Saturday, December 27, 2008

GAZAN MUSLIMS PLAN TO KIDNAP FEMALE IDF SOLDIERS

PIOUS GAZAN MUSLIMS PLAN TO KIDNAP JEWISH GIRLS OF THE IDF

from http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/12/pious-gazan-mus.html

Pam Geller of Atlas Shrugs writes:

If Israel doesn't bring hell down on their mortal enemies to protect their girls, their women, their sisters, their mothers -- then they are as depraved as the Islamo-savages.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/12/pious-gazan-mus.html

Friday, December 26, 2008

Then and Now

Paul Eidelberg

Back in 1920, an event took place in Israel that redounds to the honor and courage of many Jews, secular and religious. Indeed, since these Jews were then subject to British rule, their noble conduct shines all the more brilliantly when contrasted to the behavior of many Jews in the supposedly sovereign state of Israel—and I have especially in mind Israel’s ruling elites.

The event is recorded in Dr. Joseph B. Shechtman’s excellent biography of Vladimir Jabotinsky, from which I shall quote and paraphrase.

At the end of 1919, Jabotinsky formed the Jewish Defense Corp (Haganah) in reaction to Arab violence. On April 4, an Arab mob, inflamed by anti-Jewish speeches, began attacking Jews in Jerusalem. “Soon Jewish blood was shed and the mob rushed into the Jewish quarter to kill and to pillage, shouting: “El Dowleh ma’ana (the government is with us).”

“Instead of assisting the victims, Arab police either adopted a passive attitude or joined the attackers. The pogrom lasted two days and resulted in five Jews and four Arabs killed, 211 Jews and 21 Arabs wounded; two Jewish girls were raped.”

The only part of Jerusalem affected by the riots was the Jewish quarter in the Old City, where Orthodox Jews refused to permit Jabotinsky’s Jewish Self-Defense Corp to operate. All other quarters of the City were guarded by Jewish patrols, with the result that not one casualty occurred in these areas.

“Hardly was the pogrom over when the British administration started reprisals against the Jewish defenders of Jerusalem.” Twenty Haganah members were arrested, including Jabotinsky. The men were brought into an interrogation room, where they were surrounded by Arab guards with Turkish lashes in their hands.

On the order of the judge (an Australian captain), an Arab secretary started the investigation by addressing Jabotinsky in Arabic: “What is your name?” There was no answer. The question was repeated in French: Votre nom, Monsieur? No answer. Finally in English: “Will you please tell me your name?” No answer.

The judge lost patience, banged on the table and angrily shouted: “Why don’t you answer?”

Turning to the judge, Jabotinsky said quietly but firmly: “Your honor! I shall not answer a court secretary who belongs to the tribe of the murderers whose attacks upon innocent people, coupled with pillage and raping, are still going on beyond these walls. Furthermore, I shall answer no questions unless they are asked in Hebrew, my language, the language of the Land of Israel and the language of my nineteen comrades.”

“There are no nationalities in the Court; there are only officials,” the judge sternly admonished him.

“If this is the case, I shall not reply to this official,” was the composed answer.

“Take him out of the room,” ordered the judge.
This was quickly done. But the remaining prisoners firmly clung to Jabotinsky’s policy. The Court adjourned. Two hours later they were summoned again; a Jewish sergeant, speaking English and Hebrew, was in the secretary’s chair and his opening question was in Hebrew” “Mah Sh’meicha?” (What’s your name?).

But this is not all. We read in the sequel: “The Jews of Jerusalem learned that Jabotinsky and his comrades ... were committed for trial, on Sabbath, April 10th. The same day, three hundred-eighty members of the Defense Corp who had not been arrested, signed a petition to the Court declaring themselves at one with the twenty arrested men and asking to be tried together with them.

“Simultaneously, in all synagogues signatures were collected under a petition expressing full solidarity with Jabotinsky and stating that, although the signatories had not been in a position to participate in the Self-Defense Corp, they would have done so, had it been possible. The Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Kook, was the first to sign the petition and authorized its signing on the Sabbath by others.

“Two thousand five hundred Jews signed, among them three hundred women who stated they had been urging their husbands, brothers, sons to join the self-defense. The petition was submitted to the Military Court, but was disregarded.”

