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Zionism Thanksgiving List / Hezbollah ‘Ceasefire’ Explained / Jewish Refugee Day

  • Zionism Thanksgiving List

  • Hezbollah ‘Ceasefire’ Explained

  • Jewish Refugee Day

In honor of Thanksgiving this past Thursday, I decided to create a Zionism thankful list. Of course, Thanksgiving is an American holiday and as a proud American, I am truly thankful that my parents emigrated to this country in 1979 from a now former Communist republic.

  • The Maccabees – History books called them ‘zeolots’ but a more apt moniker for these brave bands of Zionists would be the rescuers of the Judean race and culture (which includes the Judean faith). More so than defeating the Syrian-Greek Seleucid Empire to regain control of Judea (though not Samaria), was their fierce battles against the Hellenized Jews. Sadly, in modern times, Jewish institutions tend to erase the Jewish Civil Wars.
  • The entire Hasmonean dynasty which expanded our land from Judea & Samaria to the entire Jewish homeland which includes today’s Arab occupier state inside Israel, Jordan.
  • The IDF, IAF, Mossad
  • Ze’ev Jabotinsky – A true Zionist hero. Not only did Jabotinsky split from Herzl (who will never make it onto any of my Zionism lists) over Zionism aims – Herzl emphasized antisemitism as the main reason behind making aliyah; Jabotinsky accurately countered that the fact that Jews are indigenous to our homeland, Israel, is why Jews should return back home.

In 1920 Jerusalem, The Jewish Council of Delegates anticipated the coming Arab violence and placed Jabotinsky in charge of subduing the coming riots. There was great confidence in Jabotinsky due to his experience fighting the Turks in WWI; he was one of the founders of the Jewish Battalions of the British Army. That unit conquered Palestine from the Ottomans. In charge of establishing a defense force, Jabotinsky founded the Haganah, without which a great many more Jews would have died in the riots of 1920.  Once the violence quelled, the British arrested both the Arab aggressors and the Jewish defenders, including Jabotinsky and several other Haganah members. Jabotinsky, who was given a harsh sentence that included expulsion from Palestine, was disgusted that he was treated in a similar fashion to the Arab aggressors. Eventually, he was released, and all charges were dropped against both Arabs and Jews.

In 1925, Jabotinsky founded the Revisionist movement as a result of an ideological split with the Haganah. While the Haganah promoted a socialist agenda, Jabotinsky sought to create a free-enterprise Jewish State. Yet there was another pivotal difference – the Haganah was an entity which promoted havlaga, or restraint, as opposed to retaliation. And thus, the far more effective Jewish resistance group, Irgun, was born.

Betar, meaning fortress, is an acronym for The Joseph Trumpeldor Union; it was founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia by Vladimir (Ze’ev) Jabotinsky and was the Revisionist Zionist youth movement. Joseph Trumpledor, together with Jabotinsky, founded the Zion Mule Corps. Trumpeldor died in 1920 while defending the Jewish community of Tel Hai. Its founding members thought of themselves as an integral fabric of the Jewish Legion that was to be established in Eretz Yisrael. 

The Betar organization, under Jabotinsky’s leadership, engaged in learning about military actions and nationalistic aspirations. Considered the youth movement of the Irgun, it was instrumental in preparing young people to make Aliyah, and was prevalent throughout the world. In Palestine, though they clashed with the Socialist Zionist youth movement.

In the 1930’s, Betar actively participated in operations rescuing the “illegal” Jewish immigrants to Palestine. The movement’s widespread reach and military ingenuity for the time should not be underestimated. It was Jabotinsky’s own son, Eri, who built the first airplane glider in Israel. Flight instruction was then introduced and by 1939, Irgun had its first pilots. Through Betar, naval instruction for Jewish forces first began in Tel Aviv, but the group also had naval training outposts both in Italy and Latvia. The sailors who came out of these units eventually formed the first Naval unit of the IDF after the liberation of Israel. For more information: https://tbtnisrael.com/betar/ *The above is merely a snippet of his incredible Zionist actions.

