5 reasons why Israel IS NOT committing genocide in Gaza

1. “Genocide” refers to the physical destruction of an entire group in whole or in part that has been targeted on the basis of its identity. This is not Israel’s objective in Gaza.

Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent, introduced the term genocide in 1944 to refer to events including the Nazis’ systematic extermination of Jews.

Lemkin explained the need for a new legal term to describe this horror, saying: “there has been no serious endeavor hitherto to prevent and punish the murder and destruction of millions…. there was not even an adequate name for such a phenomenon.”

The United Nations General Assembly recognized genocide as a crime under international law in 1946 and it was codified in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948.

The Convention defines genocide as the commission of grave harm against members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group – such as by killing, causing serious physical or mental harm, inflicting conditions that bring about physical destruction, imposing measures to prevent births or forcibly taking away children – with the intent to destroy the group as such.

Genocide means targeting members of a group because of their group identity and not something they are individually thought to have done.

Israel’s war is against Hamas: Israel is not seeking to destroy the Palestinian people or the Palestinian population of Gaza, which is what would need to happen in order to correctly apply the term “genocide.” Israel’s leaders have repeatedly asserted that their campaign in Gaza is solely against the terrorist organization Hamas. In fact, this type of military campaign is the exact opposite of reflecting an attempt to eliminate the Palestinian population.

2. Is Genocide Happening in Gaza? No. Israel is responding to a genocidal attack by Hamas

Since October 7, Israel’s objective in Gaza has been to destroy Hamas, a terrorist organization that carried out an unprecedented and brutal massacre against its people, including infants, children, elderly and disabled people.

A recent report concluded that Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon of war during and after the October 7 attack that Hamas terrorists, using widespread and systematic sexual violence across geographic locations, and against hostages in captivity.

The goal of Hamas is to wipe Israel and Jews off the map, and in the aftermath of the October 7 terror attack, its representatives reiterated that they will never stop pursuing it. That’s an example of genocidal intent. 

While Hamas’s military capacity has been largely decimated by Israel, it still retains control over areas of Gaza and still continues to hold Israeli hostages.

Israel  is fully justified in using military force to respond to Hamas’s October 7 attack (read AJC’s explainer on Israel, Hamas, and international law). Israel’s use of military force in Gaza in the face of such an ongoing threat is not evidence of genocide, but completely consistent with international law.

3. Israel’s actions reflect its desire to spare Palestinian civilians from harm, not to deliberately harm them

The IDF’s practices also disprove claims of genocidal intent, as the Israeli military has repeatedly relocated Palestinian civilians within Gaza in an effort to ensure they are out of harm’s way as it undertakes its legitimate military campaign to destroy Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure.

In fact, since the start of the war, Israel has called for the temporary evacuation of t local populations in every part of the Gaza Strip where it deemed military action appropriate, and delays its ground operations in Gaza for weeks to allow civilians time to heed Israel’s warnings. It goes to great lengths to designate humanitarian corridors, or safe routes for Palestinian civilians to relocate from northern Gaza.

The IDF still endeavors to warn Gazans prior to attacks and has allowed humanitarian aid for civilians to be delivered under arrangements intended to prevent Hamas from diverting aid or controlling its distribution to reinforce its authority.

4. Hamas’ actions are designed to cause harm to Palestinian civilians and blame Israel 

In the months that followed the October 7 attacks, Hamas fired thousands of missiles on Israeli towns and cities. Those missiles were fired from civilian neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip, and from inside, next to, and underneath nominally civilian areas in Gaza like residential buildings, schools, mosques, and hospitals. Hamas’s actions transformed what were once protected civilian sites into legitimate military targets that Israeli forces are now working to dismantle.

Hamas puts civilians in harm’s way: While Israel goes to great lengths to avoid harming civilians as it targets Hamas’s weapons and operations centers in Gaza, Hamas typically proceeds to place Palestinian civilians directly in the path of the IDF’s targets. It has repeatedly called on Palestinian civilians to ignore Israel’s warnings about impending strikes and reportedly forced civilians to remain in the vicinity of military objectives, using them, like its hostages from Israel, as human shields.

Hamas’ actions are not only aimed at protecting its leaders, weapons, and property but also at vying for leverage in the public opinion war by inflating the number of civilian casualties.

Through its actions in Gaza, Hamas greatly increases the likelihood that military actions by Israel that are permissible in war and not prohibited by the law of war – let alone by the Genocide Convention – will nevertheless result in some harm to civilians. International law does not prohibit Israel from undertaking legitimate actions that will likely result in civilian harm unless the expected civilian harm will clearly exceed the anticipated military advantage from the attack.

While Israel takes many steps to minimize civilian harm resulting from its attacks against Hamas targets, as much as it can, it cannot eliminate it entirely. This is a horrible outcome of war, but it is not illegal, and it certainly is not genocide.

5.  The “facts” of the genocide charge don’t add up

Those who claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza not only misunderstand the legal definition of genocide and what the laws of war permit; they also base the charge on unsubstantiated claims, such as a report issued by Amnesty International.

It is unquestionable that many civilians in Gaza have died and even more have suffered immensely since October 7. However, there are so many “unknowns” with an important bearing on Israel’s conduct in this war that it is impossible to say with certainty that it is acting wrongfully.

