Related Link » Turtles all the way down
“A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: ‘What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise’. The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, ‘What is the tortoise standing on?’ ‘You're very clever, young man, very clever’, said the old lady. ‘But it's turtles all the way down!’”
— From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Related Link » A Dangerous SilenceI applaud Ed Koch's stand now, though I am still waiting for him to apologize for ignoring the ominous signs of Obama's intentions during the 2008 Presidential campaign (and voting for him anyway). Nevertheless, he has the sense and the balls to speak out now, now when it is crystal clear that Obama is an enemy of Israel and an appeaser of the enemies of Western civilization.
“I weep as I witness outrageous verbal attacks on Israel. What makes these verbal assaults and distortions all the more painful is that they are being orchestrated by President Obama. […] My support for the Jewish state has been long and steadfast. Never have I thought that I would leave the U.S. to go and live in Israel. My loyalty and love is first to the U.S. which has given me, the son of Polish Jewish immigrants, so much. But, I have also long been cognizant of the fact that every night when I went to sleep in peace and safety, there were Jewish communities around the world in danger. And there was one country, Israel, that would give them sanctuary and would send its soldiers to fight for them and deliver them from evil, as Israel did at Entebbe in 1976. […] I believe President Obama's policy is to create a whole new relationship with the Arab states of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, and Iraq as a counter to Iran […] which we are now prepared to see in possession of a nuclear weapon. If throwing Israel under the bus is needed to accomplish this alliance, so be it. I am shocked by the lack of outrage on the part of Israel's most ardent supporters. The members of AIPAC, the chief pro-Israel lobbying organization in Washington, gave Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a standing ovation after she had carried out the instructions of President Obama and, in a 43-minute telephone call, angrily hectored Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Members of Congress in both the House and Senate have made pitifully weak statements against Obama's mistreatment of Israel, if they made any at all. The Democratic members, in particular, are weak. They are simply afraid to criticize President Obama. What bothers me most of all is the shameful silence and lack of action by community leaders — Jew and Christian. Where are they? If this were a civil rights matter, the Jews would be in the mall in Washington protesting with and on behalf of our fellow American citizens. […] Remember the 1930s? Few stood up. They were silent. Remember the most insightful statement of one of our greatest teachers, Rabbi Hillel: ‘If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?’
We have indeed stood up for everyone else. When will we stand up for our brothers and sisters living in the Jewish state of Israel? If Obama is seeking to build a siege ramp around Israel, the Jews of modern Israel will not commit suicide. They are willing to negotiate a settlement with the Palestinians, but they will not allow themselves to be bullied into following self-destructive policies. To those who call me an alarmist, I reply that I'll be happy to apologize if I am proven wrong. But those who stand silently by and watch the Obama administration abandon Israel, to whom will they apologize?” [emphasis added]
— By Ed Koch, April 13, 2010 (Jewish World Review)
I don't weep, however. I prefer to speak out as forcefully as I can, in the hope that American Jews wake up from their disgraceful silence. As Koch says, "I'll be happy to apologize if I am proven wrong." But if, God forbid, I am not wrong, and I am fortunate enough to survive another Holocaust, don't apologize to me. I don't accept apologies from negiques.
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