On Friday‚ Kathleen Parker‚ a columnist with the Washington Post‚ issued a surprising message to Vice President Kamala Harris‚ urging her to “step aside‚” as she called the vice president’s performance…

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John Spencer‚ the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point‚ introduces a welcome sanity into the discussions of the Gaza War. It’s a sanity lacking from the latest pronouncements of the Administration and its collaborators‚ after the false dawn of the president’s initial sane response to Hamas’ criminal invasion. For while the Jews are often the first victims of history’s worst regimes‚ they are rarely if ever the last. I was introduced to John Spencer by Caroline Glick’s podcast. Glick has been a Churchillian voice in the wilderness for years regarding Israel. Politicians and the publics they try to lead have indulged in nearly endless fantasy about the nature of the threat to peace in the Middle East. The results have been predictable. October 7 woke up a huge majority of Israelis to the true nature of the threat they face and shattered many hopeful fantasies. (READ MORE from Shmuel Klatzkin: New York and California Are Destroying Trust) But the Administration and its collaborators are still selling those fantasies and are getting shrill and threatening to those who no longer play along. How restoring it is to hear someone from the heart of our military speaking plainly and without fear about the reality of what is going on. Spencer’s forte is urban warfare. He has been in the thick of it as an officer in Iraq and he has made it his study. He knows its history and he knows its realities. Urban warfare provides ideal ground for defenders. To overcome an enemy in an urban battleground‚ an attacker must either grind the entire area into dust‚ with huge civilian casualties‚ or spend weeks or months in grinding house-to-house battle and spilling the blood of their own soldiers. All this applies when the defenders of the city are insurgents‚ who usually have not controlled the area for long‚ are not well-funded‚ and have not established a working government for any period of time or have organized their forces into a disciplined military. Even fighting such opponents‚ urban warfare is daunting. The example from Iraq was the battle for Mosul‚ which‚ during nine months took the lives of many Iraqi soldiers who were fighting with American help against the ISIS insurgents. Its civilian death toll was estimated by most sources at around 10‚000 dead but some estimates ran up to 40‚000‚ with a great deal of uncertainty — the rule when there is destruction on such a massive scale over months. But Hamas is a different and more formidable enemy that ISIS. Spencer points out that Hamas has been the government‚ and is in effect if not by legal right‚ a state player‚ as they have governed Gaza for more than a decade and received immense amounts of aid to be distributed under their governance. This resulted in an organized military that is not a band of insurgents but an army‚ 30‚000 strong before the war began‚ organized in battalions and under effective control and coordination. Add to this a system of military tunnels over 400 miles in total length and set at depths and reinforced to be invulnerable to bombardment‚ and used to keep safe the military and armaments‚ including tens of thousands of rockets meant for terror attacks on Israeli civilians‚ not to keep safe the civilians of Gaza. This is by strategic choice. For the defensive strategy of Hamas and its Iranian backers is basically two-fold — to make any war against them by necessity painful‚ slow‚ destructive‚ and deadly to its civilians. For they have learned the lessons of modern asymmetrical warfare — aggressive political propaganda is counted upon to win what the military cannot. Their plan has always been to maximize deliberately the civilian casualties and the photo-op scenes of destruction‚ amplify the death tolls by an endless stream of false statistics and portray the intended victims of their own exterminationist ends as the ones perpetrating genocide. (READ MORE: Antony Blinken Declares Israeli Settlements Illegal) It’s worked for Hamas after each of its previous deadly attacks on Israeli civilians — even in Israel. Israel’s strikes against those who opened war on their population have always been stopped before a decisive defeat could be inflicted on Hamas. And many Israelis‚ desperately wanting peace‚ have been willing to go along‚ and just imagine peace‚ hoping that that will work. But in the wake of an organized invasion by state forces‚ used to inflict Einsatzgruppen-style massacres on an unlimited scale‚ and adding their improvement on the Nazis with organized rape and sexual torture on a massive level‚ and taking hundreds of hostages for good measure — very few are left in Israel who entertain fantasies. They see the truth: Hamas and most of the Arab population in Gaza and in the West Bank supported the attacks‚ according to an Arab-run poll taken after October 7.  