Jabotinsky and his comrades were tried, found guilty, and sentenced to fifteen years penal servitude—this, for defending Jewish life and Jewish honor against murderous and rapacious Arabs! Indignation seized the Jews in Jerusalem and all the suburbs. Haaretz reported on April 20: “All the schools, institutions, shops, etc. are closed. Nobody on the streets; no trading, no newspapers, nothing. A total strike.” The Rabbinate proclaimed the 26th of April a day of general strike, fast, and mourning, with the sounding of the Shofar in all synagogues in the country. (What would happen in Israel if such a strike were called today?)

When news about the vindictive sentence reached London, a storm of public indignation was aroused. Members the House of Commons were embarrassed, for Jabotinsky had served as an officer in the British army during World War I, indeed, had organized the Jewish Legion that fought on the side of the allies.

On July 8th, the High Commissioner of Palestine, Sir Herbert Samuel, issued an amnesty for all those imprisoned in connection with the Jerusalem riots, including two Arab rapists! Instead of being exonerated as he had insisted, Jabotinsky and his comrades were placed on the same level as Arab rapists and pogromists! He bitterly protested, but in vain.

A bright episode in Jewish history was thus dimmed by what we now call “moral equivalence.” But the Jewish pride and courage displayed by Jabotinsky, his comrades, and his 2,500 supporters—let us again mention Rav Kook—should serve to inspire Jews today confronted, as they are, not only by bloodthirsty Arabs, but by a shameless and pusillanimous government at war with heritage of the Jewish people.

Reclusive Syrian Jews Denounce Hebron Eviction

By Michael Orbach
Wed. Dec 24, 2008
http://www.forward.com/articles/14797/

The recent eviction of Israeli Jewish settlers from a contested building in Hebron has provoked a loud and angry retort from the usually publicity-shy Syrian Jewish community of Brooklyn.
In a December 17 gathering that attracted some 300 Syrian Jews, including the community's leading rabbis, speakers rallied around one of their own: a local women's shoe wholesaler named Morris Abraham, who has played an unlikely role in the Hebron controversy.

"We have created a nation of suicide peacemakers," Abraham told the crowd gathered at Congregation Ahaba Ve Ahva, off Ocean Parkway, referring to the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and its supporters. Repeatedly, Abraham asserted his claim to have purchased the Hebron building from a local Palestinian.

It is Abraham's claim that now lies at the center of the controversy. And the government's treatment of his claim appears to have produced this rare public outcry from his insular community — one of the quietest, most conservative and wealthiest in New York.
"Morris is a very popular person in our community," explained Charles Dweck, a Brooklyn Syrian Jew who, like Abraham, works as a wholesaler.

The Syrians' harsh reaction could have implications for elections scheduled in Israel this February. The community is known as an important source of political contributors for hawkish Israeli political parties, as well as to Shas, a Sephardic Orthodox party.

Abraham, who is 40, says that together with his father, he bought the contested property in Hebron — called the House of Peace by Israeli West Bank settler supporters — through a middleman in 2004 for, he says, $1 million. Other reports in the press cite a price of $700,000.
The deal was midwifed by the Hebron Fund, a Brooklyn-based group that provides financial aid to Israeli settlers in Hebron. Its executive, Yossi Baumol, also spoke at the rally.

With Israeli settlers in Hebron asserting a right of permanent Jewish rule over the overwhelmingly Palestinian city, in part through land acquisitions, Palestinians who sell properties to Jews face the possibility of execution by other Palestinians. After settlers moved into the Hebron site in 2007, its Palestinian owner went to court in Israel, claiming the alleged sale was fraudulent. Abraham presents a video and documents that purport to confirm his purchase.

Last month, Israel's Supreme Court gave the government custody of the property, pending resolution of this suit. And on December 4, Israeli security forces evicted the settlers and took control of it. The evicted settlers proceeded to riot and commit arson against the town's Palestinian residents as the security forces stood by, an event Olmert condemned as "a pogrom." Seventeen Palestinians were reported injured.

Abraham, an unpretentious man with a black velvet kipa and mild Brooklyn accent, told the audience at the synagogue, "Because there were young rioters doesn't mean the government can take land away that was bought legally."

Abraham said he was motivated to purchase the Hebron property as a religious Jew. According to the Hebrew Bible, the ancient city was King David's original capital before he moved it to Jerusalem. Hebron is also home to the Cave of the Patriarchs, a site holy to Jews and Muslims, where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their wives are said to be buried.

Abraham claimed a personal connection to the city, as well. He said his grandfather lived there and escaped a 1930 massacre by Arab residents that killed 68 Jews, many of them members of Hebron's long-settled Sephardic community. He said the alleged purchase was also a business investment; the 40,000-square-foot property was to be renovated to fit 30 apartments to be rented for $300 to $500 per month each, he said.

