RUTHFULLY YOURS

The truth is hanging by a thread. Beheaded journalist’s father: “I didn’t know how brutal they were.”

This is what I wrote a month ago, in the first dispatch in this series:

“Western media fervently defend the fighting forces of a jihad movement that would just as easily behead them as enslave them but would never ever allow them to report freely as they are doing today. Even though they abuse that freedom, they enjoy it.”

This week we were treated to the stark beheading video of American reporter James Foley. It is normal that the bereaved family would pay tribute to Foley’s courage maintained “up to the last minute.” He was on his knees. His last words were an indictment of his native land for conducting offensive air strikes against the Caliphate. It is fair to assume that if he had stood tall and faced the man who was preparing to saw off his head the video would not have been broadcast. If he had tried to wrest the knife out of the hands of his executioner we would never have known. Only videos of submissive victims are offered for the world’s contemplation.

That’s Da’esh [I don’t use ISIS or IS, I call them what they call themselves]. In another frame, in Gaza, we have surly black-hooded Hamas executioners pushing around some pathetic men accused of collaborating with the Israelis and shot on the spot. The condemned have what looks like paper bags on their heads.

The truth hangs by a thread from Da’esh to Hamas. But the journalists, who could find themselves one day on their knees, mouthing accusations, ready for beheading, won’t make the connection. They are already parroting the words of their eventual captors. Western journalists in Gaza, submissive to Hamas, report on the summary executions with eerie approval. For example, Ian Lee for CNN. Yup! Collaborating in wartime is serious business. Some of the executions were public. Hmph! It’s a warning to anyone that might think of giving information to the Israelis.

Determinism is the number one thief of one’s identity as an autonomous individual.
Is anyone “born” anything, except tabula rasa? Is one “born” a Jew, or a Catholic, or a Muslim, or Buddhist, or even an atheist?
Recently, I writer I esteem for his consistently perspicuous and insightful observations on foreign affairs, domestic policies, and modern culture, writing about being Jewish, made this startling statement:
“Jewish is a group identity. There is no such thing as an individual Jew. No man is an island and certainly no Jew is. Someone who is not part of the Jewish people is not a Jew.”
Yes, being Jewish might be a “group identity.” But Jews are individuals first, Jewish second. People can choose to be part of a “group,” but they’re still individuals making individual choices. An individual has no innate collective identity, unless he chooses one, and then it is not “innate.” There is nothing in any person’s genes or physical makeup that determines the content of his mind. Groups or collectives don’t think. One can choose to join a mob or a political party or a fraternity and the like, but this is making an individual choice. No one is destined to be drawn inexorably or helplessly into an imaginary gestalt, however benign or malevolent it might be.
Regardless of one’s circumstances, the element of volition and choice is ever present in any individual, regardless of the circumstances of his birth. One can be born into a Jewish family, a Muslim family, a Catholic one, even an atheist one, a Zulu tribe, and so on, and be raised in strict accordance with the dogma or tenets, traditions, or beliefs shared by that group. At any point in one’s life, one still has the capability of questioning whether what one is taught is true or false. If one has the courage, or the curiosity, one can step outside of one’s “group,” and observe it from the outside. Groups are not necessarily unbreakable chains or boast of “force fields” that prevent one from leaving them.
Tabula rasa, a Roman Latin term for “clean slate,” is an all- important ingredient in this issue. One can write one’s own slate, or let others write it. One can form one’s own independent mind, or allow others to determine what is in it and therefore make one dependent. It’s that simple.

“Praise be to God, each day we conquer the American Jews like our conquests over the Jews of Israel. Your brother, Sofian”

One should know several things about “Brother Sofian”: his full name is Sofian Zakkout; he is a Palestinian “proudly born in Gaza“; he lives in Florida; and – despite the outrageous statement above and others like them, the organization he runs is funded by agencies of the U.S. government and has excellent relations with a range of Jewish organizations.
Screenshot July 25 Facebook post

Screenshot of Sofian Zakkout’s Facebook post from July 25, 2014, where he writes only in Arabic: “Praise be to God, each day we conquer the American Jews like our conquests over the Jews of Israel.”

Zakkout served on the US Commission on Civil Rights–Florida State Advisory Committee in 2002-10. In 2005, the FBI attended an event organized by Zakkout’s non-profit, the American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA). Jeff Green of the FBI’s Miami office explained there: “We just want to let the community know we’re part of the community like they are. We protect the rights they have. Events like this help us to promote a greater understanding of community and law enforcement.”

