Attrocities Of New Millennium Frighteningly Similar To Those Of The 20th Century!

Elie Wiesal (standing) survived Nazi persecution in several concentration camps.

“……….How will (the 20^th Century) be remembered in the new millennium? Surely it will be judged, and judged severely, in both moral and metaphysical terms. These failures have cast a dark shadow over humanity: two World Wars, countless civil wars, the sensless chain of assassinations – Gandhi, the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Sadat, Rabin – bloodbaths in Cambodia and Nigeria, India and Pakistan, Ireland and Rwanda, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Sarajevo and Kosovo; the inhumanity in the gulag and the tragedy of Hiroshima. And, on a different level, of course, Auschwitz and Treblinka. So much violence; so much indifference……” 

- Elie Wiesel

By Glenn S. Reiner

THE ABOVE EXCERPT from a speech given by Wiesel is extremely significant in that we have seen more of the same horrors described above during the first eight years of the 21st Century. Let’s face it: nothing has changed, and this is quite scary!

As Iran inches closer to a Nuclear weapon, so do terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, whose attacks on Israel have been bankrolled by Tehran. To be concerned the Iranians would someday sell the WMD’s to Islamic radicals is in no way out of the realm of reality.

These theological criminals’ misinterpretation of the Koran leaves them entirely fearless of death and believing a suicidal attack on innocent people in the West (“The great Satin”) would result in a one-way ticket to “Heaven.”

Meanwhile, several countries in Africa have experienced as much genocide as Hitler and Stalin facilitated during WWII. And now we have observed the second coming of pirates across the Atlantic Ocean who kidnap innocent people, demanding ransom for their safe returns.

While we advance by quantum leaps technologically, there seems to be a frightening spiritual decline. It is important to note spirituality and organized religion are anything but synonymous; Quite the contrary in fact!

As the Religious Right continues to ignore the U.S. Constitution, constantly attempting to impose their values on others and this country as a whole, Muslim extremists basically do the same in the Middle East — albeit in a far more violent fashion.

This is all far too reminiscent of the Inquisition and Crusades centuries ago.

Sadly, until this week, torture had become a part of the U.S response to enemy aggression since 9/11. Until the new millennium began, this vile practice was limited to severely-misguided rogue nations.

Even American citizens, themselves, had been subject to unlawful domestic spying and ethnic profiling under the FORMER, deceptive Bush Administration.

No doubt, new President Barack Obama has made his mission to not only rectify the Bush destructive actions, but to put as much as a dent as he can in bringing harmony to the Word. But that won’t change the multitude of global atrocities taking place daily overnight.

An old mentor of mine once said wars are never actually won; Rather, one side is temporarily stifled by another — only to wait for the opportunity for vengeance. History has shown us more than enough evidence to support this contention.

Realistically,  hatred and violence as well as intolerance have never produced long-lasting positive outcomes.

Only committed diplomacy and bilateral compromise has ever resolved any of the world’s problems. Such was the case in 1978 when then President Jimmy Carter negotiated the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel.  As a result, the former two perennial enemies finally found a lasting peace, both making major concessions to ensure it.

Subsequent peace agreements were consummated  between Tel Aviv and both Saudi Arabia and Jordan in 1981 and 1994, respectively.

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Elie Wiesel is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. For more than six decades, the Jewish writer, professor, political activist and Holocaust survivor, has dedicated himself to world peace and justice.

Israel Expands Military Assault After Unprecedented Hamas Attacks

The scene in Israel after one of many unprovoked attacks by Hamas

 

By Glenn S. Reiner

HAMAS reminds me of a life-long bully who constantly berates others and then gets angry when someone finally stands up to him and does him bodily harm.

That’s exactly what the terrorist group  is trying to pull off, as they again play the victim role after bombarding the Jewish State with missiles less than a week after their most recent ceasefire ended.  Now they’re screaming for vengeance. One thing for sure: This rogue bands  of thugs gives the word denial a whole new meaning.

If history serves, I cannot remember one single time Israeli attacks on its enemies were not justified and clearly a means to defend itself against Arab aggression. Since ancient times, these people have been thrown into slavery, chased from their land, persecuted in a multitude of  nations worldwide and exterminated by psychopathic lunatics.

But in order to keep things simple, let’s just go back to 1947 when the United Nations voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. This mandate was reached after over three decades of British rule.  Exhausted by the years of infighting between the two factions, England was more than happy to finally leave.