  • The number of “innocents” vs. terrorists that have died: This is impossible to know given that the Ministry of Health in Gaza is under the control of and susceptible to influence by Hamas, and does not separate innocent civilians from fighters in its announced death tolls.
  • The circumstances in which numerous innocents have been killed in Gaza: This includes whether they died because of attacks carried out by the IDF or because of intentional or unintentional harmful actions by Hamas or other Palestinian armed groups. A key example is the explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, which the U.S. and other governments have determined was caused by a failed rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and not, as Hamas, the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza, and many other sources claimed, by the IDF.
  • The nature of the military objective of attacks carried out by the IDF in which Palestinian civilians have died: Given that it is not possible for independent assessments to be conducted into whether a Hamas leader, tunnel, and/or weapons cache was present at the site of any specific IDF attack in Gaza, which Hamas still largely controls.

While some of those who claim Israel is engaged in genocide in Gaza are doing so for malign purposes – for example, justifying Hamas’ October 7 massacre by claiming Israel is ‘worse,’ many others have been deliberately misled. Their goal of ending the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza would be far better served by placing blame for that suffering where it lies – with Hamas – and supporting efforts to bring  about its defeat so that Palestinian and Israeli civilians can have the peace and security they all deserve as quickly as possible.

Accusing Israel of “genocide”  has been effective due to the emotional power of the word, and so it manipulates people who would be otherwise rational into embracing irrational claims that are provably wrong.

Am I a hypocrite?

Maybe.  There are lifestyle modalities that I have promoted and taught to people over the years that, for whatever reason, I haven’t been able to  practice myself. But I don’t believe that it is totally my own fault. Is it?

Back in High School, my best friend, Louis Dolmon gifted me with a copy of Robert Heinlein’s Stranger In A Strange Land (SiaSL).  This book had a major impact on me, and in fact still does to this day.  There were a few other novels of Heinlein’s that I enjoyed and which shared some of the same themes.  The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, The Door Into Summer, and Friday, to name just a few.  The particular themes that I most responded to were those of Polyfidelity (group marriage), naturism, (social nudity) and intentional community.  I have taught the merits of all of these over my “Pagan” career, and encouraged people to practice them. However, personally, I have only partaken of one of these myself, and even then not for a very long time.  I live in Israel for the better part of 1974 in an intentional community; a kibbutz.

The rest? Not so much. Well, not at all. But we (Ceridwen and I) tried to make things manifest.

NATURISM (AKA, Nudism, AKA, social nudity):

Prior to Ceridwen, I was “married” to Qadisha, and lived in Santa Cruz County, CA. She knew of my interest in naturism, but oddly, never allowed me to be exposed to it, even though there was plenty of opportunity in Santa Cruz.  There were five clothing optional beaches, two  hot tub “spas” with community tubs, and there was Lupin Lodge up in the Santa Cruz mountains.  I went to a clothing optional beach exactly once, by myself.  I also went to Kiva a couple times, by myself. I also enjoyed a free pass to Lupin Lodge once.  I loved all of it, but I hated being by myself. Also, as I discovered at Lupin, single males are discouraged from this lifestyle. I like people. I wanted friends who had shared interests, but Qadisha, I guess, was “protecting” me. I remember going to Well Within once with Qadisha, who did not know that I knew the nature of the business.  She asked me to stay in the car while she went in to conduct some business (was she scoring some weed?).

While living in Santa Cruz, I joined the Church of All Worlds (CAW), and attended a meeting at the home of Tom and Joy Williams, who were leaders in CAW.  CAW (as it was inspired by SiaSL) held  a reputation for promoting polyfidelity and naturism. The meeting was intended to organize a “nest” (congregation) of CAW. Nothing really jelled with that, but I did meet the man who would become my Santa Cruz “best friend,” Duane Adam Rostoker (aka: “Adam Walks Between Worlds”).

In 1998 we moved from Santa Cruz to Ashland OR, and that was the end of opportunities for naturist adventures.

It was in Ashland that my relationship with Qadisha ended, and my relationship with Ceridwen began. It should be noted that Ceridwen, prior to meeting me, had regularly engaged in naturist activities. She lived in Santa Cruz, and there was/is an abundance of opportunity there to be “clothing optional.”

Ceridwen was the driving force that instigated the evolution of Order of the Mithril Star (OMS) (which Adam and I conceived) into the Reformed Druids of Gaia (RDG), and in fact RDG was her vision.

In 2004 we moved from Grants Pass OR to Eureka CA (where we still live today). The main reason was that OMS’ (and later RDG’s) sacred tree is the Coast Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirons). The thing is that there are no Redwoods in Oregon. Since OMS’ sacred tree is the Redwood, and we were the leaders of OMS, it seemed logical that we should live where the Redwood is indigenous. Eureka, in it’s heyday, was the center of the logging industry which reduced the Coast Redwood to 3.5% of what it once was. Happily, there hasn’t been any significant logging activity for about the past two decades.

RDG held yearly Reformed Druid gatherings at Humboldt Redwoods State Park. People were informed that these gatherings, owing to the privacy of the camp ground we retained, were clothing optional events. RDG’s course in how to be  a Druid, The Druid Path includes text promoting nudity for ritual and social activities, since RDG is most definitely an SiaSL inspired “organism.” So one might expect that some would take the opportunity to shed their cloths.

No one ever took their clothes off.

