Brushing aside the free-speech rights of Americans, Sen. Mark Kirk and other members of the U.S. Congress are pushing Zionist-demanded legislation to stifle a boycott movement aimed at pressuring Israel to stop oppressing Palestinians, as Lawrence Davidson explains.
By Lawrence Davidson
It was bound to happen an attempt by the U.S. Congress to support the attacks on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement already taking place in some states and municipalities. The strategy is to legitimize an increasingly standard approach to undermining the boycott of Israel, an approach wherein the investment of any state funds, including pension funds, in any business or organization that boycotts the Zionist state is forbidden.
Bipartisan pairs in Congress Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, and Congressional Representatives Robert Dold, R-Illinois, and Juan Vargas, D-California introduced into both houses the “Combating BDS Act of 2016” (S.2531 and H.R.4514). We can be sure that all four of them are doing this at the coordinated behest of Zionist special interests to which they are financially tied.
Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois.
In other words, acting in their official capacity, these members of Congress are engaged in paying back their Zionist benefactors who have helped facilitate money and other forms of election assistance by doing what the patrons want on things that touch on Israel-Palestine. Sadly, this is the way the U.S. campaign system works. Unless you are very wealthy, you are constantly scrounging for money. Under such circumstances one’s pathway to success is made easier if you don’t know the difference between your ethics and your elbow.
The four sponsors of the “Combating BDS Act” would, of course, deny any such tainted motives. Rather, they would insist that theirs is an effort to weigh in against anti-Semitism and defend the integrity the “only democracy in the Middle East.” If they really believe this is so, the kindest thing that can be said for these legislators is that they are profoundly ignorant about Israel and its true character. It is also possible that they know the truth about their patron, but really don’t care. It is all about the money.
Intimations of the Real Israel
For instance, are Senators Kirk and Manchin and Representatives Dold and Vargas aware that the Israeli legislature, the Knesset, recently voted down a bill to include the principle of equality among citizens in the wording of the country’s “Basic Law” on Human Dignity and Liberty? Basic Laws stand in for a constitution in Israel. The bill was introduced by one of the few Arab-Israeli MKs (members of the Knesset), Jamal Zahalka, who noted that “All constitutions in modern countries begin with stressing the principle of equality amongst their citizens.”
That did not matter to a majority of the Knesset who, following inherently discriminatory Zionist ideals, do not believe in equality between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens. Yet to Israel’s supporters in Washington the Zionist state remains a “democracy” much like the United States. Such an unquestioning assumption, so wide of the mark, displays a level of closed-mindedness that ought to require intensive remedial critical-thinking training before allowing someone to stand for office.
Are Senators Kirk and Manchin and Representatives Dold and Vargas aware that the Knesset “Ethics Committee” has suspended three Arab-Israeli MKs, including Mr. Zahalka, from participating in legislative sessions because they met with families whose members had been killed while violently resisting Israeli occupation?
The aim of the meeting was to assist the families in recovering from Israeli authorities the bodies of their slain relatives. The Israelis refuse to recognize the truism that the violence of the oppressed will eventually reach the level of the violence of the oppressor. Instead, any violent blowback occurring in response to their own violence is conveniently characterized as “terrorism.”
In order for the action of the Arab MKs to make sense to most Israeli Jews and their Zionist supporters abroad, there has to be recognition of the historically established fact that the occupation of Palestinian land is real. This the Zionists will not do, and apparently, part of their deal with the U.S. politicians in Congress is that they too must echo that same denial.
Are Senators Kirk and Manchin and Representatives Dold and Vargas aware that the respected human rights organization Amnesty International has recently released a report accusing Israeli forces of using “intentional lethal force” against Palestinians in situations where such force was “completely unjustified”? Amnesty spokesman Philip Luther asserted that the Israelis had “ripped up the rulebook” by “flouting international standards” when it came to the use of force.
For the politicians in Washington who have made their pact with the Zionists, such behavior, if noted at all, is rationalized as self-defense on the part of the Israelis. However, suppression of resistance to illegal occupation cannot be judged self-defense either legally or logically. Who in Congress is aware of the Fourth Geneva Convention?
There are many other practices and policies of the State of Israel that must be ignored (including Israel’s support of Al Qaeda in Syria) if Senators Kirk and Manchin and Representatives Dold and Vargas are to carry on with clear consciences. But this might be based on a false assumption that these politicians have a conscience to which they pay attention. After all, our system of politics, which all but demands submission to special interests, may well select for amoral personalities.
