“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they prosper who love you.” Psalm 122: 6
________________________________________
#####
Douglas J. Workman—Has Israel become a left-right issue?:
About a decade ago, my rabbi was promoting congregational AIPAC involvement. His argument went that AIPAC was not necessary for our local liberal Jewish Congressman, who was a member of our synagogue. If he ever did anything anti-Israel, the rabbi always had the option of reporting that fact to the Congressman’s mother. However, he stated that AIPAC was necessary to make Israel’s case to the Congressman from northeast Louisiana, in other words, the Congressman for the folks from Duck Dynasty. Ten years later, it seems that the pro Israel lobby needs to change its focus from the Congressman in northeast Louisiana to the one south-central Los Angeles.
In a recent CNN/ORC survey taken from July 18 to July 20, 2014, Americans had a favorable view of Israel, 60%-36%, which would appear promising. When the data is broken down, there is some cause for concern. Republicans viewed Israel favorably by a margin of 67%-31% and Independents 63%-35%. Democrats, however, only viewed Israel favorably by a margin of 49%-48%. In asking about the justification for Operation Protective Edge, Republicans viewed Israel as justified by a margin of 73%-19%, Independents 56%-36% and Democrats 45%-42%. Looking at the data, Republicans and Independents are strong supporters of Israel; Democrats not so much. The trend is alarming. The key question is why? What has happened to cause the gradual movement of Democrats from the pro-Israel camp? There are of course, notable Democrats strongly supportive of Israel from Chuck Schumer to Alan Dershowitz, but if they are not the minority within their own party, they may well soon be.
I have come up with four reasons to explain the polling data. The first is moral relativism….
[…]
To continue reading, click here.
SnyderTalk Comment: Doug has an interesting take on contemporary politics in the U.S. It dovetails with my own experience. Slowly but surely, decent people who call themselves Democrats are coming to grips with reality. If they are like me, they will abandon party politics and simply focus on right and wrong. That’s what Yahweh does. He’s not a political party Person. That sounds like a great title for a book—Yahweh is Not a (Political) Party Person.
#####
________________________________________
#####
#####
________________________________________
#####
Jeffrey Goldberg: In This Gaza War, the Truth Is Buried—Much of the world suffers from a kind of Hamas-specific amnesia, in which the group’s past deeds (hundreds of murdered Israelis) and extreme goals are forgotten as soon as they are learned. The tunnels give me real pause. It’s hard enough to imagine a situation in which your neighbors are quite intentionally trying to blow up your house and kill your children with rockets. But Hamas’ well-developed kidnapping strategy with handcuffs and tranquilizers at the ready represents a whole other category of depravity. The core depravity of Hamas is its longstanding policy of treating every Jew as a target for elimination. What would you want your government to do if your enemy was digging tunnels under your village, in order to pop out at night to kill or kidnap you? Could you imagine taking the risk that members of your family might be seized, dragged underground, handcuffed and tranquilized, and then held in the dark, perhaps for years? Hamas terrorists have recently emerged from these tunnels inside Israel multiple times. This is not a theoretical threat. This is why Israelis appear adamant that any cease-fire must eradicate the threat of these kidnapping tunnels, at a minimum. Israel must ensure that its citizens aren’t kidnapped and murdered by a group that seeks not an equitable two-state solution but the annihilation of their country.
Chloe Valdary: To the Students for Justice in Palestine, a Letter From an Angry Black Woman—The student organization Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is prominent on many college campuses, preaching a mantra of “Freeing Palestine.” It masquerades as though it were a civil rights group when it is not. Indeed, as an African-American, I am highly insulted that my people’s legacy is being pilfered for such a repugnant agenda. It is thus high time to expose its agenda and lay bare some of the fallacies they peddle. • If you seek to promulgate the legacy of early Islamic colonialists who raped and pillaged the Middle East, subjugated the indigenous peoples living in the region, and foisted upon them a life of persecution and degradation—you do not get to claim the title of “Freedom Fighter.”
Sam Harris: Why Don’t I Criticize Israel?— [Note: This is a verbatim transcript of a spoken podcast. However, I have added notes like this one to clarify controversial points.—SH] I was going to do a podcast on a series of questions, but I got so many questions on the same topic that I think I’m just going to do a single response here, and we’ll do an #AskMeAnything podcast next time. The question I’ve now received in many forms goes something like this: Why is it that you never criticize Israel? Why is it that you never criticize Judaism? Why is it that you always take the side of the Israelis over that of the Palestinians? Now, this is an incredibly boring and depressing question for a variety of reasons. The first, is that I have criticized both Israel and Judaism. What seems to have upset many people is that I’ve kept some sense of proportion. There are something like 15 million Jews on earth at this moment; there are a hundred times as many Muslims. I’ve debated rabbis who, when I have assumed that they believe in a God that can hear our prayers, they stop me mid-sentence and say, “Why would you think that I believe in a God who can hear prayers?” So there are rabbis—conservative rabbis—who believe in a God so elastic as to exclude every concrete claim about Him—and therefore, nearly every concrete demand upon human behavior. And there are millions of Jews, literally millions among the few million who exist, for whom Judaism is very important, and yet they are atheists. They don’t believe in God at all. This is actually a position you can hold in Judaism, but it’s a total non sequitur in Islam or Christianity.
