"How is it possible [that Voltaire] should represent the Hebrews in such a contemptible light? They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth. The Romans and their Empire were but a Bauble in comparison of the Jews. They have given religion to three quarters of the Globe and have influenced the affairs of Mankind more, and more happily, than any other Nation ancient or modern." [1808]
In 1819, Adams wrote to American Zionist Mordecai Manuel Noah:
"Farther I could find it in my heart to wish that you had been at the head of a hundred thousand Israelites . . . & marching with them into Judea & making a conquest of that country & restoring your nation to the dominion of it. For I really wish the Jews again in Judea an independent nation."
Of course, Adams rather impertinently continues that the Jews could then convert to his unitarian brand of Christianity, but that's John Adams:
"I believe [that] . . . once restored to an independent government & no longer persecuted they [the Jews] would soon wear away some of the asperities and peculiarities of their character & possibly in time become liberal Unitarian Christians for your Jeh-vah is our Jeh-vah & your G-d of Abraham Isaac and Jacob is our G-d."
"Asperities and peculiarities of their character." To a Jew. Ah, John Adams, the Joe Biden of his age, God love him.
All research by Michael Feldberg at sullivan-county.com.
13 comments:
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Did anyone actually see the video that show exactly what Helen Thomas said?
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I watched it. She never once mentioned the words, Israel, or, Jews. She talked about Poles and Germans that were occupying the Land of Palestine. She said the Poles and Germans should go back to where they came from.
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Does a person have to be 89 years old before they can be brave enough to make a public statement that will destroy their career?
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I notice not one commentator sticking up for that very old lady. Not a single one. They are scared scat-less they might be forced to give up their career.
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Anyone here got the guts of an 89 year old lady?
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You can surprize me if you do.
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I'd like to see her show her behind to all the sissies out there.
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Somewhere along the line, our values must come into play.
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Re: "She never once mentioned the words, Israel, or, Jews."
I think the implication was rather clear that she was speaking of Jewish individuals. Specifically those who are not native to the region (she mentions those of Polish, German, and US origin). I see no evidence that she intended to include individuals of Jewish descent who are native to the region.
I noticed that the author of the video implies a false equivocation that the Jewish individuals whose ancestors left the region generations before have rights to the land that others now live on.
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I don't think you're right to make that accusation.
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But, even if you are, what is so sacrosanct about any single ethnic group that speaking up about their activities can cause a person to lose their career?
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Someone asked, "What if some Israeli said that all the Palestinians should get out of Israel and wander around in the desert?"
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Do you think they would be forced into retirement?
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Back to the subject of the post, Adams' observation about the impact of the Jewish people on human history is massive. Consider that half of all the people currently living on the planet are either Christians (of one stripe or another) or Muslims (of one stripe or another). Both of those religions claim to be successors of the Jewish faith, and build themselves deliberately on the Hebrew scriptures. Half the people currently living on the planet!
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Mark of Spokane, thanks for helping us gain a better understanding of why the world has so many problems.
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Phil, I'm confused. What accusation are you refering to?
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Ben, please accept my apologies. I'm sure I must have misread your post that started out with, "I think the implication was rather ...."
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I should have said that I don't think she necessarily meant to imply that the people she thought should return to the country of their origin are "true Jews"; however much you may be correct to draw that assumption.
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I had taken your response to mean that she was definitely referring to Jews when she said they should return to their land of origin.
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Bi-nationalism is a concept that develop late in the eighteenth century if I'm not mistaken. It has to do with two peoples living within the same boundaries with different constitutions and different rights under the law.
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I guess I'd like to see the proposed constitutions for the bi-nationalism that is proposed for Israel--the Land of Palestine that is occupied by all those people from other countries.
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Here's another good article involving, Major Noah: an American Patriot, American Zionist, by Jerry Klinger. The article, among other things, describes how Mordecai Noah initiated the re-establishment of the Hebrew government upon a key location in the Niagra known as Grand Island, New York. On Sept. 15, 1825 a foundation stone was set in place. The island was to be called, Ararat, which would then be a place of refuge for Jews thoughout the diaspora. However, in spite of Noah's preparations Jews were skeptical and they generally ignored Noah's dream of building Ararat as a city of Jewish refuge.
Interesting, Ray. Return to Jerusalem was quite out of reach in the 1800s for American Zionists: Mordecai Noah scaled down his dream.
Walker Percy was intrigued by the historical reality of the continuity of the Jewish People, 3000 years and counting. As he put it:
"Where are the Hittites? Show me one Hittite in New York City."
But to get off the mystical proposition, John Adams clearly respected the Jewish people as agents of man's theological history.
And despite the fact that nearly half of the Jews in Palestine are from the Middle East neighborhood, Helen Thomas recommends "they" go back to Germany or Poland.
Been there [Germany], done that [Auschwitz---Oświęcim, Poland].
What John Adams shows us here is that persecution of the Jewish diaspora was the rule, not the exception throughout the diaspora's history.
The Vichy French turned their Jews over to their their Nazi conquerors. The Soviet Russians persecuted their Jews after WWII, too.
What's a Jew to do?
Ms. Thomas did add that Jews could find safe haven in America. This is true. New York City, for a start, a sort of "American exceptionalism," as it were.
But her deafness about the Holocaust, which took place in the very Germany and Poland the survivors of the Holocaust fled for the modern state of Israel, means she's just an ideologue and a complete idiot.
Not that ideologues and idiots don't have their usefulness. But you can't fool even some of the people all of the time, although this 89-yr-old almost made a complete go of it.
Her public disgrace is long overdue, although I expect her to triple her present salary on the speaking circuit before well-heeled Chomskyists and the like. You actually can fool at least some of the people all of the time---help them fool themselves, actually---and they will pay you handsomely to tell them what they want to hear.
Jews back to Germany? Poland? John Adams would be appalled! How are they going to become liberal Unitarian Christians that way?
I wonder what Adams would think of the modern state of Israel. (I doubt that they would be Unitarian enough for him.) Would he be concerned with the plight of the Palestinians? Would he, a prominent figure in the American Revolution, recognize that modern Israel is a colonial venture? Or would he be happy that those Muslims were displaced by more "enlightened" beings?
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Good quetion for thinking, Paul.
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Does anyone have any knowledge of the history of these people and of how they may have had an effect on the American Creation?
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http://www.khazaria.com/
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I do like this blog site.
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Are they the Kardasians of the Star Trek galaxies?
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modern Israel is a colonial venture...
Professor Swendson says that like it's a bad thing.
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