They want the Jews of Israel dead and gone‚ from the river to the sea‚ and that is what they will do if not forcibly stopped. Spencer points all this out clearly. He can speak less clearly about the politics of it‚ as he is an employee of the Army and rules apply to which he agreed. But he paints the picture clearly enough to let us know that the insistence of the Administration on a cease-fire without surrender of the hostages and of the perpetrators of the organized military massacre and rape of 1‚400 Israelis will be a strategic victory for Hamas. Its popularity will be immense‚ imitators will spring up and emulate its strategies‚ and it will be clear to every terrorist in the world that all they need to do to win is to take hostages‚ use their own civilians as shields‚ deliberately allow them to be killed‚ and then use their deaths for political cover for their military weakness. The Administration and its collaborators are collaborating in this strategy. There is little parallel in our own history for such cynicism in pursuit of power. For while the Jews are often the first victims of history’s worst regimes‚ they are rarely if ever the last. The regimes that persecute Jews are not friendly to the freedoms that should define America‚ and they tend to bring destruction in their wake. We already see our government’s lack of care about the myriad existential threats to our own country and its ordinary people‚ at the border‚ facing China‚ and in its suicidal cultural trends‚ all of which it deliberately amplifies for fleeting political gain. (READ MORE: Mr. Biden‚ Why Do You Hide Your True Self?) Strengthen yourself with a dose of John Spencer. Face the difficult realities directly and refuse victimhood‚ the hallowed virtue of woke culture. Realize that the battles of life and death are going to be won or lost in our national politics and the kind of culture and values we are willing to stand for. Above all‚ like John Spencer‚ stand up for truth in this age of deception‚ and fight for it with honor.         The post A West Point Scholar and Soldier Stands up for Truth appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Poland’s Catholic bishops are preparing to grapple with the new coalition government and its left-wing agenda. Last week‚ the Polish Bishops’ Conference elected new leadership‚ with Archbishop StanisÅ‚aw GÄ…decki of PoznaÅ„ leaving his position as president and Kraków’s Archbishop Marek JÄ™draszewski leaving his role as vice president. Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda of GdaÅ„sk was elected as the new conference president and Archbishop Józef Kupny of WrocÅ‚aw as the new vice president. “We need to protect ourselves from all sorts of red stars‚ familiar to us from the communist past.” Currently‚ the Catholic Church in Poland is facing the new government’s endeavors to suppress religion classes in schools‚ liberalize same-sex unions‚ and introduce abortion on demand. (READ MORE from S.A. McCarthy: At the Altar of the Zeitgeist: German Bishops Launch ‘Queer’ Commission) After European Union bureaucrat Donald Tusk and his Civic Coalition took power in last year’s elections‚ incoming education minister Barbara Nowacka announced plans to strip state funding from Catholic catechism classes in schools and not collect or report grades from catechism classes. Bishop Artur MiziÅ„ski‚ then the general secretary to the Polish Bishops’ Conference‚ urged that “any work on this should be carried out primarily in dialogue with the Church.” The bishop also noted that the country’s catechism lessons are required by the terms of a 1993 concordat between Poland and the Vatican. The Polish Bishops’ Conference clarified that catechism classes come “from fundamental human rights‚ in particular the right to religious freedom.” Poland’s new culture minister‚ BartÅ‚omiej Sienkiewicz‚ also announced his intention of cutting government funding to religious publications. “The mission of the state is not to spread faith and salvation‚” the culture minister declared. “This is a secular state.” Neither Nowacka nor Sienkiewicz acknowledged or alluded to the fact that over 70 percent of Poland’s population identifies as Catholic. Prime Minister Donald Tusk also introduced a bill to legalize abortion on demand during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy‚ which the Church in Poland has‚ of course‚ strenuously opposed. Under GÄ…decki and JÄ™draszewski‚ Poland’s bishops supported the current near-total abortion ban enacted by the now-ousted Law and Justice party‚ which only permits abortions in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother. The bishops’ support of the law has resulted in allegations of “political interference.” Tusk has also promoted legislation subsidizing prescription-free contraception. The Polish Bishops’ Conference said that Tusk’s abortion and contraception agenda would “bring death” and instructed that “one must never comply