The New Neo

The Jewish holiday of Purim begins tonight: escaping destruction

Posted on March 23, 2024 by neoMarch 23, 2024

Jewish holidays began at sundown and end at sundown, and Purim is no exception. This year it has special resonance:

It commemorates the (Divinely orchestrated) salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian empire from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.” Literally “lots” in ancient Persian, Purim was thus named since Haman had thrown lots to determine when he would carry out his diabolical scheme, as recorded in the Megillah (book of Esther).

It’s quite a story, which you can read at the link. It contains this extremely interesting part [emphasis mine]:

Haman was hanged, Mordechai was appointed prime minister in his stead, and a new decree was issued, granting the Jews the right to defend themselves against their enemies.

On the 13th of Adar, the Jews mobilized and killed many of their enemies.

There was no International Court of Justice back then, but Jews are still fighting to defend themselves and fighting for their right to do so.

Did this really happen?:

The historical reality of this biblical episode has often been questioned, and the actual origins of the Purim festival, which was already long established by the 2nd century CE, remain unknown.

But whether it happened in Persia at that time and in quite that way, many groups in many times and places have tried to eliminate the Jews. This has happened for millennia, in both the European arena and the Middle East. For the Ashkenazi Jews of Europe, the evidence is both genetic and historical.

Persia is of course modern-day Iran, which remains the source of a great deal of Jew-hatred and supports Islamic terrorist groups in many countries dedicated to killing Jews. But Jews in Persia have a long history:

The history of the Jews in Iran dates back to late biblical times (mid-1st millennium BCE). The biblical books of Chronicles, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, contain references to the life and experiences of Jews in Persia. In the book of Ezra, the Persian kings are credited with permitting and enabling the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple; its reconstruction was carried out “according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia” (Ezra 6:14). …

Jews who migrated to ancient Persia mostly lived in their own communities. The Persian Jewish communities include the ancient (and until the mid-20th century still-extant) communities not only of Iran, but also the Armenian, Georgian, Iraqi, Bukharan, and the Mountain Jewish communities.

Jews had been leaving Iran for a while even before the ayatollahs took over in 1979, but the pace accelerated after that:

According to the first national census taken in 1956, Jewish population in Iran stood at 65,232, but there is no reliable data about migrations in the first half of the 20th century. David Littman puts the total figure of emigrants to Israel in 1948–1978 at 70,000. …

While many Jews in Iran lived peacefully after the establishment of the State of Israel, the Iranian Revolution “radically altered the status of the country’s Jewish community”. In 1979, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini met with the Jewish community upon his return from exile in Paris and issued a fatwa decreeing that the Jews were to be protected. Nevertheless, emigration continued. At the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, 60,000 Jews lived in Iran. However, about 30,000 Jews left within several months of the revolution.

When Shah Reza Pahlavi was overthrown and the new Islamic Regime under Ruhollah Khomeini was brought into power, the Jewish population in Iran began to look for routes out of the country. Although, Ayatollah Khomeini had proclaimed that the rights of Jews were to be protected, the new government would not issue Iranian Jews passports and barred them from leaving the country. The Jewish population began to fear for their lives because many Jewish leaders were killed in the revolution because of their support for Zionism and their disapproval of Jews being considered as second class citizens. Thousands of Iranian Jews began to look for ways in which they could smuggle themselves and their families out of the country. Most Iranian Jews had to leave their homes and possessions in order to leave Iran illegally as selling all of their possessions would alert to the authorities that they were trying to leave the country. Leaving the country was very dangerous as many of the roads out were being watched by the government and, if caught, one could face imprisonment or death.

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Jewish flight from Iran began in earnest after the May 1979 execution of Habib Elghanian, a philanthropist and leader in Iran’s Jewish community, on false charges of spying for America and Israel. The execution of Albert Danialpour case on 5 June 1980, further encouraged emigration. According to activist Frank Nikbakht, Jews sought to escape the country’s strict sharia laws, which were designed to humiliate and disadvantage the Jewish population.

