Tag Archive for: Pensacola

FLORIDA: FBI identifies motive for Pensacola shooting as “jihad”

It is astounding that seventeen years after 9/11 that it would be newsworthy that the FBI called a jihad attack “jihad,” but the denial and willful ignorance have been pandemic, and made into official U.S. policy during the Obama administration. This is a small step back to sanity for the still largely clueless and corrupt FBI. Much more is needed.

“FBI continues investigation into deadly NAS Pensacola shooting, calls motive ‘jihad,’” by Michael Warrick, WALA, January 30, 2020:

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) – Nearly two months after a Saudi national killed three young sailors aboard NAS Pensacola, the FBI says its investigation is “ongoing,” stopping short of disclosing what the shooter was doing in the hours leading up to the tragedy.

The FBI and base commander spoke to reporters Thursday, but declined to answer how Mohammed Alshamrani, got a gun onto the base prior to the shooting. The FBI is working with Apple to look at two phones that were in Alshamrani’s possession.

“We have no evidence that there were any co-conspirators,” FBI Special Agent in Charge, Rachel Rojas said. “However we are still seeking the cooperation of Apple so we can look through the two I-Phones.”…

RELATED ARTICLES:

Arkansas: Muslim who shot two soldiers claims that as a terrorist, he shouldn’t have been tried in state court

Muslim cleric’s fatwa permits Muslims to celebrate coronavirus spread and pray for “annihilation” of Chinese people

UK: Rotherham Muslims launch “guardian” group after “far-right” distributes leaflets warning about Muslim rape gangs

What appears to be a religious Muslim describes Jesus and Mary in highly offensive terms

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Trump: “The King said that the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1203030938663428103?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1203030941108711424&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jihadwatch.org%2F2019%2F12%2Ftrump-the-king-said-that-the-saudi-people-are-greatly-angered-by-the-barbaric-actions-of-the-shooter

Does Trump himself believe this? Does he actually think that “the Saudi people…love the American people”? Or is he calculating that he needs to take this line because he wants to keep the Saudis on his side against Iran?

Either way, the Saudi problem is not going to go away, and is going to have to be dealt with sooner or later. This is a regime that has spent billions, if not trillions, to spread Wahhabi Islam — a form of the religion that is even more virulent and violent than the others — around the world. Its schools are routinely found to teach hatred of Jews and Christians, despite repeated promises of textbook reform. Even if Trump thinks the Saudi regime is reforming, a claim that has been made but for which there is scant evidence, he should realize that “the Saudi people” are mostly doctrinaire Muslims (as they have been taught to be and threatened into remaining) who therefore have no love for the kuffar of America.

For years I have called for an end to our sham alliance with Saudi Arabia. The Pensacola shooting only shows yet again why this is needed.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Defense Secretary on Pensacola jihad massacre: “I can’t say it’s terrorism at this time”

Uncle of Pensacola jihad murderer: “He had his religion, his prayer”

10 Saudi military students at Pensacola Naval Air Station now detained after jihad massacre

Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister: “Iran cultivates terrorist cells and carries out sabotage in various countries”

RELATED VIDEO: FBI presumes base shooting was act of terrorism.

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Six Saudi Muslims arrested near Naval Air Station after jihad attack, three of them filmed the massacre

UPDATE:

There needs to be a thorough and realistic reevaluation of this training program of foreign nationals. But that probably will not happen; it would be “Islamophobic.”

“Six Saudis are arrested over Pensacola naval base shooting including three who FILMED the attack by countryman who killed three and wounded eight before being shot dead – as FBI probes terror link,” by Andrew Court and Snejana Farberov, Dailymail.com, December 6, 2019:

The Air Force trainee who killed three and injured eight when he opened fire at a naval base in Florida assailed the United States as ‘a nation of evil’ before he went on his shooting rampage, AFP reports.

The man, first identified by NBC News as Saudi national Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, opened fire inside a classroom at Naval Air Station in Pensacola early Friday morning. Police quickly responded to the scene and he was shot dead.

US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said the suspect was a second lieutenant attending the aviation school at the base.

Meanwhile six other Saudi nationals were arrested near the base shortly after the attack, as investigators began to probe a terror link.

Three of the six were seen filming the entire incident as it unfolded, a source told The New York Times on Friday evening….