Ignoring the Question of Constitutionality
The apparent indifference of Senators Kirk and Manchin and Representatives Dold and Vargas goes beyond Israel’s flouting of international law. It carries over to these politicians’ own disregard for the U.S. Constitution, which each gentleman has sworn to uphold.
Ever since the early 1980s, the Supreme Court has regarded domestically initiated boycotts as a legitimate form of political speech. There is little excuse for these four defenders of Israel not to know this. And what are we to say of them if they do in fact know? Only that they, like their patrons, are willing to “rip up the rulebook.”
They are willing to act as if what is unconstitutional is, after all, acceptable when it protects the interests of a foreign rogue state on whose payroll they happen to be. Just how long can they get away with this? Is the answer really just as long as the Zionist money keeps coming?
Congressmen and senators tied to Zionist special interests will eventually have to rethink these alliances. Their connection with a state that has no compunction about violating international law has led them to become accomplices in the undermining of U.S. law.
Thus, the actions of politicians such Kirk, Manchin, Dold and Vargas act as a barometer indicating the degree to which under-regulated special interests have corrupted the U.S. government. Those involved are walking a path that can lead only to on-going ethical decline and policy failures.
Lawrence Davidson is a history professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He is the author of Foreign Policy Inc.: Privatizing America’s National Interest;　America’s Palestine: Popular and Official Perceptions from Balfour to Israeli Statehood; and Islamic Fundamentalism.
All this 180 degree change is such naivete. Had 1917 leaders could have seen what their foolsih arrogant middle east changes have come to then they would perhaps taken a different tack.
This trying to force Isreal to accomindate it’s mortal enemy is unrealistic. This is a fight to the death. It has been so for many years. Today there is nothing to change that. Palistinians like others will either be scattered and assimulate into other cultures or stay the course where this death spiral will continue. Perhaps a new land can be carved out when the Syrian,Daesh,Iraqi wars get a political settlement . The Kurds and the Palistinians will neeed a homeland. A Kurd/Palistinian homeland settlement would create buffer zones. And perhaps be very good for all.
Among the reasons I boycott Israel is i want America to be for the people by the People of America with liberty and justice for all. AIPAC the Israeli lobby dose all it can to make America for Israel by AIPAC the Israeli lobby. using America to protect Israel from international law.
i reason boycotting Israel will debase Israeli power over America.
Re “boycott movement aimed at pressuring Israel to stop oppressing Palestinians”
A few notes on the BDS:
It is dedicated to end Israel’s existence under the false pretense of being a peaceful organization.
They don’t wish to kill the Jews, they just want to make sure Jews don’t have a state – and be at the mercy of others.
None of the organizations leaders supports a peaceful two state solution,
They use the washed term peaceful “coexistence†… under one state, which is bulls*it and de-facto – means ending Israel’s existence.
So, in their own words:
________________________________________
“Going back to the two-state solution, besides having passed its expiry date, it was never a moral solution to start with. We are witnessing the rapid demise of Zionism, and nothing can be done to save it, for Zionism is intent on killing itself. I, for one, support euthanasia.“
-Omar Barghouti (founder, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel)
________________________________________
“Israel is the oppressor, not the settlements.â€
-Hind Awwad (National Coordinator, BDS Committee)
________________________________________
“Good riddance! The two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is finally dead. But someone has to issue an official death certificate before the rotting corpse is given a proper burial and we can all move on and explore the more just, moral and therefore enduring alternative for peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Mandate Palestine: the one-state solution.â€
-Omar Barghouti
________________________________________
“(The one state solution means) a unitary state, where, by definition, Jews will be a minority.â€
-Omar Barghouti
________________________________________
“I am completely and categorically against bi-nationalism because it assumes that there are two nations with equal moral claims to the land.â€
-Omar Barghouti
________________________________________
“Ending the occupation doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t mean upending the Jewish state itself…BDS does mean the end of the Jewish state. But can’t I see the value in reaching across the aisle, so to speak? The movement may be burgeoning but remains too small. Why shouldn’t we indulge in ad hoc partnerships to get things done? Richard Silverstein, Richard Goldstone, and many other self-proclaimed Zionists have done an immeasurably positive amount of work in skinning the Zionist cat (That’s a deliberate analogy. I don’t kid myself about how difficult it must be for a Jewish person to criticize the Zionist state), shouldn’t they be asked to join the BDS movement?
