The anti-Trump resistance is in bed with Jew-haters and anti-Zionists. Why liberals need to draw a line in the sand.

By Jonathan Tobin, JNS

Is there a difference between left-wing antisemites and right-wing Jew-haters?

Members of the National Council of Jewish Women taking part in the Women’s March on Washington during the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January 2017. Credit: National Council of Jewish Women via Facebook.

In theory, the answer is no. Hate is hate, no matter what it’s source. Except for some, including many Jews, the source of the hate does seem to matter. If, for example, you think right-wing hate is inherently more dangerous, you might give a pass to haters on the left or at least pay a bit less attention to them. Just as important, if you’re inclined to think that the source of anti-Jewish prejudice matters more than anything else, you might also disregard the relative danger each threat poses to the Jewish community.
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T. Belman. Given McMaster’s connection to Soros and his views on radical Islam being totally at odds with those of Trump, you have to wonder why he was given the job in the first place.

Pentagon looks for new assignment for a National Security Adviser trapped between competing agendas, even though White House says his job is secure for now

By Dion Nissenbaum and Gordon Lubold, WSJ

WASHINGTON—Even before he took the job last winter as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster had a target on his back.

He stepped into the role with lukewarm support from the president and outright resistance from high-ranking Trump loyalists who saw in Gen. McMaster the embodiment of the Washington status quo they were trying to upend.

Working under a constant cloud of innuendo that his days in the West Wing were numbered, Gen. McMaster through the year positioned himself as one of Mr. Trump’s most hawkish allies in fractured debates on the president’s top national-security challenges, including North Korea.
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T. Belman. As a former Canadian, and son of a Polish father whose family supported the Communist revolution in 1917, I see things differently. I have always had a soft spot for Russia, though I was well informed about all the atrocities committed by Stalin and about the Jewish refusniks. I believe that Americans can’t shuck their cold war mentality. Having said that , I worried when the USSR was thought to be close to dominating the west. I certainly did not want them to succeed.

I think that Russia had every right to annex Crimea seeing that it used to be part of their empire and 80% of the people spoke Russian. I also didn’t mind when Russia made moves on the eastern part of the Ukraine. Surely, within their sphere of influence, they are entitled to do what other great powers do, extend their influence.

Finally I see nothing wrong in Russia’s support of Assad. They appear to be a moderating force. Contrast this with the the invasion of Iraq by the US. What a disaster that was.

Having said all that, there is much to be said regarding their weakness. They are in great economic difficulties and their very low fertility rate is dooming them in the future.

H. Laitin. WHEN I WAS ACTIVE IN STUDIES OF THE SOVIET UNION THIS ARTICLE WOULD’VE HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD. SINCE THEN , SO MUCH HAS NOT CHANGED. EVERYONE THAT I HAVE MET THAT HAS BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND/OR THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION REGARDS PUTIN AS A RUTHLESS EXTENSION OF THE FORMER SOVIET RULING CLASS.

By Emil Avdaliani, BESA

In discussions of international affairs, it has become commonplace for Western observers to view Russia as a declining power, destined to succumb to a string of domestic and foreign problems that have beset it for some time.

To begin with, Russia’s 2014 conquest of Crimea and its support for the Ukrainian separatists backfired in grand style as Kiev, Moldova, and Georgia signed EU association agreements and stepped up military cooperation with NATO members and other western states. Similarly, while remaining the predominant military power in Central Asia, with bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, Russia has lost its economic preeminence in the region to China, which has also made important military inroads by holding joint exercises with the Tajik and Kyrgyz armed forces. No less importantly, Moscow is still reeling from the impact of Western sanctions, which are unlikely to be lifted any time soon, while its attempt to foment far-right populism across Europe has thus far failed.
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By Ted Belman

I have been watching the conference videos and will be posting those that I think worth while.

In doing so I have been saddened to hear expressed by many that we must encourage bi-partisan support. This is so wrong in many ways, chief among them is that what the Democrats want as a Party is what the left in Israel wants namely a two state solution at virtually any cost. Israel ignores the left and rules from the right. Similarly AIPAC should do likewise. It should support the policies of the government of Israel. The more they pursue bi-partianship the more they remove themselves from Israel and even work at cross purposes.
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By Aaron Klein, BREITBART

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — CNN political commentator Bakari T. Sellers said that as a Democrat he is “honestly thankful” that H.R. McMaster is serving as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser.

Bakari, a former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, stated:

And, you know, as a Democrat, just as an American, I can tell you that there are couple of people who are thankful for in this White House. And there was a point in time when I had General Kelly on this list but he’s kind of become wayward. But General McMaster, is someone that as a Democrat you’re honestly thankful that he’s there because he upholds some of the fundamental tenants of our democracy.

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Despite unprecedented clashes, Israel, Syria and Iran oppose an escalation at this time.

By Yossi Melman, JPOST

ON SATURDAY February 8, Israel and Iran clashed over Syrian skies in an incident that was the closest the two countries have ever come to a direct military confrontation. Iran launched a drone from eastern Syria that penetrated Israeli airspace. An Israeli Apache helicopter downed the drone. In retaliation, the Israel Air Force attacked and destroyed the Iranian command and control center that operated the drone. Subsequently, clashes between the IAF and Syrian air defense system erupted.

