RIP Gene Zuriff. Ethnic Studies. Be Positive Re Israel Election. Dems Want To Jail Parents. God Forbid Prediction Bikinis Outstrip .

Another very dear friend, Gene Zuriff, passed away Friday after a long illness. Gene was unique. He seemed to know everyone in New York, as president of Smith & Wollensky, loved to play golf, made many friends at The Landings and enjoyed entertaining at home. 

RIP Gene, You are missed already.

IT IS NICE TO SEE THE SCHOOL DAGNY AND BLAKE ATTEND PAYS HOMAGE TO VETERANS AND THEY ARE SUPPORTED BY THEIR PARENTS. THAT IDIOT FROM CALIFORNIA, SWALWELL,WOULD CONSIDER ABBY AND BRIAN AS TERRORISTS.
            

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I CAN EASILY SUPPORT AN EFFORT FOR AMERICAN KIDS TO LEARN ABOUT THE BACKGROUND CULTURE OF OTHER AMERICANS.  WE ARE A MELTING POT nation because of the saying on the stature of liberty and our overly  IMPEACHABLE NUT case PRESIDENT. ENCOURAGEing OPEN BORDERS IS INCREASING THE NUMBER OF IMMIGRANT'S WITH ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS.

THE MORE YOU KNOW THE MORE LIKELY YOU ARE TO LEARN AND ACCEPT.

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FAIR News: An Inclusive Approach to Ethnic Studies

Last year, California became the first state in the nation to require all high school students to complete an ethnic studies course as a graduation requirement. Subsequently, Washington, Vermont, and many local school districts have passed similar measures.

In response to California’s AB 101 mandate, some activists have been encouraging schools to adopt a “liberated” ethnic studies curriculum. Earlier this week, in an article published in RealClearEducation, our team explained the issues with this liberated or “critical” approach to ethnic studies:

Critical [liberated] ethnic studies offers the view that American history and liberal democracy constitute an ongoing colonial project, in which white ethnic groups subjugate non-white ethnic groups. It presumes that all American institutions—the legal system, the economic system, and the education system, among others—are inherently unjust because they are based on oppressive forces such as white supremacy, colonialism, patriarchy, neoliberalism, and capitalism. The pedagogical mandate is to convert students to this worldview and enlist them in the political project to “dismantle” oppressive systems.

According to Rethinking Ethnic Studies—a seminal resource for developing critical ethnic studies courses—a proper ethnic studies course “reframes the United States from ‘a nation of immigrants’ to ‘a nation of settler colonialists.’” It lists “decolonization” as a central goal of all ethnic studies courses and refers to “the repatriation of sovereign Indigenous land.” It instructs teachers to become “enemies of the state,” to “use education to subvert state agendas,” and to “critique the ideas of “abstract liberalism” such as “equality for all.”

In short, “liberated” in the context of critical ethnic studies refers to the “liberation” of people from the system of American liberal democracy. Most Americans want their children to learn the whole story of America, to think critically about our history, and to apply historical lessons to the problems we face today. They do not believe our nation is irredeemably oppressive and do not want their children to be used as political tools to “disrupt and dismantle” American institutions.

Rather than instilling an informed sense of curiosity, optimism, and compassion, the “liberated” ethnic studies curriculum flattens and stereotypes people based on crude identity group labels. This shift toward a reductionist way of teaching, and thinking, about skin color and ethnicity in so many of our schools is why I was inspired to start FAIR. An inclusive approach means that every child should be valued and uplifted, and never stripped of their agency and individuality.

Our ethos at FAIR is to be constructive—and to that end, we have been working since last year to develop educational resources and an inclusive ethnic studies curriculum based on our pro-human learning standards. FAIR’s ethnic studies curriculum is designed to meet California’s ethnic studies mandate requirements, and will be offered free of charge to schools and educators.

The curriculum relies on original sources, and presents diverse perspectives to help students develop their own understanding of complex issues. Students will learn about the similarities that unite us all, and the differences that make each of us unique. By providing an honest take on American history, students will gain an appreciation of the contributions of the various ethnicities and cultures that have contributed to the beautiful mosaic that is America.