with … laws that allow the direct murder of innocent human beings.” Bishops’ spokesman Leszek GÄ™siak commented‚ “The bills regarding abortion and prescription-free access to the morning-after pill … bring death under the guise of euphemistic-sounding slogans‚ because human life begins at conception.” He continued‚ “There will never be any support from the church for such actions. Abortion is a serious offence against human life.” GÄ…decki asked‚ “When a parliamentary or social majority decides that the killing of unborn human life is legally permissible‚ even under certain conditions‚ is it not thereby making a ‘tyrannical’ decision towards the weakest and most defenceless human being?” Additionally‚ Tusk and his ruling coalition have unveiled plans to liberalize same-sex unions. Currently‚ both same-sex unions and same-sex marriage are illegal. Under the Law and Justice party‚ with the support of the nation’s Catholic bishops‚ “LGBT ideology” was harshly condemned‚ with laws put in place to block gender ideology in schools. For the past five years‚ the European chapter of the International Lesbian‚ Gay‚ Bisexual‚ Trans‚ and Intersex Association (called ILGA-Europe) has consistently ranked Poland the “worst” country in the European Union for LGBT “rights.” (READ MORE: Revisiting A Catastrophe: A Cardinal’s Blueprint for the Next Pope) At a Christmas Mass‚ Kraków’s ultra-conservative archbishop proclaimed of the new government‚ “They want to take us back to the dark times of the [communist] Polish People’s Republic by removing crosses and nativity scenes from some Polish offices.” JÄ™draszewski was referring to a member of Tusk’s party who‚ upon taking office‚ removed a crucifix from his office and replaced it with European Union flags. The archbishop‚ who used to serve as the Polish bishops’ head of government relations‚ continued‚ “Why is there an arbitrary desire to limit the number of hours devoted to [catechism classes] at school‚ during which the full truth about Christ is proclaimed?” JÄ™draszewski concluded‚ “We need to protect ourselves from all sorts of red stars‚ familiar to us from the communist past‚ as well as from modern-day stars that want to drag us into the miserable darkness of hatred‚ contempt for others‚ violence.” The post Polish Bishops’ Fight Leftist Government Onslaught appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

WASHINGTON — Fiscal restraint is dead. The federal government spends $1.5 trillion more than it takes in. The national debt is $34.5 trillion. Big media aren’t all over this story‚ so there’s no pressure on candidates to talk about a reasonable path to fiscal sanity. That’s more than $100‚000 in debt for every man‚ woman and child in America. No worries. On Monday‚ President Joe Biden released a $7.3 trillion budget for fiscal year 2025 that would increase taxes‚ increase spending — and increase the national debt. Team Biden framed its 2025 package‚ with its 10-year $5 trillion hike in taxes on corporations and the affluent‚ as “progress” that fulfills the president’s commitment to “fiscal responsibility.” (READ MORE from Debra Saunders: McConnell‚ Playing the Long Game‚ Endorses Trump) Call it: Tax and Spend More — and Still Borrow More. No one expects the Biden spending plan to become law as is. But the POTUS plan makes it clear that Washington is not going to rein in runaway spending. Republicans have shown as little interest in cutting spending as Democrats. Both of the parties’ presidential nominees apparently believe the candidate who talks honestly about taxing and spending can’t win. So‚ unless a third-party candidate comes forward to remind Americans of the inevitable fiscal pain that awaits‚ there will be no pressure to reform. On Monday‚ former President Donald Trump flirted with the notion of cutting Medicare and Social Security. He told CNBC‚ “There is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements‚ in terms of cutting” and going after bad mismanagement. What looked like a moment of actual fiscal responsibility was followed by a hasty retreat. Trump promptly told Breitbart‚ “There’s so much cutting and so much waste in so many other areas‚ but I’ll never do anything to hurt Social Security.” Trump also said he would not hurt Medicare. Team Biden saw an opportunity. Stumping in Milwaukee on Wednesday‚ Biden swatted his predecessor when he said‚ “Just this week‚ former President Donald Trump said cuts to Social Security and Medicare are on the table. I want to assure you I will never allow it to happen.” As a candidate in the 2016 election‚ Trump offered that he could pay down the then-$19 trillion national debt during his hoped-for two terms in office. (READ MORE: After Border Security Fails‚ Biden Faults Trump) Instead‚ Trump oversaw spending that drove up the national IOU — both before COVID and after‚ when any president would have pumped truckloads of money into the economy to avoid catastrophe. During Trump’s tenure‚ the deficit rose by $7.8 trillion — more than it did under any non-wartime president‚ The Washington Post and ProPublica found in 2021. Big media aren’t all over this story‚ so there’s no pressure on candidates to talk about a reasonable path to fiscal sanity. I don’t get it. If I were a young voter with a long future before me‚ I’d be in a rage. I’d press the 81-year-old president and his 77-year-old rival to explain how much longer the overspending can last. The answer‚ alas‚ is that the spending spree only has to last for their careers. Then it’s someone else’s problem. Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM The post USA IOU. Brother‚ Can You Spare a Trillion? appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