To be sure, I’m not dogmatically against cooperating with people whose views I find objectionable. If it came down to it, I’d be happy to work with the racist up the street to get the city to fix a neighborhood pothole.â€
-Ahmed Moor (Pro-BDS Author)
________________________________________
“BDS represents three words that will help bring about the defeat of Zionist Israel and victory for Palestine.â€
-Ronnie Kasrils
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“[Israel] was Palestine, and there is no reason why it should not be renamed Palestine.â€
-Omar Barghouti
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“The real aim of BDS is to bring down the state of Israel….That should be stated as an unambiguous goal. There should not be any equivocation on the subject. Justice and freedom for the Palestinians are incompatible with the existence of the state of Israel.â€
-As’ad AbuKhalil
________________________________________
“Peace-or better yet, justice-cannot be achieved without a total decolonization (one can say de-Zionization) of the Israeli state.â€
-Michael Warschawski (BDS activist)
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“[Palestinians have a right to] resistance by any means, including armed resistance. [Jews] aren’t indigenous just because you say you are….[Jews] are not a people…the UN’s principle of the right to self-determination applies only to colonized people who want to acquire their rights. â€
-Omar Barghouti
________________________________________
“I think the BDS movement will gain strength from forthrightly explaining why Israel has no right to exist.â€
-John Spritzler (Pro-BDS Author)
________________________________________
“BDS’s stated goals (ending the Occupation, equality for non-Jews and Jews, and the right of return of the Palestinian refugees) logically imply the end of Israel as a Jewish state….The “state of the Jews†is actually an instrument by which a Jewish elite ruling class of billionaires and generals and politicians secures its oppressive grip on ordinary Jews in Israel…This is why there should not be a Jewish state.â€
-John Spritzler
________________________________________
“I mean we have to be honest, and I loathe the disingenuousness. They don’t want Israel. They think they are being very clever; they call it their three tier. We want the end of the occupation, the right of return, and we want equal rights for Arabs in Israel. And they think they are very clever because they know the result of implementing all three is what, what is the result? You know and I know what the result is. There’s no Israel!
“They say no they’re not really talking about rights. They’re talking about they want to destroy Israel. And in fact I think they’re right I think that’s true. I’m not going to lie. But this kind of duplicity and disingenuous, “oh we’re agnostic about Israel.†No you’re not agnostic! You don’t want it! Then just say it!
“The moment you go out there Israel will start to say ‘What about us?’ and ‘They won’t recognize our right’ and in fact that’s correct. You can’t answer the Israelis on that because they’re making a statement that’s factually correct. It’s not an accidental and unwitting omission that BDS does not mention Israel. You know that and I know that. It’s not like they’re ‘oh we forgot to mention it.’ They won’t mention it because they know it will split the movement. Cause there’s a large segment of the movement that wants to eliminate Israel.â€
-Norman Finkelstein (BDS activist)
________________________________________
“There’s no Israel. That’s what it’s really about.â€
-Norman Finkelstein
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“The goal of #BDS is the full restoration of Palestinian rights, not an agreement to create an artificial mini-state in order to save Zionismâ€
-Ali Abunimah (BDS activist)
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“Zionists complain [that BDS] demands spell the end of the “Jewish state.†They are correct. A “Jewish state†is by definition dedicated to the supremacy of Jews over non-Jews in Palestine, and is therefore irreconcilable with the justice advocated by BDS.â€
-David Litwin (BDS activist)
________________________________________
“Any call for boycott, divestment, or sanctions, for whatever motive (even on behalf of the settlers!) is seen, rightly, as a blow against the legitimacy of Israel… it will be rightly perceived by the pro-Israel crowd as a threat, even an “existential one,†to use Prime Minister Netanyahu’s characterization of all BDS.â€
-Jeremiah Haber (BDS supporter)
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“The ‘two state solution,’…as dictated by Israel, omits basic Palestinian rights…[and] would be yet another act of British complicity in bestowing legitimacy on Israel’s unjust order.â€
-Omar Barghouti
________________________________________
“[The two state solution] was a charade to begin with, and has played itself out.â€
-Kumars Salehi (BDS supporter)
