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Jewish Journal

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December 9, 2015

Jewish New Yorkers call on GOP to reject Trump

Leave a Comment / Election 2016, United States /

Jewish leaders and elected officials on Wednesday called on the Republican Party to reject Donald Trump and forcefully denounce his recent call to bar the entry of Muslims into the United States.

“It is simply unacceptable for someone to say – in America – that because someone has a faith that they simply should not be allowed to come to our country, our democracy. It is simply unacceptable,” Rabbi Bob Kaplan, founder director of the New York Center for Community and Coalition Building of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, said during a rally against the Republican presidential frontrunner at City Hall Plaza. “During Hanukkah we light candles in an increasing manner rather than in a decreasing manner. And the message is that we are here to increase the light and not to increase the darkness. And we have to ensure that those who are there to increase the darkness are overshadowed and illuminated by that light that believes what America is truly about.”

The interfaith rally on the steps of City Hall was organized by NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who called Trump a “disgusting, racist demagogue who has no business running for president.”

“His rhetoric this election cycle has gone from mean to hateful and now, dangerous,” she said. “What Donald Trump has called for, banning Muslims from entering our nation, is xenophobic, racist, Islamophobic. His fear-mongering is fanning hate.”

Mark-Viverito’s remarks were interrupted for several minutes by a supporter of Donald Trump, an Orthodox Jewish woman, who identified herself as Rose Rosenberg. “Long live Donald Trump! I love Donald Trump!” she yelled in front of the some 200 people, including over 20 cameras, gathered in the plaza. “He’s a peaceful man. He didn’t mean anything. He’s a peaceful man, okay? Don’t demonize him.”

“I love Muslims too, but we have to use our ‘sechel’ (brains). We are dummies,” she continued. “He’s not afraid to stand up against any of you.” The crowd burst into a chant, “Enough is enough” before she was removed by plainclothes security officers.

State Senator Liz Krueger, representing the East Side of Manhattan, called Trump a “demagogue and fascist” who’s doing what others tried in the past. “We learned the lessons of history – this is the United States,” Krueger said. “When I listen to Donald Trump, I think of the fact that I am a proud Jew. And if it was 60 years ago and I was in Europe, as my family was, I’d be scared as hell about where this country might be going.”

Added Council Member Mark Levine, Chair of the NYC Jewish Caucus, “The anti-immigrant and anti-religious bigotry of Donald Trump is just all too familiar to anyone who knows the painful lessons of the 20th century. “In the early 30′s to the 40′s, this country passed xenophobic laws that barred Jewish refugees from Europe from seeking safe harbor here. And by some estimates, that left to the death of 2 million Jews who would’ve been given asylum here to escape the horrors of the Nazis. Shame on Donald Trump for failing to learn the lessons of the past.”

NYC Comptroller and Public Advocate Tish James also spoke at the rally, calling on the Republican Party to reject Trump before its too late.

 

Also on Wednesday, American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) President Jack Rosen called on Trump to reconsider his statement. “The idea of singling out any ethnic or religious group in a condemnatory light is antithetical to both this country’s founding principles and the quintessential values of the American Jewish Congress,” Rosen said in a statement. “Even amid periods of great tragedy and heartbreak, as the seams of the Middle East have been torn open and anxiety fills the consciences of many Americans, we must be mindful of the way we approach these incredibly sensitive issues. We must keep in mind that only a tiny sliver of those who practice Islam are extremists or hold ties to extremist groups, and combat a status quo where Muslims are stereotyped or hated by the average American.”

Jewish New Yorkers call on GOP to reject Trump Read More »

Gun control and mass shootings: A conversation with a Second Amendment expert

Leave a Comment / Cover Story, Mobile, United States /

Since 9/11, for every American killed by terrorism in the United States and worldwide, more than 1,000 died from firearms inside the U.S., according to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Including the attacks of 9/11, 3,380 died between 2001 and 2013, the most recent data available, while 406,496 died from gun violence.

