ELDER OF ZIYON: Gazans using children as props - and as human shields

Gazans are now routinely pushing children to be at the forefront of all protests, presumably because the photos with kids look so much more dramatic.

Sometimes, the kids don't seem too enthusiastic, as in this protest against Jerusalem being Israel's capital:

They seem to be wondering why exactly they are there, and not in school.

Similarly, a protest by UNRWA contract engineers on losing their jobs also featured confused kids:

But this is nothing compared to those dragging kids to the Gaza fence, where people can get shot when they get violent. These kids are simply human shields. 

Carving Out Happiness from Tragedy

Why do children get sick and die?

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Despite whatever kinds of philosophical answers we offer, deep down we grapple with the fear of the unknown.

We see tragedy around us and try to justify that for whatever reasons, it wouldn't, its couldn't happen to us.

And on the other hand we reinforce that God loves us and that everything He does is for the best.

And then sometimes the values come crashing together, when G-d forbid the worst really does happen. What then?

For those who know people who have experienced horrific tragedy, its hard to know what to say, or where to look, or how to help.

Today, I am sharing an episode of Lift Your Legacy where I speak to a friend who went through and has lived the darkness.

His daughter passed away from cancer at 17 and half years old.

As an orthodox Jew, he grappled with faith, asked the hard questions, and lived through hell.

Out of his struggle, came a book, Grieving and Healing Through the Prism of Torah.

In addition to being a successful civil attorney in Los Angeles, my friend now has another calling; helping others, parents especially, work through tragedy.

This interview wasn't simple, but neither was the circumstances my guest found himself in.

At times, it was too hard for me to be the interviewer. I would see my own childrens' faces and have moments where I wondered how as a parent anyone could get through what he did.

But I learned a ton. In fact, in my coaching practice I use many of the lessons I learned from him.

And while this isn't uplifting or easy, it is important.

Thank you so much to Baruch C. Cohen for the time and the lessons you provide.

I hope you enjoy Episode 40: Carving Out Happiness from Tragedy on Lift Your Legacy with Rabbi Jacob Rupp. Links below.

Jacob Rupp Direct download:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/lift.../Baruch_Cohen_interview.mp3

iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/.../lift-your.../id1254203489...

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHLoYwIsSsc&feature=youtu.be

Amazon link to Baruch C. Cohen's book:
https://www.amazon.com/Grievi.../dp/1981710671/ref=sr_1_1...

Dr. Seuss’s Anti-Hitler Political Cartoons for Adults

Theodore Suess Geisel is best known for the 40-something children’s books he wrote and illustrated under his pen name, Dr. Seuss. But he had quite an interesting “adult” career, as well.

From 1941-1943, Seuss was the chief editorial cartoonist for the New York newspaper PM, and during his reign, he drew more than 400 political cartoons. With World War II on his mind, Seuss’ cartoons often took on Hitler, the Nazi Party, and anti-Semitism at home and abroad.

In Dr. Seuss Goes to War, historian Richard H. Minear collects 200 of Seuss’ political cartoons from PM. In one  titled “Spreading the Lovely Goebbel’s Stuff” (September 18, 1941), a creature labeled as “Lindbergh” is shoveling out trash from the “Nazi Anti-Semite Stink Wagon.”

From January 21, 1942:  a baby Hitler portrayed throwing a bottle of milk at his mother, exclaiming, “I reject milk from Holstein cows as Non-Aryan.” From April 1, 1942: a U.S. Nazi dragging Uncle Sam to get a “Great German Manicure” at the hands of an executioner wielding a large ax, labeled “Anti-Semitism.”

The cartoons definitely don’t have the same childlike charm as, say, Green Eggs and Ham, but plenty classic Seussian details–from skinny birds to tall top hats–show up in the Doctor’s very adult cartoons.

Palestinian anti-Semite accuses Jews of using blood to prepare Purim pastries

A veteran Palestinian proponent of the anti-semitic blood libel marked the Jewish festival of Purim on Thursday with an article that accused Jews of preparing holiday pastries with the blood of non-Jews.

