Bsd
אל המקום אשר...
Updated Nov 30, 2022
Now years later I have come to the conclusion that Hakeem has the characteristics of Amalek.
UPDATE: Wednesday Sep. 2, 2015
Terribly Disappointed in Hakeem Jeffries!!
Terribly Disappointed in Hakeem Jeffries!!
I have something important to say to Hakeem Jeffries and each and every elected official and each and every one of us fighting this Iran deal that when we vote our conscience, when we stand up to fight evil, it is good for our soul. And whoever is a believer, knows that G-d is the King over all Leaders, good and bad.
Do not trust in princes, in the son of men, who has no salvation. His spirit leaves, he returns to his soil; on that day, his thoughts are lost. Psalm 146:3
http://biblehub.com/psalms/146-3.htm
Yes Hakeem, I thought you were made of something more everlasting...
See how I was deceived!
And again this post here shows that after this meeting, I was impressed with Jeffries....
Guess I was wrong. You clearly deceived. Too bad on you. Sincerely,
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I went to the 2nd meeting and I was sincerely impressed with Jeffries. This time it was an open meeting and people really had a chance to voice their opinion. This time it truly was a listening session as their flier suggested.
My conclusion is that we need to raise the bar on our demands. Nuclear Iran is not an option since we are dealing with terrorists. We must insist that we dismantle their capabilities! Israel can not accept anything less than that. While Jeffries is not there yet, this time I sincerely felt he was open to listening.
Jeffries himself repeatedly stated that Israel lives in a tough neighborhood and he knows that the only language these guys respect is coming from a position of strength. I think that we need to do a more convincing job in presenting the military option coupled with crippling Banking sanctions by the US as the only option to stop IRAN. It was Jeffries himself over the course of the evening who actually spoke of these options. Jeffries said that America has the capability to surgically take out the weapons buried deep in the mountains via MOP and Satellite GPS Technology. Capabilities that America did not have previously. I googled MOP and came up with this interview with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter . http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/10/politics/ash-carter-iran-north-korea-isis-al-qaeda/
Is the military option still on the table?
Carter said that the current framework for a deal with Iran does not take the military option off the table but added that it will currently not be used.
"We have the capability to shut down, set back and destroy the Iranian nuclear program and I believe the Iranians know that and understand that," he said, referencing the military's most powerful ground-penetrating bomb, the Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP).
The MOP -- which can explode 200 feet underground and is designed to destroy deeply buried and fortified targets -- is ready for use, Carter said.
Jeffries said that the reason the military option is not an option according to the Administration is because they believe if America goes that route it will trigger rockets raining over Israel, Tel Aviv and Haifa.
My thoughts at the time was, surely that is something Israel would wish to avoid as well. According to Congressman Jeffries, there is still a very strong working relationship with American and Israeli Intelligence. Surely they can work together and figure out how to counteract this potential threat that comes coupled with a military option of striking Iran's nuclear facilities. What came to mind was that surely those who were being taken to Auschwitz crematoria in the Cattle Cars would have supported American air strikes bombing the train tracks to Auschwitz even if they were in direct line of fire. One needs to look at the bigger picture!
Jeffries also, over the course of the evening said that from talking to banking experts, there are clearly ways via the American banking system to also "attack" countries who are presently trying to do business with Iran. Now that there are billions of released assets due to sanctions relief we need to somehow stop the flow of business deals which serve to empower and resupply Iran and terrorists with conventional weapons. But he also mentioned that since America has a high debt to countries like China and Japan, that limits us.
My thoughts were: Let us explore these options to the fullest and Make America Great Again (to coin Donald Trump). The fact that Jeffries has been looking into these options talks tons of the fact that indeed he is doing a thorough job investigating this deal and in keeping an open mind in exploring all options.
Obviously, it was a very anti Iran deal crowd. The Russian community. This was a very educated and passionate group. They allowed questions in Russian with a translator. The translator also translated the response into Russian. Out of around a little less than 200 people, (as per the number of attendees according to Jeffries staff), I would say there were less then 10 who supported the deal. btw almost everyone signed in, so this count is pretty accurate. I happened to sit next to a women who was for the Deal. She said "Let's give Peace a Chance". I told her that actually the word "peace" is really "terror". I told her that she is advocating for "Let's give Terror a Chance". She kept on insisting so I had no other choice to "Bless" her that indeed that she herself personally experiences the actualization of what she is advocating. Actually I told her that in my opinion I was cursing her but if that was what she was advocating she should get what she is asking for. I think she was a bit confused after that.
It was very important to Jeffries to know how many people attended. Let me note that this meeting was organized within approx 2 days. I'd say they got an excellent turnout. They also had an accurate count of people who attended/signed in at Jeffries Town Hall meeting in Mill Basin. http://shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com/2015/08/op-ed-brooklyn-event-hakeem-jeffries.html At the last meeting I had come in time for the question and answer period and as you can tell from my post, walked away with a very discouraging message from that meeting. I have asked friends who attended that meeting to also report on it so hopefully you will get different perspectives in forthcoming posts. However, my friends as well did seem to concur that the tone was one of fait acccompli. Iran will eventually get a nuclear bomb and the goal is to monitor with inspections that are verifiable and to make sure that violations are detected but that the military option is not an option for now.