________________________________________
“A Jewish state in Palestine in any shape or form cannot but contravene the basic rights of the indigenous Palestinian population and perpetuate a system of racial discrimination that ought to be opposed categorically….Definitely, most definitely we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian, rational Palestinian, not a sell-out Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.â€
-Omar Barghouti [5:50]
________________________________________
“Bringing down Israel will really benefit everyone in the world and everyone in society, particularly workers,â€
-Lara Kiswan (executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, BDS activist)
________________________________________
“I think the end-all of BDS is to weaken Israel, to isolate Israel, and give the global community a role in the liberation of Palestine and support the resistance on the ground in Palestine.â€
-Lara Kiswani
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“We’re resisting colonialism in Palestine, and colonialism entails all of occupied Palestine, from Haifa, to Jerusalem, to Ramallah…â€
-Lara Kiswani
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“You can’t have coexistence with Zionists. Their purpose of Zionism is discrimination, elimination and ethnic cleansing of a group of people, so if you want to talk about coexistence, I’m not talking with you because you’re going to try to kill me. I’m Muslim.â€
-Azka Fayyaz (BDS leader at UC Davis)
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“You cannot reconcile the right of return for refugees with a two state solution….a return for refugees would end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state. A two-state solution was never moral and it’s no longer working.â€
-Omar Barghouti
________________________________________
“[Jews] did not suffer in Arab countries. There were no pogroms. There was no persecution.â€
-Omar Barghouti
________________________________________
“We need to wipe out Israel.â€
-Anna Baltzer, pro-BDS activist
________________________________________
“I clearly do not buy into the two-state solution.â€
-Omar Barghouti
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Credit to the good people at BDS Cookbook for collecting this hate speech.
Agree with them, disagree with them. Just don’t try and sell anyone on this “pro†and “peaceful†myth,
This organization is all about “anti†and “hatefulâ€.
It’s always good for a laugh, seeing headlines on channels like Russian RT showing “Peace activists†chanting “Palestine will be free from the river to the seaâ€.
The “river†is the River Jordan,
The “sea†is the Mediterranean sea…
In between they DON’T want Israel.
These people are not about pre 67 (Which actually would mean Palestinians under Egyptian and Jordanian occupation, but they are a bit weak on history): they are about pre 48 – before Israel.
Some of them do this because they ARE Jew-haters, some just hate Israel.
It’s a truly fascinating two headed pseudo intellectual monster that brings together the extreme right wing and extreme left wing in a disgusting treaty of hateful solidarity.
It is an organisation full of hypocrites, self righteous and blind to anything other than blaming Israel and only Israel on pretty much everything.
It is also a pathetic joke with practically zero effect. And a good thing too.
(Source and URLs for above quotes: http://falkland-islands.tumblr.com/post/135184100885/is-boycott-divest-and-sanctions-bds-a-movement)
Mr. Barak: BDS must be having an effect on the Zionist state apparatus. Removing a zionist state is quite different than removing Israel proper. Considering the Nakba of 1948 as the official start of an occupation of another people’s land, an Israeli state has no claim to Palestine but, with the facts on the ground today, all relevant parties do agree to a compromise of the pre-1967 borders. This seems like the only path to a peace, one of which may never be attained if it does not accompany justice. Your shrill devotion to this gang of murderous thugs led by Bibi is quite apparent. I pity you, sir!
The first thing you do after apprehending a violent thief is to take the stolen property and return it to its rightful owner. It’s amazing how the criminal Zionists pass right over this part and just presume that since they now have Palestine, that everyone should just forget the murder and theft by which they got it and accept that now the stolen goods rightly belong to the Jews. No such forgetting will ever take place, truth and justice won’t allow it.
The Zionists will never have peace — never — until the Palestinians have justice. The Zionists will live in perpetual fear and in perpetual war until either “criminal Israel” and criminal Zionism are destroyed, or until the real Jews — those committed to justice — take control, return Palestine to the Palestinians, and give the Palestinians justice,… that’s justice on Palestinian terms, …whatever that may mean. If it means expulsion of every Jew in Palestine, then so be it. If the Palestinians see fit to allow the Jews to stay, in a multi-ethnic state with a Palestinian majority, then be grateful. It is well to remember that the Zionists/Jews are the criminal wrongdoers, and that the forces of justice — not the criminals — determine what price is to be paid for the crime.
