Israel Remembers the Holocaust while al-Assad Gasses His People and Pope Francis Supports Hamas Terrorists

THE REAL NEWS TODAY COMES FROM ISRAEL. Wednesday evening, the central state ceremony marking the start of Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day in Israel will be held at Yad Vashem. The ceremony is held in the presence of the President of the State of Israel and the Prime Minister, dignitaries from arouind the world, survivors, children of survivors and their families, together with the general public. This year Yad Vashem will provide a live feed of the ceremony with simultaneous translation to English during the entire ceremony (except during the Torchlighter films where English subtitles are used). The ceremony generally runs between 60 to 90 minutes (depending on the length of the speeches). You can join the ceremony on Wednesday night, April 11, 2018 at 8 PM, Jerusalem, Israel time (7 PM CEST, 1 PM, EST) by accessing it at < https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/remembrance/2018/broadcast.asp >. • • • HAS POPE FRANCIS LOST HIS GRIP ON REALITY -- HE LONG SINCE HAS LOST IT ON CHRISTIANITY. It seems appropriate that the Pope considered anti-Christian, or at least anti-Catholic, took the side of the Palestinians in the "March of Return" deliberately called by Hamas terrorists to breach Israel's borders and flood it with rampaging supporters. • Daily Caller on April 2 published its article on the Pope's most recent attack on Israel. Daily Caller titled its article "Pope Mourns Deaths of ‘Defenseless’ Hamas Terrorists." What occurred at the Israel borders was that about 17,000 Palestinians in five locations along the fence, burned tires, and threw Molotov cocktails and stones at the fence and at IDF troops and sent a 7-year-old girl to breach the border fence at one point -- presumably hoping an IDF soldier would shoot her, giving Hamas terrorists a video to take "viral." But, the Israeli military returned her safely to her family on the other side of the border. • Hoxever, true to his anti-Israel self, Pope Francis on Easter Sunday had this to say -- Israelis soldiers killed “the defenseless” during a violent protest in which Palestinian demonstrators and terrorists violated Israel’s border. Francis called for “reconciliation for the Holy Land, also experiencing in these days the wounds of ongoing conflict that do not spare the defenseless,” according to Reuters. “May there be no lack of solidarity with all those forced to leave their native lands and lacking the bare essentials for living,” Francis added after lamenting the conflict in Syria, Ukraine and several other countries, according to the Times of Israel. • In fact, Israeli soldiers killed 15 Palestinians who authorities said were attempting to breach or harm the Israeli-Palestine border fence in Gaza during the March 30 protest. At least 10 of those killed were identified as members of Hamas and other terrorist organizations, and two of them were Hamas commandos, the Israeli Defense Force reported March 31, according to the Times of Israel. Hamas, a known Palestinian terrorist organization that was one of the organizers of the protests, acknowledged five of those killed as their own gunmen. Hamas used women and children, including the 7-year-old girl, to bait Israeli forces, sending them across the border in an attempt to make martyrs of them, IDF noted in a statement issued after the Good Friday protest. IDF stated that : "The Hamas terror organization endangers the residents of the Gaza Strip and uses them as cover for terrorist acts. Hamas is responsible for all the events and their consequences.” The Jerusalem Post reported that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israel for the violence and rejected the prospect of negotiations with Israel : “The marches today prove that the Palestinian people will not aid any plan that wishes to close the lid on the Palestinian issue. Jerusalem will remain Arab.” Mohammed Abu Tair of Palestine’s Legislative Council lauded the protests as a rejection of President Trump’s “deal of the century” and the decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem in recognition of the city as Israel’s capital. • • • POPE FRANCIS AND HAMAS AND ABBAS ARE WRONG. On Tuesday, Israel Today reported : "It was a setup. Hamas knew that by sending tens of thousands of Palestinians to violently attempt to breach the Gaza security fence it would score mainstream media points against Israel, which had no choice but to defend its border with deadly force. But, while much of the Western press was apparently too thick read between the lines (or, too eager to bash Israel), many in the Arab world laid the blame precisely where it belonged, at Hamas' feet. Hamas' cynical exploitation of Palestinian civilians plays well in the Western media, but has long been reviled in the Arab world, even among those who hold little sympathy for Israel. The Israel Foreign Ministry reported that its Arabic-language social media accounts had received a surprisingly high number of messages of support following clashes between Israeli forces and the Hamas-led mobs in Gaza on Friday. From Saudi Arabia