By: Ben Cohen, The Algemeiner

In an article for the independent Palestinian news agency Ma’an — a multi-language network that has received generous funding from the United States and the European Union since its launch in 2002, according to the Israeli research group NGO Monitor — Dr. Mustafa al-Lidawi, a former senior Hamas official, claimed that the Palestinians “hate and fear” Jewish festivals like Purim.

This was “the same holiday that the peoples of Europe hated and detested [and because of it] wished that the Jews would leave their countries so they could be saved from their wickedness,” al-Lidawi wrote, in a piece translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

He continued: “This is because the Jews who lived in Europe would always bake a large pastry on the occasion of the holiday, and everyone would eat it. However, this pastry was mixed with the blood of a victim they chose from among those who were not Jews. Most of the time the victim was a little boy, whom they would place in a perforated barrel full of spikes.”

Al-Lidawi was the author of a similar piece written on the occasion of Passover in 2013, in which he wrote, “Palestinians hate the Jewish festival of Passover…The Jews have not forgotten their blood-soaked past and their perverted rituals. In the past they would seek out a Christian child in order to drain his blood for their matzas, which they would feed to their children.”

A long-serving Palestinian Islamist, Al-Lidawi represented the Hamas terrorist organization in Beirut for much of the 1990s. During that period, he is alleged to have traveled to Iran on several occasions for meetings with representatives of other terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and Al Qaeda.

Originating in early medieval Europe, the notorious antisemitic libel that Jews use human blood for ritual purposes was introduced into the Middle East by a handful of Christian clerics during the nineteenth century, and remains widely-believed across the region.

A 2015 global survey by the Anti-Defamation League revealed that 87 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip agreed with the statement, “People hate Jews because of the way Jews behave.”

Tablet: Watching the Strange Spectacle of Palestinian Made-for-Media Outrage; As soon as the cameramen left, so did the rioters

My name is Amit. I have two small children, and another one on the way. And even though balancing a young family and a full time job is difficult enough, once a year I leave everything behind and report for one month of reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces.

It’s hard to explain, to those who haven’t experienced it, just how powerful the experience of miluim, as we call it in Hebrew, really is. There are few things more moving than seeing a collection of guys put their careers on hold and happily do their part to keep their nation safe. My own company is made up of a successful engineer, the manager of one of Israel’s trendiest restaurants, a biologist, an educator, and others from all walks of life who, for one month a year, put aside political differences, financial worries, and anything else to spend 18-hour days patrolling the vicinity of Hebron and keeping the peace.

We’re not unique in any way, but, sadly, you’re not likely to read about us in the papers. The headlines, I learned the hard way this week, are reserved for violent provocateurs. Last Wednesday, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed an Israeli citizen, wounding him lightly before being shot and killed by a nearby security guard. On Friday, Israel returned the terrorist’s body to his family, a basic humanitarian act that Hamas, for example, denies the families of the Israeli soldiers it had kidnapped and killed. We were told to expect trouble.

The next day, Saturday, my men and I, about 100 of us in total, arrived to find about 400 Palestinian rioters throwing Molotov cocktails, hurling large rocks, attacking us with slingshots, and burning tires. They were documented by something like 40 cameras representing every foreign press outlet you can think of. They were shouting slogans about Muhammad’s army coming to avenge itself on the Jews, and pranced bravely in front of the photographers, knowing full well that the IDF’s strict regulations prevent us from doing much more than trying to disperse the violent mob by shooting canisters of tear gas.

We did the best we could to keep anyone, Israeli and Palestinian, from getting seriously injured. And then, magic: A short while into the demonstration, the media, getting what it came for, decided to leave. As soon as the last cameraman was gone, the very same Palestinian rioters who were, just a moment earlier, so passionate and furious and violent tossed aside their gasoline-soaked rags and their boulders and cheerfully walked away. They weren’t interested in a real confrontation. They weren’t truly mad. They were putting on a show for the press. An hour later, a friend sent me a photograph of myself, just published by the Arab media, holding a tear gas gun and looking menacing.

To be honest, I’m amused by the incident, but also incensed by it. I know this is hardly a new story, but when your own well-being and that of your friends is on the line, it feels just a touch more urgent than usual. I’m very proud to do my duty and serve my country, but I wish members of the media were as serious about doing theirs, taking the time to accurately reflect what’s happening on the ground rather than buy into fake news narratives set up by cynical propagandists.