POLYFIDELITY:

This means a group relationship involving any number of men and women (Gay and/or Straight) who make a commitment to one another to love, honor, and protect each other; possibly raise children, and to restrict sexual activity to only those in the contract. Group Marriage.  One temporarily successful group marriage was the Kerista Commune. They lasted about twenty years, and it is said that a remnant of the group still exists on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

As an SiaSL inspired organization, we have promoted polyfidelity, and Ceridwen and I seriously sought after another wife or husband (or more). We actually had one really good shot at it. A woman from Southern California who was a member of OMS “courted” us for about three months, even visiting us when Ceridwen and I lived in King Salmon (just south of Eureka).  As things developed, it turned out that she wasn’t so much interested in a relationship with Ceridwen and I as she was in one with me.  Ceridwen and I are a package deal, so, no deal.  After that we never again met anyone who was at all interested. We had a series of female house mates over from 2004 until 2019, and we hoped that at least one of them would evolved into the “third” that we desired.  When it came time to replace our ageing queen size mattress, we opted for an Eastern King, to at least “prime the pump” for a polyamorous relationship to develop (an Eastern King will easily sleep three).

Prior to Ceridwen, Qadisha expressed interest in polyamory  (polyfidelities’ poor cousin). In a simple ritual, we pledged we would pursue polyamory. As it turned out, what she really wanted was to sleep with her ex-boyfriend in Eugene OR. She wasn’t interested in my pursuing a poly relationship (with anyone) at all.

Ceridwen had over time participated in various polyfideletous relationships, both when she lived in Madison WI, and again in Santa Cruz.

One of our Archdruids actually had a poly relationship involving her boy friend and another woman. It was not so successful. After about nine months, our AD came home from work to find that her boy friend and her “sister wife” had left her. This also happened to another couple whom I stayed with in Santa Cruz.

Ceridwen and I will turn seventy-two very soon. Her in  a few days from now, and myself in mid-November. We haven’t totally given up on acquiring a “sister wife” or “brother husband,”  but we’re not going to hold our breathe either.

INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY:
We’ve had a business plan and outline for a  “Druid Monastery” for well over twenty years now (click here) but we’ve experienced nothing but tsuris for our efforts. When we first exposed OMS members to the idea, we were inundated with a lot of complaining from members, that we couldn’t possibly raise the kind of money for the infrastructure we would require, and “…anyway it’s just yours and Ceridwen’s selfish retirement plan.”

Over the last twenty-five years, we’ve raised $1,050 towards this plan. So, there’s still hope, right?

 

 

Had a chat with “Grok” today

In this case “Grok” is not simply a Martian vernacular word from Heinlein’s Stranger In A Strange Land, rather, Grok is a conversational AI chatbot developed by xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company. It’s designed to be a powerful assistant that can answer questions, generate text, create images, and even write code. Grok is known for its ability to access real-time information through X (formerly Twitter) and its “rebellious” streak, which allows it to tackle “spicy” questions often avoided by other AI models.

I asked Grok about the Reformed Druids of Gaia (RDG).  Here is what  “she” told me:  “The RDG was co-founded by Ceridwen Seren-Ddaear and Sybok Pendderwydd (aka: Robert M. Larson), in 1996.  Her real name is Ceridwen Arseneau. Ceridwen and Robert are married and they also co-founded the Order of the Mithril Star together.”

Several things are just so wrong in this. First of all, Ceridwen’s real name is Karyn Arseneau. She has used the pseudonym “Ceridwen Seren-Ddaear” throughout her career as a neo-pagan elder/practitioner. I have used the pseudonym “Sybok Pendderwydd” off and on throughout my pagan career as well. I have NEVER used the name “Robert Larson.”  Order of the Mithril Star (OMS) was founded by myself and Duane Adam Rostoker (aka, “Adam Walks Between Worlds”) in  1996 at Big Basin Redwoods State Park, following a “Bring Back the Snakes” party at nearby Boulder Creek Brewery circa St. Patrick’s Day.  RDG was founded by myself and Karyn Arseneau around the Pagan feast of Mabon in 2006.

Grok provided some history of RDG:  “Specific to leadership requirements, circa 2013-2014 there was a mandate issued by the retiring Archdruid that his replacement (as well as those in other RDG leadership roles) must be politically far left and/or affiliated with the Green Party (USA residents).”

This is only partially true. RDG members are expected to be Progressive in their political leanings, but there was never a “mandate” issued by a “retiring Archdruid” (whom I guess is me, but rest assured I never issued such a requirement). I can especially reassure you that I have never endorsed the Green Party, which, in at least the last decade, has proven itself to be radically antisemitic.

“Specific to leadership requirements, circa 2013-2014 there was a mandate issued by the retiring Archdruid that his replacement (as well as those in other RDG leadership roles) must be pansexually (or at least bisexual) polyamorous naturists.”

Another bald-faced lie. No such “mandate” has ever been issued. However, RDG (and it’s parent group, OMS) are heavily influenced by Robert Heinlein’s Stranger In A Strange Land, which depicts polyamory and naturism as lifestyle choices. I have written extensively on these topics over the years.

“Unusual pattern of RDG Third Degrees approaching RDNA Third Order Druids requesting the secret Third Order Ordination liturgical scripts There is the perception in the RDNA that RDG Third Degrees are required to attempt to acquire the RDNA scripts. The manipulative sense of entitlement presented is mildly to harassingly disturbing.”

We were formed as the result of a  “vision” of  Karyn’s of seeing Reformed Druidism expanded to a planet wide paradigm, rather then the Reformed Druids of North America’s (RDNA) limitation to just the North American continent.  That’s why we are “of Gaia.”  As for our ordination of Third Order candidates (yes, we call them “Orders,” not “degrees”) requiring such candidates to attempt to procure RDNA’s 3rd Order Scripts — that’s just bull  feces.  It is true that VERY early on we did attempt to find some examples of such scripts, (just as other pagan groups might try to procure materials from groups they are closely related to, which is VERY common) it was found that we could come up with our own scripts (which currently vary from Archdruid to Archdruid and from Grove to Grove).  

