Fatal attack on synagogue in Manchester, England

The New Neo Posted on by

It’s Yom Kippur, which is probably the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, and so a tempting target for any Jew-hater. And Jew-haters are legion, including murderous Jew-haters. Therefore we get this:

A car was driven into a crowd and a man stabbed at 9.31am on Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Laurence Taylor, the head of counter-terrorism policing, said … police had made two further arrests and knew the attacker’s identity, but would not release the information at this stage.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said four other victims are in a serious condition after the attack outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall.

The force has now confirmed the suspect is also dead, after previously being unable to approach his body due to ‘suspicious items on his person’.

A picture of the alleged attacker showed a man with a beard and dark clothing standing outside the synagogue with unidentified objects strapped to his waist.

He can also be seen holding something in his hand. …

Earlier, hero rabbi Daniel Walker barricaded worshippers inside the building after the suspect crashed into the gate and began stabbing ‘anyone and everyone’.

One witness described him moving from victim to victim in a ‘robotic’ manner ‘like he had a job to do’ – targeting ‘anyone’ wearing a kippah [religious skullcap worn by observant male Jews].

He then tried to force his way inside before being shot dead by armed police at 9.38am.

Several things stand out here. One is that the attack occurred outside the synagogue, although the killer wanted to get inside as well. Another is that the carnage was inflicted by a vehicle and a knife. Still another is that two other men were arrested; this could mean that the perp was a “known wolf” affiliated with others.

When that article was written, the authorities hadn’t released the suspect’s identity but had declared the attack to be terrorism, as well as adding:

We believe we know their identity, but for safety reasons at the scene, we’re unable to confirm at this stage.

So they’re afraid someone will react – rioting? attacking police? attacking some other group? – if they learn who the killer was.

As far as I know, there still has been no official word on the killer’s identity. However, a subsequent article says this:

A knifeman who went on a ‘barbaric’ rampage slaughtering two people at a synagogue is an Islamist terrorist, it can now be revealed.

No explanation as to what the source of that information might be. But it’s certainly a good bet it’s true.

Starmer and other politicians have mouthed the usual platitudes. But they have let the situation come to this and even encouraged it by their own lies about Israel. They need the votes of the British Muslims; they don’t need the votes of British Jews, whose numbers are much smaller and who in the last twenty-five years have tended to vote conservative anyway (however, in 2024 they – like most of the population in general – swung to Labour in disgust with the Tories, but their swing was smaller than that of the British population in general).

The shutdown through Democrat eyes

The New Neo Posted on by

Or at least – through the eyes of a goodly number of Democrats I know.

I had a meal yesterday with about eight friends and acquaintances. All of them are Democrats, although I wouldn’t call any of them intensely political. Often politics doesn’t even come up at our gatherings, but it did yesterday, briefly. I usually stay quiet at those times because I’ve learned from experience that in this particular group my disagreeing would be an utterly futile gesture that usually just draws blank stares at best. They already know I’m on the right, by the way.

So ordinarily I just listen, and that’s what I did yesterday when the topic of the shutdown came up. The discussion lasted barely a minute, just enough time to make it clear that there was complete consensus on the subject, and it went like this: Trump especially, and the Republicans generally, are the awful culprits. Nope, it’s not Schumer’s shutdown to them. Not at all. Au contraire.

There was no mention of the role of Democrats. There was not a word of attention paid to all the previous times the government had shut down with the roles reversed, and why it might have been okay to blame the minority party back when it was the GOP and why – now that Republicans are the majority party trying to vote for funding – somehow they’re still to blame. There was no acknowledgement that some Democrats had voted with the Republicans this time. And there was nothing about the actual issues between the two parties on the funding.

After that brief minute the subject was changed, and we went on as before.

This kneejerk type of consensus opinion with very little content no longer surprises me at all. I am convinced that the majority of people who vote Democrat are not paying any more attention or giving it more thought than that. Nor do I think that a huge percentage of Republicans give it all that much more thought, either; it’s just that they come out on a different side and it’s one with which I tend to agree. The percentage of people who obsessively follow politics is high on many blogs, but it isn’t otherwise all that large on either side, at least not in my opinion.