If facts mean anything in a debate quickly being overtaken by hysteria, the facts show that we have a problem in this country with extremism, and we have a problem with the tools these extremists and other murderers use to kill—guns. Adam Winkler, the nation’s pre-eminent expert on the Second Amendment, is a professor of law at UCLA School of Law and author of “Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America” (W. W. Norton). After the shooting in San Bernardino, Jewish Journal Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Rob Eshman spoke with Winkler by phone. The following is an edited and condensed transcript of their conversation.

Rob Eshman: We spoke after the shooting in Aurora, Colo., and you predicted that mass shootings would not lead to more gun control. It turns out you were right.

Adam Winkler: Not yet. In thinking back over the last few years, I don’t know that I would use such a strong statement. Newtown [Conn., school shooting] really did change the gun debate in a variety of ways. We’re seeing much more forceful political mobilization on the gun control issue than we had seen in decades. In retrospect, I would say I don’t know that mass shootings will lead toward gun control, but they can invigorate the gun control movement, and that, in the long run, will lead to more gun control.

RE: After the San Bernardino shooting, President Barack Obama’s main proposal is to ban people on the terrorist no-fly list from purchasing handguns.  

AW: It sounds like a common-sense proposal, but it’s somewhat troublesome. Because, generally, we believe in America that you have to have due process of law before you’re stripped of your rights, and the no-fly list is sort of notorious for having the wrong people on it. When the president says, “Well, how can anyone oppose this?” he is not taking seriously his opponents.

RE: You mean their constitutional arguments or their power?

AW: The no-fly list denies a right to get onto a plane to travel. The court had said that there’s a constitutional right to travel. You can’t just tell someone you can’t exercise a fundamental right and we’re not going to tell you why, and we’re not going to give you an opportunity to challenge that in a court of law, and if we do get to a court of law, we’re basically going to say we don’t have to tell you anything. It’s a profoundly illiberal idea. I know it’s popular to think about it in terms of terrorism. Of course we don’t want terrorists to buy guns. The question is, what about the other 398,000 people on the list?

RE: So you’re saying that the main proposal in the president’s post-San Bernardino speech is a nonstarter?

AW: I’d say the main proposal in the Obama speech needs more work. I think you could devise the system where people who are suspected of terrorism can’t buy a firearm, but you need to think seriously about what kind of procedures or protections they’re going to have.

RE: So what are some doable, workable solutions for readers who are just sick and tired of gun violence?  What about Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal for mandatory background checks for ammunition purchase? 

AW: I think it makes sense to require background checks for people who are purchasing ammunition in the same way that it makes sense to require people who buy a gun to go through the background checks. Do I think it’s going to make a difference with regard to mass shootings? No. I mean, largely because most of the mass shooters that we know about obtain their guns legally; that means they’ve been able to legally obtain ammunition as well.

RE: What about requiring that guns be insured? Forcing people who have guns to get liability and personal damage insurance?

AW: You could do that, but, you know, there is always the question, does that create more hazard? Does that lead more gun owners to be less careful with their guns because they can get insurance now?

RE: But wouldn’t it lead insurance companies to make the gun industry build more safety mechanisms into guns, like they have with automobiles?

AW: It’s possible. That might be a way of getting around what is a stalemate over safety advancements in guns. Right now, gun makers are avoiding putting new features in that would make a gun safer because gun owners don’t want them.

RE: So, if I’m sickened every time I read the stories of the innocent people who have been killed in mass shootings, and I finally want to do something about it, what do I do?

AW: Become more politically active. I do think that the reason why the NRA’s been so strong in recent years is because they can mobilize voters on Election Day. There’s a lot of money on the gun rights side that goes into election campaigns; there’s a lot of intense passion on their side. Historically we haven’t seen that same passion on the gun control side.

RE: Which organizations are the most effective?

AW: There are three organizations that seem to be the leading gun control organizations right now. Everytown for Gun Safety, the Brady Campaign and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

RE: Every time I interview you, I inevitably get a letter from somebody saying, “If you take away our guns, we’re going to be as defenseless as the Jews were in Nazi Germany.”

AW: My response is, “Who is talking about taking away all the guns? Where is that proposal in universal background check? Where is that proposal in an insurance requirement like the one that you mentioned?”