These three “accusations” are the usual broadbrush attempt to discredit us. I am very sure that these attempts did not come from any RDNA sources, as we have never had anything but friendship and mutual respect from members and officers of the RDNA. No, I suspect that this originated with members of the N-RDNA (New Reformed Druids of North America) which is a group which officially schismed from the RDNA in 1976 (instigated  by Isaac Bonewits). Some NRDNA members are “embarrassed”  by this and frequently attempt to “blur the line” between their schismatic group and the legitimate RDNA, often characterizing themselves in the role of “spokes persons” for the RDNA. They have been highly critical of the RDG since it’s conception, and particularly because of our close associating with the lifestyles promoted by the Church of All Worlds (CAW) (specifically polyamory and naturism) and so spread outright propaganda and insinuations concerning sexual lifestyles among RDG members.  Very much like how Christians attack their critics: there is always some accusation of sexual abnormality.

Now, getting back to our initial topic here:  I am a tad curious as to why my name, Ellis Arseneau, did not come up in Grok’s “research(?).  My pseudonym (Sybok Pendderwydd) certainly did, as did Karyn’s (Ceridwen Seren_Ddaer) but Karyn’s real name did appear.  I suppose that over the years I have been too zealous at keeping my public persona private (and my employment).  Now that I am retired and in my 70’s such precautions no longer seems required.

BUT — who the hell is Robert M. (or C.M. Larson?  I certainly have never use that moniker and Karyn was surprised when I told her she was married to him! LOL!!!

Anti-Zionist (antisemitic) protests as Arcata’s City Council meeting(s)

NOTE to READER: This post got me placed in “NextDoor Jail” for six weeks (which is to say I was denied access to my NextDoor account). I am afraid we are becoming a fascist state.

It’s becoming a bad habit.  Antisemitic protesters have been regularly showing up at Arcata City Council meetings, spreading their insidious lies and propaganda.  The latest protest was especially vile.

First off, news anchor Erica Sutherland began the report by calling the Gaza/Israel war a “genocide,” (which I wrote to her about) but the real “star” of the show was this absolutely deranged woman who was screaming at the top of her lungs about how the city council should be ashamed of themselves for not supporting Palestine. Then she demanded that they divest from CalPers (which apparently has investments in Israeli businesses). She was very disruptive, disrespectful, and, well, at one time I worked as a mental health technician, and I think she’d be a good candidate for Thorazine.

I wrote to Erica Sutherland:
“You called the situation in Gaza “… the ongoing genocide.” Genocide requires the INTENTION to wipe out a people. If anything Israel has bent over backwards to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. Stop spreading Hamas propaganda! I’m a huge fan of yours. Please take my concerns seriously.”
“See my blog for the whole truth about Israel: https://el.urgod.org/everything-israel/”

Rather than address my concern, Erica excused herself:
“Hey you need to email Ross. I didn’t write the story. So I’m not informed about this situation. Email news@redwoodnews.tv”

So, I did:
“Last night (I watch the 11:00 stream on Zeam) Erica Sutherland started the story by calling Israel’s war with Hamas a “genocide.”  Although it has become popular among some Progressives (I am one) to characterize the situation as a “genocide perpetrated by Israel,” this is not the case at all. What is being repeated is Hamas propaganda. As a journalist, you are charged with telling the truth, not spreading lies. I don’t want to get into a long diatribe about this, but please, take the time to read my blog on the subject: https://el.urgod.org. Scroll down the right-hand menu to “EVERYTHING ISRAEL.”

Ross, I admire your work and that of the whole Redwood News team. I’ve been watching since my wife and I moved to Eureka in 2004. Please endeavor to speak the truth about Israel, and stop just repeating what is popular.

Namaste!”

He wrote back almost immediately:

“Hello sir, 

I’ll need to get our reporter who interviewed the protesters on this topic.     Here is the story as we aired it. 
We said this in the introduction to the story: 

LAST NIGHT TWO DIFFERENT PROTESTS WERE HELD AT THE ARCATA CITY COUNCIL MEETING AND TENSIONS WERE HIGH.  ONE GROUP WAS PROTESTING ARCATA’S ALLEGED INVESTMENTS IN ISRAEL AND DEMANDED

THE CITY DIVEST DUE TO THE ONGOING GENOCIDE IN GAZA. 
What we SHOULD have said was; 

” ….. Demanded the city divest due to what the protesters call
the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”    

There is a big difference in whether Redwood News is saying there is an ongoing genocide in Gaza and  what the people in the context of the report believe is occurring in Gaza.

You are correct.  I will discuss it with the reporter/producer.   

Shame on us for not catching the way that intro was presented. 

Thanks for sending us your concerns. 

Ross Rowley 
News Director – Redwood News
KIEM-NBC3 / KVIQ-CBS17
Eureka, CA
707-443-6666 / 707-496-0626

I feel really good about this.  I feel vindicated. Here is my final response to Ross:

“Thank you for your due diligence.
Actually, it has happened more than once over the past year. Abraham Nevaro (sp?) repeated the same phrase a few months ago in another story concerning local protesters.
I didn’t say anything at the time. But with the rapid escalation of antisemitism in our country I think active correction of these errors is way overdue.

Again, than you for your attention to this matter.”

