DIVERSITY ISN’T WORKING

A Palestinian uses a slingshot during an anti-Israel protest over cross-border violence between
Palestinian militants in Gaza and the Israeli military, near Hawara checkpoint near Nablus.
(Image: Reuters)

The news is increasingly biased.   Most reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is pro-Palestinian.  The Palestinians can do no wrong whereas the Israelis can do nothing right.  As conservative Jew Melanie Phillips put it in a recent article: “Hamas commits war crimes.  Israel is blamed.  Of course.”

We are reminded in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah 5:20 “ Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”

The mantra “diversity is a strength” is being disproved everywhere.   In Israel, Israeli Arabs have taken to the streets and clashed with Israeli Jews, viciously and violently. 

In England, anti-semitism has reared its ugly head.  And here in the US racial strife continues in our big cities.  Yet our leaders still say diversity is our strength.

PIPES WARNS OF CONFLICT WITH ISRAELI ARABS ……………….. 20% of Israel’s citizens are Israeli Arabs, citizens of Israel

L’Informale:  The conflict between Israel and Hamas has led to a new phenomenon: widespread riots by Israel’s Arab citizens. Do you agree with Israeli historian Benny Morris’ 2004 assessment that Israeli Arabs are a “time bomb”?

Daniel Pipes:  Very much so. I have written on Israeli Arabs since 1986 and argued since 2006 that they represent Israel’s “final enemy” and an “existential danger.” After foreign states and external Palestinians are neutralized, the Arab citizens of Israel remain as the enemy that cannot be defeated but must be integrated, a far more difficult task.   (“Israel’s policy should be victory,” Daniel Pipes, 5/16/2021)

• The Palestinians are upset because Jews are being permitted to tour the Temple Mount. The Palestinians do not want to see Jews visiting their holy site; they do not want to see Jews in Jerusalem, and they do not want to see any Jew at all in the land that stretches from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.  (Bassam Tawil, Gatestone, 5/11/2021)

• There is one sure-fire way of guaranteeing that Hamas will continue to employ terrorism against Israel . . .   That sure-fire way is to reward the terrorists who employ this tactic and to punish their intended victims who try to fight back.

• The real root cause of terrorism is that it is successful – terrorists have consistently benefited from their terrorist acts. Terrorism will persist as long as . . . the international community rewards it, as it has been doing for the past [many] years. (Alan M. Dershowitz, Gatestone, 5/14/2021)

• Now, with Palestinian militants once more targeting Israeli civilian areas with rockets and missiles, the folly of Mr. Biden’s ill-advised approach to the Middle East has been exposed . . .   Indeed, the extent of Iran’s military support for Palestinian militants was revealed by an official with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organisation who boasted last week:  “The rockets we use to pound Tel Aviv, our weapons, and our food are provided by Iran.”   (Con Coughlin, Gatestone, 5/17/2021)

Pressure is mounting on the Biden administration to strengthen its public stand on the violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories – and specifically, to speak out and act more forcefully in the defense of Palestinian lives and human rights. With key Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this weekend describing Israel as an “apartheid state,” the progressive left is stepping up its campaign for a pivot in the US’s long-held commitment to Israel first and foremost.   (Andrew Naughtie, Independent, 5/17/2021)

Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades Calls For General Mobilization In West Bank, Instructs Fighters To Make Life ‘An Unbearable Hell’ For Israelis (MEMRI, 5/17/2021)

Diversity isn’t working in the UK, either

Video from UK ‘Palestinian’ demo:  ‘F*** the Jews, rape their daughters’  (Jihad Watch, 5/16/2021)

CNN CONTRIBUTOR ANTI-SEMITIC

A longtime contributor to CNN found himself in hot water after tweeting, “The world today needs a Hitler.” The inflammatory tweet, which could be interpreted as a call for the extermination of the Jewish people, was posted to Twitter on Sunday amidst the rising tensions and violence between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East.

The CNN contributor quickly deleted the post, but it sparked social media users to comb through his Twitter profile. Adeel Raja, who has written dozens of articles for CNN, also appears to have a history of posting anti-Semitic messages on Twitter.