Yours,

Bion

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Don’t apologize for Ben-Gvir or anything else about Israel

The claim that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government will make life hard for Diaspora Jews ignores what motivates Zionism’s foes and other anti-Semites.

By JONATHAN S. TOBIN

(November 11, 2022 / JNS) As Benjamin Netanyahu begins forming the next Israeli government following his victory in the latest Knesset election, some on the left have begun a last-ditch effort to prevent him from forming a coalition with the parties that ran as his allies. Their argument is that anything must be done to keep the Religious Zionist Party and especially Itamar Ben-Gvir out of power.

Barring an unlikely last-minute change of heart on the part of either Yair Lapid or Benny Gantz—whose parties fell short in the election and who have pledged to go into opposition rather than serve with Netanyahu—the jeremiads about the necessity of stopping Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, the titular leader of the Religious Zionists, out of the Cabinet are falling on deaf ears among those who could actually do something about it.

Yet while Israeli politicians are ignoring these arguments, that won’t be the last we’ll hear of them. That’s because they will provide the foundation for renewed efforts to delegitimize Israel’s government abroad.

While the supposedly substantive reasons for excluding the Religious Zionists don’t withstand serious scrutiny, this discussion matters because of the claim that Israel’s leaders will be undermining and even endangering Jews in the Diaspora.

As the leader of the Conservative movement of Judaism in Israel put it in Haaretz, having Smotrich and Ben-Gvir around the cabinet table won’t just impact life in Israel. It will also hurt Jews elsewhere. Citing a much-discussed New York Times column by Thomas Friedman, Yizhar Hess claimed that a right-wing government will mean that Jewish students, already under siege by anti-Zionists, will no longer be able to credibly speak up on behalf of the Jewish state.

That’s because the presence of these so-called “fascists” in Netanyahu’s cabinet will, in this telling, mean that the “good Israel,” that nice Jews feel comfortable about defending, is now either gone or about to be legislated out of existence. In its place will be a different country, run by extremists and horrible people who oppose peace and want to oppress minorities. Even if the people in this new bad Israel will be Jews, they will be the sort of Jews no self-respecting American Jew will want to be associated with.

In this scenario, the new government will mean that Jewish kids as well as the activists who have formed the backbone of organized Jewish life will be effectively silenced. And those who continue to advocate for Israel will be increasingly regarded as outliers who will themselves deserve to be shunned.

Those who will try to preserve the U.S.-Israel relationship as well as the one between American Jews and the Jewish state will now be forced to become part of a new “resistance” to Netanyahu’s government, in which they will advocate for American pressure that will help resurrect the “good” Israel.

The main problem with this gloomy scenario is that everything that the doomsayers are claiming that the new government will mean for Israel in America is already true about the Jewish state’s critics.

Everything that can be alleged about Smotrich and Ben-Gvir has already been aired out endlessly by left-wing critics of Israel in their efforts to undermine and delegitimize past Israeli governments including those run by the Israeli left.

For decades, left-wingers have been falsely claiming that Israel’s governments didn’t want peace and that the decisions of Israel’s voters should be either ignored or overridden by American governments that took up the cause of “saving Israel from itself.”

Let’s remember that J Street, the left-wing lobby which has dedicated itself to that dubious cause, came into existence in 2007. Netanyahu’s Likud was in the opposition and a government led by Ehud Olmert was engaged in yet another futile attempt to trade land for peace with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.

When Netanyahu became prime minister again in 2009 and in the 12 years that followed, when there was no thought of Ben-Gvir being a minister, the same arguments about Israeli policies being oppressive and alienating American Jews were heard over and over again.

During this time, as the anti-Semitic BDS movement gain footholds on American college campuses and on the left-wing of the Democratic Party, there was no talk about Ben-Gvir or the evils of Israel being governed by right-wing and religious parties.

To the contrary, the so-called centrists of Israeli politics—Lapid and Gantz—were just as reviled by those who spread the “apartheid state” smear as Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are today. The same claims about a mythical old “good” Israel being destroyed were made by those who opposed Netanyahu.

