US NEGOTIATES WITH LEBANON'S GOVERNMENT WHICH HAS ABSOLUTELY NO INFLUENCE OVER HEZBOLLAH, LET ALONE IRAN

Washington’s Iran diplomacy addiction shouldn’t stop Israel

Attempts at hampering IDF efforts to defeat Hezbollah and its paymasters could doom the region to more years of Tehran-sponsored terrorism. 

 

By Jonathan S. Tobin

 

JNS

Oct 14, 2024 

The post-Oct. 7 war Israel has been waging against Islamist terrorists that threaten its existence seems to have shifted its focus in the last month. While the fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip continues, it’s clear that most of Israel’s military efforts are now aimed at ensuring that Hezbollah’s forces in Lebanon do not have the power to continue to depopulate northern Israel. But one thing has not changed: a U.S. policy bent on not entirely abandoning the Jewish state while also determined to avoid a full-scale confrontation with Iran, which is behind both Hamas and Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel.

Preventing a broader war sounds reasonable. But at this point, the problem is not only the fact that Israel cannot afford to let Hamas survive in Gaza or allow Hezbollah to continue to use Lebanon as a base for attacks on its northern border communities and the rest of the country. It’s that amid the confusion caused by more than a year of fighting and the way that the conflict has already spread, Washington is still hopelessly committed to a policy of diplomatic compromise with Iran that has proven over and over again to be an abysmal failure.

Yet that hasn’t stopped the Biden/Harris administration from continuing to push for ceasefire agreements on both fronts and for what amounts to a truce with Iran that essentially grants the Islamist regime and its nuclear program immunity from Israeli attacks. That is a formula not just for Israeli defeat. It also signals a willingness to accommodate the Iranians in a way that is a disaster for American interests and dooms the region to many more years of further instability and terrorism.

Course correction is needed

What makes it even more frustrating—both for Israelis and Americans who recognize how counterproductive this addiction to Iran diplomacy has become—is that the people running America’s foreign-policy establishment seem unable to realize their errors. Years of efforts at bribing and appeasing Iran have done nothing to change the Islamic Republic’s desire to achieve regional hegemony or to dampen its enthusiasm for funding groups that seek to destroy Israel and spread terror around the world. Nor do U.S. policymakers seem to contemplate the kind of course correction that might at least afford a chance of obtaining different and hopefully better outcomes.

That problem is even more acute at this point in the conflict than perhaps before.

The Israel Defense Forces seem to have accomplished a great deal in its current campaign to degrade Hezbollah’s military capabilities in the last few weeks. It has also begun the difficult job of cleaning out areas of Southern Lebanon where not only Hezbollah stored quantities of armaments but also planned to use as a starting-off point for their own Oct. 7-style invasion of northern Israel.

Despite the great success of the exploding beepers and walkie-talkies—and their ability to take out much of Hezbollah’s leadership and command-and-control structure—the terrorist group is a long way from defeat, let alone collapse.

Rather than accept the setbacks dealt to it, the Iranian proxy group has doubled down on its attacks on northern Israel and even expanded them. The longer the fighting goes on and the IDF is free to strike its weapons supplies and forces, the less useful it will be to Iran when and if it is called upon to help Tehran fend off Israeli or Western attacks on its nuclear program. Nevertheless, Hezbollah still has vast quantities of arms and missiles at its disposal. While the Lebanese have expressed widespread dismay about how their country has been hijacked by the Shi’ite organization into fighting a war against Israel that is causing massive suffering, that fact hasn’t loosened Iran’s grip upon their nation.

This is a moment when Washington’s support for a campaign to defeat a terrorist movement that has American, as well as Israeli and Jewish, blood on its hands would be crucial. Instead, the administration is desperately signaling to its media cheerleaders and the international community that it wants no part of an ongoing conflict whose ultimate target is to defeat Iran.

Even gestures of support—such as the sending of a sophisticated THAAD missile-defense system to Israel, along with 100 American personnel to operate it—seem aimed more at restricting the Jewish state’s freedom to make a decision about retaliating against the latest direct Iranian attack, than to protect it. The fact that the administration has made sure to leak to the press that it wants Israel to avoid striking at Iran’s nuclear-weapons program, which is an existential threat not just to Israel but to Arab nations and the West, was a shocking indication of its ongoing devotion to the idea that Tehran and its most important assets should not be threatened.

Not a personal quarrel

The differences between Washington and Jerusalem are often portrayed as largely rooted in the bitter personal quarrel that seems to exist between the leaders of the two governments. Or at least that is the way that American officials have sought to depict it in the never-ending leaks of information about their communications with Israeli officials that they pass along at regular intervals to their favorite journalists at The New York Times or The Atlantic who share their contempt for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

As was the case during the Obama administration, in which most of the Biden-Harris foreign policy team also served, differences are often described as a form of impertinence on the part of Netanyahu and the Israelis. Their willingness to talk back to the Americans and even ignore their advice is viewed as a sign of disrespect. For all of their focus on highlighting Netanyahu’s obnoxiousness (a character trait that few objective observers would deny is part of his complex personality), President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the rest of the Obama alumni at the National Security Council and State Department seem to have an insatiable need for gestures of deference, if not acknowledgments of weakness, from the leader of the tiny Jewish state. They also refuse to recognize that Israel’s leaders might have a better grasp of the situation than they do. They also think it wrong that they would prioritize their nation’s security over reinforcing the administration’s efforts to pretend that Biden is a strong leader.

That tends to say more about their shortcomings than those of Netanyahu. But it is also a misrepresentation of a fundamental philosophical split between Israel and the Biden-Harris team.

Their smearing of Netanyahu and nonstop attempts to humble him notwithstanding, the source of the problem remains this administration’s commitment to a realignment of the Middle East in which conflicts between the United States and Iran would be replaced by a rapprochement with the Islamists. That was the reason for former President Barack Obama’s otherwise puzzling decision to accept that Iran would become a nuclear power via a 2015 nuclear deal that guaranteed that it would eventually get a weapon. It also explained Biden’s futile efforts to woo back Tehran with billions in released frozen funds and relaxed sanctions after Trump left the pact in 2018.