Ross Rowley’s email address in news@redwoodnews.tv

Progressive psychics / mediums

Do you believe in psychics or mediums?  Do you believe that some people have ESP?  There are a number of these folks currently on YouTube.  What makes them interesting is that all of them are politically Progressive. Here are the ones I am currently aware of:

They all have many things in common. They dislike Duck L’Orange and the MAGAs.  They are all concerned about climate change, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, voting rights, economic equality, freedom of speech, and all the other popular Progressive causes.  They also dislike Putin and Netanyahu.

But, like many Progressives, they have bought the whole BDS/Hamas propaganda line, and for the most part regularly blame Israel for the alleged woes of the “palestinians.”  The worse one of all of these is Linda Grindel, who can’t seem to get through a single pod cast without some mention of children being starved in Gaza, and she is sure that it is all Israel’s fault. In a show tonight which she shared with Sterling, she asked “when will the genocide in Gaza stop.”

I like to give people the benefit of a doubt. I don’t think any of these people are consciously ant-semitic.  I think they suffer from the bandwagon fallacy and also perhaps confirmation bias.  They all claim to be hearing from “spirit guides” (also “Angels,” “ETs,” “deceased spirits,” “ancestors,” and in one case, “reptilians”).

My wife is a huge fan of these folks, so I have listened in on many of their pod casts. They are currently all predicting that our POTUS, Putin and Netanyahu are all going to pass away in the period between October 1st, 2025 and March 30th 2026. They are all also predicting that the Democrats will take control of both Houses of Congress in the midterms (coming November 2026), and the Supreme Court  will be reformed and the current right wing justices will be ousted. Well, we can only hope.

Typically, when one of them repeats some of the current popular lies about Israel, I will comment in their YouTube feed, attempting to correct them. I usually point them to the part of my blog where I have archived all my posts concerning Israel.  I also attempt to say something along the lines of “I’m having doubts about the reliability of your (“guides,” “team,” “spirit advisors,””angels”). If they are real they couldn’t possibly have repeated such lies concerning Israel (Gaza).”  Thus far I haven’t seen any reaction, but  I have hope that I can persuade them eventually.

If they cannot, or will not, correct themselves then it is obvious to me that they are “false prophets.” A false prophet is a person who spreads false teachings or messages while claiming to speak the Word of Hashem. False prophets functioned in their prophetic role illegitimately or for the purpose of deception. The Nevi’im denounces false prophets for leading people astray.

In the Nevi’im, the actual term “false prophet}” does not occur, but references to false prophets are evident and abundant. In the book of Jeremiah, we encounter a clear description of false prophets: “Then the LORD said to me, ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds’” (Jeremiah 14:14; see also 23:21–33; Zechariah 10:2).

A note of clarification for the gentile reader: The Jewish Bible, called the Tanakh, has three sections: the Torah (the five books of Moses), the Nevi’im (the books of the Prophets), and the Ketuvim (This is the Writings section, which includes a diverse collection of texts such as poetry, philosophy, and historical accounts). The word “Tanakh”  is an acronym derived from these three sections.

REMEMBER, THERE WAS A CEASEFIRE IN PLACE ON OCTOBER 7, 2023.

WHEN YOU CRITICIZE ISRAEL, you are supporting Hamas.

Stop supporting Hamas!

REMEMBER, THERE WAS A CEASEFIRE IN PLACE ON OCTOBER 7, 2023.

FACTS: The “palestinians” have actually had numerous opportunities to create an independent state, but have repeatedly rejected the offers:

• In 1937, the Peel Commission proposed the partition of “palestine” and the creation of an Arab state.
• In 1939, the British White Paper proposed the creation of a unitary Arab state.
• In 1947, the UN would have created an even larger Arab state as part of its partition plan.
• The 1979 Egypt-Israel peace negotiations offered the “palestinians” autonomy, which would almost certainly have led to full independence.
• The Oslo agreements of the 1990s laid out a path for “palestinian” independence, but the process was derailed by terrorism.
• In 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered to create a “palestinian” state in all of Gaza and 97% of the “West Bank.”
• In 2008, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered to withdraw from almost the entire West Bank and partition Jerusalem on a demographic basis.
• In 2015, “palestinian” Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has publicly confirmed for the first time that he turned down a peace offer in 2008 that would have provided for an independent “palestinian” state containing all of the Gaza Strip, much of the West Bank (with land swaps), and a tunnel connecting the two areas.
• In addition 1948 to 1967, Israel did not control the “West Bank.” The “palestinians” could have demanded an independent state from the Jordanians. On the contrary whilst Jordan was in control Arafat said there was no longer a claim as it was no longer part of “palestine.” Once it was back in Israeli hands it miraculously became disputed land again! This is one of many reasons Jews and Israelis are cynical.

Also, it should be noted that Israel has peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt (In 1988, in it’s treaty with Israel, Jordan relinquished all claim to “the West Bank” (Judea / Samaria) so there is no internationally recognized “occupation” there).

The Palestinians have spurned each of these opportunities. Anyone that is against Israel should satisfy themselves as why this may have been? I believe, when it comes to the “palestinians,” “They Want It All”. Denying Israel’s right to exist.

Over the last decade+, Hamas has invested millions of dollars into digging extensive tunnel infrastructure below the surface of the Gaza Strip. Much of Hamas’s infrastructure is built in the heart of crowded civilian areas in the Gaza Strip, which means that military targets, including command and control centers, weapons production, weapons depots, military infrastructure, shafts for terrorist tunnels and combat management centers are all inside of civilian neighborhoods. Hamas uses its own people as shields. My heart breaks for all the innocent children. It’s the children who suffer. But Stop rewriting history!

ENOUGH PROPAGANDA!