It’s estimated that in Los Angeles there are now about 100,000 Jews of Iranian descent.

But back to Purim. It has the interesting characteristic of being a holiday on which it is obligatory to become drunk. There has been a great deal of verbiage trying to explain this. Here’s one effort.

Happy Purim!

The Moscow massacre: who are the perpetrators?

Posted on March 23, 2024 by neoMarch 23, 2024

Last night there was a horrific massacre at the start of a concert in a large venue in Moscow. The fog of war is still operating, but it appears that at least a hundred people were killed and that the death count may go well beyond that, with many more injured. The attack came from masked gunman who shot concert-goers, ignited a fire in which some were also killed, and sparked a stampede (my guess is that some died that way; according to some reports some exit doors were blocked from the outside).

This sort of m.o. bears the signature of Islamic terrorism, which has struck in Russia before. And quite quickly the terror group ISIS-K claimed responsibility:

Within hours ISIS put out a statement of responsibility through its propaganda outlet, Amaq News Agency.

But such is the state of the world today that the immediate response of many people – and this most definitely includes many commenters on blogs on the right – is to reject the idea, despite its having the force of logic. I’ve seen a lot of insistence that the true culprit was the CIA or in particular the Ukranians; the latter claim is from many people in the anti-Ukraine wing of the right. Of course, there’s also that constant culprit who rules the entire world and is responsible for every ill in it: Israel and/or the Jews as a whole. I will assume there are people who think Trump is behind it, although I doubt many think the perp is Putin – whose reputation rests at least in part on keeping Russia safe from this sort of thing.

ISIS-K was so annoyed at having its moment in the sun challenged that it issued another announcement, with photos:

ISIS has now released an additional Statement in which they claim Responsibility for the Terrorist Attack last night against the Crocus Concert Hall in the Russian Capital of Moscow; while also Posting a Picture of the Attackers only minutes before the Shooting began, in which… pic.twitter.com/zmsH9degmD

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 23, 2024

And of course Putin has tried to implicate Ukrainians in some way:

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Saturday suggested that terrorists who killed at least 133 people in Friday night’s attack at a Moscow concert hall were helped by someone based in Ukraine, without providing evidence.

Ukrainian officials have denied any involvement in the massacre …

Putin said 11 people have been detained in the killings, including the four gunmen. “They tried to hide and moved toward Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the border,” Putin said in a speech on Russian television Saturday.

“Our military services, our emergency services … our investigators are working on finding out … who gave them transportation, … who gave them weapons,” Putin said…

Ukraine, which has been defending itself from Russia’s full-scale invasion for two years, has repeatedly denied any links to the attackers, with the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry labeling Moscow’s accusations as a Kremlin attempt to mobilize Russian citizens against Ukraine and to try to distance the international community from Kyiv.

In his speech, Putin did not blame any specific terrorist group for the massacre.

This is the sort of situation that is tailor-made for confirmation bias and conspiracy theories fostered by previous and current propaganda.

Another fact pointed out and made much of is the idea that the US warned Putin of a threatened attack (perhaps targeting concerts) and he pooh-poohed it. However, that was two weeks prior to the attack itself, and the warning specifically stated that it was for 48 hours, and that period was certainly over by the time of the attack.

Russia says it has apprehended four of the terrorists involved:

The four suspects were stopped in the Bryansk region of western Russia, “not far from the border with Ukraine,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said. They planned to cross the border into Ukraine and “had contacts” there, state news agency Tass said, citing Russia’s FSB.

How did they connect the suspects to the killings? How did they track them? They were described as “foreign nationals,” but their nationalities have not been specified. And Bryansk is just as close to Belarus as it is to Ukraine – perhaps a bit closer, actually.

I think we’ll never get the full story.