That is also why the Biden-Harris team has, despite sometimes paying lip service to the goal of stopping Hamas or curbing Hezbollah, also continuously sought to bring an end to Israel’s efforts to eradicate Iran’s terrorist proxies. Above all, it wants to stop Israel from striking Iran in a way that would put an end to any hope of reviving their dreams of better relations with the tyrannical regime.

A campaign window for Israel

For the moment, the presidential election and the administration’s realization that abandoning Israel in the middle of a fight would hurt Vice President Kamala Harris’s prospects for victory in November more than it would help her with the Democratic Party’s left-wing anti-Zionist base has aided Netanyahu. It’s given him the ability to hit Hezbollah harder than anyone in Washington dreamed possible.

But no one in either Israel or the United States should be under any illusions that this is necessarily a permanent state of affairs, especially if Harris wins what is now a toss-up election. Much like the decision of Hamas to hunker down in what is left of its Gaza tunnel complex and refuse to either surrender or free the hostages, Iran and Hezbollah are counting on the West—in particular, the Americans—to bail them out of a tough spot.

Without U.S. support, any hope of Israel being able to sustain a campaign to fundamentally degrade Hezbollah’s ability to inflict suffering on the Jewish state is not likely to succeed. That’s especially true if the mullahs in Tehran and their Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah henchmen believe that either Biden or Harris will eventually pull the plug on weapons shipments to Israel or allow the U.N. Security Council to vote to mandate a ceasefire that Jerusalem couldn’t ignore.

Until that happens, Israel shouldn’t let Washington’s self-destructive addiction to pointless diplomacy with Iran stand in the way of an all-out effort to knock Hezbollah out of the war or strike a blow against Iran’s precious nuclear assets.

The stakes in this dispute couldn’t be higher and have little to do with the personal aspects of the long feud between Netanyahu and those Americans committed to appeasement of Iran.

Should Hezbollah emerge from this conflict with its ability to control Lebanon and be able to fire on northern Israel intact, it will do more than harm the Jewish state. It will ensure that Iranian proxies will be increasing their efforts to undermine every government in the region not already under Tehran’s control. And it will mean more rounds of fighting for Israel, as it will be forced to endure more terrorist attacks, regardless of who is running the government in Jerusalem.

On the other hand, if Washington were to back Israel’s efforts to topple Hezbollah and strike the sort of blow against Tehran that might shake the regime’s hold on power, it would—rather than escalating a seven-front war that has already gotten out of control—give the region hope that the mullahs’ reign of terror as the Middle East’s “strong horse” is ending. Should America choose more pointless diplomacy rather than a path towards Iran’s defeat, the price will be paid in the blood of Israelis as well as Arabs. So long as he has an opening to do so, Netanyahu should not waver from seeking to avoid such a disastrous outcome.

THIS STRANGLEHOLD IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF ISRAEL BEING SO DEPENDANT ON US WEAPONRY FOR ITS SURVIVAL

In leaked letter, US officials want Israel to make 15 policy changes in Gaza or risk arms embargo

Failure to comply "may have implications for U.S. policy," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reportedly wrote. 

 

By Akiva Van Koningsveld

 

JNS

Oct 15, 2024

 

 

U.S. President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Sept. 20, 2024

 

If the Jewish state doesn’t take a series of measures to improve humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip within the next 30 days, it could risk “implications” for U.S. policy, potentially including an arms embargo, according to a letter from the U.S. defense and state secretaries leaked to Axios.

The letter, which Axios published on Tuesday, purports to come from Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, and Lloyd Austin, the U.S. defense secretary. It is addressed to Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, and Ron Dermer, the Israeli strategic affairs minister.

“Starting now and within 30 days,” Jerusalem should implement 15 policy changes to avoid a possible arms embargo, the letter states. “Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for U.S. policy under NSM-20 and relevant U.S. law.”

Under NSM-18, issued on Feb. 23, 2023, one of the U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives is to “prevent arms transfers that risk facilitating or otherwise contributing to violations of human rights or international humanitarian law.”

NSM-20, a national security memorandum that U.S. President Joe Biden issued on Feb. 8 about “safeguards and accountability with respect to transferred defense articles and defense services,” requires the secretary of state “to obtain certain credible and reliable written assurances from foreign governments receiving defense articles.”

It also directs the defense and state secretaries to “provide periodic congressional reports to enable meaningful oversight” and ensure that all defensive weapon transfers ” are conducted in a manner consistent with all applicable international and domestic law and policy, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”

Among other measures, the letter calls on the Jewish Israel to allow at least 350 aid trucks to pass through existing border crossings daily and to open a fifth crossing.

Israel is also instructed to announce “adequate humanitarian pauses across Gaza” for at least four months, rescind evacuation orders, remove a ban on the entry of “container and closed trucks,” authorize certain items with dual military use to enter and confirm that there will be no “policy of forced evacuation of civilians from northern to southern Gaza.”

The missive also reportedly expresses concerns about proposed Knesset legislation that would shut down activities in the Jewish state of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, declaring the U.N. body a terror group and stripping its staff of diplomatic privileges.

“While we share your concerns about the serious allegations of certain UNRWA employees participating in the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and of Hamas misusing UNRWA facilities, enactment of such restrictions would devastate the Gaza humanitarian response at this critical moment,” per the letter. “We ask that you take all possible steps, whether with lawmakers or using the authorities of the Prime Minister’s Office, to ensure that this does not come to pass.”

Citing reports of abuses against terrorists captured during Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre and the Gaza ground campaign, the letter urges Israel to immediately allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit all “individuals detained in connection with this conflict.”

“It is vitally important that our governments establish a new channel through which we can raise and discuss civilian harm incidents,” the letter concludes. “Our engagements to date have not produced the necessary outcomes. We ask that the initial virtual meeting of this channel be held by the end of October.”

In May, the U.S. State Department issued a report to Congress about U.S. arms transfers to Israel that was deeply critical of the Jewish state but stopped short of concluding that it was violating international law.

“Given Israel’s significant reliance on U.S.-made defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since Oct. 7 in instances inconsistent with its international humanitarian law obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm,” the report stated.

The report noted that individual violations of international law do not mean that a country is not committed to following the law. It added that Israel has several “active criminal investigations pending, and there are hundreds of cases under administrative review” about its own conduct.

In March, Jerusalem provided a written letter to Washington declaring that it abides by international law when using weapons transferred from the United States, which was another requirement of Biden’s memorandum.