Donald Trump Jr. posted screenshots of the “Hitler” tweet as well as a CNN article that indicates Raja as a co-author, and his LinkedIn profile, where he describes himself as a “Freelance Contributor at CNN.”   (The Blaze, 5/16/2021)

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SAUDI-IRAN GET CLOSER

Washington is one reason. In a dangerous world, the Saudis are worried about the Biden administration. “Saudi Arabia can no longer expect the same backing that they had under Trump,” says Ahmed Al-Omran, editor of the (very good) Riyadh Bureau newsletter.  Since coming to office, Smokin’ Joe has cut support for Saudi Arabia’s ruinous military campaign against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, chided Riyadh over its lousy human rights record, and launched a full-bore diplomatic effort to revive the Iran nuclear deal — something the Saudis always opposed.

Given Biden’s broader push to reduce American involvement in the Middle East, the Saudis might be keen to find a better modus vivendi with their main regional rivals. The Saudi overtures to Tehran come amid fresh thaws with Syria and Turkey as well.

Meanwhile, from Iran’s perspective, easing tensions with the Saudis is one way to mollify Riyadh’s opposition to a revived nuclear accord. What’s more, al-Omran says, it could open the way to broader economic ties with the Arab world after a new deal is done. (Israel’s misgivings about a new nuclear deal, of course, may be harder to overcome.)   (Gzero Signal, 5/13/2021)

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SWISS VOTE TO BAN BURQA

On March 7, the Swiss narrowly voted to ban all face coverings in public.  The initiative behind the referendum was launched in 2016 by associates of the Swiss People’s Party and the Egerkingen Committee, that had in 2009 successfully pushed for a vote to ban the building of new mosque minarets in the country.

With the outlawing of the Islamic face veil, Switzerland joined 18 other nations that have to some degree banned the burqa. They include Austria, Denmark, France, Belgium, Tajikistan, Bulgaria, China, Cameroon, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Latvia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

It is now time to ban the burqa in Canada as well.   (Tarek Fatah, Toronto Sun, Middle East Forum, 5/10/2021)

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PRIORITY ON CHINA

• “Our purpose is not to contain China, to hold it back, to keep it down. It is to uphold this rules-based order that China is posing a challenge to. Anyone who poses a challenge to that order, we’re going to stand up and defend it.” — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 60 Minutes interview, May 2, 2021

• For American diplomacy, this is a significant admission that America no longer wants to lead the world, but instead gracefully back away as the world’s reigning superpower.  (Peter Schweizer, Gatestone, 5/13/2021)

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UK

Nicola Sturgeon is Scotland’s First Minister.   She is singularly focused on bringing independence to Scotland.

• Is Nicola Sturgeon now the main threat to Boris Johnson? She’d like you to think so but in this week’s issue Douglas Murray and I take another look at the narrative of SNP resurgence. Support for independence is back down to where it was in the 2014 referendum and the party has fewer votes than a decade ago.   (The Spectator, 5/13/2021)

• Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, says another independence referendum for Scotland is now a matter of “when not if,” and that after leaving the UK, Scotland will launch a bid to rejoin the EU. But there are formidable obstacles ahead. Getting to a vote will force a complex game of chicken with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. If a majority of Scots then vote for independence — hardly a sure thing – the process of extricating their new country from the UK will make Brexit look easy. Next, come the challenges of EU accession. In other words, Scotland’s journey down the rocky road ahead has only just begun.  (Gzero Signal, 5/14/2021)

• The British Labour has accused the prime minister of a “reckless failure to protect our borders,” saying he acted too late in banning travel from India to prevent the spread of B16172.  (The Week, 5/17/2021)

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USA

DailyKenn.com — Even though our national family and individual families rely on energy, White House occupant Joe Biden is prepared to shut off more energy pipelines. 

Even following fuel shortages from shutdown pipeline, Jen Psaki says Biden is still considering canceling existing pipelines (pic.twitter.com/TeBU6ZlNJa) (RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 11, 2021)

Biden’s announcement came via White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Even as Psaki spoke gas shortages were plaguing much of the southeast where ransomware hackers disrupted the fuel flow through the Colonial Pipeline.   Effectively, she admitted that the administration looks at each pipeline project individually and isn’t making a sweeping policy towards pipelines in general; a dark harbinger of things to come.

It turns out that Biden and his gang are no different than the DarkSide Russian gang that hacked Colonial. Biden may be worse. DarkSide targeted only one pipeline and didn’t close it permanently. Biden is eyeing multiple pipelines whose closure could seriously cripple the nation’s economy. Seem like Russian collusion?