RE: So you think gun confiscation is not the right way to go?

AW:  No, absolutely not.

RE: And do you still think that improving criminal background checks and making it more difficult for criminals and the mentally ill to get guns are the two best legislative solutions?

AW: They’re the best legislative solutions to try to bring down the daily death toll from violence. They’re not necessarily the best solutions to stop mass shootings problems, because, like I said, mass shooters tend to get their guns legally and because they generally don’t have a criminal record.

RE: So what do you think is the gun control answer to mass shootings?

AW: I don’t know if there is a gun control answer to mass shootings. People are lawfully getting their guns. We made the decision that we’re going to have guns in our society, with the Second Amendment. If you’re really determined to shoot a lot of people, you’re probably going to be able to get your hands on a gun. That’s why I’d say we work on the universal background check and other ways to reduce the daily death toll with guns. That’s where our reform efforts should be focused. That’s where we can make some headway, and that’s the real problem.

Gun control and mass shootings: A conversation with a Second Amendment expert Read More »

Teachers get a lesson in propaganda

Leave a Comment / Los Angeles /

Propaganda can come in many forms — even board games.

When local educators gathered Dec. 5 for a teaching workshop presented by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, they were exposed to World War II-era posters, films, photographs and a disturbing board game from the 1930s called “Jews Out!”

The game had eerie resemblances to classics such as Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land, mixed with unflattering cartoons of Jews. The goal of the game was to drive Jews out of Germany, and different spaces on the board showed images of Jewish businesses that needed to be eliminated.

Israel Bautista, who teaches at El Sereno Middle School, found the materials and discussion styles expanded his paradigm on how propaganda should be taught to younger students.

“It is a good critical analysis tool, because in today’s day and age, with teens being bombarded with images on social media and traditional media, everything is coming at them so quickly that kids need to critically look at those images rather than just be easily influenced,” he said. “It is important for them to put serious thought into what goes into the messages they are told on a daily basis.”

National Recording Service Adolf Hitler – Our Leader!” from the museum’s propaganda exhibition

The free event at the Los Angeles Central Library, “Connecting the Past and Present: A New Framework for Teaching Propaganda,” enabled about 50 attendees to explore content and themes from the museum’s traveling exhibition, “State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda.” It is scheduled to run from March 10 to May 8 at the library and illustrates the Nazis’ use of the latest technologies and techniques to disseminate propaganda, among other things.

“State of Deception” is well-traveled, having been staged in Chicago; Phoenix; Cleveland; St. Louis; Kansas City, Mo.; and Tulsa, Okla. After leaving L.A., it will move on to Austin, Texas; and New Orleans. 

“State of Deception” teacher workshop.

Classroom-ready teaching resources, previewed by those educators in attendance, will be made available to any teacher interested in integrating the innovative materials and teaching methods into their curriculum. Materials can be accessed and downloaded at Teachers get a lesson in propaganda Read More »

2 Israelis wounded in Hebron stabbing

Leave a Comment / Israel /

Two Israelis have been wounded in a stabbing in Hebron.

The victims are in their 20s, according to reports. One was injured moderately in his upper body and one lightly in his leg. They were taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

The alleged assailant, a Palestinian, was killed.

On Monday, an Israeli man in his 40s was severely wounded in a stabbing in Hebron.

The West Bank city, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and an enclave of hundreds of Jews, has been a flashpoint of the recent wave of Palestinian violence.

2 Israelis wounded in Hebron stabbing Read More »

Jewish porn star James Deen ‘baffled’ by rape claims

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Hollywood /

Jewish porn star James Deen denied all of the nine sexual assault allegations leveled against him.

Deen, once known as the “nice Jewish boy” of the porn industry, broke his silence on the list of assault claims in an interview Tuesday with the Daily Beast.

Asked why his ex-girlfriend Stoya, the first adult film actress to come forward with claims about him, would accuse him of rape, Deen said he was “completely baffled.” Stoya accused Deen of rape in a tweet in late November.

The adult film actor also said he “can’t speak to her motivations.”

“There are public articles all over the Internet, written by her, that make the exact opposite claims,” he said.