The Israel Defense Forces has been fighting to defeat Hamas in Gaza since the terror group led a mass invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, murdering 1,200 people, primarily Jewish civilians, wounding thousands more and kidnapping 251 people to Gaza, where 101 remain.

Jerusalem has rejected any accusation that the IDF does not comply with international law or is interfering with humanitarian aid efforts and has accused Hamas terrorists of stealing the majority of the aid. At times, the White House and the State Department have admitted that the terror group is known to seize aid.

A GRASS CUTTER WHO'S AN ILLRGAL IMMIGRANT ..... WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?

Hammer-wielding lawn-care worker arrested, charged in Friendswood after rampage, police say 

 

ByLuke Jones

 

KTRK

Oct 12, 2024

 

FRIENDSWOOD, Texas -- Two Friendswood neighborhoods were on alert Friday when a hammer-wielding day laborer threatened to kill his boss before cutting through yards with a leaf blower.

April Hunley said she was at her home on North Mission Circle at around 3 p.m. when her longtime landscaper began frantically knocking at the door.

"He was afraid, and he said, 'April, you help me,'" she said.

Hunley said the day laborer her landscaper had hired to cut her lawn was waving around a hammer and threatening her landscaper.

"He said, 'I want my money now, and I'm gonna kill you, I'm gonna kill you,'" Hunley said.

The threats arose out of an apparent dispute over payment.

"He wanted full payment for a full day right then, and he didn't want to work out the rest of the day," Hunley said.

Hunley said her landscaper took cover behind her while she tried talking down the hammer-wielding man, who police later identified as Kevin Ponce.

"I said, 'Put down the hammer, and I'm calling the police,'" Hunley said.

Hunley said the laborer dropped the hammer and instead grabbed a leaf blower from his boss' truck. Neighbors saw him running down La Salle with the blower slung over his back.

When he rounded the corner onto another part of North Mission Circle, neighbors say he eventually abandoned the leaf blower and jumped a backyard fence, damaging it in the process.

After crossing a drainage ditch, police say they found Ponce in the San Joaquin Estates neighborhood about 80 minutes after they were first called the hammer attack.

"They found him hiding in a drainage ditch that goes underneath a driveway," Hunley said.

Ponce was charged with aggravated assault and also faces a separate charge for refusing to identify himself to police.

The Friendswood Police Department said he has warrants in Harris and Dallas counties and that ICE has put a hold on him.

APPARENTLY HE COULDN'T MAKE BAIL

Sex assault suspect hangs self in Galveston County jail

 

By B. Scott McLendon 

 

Galveston County Daily News

Oct 14, 2024

 

 

Jailers on Thursday morning found a 54-year-old island man hanging from a self-tied noose in his cell at the Galveston County jail, according to the sheriff's office.

Oscar Felipe Venegas had been incarcerated for about 12 days when deputies found him unresponsive at about 6 a.m. Thursday, Sheriff Henry Trochesset said.

Officers had arrested Venegas in connection to sexual assault Oct. 2, according to court records. He had been set for a status conference in November.

INTERESTING POLL RESULTS

By Bob Walsh

NBC just released a poll yesterday.  In general it shows Kamala and Donald as running neck and neck.  There was one interesting result.  Kamala's favorable/unfavorable has flipped in the last ten weeks or so.  She is now showing 43% favorable, 49% unfavorable, with much of the shift coming from independent voters that she desperately needs.

People vote for people they don't like all the time.  All things considered however it is better if the people who vote like you rather than don't like you. 

UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT

By Bob Walsh

 

Most people in the formerly great state of California agree that the cost of gasoline here is too high.  Unfortunately the people who make the decisions can't seem to get the idea that a good way to lower those prices would be to lower or remove some of the very high fees and taxes on gasoline, or reduce the regulations on the refiners.  Instead they have decided the way to "fix the problem" is to INCREASE the regulatory burden.

The God-Emperor of the formerly great state of California, Gavin Newsom, called a special session of the legislature to "deal with the problem" and yesterday signed the legislation that the special session produced.  

The new law allows the (unelected) California Energy Commission to mandate that the oil industry in CA increase their storage of gasoline (without necessarily increasing the storage capacity in the state) to release during maintenance and unscheduled shutdowns of their facilities to smooth out price spikes caused by shortages.  These shortages can also occur during the annual switch-over from summer blend to winter blend gasoline.  CA is the only state that requires these differences, which require shutdowns of equipment in order to accomplish.   

Gavin's response to these complaints by the industry is to assert that the "gas companies" are lying sacks of shit and are lying to and manipulating the public in California (but not 

elsewhere I guess).

 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Texas gas prices

 

 

 

 

 

And we think these are high.

IF YOU KILL SOMEBODY ON PURPOSE YOU DAMN SURE BETTER BE RIGHT

By Bob Walsh

Aaron Spencer

Michael Fosler

 

Aaron Spencer, 36, has a 14-year old daughter.  They are residents of Lonoke County, Arkansas.  Spencer reported his daughter missing on Tuesday.  However, before the S.O. showed up Spencer found his daughter in a car with Michael Fosler, 67.  Spencer and his wife Heather took out a no-contact order against Fosler this summer on the assertion that Fosler had been stalking her and had sexually assaulted her.  In July Fosler was arrested on charges of internet stalking of a minor and sexual assault by a different law enforcement agency.  The parents were unaware that Fosler was again in contact with the girl.

When Spencer found Fosler with his daughter they had a beef, then Spencer whipped out his gat and killed Fosler.  Spencer was detained by the S.O. and made bail the next day.  He has yet to be formally charged.  The sheriff seemed to personally have no issue with Spencer's actions.  

Heather Spencer is setting up a legal defense fund with CashApp and Venmo.  She tried to use GoFundMe but they kicked her off.  Apparently they are opposed to defense funds for people accused of violent crimes.

SOMEBODY IS PROBABLY LYING

By Bob Walsh

The crescendo is increasing from both sides.  The Pro-Trump people are screaming that Kamala is running scared.  The Pro-Kamala people are screaming that Trump is hiding out.  They COULD both be right, but they probably aren't.  

It is actually a simple calculation IMHO.  We are three weeks out.  Trump is still doing the same old shit.  That might be smart, it might be stupid but he clearly thinks it will work or he wouldn't still be doing it.

