Tag: Israel

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TN’s Dems Hate Jews & Repubs Join Them in Hating Parents

Not a shocker that NO Tennessee state House Democrats voted to support the bill against the antisemitic boycott of Israeli businesses with whom Tennessee does millions of dollars of trade. But Democrats were doing what they always do – walk in lockstep with their leaders in D.C. and supporting the Biden administration’s real push on Israel. And if there is any question about where the Democrats stand on Israel, both the Iran nuclear deal and the Biden blaming Israel for his policy on Ukraine, the veil is lifted on Biden’s long-known hatred of all things Jews and Israel/ 

But when it comes to parent rights in Tennessee, we are starting to see that Tennessee’s GOP, many of whom like to wave their allegedly conservative principles, sidled over to the Democrats’ overt disrespect for parents’ relationship with their own children. Never forget that it is Biden’s Justice Department that labelled parents concerned with their children’s education, “domestic terrorists“.

The Tennessee House vote for and against Israel

On Monday in Tennessee’s General Assembly, Rep. Ryan Williams presented his Israel anti-boycott bill on the House floor. Two Democrats abstained and the rest voted NO. All Republicans who were present voted to pass the bill. Earlier in the Senate, Democrat Heidi Campbell whose district includes a large swath of Jews, voted against the bill.

It’s no secret that the DNC platform is anti-Israel so it should be no surprise that the Biden administration is following it.

Biden’s ambassador to Israel, Thomas Nides, Obama’s former deputy secretary of state, has confirmed that he doesn’t believe Jews should live in Jerusalem, is against Jews living in Judea and Samaria an area of Israel he has refused to visit just like his refusal to view the tunnels used by Hamas terrorists to murder Israeli civilians. Nides insists on calling the Islamic terrorist “pay to slay” program as “martyr” payments which just happens to violate the U.S. Taylor Force law. Then there is the desire of the Biden administration to reopen the U.S. Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem. 

On this last point, early last year, Sen. Bill Hagerty introduced a bill which passed the Senate, that would keep Israel’s capital city Jerusalem from being divided by the Biden administration’s push for a Palestinian consulate which has been vigorously opposed by Israel’s government. According to Hagerty, Biden’s plan, violates the U.S. “Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995”, which his bill upholds and which passed the Senate. Senate Republicans continue to fight Biden’s antagonistic Secretary of State Anthony Blinken who wants to reopen the Palestinian consulate in the western part of Jerusalem, deliberately infringing on Israeli sovereignty and deliberately attempting to redivide Israel’s capital.

Add to this that the U.S. State Department has announced a grant which will reward $1 million of taxpayer money for anti-Israel NGOs to report alleged human rights abuses by Israel. Forget China, Cuba, Russia, Iran, shari adherent countries, and Biden’s other favored Marxist friends.

Biden and those who speak for him or rather, work to excuse whatever comes out of his mouth, only serve to prove that his anti-Israel/anti-Jew animus is real. There simply is no way to justify his and the DNC’s alliance with aggressive Jew haters like Linda Sarsour (who btw, is also embraced by the Tennessee AMAC), and Al Sharpton. 

Tennessee legislative subcommittee joins Democrats and refuses to recognize parental rights

On Tuesday, the House Health Subcommittee chaired by one of the worst legislators the GOP has to offer, in a show of collegial disrespect, refused to allow Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver to present her bill on parental rights to the subcommittee. 

Rep. David Byrd (R-Waynesboro), offered a motion to hear the bill while not a single Republican would provide a “second” to allow Rep. Weaver to present her bill. Demonstrating the epitome of cancelling the voice of their legislator colleague and Tennessee parents, not a single other Republican spoke up. Of course, the lone Democrat on the subcommittee did what was expected of him and remained silent as well.

Proving once again his “worst GOP legislator” bona fides, subcommittee chairman Bob Ramsey ignored the fact that it is not against the rules for the chair to “second” the motion and allow the bill to be heard.

Except for Rep. Byrd, this offensive move by the subcommittee members is too obvious in its intent to be ignored. None of these cowards want to record a NO vote against parents and probably hoped that it would go unnoticed. That is how stupid they think Tennessee voters are.

Well, Rep. Weaver who is among the minority of clear-headed and conservatively principled serving legislators and she is not quietly going along with what she described as the “feckless men” (ie, careless and irresponsible) on the subcommittee.

As reported by the TNStar,, Weaver said that her bill “was the same in principle to one that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis passed in 2021.”

“Florida’s HB 241 included legislative findings that it is a fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing, education and care of the minor children and that important information relating to their minor child’s health, well-being and education while in the custody of the school district should not be withheld from the parent.”

Weaver’s bill is even more critical for Tennessee given that despite a law passed last year by the legislature, CRT is still being taught in Tennessee schools. 

It’s no surprise that Bill Lee and his milquetoast administration made it known that they were opposed to the bill. 

Any wonder conservative transplants to Tennessee are shocked when they discover that the conservative grassroots base is actually only reflected in a teeny-tiny minority in the General Assembly and entirely absent in the governor’s office?