RELATED ARTICLES:

Military bases across the U.S are put on high alert as FBI hunts missing Saudi servicemen linked to Pensacola shooting and probes shooter’s trip to New York two days before as terror investigators are called in

Pensacola jihad murderer tweeted that US was committing “crimes against Muslims,” including support of Israel

Florida: Naval Air Station jihad murderer was 2nd Lieutenant in Saudi Air Force

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Pensacola, Florida: ‘The City Of Five Flags’ Censors One of Its Flags

pensacola five flags flyingPensacola is named “The City Of Five Flags” out of respect to the five nations or governments that ruled here over this area in the course of our history.

The city of Pensacola chose this name to honor its historical significance but it is missing one very important flag. The Northern Virginia Battle Flag (Confederate flag). It is missing. MIA.

Perhaps the city of Pensacola has deemed the flag offensive because of liberal lies and false propaganda regarding its historical significance in Pensacola and across the southern United States.

The northern Federal aggression against the free states of the south that were trying to unshackle themselves from the Federal overreach into states rights initiated a movement to defend themselves much like you see today against Obama.

Americans are fighting hard today or their freedom from Federal intrusion into their lives.

Whether its the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) unconstitutionally controlling state lands in direct violation of Article 1, section 8, clause 17 of the US Constitution, or Obama- Romney care which violates your 4th, 5th, and 10th Amendment rights.

The list is endless. Why even Texas has even considered planning on seceding from the union.

So we had the civil war where the southern states tried to free themselves from the unconstitutional overreach of President Lincoln and his Federal forces, who then played the race card and invaded.

Many authorities on the Civil War asserted that the Southerners knew at the time that slavery was wrong, and would soon give it up. War was not necessary.

The civil war was not about slavery it was about unconstitutional over reach by the Federal government into states rights. The race card was used by Lincoln to justify his marshal law and all the assaults as he shredded the US Constitution much like Obama is today.

The southern states actively recruited black Americans to fight in the Confederate armies to defend the south from the attacking Federal (Union) armies.

It is true the Congress of the Confederate States of America did not authorize black-Americans to enlist into the Confederate army until General Order No. 14 was issued on March 23, 1865.

However, prior to March 1865, each state in the Confederacy was sovereign and independent; and Confederate Officers were enlisting blacks based on the Confederate legislation of their respective states.

The Confederate legislature of Tennessee passed a law allowing blacks to join the Confederate army between the ages of fifteen and fifty.

So the city of Pensacola and other government bodies across this nation are disrespecting the Northern Virginia Battle Flag and the military folks that died defending the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution based upon lies and propaganda spread by liberal – Communist race baiters.

We now have a government trying to censor a part of American history with even the removal of Confederate war monuments much like ISIS in Iraq is doing destroying historical artifacts in that country.

These are the same liberals, Communists, today who are trying to censor the Gadsden flag and the Nation of Islam led by Louis Farrakhan is even trying to ban the Stars and Stripes.

In the history of Pensacola Florida for many years, the flag flown over Pensacola to represent its past Confederate rule was the “Northern Virginia Battle Flag,” the design most commonly associated with the Confederacy.

So why now is this historical flag it missing from the line up as you enter the city of Pensacola?

I see the Spanish flag, called “The Naval ensign of Charles III”, Spain a nation that decimated and butchered the native people of South and Central America. President Andrew Jackson took care of the Spanish problem in Pensacola.

I see the British flag who tried to tax us and control us. We took care of the British when they tried to confiscate our guns. We soundly defeated them. This would be a good warning to others with the same design today.

I see the French flag which I believe should be totally white. Much more appropriate I think.

But in 2015 a lunatic left wing Marxist with a Rebel flag in his front yard shot up a black church in Charleston, SC. Very bad indeed but totally irrelevant to our past American history. The murderer as also wearing jeans in the picture. Perhaps we should ban those too. Racist jeans indeed.

Mayor of Pensacola Ashton Hayward

Mug shot of Mayor of Pensacola Ashton Hayward who was arrested three times on felony charges. Photo courtesy of FindingAshtonHayward.blogspot.com.

So the Mayor of Pensacola Ashton Hayward the politically correct three time felon, who in his liberal left wing mind set is censoring American history and decided to confiscate the Confederate flag and replace it with the Florida state flag.

This decision was political cowardice and a total censorship of American history. It disrespects the black and white members of the Confederate army that so bravely died trying to defend the south from northern Federal aggression.

The Federal government funded and created an army called the Union army to crush freedom south of the Mason Dixon line. All carried out under Lincoln, a President who shredded the US Constitution under a race card called slavery.

President Lincoln was not a great hero; he was an enemy of the U.S. Constitution controlled by the emerging bankers.

Many blacks fought hard in the south to stop the Union armies from burning their homes and killing their kin folk and taking southern states land. Slavery was a bad thing and of course it was not constitutional and an abuse of human right’s. Of course some black folks switched sides and also fought on the side of the Federal Union army. Such are the demographics of war when folks are trained to think a particular way. .