Kamala on the other hand is changing gears wildly.  She is no longer hiding out in Joe's basement.  She is doing interviews.  They are softball interviews mostly and she is still whiffing them.  But she is doing them.  Now comes an interesting one.  This coming Wednesday she is going on Fox with Brett Baier. Now Baier is not a Trump sycophant.  He has knocked Trump on occasion.  I have heard it.  I KNOW he has done it.  He is I expect going to ask Kamala some REAL questions, and not let her duck and dodge without calling her on it.

If you are approaching the goal and you think you are winning, or at least that the other guy is losing, you don't change your game plan.  You only do that if you think that is NOT happening.  While Trump is admittedly not doing so great with women, especially young college-educated women, Kamala is doing shitting with men, including minority men.  She is WAY behind the curve with them compared to Joe or Barack.  WAY behind.  Enough to matter.  Walz's phony hunting trip didn't move the needle one iota.  Their stupid MANLY MEN FOR KAMALA commercial is laughable.  

I confess I am moving from hopeful to expectant.  The republic may yet be saved.     

'WORD SALAD' EXPLAINED

By Howie Katz

“Well, Bill … the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.”

Say what?!

That was Kamala's response with long pauses and hesitant wording when CBS 60 Minutes host Bill Whitaker noted that “it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening” to the Biden administration.

If you didn't know what is meant by “word salad”, her response explains it.

The Vice President appeared on 60 Minutes on October 7. CBS tried to save Kamala's ass by editing out her wording, wording that language experts would not be able to interpret. 

Kamala sounds good when speaking at campaign rallies, but when answering questions during interviews, what one often gets are unintelligible word salads.

KAMALA, THE UNDISPUTED WORD SALAD CHAMPION

Kamala Harris accused of 'worst word salad' yet with bizarre explanation about constellations

 

By Charlie Spiering

Daily Mail

Oct 14, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris participates in an interview with Roland Martin 

 

Vice President Kamala Harris launched into a bizarre explanation about stars and constellations to explain former President Donald Trump's actions. 

During an interview with Roland Martin released Monday, the commentator asked Harris to react to former Trump's frequent derision of big cities with large black communities, like Detroit, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

'I talked with somebody once who said, ''You know, if you just look at where the stars are in the sky, don't look at 'em as just random things,'' she said. 'If you just look at 'em as points, look at the constellation - what does it show you?''

Harris used the constellation analogy to suggest that Trump's attacks on those cities were not accidental but a product of racism.

'You just outlined it Roland, what does it show you?' she asked. 'That the cities that he picks on in terms of black population or black mayor or both. C'mon.'

Trump last week made a surprising comment during a speech to the Detroit Economic Club suggesting the city is poorly run.

'The whole country is going to be like, you want to know the truth? It'll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she's your president. You're going to have a mess on your hands,' Trump warned the bipartisan group of execs and business leaders.

He also previously called out Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for being a 'horrible city' days before the Republican National Convention was hosted there. And Trump frequently attacks the city of Chicago for rampant crime.

Harris' star-crossed comment drew mockery on social media as the latest 'word salad' from the candidate. 

'Kamala attempts discussing stars and constellations, ends up delivering the worst word salad in human history,' wrote X user Johnny Maga on social media. 'This is a major party presidential nominee, folks.'

'It's like a gambler trying to make back his losses by shouting at a slot machine,' X user Anthony Galli noted, referring to Harris' media strategy. 

'Every time I hear Kamala speak, I start to believe a little more that she is actually brain damaged,' wrote self-proclaimed Independent for Trump David LaBeouf on X.

With only three weeks left until the presidential election, Harris is ramping the number of media interviews, especially with outlets focused on black audiences. 

She urged the black community to push back against 'misinformation' and 'lies' which she said were used by foreign governments to suppress the black vote.

'Don't let anybody take you outta the game,' she said. 'There's in intent to make it more difficult there is an intent to suggest to a lot of folks that their vote won't matter with the intention that people will not vote which is an attempt to silence folks.'

Harris said she would continue campaigning to win the black vote in states like North Carolina.

'I don't feel that way, I'm going to go everywhere,' she said. 'That's why I am in rural parts of North Carolina and Georgia and other places where people say, 'Oh your votes aren't there. But my people are there.'

Martin also asked Harris about her intent to use the Department of Justice to prosecute hate crimes. 

'We have actually seen a spike in hate crimes across the board and it does not help when you have somebody who was a former president and running to be president again who is constantly fanning the flames of hate and division in our country,' she replied. 'Constantly.'

WHILE TRUMP PISSED OFF WHOOPI GOLDBERG WITH HIS STUPID INSULTS, HE ALSO PISSED OF A LOT OF VOTERS HE CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE

Whoopi Goldberg loses her mind on The View after Trump branded her 'filthy, dirty, disgusting'

 

By Sonya Gugliara 

 

Daily Mail

Oct 13, 2024 

 

Whoopi Goldberg, 68, was enraged by Trump's comments about her and spoke out about them on Thursday

 

Whoopi Goldberg clapped back at Donald Trump after he insulted the actor-comedian during a Pennsylvania rally.

Goldberg, 68, would not even say the Republican candidate's name as she tore him apart for the nasty comments he made about her and her co-hosts, sparked by Kamala Harris' appearance on 'The View.'

'She was so filthy, dirty, disgusting, half the place left. I said I´d never hire her again,' Trump, 78, said to the crowd on Wednesday about a time he hired Goldberg as a comedian. 

'She was so dirty. Every word was filthy, dirty. What a loser she is,' he added.

Trump did not stop there. He referred to Harris' interview on 'The View' and insulted everyone involved.

 

Trump called the hosts of 'The View' 'dummies' on Wednesday at his rally in Pennsylvania 

 

'I think the other one asking the question is dumber than Kamala - she's a dummy,' Trump said about lawyer, journalist and 'The View' co-host Sunny Hostin, 55. 

He added: 'I watch that stupid View where you have these really dumb people,' before directly commenting on Goldberg, who he called 'demented.'

But Goldberg, enraged by Trump's comments, made sure she was able to get her point across on Thursday. 

Goldberg said on the talk show: 'I was filthy and stand on that fact. I have always been filthy. And you knew that when you hired me. 