In a community that reveres its rabbis' words as holy writ, close to 20 community rabbis and leaders attended the rally, most notably Syrian Chief Rabbi Saul Kassin.

The atmosphere was rife with disgust for what speakers declared was the anti-religious nature of the government. Parallels were drawn between the fight for the Hebron property and the Soviet Jewry struggle.

"We are more into business than politics," said Abraham Dayan, a silver haired gentleman with a heavy accent whose wife waited for him in a blue BMW as he discussed the quiet nature of the Syrian community. "But we are very Zionistic, one of the most in the world. [The community] has taken to heart what the government did and considers it unjust vis-à-vis religion and Judaism."

Muhammad the Assassin

Muhammad: The Wise Assassin
Author: Kammuna and Lone
on Friday, December 26, 2008 - 03:00 AM
By: Ibn Kammuna and Ibrahim Lone

http://www.news.faithfreedom.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2217

Thursday, December 25, 2008

"Muslim World Today" articles about Jews and Israel

A flickering Beacon of Hope in the Dark Wilderness of Jew-Hatred that is the Moslem World . . .
Muslim World Today


Hanukah In Israel And At The White House
By Ari Bussel
Reporting from Israel
Full Story
http://www.paktoday.com/mwtoday/ari.htm

Mumbai And The Jewish 'Peace Camp'
The Mumbai massacre offers yet another reminder that many Israeli and American Jewish "peaceniks," despite all...
Full Story

[excerpt from the immediately foregoing]
The Mumbai massacre offers yet another reminder that many Israeli and American Jewish "peaceniks," despite all their moralistic and idealistic blather, have hearts of stone. All too many self-described 'progressive' Jews seem to have a fanatical hatred for their fellow Jews in the Land of Israel , simply because they happen to reside on the wrong side of an arbitrary political dividing line. In practice, these people give propaganda aid and comfort to the extreme-right-wing, fascist-Islamist terrorists, who are violently opposed to all genuinely progressive and humane values. Even now they are ignoring the Jewish victims of Radical Islamist mass murderers in Mumbai.
more at
http://www.paktoday.com/mwtoday/rachel19.htm

Mumbai: Murdering Jews Was Terrorists' Ideal
The multiple massacres perpetrated in Mumbai by jihadist terrorists that resulted in the killing of at least 188 people, including at least 31...
Full Story

[excerpt from the immediately foregoing]
The multiple massacres perpetrated in Mumbai by jihadist terrorists that resulted in the killing of at least 188 people, including at least 31 foreign nationals, and the wounding and maiming of 293 more, were significant not only for their absolute horror and barbarity. There was also something else of terrible significance: although the jihadists targeted non-Muslims in general, it is quite clear that they made a special effort to locate, torture and murder Jews simply because they were Jews.

The terrorists deviated from their otherwise consistent pattern of assault on mass-casualty public venues like hotels and railway stations in order to locate a small Jewish institution, a Chabad House, where they tortured and murdered Rabbi Holtzberg, his pregnant wife and other Jews who were there at the time. One of the examining doctors later stated that, "Of all the bodies, the Israeli victims bore the maximum torture marks."

Terrorists are ultimately responsible for their deeds, but there is also a secondary responsibility for the terrorism committed in Mumbai. It is to be found in the organs of the United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the League of Arab States and other international bodies that tolerate, promote, disseminate and institutionalize demonization of Jews and Israel.
If multinational (especially Arab and Muslim) organizations devote the lion's share of their time, personnel, committee work and resolutions to maligning Israel as something worthy of being dismantled, perpetuating and raising the volume of demonization, is it any wonder that Muslim and Arab extremists, raised on ideologies of hate, heed the reinforcement of this message?
http://www.paktoday.com/mwtoday/morton19.htm


from
Muslim World Today
[click on it for more--highly recommended*]

_______________________
*with some reservations. Why reservations? Well, this I don't really buy:

Abraham is greatly respected by the Jews and Christians. All Jewish prophets and Jesus Christ are related to the Patriarch who came from Iraq. He is also revered by Muslims as the architect of the Holy Kaaba along with his son Ishmael (Ismael to Muslims) and ancestor of the Last Prophet.

By retracing and reliving Abraham's journey, pilgrims experience his unquestioning faith and willingness to sacrifice what was most precious to him, his only and beloved son when ordained by God in a dream. How Ishmael was rescued last minute is a separate and equally fascinating story.