to Iraq to Jordan, many Arabs said they backed Israel in this present conflagration, while slamming Hamas for putting civilians in harm's way." -- One commenter posted: "My heart is with my Jewish cousins. There is no escaping the fact that Hamas' Palestinian terrorism will inevitably end." Another from Iraq urged his "Palestinian brothers to not be dragged by Hamas' terror plots, which will only harm the Palestinians." An Arab social media user from Jordan criticized Hamas for burning thousands of tires and creating devastating air pollution for the children of Gaza. A commenter from Saudi Arabia echoed Israel's own explanations for why peace with the Palestinians has yet to be achieved : "The war on terrorism begins with the removal of it from a conceptual point of view. There is no doubt that the Hamas terror organization is blocking any option for peace and is working to spread hatred and violence. Israel has internationally recognized sovereignty." • Israel's Ynet news portal reported that the number of messages of support from Arabs across the region was equal to the number of messages hostile toward Israel, stating : "It was further evidence that the tides are turning, and much of the Arab world has grown weary of a Palestinian nationalist movement that has traditionally aligned itself with the region's most hated players, such as Saddam Hussein, the Moslem Brotherhood and Iran." • • • AFTER KNOCKING ISRAEL, POPE FRANCIS TOOK ON MIGRATION AND ABORTION. The Pope's comments were made in an official apostolic exhortation titled “Gaudete et Exsultate” (“Rejoice and Be Glad”) in which Pope Francis argued that, in order to live a life of “holiness,” Christians around the world should welcome “migrants” of all types into their countries as their “brothers and sisters” and provide them with welfare. The Pope's series of non-Catholic, non-Christian comments were particularly appalling in that they rated helping “migrants” as more important than stopping abortions. Pope Francis wrote that Christians who place stopping abortions above helping migrants have lost focus on what is important in life. • We can be grateful to God that the Globalist Pope did not directly address what he thinks of Christians who believe in national sovereignty, but he did address borders, once again condemning Christians who worry about “grave bioethical questions” like abortion but do not devote equal time to supporting open borders : "We often hear it said that, with respect to relativism and the flaws of our present world, the situation of migrants, for example, is a lesser issue. Some Catholics consider it a secondary issue compared to the 'grave' bioethical questions. That a politician looking for votes might say such a thing is understandable, but not a Christian, for whom the only proper attitude is to stand in the shoes of those brothers and sisters of ours who risk their lives to offer a future to their children. Can we not realize that this is exactly what Jesus demands of us, when he tells us that in welcoming the stranger we welcome him (cf. Mt 25:35)?" • For those of you who, at this point in the Francis papacy, still even care about the flawed underpinnings he uses for his Progressive Globalist arguments, one Catholic analyst has raised this issue -- the central premise of Francis’s argument comes from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25, in which Jesus told his followers that they would be judged by God based on whether or not they had helped the needy. Francis wrtoe : "In Matthew 25, Jesus expands on the Beatitude that calls the merciful blessed. If we seek the holiness pleasing to God’s eyes, this text offers us one clear criterion on which we will be judged. 'I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' " Indeed, the analyst went on, performing good works and providing charity for the downtrodden are both essential callings for all Christians, but what does this necessarily have to do with “migrants”? Before making his case for an inextricable link between supporting open borders and charity, however, Francis took the opportunity to attack pro-life Christians who dedicate their focus to issues like abortion and even insinuated that they do not do enough to help the poor : "The other harmful ideological error is found in those who find suspect the social engagement of others, seeing it as superficial, worldly, secular, materialist, communist or populist. Or they relativize it, as if there are other more important matters, or the only thing that counts is one particular ethical issue or cause that they themselves defend. Our defence of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection. We cannot uphold an ideal of holiness that would ignore injustice in a world where some revel, spend with abandon and live only for the latest consumer goods, even as others look on from afar, living their entire lives in abject poverty." After bringing up this socialist argument about the horror of wealth inequality, Francis argued that migrants -- being materially worse off than Christians in Europe and the US -- fall within the scope of the disadvantaged poor, and thus deserve Western largesse. BUT, says