Nine porn stars, including Jewish actress Joanna Angel, another of his former girlfriends, have accused Deen of some form of sexual assault since Stoya tweeted her claim. Angel, who grew up religiously observant, said in a radio interview that Deen was a “scary person” who would choke her in her sleep.

In the Daily Beast interview, Deen blamed the “messy” circumstances around his breakup with Stoya for her accusation.

“The reason Stoya made this claim could be as simple as her finding out that my current girlfriend and I are moving in together,” he said.

Deen also claimed that his job requires him to engage in what he termed “rough sex.”

“When I am on set, I am under instruction of the company who is paying me,” he said. “I could describe the events of the scene I was in the other day and it could be just as dramatic.

“I have no desire to blame people who consider themselves victims or throw stones. I will just say this: My job as a performer for rough sex companies is to engage in certain acts. If at any point I pushed boundaries past the point of comfort, I am sorry. I have always tried to respect peoples’ limits and safe words and operated within that space.”

Jewish porn star James Deen ‘baffled’ by rape claims Read More »

Honing Hebrew hilariously

Leave a Comment / Culture /

Even the most ardent supporters of Israel might wish at times that its inhabitants had chosen an easier language … like, say, English.

However, because the linguistic choice of our common ancestors appears irreversible, two Israeli expats have come up with the idea of applying English phrases as memory cues to make Hebrew words stick in their minds. The result is a slim, richly illustrated and frequently funny pocket book by Yael Breuer and Eyal Shavit titled “Hilarious Hebrew” and billed as “the fun and fast way to learn the language.”

For instance, a cartoon shows a mountain climber and his unhappy dog getting soaked in the rain, with the man exclaiming, “OH, HELL. We forgot the TENT.” Below is the linguistic link: “The Hebrew word for ‘TENT’ is … OHEL.” The final word is spelled out in both English and Hebrew letters.

Another example is a freezing driver in an icicle-encrusted car, who notes, “It’s COLD in my CAR.” This is followed by, “The Hebrew word for ‘COLD’ is … KAR.”

Sometimes, the authors have to stretch for a connection: “The fastest car in the world belongs to BARACK Obama. It goes like lightning,” accompanied by a drawing of the smiling president clutching the wheel of a car. Beneath is the explanation, “The Hebrew word for ‘LIGHTNING’ is BAH’RAK.”

The originator of “Hilarious Hebrew” is Breuer, born in the Israeli university town of Rehovot and a former tank instructor in the country’s army. She now lives in Brighton, the popular seaside resort on the English Channel, and teaches modern Hebrew, coordinates events for youth programs and freelances as a journalist.

She soon shared her bilingual wordplay ideas with her friend Shavit, a pop-rock singer and guitarist, as well as a fellow Brighton-based Israeli, originally from Kibbutz Kfar Szold.

Although Brighton is hardly a major center of Israeli expats, there are about 100 of them, according to Breuer. They meet monthly in a Brighton pub for “Hebrew-only” get-togethers.

Breuer and Shavit started exchanging ideas and sentences and, in a few months, accumulated several hundred examples. They decided to turn their hobby into a book, and enlisted Aubrey Smith (also of Brighton) to do the illustrations, formed their own publishing company and, after two years, put the book on the market.

Describing the authors’ collaborative process, Breuer said, “Both of us come up with ideas, but I think Eyal’s are funnier than mine. Mine tend to be straight and simple, whereas his are quirkier.”

The first to test the efficacy of the authors’ teaching method was Smith, a gentile Brit, who absorbed many Hebrew words while doing the illustrations for the book.

“Hilarious Hebrew” is divided into sections under such rubrics as “Holidays,” “Family & Friends,” “On the Job,” “How Are You Feeling” and so forth. Also included is a listing of Hebrew letters and vowels and their English equivalents.

Breuer said she is perhaps proudest of the comment from a student she had tutored 22 years earlier and had recently met again. “She recited the English phrases I had given her two decades earlier to link them to Hebrew words, and she said they were still completely ingrained in her brain,” Breuer said.