[Islam and Judaism agreeing on Abraham's scarifice? Really?]

What really interests me is how the three great monotheistic faiths - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - are inextricably linked to each other and are united in Abraham.
***
The force of the unlettered Prophet's own extraordinary personality epitomizing the universal message he brought swept Arabia and beyond in his own lifetime.

After the Prophet's death, it was not the cutting edge of Islam's sword - as many like to believe - but the revolutionary nature of its message and its liberating teachings that conquered the world and hearts and minds everywhere; the message championing the unity of God and humanity and preaching simple but universal basics like honesty, equality, justice and above all accountability for one's actions.

It was this revolutionary message that opened doors for the early Muslims wherever they went - from Persia to Spain and from India to Indonesia.

Contrary to what its many detractors allege, Islam did not spread to far corners of Asia, Africa and Europe riding on the military conquests of the Mughals, Turks and Afghans but thanks to the endearing simplicity, honesty and truthfulness of Arab spice traders who were enthusiastically welcomed on the coasts of Kerala, Malaya and Java.
--Aijaz Zaka Syed

The foregoing is from
Time To Rediscover Islam's Original Message
This is perhaps the only spectacle of its kind on the planet; the sea of humanity constantly surging, swirling and revolving around a square majestic structure. This ritual has been going on for thousands of years following in the footsteps of Prophet Abraham. The sight of men...
Full Story
http://www.paktoday.com/mwtoday/discover19.htm


BUT

Muslim World Today is still right on with

Reconsidering the Role of Sponsors in Minnesota Charter Schools

It might be time for the Minnesota Board of Education (MDE) to do away with sponsors in their charter school program...

Full Story

. . . about charter schools [used] to proselytize Islam

by Supna Zaidi, editor-in-chief of Muslim World Today and asst director of Islamist Watch at the Middle East Forum




Supna Zaidi







The founder and editor-in-chief of Muslim World Today and Pakistan Today, California-based weekly newspapers, was Tashbih Sayyed, president of Council for Democracy and Tolerance,(a non-profit organization) an adjunct fellow of Hudson Institute, and a regular columnist for newspapers across the world.




Tashbih Sayyed






Dr. Sayyed was also a Jihad Watch Board member.

A TRIBUTE TO TASHBIH SAYYED
by Robert Spencer, Director of Jihad Watch

May 28, 2007
Remembering Tashbih Sayyed

My friend Tashbih Sayyed, a Jihad Watch Board member, died last week. When I got the news, I did not have words, and posted only this. Now, on Memorial Day, I wanted to try to make up for that.

Tashbih Sayyed was that most rare of human beings: a man absolutely fearless in his commitment to the truth. After 9/11, American Muslim advocacy groups began, with the willing complicity of the mainstream media, to flood the airwaves with a huge mass of disinformation and misinformation about jihad activity in the United States and around the world, and above all about its provenance within Islamic theology and tradition. Instead of acknowledging that there was a mandate to wage war against unbelievers that was rooted in the Qur'an and Islamic tradition, Islamic spokesmen routinely denied this, and castigated those who contended otherwise as "bigots" and "Islamophobes."

Amid all this Tashbih stood virtually alone as an honest man. He stood out sharply among contemporary Muslim spokesmen and activists by admitting that there was a problem within Islam that needed to be solved. As he once told me: "My whole life is devoted to one end: to make the Muslims understand that their theology needs to be reformed and reinterpreted. Anybody who thinks that there's nothing wrong with their theology is either a blind person or an apologist. There are many things in Muslim Scripture that need to be reshaped and reframed and reinterpreted, so that they cannot be used by terrorists to justify homicide bombings and honor killings."

This stance, of course, earned him ostracism and threats, but Tashbih was undaunted. I will never forget his reaction when I asked him whether he thought I should go ahead and write a sira -- a biography of Muhammad -- as I had been considering doing. He said "Of course you should" so quickly that it took me aback: usually when I broached the idea with people their reaction had been to tell me that if I did write such a book I would be threatened and possibly even killed. But Tashbih never flinched. He went on to explain to me that it needed to be done, that the truth needed to come out about these issues -- and clearly that was all that mattered, as far as he was concerned. He knew that if the world was going to prevail against the global jihadist threat, we would all have to take certain risks. And he himself never hesitated to put his life on the line for the truth.

Would that now we had hundreds, and hundreds of thousands, and millions like him, with his quiet strength, his good humor, and his indomitable and unshakeable love for the truth. If we did, the outcome of this present conflict would not be in the slightest doubt.

