Jew Hatred Keeps Israel/Arab Conflict Intractable

 There is a difference between opposing Israel's government and wanting what many people want - genocide against the Jews and the destruction of Israel. 

When Hitler and his many followers embarked upon exterminating the Jews of Europe, they made it clear that it did not matter what a Jew did or did not do; they all had to be murdered. It did not matter if it was a baby or an old man. It did not matter if it was a man or women, or anything about the character of an individual. 

Demonizing and delegitimizing an entire people paves the way for genocide. It happened to Armenians. It happened to Cambodians deemed insufficiently communist by the deranged Khmer rouge. It happened to Tutsis in the 1990's. It happened recently to Yazidis, many murdered with their women and girls raped and made into sex slaves because they belonged to the wrong religion in the minds of the people that invaded their lands. These are but a few examples of the genocides and mass murders that people continue to inflict upon one another.

The capacity of people to hate, to kill, to form violent mobs, to harm and destroy is unlimited if unchecked. 

There are those that use religion to demonize Jews and justify war and harm against them. There are others that willfully and purposefully ignore the very real hatred against Jews that helps keep this conflict intractable. Many religious figures and others openly call for the destruction of the Jews, often using religion as the basis for the genocide they seek. Many others ignore this hatred or pretend it does not exist.

Anti-Semitism, defined as hatred against the Semites that are Jews, keeps the conflict alive. It thrives in religious and racial fanaticism and hate.  Mobs driven to Jew hating frenzies by their religious clerics and others are openly calling for war against the Jews. 

Jews that harm Arab civilians must be condemned and punished just as Arabs that harm Jewish civilians must be condemned and punished. Israel as a state is accountable for its actions. Anti-Semitism does not relieve Israel of its obligation to be responsible and ethical.

But to pretend that the pathological, widespread hatred towards Jews does not keep this conflict inflamed and unresolvable is either being delusional or deliberately deceptive.  

Much of the coverage of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs deliberately distorts narratives and images to make Israelis look horrible. Delegitimizing and demonizing Israelis or Jews does not bring either side closer to living in peace with one another. The more people are pushed and prodded to hate, the more they will hate and kill each other. There is way too much outside incitement keeping this conflict going.

To the Jew hater, the Jew can only be a malicious actor, never a reasonable human being responding to real threats. Millions upon millions of people the world over are fed narratives that Israel has no legitimacy and therefore must be destroyed. Without the ability to see one's enemy as an enemy that is still a human being instead of an irredeemable demonic figure, there is no way to end a conflict.

After the killing, after the senseless loss of lives, the senseless maiming and harm to people on both sides, nothing will have been resolved. Jew and Arab will still be stuck with each other on a small piece of land. There are people that incite, that want to keep this conflict inflamed, no matter the human cost on both sides. No matter how many wars are fought, no matter how many lives are senselessly lost, no matter how many people are maimed and crippled for life, nothing will change for the better. Jew and Palestinian Arab are married to each other whether they like it or not. Either they separate and figure out how to create two states on one small piece of land, or they mutually figure out how to live together in one state, an Israel/Palestine. Neither solution will be perfect. Both sides will have to make steep compromises and accept that a final resolution to this conflict will fall far short of everything they want. The only thing that is for sure is that war and violence, which the region has had more than its share of, resolves nothing.

Opposing Israel's Government But Not Supporting Hamas, Islamic Jihad And Their Cheerleaders

 Waging war in densely populated areas only leads to civilian casualties, including children. Wage war and you get war, and civilians on all sides suffer.

People that could care less about all of the mass slaughtering taking place in the world all of a sudden are stirred to selective anger when it comes to Israel. Their hatred, their incitement, their selective concern helps the killing continue and for peace to remain elusive. 

I oppose this government in Israel. Netanyahu should be long gone from the political scene. This is not a government that should be in power. 

I oppose the actions and governments of many countries. There are many things the U.S. has done that I oppose. There is a difference, however, in opposing the actions of a government, opposing the leaders of a government, opposing a government itself, and wanting the destruction not only of the government, but of the whole nation. Even though I oppose the actions of many governments, I do not support ever the destruction and ethnic cleansing of the people of any nation.

It is unfortunate that opposition to Israel takes the form far too often of seeking the destruction of the entire nation and the ethnic cleansing and genocide of its people. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Iran and many others make it clear that ethnic cleansing and genocide are their goals. 

The misuse of the word Zionist as a way to dismiss all of the human beings that live in a nation is a cynical manipulation of a word. Opposing the government of Israel and wanting the genocide of its people are too often intertwined. Many critics of Israel that despise the small country pretend that genocide is not on the table as they vent their selective self righteous anger, knowing full well that Israel is unique among nations of the world in that many of its enemies seek not a change of government, but the destruction of the entire nation.