You may say that a lower percentage of women than men follow politics closely, and that after all this group was composed of women. But, at least in my experience, about the same is true of men, for the most part, although it might be slightly more common among men than women to be very interested in politics.

Your mileage may differ.

NOTE: As an antidote, you might enjoy watching some of this:

Jane Goodall has died at 91

The New Neo Posted on by

Goodall was sui generis. Even as a young woman, she radiated a quiet calm that was both soothing and unusual. She had patience galore, which is probably why famed anthropologist Louis Leakey decided she would be well-suited to an intensive study of chimpanzees. It became her life’s work. Somehow she managed to have two marriages and a child, as well.

Goodall had a look of timelessness no matter her age, slender youngster or wrinkled elder. She died in the saddle, as it were, while on a speaking tour. She studied animals in a way no one before her had done, and she made remarkable observations: that chimpanzees used sticks as tools, for example.

It was after many years of studying chimpanzees that she made a truly horrific discovery, which was that they could be extremely violent with each other. This must have been profoundly difficult for her to learn, but she reported it nevertheless and didn’t flinch from its implications.

Goodall was a remarkable woman and a remarkable person. RIP.

New York’s Orthodox Jews back Cuomo even though they detest him …

The New Neo Posted on by

… because they detest Mamdani much much more.

Why don’t they back Sliwa? They know he has no chance, and they don’t want to waste their votes.

More:

Community groups and local leaders issued a joint announcement backing Cuomo, saying, “We believe it is essential to speak with one voice at this critical time.”

“We are deeply concerned about the direction that mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani would take our city,” the statement said, citing Mamdani’s statements about police, his past support for the phrase “globalize the intifada,” and his “socialist policies that we believe would create chaos” and put their communities at risk.

Signees included the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance, the Association of Crown Heights Shuls, the Staten Island Jewish Coalition, the Queens Jewish Alliance, and Crown Heights United, and several local community leaders.

On Monday, two other Jewish groups, Crown Heights United PAC and the Sephardic Community Federation, also endorsed Cuomo.

The Orthodox community is overwhelmingly Republican; I’ve read figures around 85%. It may just be one of the most Republican demographics in the US. But in New York City, Sliwa hasn’t a chance. Why do the Orthodox not like Cuomo? During the COVID years, he targeted and criticized them, among other things. But Mamdani is absolutely horrendous and has driven them to the Cuomo side.

And speaking of Jews, tonight is the beginning of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, a day of fasting, prayer, and repentance. It is probably the most solemn day of the year for Jews. It’s not customary to wish Jews a Happy Yom Kippur, but rather, to wish them an easy fast.

Shutdown theater: do the Democrats think voters have no memory?

The New Neo Posted on by

If so, maybe they’re correct. Maybe a lot of voters either don’t remember, or weren’t paying attention back then, or aren’t paying attention now, or some combination of those things.

But it strikes me that a great many people – even Democrats – might remember how bitterly the Democrats in Congress railed against previous shutdowns, with apocalyptic predictions, when they were the majority and Republicans the minority. And now the Congressional Democrats are acting like this shutodwn is necessary – and for what? Because continuing the Biden levels is so terrible?

It makes no sense, but politics often makes no sense – or is driven by other factors hidden by the walls of the sausage factory.

Of course, the Republicans could end the 60-vote threshold and make it a simple majority vote. Why don’t they? Perhaps they can’t get 51 to agree that would be a good step. Perhaps they think it sets a bad precedent – although I have little doubt the Democrats would do it if they had the majority and thought it was in their interests. Maybe the Republicans want a shutdown, perhaps to allow Trump to perform some layoffs, or perhaps they wish to highlight Democrat hypocrisy on the shutdown issue.

At any rate, here’s some information on what services are affected.

