A Zionist in Flyover Country

Like smallpox pustules, anti-Israel demonstrations broke out on college campuses all across America this spring. The first outbreaks appeared at the nation's most elite colleges but quickly spread to more modest institutions in the South and Midwest. Police arrested demonstrators at more than a dozen universities for trespassing or failing to disperse.

Some media commentators argue that the demonstrators have a First Amendment right to set up campgrounds on college campuses, ignoring well-settled constitutional principles articulated by the federal courts. Others debate the need for universities to divest themselves of any financial ties with Israel—an issue no one cared about six weeks ago.

Demonstrators seem to have forgotten that Israel went to war in Gaza because Hamas terrorists raped, tortured, kidnapped, and killed more than a thousand Israeli citizens in one day. They seem indifferent to the fact that Hamas still holds Israelis and Americans in captivity and that some of these prisoners have died in the underground tunnels of Gaza.

I am a Zionist. I believe that Israel has a right to peaceably exist as a nation among nations. Indeed, the United Nations endorsed Israel's right to exist when it recognized the Jewish state in 1948.

Hamas and its Iranian sponsors have called for the destruction of Israel and the genocide of the Jews. They are the Nazis of the twenty-first century. Anyone who supports their agenda in any way is no better than a Nazi collaborator.

Anti-Israel agitators demand a ceasefire in the Gaza war without even asking for an accounting of Hamas's hostages. Surely, they understand that a ceasefire benefits the terrorists and permits them to continue pursuing their maniacal agenda to kill every Israeli Jew.

In my opinion, the anti-Israel student protesters and the feckless college professors who support them fall into two categories. They are either anti-Semitic racists or willfully ignorant of the lessons that humanity should have learned from the Holocaust.

I have no respect for these fools. And I have no respect for our spineless President, who is too cowardly to stand with Israel in its hour of need. Joe Biden is our nation's Neville Chamberlain.

The Met Gala: Half-Naked Influencers Preen While America Creeps Toward Collapse

Half-naked influencers preened at the 2024 Met Gala last night while a thousand anti-Israel protesters raged in the streets. One gala attendee appeared in a dress made of sand. Several men adorned themselves in capes, evoking Count Dracula.

These questions popped into my mind as I reviewed the outlandish Met outfits on the web:

How do these knuckleheads go to the toilet? Tyla, the sand-wearing lady, needed two men to help her up a flight of stairs. She’ll surely need assistance to empty her bladder. It’s a good thing we live in the age of gender-neutral bathrooms.

Were there any MAGA Republicans in the room? I doubt it. I’m guessing that all these clowns are registered Democrats and that many are big donors to Joe Biden's reelection campaign.

And why not? President Biden suffers from dementia, but rich people in New York City are getting richer every day. Bidenomics works just fine for the gala guests.

Are any gala attendees worried about the war in Ukraine? Absolutely not. Most of the billions Congress appropriated for the war with Russia will stay in the United States, and quite a few wealthy Americans are getting a piece of the action. Unleash the dogs of war!

Do any of these pampered nutjobs support Israel in its existential war with Hamas? Doubtful. It’s fashionable now to be a Palestinian supporter in the Gaza conflict, even if you’re Jewish. Don’t believe me? Ask Senators Chuck Schumer or Bernie Sanders.

The glitterati in New York City probably believe the road goes on forever, and the party never ends. But the people living on their Social Security checks in Flyover Country know better. Insanity reigns in the United States, and our enemies are waiting patiently for the right time to destroy us.

 

Tyla needs help getting up the stairs.

"The past is never dead. It's not even past." Racism, anti-Semitism, and the anti-Israel protests

"The past is never dead. It's not even past." William Faulkner's famous quote reminds us that our daily lives are shaped by events and experiences of long ago.

John L. Rosove, an Israeli rabbi and humanitarian, wrote an essay in 2022 reflecting on Faulkner's trenchant observation. In it, Rosove recalled the tragic events that had befallen Israel in its short history, including the 1973 war—the nation's fourth war since its founding in 1948. He also called to mind the Russian Jewish refugees who fled to Israel to escape the Cossack pogroms of the nineteenth century.

"Memory defines us," Rosove wrote," and even if we do not personally experience an event, we can make it our own." Thus, "when we learn history and listen to the stories of our parents and grandparents, we take in their memories and make them ours as essential elements of our family story."

America is home to the largest Jewish population in the world outside Israel, and many of our Jewish citizens are the descendants of  Holocaust survivors. Whether we are Jewish or not, the Holocaust forms part of the American story.

I am ashamed of the Americans who participated in the recent anti-Israel protests on college campuses. At their base, these demonstrations are anti-Semitic; they are racist. At their root, they feed from the same putrid pool of racial hatred that fueled the Nazi movement in the 1930s. 

Years from now, and maybe sooner, the college leaders who  tolerate these vile protests and coddle the racist mobs will also be ashamed. Fortunately for them, most campus administrators will retire with generous pensions and can spend their golden years playing golf while they contemplate their sins.

Anti-Israel protests at Northwestern University: Did President Michael Schill Cave in to Extortion?

This week, it settled with anti-Israel protesters by promising to hire four Palestinians as visiting professors and to award full scholarships to five Palestinian students. In return, the protesters agreed to take down the tents at NWU’s Deering Meadow but not to stop their protesting activities.

Extortion can take many forms, but one definition fits the recent settlement at Northwestern. According to Black’s Law Dictionary, extortion includes:

bring[ing] about or continu[ing] a strike, boycott or other collective unofficial action, if the property is not demanded or received for the benefit of the group in whose interest the actor purports to act.

