Does Israel need Glenn?

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Oh, shoot. "Don't ask, don't tell" was repealed.

Curse you President Obama!

?!?!?

What the heck are you talking about, and why do I get the feeling I need to call the cops to have you arrested for stalking me...

?!?!?

What the heck are you talking about, and why do I get the feeling I need to call the cops to have you arrested for stalking me...

Fundamentally Freund: God bless Glenn Beck
By MICHAEL FREUND
05/18/2011 23:41

The ‘Fox News’ personality’s "Restoring Courage" event is as refreshing as it is inspiring, coming as it does when the Jewish state is under siege in the international arena.

In a week filled with drama for Israel and its supporters, there was one event which stands out.

In a Manhattan studio, a popular radio and television host made an announcement on Monday that could be a watershed in the battle for truth.

Speaking to millions of viewers and listeners, Glenn Beck declared that he was organizing “Restoring Courage” – to be held in Jerusalem this August.

The aim is simple: to persuade as many people as possible from all faiths that the time has come to show support for Israel and the Jews.

“I believe I’ve been asked to stand – in Jerusalem,” Beck said, noting that “many in the history of man have had the opportunity to stand with the Jewish people. Time and time again they have had the opportunity, and they have failed. I choose to stand and be counted.”

And just what does standing with Israel have to do with courage? Coming as it does when the Jewish state is under siege in the international arena, and is often unfairly portrayed in the mainstream press, Beck’s message is as refreshing as it is inspiring.

He refuses to be cowed by the elites, many of whom have embraced the Palestinian and Arab narrative regarding the Middle East.

Beck sees through their muddled notions of truth and justice, pointing out their bewildering refusal to recognize the threat to Western civilization posed by Islamic extremism.

And that is what makes the “Restoring Courage” event so important. Though many details have yet to be disclosed, it will clearly be far more than just another rally. It promises to be an expression of faith, a call to defy the prevailing notion that Good and Evil are purely subjective terms.

Nowadays, it takes courage – and lots of it – to stand and declare that Israel and the West are right, just and moral, and that our foes are simply wrong.

It takes nerve and daring to challenge ourselves, to heed the voice of God and recognize the righteousness of our cause.

For far too long, Israelis have been battered by criticism and disapproval – so much so that we have begun to internalize it, with many coming to see themselves as the aggressor and occupier.

Slogans such as “a two-state solution” have become standard fare, and anyone opposed to the idea is quickly labeled a reactionary extremist.

Beck’s event offers us all an opportunity to come to our senses.

As he put it, “things in Israel are going to get bad... it’s only a matter of time. They are going to attack the center of our faith – our common faith – and that is Jerusalem. And it won’t be with bullets or bombs.”

The timing of this message could not be more crucial.

THE PALESTINIAN threat to seek UN recognition in September hovers ominously, as does the possibility of a third intifada. Hamas has joined the Palestinian government, and Iran continues working to build nuclear weapons.

Yet despite the turmoil sweeping the Arab world, Israel is under increasing pressure to make additional concessions.

If it succeeds, “Restoring Courage” will be a boon to the beleaguered Jewish state, and provide a much-needed shot in the arm.

In calling on people to join him, Beck is openly invoking crucial values such as faith, reminding us that every person will ultimately be called to account for their actions – and inactions – by the Creator. He has forthrightly reminded humanity that we can’t stand and do nothing in the face of evil. Israel, he made clear, matters.

Now, I know what some of you are probably thinking: Glenn Beck? Isn’t he an eccentric purveyor of conspiracy theories, outlandish assertions and brash conservatism? What can Israel and the Jewish people possibly gain from his backing? The answer is: quite a lot.

You don’t have to agree with Beck on everything, or even much at all, to see the inherent and overwhelming value in his latest initiative.

For a country that doesn’t have all that many friends out there in the world, Israel should be grateful for those willing to stand behind us, even if they are not necessarily your cup of tea It will be particularly interesting to see how American Jewish organizations react. In the past, various liberal Jewish groups have denounced Beck, with whom they have little in common politically.

How easy it would have been for the television host to say to himself: “After the way some Jews have treated me, why should I speak out for them?” But in rising above the pettiness of his critics, the Fox News personality has taught us all a lesson in not losing sight of what really matters.

As a man of faith, I was especially moved when Beck read on air from the Book of Ruth.

He choked up when he quoted Ruth the Moabite’s appeal to her mother-in-law Naomi: “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.”

This, he said, had helped inspire him to stand with the Jews.

This brings to mind a verse in Genesis (12:3), where God made a promise to Abraham and all of mankind: “I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you shall be cursed.”

Notice how there is no middle ground. Each person is presented with a clear and unequivocal choice: You either bless Abraham’s descendants, the Jews, or you curse them.

Glenn Beck has courageously chosen to bless them, and to bring Jews, Christians and others together to take a stand.

Here’s hoping that many heed his call.

Actually, the Arabs are also Abraham's descendants....Remember Hagar and Ishmael? So, if you're going to be hitting us with Genesis 12:3, then we should also be blessing the Saudis.

Godspeed to Jerusalem, Glenn Beck
By LARRY DERFNER
06/15/2011 23:58

The American Right and Israeli Right have become the closest, most natural of allies.

The Glenn Beck rally in Jerusalem for Israel, or at least for everything that’s lousy about Israel, is taking shape. According to Wednesday’s Yediot Aharonot, the rally has a name – “Restoring Courage.” Also a date – August 24. Also a place, or places – the Old City and Teddy Stadium. Also, tentatively, some guests of honor – Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann and Mike Huckabee.