One of the “feckless men” of the subcommittee Bob Ramsey, has a primary challenger. We don’t know Bryan Richey, but on paper he sounds good and the fact is, that parents in his district who care about their kids can’t possibly do worse than Bob Ramsey. If Ramsey manages to hide his long record of gross missteps and grosser voting record from his district and is sent back to Nashville, he should not be rewarded with chairing any subcommittee or committee; let Speaker Sexton know how you feel.

If conservatives in Tennessee want to take back the GOP, they had better start letting their representatives know what they think.

Messages of support to Rep. Weaver can be sent to rep.terri.lynn.weaver@capitol.tn.gov

Messages to Speaker Sexton can be sent to speaker.cameron.sexton@capitol.tn.gov

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Et Tu Jim (Cooper)?

Reprinted here with permission from our friends at the new “Jewish Nashville Uncensored” blog.

3,000-plus rockets targeting Israeli civilians was more than enough for U.S. House Republican supporters of Israel to attempt an expedited vote sanction U.S. designated terrorist groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and governments like Iran which support them.

It wasn’t enough, however, for Tennessee Democrats Rep. Jim Cooper and Steve Cohen to break with Democrats and instead, voted* to block bringing Florida Rep. Brian Mast’s Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act (H.R.261) bipartisanreauthorization bill to the House floor.

Tennessee Republicans DesJarlais, Rose, Kustoff and Burchett were all co-sponsors of Mast’s bill.

In a very narrow 217-209 vote on Tuesday, May 18th, all Democrats, including Cooper and Cohen, voted to block the move despite the same bill passing unanimously in the House in 2019 although the Senate failed to take up the bill at that time. With the House blocking the bill’s consideration, Rep. Mast, committed to standing with Israel, brought the bill back this session, stating:

“Hamas preaches the destruction of Israel and death to everything we hold dear in the United States.  The recent attacks again show why we must cut off their financial support. But today 200 House Democrats backtracked on their previous support for this bill, and in doing so sent a clear message to the world that they stand with Radical Islamic terrorists like Hamas instead of with our ally Israel.”

Prior to the vote, Minority leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy made clear the importance of once again passing this bill – “[s]upport for Israel should remain a proud, bipartisan, but most of all, clear policy principle in Congress. As our greatest ally in the Middle East faces the most intense siege in 7 years, the House should make it clear to the world that we stand united in support of Israel.”

Today’s media out-of-control anti-Israel bias willingly adopted and spread the propaganda justifying Hamas’ attacks and villainizing Israel’s defense of its citizens – the same propaganda spread by Imam Bahloul in his recent Tennesseean oped. It’s the same propaganda used by Geraldo Rivera to condemn Israel in the name of Palestinian children in Gaza.

However, where are the voices of outrage for Israeli citizens terrorized by indiscriminately fired Hamas rockets? Who protects and speaks for Jewish children in Israel like the three little Fogel children, 11 year old Yoav, 4 year old Elad and their infant sister Hadas, who were murdered in their beds by Palestinian terrorists? The three boys kidnapped and murdered by Hamas? Hallel Yaffa Ariel?

CNN refused to call these acts of savagery terrorism even though the IDF had already said it was “an act of Palestinian terror.”

If this had happened in our country or our state, would our defense be more measured than Israel’s government? Would Nashville’s rabbis and imams who signed onto the “we may be opponents we need not be enemies” letter to the Observer in 2014 continue to stand by a slogan which trivializes Hamas’ vow to wipe the Jewish state off the map and BLM’s commitment to “dismantle the Zionist project”?

Opponents play games. Enemies, like Hamas, want to kill Jews. If the end goal is to destroy the Jewish homeland and kill all the Jews, what difference does it make whether you are an enemy or an opponent?  

No amount or degree of appeasement and funding from the U.S. will convince Hamas and its fellow jihadists to abandon their raison d’etre. Since 1994, U.S. funding to the Palestinians has totaled more than $5 billion dollars “and has been a key part of U.S. policy to encourage an Israeli-Palestinian peace process, improve life for West Bank and Gaza residents, and (since 2007) strengthen the allegedly moderate West Bank-based PA vis-à-vis Hamas in Gaza. U.S. contributions to UNRWA through global humanitarian accounts since 1950 have totaled more than $6 billion.”

Predictably, the Biden administration is pledging billions to rebuild Gaza. Inquiring minds want to know: does this include the miles of tunnels and thousands of missiles that Israel destroyed? And much of the funding will Hamas control? 

Viewed from this vantage point, Rep. Mast’s bill is not only timely, but overdue

Rep. Cooper is the June guest for lunch with the rabbi. 

We suspect Cooper will have prepared a pat justification for his vote to block sanctioning Hamas and that no one will be permitted to question his explanation. “Progressive” Odessa Kelly has already announced her 2022 primary challenge for Cooper’s seat putting pressure on him to up his own progressive bona fides even if it means refusing to acknowledge the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organization that ought to be condemned by anyone with a functioning moral compass. 

Kelly was recruited and is being supported by the Justice Democrats organization which operates out of an address in Knoxville. This is the group which successfully installed and then expanded the anti-Semitic squad in Congress.

Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district voters who are committed to standing with Israel, there are options – Quincy McKnight and Robby Starbuck. While McKnight to date has been silent, Starbuck didn’t hesitate to remind his twitter followers that Hamas is a designated terrorist organization and in a recent podcast, demonstrated a fundamental understanding of the need for the U.S. to assist Israel in remaining safe and secure. Those who care about Israel and its six million Jews should take note of who stands with her when it counts. 

*confirmed by the GOP Whip’s office, roll call 146 where the vote was 217-209, is the procedural vote which dealt with Rep. Mast’s bill.

 

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Jewish Communities Show Anti-Evangelical Christian Film – Coming to Nashville?

A recent documentary titled “Til Kingdom Come” is being shown in Jewish film festivals sponsored by local Jewish community organizations here, here and here.

The film goes out of its way to portray American Evangelical Christians in the most unflattering way possible and send the message that their support for Israel should be rejected by Jews.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r5rhUNQaXY

Last week, Nashville’s Jewish community hosted speakers who consider mainstream Republicans white supremacists.

In 2015, Abbie Wolf, the Nashville Jewish Community Relations Director, published an article in the Nashville Jewish paper questioning the value of a relationship with Christian Zionists so it wouldn’t be a stretch to see this film pushed out to their viewing community. Wolf wrote:

“While Israel benefits from Christian Zionism, some members of the Jewish community have a host of questions about this fervent support. Some find the gamut of views advocated by Christian Zionists to be disquieting.

So what are some of the concerns about Christian Zionism? One is a distrust of the motives behind their support. What’s the catch, we wonder? What will they ask of us, and when? Is there an expectation of quid pro quo? If it’s support for their domestic agenda they seek, that would be challenging. For example, on many issues like maintaining a strong wall between church and state, we tend to part ways.

Another concern is that Christian support of Israel comes at the expense of our ultimate survival as a people. We fear their support is grounded in Christian biblical prophecy. If their support for Israel is based on their belief that the ingathering of Jews in Israel is a prerequisite for the End of Days, where does that ultimately leave the Jewish people? Further, many believe we must exercise caution in dealing with Messianic Jews – Christians who consider Jews who haven’t accepted Jesus to be ‘incomplete.’

Still others in our community feel that Christian support for Israel comes at the expense of the Muslim community, both here and abroad. Some Christian Zionists’ views are strongly rooted in the belief that there are no moderate Muslims and that Islam is a faith rooted in violence. This broad-brushing of Islam doesn’t consider Muslims who want nothing more than peace for their families and communities.”

To round out the cynical views of Israeli filmmaker Maya Zinshtein, the anti-Trump message is included because as everyone knows, President Trump was the worst thing ever to happen to Jews and their ancestral homeland Israel. Viewed through Zinshtein’s lens, the sole reason Trump moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and endorsed Israeli sovereignty over the security strategic Golan Heights, was to snare the votes of America’s large Evangelical voting bloc.

The German funded internet portal Qantara, designed to “promote dialogue with the Islamic world,” has also reviewed the entire film. They note that Zinshtein likely had “unique access” to her film’s subjects simply because she is from “the Promised Land.”

Most revealing is the reviewer’s impression that “Zinshtein is evidently irritated by this unqualified love for her country. Yet the leaders of the Evangelical movement who feature in the film don’t seem the slightest bit interested in her critical distance to Israel, which she makes absolutely no effort to hide at any point during the film.”

Zinshtein also appears to be warring against Trump supporting Jews, using her medium to further divide Jewish communities:

“Among other things, Zinshtein filmed during a gala dinner where money was being raised for the IDF. The dinner was attended by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who has supported both Netanyahu and Trump with huge sums of money. On that evening, Eckstein told Adelson that Jewish communities around the world are not growing, but that evangelical communities are.

The message is crystal clear: pro-Israeli Christians – some of whom refer to themselves as “Zionist Christians” – are much more important allies for Israel’s nationalists than Jewish communities around the world, most of which are liberal and are more critical of this one-sided support than all other religious communities in the USA.”

Political commentator and anti-Trumper Michael Medved spared no criticism of the film – describing it as “hopelessly one-sided,” relentlessly cynical,” and “profoundly misleading.”

The supposed draw for why liberal and leftist Jewish groups would show this film is to show that the mix of conservative politics, support for President Trump’s MidEast policies, and Evangelical “end of times” prophecy, where supposedly 2/3 of Jews are killed and 1/3 convert to Christianity, does not serve the best interest of Jews in the U.S. or Israel.

Nashville’s Jewish community takes a protectionist approach in their relationship with the anti-Zionist Muslim organization AMAC despite the fact that Jews don’t fare any better under the Islamic end of times; in fact neither do Christians – “He will break the cross, kill swine, and abolish jizyah. Allah will perish all religions except Islam.”

Palestinian Islamic scholar Mraweh Nassar, stated in a February interview that “Jews were ‘the most dangerous enemies’” and that “Muslims will experience a golden age ‘after the Jews are killed, in the time of Jesus.’”

If you have concerns about the showing of this film in Nashville, contact Deborah Oleshansky the current Nashville Jewish Community Relations Director – deborah@jewishnashville.org