Marc Weitzmann: ‘In the Beginning, the Brothers, They Told Me to Kill’—With some 20,000 residents, the city of Toulouse, in the southwest of France, boasts “the biggest of the small Jewish communities” of France. The Ozar Hatorah school, the community’s main educational establishment, with 200 students coming from all parts of the country, runs from grades 6 to 12. It is set in “La Roseraie,” a discreet residential neighborhood of detached houses fringed with flowers. Not much distinguishes the three low edifices of the school from the rest of this peaceful, silent area. Seen from the courtyard where children run and play, the modest synagogue could even be a small swimming pool or little administrative building. Like the rest of the very assimilated Jewish community in Toulouse , the school’s remarkable feature is its lack of ostentatiousness. Indeed, until the killings of March 2012 that gave the place its instant worldwide fame—and made France the only Western country since World War II where children from 3 to 8 could be killed in the street, and in broad daylight, for being Jewish—the only thing the school was known for was its reputation of excellence.
Douglas Murray: And Now… Europe’s Kristallnacht— The backlash in Europe against Israel has been underway since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge. In each country the protests have similarities. And in each they are spear-headed by the same motives and often by the same people. In London the protests have been dominated young Muslims with the usual smattering of far-left fellow-travellers. They have carried Socialist Worker Party banners saying “Stop Israeli State Terror.” But some went off-message, apparently deciding it did not matter if their targets were Israeli or “just” Jews. There have also been the predictable banners comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Adolf Hitler. Others have a more confused relationship with this sinister conflation. One young protestor was photographed at a demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy in London with a poster saying, “Hitler you were right!” Elsewhere the protests have spilled over into occasional outbursts of violence.
Samuel Westrop: Grooming Jihadists— The British government, on June 26, banned Sheikh Mohammad Al Arifi from entering the United Kingdom, after reports in the British media linked the Saudi preacher to the radicalization of British youth now fighting for ISIS in Syria. Arifi’s sermons at the Al Manar Centre in Cardiff in particular, have been linked to the radicalization of three young British Muslims: brothers Nasser and Aseel Muthana and their friend, Reyaad Khan. This ban demonstrates the British government’s growing acceptance that Islamist preachers actually do play an important role in driving Muslim youth toward terrorism. In an interview with Channel 4 News, Mohammad Al Arifi denied the charges and voiced condemnation for those who incite Muslims to fight in Syria. His denial, however, was clearly at odds with his earlier declarations.
Peter Huessy: Who Checks the Fact-Checker?— A recent article in the Weekly Standard by former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Liz Cheney, noted that there was sufficient evidence prior to the 2003 liberation of Iraq that Saddam Hussein might coordinate terrorist attacks against the U.S. and its interests. “It is undisputed,” they wrote, “and has been confirmed repeatedly in Iraqi government documents captured after the invasion, that Saddam had deep, longstanding, far-reaching relationships with terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda and its affiliates. It is undisputed that Saddam’s Iraq was a state based on terror, overseeing a coordinated program to support global jihadist terrorist organizations. Ansar al Islam, an al Qaeda-linked organization, operated training camps in northern Iraq before the invasion. Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the future leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, funneled weapons and fighters into these camps, before the invasion… We also know, again confirmed in documents captured after the war, that Saddam provided funding, training, and other support to many terrorist organizations and individuals over decades, including to Ayman al Zawahiri, the man who leads al Qaeda today.”
Ben Cohen: Are Things Growing Worse for Jews and Israel?— “That February, in Sarcelles, flaming objects were thrown into the Tiferet Israel School, destroying the building. In April, at Garges-les-Gonesse, firebombs were hurled at the synagogue. From Nice to Marseille, anti-Semitic mail was delivered. In the offices of CRIF, located in the Fifth Arrondissement several blocks from the popular food market on the Rue Mouffetard, an envelope arrived filled with white powder and a message: ‘The biological war against the Jewish lobby has begun.’” Those words could have been written this week. In fact, they come from an excellent piece by Marie Brenner on the subject of anti-Semitism in France, published by Vanity Fair in 2003.