The UN resolution was accepted by the Jews, whose population had expanded greatly with the arrival of European Holocaust survivors.

But the Palestinians would have no part of it and began the war which ultimately solidified Israel’s declaration as an sovereign state. Joined by neighboring Arab countries, The Palestinians had a huge numerical advantage. But the Jewish forces wiped the floor – or should I say battlefield – with their enemies, leaving them crippled.

Two decades later, Israel was forced to defend itself again, this time against Egypt. The 1967 “Six-Day War” had its roots in then Egyptian President Gabel Abdul Nasser’s expulsion of a UN Emergency Force from the Sinai Peninsula that  had been stationed there for a decade.

Egypt – with strong support from several Arab allies — then positioned 1,000 tanks and nearly 100,000 soldiers on the Israeli border while closing the Straits of Tiran to all Israeli ships. Seeing the proverbial handwriting on the wall, Tel Aviv launched an offensive against the Egyptian Air Force.

Jordan answered with an attack against Western Jerusalem and Netanya.  Yet once again, the Jewish state prevailed, capturing control of the Sinai ,  Gaza Strip,  West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Golan Heights

Failing to learn from history, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel by surprise in 1973 on Yom Kippur — the Jewish highest holy day. After 18 days of fighting and thousands of lives lost on both ends, Israel again emerged as victors, earning territorial gains in Syria.

But in 1978, then President Jimmy Carter successfully negotiated the Israeli-Egyptian peace accords. A year later, both nations signed a full peace agreement, commencing full diplomatic relations. As part of the treaty, Israel agreed to return control of  the Sinai Peninsula to the Egyptians. In addition, it reopened the Suez Canal, while evacuating its 4,500 civilian inhabitants.

Fifteen years later, Jordan followed Cairo’s lead, becoming the second Arab nation to stabilize relations with Israel. Consequently, all territorial disputes between those two nations were resolved.

Until this weekend’s Israeli offensive (of should I say, defensive!), even Syria had been conducting  informal peace negations with Israel. Damascus believed a treaty would most likely result in the return of the Golan Heights.

Syria and the Jewish State have been arch enemies since the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, which came in response to PLO attacks launched from the Lebanese border.

However, Damascus today suspended all peace talks with Tel Aviv. Like Iran, its closest Muslim theocratic ally, it has been bankrolling and sheltering anti-Israeli terrorist groups for decades. So this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

In addition, thousands from major Middle-East cities didn’t waste any time taking to the streets today, protesting Israel’s actions.

Surprisingly, the prime minister of Turkey — another one of the few Muslim countries to have relations with Israel –  called the air assault a “crime against humanity.” Then again, when was the last time Istanbul was attacked by a terrorist organization?

And frankly, I find the prime minister’s rhetoric extremely insulting. When I hear the term ‘crimes against humanity,’ the names Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Milošević come to mind. How could anyone in their right mind fit <!–[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]–> Ben-Gurion, Meir, Rabin, Begin and currently Ehud Olmertnow   in with that group of genocidal maniacs.

But let’s face it: this anti-Semitic BS has been going on for millenniums. Through World War II, Jews had been the universal scapegoat. That is, until the establishment of Israel in 1948.  Since that time, both Israeli citizens as well as Jews globally have taken a stand, refusing to be made the proverbial sacrificial lamb of a bunch of ignorant bigots.

The plain truth is that Israel has made several peace overtures with the Palestinians in recent years, loosening their hold on both Gaza and the West Bank. It has engaged in peace negations over the years with the Palestinian Authority and the PLO before them.

But terrorist groups like Hamas, who have long been committed to the Jewish State’s total destruction, has ruined any efforts by both sides with preemptive strikes that has killed an untold number of Israelis.

However, all these thugs ever seem to emphasize is the Palestinian civilians “murdered” in the crossfire of Israeli retaliatory strikes. Yet the children they have sent across the border as human bombs, killing untold numbers of Israeli civilians, isn’t even an afterthought to them.

This is not a complex situation. Actually it is very simple. Hamas, which is considerably far weaker and vastly outnumbered by Israel, needs to change its mindset to one that is common-sense based. It must stop its vicious attacks on the Jewish State and come to grips with the concept of compromise –  something it has not been willing to do before.