But with that said the Northern Virginia Army Battle Flag designed by William Porcher Miles did not fly to protect and defend slavery.

It flew to defend and protect the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution and it flew as a symbol of bravery to try and stop the aggressive and destructive Federal Lincoln army intent on destroying freedom in the south.

The Northern Virginia Battle flag needs to be returned to its flag pole in the city Pensacola. The City of Five Flags. Currently the City of politically correct Marxist censorship.

Florida: Who was the VIP Guest Speaker for Donald Trump at the Pensacola Rally?

On January 13th Mr. Donald Trump flew into Pensacola Florida in a trail of Constitutional leadership like old Glory flying majestically from the mast heads of a carrier battle group.

His jet, setting down in Pensacola, an aviation city with the Blue Angels home base and formerly an aircraft carrier training platform on board the USS Lexington.

Chief Warrant Officer Gary O'Neal

Chief Warrant Officer Gary O’Neal

My friend of many years and brave patriot Chief Warrant Officer Gary O’Neal U.S. Army Special Forces was called into action by Mr. Trump. My texts not working too well at 39,000 feet over South America.

Gary flew in from his bunker in Texas to introduce a 9 minute lexicon of greatness for this nation the United States of America and in support of Mr. Donald Trump.

I have worked with Gary over the years on many events. As I flew back from Colombia South America I finally landed at VPS, Fort Walton Beach Florida to traffic backed up all the way to Pensacola.

Yup, Mr. Trump was in town and Gary was about to speak.

A little about the man you saw on the stage last night if you attended the event in Pensacola Florida at the Civic Center.

Gary O’Neal was a chief warrant officer in the Army Special Forces and has been called one of the greatest warriors the United States has ever known — but you won’t hear him say that.

Gary O’Neal is part American Indian and is a distinguished member of the Army Ranger Hall of Fame —

American warrior book coverHe is also the author of his autobiography “American Warrior: The True Story of a Legendary Ranger,” co-written with David Fisher and published by St. Martin’s Griffin.

Gary was in combat at age 17 in Vietnam and served in both Persian Gulf wars.

He spends time as one of the oldest line backers in the Dallas Cowboys Football team; which he told me today on the phone, and spends the rest of his time training the next generation of soldiers.

Gary’s fifth-great grandfather was in the Frontier Rangers and fought in the Revolutionary War along with his two sons, and they signed the Oath of Allegiance to America.

Gary also asked me how I was feeling after my trip to South America, he knew I was suffering badly from altitude sickness. He always looks out for others before himself. This is a warrior creed. Gary is also very familiar with South America.

Gary O’Neal’s military career began with him being drafted in 1969. Gary served with several elite units including the 173rd airborne brigade line company. Company C, 75th ranger regiment and the 5th special forces group.

During his first tour in Vietnam, Gary spent the majority of his time conducting hazardous missions that included prisoner of war rescues and sniper operations.

Gary attended ranger school before returning for a second tour in Vietnam and received both the silver and bronze star medals for his brave combat service in country.

Gary then went to the special forces assessment and selection course where he completed all the training to earn his green beret, as well as completing scuba and sub-operations training and high-altitude, low-opening parachute jump school.

Gary also spent more than 15 years training and fighting with American and Latin American forces in Central and South America

“Gary is one of the finest field soldiers I have ever met in my entire life.”

Said Gary Dolan. Gary’s platoon leader while he was in company c. 75th ranger regiment. ‘his ability to track the enemy soldier was the best I have ever seen.”

Gary was also an instructor for the Army halo (High-Altitude -Low Opening) parachute school and spent two years as a golden knight on the Army parachute team.

He was also handpicked to help develop the first survival, evasion, resistance and escape course at Fort Bragg. In 1996, Gary retired from the Army.

In 2004, the Army again called him to active duty this time, it was to be a master trainer in the world’s largest unconventional warfare field exercise – robin sage.

Gary currently teaches seminars in his own developed fighting style, American Warrior free fighting system, where he is a 10th degree black belt.

Gary is a true example of a warrior living by his motto “glory has a price, honor is priceless, integrity covers it all. ”

His awards and decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with V-device, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medals with V-device, three Army Achievement Medals, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Gold Star, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Special Forces and Ranger Tabs, Master Parachutist Badge, Master Military Freefall Badge, and Combat Diver’s Badge.