• Biden’s decision to deny Americans full access to energy seems rooted in the discredited man-made climate change “science.” Biden, along with many on the far-left, also seem to embrace other fake science tenets such as a plethora of genders (in reality, there are only two) and an absurd notion that race is a social construct. (Daily Ken, 5/13/2021)

• “But the defining crisis of the Biden presidency may be the crisis on America’s southern border . . . an annual rate of 2 million people walking into our country uninvited, the advance guard of a Third World invasion that will change the character and composition of the United States.”  (Pat Buchanan, 5/14/2021)

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TRUTH DIES IN AUSTRALIA

The Australian Museum claims it’s putting on the most important show in its 194-year history. And it’s right: This proves that truth is now officially dead. That is a huge deal for a museum. On Saturday, the Australian Museum will open Unsettled, an exhibition about the “devastation” of colonisation that it says “illuminates the power of truth-telling.” But truth-telling is the last thing to now expect in a museum we funded for generations to promote it.

For one, this exhibition treats as true the “stolen generations” – the myth that “generations” of children were stolen from caring parents just because they were Aboriginal.

I’ve challenged activists for two decades to name even just 10 such children. Prove they were taken because they were Aboriginal, not because they were neglected, abandoned, abused or sent away to school.

But worse is this museum’s fact-lite promotion of atrocity claims.

Its exhibition includes a huge map of Australia claiming to show where whites massacred Aborigines. We are asked to believe that in 1921 almost two-thirds of Australia was a massacre site.   (Australian Museum’s ‘Stolen Generation,’ show proves that truth is officially dead,” Andrew Bolt, SMH, 5/16/2021)

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Ministers in ‘furious’ row over Australia trade deal

UK cabinet ministers are locked in a “furious” battle over whether to sign off on a trade deal with Australia that would grant Australian farmers tariff-free access to UK markets.

International Trade Secretary Liz Truss is pushing for the deal but she faces “stiff opposition” from Environment Secretary George Eustice, who fears a “backlash” from the UK farming industry, according to the Financial Times.   (The Week, 5/18/2021)

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JUST A THOUGHT

After my comment last week that you can’t trust the French, a comment was posted by a fellow Englishman who asked if you can trust the British.   Good point.   The British joined the EU in 1973, signing the Treaty of Rome.  They have since reneged on this.  Now, they are breaking the Brexit rules.  

There’s a famous patriotic song called “Rule Britannia,” sung every year at the Last Night of the Proms, which contains the words “Britannia rules the waves.”  These words were inspired by Britain’s naval supremacy, which ended with World War II.   Sometime after the war, a short book was written titled “Britannia waives the rules,” as Britain turned its back on its former dominions.

Clearly, you can’t trust the English, either.

It was a Frenchman, the Marquis de Ximenès (1726–1817), who first coined the term “Perfidious Albion,” claiming that England could not be trusted when it came to international relations.  Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain.

This reminds me of a British TV series a few years ago about Anglo-French relations.  It was called “With Friends Like These.”

Perhaps the problem is democracy.  Governments change hands regularly – and policies, too.   The US is no different as we are witnessing right now under President Biden.

Maybe you can’t trust politicians?  Or maybe it’s just human nature!

THE GREAT RESET

The Great Reset is a proposal by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to rebuild the economy sustainably following the COVID-19 pandemic. … It was unveiled in May 2020 by the United Kingdom’s Prince Charles and WEF director Klaus Schwab.

In June, elites at important international institutions such as the World Economic Forum and the United Nations launched a far-reaching campaign to “reset” the global economy.

The plan involves dramatically increasing the power of government through expansive new social programs like the Green New Deal and using vast regulatory schemes and government programs to coerce corporations into supporting left-wing causes.

The two justifications for the proposal, which has been aptly named by its supporters the “Great Reset,” are the COVID-19 pandemic (the short-term justification) and the so-called “climate crisis” caused by global warming (the long-term justification).

According to the Great Reset’s supporters, the plan would fundamentally transform much of society. As World Economic Forum (WEF) head Klaus Schwab wrote back in June, “the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. In short, we need a ‘Great Reset’ of capitalism.” 