Tashbih, I am honored that you called me your friend, and I will miss you tremendously. And the forces of civilization have lost a warrior who cannot be replaced.

Posted by Robert at 9:55 PM Comments (22)
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016654.php

Some COMMENTS on the foregoing post:

"...Tashbih stood virtually alone as an honest man."In a dishonest world, honest men always stand virtually alone.
Posted by: Timur at May 28, 2007 4:32 PM

Well, I don't want to inject a note of negativity into a heartfelt tribute for a good man, but I'm a little troubled. If Tashbih could see all that is wrong with Islam, why did he remain a mohammadan?
More at root_cause , click May 28, 2007 6:58 PM

Root_cause...I have the same questions and thoughts about 'moderate' muslims, but I dont think this is the time or place to discuss them.But thats just me...
Posted by: duh_swami at May 28, 2007 8:36 PM

Tashbih Sayyed - Always the Gentleman
Obituary by Ari Bussel

It is with great sorrow that we learned late last week that Dr. Tashbih Sayyed, publisher of Muslim World Today, has passed away. The funeral was held Sunday, May 27th, 2007, in Costa Mesa.

On September 17th, 2006, two events happened simultaneously: A Night to Honor Israel was being held at the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena by Harvest Rock Church and its Senior Pastor Che Ahn. This event brought to Los Angeles for the first time Pastor John Hagee’s Christian United for Israel’s tradition of showing support to the Jewish communities around the United States and to the State of Israel, the Jewish Homeland.

Also at the same night an event was held at the Four Seasons hotel in Los Angeles: Profiles of Courage by the American Jewish Congress. The hotel was probably the most secure location that night in the United States of America, for there were "enemies of Islam" as Islamists would call them—Dr. Tashbih Sayyed, Dr. Wafa Sultan, Nonie Darwish, Salman Rushdie and Brigitte Gabriel. [Lebanese-born Gabriel is the exception among this group of five, for she is Christian, the others are Muslim.]
Ari.Bussel for more of this comment click May 29, 2007 5:11 PM

Tashbih Sayyed's light shows what could shine forth from the Islamic countries if free and progressive thought ever emerges.
Posted by: jewdog at May 28, 2007 7:03 PM

It is indeed hard to find a righteous man in this world, or woman. Ayaan Hirsi Ali. With what little I read, Tashbih Sayyed reminds me of her. What confuses me though is that there really, honestly, cannot be a re-interpretation of the text. It is an all or nothing situation. It claims to be the ultimate truth. The ultimate knowledge. The unchanging word of the one, true God. This exercise of re-interpretation simply cannot be done without fundamentally altering the entire theme of the religion. Acknowledging what these two individuals have, I am left confused when they (sometimes) state that they are Muslims. They cannot be. At least not after saying what they have and believing what they do. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with deciding no longer to be Muslim. I, perhaps, do not understand the subject well enough.
Posted by: Spartacus at May 29, 2007 5:11 PM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016654.php

A Battle Between Democracy And Terror
By:Tashbih Sayyed, Ph. D.
First published in Friday, December 24, 2004 issue of Muslim World Today

Iraq's insurgents represent the ugliest face of Islamist terror.
They know that if Iraqi elections are allowed to go ahead as planned, it will be a major blow to their world wide agenda...
Full Story

MERRY CHRISTMAS ISRAEL! ISLAM SAVAGES ROCKET BARRAGE ON DEFENSELESS JEWS

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/12/merry-christm-2.html
Israel Hit by Biggest Gaza Rocket Barrage Since Cease-Fire

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Hanukka Revisited

WHY NO EQUIVALENT MOSLEM HOLIDAY?
_______________________________________
Why was there no Islamic presence in Jerusalem at this time? No mention of the Islamic conquerors of the Greeks in Judea? Well, guess what: the events described in the "hanukkah story" took place in 124 B.C.E., that is some 700 years before there was such a thing as a "Moslem," an "Islam," an Arab "prophet" that called himself "Mohammed."
________________________________________

BUT . . . BUT. . .
AREN'T MOSLEMS PART OF THE FABRIC OF AMERICAN LIFE?

AND IF NOT, WHY ARE THE JEWS PART OF IT (those "apes and pigs" as they are called by the Moslem's koran in 2:62-65, 5:59-60, 7:166)?