*** The estimated global Jewish population in 2022 is approximately 15.3 million, with around 7.2 million residing in Israel. This means that nearly 48% of the world’s Jewish population calls Israel home.

In contrast, the Arab world population in 2022 is estimated to be around 464.7 million, spanning across 22 countries. ****

MORE FACTS: Scholars believe the name “palestine” is derived from the Egyptian and Hebrew word peleshet. Roughly translated to mean rolling or migratory, the term was used to describe the inhabitants of the land to the northeast of Egypt – the Philistines. The Philistines were an Aegean people – more closely related to the Greeks and with no connection ethnically, linguistically or historically with Arabia – who conquered in the 12th Century BCE the Mediterranean coastal plain that is now Israel and Gaza. A derivative of the name “palestine” first appears in Greek literature in the 5th Century BCE when the historian Herodotus called the area Peleistine. In the 2nd century CE, the Romans crushed the revolt of Shimon Bar Kokhba (132 CE), during which Jerusalem and Judea were regained and the area of Judea was renamed by the Roman Emperor Hadrian “Syria Palaestina” in an attempt to minimize Jewish identification with the land of Israel.

At the end of World War I, the territory of the Ottoman Empire was divided between the French and the British, in accordance with the Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916. When the British gained control of the region, at the close of World War I they adopted the name “Palestine” and its inhabitants Jewish, Muslim or otherwise were known as Palestinians. And then, during the 1920s, the nascent Palestinian national movement adopted the appellation “Palestinian” as its own.

The idea that “palestinians” are colonized depends entirely on the fake history promulgated by the Arabs and their supporters. Their narrative tells us that their “people” lived in “palestine” for hundreds or even thousands of years, before the European Zionists came along and threw them out. In reality, with the exception of the very small number that were descendants of the Arab colonizers of the 7th century (and those who were descended from Jews that the Romans missed in 135), most “palestinian” Arabs came to the land in the 19th and 20th centuries as economic migrants. This explains why there is so little specifically “palestinian” content to their culture, which is much the same as that of the Arabs in the surrounding region. There is no language called “palestinian,” and no unique religion. What true “palestinianism” that exists comes from their conflict with the Jewish residents of the land in the past hundred years or so.

LEARN THE HISTORY!

Israel is one of the most open societies in the world. Out of a population of 9.6 million, 21% of the population are Arabs, and 5.3% are non-Arab Christians and people who have no religion listed.

• Arabs in Israel have equal voting rights; in fact, it is one of the few places in the Middle East where Arab women may vote.

• Arabic, like Hebrew, is an official language in Israel.

• Today, more than 300,000 Arab children attend Israeli schools. At the time of Israel’s founding, there was but a single Arab high school in the country. Today, there are hundreds of Arab schools.

• Israel has one of the broadest anti-discrimination laws of any country. According to the State Department, “The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status, or sexual orientation. The law also prohibits discrimination by both government and nongovernment entities on the basis of race, religion, political beliefs, and age.”

Israel isn’t evil and it’s not the enemy. I hate how our country is filled with antisemitism. And ignorance on the topic.

It should also be noted that Israel is a strategic ally and US relations with Israel strengthen the US presence in the Middle East. Foreign Military Financing (FMF) is intended to promote US national security by contributing to global stability, strengthening military support for democratically elected governments and containing transnational threats, including terrorism and trafficking of weapons.

My open (form) letter to the DNC

Here is the (I guess “form”) letter I use to reply to all messages from the Democratic National Committee when they request money.

Even though I am a dedicated Progressive and lifelong Democrat, I cannot support the party unless they give unequivocal support for the Jewish State of Israel. This would be disavowing all of the heinous lies that have developed over the last few years, such as “Apartheid,” “Occupation,” “Genocide,” “Settler Colonialism,” etc.  I would also request that you censure the members of the congressional “Squad” for promoting these same antisemitic lies.  Don’t be like Mr. Trump. Stop repeating lies.

Ellis Arseneau Progressive ZIONIST
“Purveyor of unconventional wisdom”

Anti-Zionism = Anti-Semitism

Anti-semitism, also known as anti-zionism (yes, they really are one and the same thing) is growing by leaps and bounds across our nation. We used to expect this kind of unwarranted hatred from the Right, and to this day they have taken the lead in waging a propaganda war using Jew hatred as their MO. But increasingly we are starting to see it on the Left as well.

They like to call it antizionism: “No, I don’t hate Jews, just the zionists,” but the problem is that zionism is now and always has been an integral part of Judaism. For example, for the past 2,500 years, we have ended the Passover Seder with the words, “… and next year in Jerusalem.”

They try to pass off criticism of Israel, and increasingly emotional accusations against the Jewish state (“Apartheid,””Genocide,””Occupation,””Ethnic cleansing,”) as just exercising their freedom of speech. But by repeating and propagating these heinous lies on Social Media and elsewhere, they are priming the pump of hate crimes and violence against Jews. Here are some recent examples of the results of spreading this antisemitic propaganda:

🔴 Two young diplomats were brutally gunned down after attending a Jewish event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.

🔴 Demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, were attacked by a man who threw Molotov cocktails at them during a peaceful march in support of the hostages held in Gaza. An 82 year-old Holocaust survivor died from her burns.

🔴 The home of the Jewish governor of Pennsylvania was set on fire during Passover as his

🔴 In San Francisco, a beloved, Jewish-owned cafe has been repeatedly vandalized.

🔴 In Yonkers, New York, a high school basketball game was canceled because of vile antisemitic slurs hurled at young players.