Internationally, the Great Reset has already been backed by influential leaders, activists, academics and institutions. In addition to the World Economic Forum and United Nations, the Great Reset movement counts among its supporters the International Monetary Fund, heads of state, Greenpeace and CEOs and presidents of large corporations and financial institutions such as Microsoft and MasterCard.   (The Hill, 12/3/2020)

One thing is for sure – if the elites return to power in January, they will proceed without consulting the people.

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GERMANY’S FAR RIGHT PROBLEM

Germany uncovers suspected far-right “Reichsbuerger” in armed forces

BERLIN (Reuters) – German military intelligence has opened an investigation into eight civilian employees of the armed forces suspected of belonging to the far-right “Reichsbuerger” movement that denies the existence of the modern German state. “We don’t tolerate enemies of the constitution in the Bundeswehr,” Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Tuesday, referring to the armed forces. Members of the Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) do not recognize modern-day Germany as a legitimate state, and insist the former, far larger “Deutsche Reich” still exists despite Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War Two. (https://www.reuters.com/article/germany-defence-idUSKBN28B62A)

Germany should intensify its armaments and military cooperation with Great Britain, with a particular focus on the warfare of the future with robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI), urge experts of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) within the framework of a program financed by the CSU-affiliated Hanns Seidel Foundation and implemented at London’s prestigious King’s College. These efforts are aimed at militarily tying the United Kingdom as close as possible to the EU, in spite of Brexit, to be able to use the clout of British armed forces for future EU operations. Whereas, military cooperation has long since been agreed upon – but had not really gotten off the ground, in practice – DGAP experts are now urging the enhancement of armament cooperation, for example, the joint development of missiles, as well as German participation in British programs, which explore the comprehensive use of state-of-the-art technologies from combat machines to Artificial Intelligence.  (German Foreign Policy, 12/6/2020)

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LETTERS

Comparing Rhodesia and South Africa to what’s happening in America now.

“It is NOT about personalities. It is about policies. Prince Charles was there. We watched it Live. It was hard in April 1980 to see the best country in Africa handed over for destruction to what has become present day Zimbabwe. It was hard in May 1994 to watch Live the most developed country in Africa be handed over to what has now become a basket case in so many ways. It is hard today to watch Live the greatest nation in history succumbing to the inevitable and final outcome, dynamically demonstrated by the two above “experiments” and shown as recently in Hong Kong, Venezuela and Cuba and numbers of others. Ask anyone from the former Eastern European USSR states. Yes, ask those who have been “there”.”

On the 400^th anniversary of the Pilgrim Fathers and the first Thanksgiving last month, there was a call for land to be returned to the native peoples.   Similar cries in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) led to a dramatic fall in food production and to mass starvation.   Not having learned from that, the same cries are now heard in South Africa and farmers are being driven off the land.  It’s no exaggeration to say the same thing could happen in the US.   All three countries have been major food producers, supplying food to the rest of the world.

FROM THE UK:

Football matches have been resumed with spectators able to watch the sport.  As players began by “taking the knee,” showing their support for anti-racisim, spectators booed.

“Excellent blog, all the ‘political correct’ preaching about foreigners won’t change the heart of Brits. Some football fans were allowed back into stadiums yesterday for the first time in months. Players ‘taking the knee’ is a requirement before kick-off at all grounds. Millwall supporters greeted the spectacle with derisive booing, which has caused outrage with the politically correct brigade. The truth is that the majority of fans would all love to join in the boos.

Football was once known as the ‘safety valve’ of the working man. The heart of the nation could always be known on any ‘issue of the day’ by chants and opinions expressed at games.”  (UK, 12/5/2020) 

BRITISH CONTRADICTIONS

One of the British national daily newspapers was asking readers “What does it mean to be British?”  Some of the emails are hilarious but this one came from a man in Switzerland —

“Being British is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then traveling home, grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkish kebab on the way, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American shows on a Japanese TV. He buys a holiday home in Spain, skis in France, fancies Swedish girls and has a Romanian au-pair. And the most British thing of all? Suspicion of anything foreign.”

HOW COVID HAS WIDENED BRITAIN’S WEALTH GAP

The coronavirus pandemic has deepened the inequalities between people living in the south of England and those in the north and Midlands, new research shows. 

The State of the North report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) reveals proportionally higher levels of unemployment and child poverty in northern regions, despite Boris Johnson’s pledge at last year’s election to “level up” the UK.