“Hilarious Hebrew” is distributed in the United States by Gefen Publishing House.

The book is available through ” target=”_blank”>www.hilarioushebrew.com

Honing Hebrew hilariously Read More »

Moving and shaking: Friends of Sheba Medical Center; ETTA gala; Sharon Freedman and more

Leave a Comment / Los Angeles, Movers & Shakers, Moving & Shaking /

Friends of Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer held its 45th anniversary gala, “Honoring Our Heroes,” at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Nov. 15. The event, hosted by actor Jason Alexander, honored local heroes, Sheba doctors and their patients, and raised more than $2 million.

From left: Friends of Sheba Medical Center President Parham Zar; wife and board member Shoshana Zar; and honoree Zeev Rotstein, director general and CEO of Sheba Medical Center; come together at the organization’s Nov. 15 gala in Beverly Hills. Photo by Orly Halevy 

In his remarks, Alexander told the 600 guests that Sheba is responsible for “the long-term rehabilitation and tertiary care of 100 percent of wounded Israeli soldiers.” He added that Sheba sends medical relief to disaster locations worldwide. 

Marion Brucker, who at 108 is Sheba’s oldest and most longstanding donor, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Her nephew, former Beverly Hills mayor Barry Brucker, and his wife, Sue, accepted the award on her behalf.  

Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles David Siegel and his wife, Myra Clark-Siegel, presented the Valor and Courage Award to Evie and Stuart Steinberg, in memory and honor of their son Max Steinberg, an L.A. native and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier who was killed in Gaza during 2014’s Operation Protective Shield.

Rosanne Ziering and Steve Hitter co-chaired the evening; the Siegels served as honorary chairs. Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) presented a flag that had flown over the United States Capitol to Margie Pressman. 

Additional honorees included doctors and patients from Sheba Medical Center: Dr. Eyal Winkler, chief of the Plastic Surgery Department and Burn Center; director general and CEO Zeev Rotstein; and IDF Deputy General Shai Siman Tov, who was paralyzed from the neck down on a mission in Gaza in 2014.

 — Esther D. Kustanowitz, Contributing Writer

The 600 guests attending the Nov. 19 ETTA gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel couldn’t help but notice the striking black-and-white photographs of young adults with developmental disabilities on display, taken by photographer Davis Factor, founder of Smashbox Studios and Cosmetics. Each individual’s personality was captured in an instant, reflecting the theme of the evening — that these young adults should be defined by who they are as people, not by the labels of disability. 

Michael Held, executive director at ETTA; and Lauren Potter, actress, disability activist and recipient of the ETTA Champion Award; at the Nov. 19 ETTA gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Photo by @jonahlightphoto

National spokesperson for the Special Olympics, Lucy Meyer, who was born with cerebral palsy, introduced actress Lauren Potter, best known for her role as Becky Jackson on “Glee,” as the recipient of ETTA’s Champion Award. Potter, 25, who began acting at an early age, has Down syndrome. She told attendees how she’d been disappointed in high school when she wasn’t allowed to participate in her school’s cheerleading squad. “But then I got to play a cheerleader on TV,” Potter said, to the cheers of the audience. 

“Special in Uniform,” the Israeli Army inclusion program that gives youth with disabilities opportunities to join the Israel Defense Forces, received ETTA’s Service Award. The program, now operated by the Jewish National Fund, is a three-year service program.

The Community Leadership Award was given to Adam and Taaly Silberstein for their longtime dedication as ETTA volunteers, opening their Valley Village home for many ETTA Shabbat dinners and other events.

Other notables attending included The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles CEO Jay Sanderson, State Assemblymen Miguel Santiago and Richard Bloom, retired L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, former L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Community College board member Scott Svonkin. Also on hand were film producer Gary Gilbert and Factor.

ETTA, an affiliate of OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services, offers a wide range of residential housing, job training and placement, life skills, and educational and social programming for people with developmental disabilities. The gala raised $500,000.

— Michelle K. Wolf, Contributing Writer

Sharon Freedman, a national campaign director for the Jewish National Fund (JNF), a nonprofit that promotes the prosperity of Israel and its communities, has relocated to the Los Angeles area to focus on managing and supervising West Coast operations. 

