An Israeli Perspective

This piece was written with the express and sole purpose of changing minds, specifically the minds of those who support the Palestinian side of the current (2025) Israeli Palestinian conflict.  I am quite aware that most people belong to the camp of “don’t confuse me with facts, as my mind is already made up” (this is called “confirmation bias,” and it is very common among humans).  For those of you who belong to that camp, you can stop reading now as what lies ahead will only upset you.  For those of you who believe that you are open minded and are responsive to verifiable facts, history and logic, please read on.

Americans have no problem offering their opinions when they have no facts.  Antisemitism is a perfect case in point.  Antisemitism is so old there must be some truth to it.  There are so few Jews and they don't fight back.  Worst case scenario, you say something and he takes offense and you didn't even know he was Jewish.  Good people everywhere hurled the charge of "war crimes" at the state of Israel before she even declared statehood.

Herewith, my (biased but factual) responses to (recent) charges made against the state of Israel.

End Notes from Stop the Steal

Ben's 2nd book, Stop the Steal, is only available in paperback.  Which makes viewing the sources noted in the End Notes a bit of a problem to find.  So, here, the solution.

1 Mr. Conservative Republican himself, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, warned his party against this unholy alliance with these Christians and their leader, https://angelolopez.wordpress.com/2020/05/21/barry-goldwaters-Vight-against-jerry-falwell-and-themoral-majority/

The Price of Protest: An Open Letter to America’s Children

The following words were inspired by the anti-Zionist protests in “elite colleges and universities” across the United States which in turn were inspired by Hamas declaring war on Israel.  Full disclosure: the author of this piece is a Zionist, someone who affirms that the Jewish state of Israel has the right to exist, even if that right is based solely on the spoils of war.  I also declare that I, like so many Israelis, want Benjamin Netanyahu gone.  I further declare that anti-Zionism is 100% antisemitism, that it is 100% Jew hatred, both of which sentiments are quite legal in these United States, as sentiments.

Alexei Navalny

R.I.P. Alexei Navalny, 4 June 1976 – 16 February 2024

A Brief for Israel

It is April 5th, 2024.  But this needs to go upfront.  As an American who numbers Jews among my very best friends, as an American who is a sincere friend of the state of Israel, I am nonetheless deeply disturbed and horrified at the number of civilian deaths – even as "collateral damage" in wartime – in Gaza at the hands of the IDF under PM Benjamin Netanyahu.  But for 75 years, the policy and practice of Palestinians  – whether under Hamas, the Palestinian Authority or the Palestine Liberation Organization – has been the deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians.  Where was the outrage?

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While many of us bemoan the ascendancy of Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel's Donald Trump?) and his supporters, you have to wonder: if you were an Israeli Jew, would you still be patient with the daily threats of bloodshed posed by Palestinians?  Yes, perhaps Israel has over-reacted to Palestinian violence, but what would you have done?

It is my conviction that a lot of anti-Israel sentiment in these United States, especially among young people, is due to a lack of historical perspective.

Bias and Donald Trump

This piece is too long for a letter to the editor and too short for an Op Ed piece or even a Ben Paine blog post.  Here it is anyway.   When I write I publish.

On September 11th, 2023, the NY Times published an article: Trump Seeks Recusal of Judge in Federal Elections Case, as she had shown bias against him.  In the end, can Donald Trump get a fair trial anywhere?  Can this, or any, judge sit in judgment on Donald Trump without bias?

Who Can You Trust?

I have a young friend whose politics are informed by a lack of trust in government, a position that I am sympathetic toward.  Our presidents have lied to us, especially about the most momentous thing of all – going to war!  Woodrow Wilson lied to us, FDR lied to us, LBJ and Richard Nixon lied to us.  Donald Trump lied to us when he need not have.  But mistrusting the establishment and/or the mainstream media has its perils, like compelling you to ask: who do you trust?  One answer is, no one: but that kind of nihilism leads nowhere.  Another answer is the anti-establishment.  But who are they?  Donald Trump, the Prince of Lies, has tens of millions of Americans who trust him, despite the clear evidence that no one else in the American tradition has ever been accused, justly, of SO treating the simple truth like poison. 

Perspective

Both Carl Sagan and his god son Neil deGrasse Tyson had “cosmic perspectives.”  That is, they thought about the cosmos, the universe, everything.  Although they both were professional astronomers/astrophysicists, their cosmic perspective forced them to include physics, chemistry, biology, zoology, botany, and a host of human sciences in their quiver of useful knowledge.  As scientists in the public eye, who never ceased to enjoy teaching us stuff we didn’t know, their true roles were as advocates for scientific literacy.

On Being Trans

Miss Netherlands, a trans woman

How long did it take Dick Cheney, vice president under George W Bush and a real “conservative” Republican, to change his thinking about gay rights when his own daughter came out?  What do you think?  A minute?  20 seconds?  Somewhere between 5% and 10% of us are not straight.  That is, 20 million of us are not straight.  Which means that most extended families have a gay member or two.  And when that person came out, the family got behind him or her.  Without blinking an eye.  The person who didn’t was probably ostracized by the rest of the family.  The huge number of families with gay members explains why gay rights is no longer an issue among presidents, senators, House members, and even most SCOTUS justices.

Our Secular Nation

The United States is a secular nation, not a Christian nation, and this blog post is an explanation why this is OK and even necessary, even if you are a Christian.

If we were a Christian nation, what would that look like?  According to latest (2020) estimates, 69.7% of us are Christian. 

“See, that proves we are a Christian nation!”