'I headlined, babe, at your casino - which I might have continued to play had you not run it into the ground.

'How dumb are you? 

'You hired me four times and you didn't know what you were getting? How dumb are you?'

Goldberg also referenced the infamous Access Hollywood 'grab 'em by the p****' video: 'You know how dirty I wasn't? I never grabbed anybody by their genitalia.'

Vice President Kamala Harris is pictured in studio at ABC taking a break during the recording of the show "The View," Oct. 8, 2024

 

Hostin also spoke her mind during Thursday's episode.

She said: 'Donald Trump, I want to thank you for personally telling so many lies and committing so many alleged crimes and providing us with material on a daily basis. You help us do our jobs and I'm so appreciative.'

At the rally, Trump made his unapologetic stance clear. 

He told the crowd: 'You know, somebody said, "You should be nicer. Women won’t like it." I said, "I don’t care."'

 

Sunny Hostin, 55, was also ridiculed by Trump at the rally. She made a statement against him on 'The View' 

 

On X, Trump supporters rushed to defend of the nominee for bashing Goldberg. 

'Trump isn't wrong,' a user wrote. 'Whoopi DOES have a foul mouth.'

Another person posted: 'The View is garbage and so are all the ladies who spew their hatred towards Trump. 

Many people slammed Goldberg for continuing to work for Trump if she had such strong opinions of him.

'Yet you kept going back and taking his money. What does that say about you? This isn't the own that you think it is,' someone wrote.

Others were thrilled with Goldberg's response.

One comment said: 'Good and thank you Whoopi for checking him with the truth. You can’t believe anything that man says.'

'This was so perfect. Whoopi and Sunny are amazing,' a fan of The View chimed in.

THE NEW WAR

UAV war: Israel must not tolerate a new normal

As the war continues, we must assume that enemies across all fronts will continue to challenge us.

 

By Zvika Haimovich  

 

Israel Hayom

Oct 14, 2024

 

Suicide (kamikaze) drones during a two-day drone drill at an undisclosed location in Iran 

 

Six months ago, I dubbed the current conflict "The First UAV War". Hezbollah, primarily but not exclusively, identified both the potential threat of unmanned aerial vehicles and the IDF's vulnerability to them. They have been systematically deploying hundreds of aerial platforms from the north toward all parts of Israel.

Before the ground offensive, these were mainly very small and slow devices that, under the cover of topography and the Lebanese border, allowed brief exposure and diving toward towns and outposts near the fence. This scenario is almost impossible for defense systems to counter. With the start of the ground offensive, we see Hezbollah using larger vehicles (and there are even larger ones, as we see and experience in other arenas), which challenge the Israeli home front. This was evident on Yom Kippur eve with the strike on a retirement home in Herzliya, and yesterday with the tragic outcome in Wadi Ara.

 

 

Extensive damage in Moreshet, Israel following a Hezbollah volley 

 

If we examine the past week, during which the Israeli Air Force intercepted a UAV from Yemen (north of Ashkelon) and two unmanned aerial vehicles from Iraq (near Rishon LeZion), along with those I mentioned in the last two days from Lebanon – we understand that the multi-front challenge is not coincidental. This involves Iranian guidance of the concept, technology, means, and operation.

The UAV threat caught Israel not optimally prepared for a known and recognized threat. Compared to the IDF's capabilities against high-trajectory threats, the response in this area is insufficient. The primary challenge is detecting these vehicles in flight. This initiates the response chain, from translating to civilian alerts (and we saw the importance and difference in outcome between the incident in Herzliya and the one in Wadi Ara) and continues with intercepting and neutralizing the threat, either by ground systems like Iron Dome and additional means, or by aerial platforms. Many UAVs were intercepted by fighter jets.

As the war continues, we must assume that enemies across all fronts will continue to challenge us. In this learning competition, we must find a response in the form of technology, means, deployment, and preparedness, and any other solution that will improve our ability to cope. Although the potential payload of a UAV is less than that of a ballistic missile from Iran (660-1,100 pounds of explosives) or a heavy rocket from Hezbollah (220 pounds or more), the psychological aspect of penetrating the aerial dimension and the ease with which the home front in central Israel becomes an accessible target in the enemy's eyes is not something that can be normalized.

SOME OF THESE DRONES HAVE EVADED ISRAEL'S AIR DEFENSES

Hezbollah's drone arsenal: How much of a threat is it?

"The problem starts with topography. The terrain in Lebanon is mountainous, unlike the plain where Gaza is located. It's carved with mountains and valleys and makes it very difficult to detect aircraft flying low and using the terrain to hide in it," a senior research fellow at the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance explains.

 

By Neta Bar  

 

Israel Hayom

Oct 14, 2024

 

 

Iran's Shahed-136B kamikaze drone is showcased during a military parade south of capital Tehran on September 21, 2024. 

 

As tensions escalate along Israel's northern frontier, Hezbollah's expanding fleet of Iranian-made drones has emerged as a significant threat, testing the limits of the country's sophisticated air defense systems. These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have demonstrated an alarming ability to penetrate Israeli airspace, causing destruction and casualties while often evading one of the world's most advanced air defense networks.

While Hezbollah has suffered significant losses to many of its weapons systems, which have largely failed to make substantial impacts during the ongoing conflict, the terror organization's UAV arsenal has become a real thorn in Israel's side. What makes these Iranian-made drones a genuine threat, and how can they be countered?

While many of Hezbollah's weapon systems, including long-range missiles and precision munitions, have struggled to inflict significant damage on Israel, the drone array the organization received from Iran has evolved into a real threat and a major challenge for Israel.

Hezbollah has been operating drones, primarily for reconnaissance purposes, since before the Second Lebanon War in 2006. With the advancement of Iran's unmanned vehicle program over the past two decades, Hezbollah, like other Iranian proxy organizations, has been equipped with a large number of cutting-edge Iranian-made tools for reconnaissance, attack, and target destruction.

Mirsad

The UAV that struck the military base was likely a "Mirsad" drone manufactured by the Iranians. It's a small aircraft with an explosive warhead of about 44 pounds that can reach speeds of about 124 mph. This is a tool that Hezbollah possesses and has recently deployed more than once.