Sharon Freedman, national campaign director for the Jewish National Fund. Photo courtesy of the Jewish National Fund 

“I am overwhelmed by the impact we have on building our homeland. I am … excited to have relocated to Los Angeles, which is filled with passionate, caring and generous individuals,” Freedman, who moved to Los Angeles in August, wrote in an email.

Freedman joined JNF in 1999 and previously was campaign director for New England (which she continues to oversee), as well as Ohio, Pittsburgh, Denver and Northern California. She became national campaign director four years ago and oversees California, the Pacific Northwest, desert states, mountain states and New England.

Locally, there have been numerous changes to JNF Los Angeles, too. In August, Marina Brodetsky joined as senior communications associate, after handling media and public relations at the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles for six years.

Robert Wise joined JNF in September as executive vice president for the greater L.A. area. Wise has more than 20 years’ experience in fundraising and nonprofit management, having held positions at UCLA, the Rand Corp. and American Friends of Tel Aviv University, among others.

Louis Rosenberg was promoted in September to executive director of the area branch after spending the last three years as associate director for the JNF. Previously, he worked in sports marketing for 20 years for the Los Angeles Clippers, L.A. Avengers and Women’s World Cup Soccer.

— Virginia Isaad, Contributing Writer

Moving and Shaking highlights events, honors and simchas. Got a tip? Email ryant@jewishjournal.com. 

Moving and shaking: Friends of Sheba Medical Center; ETTA gala; Sharon Freedman and more Read More »

Hebrew word(s) of the week: Hashmona’im/makabbim, Hasmoneans/Maccabees

Leave a Comment / Culture /

The Hasmoneans and Maccabees are almost synonymous names for the family that liberated the Holy Temple and all Judea from the Hellenistic (Greek) pagan influence. There are several explanations for both names. Hasmoneans may be derived from a forefather of the family named Hashmonay, or may have originated in the village Heshmon (Joshua 15:26).

Similarly, the Maccabees are named for Judah — the third son of Mattatyahu (Mattathias), “God’s Gift” — whose nickname was MaKaBY, an acronym of the verse (slogan) Mi Kamokha Ba-elim Adonay (Yah) “Who is like You, O Lord.” Or an acronym of Mattatyahu Kohen Ben Yohanan. More probably, Judah’s nickname was Maqqabi (with quf), “Hammer-man,” related to Hebrew maqqevet* “workmen’s hammer” (used also as a weapon, as by Yael who used it to kill Sisera; Judges 4:21). 

*From n-q-v, “to pierce a hole.” “Hammer” could also be a metaphor; compare Karl Martell (“Hammer”), the Frankish warrior.

Yona Sabar is a professor of Hebrew and Aramaic in the department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures at UCLA.

Hebrew word(s) of the week: Hashmona’im/makabbim, Hasmoneans/Maccabees Read More »

President Donald J. Trump’s State of the Union Address or: ‘The Plot Against America II’

Leave a Comment / David N. Myers, Is Featured?, Mobile, Mobile-Homepage, News, Opinion /

January 16, 2018

“My Fellow Americans, Vice President Palin, distinguished members of Congress, and esteemed guests, I am deeply honored to offer this State of the Union address, my first since being elected your president in November 2016. 

I must commence with a warning.  America is in a conflict unlike any ever before. We face a mortal enemy with whom we are engaged in a civilizational war over the very values that define our way of life and being.

As you know well, it is not my habit to beat around the bush.  This enemy must be named again and again: it is Islam.  And we in the West must wage battle against it to defend the Christian values on which our societies are built.  As my distinguished predecessor President George W. Bush once wisely declared, we are embarked on a new Crusade in the name of our American virtue.

Some critics have accused me of bigotry and discrimination.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  I have known and gotten along with Muslims in the past; some are loyal citizens of this country.  I have nothing against Muslims as individuals.  I do have a serious problem with the religion to which they pledge allegiance, for it is a religion of hatred and violence.