BECAUSE JEWS HAVE BEEN PART OF AMERICAN LIFE SINCE LONG BEFORE THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

They were not always accepted or liked, even hated, but despite all that they did their part to build the American nation. And they never wanted to impose their religion on the American population nor put anything above the Constitution (such a the Islamics want to do with their shariah). Islamics want to make the United States into an Islamic nation--no matter what we, the citizens, want.

The following is from http://www.jewishmag.com/80mag/usa3/usa3.htm

Jews traced their earliest participation in Virginia's life from the 16th century with Sir Walter Raleigh through Jamestown and the revolution. The first permanent synagogue community Kehilah ha Kadosh Beth Shalome, was founded in 1789 in Richmond, Va.. Beth Shalome built its first permanent building in 1820 in Richmond. The president of the congregation at the time of dedication was Jacob Mordecai, born in 1762 in Philadelphia. His mother Elizabeth (Esther) Whitlock had been a Christian convert to Judaism.

***
Oct. 25. 1765, a group of Philadelphia merchants gathered in the State House to sign the non-importation agreement to fight the hated Stamp Tax of the British government. The first man to step forward to sign his name was the president of Mikve Israel Congregation, Philadelphia's only synagogue, Mathias Bush.

As the tensions between Britain and the American Colonies increased and finally erupted into war the American Colonial population was split almost into thirds; one third supported the war, one third was neutral and one third was pro British. The small Jewish population of America was also divided – the choice though was very heavily and disproportionaly in favor and support of the American Revolution. Not only did the Jews pledge their fortunes and sacred honor for America but their very lives.

A few days later in Philadelphia, July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was written. A copy was sent to Amsterdam via the small Dutch Caribbean Island of St. Eustatius. The Declaration was intercepted by the British at sea. An accompanying letter with the Declaration of Independence was also intercepted and sent to London as being a secret code about the document that needed to be deciphered - the letter was written in Yiddish.

Jews stood and fought along with their neighbors. Into the terrible dark cold winter at Valley Forge, Abraham Levy and Phillip Russell stood their watch. Joseph Simon from his frontier forge at Lancaster, Pa. supplied the Army with the famous Henry Rifles. Jewish trading merchants, peaceful before the war, outfitted their ships to become privateers and ravage the British at sea. The cost to many was great, the great merchant traders of Newport, Rhode Island saw their fortunes lost.

Men such as Aaron Lopez were bankrupted supporting the Revolution when their ships were lost to the British. In the area of finance the young American government might have foundered too except for the financial genius and personal financial risk and support taken on by Hayim Solomon. Solomon was to die bankrupted by his total support of the American cause. Though small in number the Jews chose to caste their fate with America.

But how did the Jews save the American Revolution? As late as 1781 the war had not been won by the Americans nor was it lost by the British. Arms were being funneled into the Colonies by arms merchants running the British blockade primarily from the tiny free trading Island of Dutch St. Eustatius. Jewish merchants and arms traders were a major presence on the island.

In 1781, the British realized they had to cut off the open door of arms shipments to the rebels through St. Eustatius. Admiral Sir George Rodney was sent to capture the island. His goal was to destroy the supplies and destroy the island's commercial and merchant class so they could not provide any more aide to the rebels. Early in 1781 the lightly defended island fell to the heavy presence of the main British battle fleet. Rodney in his vehemence destroyed the warehouses and the supplies. He burnt every home. He paid particular venomous attention to the Jews of St. Eustatius. The British burnt their homes and the synagogue, Honen Dalim, "She Who is Charitable to the Poor" – built 1739. Jewish property was confiscated and the men imprisoned with particular cruelty. Rodney spent months directing half his fleet to convey much of the stolen treasure back to England.

While Rodney was engaged in St. Eustatius, Lord Cornwallis and his army of British regulars were forced out of the Carolinas and retreated to the small port of Yorktown, Virginia on the James Peninsula. He needed to await critical reprovisioning and fresh reinforcements being brought by the British fleet. The weakened British fleet, with Cornwallis's reinforcements, was intercepted at sea by the French fleet under Admiral DeGrasse and soundly defeated. Degrasse took up positions at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay blockading Yorktown from the Sea.
General George Washington saw his chance. Washington trapped and besieged Cornwallis. In short course Cornwallis surrendered. The war was over. The Americans had won with the help of the French.