Israel is a geopolitical crime-in-progress. It has no right to exist, no crime has any such right. Return Palestine to the Palestinians from which it was stolen, and ask their forgiveness, and if the Palestinians say so, go back to wherever you came from. Really very simple.
If you want a Jewish state, negotiate with some country somewhere and make a deal with them to turn over some land to you. Don’t go around stealing from others. And probably more important to your long-term survival, stop thinking that you can steal and kill and expect people not to notice.
By the way, I’m an American and a Jew.
The U.S, Trade Bill, TTIP, that is under negotiations with the EU Includes landmark anti-BDS provisions. The proposed bill would compel all 28 EU member states to crack down on European groups participating in the growing movement of BDS against Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian people. It is hardly surprising that the TTIP and the TPP agreements have provisions to ban BDS against Israel when you have a Zionist, Michael Froman, leading the negotiations.
But it was surprising that we reached an agreement with Iran with another Zionist, Wendy Sherman, leading the negotiations and who would update the Israelis on the progress of the negotiations before the U.S. government.
And it is not surprising that, although sanctions against Iran were being removed after an agreement was reached, new sanctions were immediately imposed on Iran by Treasury Department’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence’s Adam Szubin (who also recently called Putin the “picture of corruption”). Szubin replaced David Cohen who became Deputy Director of the CIA (Mossad must be breaking out the Champaign). Cohen replaced Stuart Levey. Zionists all.
Another Zionist, Carl Gershman has been running the NED, essentially a slush fund to impose U.S. imperialism abroad, since 1984 and he and his uber-neocon/zionist cohort, Victoria Nuland were instrumental in overthrowing the legitimate government of Ukraine. Gershman called Ukraine “the biggest prize†and an important interim step toward eventually toppling Putin in Russia.
Who is really controlling our foreign policy and for what purpose?
I imagine that if their purpose is to exterminate the solvency of the United States, then our current $19,000,000,000,000.00 National Debt is proof positive, they are doing a spectacular job !
Spectacular !!!
Furriners,and for Israeli hegemony over the world.The ultimate .001% of this world.
Every single candidate currently running for President of the United States would support this legislation. Especially Hillary Clinton and based on Bernie Sanders’ past performance at a Town Hall with participants questioning him about the two summers ago Gaza massacre by Israel, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he would back it as well.
Here is Bernie Sanders at the Town Hall:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf2cCdgwgoM
And here is John Kasich at one of the first “debates” saying “And no more criticizing Israel in public!!!”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27bOEgYnBVg
And here is the anti-BDS letter Hillary penned to her prime benefactor, Haim Saban:
http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/07/07/hillary-clinton-condemns-bds-movement-in-letter-to-billionaire-haim-saban/#
After the general election this November, regardless of who “wins”, the Israeli coup against the American Constitution will be complete, and the American people and the Palestinians (and the rest of all the “collateral damage” 3rd world candidates) will be the losers.
Incredible and embarrassing state of affairs.
The fact that not ONE member of Congress and not ONE person running for President has the conscience or brains to “criticize” Israel should give us all GREAT pause.
It is very interesting, indeed.
Gregor : I am a Jew, but I have never chosen the State of Israel to represent me. And the State of Israel has no right to assume that. I am an American citizen before anything else.
I don’t like the state of Israel because of its Zionist policies,its cruel fascist treatment of Palestinian Muslims and Christians,because of the ongoing robbery of Palestinian land in
the West Bank,the ignoring and disrespect for UN resolutions and contempt for the
Geneva Accords especially the one that forbids the settling of land conquered in war. Israel doesn’t want Iran to have nuclear weapons but considers it alright if they themselves do.
I don’t hate myself for being a Jew, in fact I am proud of it. I support BDS and the !st
amendment of the US constitution protects my right to support BDS. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly.I come from a family of East Europeans who immigrated to the US between 1904 and 1912.I like Jewish culture and my father’s coffin had the star of David draped over it. I am really disturbed by these laws against BDS some are trying to make. I hope the President vetoes them or the Supreme Court declares them unconstitutional. I believe any American has the right to promote BDS an that doesn’t mean they are anti-Semitic. The State of Israel is one thing and Jews are another.
Thank you for your input Gregor. I’m so glad people like you have a voice through Consortium News, Mondoweiss and other blogs. I think Alan Hart, who was a friend of both Arafat and Golda Meir, got it right when he said that Zionism is the real enemy of the Jews. I hope he got it right because I some time wonder from some of the comments that are made like the ones at the post mentioned above.