But the military punches between Israel, Syria and Iran also contained a few more “firsts.” It was the first time that an Iranian unmanned drone penetrated Israeli space. In the past, Iranian-made drones which infiltrated Israel were operated by Hezbollah. This time, it was an all-Iranian operation led by the al-Quds Force under the command of General Qasem Soleimani – the decision, the launching, as well as the operational control and guidance.
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T. Belman. Not to worry. There are no “legitimate Palestinian rights” in Jerusalem.

Reports in the last several months have suggested the Saudi Crown Prince has adopted a stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is favorable to Netanyahu.

BY Adam Ragson, JPOST

Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman penned a letter to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas expressing Saudi Arabia’s support for “legitimate [Palestinian] rights” in east Jerusalem, according to the official PA news site Wafa.

“The Saudi crown prince affirmed in [the letter] that the Palestinian issue is of special and great importance and a priority for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdel Aziz,” the Wafa report said, referring to the Saudi monarch.

By Amil Imani, AMERICAN THINKER

[..]
There is a non-violent solution, without appeasement, that offers the best chance for resolving the impasse: change of regime in Iran.

Selected president Hassan Rouhani’s bellicosity notwithstanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran is on the verge of collapse upon the head of the despised mullahs and their emblematic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).  A few nudges from the outside world would serve as the tipping point for the long-suffering Iranians to rise and bury the mullahs in the graveyard that they so richly deserve and have made of Iran.

Here are some indicators of how seriously the Islamic Republic is ailing:
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By Evelyn Gordon, COMMENTARY

State Department officials have spent a lot of time in Lebanon recently. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited the country two weeks ago, and Acting Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield made an appearance last week. Among other issues, they are trying to mediate two Lebanese-Israeli disputes. The problem is that only one of these is a quasi-legitimate conflict; the other is a patently illegitimate Lebanese land grab. By treating that claim as legitimate, the State Department is not only encouraging aggression but proving, once again, that international guarantees to Israel are worthless.
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The Jerusalem Herald Staff  March 2, 2018

 Dr. Heba Melhem (Image Credit: YouTube Screenshot Courtesy Jordanian Opposition Coalition)

 A shocking report of abduction and torture committed by the Jordanian authorities against an anti-regime activist has aired in the midst of daring civilian protests, which are challenging Jordan’s King Abdullah II and raising comparisons to the outbreak of the Arab Spring.

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Islamic Jihad, Cultural Marxism and the Transformation of the West

by W. August Mayer
San Francisco: Pipeline Media, 2016. 209 pp. $14.95, paper.

Reviewed by Beila Rabinowitz

Middle East Quarterly
Spring 2018

In this in-depth study, Mayer recounts how three pivotal figures in Europe, Karl Marx; Antonio Gramsci, the Italian communist theorist; and Theo Van Gogh, the Dutch film maker murdered by an Islamic terrorist, changed the trajectory of civil society and by extension Western civilization.
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What It Might Do for Young American Undergraduates: A Proposal

by Geoffrey Clarfield, NEW ENGLISH REVIEW (March 2018)

Moses Abandoned, Sadao Watanabe, 1979

he United States has for most of its history prided itself on a moral exceptionalism that is Biblically inspired. It finally has its own Museum of the Bible. It has taken two hundred and twenty-five years for this to happen, ever since the United States signed the peace treaty with its former British ruler, beginning an independence that has lasted to this day, and which has been a beacon of hope for all peoples and nations struggling to be free.

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by Gerald A. Honigman

Since the fall of the Pahlavi shahs in Iran in 1979, Jews both there, Israel, and elsewhere have once again become endangered species…this time with would-be atomic mullahs threatening them (especially Israelis) with massive conventional and/or nuclear attack from multiple sides.

With this mind, please think once again of the Jewish holiday of Purim (spelled out in the Hebrew Bible’s Book of Esther) which is now upon us.

In some ways, some things change, but in others they do not. Instead of Purim’s (“casting of lots”—referring to the day Haman chose by lot to carry out the massacres) Iranian emperor’s wicked prime minister plotting their demise some twenty-five centuries ago and recorded in the Hebrew Bible, Jews now face attack and extermination by Arabized Iranian Islamists instead.
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T. Belman. Apparently Israel’s threats to level the country should Hezbollah attack Israel, was of no concern to Harari.

Perhaps now the US will stop funding the Lebanese Army and come down to earth.

There is no way the Trump “peace plan” will be accepted. All we need is another hostile state in our belly.

DEBKA

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s switch of loyalty to Hizballah and Iran shocks Riyadh and dismays Israel.

The Lebanese Sunni politician and his family have long been inextricably tied to Saudi Arabia and its royal house, as well as professing a pro-West orientation. However, it was suddenly noticed in Riyadh, as well as Jerusalem, that the most devoted Saudi loyalist in Beirut had quietly crossed the lines. Hariri had quietly decided to follow the Iranian star and throw in his political lot with his old enemy, the Shiite Hizballah. And they had promised he would retain the premiership after Lebanon’s May 8 general election, in which their Shiite March 8 Alliance was sure to win a majority in parliament.

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