Princess Kate and cancer

Posted on March 23, 2024 by neoMarch 23, 2024

It was revealed yesterday that Catherine, Princess of Wales, is being treated for cancer. She chose to announce the news herself in this video:

The news shocked and saddened many people. Princess Kate is only 42 years old, with three young children. It’s not clear what sort of cancer she has – although it’s abdominal – nor is her prognosis clear, although she seemed to be indicating it’s good. The announcement ended a great deal of social media and MSM (especially in Britain) criticism and speculation about a bunch of theories to explain what was happening during her prolonged absence from public life. That’s probably one of the reasons she made the announcement herself, in a video; a sort of “proof of life” document.

There has been an outpouring of affection and good wishes for a recovery. Kate has been one of the most beloved royals for quite some time. She’s been a model of decorum and style, done her bit to produce three heirs to the throne, and is lovely to look at with a beautiful smile. Despite being very thin, she has always seemed to be the picture of health.

But cancer is no respecter of these things, and living what looks like a charmed royal life doesn’t matter to cancer. As far as being relatively young goes, cancer rates have been increasing in the young for several decades. I’ve written on that topic in the past, and here’s a link to a current article on the subject, which features charts showing the rise between 1990 and 2019 (note that the rise has nothing to do with COVID or COVID shots, having long predated both).

We don’t know why this is happening. But here’s an excerpt from the article:

One review published in Frontiers in Nutrition in 2022 found several dietary factors were associated with early-onset colorectal cancer. Eating a lot of deep-fried and processed foods, foods high in fat, and sugary drinks and desserts was a significant risk factor, as was having a diet low in fiber. Other studies have found higher alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of developing cancer early.

Toxins in our environment, such as microplastics, could also be a contributing factor. These tiny particles can be found in everything from food containers to synthetic clothing, before making their way into our bodies and our GI tracts.

Here’s another article on the subject which goes more deeply into certain aspects of the rates from 2010 to 2019:

Gender and race played a role.

Early-onset cancer increased by 4.4% in females and decreased by 5% in males, which the researchers attribute to the rapid rise of breast and uterine cancers.

Cancer rates grew in American Indian or Alaska Native people, Asian or Pacific Islander people, and Hispanic people, while cancer incidence remained the same in White people and declined in Black people.

There is also a connection with increasing obesity. That’s obviously not a factor for Princess Kate, but I wonder whether obesity – or some genetic susceptibility – accounts for the rise in cancer in people of Hispanic background? And because the Hispanic population in the US has also increased, might that be driving a significant amount of the cancer increase?

I hope that Princess Kate will be free now to concentrate on her family and her treatment, and that she’ll experience a full recovery and return to robust health.

Open thread 3/23/24

Posted on March 23, 2024 by neoMarch 23, 2024

Why are some universities reinstating standardized test requirements?

Posted on March 22, 2024 by neoMarch 22, 2024

Some elite colleges that previously had abandoned admissions requirements to submit standardized test scores are now re-instituting such requirements. This may seem like a return to old-fashioned merit-based admissions. But apparently there’s a different explanation, at least at Yale and perhaps at other universities:

Yet, the meritocracy argument does not appear to have won the day entirely in New Haven. The university buttressed its announcement of the new admissions policy with the claim that “tests can help increase rather than decrease diversity,” and that “inviting students to apply without any test scores can, inadvertently, disadvantage students from low-income, first-generation, and rural backgrounds.” Mandatory test scores, in other words, are not back in because they produce the most qualified student body but because the university now believes that testing in fact promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion, which presumably remain Yale’s highest priorities.

How did Yale’s leadership reach this conclusion? “When admissions officers reviewed applications with no scores,” the university’s statement maintains, “they placed greater weight on other parts of the application. But this shift frequently worked to the disadvantage of applicants from lower socio-economic backgrounds.” The university’s faceless admissions bureaucrats may, for example, have failed to consider that applicants from low-income secondary schools have fewer means besides standardized test scores to demonstrate their talent, while more “privileged” students can produce transcripts with honors courses, long lists of unique study and “enrichment” opportunities, and more informative recommendation letters from dedicated teachers in stabler environments.

