“Tolerists, far from being the nice, kind, fair, tolerant people they think they are, in fact are the enemies of freedom and the enablers of totalitarianism.”

by JANICE FIAMENGO, PJ MEDIA

The acuteness of Howard Rotberg’s book Tolerism: The Ideology  Revealed, now in its second, updated edition, lies in the ease with which readers will grasp his coinage. We know what he is referring to as soon as he begins to identify its salient features, as if the word has been around for a while. Indeed, the phenomenon is so widespread and so bizarre that it deserves its own term — and Rotberg’s bracing dissection.

Tolerism is a worldview in which the tolerance of cultural “otherness” — the more violently anti-Western the better — has become Western elites’ most celebrated (perhaps their sole) value, before which all other values, of justice, freedom, intellectual inquiry, or political dissent, have given way. Rotberg posits that it is precisely the abandonment of traditional Judeo-Christian principles and the adoption of a pernicious, unmoored moral relativism that have enabled tolerance (though it is not very tolerant) to assume its unchallenged status as the absolute virtue. The particular focus and defining example of tolerism in our post-9/11 world is Western accommodation of radical Islam: the more violent and hateful the jihadists show themselves to be, the more insistent the tolerists are about the need to empathize with them.

Read more…

By David Solway, PJ MEDIA

The response to the murder of the three abducted Israeli teens, Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Fraenkel, has been predictable in its call for restraint and moderation. Left-wing organizations like the Israeli political party Meretz, the New Israel Fund, and J Street, wedded to nebulous and self-serving concepts like “social justice,” ramble on about calm, measure, reconciliation, and the larger interests of communal peace — as if avowedly vicious and homicidal entities like Hamas and its offshoots will feel humbled and ashamed of their murderous practices and will experience a benign change of heart.

In fact, they are busy celebrating what they regard as a revanchist victory — indeed, candies were handed out to mark the abduction and the ambulance ferrying the bodies of the slain teens was pelted with stones and spray-painted by Palestinian villagers — and will not be deterred from carrying out further atrocities in the future if they are allowed to get away with them. Perhaps the principals of our conciliatory organizations would feel differently if their own children had been kidnapped, tortured, and killed. But one thing is certain: for all their “prayers for the suffering families” and “calls for peace,” they are incapable of imagining what their own people endure and are barren of genuine feeling, while full of empathy and concern for their assailants, who wish only for their speedy death and the subsequent extinction of the Jewish state. There is only one word for such flaccid, self-righteous and ultimately self-immolating appeasers: idiots. Read more…

Food Drive for our boys.

Many of us feel helpless in the face of the tragedy we are experiencing today. I have heard the question asked countless times – “what can we do?”

There is nothing we can do to bring the boys back alive. The little we can do is honour their memory with acts of kindness, to try and allow for some light, goodness, and humanity to shine back into this world.

.

Please visit the event page on facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/738634189512659/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular&source=1

Click “attend” to make the pledge, share with your friends, and post when you’ve been shopping.

May we know only simchas.

By Jonathan S. Tobin, COMMENTARY

In a sentiment that was echoed across the Israeli political spectrum, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuvowed today that “Hamas will pay” for the murders of three Israeli teenagers kidnapped two weeks ago. What exactly Netanyahu meant by this phrase isn’t yet known. But given the track record of both Israel and the Palestinians and the efforts by President Obama to head off any tough action by Netanyahu, the leaders of the terror group may not exactly be shaking in their boots.

In the wake of the discovery of the victims’ bodies, anger against the Islamist terror group is widely felt and it is likely that Netanyahu’s government will have wide political leeway to hit Hamas hard, both in the West Bank and Gaza. But the question facing Israel is not so much whether to launch air strikes at Hamas headquarters or to round up even more of their supporters. Rather, it is whether if, after an interval of a week or two, Hamas is still functioning and is still part of the ruling coalition of the Palestinian Authority. If, after absorbing a pounding from the Israeli army, the Islamist movement’s leadership can claim that it not only shed more Jewish blood but also survived another Israeli counterattack, then despite all of the fearsome rhetoric coming out of Jerusalem, Hamas will have won. Read more…

“if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?”

By Ted Belman

The Cabinet met last night after learning of the deaths of Fraenkel, Shaar, and Yifrach.

According to a TOI report:

Unconfirmed reports from the cabinet meeting suggested that demands by more hawkish ministers for a “game-changing” response to the killings were likely to be rejected. Netanyahu met both before and after the session with Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the Orthodox-nationalist Jewish Home party, who was said to be demanding harsher measures than those favored by Netanyahu and some more moderate ministers.