Devoting nearly forty years with the US Army Rangers and Special Forces serving his country and its allies around the world, Chief Warrant Officer Gary Lee O’Neal (Ret.) is the stuff of legend—on land, sea and air.

While training and fighting with American and Latin American forces in Central and South America to oppose communism Gary endured much hardship and personal sacrifice.

When compromised while bringing home the body of a comrade killed in action, Gary was captured, shot and left to die. His wife and children were murdered in reprisal before his eyes. He escaped from his captivity, then hunted down and took care of business upon those who slaughtered his family.

Trained from childhood in the warrior traditions of the Ogala Sioux, Ranger O’Neal epitomizes the spirit of the Ranger and Green Beret.

This is the man who introduced Mr. Donald Trump last night, the next president of the United States.

I said I was going to send this E mail out. “Roger that” said Gary.

He sends to each and every one of you his respects and he looks forward to seeing Mr. Donald Trump sworn in as the next President of the United States.

The time almost upon us when “WE” the American people will dismantle the Communist Forces destroying this nation from within our government. Not much longer.

God Bless America.

RELATED VIDEO: Freedom Girls from Pensacola, Florida entertain Trump supporters in Pensacola, Florida on January 13, 2016

Obama, J Street and the American Jewish Divide

Former Israeli Ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren is a native of West Orange, New Jersey best exemplifies the special relations between the two allies, Israel and the U.S. Ally-book cover jpgWith the publication of his memoir, Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide (2015), he has another best seller. Previous ones were Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East (2003) and Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present (2007)Having read Ally, I concur with praise from two pundits: Bret Stephens, the Tuesday Wall Street  Journal columnist of note, and Vic Rosenthal, a former resident of Fresno, California, now a Jerusalem resident whose Abu Yehuda blog  posts are a must read about an American  living in Israel.

Bret Stephens’ opening stanza in his June 29, 2015 WSJ column “The President Against the Historianexplains why Oren’s memoir is a must read:

Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States, has written the smartest and juiciest diplomatic memoir that I’ve read in years, and I’ve read my share. The book, called “Ally,” has the added virtues of being politically relevant and historically important. This has the Obama administration—which doesn’t come out looking too good in Mr. Oren’s account—in an epic snit.

Vic Rosenthal in his July 2, 2015, Abu Yehuda blog post, Michael Oren is tired of American Jews, and so am I, addresses  the yawning  divide between Israel and American Jews, another of Oren’s themes in Ally:

Rabbi Eric Yoffie is offended by Michael Oren, on behalf of (non-Orthodox) American Jews. These Jews, like America’s “first Jewish president,” turn out to be very easy to offend: just suggest that Israelis are more qualified than they are to decide the future of their country.

Oren’s new book has offended both Yoffie and the Obama Administration, which has launched an all-out media blitz against him (as far as I know, Obama spokespeople haven’t called him a ‘chickenshit’ yet, but give them time).

Yesterday morning, I dialed into an Israel Project  (TIP)sponsored presentation by Oren. He told the listeners ,unlike the daylight between Obama and Netanyahu over the Iranian nuclear nightmare threat, that there is no daylight across the political divide in the  obsessive democratic cockpit of the Knesset. As Oren tells it, whether Likud, Zionist Union and even Arab parties, all Israel is united that Iran achieving nuclear breakout is “a very bad deal”. Further, he said while some  in the media, the Obama claque of  “senior officials’ and former aides have excoriated him for the early publication  of his memoir, he was heartened that they haven’t addressed the facts of what the Administration has perpetrated. Listen to this recorded  TIP presentation by Oren and the following Q&A.

Oren’s memoir has a lot to say about President Obama and his Administration acolytes isolating Israel over Iran and  Netanyahu’s vigorous defense of Israel  sovereign right of Israel to warn America and the untrusting world about Iran’s nuclear  threat and the very bad P5+1  deal. Perhaps  a  deal about to be announced in Vienna in a few days. Or if not simply kicked down the road.  All while Iran’s  Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei  and Mahdist acolytes of terrorism perfect the means of taking out the “little Satan”, Israel ,with one bomb and the “big Satan”, the  US, with a nuclear tipped ICBM.

Oren clearly takes pride that his well honed skills as a Columbia and Princeton educated historian who earned his PhD in Middle East Studies with the venerable Bernard Lewis.   Not bad for a pudgy dyslexic , pigeon toed 15 year old who shook the hand of the late Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin, when the latter was  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the US.  He exclaimed on that memorable occasion that some day he would be Israel’s Ambassador.  A late bloomer in high school Oren fulfilled his quest, slimed down hardened through rowing .  Equipped with his backpack he made aliyah to Israel to go through  grueling  paratrooper training  earn his coveted red beret along with an oath taken  to defend Israel on Masada with his IDF comrades.  He ends up in combat and later as a reserve officer during the Second Lebanon War as a military spokesperson to the foreign press.  Along the way he  meets his  American wife Sally Edelstein, a  Jersey girl, dancer and former San Francisco hippy groupie when she makes Aliyah to Israel and they ultimately form their Israeli family.

