Three wise men
According to Christian tradition, it was about this time of the year that three “wise” men appeared in Bethlehem to visit a newborn Jewish baby.
Michael Kuttner
Bethlehem, at that time, was a Jewish town in Judea, which, apart from being a place where bread was baked, also hosted Jewish pilgrims who were visiting the Temple in Jerusalem. Neither Christians nor Muslims existed in what was essentially an illegally occupied Jewish land. Judea was nominally independent but under the thumb of the Roman occupiers.
Palestine and Palestinians did not exist.
Fast forward to 2023, and history has been distorted to create an entirely fictitious scenario. Thanks to gross ignorance and willful prejudices politicians and others alike have been seduced by the big lies.
There has never been an Arab Islamic Palestinian nation with Jerusalem as its capital. This simple fact is somehow heretical in today’s doublespeak and politically correct environment.
It is precisely at this time of the year when the historical revisionists get into high gear and the assault on Jewish sovereignty and legitimacy becomes a frenzy of fictitious fantasies.
It was, therefore, somewhat ironic that today’s version of the three wise men should recently gather together.
Meeting in a solemn conclave, none other than Chris Luxon, Anthony Albanese and Justin Trudeau, Prime Ministers respectively of New Zealand, Australia and Canada, offered up their collective wisdom about the situation in Israel and Gaza.
The original three wise men, according to the Christian tradition, brought gifts and then left Bethlehem without apparently pontificating at any length to the locals.
Today’s imposters have certainly not offered any gifts. They haven’t even bothered to visit Israel to see first-hand the realities of the situation. Instead of being confused by the actual truth, they preferred to offer unsolicited advice, admonitions and warnings.
Listening to their collective narratives, one would imagine that those who today call themselves Palestinians are somehow indigenous to the land and are therefore entitled to inherit places that, since Biblical times, have seen a sovereign Jewish presence.
To be completely fair, these three stooges are merely recycling the same tired and discredited old slogans so beloved by Biden, Blinken and assorted “experts” lurking in the State Department and the media.
Piously pouting that Israel must under no circumstances reoccupy and clean out Gaza, not reduce its territory and not maintain a siege or blockade, highlights that Israel is not allowed to defeat Hamas.
How on earth can the terrorists be defeated if Israeli troops are not permitted to occupy Gaza until the job is finished? In a post-war situation, there must be a buffer zone on the Gaza side of the border to ensure that terrorists can never again repeat their ground invasion of Israeli territory. Ideally, this should consist of a minefield and other anti-infiltration devices. If there is no blockade and no inspection of goods entering Gaza, how can the acquisition of weapons be prevented and thwarted? There should be no electricity provided by Israel, which enables Hamas and its allies to dig and ventilate tunnels.
Note that the three leaders seemed unconcerned about the terror tunnels and the thousands of rockets being fired at civilian Israeli targets. Where is their outrage at the theft of international aid and the deliberate deprivation of the Gazan population by Hamas?
Included in the declaration was the recognition that Israel has a right to exist.
Whoopee – what a magnanimous gesture designed, no doubt, to make Israelis and Jews feel that much better. This demeaning declaration is immediately followed by a warning that, of course, in the act of defending its citizens, it must ensure that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected. Completely ignored is the fact that civilians in Gaza are used as human shields and cannon fodder. Also conveniently omitted is the stark reality that civilian structures such as hospitals, schools, mosques and houses are storage places for rockets and lethal ammunition. Apparently, the fact that tunnels and weapons have been discovered under babies’ cribs is of little or no concern.
The overwhelming support shown by the Arabs of Gaza and elsewhere for the Hamas crusade of genocidal terror is self-evident yet those bleating about suffering ignore the obvious. Much is made of the humanitarian crisis, yet when trucks bringing in aid are attacked and looted by Hamas mobs, our three “wise” men remain silent along with the rest of the immoral UN.