Seems as though it was the law of unintended consequences that took over when the tests were jettisoned.

NOTE: And while we’re at it, there’s another Harvard professor accused of plagiarism:

Harvard professor Christina Cross is a rising star in the field of critical race studies. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, secured the support of the National Science Foundation, and garnered attention from the New York Times, where she published an influential article title “The Myth of the Two-Parent Home.”

Cross’s 2019 dissertation, “The Color, Class, and Context of Family Structure and Its Association with Children’s Educational Performance,” won a slate of awards, including the American Sociological Association Dissertation Award and the ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award, and helped catapult her onto the Harvard faculty.

According to a new complaint filed with Harvard’s office of research integrity, however, Cross’s work is compromised by multiple instances of plagiarism, including “verbatim plagiarism, mosaic plagiarism, uncited paraphrasing, and uncited quotations from other sources.”

The Harvard Crimson doesn’t think much of the charges, citing a statement by “plagiarism expert” Jonathan Bailey saying the allegations against Cross are weak. Recently a total of four black female scholars in the race or social justice fields at Harvard, including ex-President Claudine Gay, have been accused of plagiarism. The Crinson takes a “conservatives pounce” approach to the whole thing:

The allegations against Cross mark the fourth in a rapid series of anonymous plagiarism complaints of varying severity lodged against Black women at Harvard amid a growing right-wing attack against diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education. …

In an interview, Bailey said he was concerned that the recent spate of allegations represent the “weaponization of plagiarism” to score political points — not to deal with serious concerns of research misconduct.

“It’s using plagiarism allegations, not to address issues of academic or research integrity, but rather to address political or social grievances that a person may have,” Bailey said.

Squatters’ rights, 21st century style

Posted on March 22, 2024 by neoMarch 22, 2024

It seems that an old and widespread law known as squatters’ rights is currently being exploited in many states by people occupying other people’s vacant property:

In many states, a person or persons can enter and inhabit another person’s vacant property, set up house, and after—in most cases—a mere 30 days claim some form of bizarre “right” to inhabit the home in which they did not pay a day’s rent nor a single mortgage payment: a home they do not own, did not buy, and have no right to occupy.

The law can then treat them as tenants, which gives them many rights. How extensive those rights are depends on the locality, but they can be very extensive indeed and it can take a long time to evict the squatter-tenants.

Florida has just passed a law, signed by Governor DeSantis, that highly speeds up the process in Florida and allows the police to immediately remove squatters.

One of the reasons squatters have been in the news recently is this:

A Venezuelan migrant has gone viral after he posted a video to social media that explained how illegal immigrants can take advantage of squatting laws and stay in American homes.

“I have thought about invading a house in the United States,” a man identified as Leonal Moreno said in the TikTok video. “I found out that there is a law that says that if a house is not inhabited, we can seize it.”

The man told his followers in Spanish that he anticipated his next business would be “invading” abandoned houses. He claimed that some of his African friends have told him they have already taken seven homes in the U.S.

Great.

Niall Ferguson: a second Holocaust is possible

Posted on March 22, 2024 by neoMarch 22, 2024

Worth listening to:

At al Shifa hospital: the value of a surprise attack

Posted on March 22, 2024 by neoMarch 22, 2024

When the post-October 7 Israeli operation in Gaza began, the IDF gave the Gazans a lot of warning. This was primarily to allow Gazan civilians to evacuate. But it also had the effect of warning the Hamas terrorists and allowing many of them to keep moving around ahead of the IDF, aided by the extremely extensive tunnel system.