the analyst : "A similar approach is found in the Old Testament : 'You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you yourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Ex 22:21). “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt' (Lev 19:33-34)....Francis’s arguments seem to rely on a pretty shaky foundation here -- namely, the notion that the Bible does not support the existence of nations or borders. According to Dr. James Hoffmeier, a professor of Old Testament History and Archaeology at Trinity International University, this assumption is incorrect. In a piece written for the Center for Immigration Studies back in 2011, Dr. Hoffmeier argued that the Bible’s references to welcoming strangers do not apply to every foreigner wishing to enter a country : 'From the foregoing texts we can conclude that in the ancient biblical world, countries had borders that were protected and respected, and that foreigners who wanted to reside in another country had to obtain some sort of permission in order to be considered an alien with certain rights and privileges. The delineation between the 'alien' or 'stranger' (ger) and the foreigner (nekhar or zar) in biblical law is stark indeed. The ger in Israelite society, for instance, could receive social benefits such as the right to glean in the fields (Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 24:19-22) and they could receive resources from the tithes (Deuteronomy 26:12-13). In legal matters, 'there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you' (Numbers 15:15-16). In the area of employment, the ger and citizen were to be paid alike (Deuteronomy 24:14-15). In all these cases, no such provision is extended to the nekhar or zar. In a sense, the ger were not just aliens to whom social and legal protections were offered, but were also considered converts, and thus could participate in the religious life of the community, e.g. celebrate Passover (Exodus 12:13) and observe Yom Kippur, the day of atonement (Leviticus 16:29-30). They were, moreover, expected to keep dietary and holiness laws (Leviticus 17:8-9 & 10-12). It is well known that within Israelite society, money was not to be lent with interest, but one could loan at interest to a foreigner (nekhar). These passages from the Law make plain that aliens or strangers received all the benefits and protection of a citizen, whereas the foreigner (nekhar) did not. It is wrong, therefore, to confuse these two categories of foreigners and then to use passages regarding the ger as if they were relevant to illegal immigrants of today.' " • I use space for Pope Francis because he has become an embarrassment to the Church and to Chirstianity. His liberation-theology-based exhortations to a Church and a world that largely reject them is also a danger to the world he says he wants to help. Consider the China detente -- it speaks to Pope Francis's willingness to deal with the Devil -- in the China case, the Devil being the Communist Party that is having seeming success in encouraging this Pope to abandon his right to name Bishops, turning that right over to godless Chinese Communists. Hell may not exist, according to Pope Francis, but the pontiff is creating one for his own flock in China, according to one of the most revered Roman Catholic cardinals in the Eastern world. Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong, blasted Pope Francis’ deal to accommodate and appease China in its desire to control the church by having its functionaries choose its leadership. In an interview with the US-based Catholic TV network EWTN, Zen told host Raymond Arroyo : “They are going to annihilate the underground church....They are bringing them (the underground church) into the cage. That’s terrible.” Zen, who spent seven years teaching in China’s official, state-approved church, said that from that direct experience : “I know that the church is completely enslaved to the government.” • Pope Francis’s continued advocacy of left-wing political positions and his dismissal of pro-life advocates as being overly focused on abortion are unlikely to heal the growing rift between American and many other Catholics and a Church that appears increasingly deaf to their political and religious concerns. And, with non-Francis Catholics, we can undoubtedly add Israeli Jews, who have been beaten up by Pope Francis at every opportunity, while he calls Abbas his "Angel of Peace." It is enough to make one physically ill. • Israel Hayom on Tuesday published an opinion piece by Galit Distel Etebaryan, an Israeli author. Etebaryan wrote : "Swedish anthropology professor Aje Carlbum, of Malmo University, wrote about the Left's peculiar Pavlovian response, saying the modern Left is a self-destructive organism because it will always identify the weak as the just and the strong as the sinner. Here the criteria are well-defined: The infiltrators are weak and Israel is strong; black is weak and white is strong; Arabs are weak and Westerners are strong, and so on....even if the weak break the law or endanger lives, they are always right. The implications of this uncompromising attitude alienate Israelis as well. Arabs will forever