Ally  depicts what it was like for an American-Israeli to fulfill his dream as his adopted country’s Ambassador in Washington  Israel’s  interests in the byzantine politics of the Obama era from 2009 to 2013. After leaving Washington, Oren turns home to Tel Aviv to lecture, teach at Harvard and Yale and write his memoir.   Oren is now a member of the Kulanu party headed by former  Likud Communications Commissioner and economic reformer Moshe Kahlon.  Oren is a thinking liberal and  both he and the family are members of a Reform synagogue.  His memoir culminates on a dramatic note when he  and Sally attend  a  Bar Mitzvah celebration for 13 year olds at  Kibbutz Na’an, with one of his former Washington Embassy aides, Lee Moser, mother of  one of the bar mitzvah candidates when a red alert sounds, sirens wail and they scurry for shelter. He writes:

I held Sally’s hand and glanced over my shoulder over my shoulder just as two Hamas rockets roared in. Then with twin booms that rattled the tin overhang  and shook the ground below, the missiles exploded. Iron Dome interceptors, developed by Israel and funded by the United States, scored perfect hits. For moment afterward, as we emerged into the uncertain night, the glow of those bursts hovered over us, beaming like kindred stars.

All  of which brings  us to why he has frosted the J Street  fawning rabbinic leadership of the Reform Movement in America and  earned  both Vic Rosenthal’s and my admiration. This came on the cusp of having orchestrated a  recent viewing and panel discussion of the Americans for Peace and Tolerance documentary, J Street Challenge with Pensacola pro-Israel colleagues; Rabbi Eric Tokajer of Brit Ahm synagogue, Mike Bates, 1330amWEBY general manger of “Your Turn host and Florida State Representative Mike Hill, a U.S. Air Force Academy grad.

Vic Rosenthal notes a similar experience in his Fresno in his Abu Yehuda column:

We tried to bring the local Jewish community – the organizations, the synagogues and individual Jews – along with us. With a few exceptions, mostly people like us who had lived in Israel or had relatives there, we had to drag them kicking and screaming. Most of our pro-Israel events drew the same few supporters.

The local Reform temple was probably the most frustrating. A film critical of J Street, followed by a discussion? Absolutely not, it would be ‘divisive’! The Jewish Federation and Hadassah were better, but it was always easier to organize an event about Jewish culture than Israel.

Is Oren right that American Jews are more interested in helping others than their own? Certainly they were far more upset about terrorism in Charleston than Jerusalem, and far more ready to criticize our Prime Minister than their own Administration. The Reform rabbi threw himself into activities to help the poor and homeless. He is seen on TV on panels with the Imam of the Islamic Cultural Center. He is an outspoken advocate of liberal causes, but he did not give a sermon in favor of PM Netanyahu’s speech about Iran before the Congress.

In preparation for the recent J Street Challenge  Pensacola event, we culled excerpts from Oren’s Ally about his views on J Street  and its defenders inside the Obama Administration, illustrative of what  concerns Vic Rosenthal.

On J Street’s inclusion in Major American Jewish organizations meeting with Obama in 2009 p. 78

He promised to be more evenhanded in asking all parties, not just Israelis, to make sacrifices for peace. Yet the meeting would be remembered as a turning point in the administration’s approach toward the Jewish State.

Included for the first time with the mainstream Jewish leaders were the heads of Americans for Peace Now and the newly founded J Street, both organizations stridently critical of Israel and its traditional American supporters.  Their presence rattled the other participants, many of whom had been personally slighted by these parvenus.

The President concluded, “When there is no daylight, Israel just sits on the sidelines and that erodes our credibility with the Arabs”.

Commenting on the discussion, J Street founder Jeremy Ben Ami cited Obama’s ability to connect with the Muslim World and his immense standing in America and the World. “He was very clear that this is a moment that has to be seized and he intends to seize it.  By contrast the other American Jewish leaders emerged from the meeting concerned about Obama’s departure from the long standing principle of “no daylight” in U.S. –Israel relations.