DR3

 

Hezbollah holds an unknown quantity of heavy and large cruise missiles of the DR3 mode 

 

Within Hezbollah's drone arsenal are several key players for attack and "suicide" missions, each with distinct advantages and disadvantages. Hezbollah holds an unknown quantity of heavy and large cruise missiles of the DR3 model, originating from Russian-made Tupolev drones converted into "suicide" vehicles that can reach ranges of over 124 miles with a heavy warhead of 661 pounds. These come with significant advantages but also clear drawbacks.

The heavy drone requires a massive launcher that must be placed in a building or on a truck and can be detected relatively easily. In recent weeks, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has successfully documented the destruction of several such drones hidden in civilian homes in southern Lebanon. So far, there is no known successful launch of this weapon.

Karrar

The Karrar is an Iranian-made drone based on the American jet-powered Striker drone. The Karrar is a kind of "poor man's fighter jet" because it combines suicide attack capabilities, bomb dropping, and even air-to-air missile launches against aircraft. Its range is relatively long, and Hezbollah apparently attempted to use it during the Syrian civil war.

However, the Karrar's jet engine and relatively high radar signature make it less effective for deep missions in Israeli territory and much more vulnerable to Israel's anti-aircraft array.

Ababil-T

The Ababil series, named after a type of bird from Islamic folklore, is the workhorse of the Iranian drone fleet. The early models of the series served Hezbollah back in the early 2000s, and some even reached the Hamas terror organization.

The Ababil-T is an advanced series model with an improved navigation system and an efficient and quiet internal combustion engine that is very difficult to detect by radar. The Ababil-T is agile enough to make optimal use of the Lebanese terrain and thus evade interception as it makes its way to Israel's borders. It doesn't need a large launcher and can be deployed from almost any terrain.

However, its relatively small range, only about 75 miles, limits it to operation in areas relatively close to the border, and IDF advancement into Lebanese territory could further reduce the effective use of these drones in Israeli territory.

Shahed-136

The Shahed-136 has so far proven to be one of the most significant assets in Hezbollah's drone arsenal. It has a quiet electric motor and an extremely low radar signature, making it very hard to intercept. It has a range of almost 500 miles and an armor-piercing warhead of about 18 pounds. Due to its difficulty in interception, it is relatively slow and flies at a speed of only about 75 mph, a fraction of that of other suicide drones in Hezbollah's possession.

However, its relatively simple systems give it another advantage – it's very cheap, costing only $20,000 per unit, which means it can be held in large quantities, as Hezbollah does. It's very easy to launch and needs only minimal ground space for deployment. All these qualities make it a perfect drone for attacking in a swarm tactic, as Hezbollah has already demonstrated.

How to counter?

It's crucial to understand that drone and UAV warfare is an evolving form of combat that has changed almost beyond recognition in recent years and has left many armies worldwide, from Myanmar to Ukraine, grappling with significant problems and challenges.

For Israel, there are several central problems in dealing with the threat. First, drones with a low radar signature flying very close to the ground are inherently difficult to intercept, and the mountainous terrain of southern Lebanon and the Galilee makes it even more challenging to detect and intercept these vehicles. The second problem is that even when early detection of the vehicle occurs, the interception window is very small and sometimes simply missed entirely.

Another problem is the tactic of using a drone swarm, a large and coordinated quantity of vehicles that can arrive from several places simultaneously, "occupy" the air defense array, and ensure that at least some of the vehicles will hit the target with deadly precision. Israel's air defense array is replete with some of the world's best detection and interception means, but even it struggles to deal with the threat.

Tal Inbar, a senior research fellow at the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, explains that the defense establishment is not surprised by this: "The problem starts with topography. The terrain in Lebanon is mountainous, unlike the plain where Gaza is located. It's carved with mountains and valleys and makes it very difficult to detect aircraft flying low and using the terrain to hide in it." In conclusion, Inbar says: "We don't yet have a system that's a game-changer. Our success will come from the systems and a precise concept of operation."

A possible partial solution to the threat is a return to using Vulcan cannons, which fire small shells at a tremendous rate and can be placed at many key points throughout the north as a complementary part of the interception array.

Additionally, the entry of a laser system into operational service can at least partially assist in closing gaps during drone swarms and improving interception capabilities. In Ukraine, small units of "drone hunters" on armed pickups equipped with cannons managed to inflict heavy losses on the Russian drone array, and defense systems with cannons like the German "Gepard" have also been successful against Russia's Shaheds.

However, it's important to note that even the solutions found by Ukraine represent only partial success and that only experience, coordination, and learning over the years will tip the scales in favor of the defender in the battle against the drones of the Iranian axis.

THE REAL WAR CRIME HERE IS THAT UN PEACEKEEPERS ALLOW HEZBOLLAH TO FIRE ROCKETS AT ISRAEL FROM THEIR MIDST

Hezbollah launched 25 attacks from near UNIFIL posts over past month

Attacks on peacekeepers “may constitute a war crime,” says United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

 

By Joshua Marks 

 

Israel Today

Oct 14, 2024

 

 

A soldier of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) stands guard in the Marjayoun area, opposite the Lebanese city of Khiyam and the Israeli town of Metula, near the Lebanese-Israeli border in southern Lebanon, on August 27, 2024. 

 

Over the past month, the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah has fired 25 rockets and missiles at Israeli communities and Israeli forces from terrorist compounds embedded near United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) posts in Southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said on Sunday night.

One of the attacks resulted in the deaths of two IDF soldiers.

The IDF accused the Iranian-backed terror army of “exploiting their proximity to UN forces.”

During a targeted ground raid in Southern Lebanon, troops from the 146th Division located hundreds of weapons, including firearms, grenades and rocket launchers aimed at Israeli territory. These weapons were stored in compounds located from a few dozen meters up to a few hundred meters from UNIFIL posts situated near the Blue Line.

“UNIFIL in southern Lebanon was deployed to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and prevent the presence of armed Hezbollah operatives south of the Litani River. However, both the State of Lebanon and the international community have failed to implement Resolution 1701, despite repeated requests to do so,” the IDF said.

“For years, Hezbollah has embedded itself in southern Lebanon in grave violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The organization has stockpiled large quantities of weapons aimed at Israeli civilians over the years and has deliberately built up its attack infrastructure near UNIFIL posts,” the military continued.