I oppose this war and its escalation. Israelis and Palestinian Arabs must find a way to share the small piece of land without killing each other. Like it or not, they are stuck with each other. All the calls for war or genocide against the Jews are not out of love for Palestinians, even though they may pretend otherwise. It is out of hatred for Jews. The war they seek against Israel means not only the deaths of the Jews they despise, but also of countless Jewish and Arab children and countless other civilians on all sides.  

The pathological hatred for Jews, which manifests itself in many ways including the demonizing and delegitimizing of the millions of Jews that live in Israel, keeps the conflict inflamed. 

The sideline cheerleaders that excuse Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and company no matter what they do, and fault Israel for everything it does, are not helping anyone.

The calls for hate, war and violence by either side or by the supporters of either side takes Jew and Arab down a dark and ugly path. Death, maiming, and destruction are unfolding before our eyes. War and violence instead of peace, forgiveness, tolerance and reconciliation brings only misery and suffering. 

Israelis and Palestinian Arabs must find a way to share the small piece of land without killing each other. Like it or not, they are stuck with each other. .  

No matter which side a person supports, nothing justifies the deliberate attacking or harming of civilians. There are those that want this violence and death. Death and maiming will spin out of control if they prevail. Death, maiming and misery are already spinning out of control.

Police Behaving Badly And Social Media

 Police are public servants. They exist to serve and protect. They must be professional. They must abide by the law, which includes what is constitutional. They cannot make up their own rules.  

They must know when they have the lawful authority to question someone or ask for their identification. They must understand when arrests can or must be lawfully made. 

Public trust is eroded when police stop, harass or arrest someone unlawfully. An unlawful arrest not only erodes public trust, but is also criminal. At the same time, the failure to take proper police action, including for arrest, is also wrong.

This is not a problem that stems from the police alone. Far too many people abuse the 911 emergency system because they do not like the way someone looks. 

There needs to be accountability when people abuse the 911 system to have police run like lemmings to harass someone the caller wants harassed. People too often abuse the 911 system by falsely accusing someone of suspicious or criminal activity simply because they do not like the way the person looks.

Police must understand that calls to 911 are not always legitimate and that the people called upon do not suspend their constitutional rights. Police must know the extent and scope of their police authority. If police or deputies are unable to figure this out,  they should not be on the job. Calls to 911 regarding suspicious people, whatever that is supposed to mean, does not give police the right to suspend the so called suspicious person's constitutional rights.  

A lot of people on social media are having a field day catching cops behaving badly. There is a benefit to people understanding their rights and the scope and limits of police authority. In this day and age of cameras, cell phones and videos everywhere, knowledge is a powerful tool. As long as police operate within their lawful authority, they have nothing to fear. They must not make up their own rules. Cops must not be less knowledgeable than those that wish to provoke them. Ignorance is not bliss. Not for the public. Not for the police.

Working cops that patrol high crime areas often have better judgement, are less petty, and have better understandings of civil and other rights than cops and deputies that work low crime areas. High levels of violence helps cops that are good cops understand when to escalate situations, when to deescalate situations, when to know the difference, and how to have better police judgment in general. The exceptions include specialized units that pop in and out of high crime areas, never really understanding what is going on. Cops with bad tempers, violent cops, thin skinned cops, petty cops, cops with poor judgment, lazy cops that just take up space, cops that are clueless about laws, civil rights and the constitution, make easy targets for those looking to catch them on camera.

Knowledge empowers police and the public. 

The Racism About Who Can Be Racist

 Anyone from any race, ethnicity or religion can be an ignorant, narrow minded fool full of hate and ridiculous generalizations about those different from themselves. The double standards about accepting bigotry from some and condemning it from others only weakens the ability to stand against all hate and bigotry.

Retired While Still Employed: Police Reform

The purpose of police is serve and protect, not welfare. Unless a cop is disabled, everyone, with some other exceptions, from the lowest rank to the highest, belongs on the streets working. Policing should not be a lazy persons' profession. Unfortunately, countless millions of dollars are wasted on politically connected hacks, anointed favorites and others, with numerous off the streets cushy jobs and do nothing jobs. Policing is not unique among government jobs regarding laziness and do little to nothing positions. Taxpayers need to start paying attention to where their money goes. It should not be subsiding pampered officials, laziness, cronyism and other nonsense.

The amount of waste and inefficiency is staggering. Policing can be much better than what it is, which is not about to occur. The calls for police reform are clueless about what needs to be reformed and instead are about self serving, divisive agendas. 