On J Street’s promotion of the Goldstone Report that Maligned Israel in Operation Cast Lead in 2008 – 2009 p. 102

Though J Street refrained from formally endorsing the [Goldstone Report], activists in the organization escorted Goldstone to Congress for meetings with progressive members.  Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner told the UNHRC of America’s disappointment with the document’s double standards. But he also cited Goldstone’s ‘distinguished record of public service” and called on Palestinians to investigate Hamas abuses. This, for Israelis, was tantamount to asking al-Qaeda to investigate 9/11.

On the contretemps between the Israeli Embassy and J Street P. 107

Irksome was the embassy’s continued imbroglio with J Street. Unlike my predecessor, Sallai Meridor, who had shunned the lobby, I initially engaged it in a dialogue.  I had no illusions about the group, which received funds from anti-Israel contributors, supported every legislator critical of Israel, and stridently attacked mainstream American Jewish leaders. Though J Street defined itself as “pro-Israel” and “pro-peace”, its logo bore no connection to Israel whatsoever, not even the color blue, and portrayed other pro-Israel organizations as anti-Israel. Before becoming Ambassador, I chanced to meet one J Street board member and asked him why he had joined. “I’m uncomfortable with the special relationship,” he told me. “I want to normalize U.S.-Israel ties.”

Outrageously, J Street members hosted Goldstone in Congress and lobbied  against sanctions on Iran. These actions were deeply deleterious to Israel’s security – “they endangered seven million Israelis,” I said –and made interacting with J Street virtually impossible. Both the Prime Minister [Netanyahu] and the foreign minister [Avigdor Liberman] vetoed my participation in its annual conference.

On the Obama White House relations with J Street p. 108

J Street… fashioned itself as the Administration’s wing in the American Jewish Community. Obama acknowledged that fact by sending his National Security Advisor [former Marine General] Jim Jones, one of Washington’s most powerful officials to greet the organization. “I’m honored to represent President Obama at the first national J Street conference.  And you can be sure that this administration will be represented at all other J Street conferences…” Obama’s newly appointed advisor on anti-Semitism, Hannah Rosenthal, an early J Street supporter, issued her first denunciation not of anti-Semites, but rather of me for boycotting the summit.

Michael Oren’s Ally might be considered a 21st Century version of Emile Zola’s J’accuse.  Oren , like Zola in the fin de siècle Dreyfus affair,  addresses the calumnies of President  Obama, nurtured  in Muslim Indonesia, creating daylight isolating Israeli PM Netanyahu over nuclear Iran and recognition of a Faux Palestinian State.  Daylight promised  to Obama’s  Chicago anti-Israel confreres, Rashid Khalidi, holder of the Edward Said Endowed Chair on Modern Arab Studies  at Columbia and Ali Abunimah , editor of The Electronic Intifada blog, that he wouldn’t forget them. Oren chronicles how Obama delivered on that promise.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in the New English Review. The featured image is of President Obama and former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, July 2009. Source: White House Photo

Florida Legislature Unanimously Passes Resolution for Israel

Florida State Representative Mike Hill, Pensacola Stand for Israel Rally. Source: John Blackie, PNJ

The Pensacola Rally for Israel witnessed an outpouring of support in the Northwest Florida community for the Jewish nation exceeding organizers’ expectations. The rally, sponsored by the Pensacola Jewish Federation, was underwritten by anonymous donors from the Jewish community.

The Pensacola Police security detail estimated the crowd in excess of 500 attendees. The large polite crowd was composed of Jews from several denominations, Baptists, Pentecostals and other Christian groups. Mike Bates of Northwest Florida’s AM 1330 WEBY and this writer served as co-hosts for the rally.
A climactic event was the appearance of Florida House Representative Mike Hill. A Pensacola News Journal article on the rally, “Hundreds gather to support Israel,” reported: “He brought the crowd to their feet when he announced a Stand with Israel resolution to be voted on in a special session this week in Tallahassee.”

Hill said:

What is being done to Israel is evil. Israelis are our allies, and they need our support. Let’s show the nation that Florida is leading the way in support for Israel.

Rep. Hill texted both Bates and the author on the afternoon of August 11th that the House unanimously passed a resolution supporting Israel in Operation Protective Edge and condemning Hamas. Hill commented in a text message: “proud of the body, today.” Sen. Alan Hays texted a companion unanimous vote  in the Florida State Senate.

Mike Bates of 1330AM radio WEBY, Pensacola Stand for Israel host at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, March 2014.

Mike Bates set the agenda for the rally program saying:

We’re here to stand up for the good guys. To stand with the truth, to stand with what is right, to stand with justice. We are here today to stand with Israel.