It was an incredible challenge: not only urban warfare, but urban warfare with an unusual ability for the fighters to hide out underground as well as to keep hostages there and move them around as well. Nevertheless, the Israeli forces made inroads, killing, wounding, and also capturing many Hamas fighters. But not enough.

Which brings us to the recent operation in al Shifa Hospital, about which we’re getting even more information. It has been a very successful raid:

The IDF troops have retaken most of the complex, with Israeli troops engaged in isolated firefights with well dug-in terrorists, reports suggest. “Hamas and PIJ leaders are among 600 apprehended at the central Gazan hospital, after Israeli intelligence indicated the compound was retaken,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported Thursday evening. “The arrested terrorists were transferred to the ISA [Shin Bet] to be interrogated, and the IDF continued the operation in the Shifa hospital compound, saying firefights were ongoing.”

The IDF previously raided Shifa hospital in mid-November, uncovering and destroying the terror tunnels beneath the hospital. The Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists crawled back into the complex, using Gaza’s largest medical facility to hoard weapons and direct attacks against the Israeli troops.

This is a large number of operatives falling into Israeli hands in one fell swoop and probably able to provide significant intelligence:

Breaking Now: ?IDF Spokesman now: The Shifa Hospital operation, was the largest operation IDF has conducted since 10/7. We captured the entire leadership of the PIJ in Gaza and many senior Hamas members; we will only reveal their names after their questioning so as not to reveal…

— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) March 21, 2024

This is highly significant:

While Israel gave prior warnings during the November operation, this time the military carried out a surprise raid on Hamas-infested hospital — catching the terrorists off-guard. …

The surprise raid on Shifa marks a shift in the Israeli military strategy. “These IDF sources said that the paradigm for IDF action in Gaza has shifted, and it is now ready to act anywhere and anytime,” the JPost noted.

My hunch is that another very important factor was the previous destruction of tunnels under the hospital. The Hamas fighters probably had to take refuge in the above-ground hospital facilities instead, and when the Israeli attack came they couldn’t escape through the tunnels as they had before. Thus, the large number of casualties and even larger number of surrenders.

The entire episode very much underlines the price Israel has been paying for its efforts to placate the international community and to spare Gazan civilians.

Open thread 3/22/24

Posted on March 22, 2024 by neoMarch 22, 2024

Lawfare against Trump: all that matters are results

Posted on March 21, 2024 by neoMarch 21, 2024

I’ve had a number of interesting – although short – conversations with friends about the lawfare cases against Trump. A pattern has emerged: they’re upset that the cases have been stalled, and they perceive the courts and prosecutors as going too easy on Trump.

I find this extraordinary. But when I really think about it, it’s not so very extraordinary at all. For starters, they probably read and hear plenty of information in the MSM from “legal experts” about how valid and righteous these cases are. In addition, most people are unfamiliar with the details of law and why they protect both sides if followed scrupulously. That part of our education has been either neglected in the first place or forgotten by most people if once learned. Lawyers remember, but so many lawyers are activists (and on the left) these days that they mostly employ their knowledge and skills in sophistry to help the left.

So what most people understand are results. If Trump is evil, then he should be stopped by any means necessary, including prison. It’s the old Roper from A Man For All Seasons attitude:

In that clip, at least the people arguing to “cut a great road through the law” realized what they were advocating, and why (after all, think about how More met his end). The people I’ve been talking to don’t think that the cases against Trump involve any such thing. In wanting him convicted – and soon – they believe they are promoting the rule of law rather than flouting it.

Gazans’ perceptions of Hamas and October 7

Posted on March 21, 2024 by neoMarch 21, 2024

First, we have this from a recent poll of Palestinians:

More than five months after Hamas-led savage marauders slaughtered more than 1200 Israeli men, women and children, support for the October 7 massacre is at an all-time high among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

“Despite the ensuing war, the humanitarian crisis and the atrocities committed against Israelis, the vast majority of Palestinians in the West Bank (71 percent) and the Gaza Strip (71 percent) still viewed the October 7 “offensive”,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported Thursday citing a poll released by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR).