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Palestinians finding the perfect formula for the modern revival of the blood libel

The New Neo Posted on by

Remember?. I certainly do. It was with the supposed death of the young boy Mohammed al Durah that the Palestinians found the perfect vehicle for spreading the idea around the world that the Israelis are evil and purposely target children. And as with the more ancient blood libels, the world ate it up.

I wrote a great deal about the topic, and the subsequent defamation trials in France (one of which I attended), back in the early days of this blog. You can find the posts here.

From No Pasaran on the anniversary:

Tuesday marks the quarter-century anniversary of the beginning of one of the biggest scandals of the past 50 years, the Mohammed al-Dura affair, which saw French television video and photos of a 12-year-old Palestenian and his father being supposedly felled by Israeli bullets in Gaza, and which led to the creation of a new word — Pallywood. …

Before we take a look at the Philippe Karsenty interview, a must-read is the piece that Richard Landes penned in The Jerusalem Post five years ago — as the Abrahamic accords were being signed — about the twentieth (20th) anniversary of “one of the most disastrous events in the year 2000”. It’s a hard, indeed a mind-boggling, read — check out RL’s blog, The Augean Stables — especially coming three years before the October 7th massacre.

It was Landes who coined the phrase “Pallywood” and Karsanty who was one of the defendants in the defamation trials. I know both of them, although we haven’t been in touch in several years. Both are brilliant and courageous.

From Landes’ article on the 20th anniversary:

The image of Muhammad al-Dura via the narrative that the IDF had targeted him became the global symbol of Palestinian suffering at the hand of Israeli cruelty. It rapidly became an “icon of hatred” that had a greater immediate and long-term effect on the new century than any other such vehicle of incitement.

A cry arose, for some of pain, for some of rage, but for all a clear sign that the Infidel, led by the twin Satans Israel and USA, were making war on Muslims. Indeed, no single event so far has done more to arouse the spirit of jihad against the West than this footage, which, as Bin Laden quickly pointed out in his recruiting video for global jihad, demanded vengeance against al Yahud and their allies. …

Instead of Christians or Muslims replacing Israel as the true Chosen People, it was the former chosen people replacing the Nazis, and the poor Palestinian victim suffering the fate of the Jews. The progressive refrain, “Israel has lost the moral high ground.” …

… Al-Dura justified terrorist attacks on Israel in the minds of both Muslims and non-Jews, especially Europeans. “What choice do they have?” progressives responded when Palestinians targeted Israel civilians. They were merely resisting …

… … The icon of al-Dura was the first successful blood libel in the West since the Nazis rode their ecumenical Jew-hatred to mega-death for all in 1930s and ‘40s. …

… Whether we know it or not, those of us entering this very grim-looking third decade of the 21st century are the inheritors of this al-Durah-triggered new wave of Jew-hatred and its accompaniments: fake news, conspiracy theories and violence.

… As some honest Arab journalists point out, #FakeNews is something of an Arab specialty, and for far too long public opinion has been manipulated by dishonest and malevolent actors masquerading as journalists.

Not only did Osama bin Laden explicitly cite the al Durah incident as motive, but he also cited the Daniel Pearl murder as revenge for it. Not only that, but it helped launch the bloody Second Intifada by the Palestinians. And it was all a fake. As Karsanty says:

It’s crucial to understand that we moved from the notion of “deicide” to “genocide.” In Christian tradition, Jews were stigmatized as “Christ-killers.” With the Al-Dura case, the Jews were recast as child-killers, genocidal by nature. This image of Mohammed Al-Dura, supposedly shot by Israeli soldiers in 2000, became the ultimate weapon of demonization against the Jewish people.

And that lie didn’t just get halfway round the world, it’s taken over most of the world.

Please read the whole thing.

No fat generals, says Hegseth

The New Neo Posted on by

Of course, that’s hardly all he said. The basic thrust of the speech was to turn back the clock to the time before Obama’s Hope and Change and Wokeness transformed the military (at least, the Obama years are when I noticed the change). I would guess plenty of those assembled were happy about what they heard, and plenty were not; I couldn’t even begin to say what the proportion of each group might be.

More:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the military’s top generals and admirals ahead of Trump, rolling out a 10-point plan to overhaul the culture of the military.

At the unprecedented meeting that pulled leaders from posts around the globe, he announced a shift to a merit-based culture with a return to “the highest male standard only.” And Hegseth emphasized the need to stick to strict fitness standards, calling it “completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon leading commands around the country and the world.”

Hegseth said a lot more about that male/female thing. Here’s his actual speech; it’s worth looking at. For example, he mentions 2015 (which is during Obama’s term) as being one turning point in that regard:

I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape or in combat unit with females who can’t meet the same combat arms physical standards as men, or troops who are not fully proficient on their assigned weapons platform or task or under a leader who was the first but not the best. Standards must be uniform, gender neutral and high. If not, they’re not standards. They’re just suggestions, suggestions that get our sons and daughters killed. …

Today, at my direction, each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS, for every designated combat arms position returns to the highest male standard only. Because this job is life or death. …

Any place where tried and true physical standards were altered, especially since 2015 when combat arms standards were changed to ensure females could qualify, must be returned to their original standard. Other standards have been manipulated to hit racial quotas as well, which is just as unacceptable. This too must end; merit only. …

Because war does not care if you’re a man or a woman. Neither does the enemy, nor does the weight of your rucksack, the size of an artillery round or the body weight of a casualty on the battlefield who must be carried. This — and I want to be very clear about this. This is not about preventing women from serving. We very much value the impact of female troops. Our female officers and NCOs are the absolute best in the world.

Seems completely reasonable to me. But the left always counts on the idea that you can’t turn back the clock. They believe once the Overton Window has shifted, the public accepts the new standard as the way it should be.

As for those fat generals, Hegseth said:

Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It’s a bad look. It is bad, and it’s not who we are.

So, whether you’re an airborne Ranger or a chairborne Ranger, a brand new private or a four star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and pass your PT test. And as the chairman said, yes, there is no PT test. But today, at my direction, every member of the joint force at every rank is required to take a PT test twice a year, as well as meet height and weight requirements twice a year every year of service.

It sounds a bit as though, with the generals in particular, this is about esthetics. I also wonder where they draw the line at “fat.” As people get older, it can get more difficult to be really slim, and if a slightly overweight general is brilliant, do we want him on a starvation diet to meet the standard?

I asked Google “were there any fat US generals in World War II?”, and its AI replied, helpfully (and I assume factually?):

Based on historical accounts, photographs, and the health standards of the time, there were no notably overweight or “fat” U.S. generals during World War II. However, it is important to remember that physical standards and perceptions of weight were very different in the 1940s compared to today.

Reasons why U.S. generals in WWII were typically not overweight:

Rigorous physical standards: While enlistment standards for average soldiers had some flexibility for those who could correct their weight through training, military leaders faced intense pressure to maintain peak physical condition. Many of the top generals were lifelong military officers who had been shaped by a culture that valued athleticism and physical fitness. For example, General George S. Patton was a dedicated athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.

Operational demands: Generals commanding troops in the field often faced demanding conditions that would make significant weight gain difficult.

Wartime stress and lifestyle: The intense stress, long hours, and constant movement involved in commanding a war effort contributed to a lean physique for many senior officers.

Medical standards: Unlike today’s strict body fat standards, the regulations of the era were primarily concerned with ensuring weight did not interfere with a soldier’s physical activities and proper training. The average American soldier in WWII was also much leaner than modern soldiers, weighing around 144 pounds and standing 5’8″ tall.

One reason people were thinner then: smoking was very common. Of course, there were other reasons, but that’s one difference people don’t often mention.

So expecting generals to be lean is another case of turning back the clock. Of course, the rules don’t apply to commander-in-chief Trump, who’s not a member of the military.