meanwhile, Israel’s ambassador to the US Ron Dermer has backed the potential move as "a great step for peace."