It’s all becoming clear. The radical reactionaries who currently govern both the U.S. and Israel want to return to the “good old days” of the Crusades –those military campaigns fought in the “good old days” between 1095 and 1291 , when the religious warriors who battled Muslim rulers over the Holy Land, were promised spiritual rewards for slaying those who worshipped the wrong God.
In the United States, Pete Hegseth is trying to turn the Department of Defense into a Department of Holy War.
Several media outlets are reporting that former military officials, experts on religion and law, and veterans groups are expressing alarm over the worship services that Hegseth has instituted at the Pentagon, and his repeated description of the U.S. military as a force for Christianity. Hegseth makes no bones about his extreme fundamentalist views; he has prayed for U.S. troops to assert “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy,” saying: “We ask these things with bold confidence in the mighty and powerful name of Jesus Christ.”
Hegseth–along with many other members of Trump’s clown-car administration–has rather obviously never heard of the First Amendment, or the long line of Supreme Court decisions confirming its Separation of Church and State. That shouldn’t surprise us; it’s pretty clear that most of these grifters have never encountered the U.S. Constitution and that they are unable to grasp the concept of the rule of law.
If it has been hard to watch what has been happening to America since Trump was re-elected, it has been equally depressing to watch what Israel has become under Bibi Netanyahu. The destruction in Gaza was horrifying enough, and now the Guardian has reported that the Knesset has passed a law applying the death penalty to Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks.
The measure will allow courts to impose the death penalty without a request from prosecutors and without requiring unanimity, instead permitting a simple majority decision. Military courts in the occupied West Bank will also be empowered to hand down death sentences, with the defence minister able to submit an opinion.
For Palestinians under occupation, the bill closes off avenues for appeal or clemency, while prisoners tried inside Israel could have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
Rights groups in Israel called passage of the law “an act of institutionalised discrimination and racist violence against Palestinians,” and the Israeli Association for Civil Rights has filed an appeal against the law with Israel’s supreme court. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the legislation as a breach of international law.
The law evidently would not apply to Israelis convicted of carrying out deadly attacks against Palestinians.
Britain, France, Germany and Italy expressed “deep concern” over the legislation, which they said risked “undermining Israel’s commitments with regards to democratic principles.” No kidding!
To call these situations appalling is an understatement.
I am an American Jew who grew up proud of both my country and the pioneers who created the state of Israel. Back in eighth grade, I won an “I speak for Democracy” contest with an essay celebrating America’s constitutional democracy, and I have spent my professional life defending what I call The American Idea–the philosophy of the Declaration, Constitution and Bill of Rights. I took equal pride in my Jewish heritage, especially when public figures acknowledged the copious contributions of Jewish Americans to science, medicine, culture, and business– contributions that significantly exceed our percentage of the population. The fact that Stephen Miller is Jewish makes me want to throw up.
I used to cheer for Israel when that small country–among other things, a refuge for Holocaust survivors– fended off attacks by its neighbors, and as the years went on, I hoped for a two-state solution that would protect the safety and security of both Israelis and Palestinians. I could never have imagined that a people who had endured Nazi oppression–based upon religious and ethnic identity–would emulate the Nuremberg laws that had targeted Jewish, Roma and Black people for who they were.
If there is a moral to this story, it is that no group of people is monolithic. No identity or religion or nationality can claim special virtue. The oppressed can become oppressors; zealotry in the name of religion is just as sinister as rabid devotion to a political ideology.
The Crusades were not the “good old days.”
If there was one sentiment that pervaded NO KINGS day, it was the desire of ordinary Americans to get our country back from the fanatics, lunatics and cowards currently in office. I have to imagine that ordinary Israelis feel the same way.
Brilliant and sad commentary today. Thank you Sheila.
Speaking as a practicing progressive Christian, I want to confess that I have also gone through the process you describe as a progressive self-identifying Jew… Of having once identified with the earlier manifestatiin of your stare of Israel, and now needing to distance self from what it has become under Netanyahu.
OMG… My family descends from the Crusader king who built Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre and my college sports team once called themselves the Crusaders. (Not any more, of course.) And like you I now need to grieve over the name “Christian” being claimed as a label for the criminal behavior of Hegseth and the Trumps and their ilk. God help us!