Northwestern president Michael Schill, who approved the settlement, holds a law degree from Yale University, so he surely knows the definition of extortion. Why did he and other NWU administrators submit to a shameful shakedown?

Northwestern caved into student protesters because the university is a Wizard of Oz outfit—no heart, no courage, and no brains. Schill and his administrative sidekicks don’t have the courage to call the cops on disruptive protesters or discipline students who promote antisemitism. They aren’t smart enough to realize that their appeasement will encourage future students to disrupt campus life if the university fails to abide by students’ ever-changing political demands. Nor are they smart enough to realize that their cowardice will demoralize Jewish students and alienate the university’s donors.

Finally, President Schill and his co-appeasers have no heart. They apparently don’t care that they’ve diminished the university’s academic freedom by allowing disgruntled students to dictate the hiring of faculty members based on ethnicity.

Northwestern hasn’t seen the last of the anti-Israel protesters. They’ll be back. Next time these antisemitic morons may demand that the university fire all its Jewish faculty members. What would President Schill, who is Jewish, say to that?

Gee, I'm scared!

'I'm a professor': Caroline Fohlin, an Emory Instructor, gets arrested by campus police during anti-Israel protest

Most colleges are taking a tough stand against the anti-Israel protests that are sowing disorder on their campuses. All over the United States, universities are calling the cops to arrest protesters who violate school policies or refuse to obey police orders to disband.

At Emory University, police arrested 28 people in one day, including Caroline Fohlin, an economics professor who was charged with battery of a police officer. The incident was videotaped and makes for fascinating viewing.

Professor Fohlin saw an individual being arrested during an on-campus protest, and she came to his defense. As she said in the video, she lightly touched a police officer to get his attention while he was subduing a protester.

The police responded aggressively, throwing Fohlin to the ground and restraining her with plastic cuffs. She identified herself as an Emory professor, but the cops didn't care.

Fohlin remained calm throughout the incident, even instructing a video operator to be sure and document her restraints. Indeed, as she was being escorted away, her narrative sounded remarkably like she was testifying in a deposition. My guess is that she’ll file a lawsuit against the police.

My sympathies lie entirely with Professor Fohlin. I think the police overreacted when she mildly intervened on behalf of a protester, who may have been an Emory student. She doesn't deserve to be charged with battery.

Nevertheless, sensible adults know not to interfere with a police officer making an arrest. That’s never a good idea.

Bystanders watching anti-Israel protests need to understand that these events aren’t fun and games. Some protesters are scuffling with police, others are shouting antisemitic slurs, and some are calling for the destruction of Israel—genocide. The universities aren’t going to put up with hate speech on their campuses.

According to her attorney, Professor Fohlin wasn't even a protester on the day she was arrested. She merely intervened to help someone she believed to be a student. Nevertheless, she was charged with battery of a police officer.

So, if you are a college student or a professor, you should think twice about inserting yourself into a pro-Palestine demonstration. The universities have stopped coddling people who disrupt their campuses. Even professors whose only motivation is to help their students can get arrested by the police.

You may think your university status entitles you to special consideration when the cops arrive, but Professor Fohlin's experience tells you that's not so.

Image credit: TYT.com

Colleges sow the wind with DEI and reap the whirlwind of racism

 In recent years, American universities have invested millions of dollars in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).  The goal, of course, was to scrub campuses clean of the last vestiges of bigotry and racial discrimination.

How’d that work out? Not so well. All across America, student protesters are spewing antisemitic bile, intimidating Jewish students, and scuffling with police.

Racism is most pronounced at the nation’s elite schools—Harvard, Yale, Columbia, etc.  A degree from one of these swank institutions costs a quarter of a million dollars. Yet students are willing to sabotage their education to promote Islamic terrorism and persecute Jews.

Professors have primarily sided with the anti-Israel mobs. When college presidents summon the police to rid their campuses of disruptive protesters, the faculty howls in outrage.

Meanwhile, chaos reigns. Columbia has stopped face-to-face instruction due to safety concerns and switched to online teaching. USC canceled this year’s main commencement ceremony for the same reason. At the University of Texas, professors have called for a work stoppage to show their support for the anti-Israel protests.

Here's my advice to young people who think an Ivy League education is a ticket to a better life: Steer clear of the elite universities. Our nation’s most prestigious colleges have become cesspools of antisemitism and racial intolerance. Don't take out student loans to attend one of these morally bankrupt institutions. You'd be better off going to trade school to become a plumber. You'll meet a better class of people.

Photo credit: Times of Israel

RFK Jr. needs Secret Service protection. Did his siblings ask President Biden for it?

 Robert F Kennedy Jr. is a serious candidate for president of the United States. So far, he's qualified to be on the ballot in nine states and hopes to be on every state ballot when the presidential election takes place in November.

The Biden administration has repeatedly denied RFK Jr.’s requests for Secret Service protection, which has placed a significant financial strain on his campaign. As a result, Kennedy is compelled to allocate campaign funds to cover his security expenses.

Early this month, six of RFK Jr.’s siblings publicly endorsed Joe Biden for president, even appearing at a Biden campaign event in Philadelphia. “[Biden]has us thriving again, believing again, behaving like good neighbors again,” Kerry Kennedy gushed, while five of RFK Jr.’s siblings smiled approvingly.

Did any of Kennedy's brothers and sisters ask President Biden to provide their brother with Secret Service protection? Did any of Biden’s Kennedy endorsers condition their support on a presidential promise to give their brother the personal security Biden enjoys?

Apparently not. RFK Jr.’s docile relatives performed for Biden’s dog and pony show without demanding Secret Service protection for their courageous brother.  

Perhaps that's understandable. After all, who could imagine a Kennedy being assassinated by political enemies?