Bad Cops Do Not Define Police. Police Reform Is Needed

 When cops commit criminal acts, including murder, they represent themselves, not policing as a whole. Policing is one of the only professions where the bad apples are used to define the entire profession. There are few other professions where the bad apples in the profession are often used to define everyone in the profession and the profession as a whole. 

R is a retired cop that is intelligent, courageous, conscientious, and was an overall excellent, hardworking cop. Bad cops do not define him. They never defined him. Anyone that judged him or judges him or anyone like him on the basis of the actions of another is incredibly narrow minded. 

When all police are defined by the actions of a few, it is not out of a quest for justice or for better policing. It is to fulfill an agenda that does not have the greater good in mind. Or it comes from narrow mindedness and ignorance.

As already discussed in previous videos ad nauseum, police reform is needed. Policing needs to be efficient, professional, and effective. Its core mission is to serve and protect by patrol. Patrol on foot, where cops walk assigned beats on foot and become integral parts of the neighborhoods they serve, is the only true community policing, and yet remains virtually nonexistent. Cops are needed on foot, especially in urban areas and in high crime areas. Serve and protect, performed by patrol, including by cops walking beats, is the core mission of policing.

The core mission is not to generate meaningless numbers or statistics. The core mission is not to create bureaucratic structures filled with do nothing positions, laziness, paper pushers, bureaucrats and more. Many off the street positions can be eliminated. For example, captains and lieutenants are already off the streets, and there is no need for both ranks. There are many areas, small and large, in which policing can be made efficient, cost effective and far better. Layers of police, police brass, exempt rank, other officials and more off the streets in cushy jobs must end.

Serve and protect through patrol is straightforward. It is too often subordinated to the agendas and whims of politicians, police brass that lick the boots of mayors and other politicians, and others.

Unfortunately, the discussion about police reform continues to not be had. Instead, police reform is used to score political points and serve political agendas.  

Animal Rescue Must Not Benefit Animal Cruelty

 When a cop that saw widespread dog fighting and animal cruelty did his best to get police to respond appropriately, for animal organizations to stop exploiting these crimes for their own gain, and for the people that commit these crimes to be brought to justice, all he received was animosity and scorn. 

To this day, dog fighters have greater chances of getting struck by lightning than ever getting arrested for dog fighting. Animal cruelty, an incredibly common, widespread crime, is rarely enforced.  Instead, there are ineffective animal organizations and token police teams conducting often ineffective, and at times harmful investigations. They act as the incredibly deficient substitute for what anyone in law enforcement should be doing when encountering animal cruelty and dog fighting. A widespread, appropriate police response to animal cruelty and dog fighting continues to be lacking.

Animal rescue, adopting a dog from an animal shelter, is on par to far too many with rescuing an animal from a true situation of abuse. Animal rescue has trivialized animal cruelty by equating the two. Trivializing animal cruelty, along with ignoring or exploiting real animal cruelty, benefits dog fighters and animal abusers by contributing to the continued lack of an appropriate, widespread police response to these crimes. 

Animal rescue must stop deterring people from addressing real animal cruelty. 

Systemic Stupidity In Universities On Systemic Racism In Policing

 There needs to be police reform. This is necessary in order to make policing more efficient, effective and professional. Serious discussions about reforming police are lost in the noise that police are rotten, policing is systemically racist, or that there should be no police. 

Police, especially in large urban areas, are more ethnically, racially and gender diverse than ever before. Police are present in almost every corner of the world. There are reasons for this that have nothing to do with a professors ranting that police were formed to capture runaway slaves. 

There are racist cops. They are not all white. But people with racist attitudes can be found in virtually every profession. Racists, and systemic racism, are not the same. Systemic racism is a term too often thrown out to shut down discussions and riddle the accused with guilt, while providing the accusers with self righteousness and immunity from responsibility.  

Why is a university professor dictating to a student what he should believe about the police? Why is a university professor so closed minded that she cannot see police as individuals with their own personalities that choose an occupation - policing - for a variety of reasons? Bad cops do not define policing. There are the good and bad in all professions.

Why have colleges and universities become places of indoctrination? Why are indoctrinators provided public funding? 

No country can prosper if there is not a certain level of social cohesion. If people are at each others throats, the ability to solve problems decreases while the propensity towards violence increases. Respectful conversations, consideration and thoughtfulness are lost in colleges and universities filled with pampered ideologues. The systemic stupidity and indoctrination in universities and colleges needs to stop being funded with taxpayers' money. Too many professors and teachers are privileged elitists freed from real work. They should no longer be afforded this luxury as they poison young minds, and hold back generations from learning what it means to think critically, independently and for themselves.