Passover was Thursday and Easter is this morning, when both of our noble spiritual traditions need to mourne over how they are being abused and have to repent for the sins of these mobsters who claim to speak for us. So sad… so Human!
The Holy One, whoever He or She is in easence (…doubtless neither and both…), is certainly weeping with us.
Your comments are a long time coming. Let us hope that all American supporters of Israel come to see this too; as we hope that all Americans come to see the Trump regime for what it is too.
Twice in the last few days, I’ve seen Hegseth referred to as “Secretary of War Crimes”, so he has company.
Like Trump, the only option for Bibi is to keep escalating, when one stupid decision after another doesn’t get the results that your fantasies have dreamed up.
Rather than go back to the Crusades, a more recent plan for Iran’s overthrow emerged after 9/11, when General Wesley Clark disclosed in 2003 the seven countries that were to be overthrown within five years: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran.
A spark was needed, however, to gain the people’s support for multiple expansive military campaigns in remote regions.
The 2000 document “Rebuilding America’s Defenses,” published by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a think tank co-founded by Dick Cheney, suggested a spark.
The PNAC document stated that a “catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor” might be necessary to spur American military transformation.
The transformation happened in 2001 with 9/11 and we got not only wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but also the Patriot Act (which Congress will likely never repeal) to keep America safe from foreign invaders.
You won’t hear the word “genocide” uttered by Zionists today, especially on the Ellison monopoly of the US media outlets. One of the first cleansing interviews given by Bari Weiss, chosen by Larry Ellison to run CBS News with Erika Quirk, was the worst display of “journalism” ever displayed.
I am watching the Zionist Crusades going on within MAGA and MIGA very closely, and it’s interesting that Trump clearly explains how the Zionist Billionaire system works in the US, but avoids Judeaism completely. I did hear Trump mention “bringing our Christians home” regarding an African nation, I believe.
Dipshits like Tom Cotton still use “Israel as the fight to defend itself” to describe a genocide, which eliminates the last ounce of credibility he had remaining. I wonder how much Governor Sarah Huckabee gives Arkansas taxpayer dollars to Israel directly – I’ve heard they are one of the top five Israeli bond investors.
As for the top five European states regarding Israel, they are as worthless as the US. I am glad to see Spain and others growing a spine and drawing a red line restricting Bibi from their skies.
They used to say the Taliban is as bad as the extreme Christians. Does the same term apply to the fundamentalist Jews?
I’m sorry, but I don’t believe in these mythic crusaders. I read that for forty years, Iran has been “six months from building a nuclear weapon to wipe Israel off the map, and each time the US POTUS has said no bombing of Iran. Just simple math would say Iran’s stockpile could wipe out the world 5x if Israel’s Intel were true.
The bribed Trump did it in June/July, and “obliterated” all the facilities used to build a weapon. That obliteration should have caused a nuclear explosion that would have “obliterated” the human empire. Six months later, Israel is touting the same lie to the same bribed POTUS, and he claims, “Iran can’t be allowed to have an atomic weapon, so we bombed them again.”
If you think inflation is bad now, just wait 6 months. Based on the numbers alone, I’d say MAGA is winning over MIGA. MAGA experts are telling Trump and his chumps to quit giving Tucker Carlson interviews because he obliterates every single one of them. He won’t let them pull their Fox bullshit dance because he knows how it’s done. LOL
Some people will believe anything…personally, all I want to see is the skies filled with Dragons. I love dragons. Even got a tattoo of one on my back shoulder surrounding my yin/yang symbol.
thanks, best vent yet Sheila. stand the ground, and i feel were are behind ya.
the good ol days disappeared long ago. immfeeling and reading how this whole Gaza and now Iran deal made its way into politics or, demands by some,Arab states. since little is said beyond whatnthe men decide,and keep to themselves. im finding theres money involved and lives are now mere collateral damage. theres little in the media about civilians killed,or injured. trumps clan of 2025 is responsable for atrocities for personal gain,,along with his clan.the clan of,anyone who profits from this lie called doing good,or however kushner and whitaker decides to make for themselves. bibi is somehow allowed to carry this mass extemination at his own will. but,here we sit supplying the tools of the trade. the greed alone from just watching our hard earned paycheck with little in security goes to keep us afloat while it fills wall streets coffers with no control. as we fill the pockets of sharholders of every corp in America and alot around the world. then that money disappears away from main street,to be hoarded and used as tools against the working class. the sense that politicians today say we elected them and we should expect this travisty of goverance.trump is filling his and many others pockets by killing people who never attacked our intrests or our country. and this will be his demand to forego any chance of his 2025 clan leaving office. if he can attack by mercinary military intentions,then he can attack us with the same. im sure his brown shirts here are ready to stand with ice or any other homeland desire..