Ministers were said to have contemplated a range of options, including an escalated campaign against Hamas, new building projects at settlements, and issuing a demand that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sever his unity government partnership with Hamas.

Abbas was quoted saying that if Israel responded by expanding settlements, he would appeal to the United Nations.

Read more…

The teenagers were shot dead in the backseat of the car within minutes of the abduction; the killers believed, erroneously, that the security forces were on their trail

DAVID HOROVITZ AND MITCH GINSBURG, TOI

Netanyahu Vows: ‘Hamas Will Pay’ for Boys’ Murder

Anger and Grief as Israeli Leaders React to Teens’ Triple Murder

Report: Abbas holding ‘frantic’ talks with US, EU

Dave Bender, Algemeiner

Israeli army forces on Monday discovered the bodies of three teenagers who Israel says Hamas terrorists kidnapped from a hitchhiking post south of Bethlehem on June 12.

“They were under a pile of rocks in an open field” between Halhul and Beit Kahil, according to IDF Spokesman Peter Lerner.

IDF Kfir Battallion forces discovered the lifeless bodies at about 17:00 pm; it is unclear, as of the time of publication, when the three were killed, although sources said they may have been murdered soon after their abduction.

“…three bodies were discovered in the area north-west to Hebron, north of the community of Telem,” the army said in a statement.
Read more…

I have worked with Sherkoh for 6 or 7 years trying to get recognition of an independant Kurdistan. I introduced him to a number of important analysts who advocated his cause. I also introduced him to the PMO’s office. I am thrilled that his efforts are finally bearing fruit. Ted Belman

By David Oman, MIDA

While much of the Middle East is sucked into a chaotic bloodbath, there is one people that stands firm and maintains its position – the Kurds • The crisis in Iraq and Syria is also an opportunity for the Kurds – and for the State of Israel • Dr. Sherkoh Abbas, President of the Kurdistan National assembly of Syria, a man in the eye of the storm, provides an unconventional take on events in Syria and Iraq • He emphasizes the Kurdish role in the new order as well as the common enemy: the Israeli regime • A view from the inside

The rapid advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern and central Iraq and the impending threat to Baghdad has focused on the world’s attention on the Kurds – seemingly the sole functioning bastion of defense against the jihadi offensive.
Read more…

After rocket salvo on Israel revealed to be Hamas, Netanyahu and Lapid threaten Gaza group: Hamas responsible for rocket fire and Hamas will pay the price.’

By Attila Somfalvi, YNET

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the escalation in the south Monday morning, which saw a massive 16 rocket salvo launched at Israel after a violent weekend during which the IAF killed a Palestinian during a retaliatory attack against rocket launchers.

The rocket attack on the south was the first time since November 2012, when Operation Pillar of Defense ended, that Hamas’ military wing was behind rocket strikes on Israel, with a wave of attacks overnight Sunday and early Monday emanating from central Gaza refugee camps completely under Hamas control.

“If the quiet achieved in wake of Pillar of Defense will be broken, and the rocket fire continues, then there will be two options: Either Hamas puts an end to rocket fire, or we put an end to it,” Netanyahu said.

“I strongly suggest that Hamas take into account the fact that we will not let this firing continue or expand,” he told ministers at Knesset Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense later Monday. Read more…

As ISIS fighters approach Jordan, breached border poses an imminent threat to Israel.

YNET

The ISIS leaders have blown their horn (“nafir”) in regards to Jordan. This is a religious term adopted by this organization, which means that its next target, after the collapse of Syria and Iraq, is the Hashemite Kingdom.

These days they are already choking it out from the direction of the two dead countries: The black al-Qaeda flags are displayed over the border crossing between Jordan and Iraq, and there is also a large presence of ISIS men from the breached territories which were once called Syria.

The borders between Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan are being erased under the feet of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant organization – and what was true in the past 100 years is no longer valid.
Read more…

“The Sykes-Picot Agreement that shaped the borders around us almost 100 years ago has run its course,” PM Benjamin Netanyahu says • Netanyahu says Israel needs to support international efforts to strengthen Jordan and support Kurdish independence.