The IDF emphasized that its raids target only Hezbollah and not UNIFIL posts, forces or infrastructure, noting that on Sept. 30, before the start of ground operations in Lebanon, IDF representatives had requested that UNIFIL move its personnel away from posts located within five kilometers of the Blue Line because this area would become an active combat zone.

However, the United Nations has refused to move its forces to safer areas, despite a plea from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

“I want to directly address the UN Secretary-General from here: It is time for you to remove UNIFIL from Hezbollah’s strongholds and from the combat areas,” the premier said in a statement.

“The IDF has repeatedly requested this, only to be met with refusal, a refusal aimed solely at providing Hezbollah terrorists with a human shield. Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers turns them into hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers,” he continued.

“We regret the harm caused to UNIFIL soldiers, and we are doing everything we can to prevent it. But the simplest and most obvious way to ensure their safety is to simply remove them from the danger zone. Mr. Secretary-General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,” Netanyahu said.

“Unfortunately, some European leaders are applying pressure in the wrong place. Instead of criticizing Israel, they should direct their criticism at Hezbollah, which uses UNIFIL as a human shield, just as Hamas in Gaza uses UNRWA as a human shield. Unfortunately, in Gaza, UNRWA even collaborates with Hamas,” he added.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was defiant on Sunday, saying that any attacks on peacekeepers “may constitute a war crime.”

 

 

“UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in all positions and the UN flag continues to fly,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

For its part, the Israeli army said that “the IDF maintains continuous communication with UNIFIL to avoid, as much as possible, any harm to UNIFIL personnel in the area and will continue to do so, despite the complexities of the UNIFIL’s presence inside the combat zone.”

NOT SO FAST .... LET'S WAIT BEFORE WE CHANGE THE NAME OF COLUMBUS, OHIO TO COLUMBERG

Experts advise caution about report Christopher Columbus was Jewish

Matt Goldish, of Ohio State, told JNS that the report "may create a perfect storm of Jew-hatred if the same Jews caused the destruction of native American civilization and of native Palestinian civilization. 

 

By Menachem Wecker

 

JNS 

Oct 13, 2024

 

The Christopher Columbus tomb in Seville cathedral in Spain.

 

For many years, guides leading visitors on tours of Jewish history in Spain have shared rumors that Christopher Columbus was Jewish. A new documentary that garnered worldwide press coverage ahead of Columbus Day on Monday states that DNA evidence proves that the explorer was a member of the tribe, but experts told JNS that such a claim should be taken with a grain of salt.

The national Spanish broadcaster TVE aired “Columbus DNA: The true origin” on Saturday, Reuters reported. “Researchers conducted a 22-year investigation, led by forensic expert Miguel Lorente, by testing tiny samples of remains buried in Seville Cathedral, long marked by authorities there as the last resting place of Columbus, though there had been rival claims,” the wire reported.

“We have DNA from Christopher Columbus, very partial, but sufficient. We have DNA from Hernando Colón, his son,” Lorente said in the documentary, per Reuters. “And both in the Y chromosome (male) and in the mitochondrial DNA (transmitted by the mother) of Hernando there are traits compatible with Jewish origin.”

The wire titled its article “Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe, study finds.” Headlines in New York Post (“Christopher Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe, study finds”), BBC (“Columbus probably Spanish and Jewish, study says”) and Fox News (“Columbus remains, verified after 500 years, show he was Jewish: documentary”) hedged similarly, while a Guardian headline stated that Columbus “may” have been Jewish and the Telegraph that “Christopher Columbus was secretly Jewish.”

“The recent DNA evidence regarding Columbus is very interesting and helps to illuminate his biography and the era in which he lived. I would offer one caveat, though: While it indicates that Columbus had Jewish heritage, it does not indicate that Columbus was a professing, Jew,” said Jonathan Ray, professor of Jewish studies at Georgetown University.

According to Ray, who is the author of the 2023 book Jewish Life in Medieval Spain: A New History, there is no proof that Columbus (1451-1506) lived a Jewish life, “nor even as a crypto-Jew,” and the historical record indicates he was Catholic.

“Rather, it would seem to indicate that he was a converso, or New Christian as they are often called—that is, a descendant of Iberian Jews who had converted to Christianity under duress during the century leading up to Spain’s expulsion of the Jews in 1492,” Ray told JNS. “Some of these conversos remained steadfast to Judaism, albeit in secret, leaving Spain and Portugal to return to Judaism in other lands.”

Some conversos stayed in the Iberian Peninsula and “although they met stiff resistance from many of their ‘old Christian’ neighbors, fully embraced Christianity and eventually integrated into Iberian society,” Ray added. “We already know of Jewish converts, who became important bishops in late-medieval Spain. Now, it seems, we also know of a major explorer who also had Jewish roots.”

 

 Christopher Columbus statue (1955) by Edoardo Alfieri, which was installed at City Hall in Columbus, Ohio, photographed in 2018. The sculpture was removed in 2020 for political reasons. 

Several experts told JNS that the public should regard the claim in the documentary skeptically.

“This is a story that never dies,” Ronnie Perelis, associate professor of Sephardic studies at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies of Yeshiva University, told JNS.

“For over a century, if not since his own lifetime, people have been obsessed with Columbus’s origins. He is a fascinating, flawed and enigmatic figure,” added Perelis, the author of the 2016 book Blood and Faith: Family and Identity in the Early Modern Sephardic Atlantic.

“I encourage people to read his own writings to appreciate his complex identity—he was an autodidact, who took advantage of the explosion of knowledge after the birth of printing to create an eclectic theology that had many Judaic elements—but in a deeply Christian, mystical vein,” Perelis said. “Genetics doesn’t make someone Jewish.”

In 1992, Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, published an essay on “the mythical Jewish Columbus and the history of America’s Jews.”

“”In the interim, Columbus has been reviled in many circles and Columbus Day in cities like mine has been replaced by Indigenous Persons Day,” Sarna told JNS. “Dubious science that looks to prove ‘genetically’ that Columbus was Jewish is no more persuasive than earlier theories of this kind.  All we know for sure is that Columbus had much to hide.”

Jason Guberman, executive director of the American Sephardi Federation, told JNS that “there have long been suspicions that Columbus was Jewish or had Sephardic Jewish roots.”