David Brooks: No War Is an Island— It’s amazing how much of the discussion of the Gaza war is based on the supposition that it is still 1979. It’s based on the supposition that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is a self-contained struggle being run by the two parties most directly involved. It’s based on the supposition that the horror could be ended if only deft negotiators could achieve a “breakthrough” and a path toward a two-state agreement. But it is not 1979. People’s mental categories may be stuck in the past, but reality has moved on. The violence between Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza, may look superficially like past campaigns, but the surrounding context is transformed. What’s happened, of course, is that the Middle East has begun what Richard Haass of the Council on Foreign Relations has called its 30 Years’ War — an overlapping series of clashes and proxy wars that could go on for decades and transform identities, maps and the political contours of the region.
Soeren Kern: Beheadings of Infidels, Halal Sex Products and “Muslims Don’t Like Dogs”—A Month of Islam in Europe: June 2014— Austria accused Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of stirring up trouble on June 19, when he urged thousands of cheering supporters in Vienna to reject “assimilation.” Erdogan was rallying support for his candidacy ahead of Turkish presidential elections in August, and expatriate Turks have become a significant bloc of voters after changes to the electoral system now allow them to cast votes abroad. Around 268,000 people of Turkish origin live in Austria, according to government figures, of whom nearly 115,000 are Turkish citizens. Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, who had expressly warned Erdogan not to undermine efforts to integrate Turks into Austrian society, criticized the latest comments: “These show very clearly that the Turkish premier has brought the election campaign to our country and created unrest with this. We reject this. And I can only say that respect for a host country looks clearly different.”
SnyderTalk Comment: Turkish people wonder why the European Union isn’t interested in allowing Turkey to join their group. Well, they should stop wondering and examine themselves. Since Erdogan took control in Turkey, he has validated the worst fears of the most anti-Turkey groups in Europe and destroyed the credibility of Turkey’s supporters. Personally, I believe that Erdogan is a thoroughly evil and dangerous man, and I’m not using the word “evil” loosely or casually. And remember that he’s Obama’s good buddy.
#####
________________________________________
#####
#####
________________________________________
#####
IDF to observe four-hour ‘humanitarian pause’ in bombardment of Gaza
IDF accuses Palestinians of firing from vicinity of UNRWA school, says probing deaths
Peres: Israel has exhausted military option, Abbas’s rule in Gaza must be restored
Lapid says Hamas commander Mohammad Deif ‘a dead man’
Gal-On slams Zoabi suspension from Knesset as ‘draconian’
Brussels Jewish Museum suspect charged with ‘murder in a terrorist context’
The shadow intelligence war between the IDF and Hamas
Islamic State fighter: ‘Turkey paved the way for us’
SnyderTalk Comment: I’ve said this before: Erdogan is a thoroughly evil and dangerous man.
Iran: We’ll send arms for West Bank war
SnyderTalk Comment: No surprise. Iran is trying to instigate the End of Days. I’m not kidding or exaggerating.
Hamas invites Hezbollah to join in fighting against Israel
SnyderTalk Comment: Hamas is begging “brothers in arms” to come in and help. Iran says that Hezbollah has enough rockets to cause real damage in Israel, and Iranian leaders should know. They supplied those rockets. The supply line ran through Syria, and it happened under President Obama’s not-so-watchful eye.
I’m not bashing Obama. That’s a fact, and the U.S. intelligence community knew it all along. Let me put it another way: if I knew it by simply reading reports from around the world, do you think that U.S. intelligence officials were in the dark? Not a chance. By the way, if you have been reading SnyderTalk, not just the SnyderTalk lead headline, you knew it as well.
Remember what Yahweh said: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” He meant it.
#####
________________________________________
#####
Hamas Intensifies Barrage as Israel Agrees to 4-Hour Ceasefire
Latest Rocket Salvo Targets the South; Iron Dome Intercepts
Israeli Tourists Forced to Leave Maldives Resort after Gaza Demo
Ex-MK Alleges Government Cover-Up Over ‘Terror Tunnels’
Watch: Battles Rage as Troops Locate Tunnels, Rocket Launchers
Thanking British Airways for Flying to Israel
Peace Now Head Criticizes Bennett Over Gaza
US Envoy Dismisses ‘Obama-Netanyahu’ Tape as False
Netanyahu ‘Nixed’ Idea of Killing Hamas Leaders
‘Jews, the End is Near’, Says Graffiti in Rome
SnyderTalk Comment: I believe the graffiti may be right, but it won’t work out the way those who wrote it think. In fact, they will be scared to death when they realize what they have done. When the end comes, they will have no hope, and they will know it.
