Hypocrites…

New York Times, April 28,2018…A full page ad paid for by The World Values Network, Rabbi Shmuley, Executive Director…In this ad Rabbi Shmuley takes to task Natalie Portman for her refusal to go to Israel to accept the Genesis prize, known as the Jewish Nobel.  Saying “She does not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel.”  He then goes on to praise Netanyahu as the great and only democratically elected leader in the Middle East, and blah, blah, blah.   He then goes on to say that Ms. Portman attended the Shanghai Film Festival in 2014 Sponsored by the Chinese State administration of press, publication, radio, film and television.  best known as the censorship enforcer and propaganda machine of the Chinese Communist Government.            The Rabbi then goes on to ask: “What would lead Ms. Portman to embrace some of the world’s most authoritarian offenders, and ignore state sponsored censorship while announcing a boycott of democratic Israel on it’s 70th birthday?  Ms. Portman implied it’s the recent clashes between Israel and the “Hamas terror organization on the Gaza border.”   The Rabbi then mentions how the Jews remember of the Warsaw Ghetto…                    When the Rabbi said that he caught my attention, because as far as I can tell, the Gaza Strip is an exact replica of the Warsaw Ghetto, the people walled in, starved, deprived of electricity, fresh water, sanitation, bombed almost daily by Israel, thoughtless murdering of protester’s against these conditions, their hospitals and schools targeted, children and pregnant mothers among the victims, I think, I too would be tempted to take up arms.  What amazes me is how the other side is so easily labeled terrorists, when our side is labeled Freedom Fighters. Now, what brings this particular page to my attention is my relating the Chinese connection to Ms. Portman, to an article in the Economist Magazine dated Oct. 13th, 2018 :Israel and China.  Too Open for Business?   Israel’s commercial ties with China are raising security concerns.                                  “The chief of one of Israel’s intelligence agencies was recently surprised to discover that Chinese construction workers on a major building project might be able to see into a sensitive installation.  Israeli security officials are growing increasingly uneasy with China’s expanding role in the economy, particularly its involvement in several big infrastructure projects and its purchase of cutting edge technology.”  (Skipping a few paragraphs here.)  ” The other concern is over the transfer of Weapons technology to the Chinese.  Gone are the days when Israel would sell them military hardware.  After numerous complaints from America, Israel agreed to cut off arms sales to China in 2005, but a grey area has sprung up around dual use technology, such as artificial intelligence and cyber security products, which could be used for surveillance and intelligence purposes. (Skipping another paragraph or two here.)  Israel’s commercial ties with China have flourished under Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, who met President Xi Jinping last year.   In the first eight months of 2018 Israel sold $3.5 billion worth of goods and services to China up 63% for the same period last year.  “Israel has to do business with China, of course, but there is no serious mechanism to make sure that we don’t sell off key economic assets and valuable technological knowledge,” says Efraim Halevy, a former head of Mossad.                                                                                                                                  So, back to Hypocrites Mr. Rabbi Shmuley,  Ms. Portman went to China to take in a film festival, Israel goes to China to sell them Weapons and technology to help them increase their surveillance of their own people and foreigners.  I would be so bold as to suggest to Rabbi Shmuley that he put the Hypocritical shoe on the proper foot.  They will fit him just fine.  Perhaps if the Israeli people would try to see the Palestinian people as human beings, forcibly removed from their homeland as friends and neighbors and try to work out their differences peacefully.   A first step would be to help rebuild Gaza and make sure the people there have as good a life as the Israeli people themselves enjoy, that would be a nice beginning, maybe they would even talk peace with you. I hope the Rabbi takes the time to read my little love note to him…