The year 1492 was not only when Columbus “sailed the ocean blue with the support of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella,” according to Guberman. “That was also the year the Spanish rulers promulgated the Alhambra Decree, or Edict of Expulsion, completing a process that began in 1391 to destroy the Iberian Peninsula’s Jewish communities by conversion or deportation.”

“Sephardim were nevertheless prized for their erudition and technical skills. Columbus’s crew included several conversos, most notably his interpreter, Luis de Torres. For those who had been converted or were the descendants of converts, so-called ‘new Christians,’ there was always the risk of an accusation leading to torture, ruin and death at the hands of the Inquisition,” Guberman said.

“Now that the question of Sephardic Jewish ancestry has been settled, there should be renewed scholarly inquiry into Simon Wiesenthal’s thesis that Columbus was on a ‘secret mission’ to find a safe haven for his persecuted people,” Guberman added. “For example, how the unusual tolerance of Columbus’s family for conversos led to an open Jewish community at Jamaica.”

Who ‘owns’ Columbus?

Ori Soltes, an author and former director of the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, told JNS that “the DNA issue that focuses on the so-called tomb of Columbus in Seville is fraught with political issues pertaining to national pride and with it, which country can claim Columbus as its own.” 

Soltes, who also teaches at Georgetown, said that writer and researcher Peter Dickson, of Virginia, has shown in “meticulous studies” that “spurious DNA claims aside, Columbus was a child of his era and his bloodline mixed Spanish, Genoese and French strains—indeed, more than just these three—as well as intertwining Jewish and Christian strains.” (JNS sought comment from Dickson.)

That Columbus has both Jewish and Christian blood is unsurprising “given that he set sail from a country that had spent a century producing various sorts of conversos by the time of his first voyage,” Soltes said.

“Other aspects of his story, from the way he signed his letters to his son to his insistence that his ships sail before midnight of the day (Aug. 3) when the edict of expulsion was to go into effect also point to the interweave of religious and national identities that would have comprised him,” he added.

Matt Goldish, a history professor and chair of Jewish history at Ohio State University, told JNS that an “extensive older literature” has made the claim that Columbus was Jewish.

Among the reasons that claim has been made are “why did a Genoese mariner speak and write in Spanish?” and “why did Columbus leave some money to certain Jews or conversos?” Goldish said. Columbus also had an “odd signature,” he added. (Some have claimed that the explorer wrote the Hebrew letters bet and hay in the corner of his documents.)

 

 Monument to Christopher Columbus in Barcelona, Spain, with depiction of the explorer with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. 

“All of this was interesting but by no means conclusive. DNA evidence is much stronger, but it also has its problems,” Goldish told JNS. “DNA, for example, does not actually tell you that someone is or is not Jewish—it says that most Jews from a certain region seems to have common ancestors, and a given person shares to whatever extent in the DNA of those ancestors.”

The Ohio State professor said that the DNA evidence seems “pretty strong,” but cautioned that “Jewish ancestry does not mean Columbus was a Jew.”

“What it probably means is that he was a descendant of conversos (sometimes called marranos) who had converted in Spain or elsewhere in Western Europe during the 14th or 15th centuries,” he said.

Journalists who cover Jewish topics also approached the news cautiously. “The chatter around the ‘Columbus was Jewish’ report gets at the complications of Jewishness, nationality and the use of genes as proof of ‘identity,’” wrote Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatch.

“Columbus was obviously and explicitly a Christian. But he was also— apparently—of Sephardic Jewish descent,” Goldberg wrote. If Columbus was the latter, “what? He wasn’t Spanish? Or Italian? Or Christian? Lots of Spaniards have Moorish genes, are they not Spaniards? Italians are a melting pot of genetic lineages from all over the Mediterranean,” he added.

“It wasn’t until fairly recently that Italy was considered a single nation or had a single language. The fact that Columbus was of Jewish descent doesn’t necessarily answer many of the questions the researchers were trying to answer,” Goldberg wrote. “But it does raise some more interesting questions.”

Andrew Koss, a historian and senior editor at Mosaic magazine, wrote that “I highly doubt the study ‘proves’ anything.”

“I don’t see how they can be sure they have Columbus’s DNA,” he wrote. “And DNA can’t prove someone was Jewish, only show it’s more or less likely.”

Whether Columbus had any Jewish ancestry, the explorer wrote approvingly in his journals of the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, expelling Jews from their kingdom.

“I saw the Moorish king come out of the gates of the city and kiss the royal hands of your highnesses,” he wrote, “and your highnesses, as Catholic Christians … took thought to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the said parts of India, to see those princes and peoples and lands.”

The king and queen also dispatched him, he wrote, to observe “the manner which should be used to bring about their conversion to our holy faith, and ordained that I should not go by land to the eastward, by which way it was the custom to go, but by way of the west, by which down to this day we do not know certainly that anyone has passed.”

“Therefore, having driven out all the Jews from your realms and lordships in the same month of January, your highnesses commanded me that, with a sufficient fleet, I should go to the said parts of India, and for this accorded me great rewards and ennobled me so that from that time henceforth I might style myself ‘don’ and be high admiral of the ocean sea and viceroy and perpetual governor of the islands and continent which I should discover,” he added, “and that my eldest son should succeed to the same position, and so on from generation to generation forever.”

‘Colonialism’

Goldish, the Ohio State professor, told JNS that at a time when “colonialism” is denounced widely, he is concerned about potential Jew-hatred surrounding the announcement about Columbus.

“The ahistorical attitude that Columbus is to blame for everything Europeans did in the Americas is itself highly problematic. If you look at his biography, you learn that he was very careful with native people and was not a slave owner, which was not so common for hidalgos,” or noblemen, Goldish said.

“He is, however, used as the fulcrum on which to place all blame for the sins of Europeans in the Americas,” Goldish told JNS. “Once Columbus is to blame for everything, the antisemitism melds with the post-colonial and postmodern trends to create a truly dangerous idea.”

He noted that post-colonialists view Zionism as a European movement “to steal Palestine from the poor native Arabs.”

“As ahistorical as this claim is, it may create a perfect storm of Jew-hatred if the same Jews caused the destruction of native American civilization and of native Palestinian civilization,” Goldish said. “We might next expect a conspiracy picture out of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but coming from the left this time.”