But how did the Jews save the American Revolution? If the Jews had not helped turn St. Eustatius into a major arms center for the Revolution and if Admiral Rodney had not spent so much time destroying St. Eustatius and particularly the Jews, the war might have ended differently. There is little doubt that Admiral Rodney's anti-Semitism helped squander his time and played a role in delaying and weakening the British fleet. Ironically it was the Jews of St. Eustatius who helped win the American Revolution.
http://www.jewishmag.com/80mag/usa3/usa3.htm


JEWS AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

By 1776 and the War of Independence, there were an estimated 2,000 Jews (men, women and children) living in America, yet their contribution to the cause was significant. For example, in Charleston, South Carolina, almost every adult Jewish male fought on the side of freedom. In Georgia, the first patriot to be killed was a Jew (Francis Salvador). And additionally, the Jews provided significant financing for the patriots.
http://www.aish.com/literacy/jewishhistory/Crash_Course_in_Jewish_History_Part_55_-_Jews_and_the_Founding_of_America.asp


The Truth About George Washington's Hanukkah
http://blog.beliefnet.com/virtualtalmud/2007/12/the-truth-about-george-washing.html



An Amerian Naval Commodore

Uriah P. Levy (1792-1862)

Forty years before French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was court-martialed, convicted and eventually exonerated in trials based on anti-Semitism, an American naval officer was facing similar tribulations. The American court's verdict was unanimous for the 63 year old defendant: "Urah P. Levy is morally, mentally, physically and professionally fit for the Naval Service and ought to be restored to the active list of the Navy." Within five years this court-martial, Levy was placed in command of the entire Mediterranean Fleet and was elevated to the Navy's highest rank - Commodore.

Uriah Phillips Levy was born in 1792 in Philadelphia; he was barely 14 years old when he embarked on his naval career by signing on as a cabin boy. Seven years later he volunteered for service in the United States Navy during the War of 1812, as "proof of love to my country." The next year Uriah was captured and imprisoned by the British until the end of the war. In the years following, he faced persecution from many naval officers, he had to defend himself in a duel, and was subjected to a total of six courts-martial ... all instigated by anti-Semitism.
Throughout his life, Uriah P. Levy, was active in religious life; he was the first president of the Washington Hebrew Congregation, and in 1854 he sponsored the new Seminary of the Bnai Jesherun Educational Institute in New York.

It was Levy's wish that he be remembered for his singular efforts to abolish the barbarous punishment of flogging in the U.S. Navy, which resulted in Congressional approval of an anti-flogging bill in 1850.

Preserver of Jefferson's Monticello

Uriah P. Levy regarded Thomas Jefferson as "one of the greatest men in history, who did much to mold the Republic in a form in which man's religion does not make him ineligible for political or governmental life." Thus, about 10 years after the former President's death in 1826, Levy purchased Jefferson's run down estate, that was virtually in ruin. He began a long and costly program of renovation and restoration, including the purchase of an additional 2,500 acres adjoining the historic property. After Levy's death in 1862, his will directed that Monticello - the house and property - be left "to the people of the United States."

The song "God Bless America" was written by a Jew, Irving Berlin.
http://www.amuseum.org/jahf/virtour/index.html

More about Hanukkah:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah#Origins_of_the_holiday
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah
http://www3.telus.net/public/kstam/en/temple/details/hanukkah.htm
http://www.ort.org/ort/edu/festivals/hanukkah/index.html

AND ISLAM? DIDN'T MOSLEMS FIGURE SOMEWHERE IN ALL THAT?

Yep, they sure did.

Just look at this. Moslems doing what they do best

Jefferson’s War: America’s First War on Terror 1801–1805

[title of a book by Joseph Wheelan (2003)]

http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_2_urbanities-thomas_jefferson.html

and the following elaboration on that theme:


[quote]

One immediate effect of the American Revolution . . . was to strengthen the hand of those very same North African potentates: roughly speaking, the Maghrebian provinces of the Ottoman Empire that conform to today’s Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. Deprived of Royal Navy protection, American shipping became even more subject than before to the depredations of those who controlled the Strait of Gibraltar. The infant United States had therefore to decide not just upon a question of national honor but upon whether it would stand or fall by free navigation of the seas.
* * *
Linda Colley’s excellent book Captives . . . shows the reaction of the English and American publics to a [white] slave trade of which they were victims rather than perpetrators. How many know that perhaps 1.5 million Europeans and Americans were enslaved in Islamic North Africa between 1530 and 1780?
* * *
But one cannot get around what Jefferson heard when he went with John Adams to wait upon Tripoli’s ambassador to London in March 1785. When they inquired by what right the Barbary states preyed upon American shipping, enslaving both crews and passengers, America’s two foremost envoys were informed that “it was written in the Koran, that all Nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon whoever they could find and to make Slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.” (It is worth noting that the United States played no part in the Crusades, or in the Catholic reconquista of Andalusia.)