The three PMs trotted out the ludicrous demand to establish yet another corrupt and terror-supporting entity in the midst of Israel. This would be a surefire recipe for the future eradication of the Jewish State. If they had bothered to visit the area and seen for themselves the daily outpouring of hate and incitement from the Ramallah-based “peace doves”, they would have rapidly realized that their plan was fatally flawed. Democracy and respect for human rights are an alien concept as far as the PA/PLO/Fatah is concerned.
The post-1967 newly minted “Palestinians” have only one aim in mind. That is the replacement of the Jewish State with their Islamic state. This has been the agenda well before 1948. The fact that the rest of the world and an assortment of self-loathers and progressive lemmings still do not recognize this fact accounts for the continuing conflict. In a perfect world, we could all live in peace and tolerance. Unfortunately, that is not the reality we confront and will not face in the foreseeable future.
The US Administration hallucinates about a “younger and revitalized” Palestinian Authority arising and being able to unite Gaza in what it calls the West Bank. In reality, of course, whoever comes after Abbas will, of necessity, need to be even more extreme in order to be able to survive. Giving them a prize of Judea and Samaria is a folly of monumental proportions. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, where they already constitute a majority, is the natural home of those who call themselves “Palestinians”. However, the Hashemites do not want them, and neither do the Saudis or anyone else. Why, therefore, should Israel hand over to them its Biblical heartland and territory legally allocated by San Remo for Jewish settlement?
Luxon, Albanese and Trudeau sing the same old out-of-tune song of Israeli “settlements” being against international law. The Jewish villages, towns and cities existing in places which were sovereign Jewish territory three thousand years ago have more legitimacy than the territories seized by the colonial British in New Zealand, Australia and Canada a mere few hundred years ago.
A senior Hamas official has thanked Canada, Australia and New Zealand. What further proof of idiocy is required?
As the Christmas festival is about to be celebrated, an interesting development has taken place which, of course, is being ignored.
In Bethlehem, where it all started, Christmas has been cancelled by the Church authorities. Ostensibly, it is because of the war and the absence of pilgrims and tourists. As surely as day follows night, the real villains will be revealed, and unsurprisingly, it will be the dastardly Israelis who are responsible for this state of affairs. Watch for the media to faithfully fulfil their anointed task of this blasphemous state of affairs by blaming the perfidious Jews. Everyone from religious functionaries to lay leaders will highlight this.
What nobody will mention, however, is the fact that in PA-controlled Bethlehem, Christians now constitute a mere 10% of the city’s population. The once 90% of Christians have been driven out by the intolerant and terror-supporting Islamists. This is, of course, a foretaste of the sort of religious “tolerance” practised by those striving to replace Israel. The fact that most of the international community facilitates this is indicative of the moral decline taking place.
Chanukah was not cancelled in Israel despite the fact that pilgrims and tourists were absent. Instead, the festival was celebrated with renewed fervour and devotion. Ironically, the only places where Chanukah was cancelled were in the Diaspora. Threats against Jews, vandalism and violence combined to drive many Jewish communities underground or to render them invisible and muted.
What we do not need in today’s climate of political insanity and historical revisionism is the continual barrage of ill-advised demands.
I would not be surprised if those Christian denominations which have already excised the psalms from their liturgy as being too Zionistic will take the next step and rewrite the carol, Noel, which has the chorus “born is the king of Israel.” No doubt political correctness will mandate that Israel be replaced by Palestine.
Presumably, that would receive approval from the three wise men of New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.
It’s an embarrassment, all right. As well as extremely offensive and vacuous. You sum it up perfectly, Michael. I’m Australian, so am more affected by Albanese’s rhetoric. You quoted him correctly, however, you can add to it that after mention of the Gazan civilians and infrastructure that should be protected, Hamas should be urged to lay down their arms. ‘urged to lay down their arms’! From that, of course, the glorious peace they all talk about may prevail.
The Federal Labor Party in Australia is riven with dissent in regard to the Palestinians and Israel and there’s enormous pressure on Albanese to be pro-Palestinian, which explains the recent shift in voting at the UN. The next thing being urged is recognition by Australia of Palestine as a sovereign state. To do that would be heinous interference in domestic politics abroad, and, of course, is the back entrance the Palestinians want to take so that they don’t have to negotiate with Israel.