appear weaker, and therefore will always be seen as righteous. As a result of this attitude, even if a known Hamas operative charges the Israeli border with a Molotov cocktail intending to take lives, he should be seen as an innocent victim and his death should be mourned as the culmination of colonialist crimes by strong white men against weak Moslems. This worldview has become so deeply rooted in the Left, both around the world and in Israel, that today almost no act of self-defense by Israel is perceived to be legitimate in its eyes. The wailing and rage against Israel following attempts by terrorists to penetrate state borders emphasized the harsh and shocking fact that as far as the Left is concerned, the room for Israel to respond has decreased to nothing." • • • REMEMBERING THE HOLOCAUST WHILE AL-ASSAD GASSES HIS OWN PEOPLE AND ISRAEL RESPONDS TO THE ATROCITY. There could be no greater indication of the difference between Israel and the Iran-Syria-Russia complex striving to nail down its victory in Syria. • Fox News noted on Monday that President Trump called the Syria chemical attack "atrocious," and said the US would make "major decisions" in the coming hours or days. Fox's national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported that the Pentagon has drawn up options for the President. • President Trump, on Monday during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, said : "We are meeting with our military and everybody else and we'll be making some major decisions over the next 24 to 48 hours.” • Meanwhile, a US official on Monday confirmed to Fox News that Israel conducted an airstrike on a Bashar al-Assad air base in Syria on Sunday night. The airstrikes reportedly killed 14 people, including Iranians, at a military airport near the city of Homs. The US Department of Defense denied that it was the natiopn that carried out airstrikes in Syria, but Fox News' Doug Luzader reported that Israel gave the United States advance notice, accroding to a US official. • Fox News reported that : "Saturday's suspected poison gas attack took place in a rebel-held town near Damascus amid a resumed offensive by Syrian government forces after the collapse of a truce. Syrian activists, rescuers and medics said the attack in Douma killed at least 40 people, with families found suffocated in their houses and shelters. Horrific video shows children being treated after a chemical weapons attack." On Monday, the President said he isn’t ruling out military action : "Nothing is off the table. We're talking about humanity. And it can't be allowed to happen. We'll be looking at that barbaric act and studying what's going on.” President Trump planned two meetings with senior national security aides on Syria, in addition to a previously scheduled late-afternoon White House conference with leaders of US military commands around the world. Monday was the first day on the job for Trump's new national security advisor, John Bolton, who is a true supporter of Israel and who has previously advocated military action against Syria. • US officials told reporters that Washington was considering a multinational military response. For the second time in less than 24 hours, Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by telephone to coordinate their response, the White House said. Macron and Trump again reiterated their desire for a "strong reaction" from the international community, Macron's office said. • US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also acted on Monday, blaming Russia for what he suggested was its failure to ensure the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal. Mattis also said he would not rule out a US military strike against Syria in response to the suspected poison gas. • A POPE TELLS THE WEST TO OPEN ITS BORDERS WHILE A RABBI CALLS FOR MORE STRIKES ON SYRIA. Israel Today reported on Monday that Israel's Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef on Sunday urged the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to not shy away from doing everything necessary to protect the innocent civilians of Syria from ongoing massacres by their own government. The day after Syrian regime forces were accused of using chemical weapons against a rebel-held town killing dozens of men, women and children, Rabbi Yosef issued a statement reading : "I have said in the past and I will say it again, what’s happening in Syria is genocide of women and children in its cruelest form, using weapons of mass destruction. We have a moral obligation not to keep quiet and to try and stop this massacre. As Jews who have experienced genocide, as Jews whose Torah is a light to the nations, it is our moral obligation to try and stop this murder. It is an obligation no less important than the moral obligation to destroy the nuclear reactor in Syria." • Just hours after the rabbi released his statement, 'someone' carried out a devastating aerial strike against a regime air force base in central Syria, killing 14 people, including Iranian nationals. America and France, which both have air forces in the region, denied any involvement. Russia, which backs the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, said