The Department of Homeland Security awarded $70,000 in 2007 to an organization Zakkout founded, American Muslims for Emergency Relief (AMER). The Miami-Dade County Corps Council awarded Zakkout for his “outstanding” service. Miami-Dade commissioners appointed him to the Community Relations Board and the Asian Advisory Board. Former Broward County Mayor Kristin Jacobs appointed him to the Broward County Diversity Advisory Council. As of 2010, his bio informs us, he was an active board member at Miami Dade County Citizen Corps, Miami-Dade Crime Watch for Citizens, and Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers.

Zakkout boasted in 2011 that “The Justice Department and other government agencies have put my organization’s name on their list of organizations that they are going to work with.”

As for Jewish organizations: He took part in J Street South Florida’s 2012 Passover Seder. He is co-chair of the Jewish-Arab Dialogue Association (JADA). He spoke at Temple Israel in Miami. He co-sponsored an “Interfaith Dialogue” at Temple Sinai in North Miami Beach. At the same synagogue, a rabbi lauded Zakkout in a sermon, no less: “I know you work very hard to build understanding and respect between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities, so again, thank you.”

J Street SederScreenshot of the J Street South Florida Seder with AMANA, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Lauderdale, and Secular Jewish Humanists.

How can someone delusional about Israel and with such repulsive intentions toward American Jews have these prestigious affiliations and activities? Simple: In part, by hiding his views from those who would object. He posted his “conquer the American Jews” statement only in Arabic; in English, he limited himself to less incendiary statements.

In part too, Zakkout spouts politically-correct verbiage that masks his meaning. Witness these lines from AMANA’s website:

“Our mission at AMANA is to make our communities stronger, safer and best prepared to respond to the danger of Islamophobia and the threats of terrorism, hate crimes, public health issues and disasters of all kinds (may Allah forbid). Our mission is to provide a better understanding of Islam to Muslims and information on Islam and Muslims to non Muslims. Our mission is to build more understanding more knowledge and respect between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities.”

That last sentence stands in stark contrast to his statement that each day “we conquer the American Jews.”
Zakkout was also an organizer of the July 20 anti-Israel demonstration in Miami where the crowd yelled “We are Hamas,” “Hamas kicked your ass,” and “We are Jihad.” In Arabic, the protestors also chanted “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jew, Muhammad’s army will return” a reference to a seventh-century massacre of the Jewish community of Khaybar. Video of the protest below:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/jamie-glazov/1400-child-victims-of-muslim-rape-gangs-discovered-in-rotherham-uk/print/

A horrifying news report in The Telegraph has confirmed that 1,400 children were discovered as victims of Muslim rape gangs and prostitution rings in Rotherham, UK, while authorities and child protection services turned a blind eye in order to avoid being called “racist.”

Daniel Greenfield’s blog at The Point deals with this shameful, outrageous and terrifying story: “UK Police Arrested Parents Trying to Stop Muslims from Raping their Children.”

On this occasion, Frontpage is re-running The Glazov Gang’s special 2-part series with Gavin Boby of the Law and Freedom Foundation, on this horrifying reality of Muslim rape gangs in the UK and how the Left is facilitating their vicious and barbaric crimes against helpless young girls. The series crystallizes why the horrible details emerging about the discovered 1,400 children victims in Rotherham was a Muslim crime the Left allowed to occur.

In Part I, Boby shares his battle against “Muslim Rape Gangs in the U.K.” and in Part II, he discusses his report on this horrifying phenomenon, ‘Easy Meat,‘ and takes us “Inside the World of Muslim Rape Gangs”:

  Whatever they may disagree about, Western leaders are in complete agreement about one thing: the new self-styled caliphate, the Islamic State, has nothing whatsoever to do with Islam. It’s a comforting, reassuring vision for Western non-Muslims facing a massive influx of Muslim immigrants and jittery about the prospect of Islamic terrorism, except for just […]

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/frontpagemag-com/the-ferguson-lynch-mob-and-what-it-doesnt-know-on-the-glazov-gang/ This week’s Glazov Gang was guest-hosted by Ann-Marie Murrell and joined by Monty Morton, Nonie Darwish and Karen Siegemund. The guests gathered to discuss, The Ferguson Lynch Mob and What it Doesn’t Know, analyzing the the Left’s rush to judgment, division and hate — without the facts (starts at 15:00 mark). The guests also […]

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http://www.ilanberman.com/15246/last-shot-for-reality-to-pierce-russian-fantasy USA Today On Tuesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, in Minsk, Belarus in an effort to bring an end to the crisis in Ukraine. The summit is shaping up to be a critical turning point in the six-month-old conflict over the soul of Ukraine. It is by […]