By Shlomo Cesana, Eli Leon and Israel Hayom Staff

By Colonel (Retired) Wesley Martin 

During my tenure as the senior Antiterrorism/Force Protection Officer for all Coalition Forces in Iraq, I had identified six basic threat groups against us: national terrorists, international terrorists (Al Qaeda and others), former regime elements (Saddamists), religious extremists, criminals, and tribes. It was recognized that some individuals and organizations would fall under more than one threat group.   How each was operating determined its threat group classification.  The tactics and objectives of each group differ from varying degrees.  Even within the groups, differences were identified.  Sunni and Shia national terrorist courses of action differ.  As a result of these understandings, threat expectations for current and upcoming coalition missions could be developed.  In turn, defensive measures could be constructed.  There was one additional caveat.  During Operations Iraqi Freedom 1 and 2, any defensive measure taken was allowed to remain in effect for only ninety days.  A year later, that window had closed to fourteen days.  During those periods, it was found that our adversaries had adapted with new ways to attack.  We needed to continually identify and characterize evolving weaknesses and push effective defensive windows to increased periods of validity.         Read more…

By Vic Rosenthal

There are numerous international conflicts in play all the time. There are struggles over borders and resources, ethnic and religious intolerance, persecuted minorities and ones that are not persecuted but would like to be persecutors. There are conflicts pursued by military means, by terrorism, by diplomacy and propaganda, and by a combination of all of these. Some of these have been simmering for hundreds of years.

But if we consider the number of players, the different arenas in which it is played out, the absolutely enormous amount of resources dedicated to it, its worldwide scope, the way generations have had their lives entirely circumscribed and defined by it, the fact that it has permeated every aspect of international relations and affected virtually every human on the planet — and if we compare this to the remarkably tiny sliver of land and people at its center — then it’s impossible to see the Muslim/Arab / European war against the Jewish state as anything but completely sui generis (one of a kind). To borrow a phrase from Victor Davis Hanson, it is a war like no other.
Read more…

MK Ze’ev Elkin responds to INSS head who calls for another disengagement, says annexation is the answer.

By Uzi Baruch and Elad Benari

Why is This Not Betrayal?

by Fjordman, GATES OF VIENNA

So let us ask a simple question: Do Western governments allow large numbers of Muslims to settle in Western countries? Yes or no? The answer is obviously yes, as we can easily observe all around us. Western authorities have for decades been in the process of importing large numbers of Muslims to our countries. Since more Muslims means more Islam, this implies that Western authorities actively support the gradual Islamization of our countries.

Read more…

by Victor Davis Hanson, HOOVER INSTITUTION

Amid all the talk of the isolationism that supposedly characterizes the Obama administration’s foreign policy, we forget that since World War II, the global order has largely been determined by U.S. engagement. The historically rare state of prosperity and peace that defined the postwar world were due to past U.S. vigilance and sacrifice.

Germany in the last 150 years has been at the center of three European wars, winning one, losing another, and destroying much of Europe and itself in the third. Yet present-day Germany has the largest economy in Europe and the fourth largest in the world. It is a global leader in high technology and industrial craftsmanship. For seventy years Germany, even after its second historic unification in 1989, has not translated such economic preeminence into military power, much less aggression. In fact, the strategic status quo of postwar Europe—with Britain and France, and their relatively smaller and weaker economies, as the continent’s two sole nuclear powers—remains mostly unquestioned.
Read more…

By J.P. Golbert, AMERICAN THINKER

When the mothers of the Israeli boys kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists in the area of Gush Etzion, in “Israeli occupied” Judea, spoke before international bodies, many of the diplomats referred to them in their comments and questions as “settlers.” One is given to understand that, in their eyes, inclusion in that category means that they have no human rights and the world’s indifference to their fate is justified. In fact, the boys are not “settlers” but attend schools in Jewish towns in Judea, two of them in kibbutz Kfar Etzion and one in Kiriyat Arba.  But let’s leave that aside and cut straight to the core of the issue of the legality of Jewish settlements outside the 1949 Armistice Lines.

There is only one International law concerning Israeli settlement that is binding and has never been superseded. The League of Nations, on July 24th, 1922, established the Mandate for Palestine, by unanimous vote, which included two Islamic states, Persia and Albania. The resolution stated, in part, “Whereas recognition has been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country….”

Read more…

By Jeffery Scribner,  AMERICAN THINKER

John Kerry used the word “apartheid” and upset a lot of people who should have been upset with him years ago.  However, the focus on his use of that word has obscured the real problem with his thinking, and that of quite a few others, regarding the present and future relationship between Israel and the Arab people living in Gaza and the “West Bank” of the Jordan River.

The proponents of a “two-state” solution for the Israel-Arab “conflict,” which has existed in one form or another since the establishment of the state of Israel, have studiously ignored the reasons why a “two-state” solution is no solution at all.  Yet history, since the establishment of Israel, has clearly provided the chief reason why this will not work.  For a humorous but accurate quick history illustrating this point, see Andrew Klavan’s one state solution, advocating, tongue in cheek, Israeli hegemony over the whole Middle East. Read more…