Keep in mind that hell lasts for eternity, and that’s a very long time. How long? It never, ever ends. It’s forever.
If you could choose between eternity in heaven or eternity in hell, which one would you prefer? Actually, everyone has a choice, and each one of us will make that choice. Some humbly admit that they can’t save themselves, and they accept Yahweh’s free gift; others ignore the decision failing to realize that not deciding is deciding; still others, openly reject Yahweh and His gift.
As I said, the choice is ours. Yahweh has done His part already. Read His Name is Yahweh.
#####
________________________________________
#####
#####
________________________________________
#####
Israel calls partial humanitarian truce but rockets continue to fly
At least 15 killed after UN-run school shelled
Rockets found in UNRWA school, for third time
Deif the Islamic holy warrior unites Hamas
Qatar: American friend, Israeli foe
Israel, US deny veracity of transcript of ‘hostile’ Obama call to Netanyahu
Our fighters are eager for death, Hamas military chief says
Netanyahu looking to US in ceasefire discussions — Kerry
Olmert’s prison sentence postponed
IDF general: Israel did not target Gaza’s power plant
SnyderTalk Comment: The general makes sense to me. In fact, it makes no sense for Israel to target the power plant, even though it is a legitimate target in times of war. This situation is different, though, because in the end Israel is going to be asked to solve Gaza’s problems, just like it has been asked many times before.
As Alice of Wonderland fame said, things are getting “curiouser and curiouser.” Hamas and other Palestinian groups are committed to Israel’s destruction, but they are totally dependent on the Israeli economy and handouts from donors who support or ignore their pledge to eliminate Israel. Hamas leaders should have taken my strategy class because they are in a “no win” situation. Stated another way, they can’t have their cake and eat it, too.
Egyptian President Sisi gets it and so do leaders in many other Arab countries. That’s one of the reasons why they want Israel to destroy Hamas. If Israel were to lose, they would be asked to save the Palestinians, and that’s a burden that they know they can’t bear. Why? It’s because the Palestinians have been problems every place they have ever gone. For example, look at their history in Jordan and Lebanon.
Death, destruction, and chaos follow Palestinians just as surely as night follows day. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it is that simple. Just ask the people of England, France, and Germany. Some of them are beginning to get it, too.
I didn’t make these things happen, so don’t blame me. I’m just pointing them out. As I said, they are facts.
#####
________________________________________
#####
Christians United For Israel Rocks Washington D.C.
Media Watchdog Asks Why WSJ Reporters Deleted Twitter Photos Implicating Hamas in War Crimes
Hamas Police Shoot, Kill Starving Gazans a Day After Executing Protesters
Did Israel Say Hamas Didn’t Kidnap Its Teens? No.
Obama Defends Killing Civilians – When the U.S. is Doing the Killing
What Obama Really Wants in Gaza
Saudi Official Says Hamas Responsible for Deaths in Gaza; Columnist Calls for Peace With Israel
Transcript of Netanyahu – Obama phone call leaked to Israeli media?
SnyderTalk Comment: The Obama administration denies it, but it has the ring of authenticity. I hope that Defense Minister Ya’alon weighs in on it. He has been willing to tell the unvarnished truth before, but he may have been silenced. We’ll see.
This is the bottom line, though: telling the truth makes Obama look bad and so does a lie. I’ll explain. Question: If it’s true, who leaked it? Another question: If it’s not true, who leaked it?
Point is that it doesn’t look good for Obama no matter what happened. He’s in the middle of a mess that he helped to create. You might even say that it looks like Divine intervention.
The Israeli people are waking up to the truth about Obama. I think the American people are, too. Again, we’ll see. Stay tuned.
#####
________________________________________
#####
#####
________________________________________
Email Distribution List:
I have created an email distribution list that I use to notify people when I post a new SnyderTalk. If you would like to be on that list, send your email address to nhsny@yahoo.com, and put “add me to your distribution list” in the subject line. If you know others who are interested in SnyderTalk content, tell them to send me their email address, and I’ll put them on the list.
________________________________________
Genesis 22: 15-19
15 Then the angel of Yahweh [i.e., Yahweh] called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares Yahweh, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.
SnyderTalk Comment: There is no doubt that the Angel of Yahweh is Yahweh. Read His Name is Yahweh.
________________________________________
His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback. It’s also available for free in PDF format.
- God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
- “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
- Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)
________________________________________
#####
What about people who came to faith in Yahweh through the Name Jesus?
Click here to download the entire audio presentation for free and with no strings attached. Share it as often as you want.
#####
________________________________________
Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now. There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
________________________________________
Other Books by Neil Snyder
- Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days. Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall. Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace. With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