I felt that this meeting in Brighton Beach was much improved from the side of the Anti Iran position.
Since I came on time I did hear good points regarding why to reject this deal even choosing the diplomatic route (still the assumption was that a military option was not an option....)
Jeffries brought 2 people other than himself for the panel, one pro and the other con to present a balanced discussion. Zachary K. Goldman, Executive Director of the Center on Law and Security at NYU School of Law gave good points but was nuanced. He started off with the assumption that Diplomacy is the only way to go and from there built his case why the deal is bad.
My guess is that his objective was to convince Jeffries on points that Jeffries can be convinced to vote against this deal. Probably the same held true with Omri Ceren of TIP who spoke at the last meeting in Mill Basin representing the anti Deal side also nuanced.
Some Points of Zachary Goldman:
- Purpose of deal is to pave the way for economic and diplomatic normalization of Iran.
- If America votes for the deal there is a fear that US will lose leverage that will prevent US to do anything in the case that Iran violates the agreement.
- Snap Back. When violations to the deal are detected, the ability to reimpose sanctions won't really happen when the violations are a little at a time. Over time however the violations will accumulate and snap back will not have happened..
- Timing of Deal - Not permanent. Some clauses expire after 8 years, some after 10 some after 15 and some after 25 years but after a given time frame, Iran is no longer constrained.
Points in favor of deal as told by the White House according to Jeffries:
- the purpose of this deal is primarily to stop a Nuclear Iran (In order for the Iranians to agree we must then offer them something in return which is sanction relief which unfortunately helps them with conventional weapons and gives money to increase terror)
- Sanctions are only effective when there was a consensus of all the countries. Germany, France, Russia, England,China, USA etc.
- The Iranian people are Pro American even while the Regime itself is anti American
Jeffries was leaning towards rejecting this deal but advocated for continued Diplomacy.
The pro Iran deal guy, Joel Rubin, President of Washington Strategy Group did a very poor job in my opinion. These were his points:
- This deal will block Iran to nuclear weapons for 10 years
- We cannot stop Iran from getting a bomb. Only Iran can decide not to get a bomb
- This deal is verifiable. The US Atomic Energy Commission will be visiting all nuclear sites and we will have rock solid verifiable knowledge of noncompliance.
- The World is with us. All major powers are with us. US acting alone with sanctions didn't work.
This time the question answer period was real. People lined up to ask their questions. There was no middle man and no need to be escorted for disturbing. People actually were able to boo but it was kept to a minimum. Jeffries seemed genuine in hearing and listening to anyone who wished to speak and answered with respect and empathy and often with agreement. While he had told the audience that his decision will not be based on emotion but rather on facts he was extremely empathetic when an elderly gentlemen pleaded with him not to allow a Nuclear Iran and begged him to please stop it from happening.
I felt he genuinely listened to my points/questions. (The aid who was in charge of the line looked at me and my papers and warned me to keep it under 30 secs.} I thanked Jeffries for holding this meeting and told him I was very impressed with the breath of knowledge and honest evaluation of this deal. My points were as follows though they might not have been said in this order.
- I rejected Joel Rubin's remark that only Iran will decide not to get a bomb. I told him that's like saying only a murderer can decide whether to have weapons. Is that rational? Jeffries seemed to agree. I told him that I come from Hebron since I made Aliya and lived there for several years and that the phrase "Yes We Can" actually comes from the Hebrew phrase "Aloh Naale Ki Yachol Nuchal" Which means We will Conquer the Land Because Yes WE CAN. There ARE ways to stop Iran for obtaining a Nuclear bomb.
- As for Rubin's claim that the deal is verifiable, IT IS NOT VERIFIABLE. The one to ask whether it is verifiable are the people in harms way like Israel. Only Israel can be trusted to say whether or not it is Verifiable. I told him that not only don't we trust Iran we don't trust Obama (I got a lot of applause on that one). How did Obama bring the deal to the Unite Nations without getting Congress Approval???? (He seemed to like that point as well) . I said even a die-hard Democrat like Schumer or a die-Hard Democrat like himself can agree and it's just a sad reality (since who wants to mistrust the President of the US)
- As for the argument that we need the world with us,l I told him that according to Jewish Law, there is a concept "Acharei Rabim LeHatoth velo LeRaoth" that we go after the majority except in the situation where the majority is voting for evil. Therefore even if 99 percent of the people vote a particular way, if it's evil we still need to go against the majority.
Many more town meeting are being scheduled. Jeffries wishes to visit all the communities in his District. It is imperative that we show up and voice our concerns! I imagine that many other Elected officials will take Jeffries model and go to the people and listen to what they have to say. Even if these troubling times it is a perfect example of How America is still a great country. The Spirit of Hebron must prevail for the benefit of both Israel and America and for Freedom and Democracy!
Sincerely,
Robin Ticker
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) and Howard Chaim Grief great activists and lovers of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichronum Baruch. May their memories serve as a blessing.
Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
Personal emails to individuals will not be posted to my blog.
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