just bot and watch how it works,,
This is what happens when religion and government are entwined. As I see it Judaism is a religion, while Israel is a state. I have had to remind some of my younger friends that Jewish Americans are not the same thing as Israelis. Most of my Jewish friends are appalled by what has been happening to Palestinians.
Netanyahu and Orange Jesus are soulmates. Neither has a conscience. Both only want power. Neither seems to be concerned about the future of the world. Neither has any concern for the children they are killing. (What would Golda Meir say if she were alive today)? Both should be remembered as sociopathic egomaniacs.
My personal definition of religion is “Culturally supported delusion.” Hegseth, et al. are certainly deluded, and Trump is some sort of walking delusion!
I was born into a Jewish family of non-believers, was told by my pat. g’father that he’d been asked to “think” about what his devout father believed in, and found it to be empty (not his word).
How many times have various Christians claimed that they “know” that the “end” is coming? That started as the year 1,000 approached, as the “end” of Jesus’ 1,00 year reign. NOT.
But, evidence does not have traction, one way or another.
Has it escaped anyone else’s attention that Bibi AND Trump are working as hard as they can to avoid prison? Funny how that works.
Sheila, an excellent posting.
Netanyahu, Biden, and Trump should all be in The Hague as war criminals.
The power imbalance between Bibi and Trump is the Epstein Videos – blackmail.
Amen, Sister.
I remember the pride I had in our country when my foreign-born wife, studying for her citizenship test, learned that the police and even the President had to obey the law (that is before Trump).
I also remember the pride I felt learning (from the back pages of Newsweek) that another Palestinian had been “smuggled” across the Jordanian border for life-saving treatment in an Israeli hospital.
And when an Israeli freighter picked up a boatful of Vietnamese refugees, ignored by others (against International law). When no other country would take them, so they were brought back to Israel and granted immediate citizenship, remembering how Jewish refugees were treated by the world.
Now we have Trump and Bibi – war criminals – well beyond being a source of shame. As Peggy points out, mixing religion into national (or local) politics leads to disaster. Although Israel does not have a constitution, it still began guaranteeing freedom of religion and used both Arabic and Hebrew as the official languages. Its founders were equally disciples of the enlightenment, but with a more socialist twist.
My only hope is in the Courts in both countries, and in the protest movements, weakening in Israel, but growing stronger here.
Old but remember my love of ISRAEL, And my heritage to it.
Trying to stay away from hate & am just sad.
Keep wondering how we allowed this mess to happen.
Since 2023, over 40, 000 rockets and missiles have been launched at Israel. That’s like one million two hundred thousand rockets being launched at the U.S.A. No other state would tolerate this assault, but what does Israel get. You Jews deserve it because of your occupation of Palestine meaning, because you exist you must be destroyed. Sheila Kennedy is and many Progressives who follow her are carriers of this moral aberration. it is time t understand the affect the Hamas raid had on Israel and what the butchery of its citizens did to Israel’s resolve. No longer will Israel stand back on orders by the international community to be more conciliatory and passive. Those days are gone and justly so.
The nation of Israel was founded on religion. Big mistake. The Jews who claimed the land that had been held by Muslims prior to the war may have been willing to live in peace, but their occupation was guaranteed to provoke undying hatred.
The whole world is still paying the price for their rejection of Jewish refugees before, during and after World War 2. The only reason Jews, Muslims and Christians are not slaughtering each other in this country is because our Constitution guarantees religious freedom. The ONLY alternative to religious freedom is religious war! If the U.S. abandons religious freedom by embracing Christian Nationalism, we will find ourselves embroiled in the same unending cycle of hatred and violence that has been going on in the Middle East for at least a thousand years.
Few better, Sheila. I hope you see in the comments what I see: your opinion, of course, provides an outlet for expression but one that that is honored and expanded by those you attract. It’s impressive and to me, uplifting. Keep at it.