In recent months‚ the financial press has expressed growing fear of an economy-wrecking crisis in commercial real estate. The specific concern is that as the trillions in mortgages on America’s non-residential buildings come up for renewal over the next few years‚ the combination of higher interest rates and reduced demand for corporate workspace due to more people working from home will force too many of the properties’ owners into bankruptcy. Such a development would clearly challenge those cities and counties whose budgets are heavily dependent on tax revenue from office‚ retail‚ and light industrial sources. In the case of San Franciso‚ for example‚ more than a quarter of that city’s income is derived from assessments on its non-residential buildings. (READ MORE from Lewis M. Andrews: Christian Nationalism Benefits All Americans) Even worse‚ a widespread meltdown in commercial real estate could threaten the stability of many regional banks‚ which since the 2008-2009 financial crisis have loaned or invested heavily in this area. According to Wall Street Journal reporters Shane Shifflett and Konrad Putzier‚ these “banks’ exposure is even bigger than commonly reported” and is “in danger of setting off a doom-loop scenario where loan losses trigger banks to cut their lending‚ which in turn leads to further drops in property prices and yet more losses.” Until recently‚ many landlords had pinned their hopes for a revival of commercial real estate on efforts by Amazon‚ Facebook‚ J.P. Morgan‚ and other big-name companies to set a post-Covid example and require employees still working from home to come back to the office. But with an October report by CNBC showing that a full third of the country’s workforce continues to work remotely or hybrid — and the cost of commuting now “wildly more expensive” than it was in 2019 — it has become increasingly clear that any chance of preventing a full-blown meltdown will require multiple solutions. It is always a good thing when politicians can get behind a policy which delivers a genuine public good. Part of the problem could be solved‚ as the Bi-Partisan Policy Center has documented‚ by converting commercial buildings near residential neighborhoods into apartments or condominiums — at least those commercial buildings which can be altered to satisfy residential building codes without too much trouble. And Forbes contributor Mark Zettl believes that some commercial buildings near regional data center hubs like Northern Virginia‚ Dallas‚ and the San Francisco Bay area can be repurposed to meet the accelerating demand for computational infrastructure. But what may prove the most helpful suggestion comes from Kerry McDonald‚ a senior education fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). Noting that the high vacancy rate in commercial office space coincides with a growing interest in school choice across the U.S.‚ she has begun urging companies and their landlords to consider starting their own small K-12th grade academies. What these so-called “microschools” lack in size‚ McDonald notes‚ they more than make up for by providing older students with internship opportunities at nearby businesses‚ as well as access to resources like the local community college. Equally important‚ they give parents who work in or near the school the option to be much more involved with their children’s educations. McDonald cites the example of Revolution School‚ an accredited private high school located in the downtown facilities of AJO Vista‚ a Philadelphia investment advisory firm. Founded in 2019 by company partner Gina Moore‚ the school has 31 students who come from a wide variety of city neighborhoods. Five students pay the full $25‚000 tuition‚ most qualify for a reduced $5‚000 fee‚ and several are supported by private scholarship-granting organizations. (READ MORE: Soaring Debt Will Fracture the Democrat Party) As these figures suggest‚ it is not the profit potential of small office-based schools which can do much to moderate the declining value of commercial real estate. Most microschools are considered successful if they can just break even. But by providing families with an affordable alternative to their local public school‚ microschools do have the power to revive long distressed urban areas — places like Buffalo‚ Cleveland‚ and Milwaukee as well as the blighted sections of larger cities like Atlanta‚ Chicago‚ and Los Angeles. A power that state and local politicians might well want to subsidize by giving tax breaks and credits to landlords which either host microschools or encourage their tenants to do so. As North Carolina University professor Bartley Danielsen and other researchers have long documented‚ the key to persuading businesspeople and young professionals to settle in rundown metropolitan areas is convincing them that their children will not have to attend bad schools. “The biggest thing that keeps away entrepreneurs and others with the ability to renovate distressed areas‚” as Danielsen himself puts it‚ “is the poor quality of the public schools.” William Mattox‚ director of the Marshall Center for Educational Options at Florida’s James Madison Institute‚ agrees. “Middle-income households do not invest in areas that have had a hard time attracting or retaining upwardly-mobile families‚” he notes. If you want to attract families to “towns they once would not have considered‚” you must “remove the … barrier to a quality education.” Examples of how alternative schooling can spark the redevelopment of even the most stubbornly depressed areas abound. In 2000‚ for example‚ the placement of an independent charter school in Santa Ana led to the rapid revitalization of one of the least prosperous cities in Orange County‚ California. And in Charlotte‚ North Carolina‚ Episcopal minister Marty McCarthy has successively rehabilitated a number of the city’s blighted areas by raising funds to open inexpensive private and parochial schools. Perhaps the most dramatic case involves the University of Pennsylvania‚ which for decades had struggled to keep the rundown neighborhood around its urban campus from completely collapsing. Nothing Penn tried seemed to work until someone in the administration hit on the idea of building and maintaining an alternative to the local public elementary school. Almost overnight‚ the community rebounded as families from outside the area discovered that moving in did not mean depriving their kids of a good education. Indeed‚ the use of non-public schools to stimulate urban redevelopment would undoubtedly be much greater today‚ were it not for the cost of the space required to run them and the lack of local administrative talent. But the silver lining to America’s commercial real estate crisis is that it has provided the country with an office vacancy rate of 20 percent and‚ given the right tax incentives‚ plenty of landlords and tenants could be easily persuaded to redeploy some of that unused space for educational purposes. (READ MORE: Meet the Suburban Parents) “I really do love the idea of the owner of a distressed commercial building getting a tax benefit (to house a school)‚” says Don Soifer‚ CEO of the National Microschooling Center. Already “the most common space for locating a microschool is a strip mall or retail space‚” he notes‚ but with some kind of tax incentive “the number would multiply without a doubt‚” enhancing the appeal of even the most distressed communities. It is always a good thing when politicians can get behind a policy which delivers a genuine public good‚ but giving commercial landlords and tenants some incentive to host their own schools promises three: the revival of long distressed urban areas‚ the expansion of educational options for local families‚ and‚ most urgently‚ help in stemming America’s looming real estate collapse. The post Microschool Incentives Could Stem Commercial Real Estate Crisis appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City has issued its first “trigger warning” for Puccini’s 1926 opera‚ Turandot‚ which takes place in ancient Peking‚ China. Here’s the full warning‚ written by Christopher Bronwer‚ the Met’s associate editor: We must also consider the criticisms that Turandot — and Puccini’s appropriation‚ reconfiguration‚ and reharmonization of Chinese music — has received in recent years. As Ping-hui Liao‚ a professor of literary and critical studies at the University of California‚ San Diego‚ argues‚ despite the composer’s attempts at authenticity‚ “when the material is drawn from another culture‚ as in the case of Madama Butterfly or Turandot‚ it is integrated and ordered so that it becomes intelligible‚ controlled‚ and agreeable … the melodies are so well integrated that they lose their own autonomy and become part of a larger whole. In distinguishing between East and West‚ [Puccini] makes the former subservient to the latter.” Or‚ as Carner wryly suggests‚ while the Chinese characters don “national musical costume throughout … this costume may bear the trademark ‘Made in Italy.’” It shouldn’t be surprising then that many audience members of Chinese descent find it difficult to watch as their own heritage is co-opted‚ fetishized‚ or painted as savage‚ bloodthirsty‚ or backward. No doubt‚ the Met will soon issue another trigger warning for Puccini’s Madama