  • Avraham Stern – Founder of Lehi (1940). Lehi’s goals were ambitious and included: establishing Hebrew as the national mother tongue, rebuilding the ancient ruins, engaging in a population exchange of non-Jewish residents, ingathering of the exiles, and the rebuilding of the Third Temple, just to name a few. Because its goals were lofty and its numbers relatively small, the Lehi aimed to maximize impact by delivering impactful actions, including political assassinations targeting British soldiers and officials. Deemed extreme by the Haganah, they refused to accept the Lehi.
  • The Lehi and Irgun Jewish resistance groups
  • Yemenite Jews – This Mizrahi Jewish community traces its roots back to those who left Judea after the destruction of the First Temple, later joined by former Bar Kokhba warriors. Originally settling in the Hejaz, they then moved to the southern part of Arabia, what would become Yemen.

 

There was a very philosemitic Kingdom, the HImyaraites, who ruled from the 2nd – 6th century in Yemen, who briefly adopted the Jewish faith, but did not intermarry with genetic Jews. Jews under the Himyarites were looked upon very favorably, but when Islam conquered the remainder of the Arabian Peninsula, Jews became dhimmis, second class citizens.

The Jews in Yemen, for the most part, lived separately from the Muslims in the land. The only exception was the Habbani tribe, who lived as warriors and fought with Arabs to repel various conquerors.. Those Jews, also came from a wave of Judeans from Israel post the 586 BC exile, some being former Bar Kokhba warriors.

The first aliyah of the Yemenite Jews was in 1881, when those Jews settled in what is now the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem. Between 1949 – 1950, the majority of Yemenite Jews were airlifted to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet. This mass exodus was prompted by murderous pogroms in Yemen against its Jewish communities.

  • Bukharian Jews – Persian Jews who came to Persia via both the Babylonian and the Assyrian Exiles; later ended up in Uzbekistan as traders along the Silk Road. Jews lived in Bukhara since the 4th century AD. The Jews there developed their own language, Bukhori or Judeo-Tajik. Muslim rulers attempted to convert some of the Jews to Islam, but the community remained strong, and by the time the USSR annexed Uzbekistan, the Soviets restored all rights back to the Jews there.

 

Overall, Jews were treated well by their Muslim neighbors, and the lack of violent antisemitism promoted Ashkenaz Russian Jews to immigrate to Uzbekistan to ride out WWII, those who were able to get to the region (including some in my own family). Tashkent is more associated with Ashkenaz Jews while Bukhara was the original Jewish Diaspora community from Persia. Jews lived in Bukhara, Kattakurgan, Samarkand, Tashkent, Karshi, Shakhrisabz, Kokand, and Margelan. Today, about 10,000 Jews do remain in Uzbekistan and the country has positive diplomatic relations with Israel.  

  • ZAKA
  • United Hatzalah
  • The ‘ghetto’ girls of WWII- young Jewish girls in Poland who killed many Nazis 
  • The Jews in Haifa in 1100 AD who held back the Crusaders for an entire month
  • Yonatan Netanyahu
  • Moshe Barazani & Meir Feinstein
  • Chabad
  • The Sephardim who ‘held down the fort’ for hundreds of years in Israel 
  • Queen Shushandukht (the real life ‘Queen Esther’ but there was no antisemitism during the Sassanid period in Iran). She did establish numerous Jewish communities all over Persia, and her son was the first and only half Jewish King of Persia- a powerful and feared one militarily as well. 
  • King David – The accomplishments in his forty year reign are undeniable. After centuries of losing conflict, the Jewish tribes finally defeated several groups including Jebusites, Arameans, Philistines (who in reality were not much of an adversary), Moabites, and Edomites.

 

His military campaigns transformed the Jewish kingdom into a Jewish empire.

Most importantly, David united the tribes of Israel under an absolute monarchy.

This government involved more than just military campaigns, but also included non-military affairs: building, legislation, judiciaries.

He also built up Jerusalem to look more like the capitals of other kings: rich, large, and opulently decorated.

King David’s existence has been questioned, but in the early 1990s, archaeological evidence was found in Tel Dan, a city in the north of Israel. King Saul, David, and Solomon’s existence have all been historically verified.

  • The Jews of Peki’in in northern Israel, who lived there for nearly 2,000 years before being driven out by the Druze in the 1930s. Most of those Jews were descended from the Priestly class and who then became farmers – honoring our ancestral land.

  • Saladin I – a Kurdish (not Arab) Muslim, was the founder of the Ayyubid Dynasty. He deserves to be on this list for his defeat against the Crusaders and inviting Jews back to Jerusalem after 60 years of exile. During the 60 year exile, many Jews moved north to the Golan and Galilee and also to Gaza, which has been part of Israel since 145 BC.