All of these incidents can  properly be placed at the feet of those who chant slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!,” “Free Palestine,” “Globalize the intifada!,” “Hitler was right!,” etc., ad adinfinitum, ad nauseum.

People who repeat these slogans are instigating violence toward Jews and vandalism against Jewish owned businesses and buildings, including outright murder as has happened in a few cases.

Violence, vandalism and murder are not Progressive values. The people who shout these slogans are not Progressives, even if that is what they pretend to be.

ALL ANTISEMITISM ORIGINATES IN RIGHT WING FASCISM.

Israel? An apartheid nation? NO!

 

This is a guest essay by Dr. Maarten Boudry, a philosopher of science who has authored six books and more than 50 academic papers.

I recently travelled through Israel with a delegation of the Europe Israel Press Association, a non-profit that’s independent of the Israeli government.While there, I talked to a wide variety of people: residents of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Bedouins and Arabs living in villages near the Lebanese border towns and in East Jerusalem, and members of the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) from various parties. During my visit, I was particularly struck by the loyalty that many Arab Israelis — though certainly not all — feel toward Israel. At the Sheba Medical Centre, we found Jews and Arabs working side by side in operating rooms, treating Israeli, Arab, and Palestinian children without distinction. Even though Arabs are exempt from the military draft, a surprising number have volunteered to defend Israel.We spoke to one of them: IDF Major Ella Waweya, a young Arab woman who joined the army against her family’s objections. (They have since become reconciled to her choice.) In 2016, she earned the highest military honour and now serves as Deputy Commander of the Arabic Spokesperson’s Unit. An observant Muslim, she is proud to speak Hebrew with an Arab accent.She told us that her career has inspired many others to sign up, including a dozen Arab recruits from her own village alone. In the Bedouin village of Arab al-Aramshe, on the Lebanese border, one community member told us that he identifies as both Israeli and Bedouin and sees no difference between himself and his Jewish neighbours. They all serve in the IDF, their children attend the same schools, and they were evacuated together by the government following Hezbollah’s rocket attacks.I heard even stronger declarations of loyalty to Israel among the Druze community along the northern border. During the Six-Day War with Syria in 1967, Druze soldiers had no qualms about firing on their fellow coreligionists in the Syrian army. The Druze hold that national loyalty takes precedence over religious identity, especially in a country like Israel. They know something that many progressives in the West fail to grasp: Israel is the only country in the region to grant them freedom of religion and full democratic rights. In every other Arab nation in the region, the Druze face discrimination, oppression, and even persecution as apostates. It is possible that the Arabs and other minorities I met through the Europe Israel Press Association are not representative of that population at large. They may well have been screened by the organization for their pro-Israel views — and inveterate “anti-Zionists” would probably not want to have any truck with such a program anyway.But surveys suggest that these pro-Israel Arabs are not outliers. In a post-October 7th poll, 70 percent of Arab Israeli respondents said they felt a sense of belonging to their country, a dramatic increase over the 48 percent who expressed such sentiments prior to October 7th. In a 2024 poll, 32 percent of Arabs stated that they trusted the IDF and 23 percent said they trusted the police. While those numbers are significantly lower than those among Jewish citizens (80 and 42.5 percent, respectively), they’re surprisingly high for an allegedly “Jewish supremacist apartheid state.” Even Mansour Abbas, leader of the Arab and Islamist Ra’am party in the Knesset, emphasised that “we are part of Israel, committed to our citizenship.” When we asked him whether Israel was an apartheid state, Abbas said it was not, though he added that the country could become an apartheid state if it decided to annex the West Bank and Gaza, since incorporating 5 million Palestinians would threaten its Jewish-majority character. But for now, within its internationally recognised borders, Israel is a democracy, he agreed.It goes without saying that many Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza do not exactly share this positive appraisal of Israel and its military. But even in East Jerusalem, which has been under Israeli control since the 1967 Six-Day War, sentiment towards Israel is not always as straightforward as you might think.We paid an extended visit to Jinnovate, a centre that promotes tech entrepreneurship within Palestinian society, for which it receives funding from the Israeli government. The centre’s director, Mahmoud Khweis, is a Palestinian entrepreneur who grew up in East Jerusalem and was educated at Harvard Business School and The John F. Kennedy School of Government.Khweis is a firm believer in what he calls “science diplomacy,” i.e. bridging political divides by working side-by-side to tackle technical challenges. He has worked with the United Nations, the World Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development, but has never received any support from the European Union. That’s because it views East Jerusalem as an illegally occupied territory, so collaborating with Jinnovate could be seen as legitimising “the occupation,” even though the centre provides invaluable opportunities for bright young Palestinian science students and engineers. Although it was not included on the press tour, I decided to check out the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem — a small, family-run business that made headlines earlier this year after the Israeli police raided it twice and arrested two of its owners, claiming that they were selling materials which incited terrorism.When I arrived, just before the start of Ramadan, there were no signs of the earlier commotion; the family was busy selling books as usual. I had a friendly chat with the young owner, a jovial guy who cracked jokes about his stint in prison and his growling stomach. (Being an observant Muslim, he was looking forward to breaking his fast.) I bought a few anti-Zionist titles by Ilan Pappé and Norman Finkelstein — as well as, for good measure, a book by political scientist Yascha Mounk, who is pro-Israel.I didn’t find any materials inciting terrorism, nor did