[italics and bold emphasis mine. lw]



* * *
It seems likely that Jefferson decided from that moment on that he would make war upon the Barbary kingdoms as soon as he commanded American forces. His two least favorite institutions—enthroned monarchy and state-sponsored religion—were embodied in one target, and it may even be that his famous ambivalences about slavery were resolved somewhat when he saw it practiced by the Muslims.
* * *
John Jay, in his letters, took a “bring-it-on” approach; he believed that “Algerian Corsairs and the Pirates of Tunis and Tripoli” would compel the feeble American states to unite, since “the more we are ill-treated abroad the more we shall unite and consolidate at home.” The eventual Constitution, which provides for an army only at two-year renewable intervals, imposes no such limitation on the navy.
* * *
[Jefferson] . . . when he was out of office and temporarily “retired” to Monticello. . . . could . . . watch . . . the construction of a fleet—and the forging of a permanent Marine Corps—that he

[w]ould one day use for his own ends.


At one point, Jefferson hoped that John Paul Jones, naval hero of the Revolution, might assume command of a squadron that would strike fear into the Barbary pirates. While ambassador in Paris, Jefferson had secured Jones a commission with Empress Catherine of Russia, who used him in the Black Sea to harry the Ottomans, the ultimate authority over Barbary. But Jones died before realizing his dream of going to the source and attacking Constantinople. The task of ordering war fell to Jefferson.
* * *
Yusuf Karamanli, the pasha of Tripoli, declared war on the United States in May 1801, in pursuit of his demand for more revenue. This earned him a heavy bombardment of Tripoli and the crippling of one of his most important ships. But the force of example was plainly not sufficient. In the altered mood that prevailed after the encouraging start in Tripoli, Congress passed an enabling act in February 1802 that, in its provision for a permanent Mediterranean presence and its language about the “Tripolitan Corsairs,” amounted to a declaration of war. The Barbary regimes continued to underestimate their new enemy, with Morocco declaring war in its turn and the others increasing their blackmail.


More at http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_2_urbanities-thomas_jefferson.html


For another description of the Tripoli venture of the newly formed United States, see
http://islamic-danger.blogspot.com/2006/10/to-shores-of-tripoli.html
http://islamic-danger.blogspot.com/2007/01/defeating-islam_30.html

BOOKS ABOUT THE AMERICAN WAR AGAINST THE BARBARY PIRATES

The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World, by Frank Lambert (2005); Jefferson’s War: America’s First War on Terror 1801–1805, by Joseph Wheelan (2003);

To the Shores of Tripoli: The Birth of the U.S. Navy and Marines, by A. B. C. Whipple (1991, republished 2001);

Victory in Tripoli: How America’s War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation, by Joshua E. London (2005).

Most recently, in his new general history, Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present, the Israeli scholar Michael Oren opens with a long chapter on the Barbary conflict.

As some of the subtitles—and some of the dates of publication—make plain, this new interest is largely occasioned by America’s latest round of confrontation in the Middle East, or the Arab sphere or Muslim world, if you prefer those expressions.

http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_2_urbanities-thomas_jefferson.html


AND

from fjordman

Subject: MOSLEM ARGUMENT JUSTIFYING THEIR BEHAVIOR IN OUR--NON-MOSLEM FREE COUNTRIES

as is expounded at http://islamic-danger.blogspot.com/2007/11/western-mores-offend-mos-its-not-matter.html

If you are Moslem . . .. . . when in Rome . . . do any damn thing you please and justify it by saying you didn't realize you were in Rome, or what the Romans did, and anyway, the Romans are Infidels so who cares what they do, or expect.

from fjordman via the Disease and the Cure . . . as is the following:

We Muslims are here, here to stay, and we have a right to take advantage of this situation. It is our view of the matter that should prevail. Western goods, like the land on which we now live, belong to Allah and to the best of men -- his Believers. Western women, too, essentially belong to us -- our future booty. Western laws may "apply" but not in any sense that really counts or that we reocgnize. We recognize Islamic law, the sharia, and according to that we are simply exhibiting the attiudes toward Infidels that are drummed into us, that are right and according to the laws of Allah. Why should we act differently? Oh, and if we happen to act, as some of the Islamic websites tell us we can act, in accordance with the local laws -- but only insofar as they do not contradict Islam -- that is only because of darura, the doctrine of necessity -- and that necessity, that darura, is of course only temporary.

fjordman