Butterfly which is set in Nagasaki‚ Japan. Perhaps I personally require a trigger warning about the conductor who … is just another white man? I wonder if their trigger warnings will only concern race or whether they will also include the incredible‚ unacceptable sexism embodied in the character of American Navy Lieutenant‚ Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton who‚ with the help of a marriage pimp‚ has “married” the young and innocent Cio-Cio-San‚ who is also known as Madam Butterfly. (READ MORE from Phyllis Chesler: J Street Jerks Manipulate Wiesel’s Words) She does not know that her marriage contract can be cancelled at any time. Pinkerton impregnates her — and leaves. Cio-Cio-San has his child and will not hear about marrying anyone else‚ including Prince Yamadori. After all‚ she is an already married mother. Pinkerton returns‚ but with his American bride in tow. Heartbroken and defeated‚ Cio-Cio San offers her son to Pinkerton’s wife and then kills herself. I have long hated — yes‚ hated — Pinkerton in his blazing white uniform‚ whose arrogant sense of male entitlement knows no bounds. Puccini has portrayed a Caucasian Western man as a villain. Yes? I sincerely hope that the Met gives me fair warning that misogyny most supreme will surely upset me‚ the more so because Puccini’s music is so very beautiful. It does not stop at Butterfly. I want such trigger warnings for Donizetti’s Lucia Di Lammermoor which takes place in Scotland‚ in 1669. Lucia is in love with one man‚ Edgardo‚ but her brother‚ Enrico‚ both tricks and forces her to marry another man. Arturo’s wealth and power will save Enrico from poverty. He sells his sister. Legally‚ he has the right to do so. Lucia goes mad and‚ on her wedding night‚ stabs her groom. Lucia is probably committed to a mental asylum and Edgardo kills himself. Will I be warned that the sale of sisters (or daughters) will upset me ever so much? Oh my God! And what about Verdi’s Aida‚ set in Egypt‚ in which Aida is condemned to a particularly horrible death — she is buried alive — just because Pharoah’s daughter‚ Amneris‚ loves the same man‚ the military hero of Egypt‚ Radames. Poor Aida‚ her captured slave princess loves him too. Unluckily‚ Radames loves Aida‚ only Aida. This trigger warning will be complicated because it involves a cruel and jealous Egyptian princess‚ and her vengeance against her helpless female slave. As the author of Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman‚ I am not surprised about any of this but still‚ the matter is upsetting. Carmen‚ Lulu‚ Otello‚ Traviata‚ Tosca‚ Wozzek — all tell stories of women being murdered by men — or driven to suicide by them.  Enough said. After all‚ it’s opera and nearly everyone ends up dead when the last note is sung. But one more thing: As a Jew‚ I probably need trigger warnings for Saint-Saen’s Samson et Dalila‚ and especially‚ Verdi’s Nabucco‚ which features my people in chains and in captivity in ancient Babylon. Fromental Halevy’s La Juive‚ rarely performed‚ is even more upsetting given the complicated but vengeful portrait of a Jewish Shylock-style father and the old Catholic habit of burning Jews alive. Furthermore. what am I to conclude when black singers sing the roles of historical white figures — (Marion Anderson‚ Marta Arroyo‚ Kathleen Battle‚ Harolyn Blackwell‚ Grace Bumbry‚ Denise Graves‚ Leontyne Price‚ Pretty Yende — and that’s only some of the African female opera singers; the male stars and Asian and Hispanic divas merit their own article). Why then have absolutely no white opera singers performed in Porgy and Bess? Or in Fire Shut Up in My Bones? Or in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X? This is slightly ironic because the composer is a white man: Anthony Davis. (READ MORE: Silence of the Feminist Lambs: Not a Word on Hamas Horrors) Perhaps I personally require a trigger warning about the conductor‚ who yet again‚ however brilliant‚ is just another white man? Few women conductors have been in sight until very recently and then rarely‚ oh so very rarely. Will future operas‚ like plays‚ require that men sing women’s roles? How will they do that unless they are counter-tenors? As to women singing male roles‚ how many can sing the bass and baritone roles? Enough. It is politically correct‚ anti-racist uber alles madness.   The post Opera House Bigotry appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