  • Dr. Israel Kligler (helped end malaria in Israel in the 1960s). For centuries, malaria was the greatest killer in Palestine.

 

Simon Bar Kokhba & the Jews of the Bar Kokhba Revolts ‘Third Roman-Jewish War’ (131 – 136 AD) – At this point in history, the Jews in Judea were Roman subjects, with the Romans being somewhat fair to Jews – the Jewish faith could be practiced, local decisions were left to Jewish governors, and Jews were able to hold private property. Rebellion began when the Romans turned on their promises and attempted to build a new city on top of the sieged and sacked Jerusalem from 70 AD. The Romans were to name that city Aelia Capitolina. To add to the insult, the Second Temple was going to be rebuilt as a Roman temple to their goddess, Jupiter.

Simon Bar Kokhba and his rebels attacked the Romans from strategic areas within the Judean Hills, as they knew the territory better than the occupiers. So strong was their resolve, that at the height of fighting, the Judean army swelled to 400,000 Jews; Jews were returning from the Diaspora to help the rebels secure Judea and drive out the Romans. The Romans found the Judeans such a formidable force that they had to send in reinforcements from throughout the Roman empire – as close as Egypt and as far as England.

Though the revolts ended in defeat for the Jews, and the renaming of Judea to Palestina, the Greek name for Judea since the 5th century BC, the Kokhba revolts are a testament to Jewish strength. It cost the Romans more money and men to defeat us than any other group. Many of the rebels left Judea and moved to the Hejaz region of the Arabian Peninsula to join Jews who had left Judea earlier, than to live under occupation.

  • Chaim Weizmann – A Jew who deserves far more credit than Herzl. Weizmann was head of the Zionist Organization, ensured that (most) terms were favorable at the 1920 San Remo Conference, negotiated a philosemitic treaty with Emir Faisal (who was shocked that any inch of Palestine would even be considered for Arabs as it was well known to be the indigenous land of Jews), and was the first President of Israel. Far more details about his incredible Zionism accomplishments were described in previous newsletter articles.

  • The Mizrahi Jews who were sent into enemy countries and helped found the Mossad. For those who are interested, highly recommend the book, Spies of No Country, by Matti Friedman. Though the terminology in the book did not pass Taking Back the Narrative’s muster, the historical details and research was superb.

  • The Jews on a rampage during the Kitos War – If anyone still has any doubts how not ‘weak’ Jews are, read about the Judean revenge during the Second Judean-Roman War, also known as the Jewish Diaspora War.

  • The Jewish Unit X or ‘X troop’ during WWII

  • Kaula al-Yahudi, who led a mixed contingent of Jews and Berbers in the Battle of Guadalete. Jews took several cities after the victory and were commissioned to garrison Seville, Córdoba, and Toledo. 

  • Chelkias and Ananias (Queen Cleapatra III’s top military Generals were both Jews). These Egyptian Jewish Generals helped re-secure Gaza for the Judean Kingdom in 100 BC after the Maccabees conquered Gaza in 145 BC, but then later lost it to the Romans. The Hasmonean King Jannaeus worked with Queen Cleopatra III against her own son and the Philistines to win Gaza back. 

  • Duvdevan Unit – Truly unsung heroes. This is a mistaʽaravim (soldiers who dress as civilian Arabs to perform undercover operations) unit in the Commando Brigade of the IDF. This unit has been integral in fighting and nabbing Arab occupier terrorists throughout Judea & Samaria.

 

* many more events and names deserved to be on the list, but in the interest of space, will need a part II and perhaps a part III*

 

 

Less than a week in, and Hezbollah is already violating the 60 day ‘ceasefire’ agreement. The issue is that the U.S brokered agreement (and to a lesser extent, France), is one between Israel and Lebanon, not with the Hezbollah terrorists. Though Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government, it was not a direct agreement between Hezbollah subhuman terrorists and Israel.

What does this detail seemingly secure, in layman’s terms?

  • The government of Lebanon agreed to prevent Hezbollah and all other armed terrorist groups in the entirely of Lebanon from carrying out any terrorist operations against Israel, and Israel may not carry out any military operations against Lebanese targets.
  • Israel and Lebanon recognize the importance of UNSCR 1701 to achieve long-lasting peace and security, and commit to taking steps towards its full implementation, without violation.