“Covid-19 has thrown our long-term inequities and lack of resilience into a stark spotlight,” says the think tank. “A recovery that simply restores the old order would be unsustainable and – for many – unacceptable.”    (The Week, 10/7/2020)

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EU MORE ASSERTIVE ON HUMAN RIGHTS

“Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.”  (Rev 13:1)

An anchor on Sky News this morning described the EU’s bureaucracy as “the beast.”   Interesting terminology.   He was talking about the latest attempt to work out a trading agreement between the EU and the UK.    It’s almost certain that Boris Johnson has used similar language in dealing with the EU’s bureaucrats!

With its new sanctions regime, the EU is posing as a global judge and avenger of factual or alleged human rights violations. A relevant sanctions law, largely modeled after the US American “Global Magnitsky Act,” was passed yesterday by the foreign ministers of the EU. It entitles the Union to freeze the assets and block the visas of citizens of foreign countries, accused of serious human rights violations. Politically, this is only aimed at representatives of non-allied states. Those in the West, who are responsible for torture or state sanctioned murder, need not fear any consequences. Most recently, Kosovo, whose elites have been accused for years of the most severe human rights violations, has passed a “Magnitsky Act” sanctioning factual or alleged culprits abroad. Already last year, an EU diplomat was quoted saying that the aim is to show that “we have muscles.” It is designed to serve as an instrument in the global power struggle.  (German Foreign Policy, 12/8/2020)

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ISRAELI REPORTERS VISIT RAMALLAH

• The Palestinian journalists’ group is angry not only because two Israeli reporters visited Ramallah. It is upset because the reporters dared to reveal an inconvenient truth: that Palestinians are enjoying themselves and that, despite the outbreak of the coronavirus, the economy in Ramallah is doing well. 
• This truth goes against the Palestinian leadership’s official and long-standing propaganda line: that the Palestinians are “suffering” as a result of the bad economy and therefore the world needs to continue providing them with hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
• The only journalists the Palestinian leadership tolerates are those who do not question its policies and decisions and who do not ask embarrassing questions.  (Bassam Tawil, Gatestone, 12/9/2020)

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POINTERS

• “Iranian sources confirm that the duties and powers of the office of Supreme Leader Khamenei have been transferred to his son, Mojtaba Khamenei,” said Iranian journalist Mohamad Ahwaze.  (World Israel News, 12/6/2020)
• Macron to ban home-schooling:  All children in France will have to go to school from the age of three, in a bid by Emmanuel Macron to clamp down on radical Islam. Gerald Darmanin, the hardline conservative interior minister, said yesterday that the aim was to save “these children who are outside the scope of the republic.” Macron believes that hardline Islamist doctrines fostering a “separatist” mentality and encouraging terrorism are more easily inculcated in children taught at home.  (The Week, 12/7/2020)
• Minister slammed over Black Lives Matter remarks — The environment secretary, George Eustice, has been accused of “providing shelter to racists”, says The Guardian, after he failed to condemn Millwall fans who booed players taking a knee. “My personal view is that Black Lives Matter, capital B, L and M, is actually a political movement that is different to what most of us believe in, which is standing up for racial equality,” Eustice told Sky News.  (The Week, 12/7/2020)
• Old Etonians defend sacking of ‘misogynistic’ teacher –– Former Eton pupils have supported the school for sacking a teacher they accuse of promoting the idea that “men are violent and women are compliant.” A group of former pupils urged the institution not to reinstate Will Knowland, who was dismissed after refusing to delete a video which set out his rebuff to feminism, sparking a row about free speech. Writing to The Times, they say the decision to sack Knowland was justified by the “intellectually feeble, misogynistic and vitriolic nature” of the video.   (The Week, 12/9/2020)
• Two million British families to be pushed into poverty – Destitution levels in Great Britain are expected to double in the wake of the pandemic, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The study forecasts two million families, including a million children, will struggle to afford to feed themselves, stay warm, or keep clean as the Covid-driven recession deepens. It adds that government polices were driving sharp rises in extreme poverty even before Covid struck.  (The Week, 12/9/2020)

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AFTER THOUGHT

Most people today are unaware that only the private sector produces wealth.  Government produces nothing.   But government takes an increasing amount of money from the private sector to meet its obligations.   When government was smaller most people realized the truth of this.  But now government has gotten so big that people think all wealth emanates from Washington, or London, or wherever.  

Remember the words of Margaret Thatcher:  “The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples’ money.”   What happens then?