The poll also indicated that Palestinians would like Hamas to continue in power, with 64% of those in the West Bank preferring it and 52% of Gazans preferring it.

Of course, there’s always the caveat that Palestinians in opposition to these pro-October 7 and pro-Hamas positions might just refuse to answer the poll questions, or they might lie. But from what I’ve seen, there is indeed a great deal of support among Palestinians for the pro-jihadi positions, and for eliminating Israel entirely.

Second, we have this finding, from what I believe is the same poll:

Ninety-three percent of Palestinians say they believe Hamas did not commit atrocities during its mass invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7 …

Notably, among Palestinians who watched videos of the atrocities filmed by the perpetrators themselves, 81% still did not believe they were committed.

Only one in five Palestinians has seen such videos, according to the survey.

Denial is rife, and is encouraged by news sources in the Palestinian press and leadership. I’m not saying that a great many Palestinians wouldn’t support October 7 even if they knew the entire story, but I suspect that the numbers approving would at least be somewhat lower.

[NOTE: Also see this about the mindset of someone like Sinwar. Here’s an excerpt, which describes Sinwar when he was in an Israeli prison during the first decade of the 21st century, how he got there, and how he got released:

Sinwar studied his enemy assiduously. He read Israeli newspapers, took classes in Jewish history through the prison’s “open university,” and spoke to Bitton about Hamas’ goals—the expulsion of all Jews from Palestine, the duty to implement God’s laws as given to Muhammad on all sacred Muslim soil. Numerous efforts to recruit him in prison failed. “The struggle continued inside the prison,” Bitton said. Sinwar was not married then, and he had few visitors. “Hamas and the struggle were his life.” …

Having initially been arrested in 1982 for what Israel termed subversive activities, he was rearrested in 1985. Released again, he and Mushtaha founded Munazzamat al Jihad w’al-Dawa (MAJD), an organization responsible for rooting out Palestinian collaborators with Israel and other rival factions. Sinwar excelled at his job, earning himself the nickname “Butcher of Khan Yunis.” In 1988 he was arrested again for planning the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers and the murder of four Palestinians he considered collaborators. According to Israeli press accounts, he had acknowledged during his interrogation having strangled two of the Palestinians, inadvertently killing another during his interrogation, and shooting the fourth who had tried to escape. He was said to have led investigators to the orchard where the bodies were buried. In 1989, Israel sentenced him to four life sentences.

Under normal circumstances, a man with such a violent resume would not have been released. But after Israeli Staff Sergeant (then-Corporal) Gilad Shalit was kidnapped in 2006, negotiations with Hamas inside and outside of prisons began. Bitton himself was involved in the talks with Sinwar and other Hamas negotiators. Brokered by German and Egyptian mediators and signed in Cairo in 2011, the deal agreed to Shalit’s return in exchange for the phased release of 1,027 Israeli-held prisoners, including some 315 Palestinians who were serving life sentences for having been convicted of the worst crimes. Among them were Sinwar and his two lieutenants.

Hamas’ leaders considered Israel’s willingness to release over 1,000 Palestinians for a single Israeli soldier a victory. Most of the prisoners were ecstatic about their release. But Sinwar denounced the trade. “He was furious, even though he was among those scheduled to be released,” Bitton recalled. He told me that releasing Shalit for a thousand Palestinian prisoners was “not enough.” All of the Palestinians in Israeli jails had to be released.

Much more at the link.]

The new RNC and election integrity

Posted on March 21, 2024 by neoMarch 21, 2024

I hope the shakeups at the RNC described here aren’t a case of “too little, too late.”

The following is from an interview with Lara Trump on “The Benny Show”:

We have the first-ever election integrity division.

First ever? It’s extraordinary that it took this long. There certainly have been efforts before, but apparently they’ve not been coordinated by the RNC.