There were several emotional moments during the rally. Mike Bates periodically would advise the crowd of the minutes since the last rocket was fired from Gaza headed towards Israel. He followed this with a request for a moment of silence to pray for Israelis threatened by terror from the skies. There were also moments of silence praying for the protection of Christians and other religious minorities confronting the barbarism of the Islamic State, formerly ISIS.

ates drew attention to the irony that in the midst of this conflict, Israel continued to supply food, gas, water and electricity to Gazans living under the tyranny of Islamist extremist Hamas. He remarked to the audience he couldn’t conceive of the US doing that during WWII. Several speakers drew attention to Hamas’ launch of rockets near or from UNWRA schools, hospitals, mosques, churches, or residences using civilians as human shields.

This author was also interviewed by the PNJ following opening remarks. As cited in their report, I said:

Americans incorrectly perceive Israel to be the villains in the current fighting because the media doesn’t report the historic context of the conflict. While I hoped a resolution to the fighting could be found, certain conditions would have to be met. The only breakthrough would come if they negotiated a deal to demilitarize Gaza. However I said that the chances of that are really low, unfortunately. One never knows what may happen, but certainly there is a lot of regional sentiment for that.

The genesis for the rally had been sparked in early July with onset of Hamas’ rocket and terror tunnel war against Israel and Israel’s response in Operation Protective Edge. That led to a series of weekly one hour updates and discussions on WEBY‘s talk radio program, “Your Turn,” hosted by Bates. Public service announcements (PSA) followed in earnest after a city public park site was secured by the local Jewish Federation for a Stand for Israel rally. This was preceded by a series of pro-Gaza rallies by Palestinian activists in downtown Pensacola. The radio discussions and PSA’s at WEBY were materially assisted by distribution of flyers, announcements from synagogue, temple and church pulpits. Event and news releases were sent to media outlets in the combined Northwest Florida and adjacent Eastern Alabama.

The rally occurred on a hot and sultry day with a heat index in the high 90’s and a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms forecast. Ha Shem must have looked with favor on the event as thunderstorms held off. A minor miracle, not quite those cited by several speakers at the rally who drew attention to several that spared both Tel Aviv and IDF forces in combat from death and destruction. There was a Hamas rocket that failed to be intercepted by three Iron Dome missiles headed for Tel Aviv. Suddenly, a wind arose from the east blowing it to fall harmlessly into the Mediterranean. There was a contingent of IDF soldiers about to go on a daytime mission into Gaza that was cloaked in a fog. They successfully completed their mission without a casualty. There was a bird that alighted on a trip wire in a Hamas terror tunnel during a clearance operation by IDF troops, triggering an explosion of booby traps, sparing Israeli casualties.

Rabbi Joel Fleekop Temple Beth El Penscola, FL. Source: John Blackie, PNJ.

The rally organizers had lined up a broad array of local, regional, national and international speakers. Rabbi Joel Fleekop from Temple Beth El in Pensacola gave a thoughtful and spiritually uplifting invocation. Rabbi Steven Silberman, of Mobile Synagogue Ahavas Chesed, spoke of his eyewitness to Hamas’ rocket war in Israel noting it was his first exposure to the chilling red alert wailing sirens. He also had a chance meeting with two Polish Catholic women, surprised to find an American rabbi at their hotel during the conflict. Fred Zimmerman, a member of the National Jewish Federation campaign cabinet from Nashville, spoke via phone to the rally attendees about his experience in Israel during Operation Protective Edge and the Federation’s  Stop the Sirens campaign.

Jerry Barnett of Volunteers for Israel told of the group’s mission to enlist civilian volunteers to assist in the maintenance of IDF bases. He read an email requesting volunteers of all ages to sign and assist Tzahal at this time of need. Kenneth E. Lamb, a member of a local Pentecostal church spoke of the covenant relationship between Ha Shem and the Children of Abraham, the Jews and Israel. The international speaker at the rally was Dan Diker from Israel who called while on vacation with his family in northern California. Diker is a former secretary general of the World Jewish Council and a noted Middle East Affairs expert with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

Diker has been on several AM 1330 WEBY International Middle East Round Table discussions. Diker spoke of Hamas and its intentions to obliterate the Jewish people and Israel and the difficulty of obtaining a truce in the face of implacable demands. He noted the dramatic turn of events of Israel receiving tacit support from Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE and especially Egypt that has cooperated with Israel in closing off the Gaza frontier.

In the midst of Diker’s call there was a sudden outburst of calls of “Israel, Israel, Israel” endeavoring to call out a small contingent of pro-Gaza protesters waving a large Palestinian flag carrying placards accusing Israel of murdering civilians in Gaza.