I expect to. But one key detail, which you won’t find in most Western newspapers, is that the Educational Bookshop was allowed to reopen a few days later, once again offering a treasure trove of books which are highly critical of the State of Israel and Zionism — as they should be permitted to, of course, in any liberal democracy that values freedom of expression. I didn’t meet any Israelis who expressed a desire for genocide or ethnic cleansing in Gaza on my trip. However, I did encounter several people who admitted that, since October 7th, they have been unable to bring themselves to care about the fate of innocent Gazan civilians.Understandably, this sentiment was particularly strong at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, many of whose traumatised and heartbroken residents used to employ Gazan guest workers, some of whom may have acted as informants for the terrorists who carried out the October 7th attacks. Some of these kibbutzniks had even been among the volunteers who drove Palestinian children to Israeli hospitals. But the bluntest expression of this hardened attitude toward Gazans came from Kazim Khlilih, an Arab Israeli LGBTQ influencer who had volunteered to serve in the IDF. He told us, “I know I shouldn’t say this, but I have no compassion for the people in Gaza. I don’t care.” This may sound callous, but we should bear in mind that Kazim lost a cousin on October 7th, a paramedic brutally murdered by Hamas at the Nova Music Festival.Similarly, one of the most hawkish views on Gaza I heard during our trip was expressed by influential Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, who is the son of an Arab-Israeli father and a Palestinian mother and was raised in East Jerusalem. Toameh suggested that “the IDF should have temporarily reoccupied Gaza and declared itself the government.” Instead of constantly moving in and out to fight shifting pockets of Hamas resistance, Toameh believes it would have been more effective had the IDF mimicked what Hamas did after its violent takeover: openly declare that they will rule Gaza, at least temporarily. In his view, this would have sent a strong message to the civilian population that Hamas’ time was over.Israeli society is far from perfect. The country grapples with its fair share of ethnic and religious divisions, which are intensified by ongoing wars and the constant threat of terrorist attacks. At least part of the Jewish population harbour strong suspicions toward the Arab minority. Israel is a liberal democracy but it is a “desperate and struggling one,” as historian Fania Oz Salzberger told me.Still, the existence of Israel shows that Jews, Arabs, and other religious and ethnic minorities can coexist peacefully. In some respects, Israel is actually doing a better job of integrating its Muslim minority than many of the European countries that have been quick to accuse the Jewish state of “apartheid” and “genocide.” The patriotism of many Israeli Arabs is remarkable — and would be unusual among their coreligionists in Europe. In fact, even if you’re a Muslim, you’re probably better off living in the Jewish state than anywhere else in the Middle East. Nowhere else in the region do Muslims enjoy so many political and religious freedoms.This is especially true for LGBT Muslims. When a mosque in Berlin announced that it would welcome women and gay people, its female imam received so many death threats that the police had to provide her with 24-hour protection. As Kazim put it, when we asked him about being a gay Muslim in the Jewish state, “It’s not easy, but if I compare it to Europe, thank God I’m a minority in Israel.” In his book, Orientalism, Palestinian-American academic Edward Said arraigns the “simple-minded dichotomy” found in Western orientalist discourse between “freedom-loving, democratic Israel and evil, totalitarian, and terroristic Arabs.”Of course, that’s a wild caricature of Western discourse about Islam; no one but the most extreme racist would portray all Arabs as inherently violent or evil. The Arab world is far from immune to Enlightenment ideas, as evidenced by the many liberal Muslims and ex-Muslims you’ll encounter in Israel and elsewhere.Yet Said, with his myopic focus on “discourses” rather than underlying facts — a tendency he inherited from French historian Michel Foucault — was overlooking an inconvenient truth: There is only one country in the Middle East that upholds liberal Enlightenment values. If you genuinely care about progressive values, you should hope that the surrounding Middle Eastern countries will come to resemble Israel more closely in the future. For all its flaws, Israel remains the region’s lone beacon of freedom and pluralism. On my last day in Israel, I had lunch with the Belgian ambassador at a restaurant in Tel Aviv. As we chatted about the political climate in Israel and the craven decision by some European universities to boycott the country, my host suddenly gestured toward the table beside us. “That’s my friend Ehud Olmert over there!” he exclaimed.I knew that Olmert had been Israel’s Prime Minister from 2006 to 2009, but I wouldn’t have recognised him on sight. Olmert is known for his peace offer to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in 2008, which Abbas rejected, but also for a less savoury reason: Olmert served 16 months in jail for corruption and bribery.As the elderly former statesman approached our table and I shook his hand, a thought struck me: This Jewish politician and lawyer, once the most powerful man in the country, ended up in prison thanks, in part, to an Arab Justice on the Israeli Supreme Court.

Does that sound like an apartheid state to you?

An open letter to my Progressive comrades

The following is my reply to an email from info@weareprogressives.org which was asking me for money to support “Progressive” candidates:

Hey Progressives:

I am a Progressive. A Progressive Zionist. I agree with all the causes you folks are behind, except one: your stance on Israel, and the so called “palestinians” is wrong and based on Trump level lies. I guess Mr. Trump has made it fashionable to lie now, so now even Progressives are doing it.

I agree with everything “the Squad” embraces, except they are wrong about Israel. They are backing the wrong horse. Islam, as practiced today in Gaza, is anti-woman, anti-LGBTQ, anti-1st Amendment, and has instituted Sharia Law, which is 1,000 times worse then the agenda put forth by Project 2025. The difference is that our oppressors are Christian Nationalists and theirs are Jihadi Islamists.

Until you get your agenda regarding Israel and Islam straight, you’ll get not one penny from me.

Sorry.

Ellis S. Arseneau
“purveyor of unconventional wisdom”
Progressive Zionist
Lifelong Democrat