I have a very good sense of history.  I understand that war can be long and brutal.  The Thirty Years’ War in seventeenth-century Europe pitted combatants from competing religions against one another.  Since the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, we have been engaged in a war that has already lasted 25 years.  We must redouble our resolve to defend our homeland and defeat the enemy.

Toward that end, I report to you on the following:

1)  In this state of war, we will take the battle to wherever the enemy is to be found.  Immediately upon assuming office, I ordered repeated bombing raids against ISIS forces in Syria.  This campaign has been effective in displacing ISIS from its stronghold in Raqqa.  Yes, there has been collateral damage, but that is the unfortunate cost of a total war against evil.   We have chopped off the head of the snake, but the body continues to writhe, supported by hundreds of thousands of new recruits drawn to the noxious ideology of ISIS and its new allies, Al Qaeda, the Al Nusra Front, and Boko Haram.

2)  I have committed to date 300,000 American ground forces to eliminate the enemy in various battle theaters where the poison of radical Islam permeates: Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Nigeria.  We will not rest in our efforts to remove this dire threat.  I am grateful that the United States has been joined by two partners willing to defend the Christian West – France and Russia.  I commend my good friends President Marine Le Pen and President Vladimir Putin for their courage and conviction.  At the same time, our hearts go out to the families of the 28,000 American soldiers who have given their lives so far in the defense of liberty.  There will be more sacrifices, I’m afraid.  But we must make them to defeat the enemy.

3)  On the home front, we are also at war, and this requires emergency measures. I have instructed Secretary of Defense Ted Cruz, Attorney General Frank J. Gaffney Jr., and Special Advisor for Muslim Affairs Pamela Geller to intensify our efforts to monitor the Muslim population of this country.  I do not believe that all Muslims in America are disloyal, but far too many subscribe to the tenets of radical Islam.  This is the lesson we learned from the tragic terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California in 2015.  I repeat: we are at war at home!  Accordingly, I have put in place the following steps: 

a.  Regardless of nationality, all Muslims are being denied entry to this country at every port of entry.  At my request, the Attorney General has established a classification scheme to determine who is to be deemed Muslim.

b.  All mosques, community centers, and organizations devoted to Muslims in this country will be closed effective immediately.  Membership in them will be illegal until further notice.

c.  Effective immediately, the Department of Homeland Security is creating internment camps to house all Muslims inside this country, without exception.  This step is necessary to insure that acts of terrorism not be perpetrated on American soil.

Some may regard these steps as un-American. But I remind you that one of my great predecessors, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, issued Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, declaring that “the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities.”  This order allowed the internment of 120,000 Japanese-Americans who required surveillance in the wake of Pearl Harbor, when Japan was our declared enemy.  

As a businessman, I know what works.  And this internment worked.  Not only was the homeland secure during this period, but Japanese-Americans were compliant.  In fact, there were polls of the internees in which a substantial number asserted that they were content and even thankful for the protection afforded them.  I have little doubt that the Muslim population in this country will feel the same.

I hasten to mention three additional steps intended to restore pride and security to this country:

First, all homes must, by order of law, visibly display American flags on their doors or front lawns.

Second, the home of every loyal American citizen will be provided with an effective firearm to guarantee defense of our homeland.

Third, my immediate predecessor as president remains under arrest pending investigation of his links to radical Muslim terrorists cells.  He is in good physical condition, but will be treated with the full severity of the law should any criminal connection be found. 

My fellow Americans, these steps will assure the health and safety of our country at this critical time.  Now is the time for unity, not dissent.  We must join together under the Stars and Stripes to wage battle against the enemy, both beyond our borders and within them.  God bless all those who are willing to embark on this moral and virtuous Crusade.”

David N. Myers is the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Professor of Jewish History at UCLA.  Inspiration came from Philip Roth’s counterfactual novel The Plot against America and the television series “The Man in the High Castle.” 

President Donald J. Trump’s State of the Union Address or: ‘The Plot Against America II’ Read More »

The Right Way—and Wrong Way—to Fight Trump’s Latest Outrage

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

Donald Trump’s proposal to bar “all Muslims” from entering the U.S.—now amended to be “temporary,” to apply only to foreign nationals, and perhaps also to exclude any Muslims serving in American uniform—is as stupid as it’s cruel.