Pro-Israel Supporters listen to Rabbi Steven Silberman of Cong. Ahavas Chesed, Mobile.

At the conclusion of the rally, Mike Bates quoted these verses from Psalm 122:

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may they prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say: ‘Peace be within thee.’
9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.

My final comment used  the Hebrew words Goy Tzedek or righteous Gentiles to characterize the Christians who attended the rally; followed Am Yisrael Chai, “the people Israel live.”

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on the New English Review. The featured photo is of Linda Wolfe praying for Israel at Pensacola, FL Rally. Source : John Blackie, PNJ.

Florida: Pro-Hamas Protest in Pensacola

Yesterday in downtown Pensacola a contingent of pro-Hamas supporters showed up with handmade and professional signs. A banner held by two burly kaffiyeh draped bearded young men was emblazoned with “Israel want peace or Land?” Small children, faces painted with Palestinian flags, held signs saying “Save Gaza.” They were  entreating on-lookers and drivers stopped at the traffic light at the junction of Palafox and Garden Streets to hail them with thumbs up signs and honks from cars waiting for the light to change. It was the last Friday of Ramadan, al Quds day. Violence erupted on Al Quds Day in the West Bank and East Jerusalem with thousands engaged in pitched battles with Israeli security forces, six Palestinians were killed.

Al Quds Day was established by the late Ayatollah Khomeini in protest to Israel’s occupation of its eternal capital, Jerusalem, supporting the Palestinian cause. Demonstrations on Al Quds day erupted around the Muslim Ummah from Pakistan to Tehran to Paris to London and Calgary. Throngs in these processions accused Israel of genocide in Gaza against defenseless Palestinian civilians. There were other pro-Hamas demonstrations here in the US in major cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle. Jewish and non-Jewish supporters have also launched opposing Stand for Israel rallies in a number of these major cities.

Free Gaza Poster in Pensacola

Free Gaza Poster in Pensacola, FL. For a larger view click on the image.

Pensacola has a sizable Muslim community, given two mosques, and a Muslim Student Association chapter at the University of West Florida. Pensacola is the regional medical center for Northwest Florida and it is not uncommon to find Muslim doctors and medical specialists of Middle East and South Asian origins. On Fridays after Jummah prayers we have caught glimpses of men attired in Kufi caps and gabilas. At a major indoor mall it is not uncommon to come across Muslim women attired in burkas sitting  with children eating ice cream. The local community has allies in the anti-war community who showed a series of anti-Israel pro-Palestinian films at the central library during the Bush 43 presidency era in the last decade. We have a local restaurateur who specializes in tasty Middle Eastern fare. He had painted a mural map of the Middle East on the side of one of his three restaurants overlooking a heavily trafficked supermarket parking lot. There is no Israel on it. In February 2010, Former Muslims United sent out a mass mailing to 163 mosques and Muslim leaders in the US requesting that they abjure death fatawas against apostates. Apostates like Meriam Ibrahim just released along with her husband and children from sanctuary at the US Embassy in Khartoum and flown to saftey in Rome to meet the Pope and then on to freeom in the US. 47 of those were sent to community leaders and Mosques here in the Sunshine State. None of those community leaders and mosques responded, including the two Mosques here in Pensacola.

Mural Map of Middle East without Israel on Pensacola FL restaurant

Mural Map of Middle East without Israel on Pensacola, FL restaurant. For a larger view click on the image.

Today, more banned protests are occurring in central Paris where last weekend more Jewish synagogues and businesses were firebombed and attacked, accompanied with cries of “kill the Jews” and “Allahu Akbar.”

We should consider ourselves fortunate in Pensacola that yesterday’s Pro-Hamas rally didn’t engage in menacing threats to the local Jewish community. As we have written that was not the case with a small contingent of both Jews and Christians in Calgary last Friday. They were set upon by thugs from a pro Hamas rally, with five sent to hospital for treatment, while Calgary police stood by. Today there was a, humanitarian pause of 12 hours extended to Midnight by Israel.  Hamas rejected the extension with  rockets once again  launched from Gaza. against Israel. south. The latest toll in the conflict is 40 Israeli dead, with five  IDF soldiers fallen this weekend so far through Saturday night and a reported 1,000 dead in Gaza, including  several hundred  Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad fighters.

A local Pensacola community Stand for Israel rally is in the planning stages, with speakers drawn from the local rabbinate, pastors and public officials. Clearly security will be a priority for this public event, poised to balance yesterday’s  pro Hamas rally.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on the New English Review. The featured image is of a pro-Hamas banner in Pensacola.