it knows who was responsible -- Israel. Maintaining its policy of ambiguity, the Netanyahu government refused to comment. But, the Syrian air base in question has been bombed by Israel in the past. Known as the Tiyas, or T-4, air base, it is believed to be home to an Iranian drone program. • • • SYRIA ONCE AGAIN DENIES USING CHEMICAL WEAPONS. The Israel Hayom news outlet reported Tuesday on the cynical spectacle of the Syrian UN envoy Bashar al-Jaafari saying Syria does not possess chemical weapons and did not carry out attack that killed 60 people and injured over 1,000 in Douma. But, Jaafari blamed Israel for an attack by unidentified warplanes on a Syrian air base near Homs on Monday that killed at least 14 people, including Iranian personnel : "The government of the Syrian Arab Republic condemns in the strongest terms the ruthless Israeli aggression that took place this morning on the airport in Homs governorate, killing and injuring a number of civilians. This aggression would not have occurred were it not for the unlimited and consistent support by the American administration to Israel." [Jaafari might have said it would not have occurred if his regime had not carried out a chemical attack on Syrians.] • Speaking to reporters after the Security Council meeting, Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the evidence does not support the allegations of a chemical attack : "There were no dead bodies found. There were no poisoned people in the hospitals. The doctors in Douma denied that there were people who came to the hospital claiming that they were under chemical attack." [Perhaps they were killed or sickened by "bad fish" as a Russian went on TV to say happened to the Russian spy attacked with nerve gas in England.] • US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told the Security Council the US would respond to the alleged chemical attack against Syrian civilians, and criticized Russia, saying its hands are "covered in the blood of Syrian children. Chemical weapons have once again been used on Syrian men, women and children. History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria. Either way, the United States will respond." • • • AND SO WE RETURN TO ISRAEL'S HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY. Hamas-led Gaza mobs flew a Nazi flag in the attack on Israel's borders. Despite this, the international mainstream media and Pope Francis are busy describing the Palestinian demonstrations along the Gaza security fence as "peaceful." Flying a flag adorned with a swastika should tell everyone everything they need to know about the nature of this "peaceful demonstration" and about the genocidal hatred Hamas has for Israel and Jews. • Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, is the ultimate source for Holocaust education, documentation and research. From the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem’s integrated approach incorporates meaningful educational initiatives, groundbreaking research and inspirational exhibits. Its use of innovative technological platforms maximizes accessibility to the vast information in the Yad Vashem archival collections for an expanding global audience. Yad Vashem is at the forefront of unceasing efforts to safeguard and impart the memory of the victims and the events of the Holocaust period. It strives to document accurately one of the darkest chapters in the history of humanity and to grapple effectively with the ongoing challenges of keeping the memory of the Holocaust relevant today and for future generations. Right now, Vad Yashem is sponsoring an online course, free of charge, on anti-Semitism. You can access it ay < https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/antisemitism/1/register >. You can read or listen to the program segments at your own pace. I'm taking the course and I recommend it for everyone, including teenagers. • In March 2000, John Paul II visited Yad Vashem and later made history by touching one of the holiest sites in Judaism, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, placing a letter inside it (in which he prayed for forgiveness for the actions against Jews). In part of his address he said : "I assure the Jewish people the Catholic Church...is deeply saddened by the hatred, acts of persecution and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews by Christians at any time and in any place," he added that there were "no words strong enough to deplore the terrible tragedy of the Holocaust. It was beyond history, beyond memory. We are deeply saddened by the behaviour of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer, and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant." • DEAR READERS, the fight against hatred, against genocide, against anti-Semitism's poison, is never ended. We honor those who suffered and died in the Holocaust by doing our mightiest and best not to be anti-Semitic or to accept it in others, and by embracing Israel and the Jewish people as our best and most honorable brothers and sisters in the fight against evil. By remembering -- passing the memories from generation to generation -- we can resist evil.