This agreement does not prevent Israel or Lebanon from exercising self-defense. And aside from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Lebanon is tasked with being the only armed groups deployed in the southern Litani area (Israel’s goals since 1982 was to move the terrorist groups north of the Litani River, away from southern Lebanon, so that terrorist groups could not use Lebanon as a terror base against Israel’s northern communities).

The agreement goes on and on about the role of the Lebanese army in being the sole military force in Lebanon.

The above presents some key geo-political analysis: It is important to remember that both UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army have Hezbollah as part of their forces. It’s like saying the German army were not Nazis during WWII. Or being shocked that UNRWA was and continues to be staffed with terrorists, many of whom participated in the October 7th Jewish genocide. Ergo, the Lebanese Army cannot be trusted.

Second, it was interesting to read the UNSCR 1701 was referenced quite heavily throughout the actual agreement. Per UNSCR 1701, which was agreed upon in 2006, Lebanon has a duty to secure southern Lebanon, free of terrorist elements. Failure to do so would result in Israel ‘annexing’ the security zone in southern Lebanon.

From the beginning of this war, many Zionists in Israel were clamoring for Netanyahu and the Knesset to act on UNSCR 1701. Had Israel done so as soon as Lebanon failed its part of the deal shortly after 2006, we would not have had thousands of missiles not only aimed at northern Israel for the past year, with nearly 100,000 Israeli evacuated from their homes, and also twelve murdered Druze children. There would not have been tunnels built by the Hezbollah rats, who were planning to launch their own Jewish genocide against the northern communities.

Why the ‘annex’ in single quotations? That entire area was part of the Jewish homeland, but was stolen by the French (shocker) at the 1920 San Remo Accords – that area plus the Golan Heights. The Golan was liberated in 1967; it is high time to reclaim southern Lebanon as the Lebanese government cannot be trusted whatsoever to ensure security for Israel.

The Litani River was an important marker/goal in both 1982 and in 2006. In 2024, Hezbollah launched long-range missiles that were able to hit many parts of central Israel. Pushing the ‘border’ for Hezbollah north of the Litani river is not going to accomplish much. What will, is to establish a formidable presence in southern Lebanon/aka part of the Jewish homeland for thousands of years, and to finally topple the Iranian regime. As long as the Iranian terrorist regime is intact, so are all the terrorist groups.

Hezbollah is also in Syria, and it is no coincidence that only days ago, the Turkish-backed terrorist rebels, the Syrian National Army has taken over swaths of Syria, and in Aleppo has been threatening minorities, including the Kurds who are fighting valiantly against the terrorists. Iran is a grand terrorist chess master and simply moves its enablers across regions.

The only good thing to come from this deal is that it gives some respite to the IDF who have been operating in Lebanon, and it comes at a time when Israel accomplished more than 80% of its goals against Hezbollah. Had U.S envoy Amos Hochstein had his antisemitic way, this ceasefire would have been hammered out six months ago, with Israel barely accomplishing any of its goals.

 

 

Yesterday, November 30th, marked Jewish Refugee Day, in commemoration of the nearly 1,000,000 Mizrahi Jews who were forcibly expelled from their homes across the Middle East and North Africa in the immediate aftermath of Israel’s liberation. This day also includes Jews who had to flee Iran because of the Iranian Revolution. Today, barely 10,000 Jews remain in Iran and in total, barely 25,000 Jews reside in all the Middle East and North Africa, in Muslim-majority nations.

Jews living under Muslim rule in Muslim countries, faced humiliating dhimmitude and pogroms.

Mizrahi Jews contributed heavily to all the nations where they lived for thousands of years before the invention of Islam, before the Arab conquerors marauded across North Africa, before Iran was Muslim majority, before Iraq was Muslim or Syria or Lebanon. Despite severe restrictions under Muslim rule, Jews in those nations still contributed in numerous capacities.

Mizrahi Jews were robbed of their possessions in many cases as they were forced to flee.

There was no UN program to help Mizrahi Jews escape and be absorbed by Israel. Israel handled all expense on its own.

This day also acknowledges the great resilience of Mizrahi Jews and their very significant addition to Israeli society. Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews make up 61% of the Israeli-Jewish population.

The Mizrahi expulsion was the actual Nakba, not the made-up Arab lie of a Nakba in which none were actual refugees, as no Arab was ever kicked out of Israel by Jews. All had left either voluntarily to help Arab armies kill Jews faster in 1947 – 1948, or were forced out by Arab armies, not by Jews.