It’ll be sort of a GOP/Tea Party convention, only in Jerusalem, with thousands of godly Americans expected to fly in to join tens of thousands of godly Israelis, with free admission, snacks and drinks, fireworks and pop stars. So far there’s been no word about Koran-burnings, but the program’s final touches are still a way off.

Likud MK Danny Danon, who chaperoned Palin on her recent visit here, and who recently remarked that “President Barack Hussein Obama adopted the phased plan of Arafat,” is handling the Israeli side of things. Beck and his friends will be welcomed by their Knesset admirers, who will be returning the favor for the way the GOP-led Congress welcomed Bibi.


There will be lots of tears and solemn oaths to God, Judea and Samaria, Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and Judeo-Christendom. Since it’s going to be televised across America, where there’s an election next year, my guess is that they’ll soft-pedal the crazy stuff – the birther business, the conspiracy theories, the comparisons with Hitler and Stalin, the really overt, ghastly expressions of Muslim-hatred.

But the Glenn Beck rally, I believe, will be a historic event for this country and how it is seen in the US – especially by American Jews. This “pyrotechnic” spectacle will light up the sky with a truth that’s been obvious for a long time, but that is still taboo to say out loud: Israel and America’s right-wing meshuggenehs are of one mind.

The stupider and more rotten an American’s politics, the more loudly he’s likely to cheer for Israel. The reason for this is partly out of love for Mordechai, but more so out of hatred for Haman: Right-wing Americans hate the Muslims, the Muslims are their new Commies, and who’s right there at the front in the war with the Islamic world? Israel.

So wackos like Beck and Palin and Bachmann love us – but only as long as we go on fighting their enemies. If we ever make peace with them, our dear, devoted Republican friends will not be amused. Neither will the likes of Danny Danon, of course, so the American Right and Israeli Right have become the closest, most natural of allies.

Incidentally, who, more than anybody else, forged this covenant? Netanyahu, starting about 30 years ago, and along the way gaining the admiration of every major crackpot, Islamophobic evangelical preacher, from the late Jerry Falwell to Pat Robertson to John Hagee and on.

And what the Glenn Beck rally will do is proclaim this covenant in blazing fashion. It will sear into the consciousness of Israelis and Americans, but above all American Jews, what this country now stands for. By showing them who Israel’s friends are, it will show them what Israel is.

Who are Israel’s friends? Right-wing meshuggenehs. What is Israel? A right-wing meshugge country.

Sheldon Adelson, Morton Klein, Eric Cantor, the Emergency Committee for Israel, the Brooklyner Jews and the rest of the hardasses over there will be buoyant. But what about all those middle-ofthe- roaders, all those Democrats – the great majority of American Jews who feel a basic connection to this country, but at the same time are repelled by the likes of Beck, Palin and the Christian Right?

How comfortable are they going to be with that connection when they see, so dramatically, who else this country is connected to – and not tangentially, but at the hip?

Israel is a tragic story. It used to inspire idealists, now it appalls them. The moderates, the silent majority, are left sort of perplexed – they’re not going to speak against Israel, but they’re not really moved to speak for it, either, when it seems to have become so aggressive, so forbidding.

I think the Glenn Beck rally will have a clarifying effect on American Jewish moderates. They’re going to say: I wish Israel luck, but this is not for me.

Beck is going to make post-Oslo, 21st century Israel a headache and an embarrassment for lots more American Jews – not just liberals, but moderates, too.

He’s going to polarize attitudes toward this country even more than they already are. He’s going to “energize the base” but alienate the mainstream. He will win no new converts for Israel‘s cause, but he will turn a lot of “undecideds” against it.

And I can’t wait. Post-Oslo, 21st century Israel is too far gone, too fearful and hateful, for gradual change. It needs radical change, and that means it has to get worse and worse until it hits the wall, until it alienates too many people in its world – and only then will it be shocked and scared into sanity.

So come on, Glenn. Do not tarry. Light up the sky over Jerusalem, televise this extravaganza, proclaim the covenant between Israel and whack-job America for all to see. We need an apocalypse around here – not a literal one like you and your friends are praying for, but a political one. And I couldn’t think of a better meshuggeneh for the job.

Anyway, here is the Jerusalem Post's take on the issue

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists ... ?id=221209



Some Israelis are playing the Bible Card pretty heavily.

This brings to mind a verse in Genesis (12:3), where God made a promise to Abraham and all of mankind: “I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you shall be cursed.”

Notice how there is no middle ground. Each person is presented with a clear and unequivocal choice: You either bless Abraham’s descendants, the Jews, or you curse them.

Glenn Beck has courageously chosen to bless them,

“‘When I hear Bush say, ‘You’re either with us or against us,” it reminds me of the Germans.’ It conjures up memories, he said, of Nazi slogans on the walls, Der Feind Hort mit (‘the enemy is listening’). ‘My experiences under Nazi and Soviet rule have sensitized me”

Actually, the Arabs are also Abraham's descendants....Remember Hagar and Ishmael? So, if you're going to be hitting us with Genesis 12:3, then we should also be blessing the Saudis.

So now you're comparing Glenn Beck to Hitler... Wow that's just sad.

Ishmael was Abraham's bastard son.

ruveyn

Well the article you're kinda mocking above seems to be the sane article.