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Post by amyrs on Oct 21, 2023 8:08:07 GMT
Yeah Chesebro got a good deal if he is truthfhful he avoids the felony conviction. I wonder if Mark Meadows will do the same thing/
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Post by surfgirl on Oct 22, 2023 19:07:06 GMT
Hi Friends. As your Jewish member I wanted to say that I am so heartened to see your supportive comments though I expected nothing less here! Love to you all. This has been one of the most trying couple of weeks of my life and I wanted to share what it's been like from the perspective of someone who has been a non-practicing Jew all of her life since the age of 12. I experienced anti-Semitism as a kid, my parents unknowingly moved us to an area where we could grow up in the country, not the city like they did, and sadly there was a lot of anti-Semitism in this area so kids would taunt us constantly. My parents had to have a meeting with the worst bully's parents about it, it was very scary for them to be honest. Anyway, I grew up feeling like organized religion was just a way for people to form groups to stigmatize one another and I bailed on a bat mitzvah when I was 12, telling my parents I didn't believe in this stuff. To their credit, they didn't force me to do it, and I rarely went to temple after that. There have been many times over the many decades, that things have heated up between Israel and its neighbors, and usually I am neutral or see both sides at best. There have been times when Israel has provoked Palestinians by encouraging Israeli settlers to move into areas in the West Bank and I felt like why the hell are you provoking Palestinians, just leave them alone! And Netanyahu is just a more educated and less narcissistic version of Trump. He's done so much damage to Israel by encouraging a dangerous nationalism, similar to what the orange one did here. He has to go and many, many Jews both within Israel and in the greater diaspora feel this way, even before October 7th happened. But the main catalyst for what's happening right now seems to be that Israel's neighbors who hate it most - Palestine, Syria, Iran - do not want an Israel/Saudi agreement of any kind. In addition, the current government under Netanyahu recently passed an outrageous new law that weakens their judiciary system: " This law cancels the reasonableness clause, which allowed Israel's Supreme Court to block government appointments and decisions by elected officials that it deemed to be unreasonable and not in the public interest.
Now, the high court has loss that ability, which legal experts say was a crucial check on political power in Israel."
The country was up in arms over this and took their eyes off of protecting themselves and well, we know what happened next. A few of you have mentioned that this conflict has always been about religion and land. I think it's honestly more about land, but also a level of hatred towards Jews that is almost incomprehensible. The charter of Hamas clearly and explicitly says that its mission is to rid the world of all Jews. Not just wipe Israel off the map, but also kill people like me. And sadly, as some of you have pointed out, innocent Palestinians are used as human shields when Hamas does it's heinous work. They regularly hide weapons, ammo, rockets, and themselves in and amongst innocent Palestinian families, schools, hospitals and mosques. Nobody can say no to them because they will be killed so people live in fear. It's terrible. I think other, stronger Arab nations could quell terror orgs like Hamas if they really wanted to but nobody lifts a finger. Egypt wouldn't open it's border last week to Palestinian refugees because they don't want them there. No other Arab country wants the Palestinians because they know that with them comes terrorists and trouble. It's a shit situation for innocent Palestinians, for sure. And nobody who is Jewish wishes harm on innocent people living under a terrorist regime. It is a very very complex situation and these are only a fraction of the background notes. Oh, one more thing for those that don't realize this, after WWII, Jews that survived were pouring out of Europe but nobody would take them in en masse. So Britain, who 'owned' the land where Israel stands, decided to give it to the Jews, that is how Israel came about. Britain gained Jewish support for WWI by making a promise to give them their homeland one day and that day came after WWII when Britain split 'their conquered land into two pieces, one for Jews and one for Palestine. You will hear people saying Israel stole that land but the truth is, it is their homeland from biblical times, they were there like 4,000 BCE, way before Christianity and Islam came into being. So it actually is, IMO, their homeland, but land in that region has been fought over for thousands of years.
The situation is horrifying, but what is most terrifying to Jews around the world is the quickness for people to fan the flames of anti-Semitism once again. It is so bad that I am relieved I do not have a mezuzah on my front door right now. Am I in imminent danger? Probably not, but I feel as though anything could happen at any time and I have never felt that fear before now. I have also realized that I am a Jew, regardless of whether or not I practice my religion because being a Jew goes beyond religion, it is about a cultural way of being raised that is ingrained in me. I have, for the first time in my entire adult life, been attending Friday night services online, because I need to be around people who understand what I am feeling. It is not for the religious fellowship, it's for the human connection to people who get what we are going through right now. There is a wonderful article someone wrote, that if anyone here is interested in reading, it explains beautifully what it is like for us right now, linked below.
If you've managed to read this far, and you know anyone who is Jewish, please, reach out to them today and check on them. We all just want to know we are not alone right now. xo
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Post by DotRen on Oct 22, 2023 20:18:17 GMT
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Post by finreporter on Oct 22, 2023 20:36:02 GMT
Surfgirl! Thank you for what you’ve written! It is always appreciated to be informed and educated on these issues and you definitely provided me with more knowledge that I didn’t have before. I’m so sorry you and others in the Jewish community have to go through this and the fear that someone would want to hurt you.
I have a mezuzah on my front door that I kept from the previous owners of my house. I thought it was beautiful but didn’t know what it was. My son’s best friend who is a practicing Jew told me what it was about and it seemed all the more sweet to me so I’m glad I kept it.
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Post by surfgirl on Oct 22, 2023 21:27:06 GMT
And fin, I'm so touched that you kept the previous owner's mezuzah on your front door.
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Post by bbbearsmom on Oct 22, 2023 23:09:38 GMT
surfgirl, I read the article, very insightful. Hugs.
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Post by bbbearsmom on Oct 24, 2023 15:28:36 GMT
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Post by bbbearsmom on Oct 24, 2023 15:31:55 GMT
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Post by bbbearsmom on Oct 24, 2023 19:18:50 GMT
Another lawyer in the Georgia election case pleaded guilty today.
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Post by finreporter on Oct 25, 2023 0:38:14 GMT
Was it the one who was crying when she read her statement?
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Post by DotRen on Oct 25, 2023 14:07:10 GMT
finreporter, yes. She was laughing and smiling in her mug shot and initial arraignment though. Bet she thought Trump would help her out lol. That changed.
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Post by bbbearsmom on Oct 25, 2023 19:32:41 GMT
DotRen, I was feeling sorry for her until I read your post. She's getting what she deserved.
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Post by bbbearsmom on Oct 25, 2023 20:11:58 GMT
Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana was elected speaker of the house. It appears he's an election denier and hard core.
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Post by luanne on Oct 25, 2023 22:12:25 GMT
Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana was elected speaker of the house. It appears he's an election denier and hard core. Wonder how long he'll last.
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Post by finreporter on Oct 26, 2023 3:46:23 GMT
2024 elections can’t get here soon enough. We need to flip some seats.
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