May the road rise up before you and the wind be at your back.
Palestinians (Arabs in general) and Jews once got along well until Zionism appeared. Fairness and even-handedness can go a long way.
In my comment above, I was referring to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf2cCdgwgoM
Your father raised a good man, Gregor. You are a fine American with a conscience and a clear sense of morality. God bless you and your loved ones.
Your father raised a good man, Gregor. You are a fine American with a conscience and a clear sense of morality. God bless you and your loved ones.
Gregor, I am also a Jew. Please permit me to thank you for what you wrote and add that it represents what I think.
And now THIS just in:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-radiation-idUSKCN0VQ22F
Imagine that! Highly radioactive material “stolen” from Iraq. The material is from a company based in Turkey. Last November! And now they are worried that Daesh might have it to use in a “dirty bomb”.
Let’s see…all of our cell phones have been “chipped” with tracking devices since O.J. Simpson went on a thrill/suicide ride with Al Cowlings back in 1994!! That’s how the cops knew where O.J. was.
But the “industries” that create this highly radioactive material are too STUPID or INCOMPETENT to “chip” a “suitcase” in the event the material was stolen for quick retrieval??!!
I smell a radioactive RAT here.
What most of the world, and especially Americans do not know is that ZIONISM is based on the Jewish TALMUD and NOT the Torah, which is considered the first 5 books of the Old Testament; i.e. the Pentateuch. ZIONISM was written by Jewish scholars as a reaction or counter to Christianity’s growth and influence. As you can clearly see from the following TALMUD passages, long ago the Jewish people and their Rabbis rejected the 10 Commandments that were handed down to Moses by YHWH.
“If a Jew murders a ‘goy’ there will be no death penalty.†(Sanhedrin 57a)
“If a ‘goy’ (Gentile) hits a Jew he must be killed.†(Sanhedrin 58b)
“What a Jew steals from a ‘goy’ he may keep.†(Sanhedrin 57a)
“Jews may use subterfuges to circumvent a ‘goy.’†(Baba Kamma 113a)
“If a Jew finds an object lost by a ‘goy’ it does not have to be returned.†(Baba Mezia 24a)
“All children of the ‘goyim’ (Gentiles) are animals.†(Yebamoth 98a)
“Girls born of the ‘goyim’ are in a state of ‘niddah’ (menstrual uncleanness!) from birth.†(Abodah Zarah 36b)
Finally, observe the words that the TALMUD contains about Jesus Christ and his mother Mary: WARNING, OFFENSIVE.
“‘Yashu’ (derogatory for ‘Jesus’) is in Hell being boiled in hot excrement.†(Gittin 57a)
“Yashu (Jesus) was sexually immoral and worshipped a brick.†(Sanhedrin 107b)
“Yashu (Jesus) was cut off from the Jewish people for his wickedness and refused to repent.†(Sotah 47a)
“She who was the descendant of princes and governors (the virgin Mary) played the harlot with carpenters.†(Sanhedrin 106a)
“Miriam (the virgin Mary) the hairdresser had sex with many men.†(Shabbath 104b, Hebrew Edition only)
When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: (Deuteronomy 7:1-2)
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 7:6)
But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee: (Deuteronomy 20:16-18)
So Zionism is not based on the Torah?
And genocide is commanded of the Israelites in the Torah (i.e. the Pentateuch). So much for the commandment “thou shalt not kill”.
And this genocide is defended by the Christian theologian William Lane Craig, who is respected in conservative and evangelical Christian circles. According to Craig genocide and other atrocities are OK as long as they are commanded or sanctioned by God.
http://www.alternet.org/story/150742/one_more_reason_religion_is_so_messed_up%3A_respected_theologian_defends_genocide_and_infanticide
And regarding the “Ten Commandments” which are attributed to God, I think that at least one of these commandments is wrong, namely the commandment to “honor your father and mother”, which in the biblical text is unconditional and makes no exceptions if one’s parents are abusive or are otherwise not deserving of honor.
It is wrong to say to somebody with abusive parents that that person has a duty to honor such parents.
If anything there should be a commandment to parents to treat their children with dignity and respect, that they (the children) might come to treat themselves and others with dignity and respect.
And there should be another commandment to parents to EARN and be worthy of the honor, respect, and love of their children.