Certainly it’s antithetical to the best in American values, though quite resonant with some of the worst in American history, going back to the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, the Know Nothing Movement pre-Civil War, the Sedition Act of 1918, FDR’s Executive Order 9066 authorizing Japanese American internment, and the most questionable “national security” legislation passed during the McCarthy era, some of which is still on the books.

If we cannot do better in fighting Radical Islamic terror abroad and at home than Trump’s brain burp, Americans ought to fold up our tents and surrender to the Caliphate.

On the other hand, the deplorable combination of special pleading, ignorance, or hypocrisy among some of those either unable or unwilling to cogently argue against Trump appalls me:

First: Not All Bad Ideas are Unconstitutional. Legal scholars, apparently all opposed to Trump’s proposal, disagree on ideological lines on whether or not it would be Constitutional. Liberals point out that most Constitutional rights and protections apply to “persons,” not just “citizens,” and that religious tests for office are barred while the First Amendment bans Congress from choosing between religions. Conservatives—who in my view have the better argument—point out that all the court cases protecting against religious discrimination apply to foreign nationals already in the U.S. (including those here illegally) not to those seeking to enter. In 1891, the Congress passed a law, never successfully challenged, barring polygamists from entering the country. In 1907, it barred even those who just believed in polygamy from entering. These laws were meant to discriminate against Mormons, but applied just as well as to Muslim believers in or practitioners of polygamy.

In Kleindienst v. Mandel (1972), the Supreme Court applied the long-standing “plenary power doctrine” giving Congress unchallengeable authority to uphold the exclusion of people based on their political beliefs, despite the Free Speech Clause. Arguably, this ruling could be used as bar Muslims if they believe in Sharia Law, which is as much a political as a religious doctrine. Earlier, in Knauff v. Shaugnessy (1950), the Court upheld the exclusion on the basis of “secret evidence” of a German woman seeking entry because barring an entrant was by definition “due process . . . whatever the procedure authorized by Congress.”

As to the Chief Executive, 8 USC §1182 states: “Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.” In 1979, President Jimmy Carter barred entry of Iranians with certain exceptions, and set in motion procedures that resulted in the deportation of over 10,000 Iranian students who had overstayed their visas, citing the Nationality Act of 1952, a harsh Cold War era measure sponsored by Senator Pat McCarran, a pro-McCarthy Democrat.

It’s hard to see what would prevent a President Trump from tailoring these precedents into a rationale for excluding Muslims. If he were smart, he might not make the test religion per se, but the perceived ideological threat posed by adherence or Sharia Law or only to residents of certain designated countries—Syria and Iraq, for example, but perhaps not Indonesia—that just happen to be overwhelmingly Muslim. Of course, the Constitution, as cynics say, is what the current Supreme Court says it is, and it’s certainly possible that today’s Supreme Court—overruling the “plenary powers” doctrine and overturning the WWII Supreme Court decisions upholding Japanese American internment (still on the books)—might checkmate a President Trump. I would not bet on it, however, in the unlikely event that Trump were elected President with the backing of a supportive Congress.

Second: civil liberties hypocrites are not in the best position to condemn Trump. Just weeks ago, there were not only college students but administrators who seemed willing to trash the First Amendment’s speech rights because of an overriding need to create “safe zones” to protect minorities and women on campus. If they can dismiss the First Amendment to make colleges “safe” for students, why can’t Trump ignore it to make the country “safe” from Muslims for all Americans?

Even the ACLU is apparently not above hypocrisy. For years, it’s been suing the Obama Administration arguing that “no fly lists” were arbitrary, secretive, and “anti-Muslim.” But now, so far as I know, it is not willing to condemn Senator Feinstein’s Democratic-backed bill to use the same “arbitrary” and “anti-Muslim” lists to ban gun purchases in the face of the Second Amendment.

You may hate the NRA, but at least it’s consistent. I would like to be able to say the same of the ACLU which I’ve always admired as an historian for providing among the few voices against Japanese American internment.

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