Those who think one Jewish state on the planet is one too many didn’t need Religious Zionists in Israel’s cabinet to be convinced that Israel shouldn’t exist. American Jews who are embarrassed by Ben-Gvir and Smotrich were already embarrassed by Netanyahu and even some of his left-leaning opponents in the Knesset. Their failure to magically make the conflict with the Palestinians disappear has been cited by those who note a decline in support for Israel in the years since the collapse of the Oslo peace process, and even before that while the delusion that it might succeed was still alive.

This goes beyond the fact that the claims that Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are fascists is without real substance. As I’ve noted previously, the talk about the winners of last week’s election being enemies of democracy is just an echo of the Democratic Party talking points about Republicans in the U.S. and just as specious. Whatever one may think of either man, their party doesn’t oppose democracy.

None of that matters because this discussion isn’t rooted in the facts about Israel or those who will make up its next government. Rather, it is an expression of unease with the reality of a Jewish state that must deal with a messy and insoluble conflict with the Palestinians as well as one where the majority of its Jews don’t think or look like your typical liberal Jewish Democrat.

Israel-haters will work for its destruction no matter who is its prime minister or the composition of the government. As has always been the case, the anti-Semites don’t need any new excuses for their efforts to besmirch and delegitimize the Jewish state.

One needn’t support Netanyahu or his partners to understand any of this.

Rather than apologizing for Ben-Gvir or the other aspects of Israeli reality that make readers of The New York Times cringe, those who care about the Jewish state and its people need to stop longing for an Israel which looks like them and embrace the one that actually exists. By buying into the disingenuous claims that this government will be less worthy of their support than its predecessors, they are merely falling into a trap set for them by anti-Semites.

Those who support the right of a Jewish state to exist should stop apologizing for it not conforming to some idealized liberal vision of Zionism, and understand that the people who voted for Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir are just as deserving of respect and representation as they are.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him on Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS.org, a senior contributor for The Federalist and a columnist for the New York Post and  Newsweek. He is also the host of the Top Story podcast that can be viewed on YouTube and listened to on Spotify and other platforms. He can be reached via e-mail at: jtobin@jns.org. Follow him on Twitter at @jonathans_tobin and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JonathanSTobincolumnist/. 

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And so it goes with the nut cases:

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Democrats ‘Talking About Jailing Parents for Protecting Their Children’ — Yesli Vega BLASTS Them

Virginia Republican congression +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Israel's Tightrope between Russia and Ukraine by Robert O. Freedman Middle East Quarterly tUkrainian ambassador to the U.N. Sergiy Kyslytsya (left) embraces Israeli U.N. ambassador Gilad Erdan, March 3, 2022, following Israel's vote to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Israel surprised many observers by taking a relatively neutral position in the war and even sought, without much success, to mediate an end to the conflict. However, as the war progressed, Israel tilted to the Ukrainian side, providing it with humanitarian and medical aid as well as voting at the United Nations to condemn the Russian invasion. To understand the Israeli position requires a look back at the evolution of Israeli-Russian relations over the past decade and the factors that compelled Jerusalem to take a relatively neutral stance at first. Continue reading the full article> Robert O. Freedman is visiting professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University where he teaches courses on the Arab-Israeli conflict and on Russian foreign policy. His most recent book is Israel under Netanyahu (Routledge, 2020). +++++++++++++++++++++++ A somewhat eccentric, but very successful investor, has made a 4th prediction regarding an event that wil have a radical/crippling impact on America and which will make COVID look like a kid's game. He believes America's electricity grid  is about to be put out of order.  This is something I too have believed is a possibility and has been predicted by our former CIA Director, R. James Woolsey Jr. . he was one of the best we have ever had. God forbid this happens, but it can because we are unprepared and Woolsey has been warning us for well over 10 years and my ears picked up about 9 years ago. a more peasant topic has to do with the age disparity developing at The Landings as young families are overtaking us old farts.  Consequently, bikinis and nicely shaped mothers and daughters are also taking over handicap license plates.  Everything about me is failing but my eyesight remains 20/20 with glasses. ++++++++++++++++++++++