Confirmation versus Protest

Diane Weber Bederman | Jan 4, 2025

Confirmation versus Protest

Confirmation is verification or final proof of something.

Protest has a negative connotation: a statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something.

For the past few years our every day life has been displaced, disrupted and often destroyed. We have witnessed protests on our streets, in our shopping malls, on campuses, and had roads blocked by people praying.Our ears have been assaulted by megaphones, our air filled with smoke. We have been on the receiving end of hate-filled rhetoric. Our western values and culture have been attacked. Much of this is the result of the war in Gaza that was started by the invasion of Barbaric Muslims October 7 2023 into Israel during a ceasefire and on a Jewish holiday. Jews were raped, decapitated, set on fire, babies put in ovens, families tied together and set on fire, young “peaceniks” shot down as they ran from Muslim barbarians and many set on fire in their cars as they tried to flee the onslaught. And 251 hostages were taken to live in tunnels in Gaza and starved and sexually assaulted.

How should we respond to these events? With more protests? More yelling and screaming, disrupting, destroying? No. Let’s respond with confirmation. Accentuate the Positive – Eliminate the Negative. We don’t need to follow the Ships of Fools.

Let’s confirm simple facts. And then we can have a discussion.

Number of countries in the world:194

100 Christian

50 Muslim only

30 Muslim majority countries

1 Hindi

1 Chinese

1 Jewish

Number of people in the world 8 billion

2 billion Muslims

1  billion Catholics

1 billion Protestants

1.45 billion Hindi

1.45 billion Chinese

320 million Buddhists worldwide

45 million Sikhs

15 million Jews –  0.2% of world population

Many countries in Europe have major populations of one ethnicity or religion.

Republic of Ireland is mostly Catholic

Spain is mostly Catholic

Italy is mostly Catholic

France is mostly Catholic

Portugal is mostly Catholic

Poland is mostly Catholic

Britain is Christian-the Church of England

India is mostly Hindi

The 23 countries where Islam is declared the state religion are: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Israel is majority Jewish

Dual loyalty

We often here complaints about “Dual Loyalty” especially with regard to Jews and Israel. Do other ethnic groups have “Dual Loyalty”? Do they continue to relate to their “homeland” from which the emigrated before becoming American citizens or Canadian citizens?

Italian Americans – 5%of the population

Irish Americans – 9%

African Americans – 14%

Mexican Americans – 11%

Jewish Americans – 2%

French Canadians – 22%

Why is Israel called an apartheid country when the total Jewish population in 2025 was 7,758,000 (78.5%), and 2,130,000 (21.5%) were Arabs. Those identified as “others” are non-Arab Christians, Baha’i, Samaritans, Karaite Jews, Seventh-day Adventists, Messianic Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who identify themselves as Jewish.

• Supreme Court:There is one non-Jewish justice on the 12-member Supreme Court. This is Justice Khaled Kabub, the first permanent Muslim member of the Supreme Court, who was appointed in 2022. Previous Arab justices have been Christians 
• Palestinian citizens of Israel are Israeli citizens and can vote in all national and local elections, just like their Jewish counterparts.

All Israeli citizens including Arab Israeli’s receive equal rights for men, and women, and protection for the LGBTQ+ community. None of these freedoms are granted anywhere else in the Middle East. Same-sex marriage is fully recognized under law.

We all confirm the right of America, Canada, European states, African states and Australia to exist, so let’s confirm the right of Israel to exist as well.

Well, that was easy wasn’t it? All positive and peaceful.

We must speak when silence feels safer, defend truth before falsehood hardens into consensus, and  strengthen unity before pressure fractures it.

From the Ethics of the Fathers: “Rabbi Tarfon used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it.”

Diane Weber Bederman