In a frontpage article on Israeli restrictions to enter the Al Aqsa Mosque‚ the New York Times once again demonstrated its anti-Israel bias.  It claimed‚ “Israel has exerted tighter control in recent years over the compound‚ one of many restrictions Palestinians living under decades of Israeli occupation have had to endure.” The restrictions this year are exactly what they have been for the last decade when younger Muslims have used the mosque to initiate protests‚ sometimes throwing objects down on Jews worshipping at the Western Wall below; something the Times story failed to mention.  And it makes even more sense this year with Hamas exhorting Israeli Muslims to riot during Ramadan. [W]hen the old city of Jerusalem was under Muslim control from 1948 until 1967‚ they did not allow Jews to pray at the Western Wall. What is most troubling‚ however‚ is that the article ignores important religious history: the unwillingness to allow Jews to pray at their most holy sites when Muslims were in control.  This is most clear at the Cave of the Patriarchs: the burial place of the Jewish patriarchs: Abraham‚ Isaac‚ and Jacob just outside of Hebron. (READ MORE from Robert Cherry: How Best To Fulfill King’s Aspirations) According to the bible‚ when Abraham wished to bury his wife‚ Sarah‚ the Hittites offered to give him the cave as a gift but he insisted on paying the full price.  The owner Ephron beseeched Abraham to take it for free but he insisted on paying the full price of “four hundred shekels of silver.”  This passage was written more than 2‚500 years ago to make sure for posterity that ownership would be uncontested. Once Muslims took control of the cave in the thirteenth century‚ Jews were not allowed to enter; they could go no further than the seventh step on the stairway leading up to the entrance. Here is how‚ in 1872‚ Rabbi Hyam Zyee Sneersohn‚ a great-grandson of the first Lubavitcher Rebbe‚ described the restriction: They are not allowed to enter the Cave; the sons of Hagar do not allow the sons of Sarah to visit her grave.… They stand outside and say their prayers. They visit this ground from time to time‚ but it is always joy which fills their hearts. In a 1929 pogrom‚ inspired by the Grand Mufti’s rhetoric‚ 67 Jews were killed in Hebron‚ and many incidents of rape‚ mutilation‚ and torture were reported. In 1931‚ 160 Jews returned but after further Arab unrest‚ the British Government moved all Jews out of Hebron to prevent another massacre. Thus‚ when Israel took control of the West Bank‚ Jews were able to enter the Cave of the Patriarchs for the first time in seven centuries. After Israeli forces captured the West Bank in 1967‚ former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion declared that “in the cause of peace‚ Israel should take nothing in the conquered territories‚ with the exception of Hebron‚ which is more Jewish even than Jerusalem.” And yet Israel allowed Muslims to use the cave with some modest restrictions.  Indeed‚ in 1996‚ the Israeli government ceded to the Islamic waqf control of most of the cave‚ including some areas holy to Jews. Similarly‚ when the old city of Jerusalem was under Muslim control from 1948 until 1967‚ they did not allow Jews to pray at the Western Wall which was perceived as a threat to their control of the Temple Mount.  Indeed‚ this potential threat has underpinned not only the 1929 pogrom‚ but the Al Aqsa Intifada in 2000‚ and the Al Aqsa Flood that initiated the current conflict. It follows from the long-held view of religious Muslims‚ like Hamas followers‚ that the Nakba reflects the emergence in 1948 of a Jewish state on Arab lands. In 1958‚ the Nakba was commemorated by radio stations of the United Arab Republic calling on the world’s Arab and Muslim states to hold a symbolic five minutes to mourn the establishment of Israel without any mention of the refugees. However‚ the Times and other critics of Israel suppress this Palestinian vision since it doesn’t fit their preferred narrative of Palestinians being helpless victims with the Zionists being the aggressors. Indeed‚ until the 1990s this was the universal meaning of the Nakba.  Only then‚ when Arafat had to have a reason not to pursue serious negotiations on a two-state solution‚ was the meaning of the Nakba changed to be about the refugees.  This enabled him to make the right-of-return a central demand which he knew was a nonstarter for the Zionists.  Unfortunately‚ this is still the position of all Palestinian factions since a two-state solution without a robust right-of-return offers nothing to the three generations who have been stuck in refugee camps‚ almost none of whom have ever lived in areas that comprise present-day Israel. (READ MORE: Contrary to Kanye West’s Claims‚ Jewish Organizations Actively Helped Black Artists) Liberal critics of Israel trivialize the current chant of “Palestine will be free‚ from the river to the sea.”  They claim it is just aspirational and consistent with a two-state solution.  However‚ as the original meaning of the Nakba tells us‚ and Hamas’ actions reinforce‚ there are important forces within the anti-Israel movement that fully believe that Israel should not exist.  It explains Israel’s aggressive posture today and why it should be supported. Robert Cherry is an American Enterprise Institute fellow and material in this article comes from his current book project‚ Arab Citizens of Israel to be released by Post Hill Press winter 2024.     The post Al Aqsa Mosque:<;i>;The New York Times<;/i>; Ignores History appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.