Thoughts on the Iran Deal

July 16, 2015

The Iran Deal

I am sitting with my family watching the news & they just asked the British PM what he thought about Iran burning USA, UK & Israeli flags & asked him if we are funding terrorism & he said "let's focus on the big picture not on the small things." With all due respect, are you brain dead Sir? But does ANYONE find it a good idea that we not only give Iran nuclear capability when they've proven themselves untrustworthy time and time again? Iran openly gives money & weapons to Hamas, Hezbollah & other terrorist organizations. With the sanctions we've had placed on Iran, we've made it harder for them to give their money to terrorism. It's absolutely ridiculous to me that we, as Americans, are taking money away from where we need it domestically and are happily giving it away to Iran as a SIGNING BONUS for agreeing to this deal. A signing bonus. I have yet to see both Republicans & Democrats agree on hardly anything but whatever party you are from, you must know this is an awful deal. Obama is truly showing his true colors by promoting & condoning negotiation with terrorism. Last summer during the war between Hamas in Gaza & Israel, I was dumbfounded, as was the rest of the world on how it was possible that Obama & Kerry all but demanded of Israel to negotiate with terrorists, because I, as the rest of the world assumed America would never negotiate with terrorists. Well, I was wrong. America now not only negotiate with, but associates with terrorists, and so does the United Kingdom. My global disappointment has hit an all time low this week in news of the acceptance of this deal. I pray that Congress comes to rescue us from our rogue president and vetoes anything associating with this Iran deal. Even if it means we go into a locked government & no legislation is passed until our next leader takes office. 

the History Behind the Conflict

July 29, 2014

As we approach four and half weeks of Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, I want to remember and detail to you out there who exactly the people of Gaza and the West Bank are and a little bit of the history of the Palestinian people and (apart from religious differences) why they refuse recognition of Israel as a nation and why they openly hate Israel.

            Beginning before World War 2 there was a mass migration worldwide of the Jewish people to the Promised Land. This mass movement was known as the Zionist Movement or Zionism. Though the land was not another independent nation, it was recognized as Palestinian territory. Well, as the Second World War and the Holocaust progressed and eventually came to an end in 1945, talks about establishing a Jewish state began to brew and in 1948 when Israel became an official nation, the new question became: What would happen to all of the Palestinians who were currently residing in what had become Israeli territory? Fundamentally they had two options. The first option was to accept Israeli citizenship. If accepted, they would be permitted to continue habituating in their homes, working at their jobs, and continue to keep their children in whatever schools they were in, on the condition of becoming a functioning member of this new society that would be built around them. Many of these people accepted this option and did not resort to option number two. The alternative to this was basically relocation. If they did not want anything from Israel and did not want to reside in a country full of Jewish people, then they, of course, were not forced to stay. Thus, the creation of the West Bank and Gaza territories emerged. These angry Palestinians today “reminisce” about how they were forced from their homes or forced to uproot their lives into displacement but this is not entirely the case. Much of the conflict that occurred at that time was stemmed from the ancient Muslim against Jewish (and vice versa) battle that the world has seen for thousands of years. So combined with the antiquated issues that date back to the biblical era of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, plus the displacement and relocation of the Palestinians, we see now what has become of these two strong-minded groups of people. There are many other factors that contribute to the hatred of the Jews by these people, but these, I believe are the strongest roots of the conflict today.  

            But, the Jewish people are no stranger to hatred or discrimination due to their beliefs. The thing about Jewish people is that it doesn't matter where in the world they are. Whether it’s Europe, Africa, or virtually any other place in the world, Jewish people are always an easy target for groups who promote and associate with hate. It says in Exodus 1:9 “the children of Israel are more and mightier than we”. This is said by the Pharaoh of Egypt because he felt intimidated by the number and power of the people of Israel. The slavery of the Jewish people in Egypt, detailed in the chapter Exodus in the Bible, is the first documented hatred of the Jewish people. Through time we've seen others take the same position that the ancient Egyptians took, such as the Romans in the era of Jesus. Flashing forward a few years to the middle ages in Europe, Jews were not permitted to own land or hold any agricultural jobs. Why? Because the Europeans did not want Jewish people to stay in a single place. They forced them to take the merchant and commerce jobs which at the time required constant travels. Pressing fast forward yet again to the 1930’s in Germany with the attempted annihilation of the Jewish people in the Holocaust. The forced shipping to deathly concentration camps and the anti-semantic life that has been seen throughout the history of the world, is repeating again before our eyes.  

            Every generation, there has and will forever be a group whose goal is to eliminate the Jewish people. Many have tried and they have never and never will succeed. By the grace of God, the Jewish people will always be protected against their enemies.

            Ironic, though, that without the slavery of the Jewish people in Egypt, Moses and Aaron never would have led the Jews to the Promised Land. Without the inhibition of being able to hold agricultural jobs or buy land, the Jewish people wouldn't be recognized, statistically, as the best bankers and business owners in the world. And though the Holocaust was the most depressing and defaming event in human history (along with the transatlantic slave trade) without such an event, Israel never would have become a nation. Overall it’s thanks to the struggle and the fight that the Jewish people have always maintained throughout history, that we even have the capacity to continue to defend ourselves against the next group that will attempt to initiate our demise. It’s thanks to the millions of lives that have been lost over the past thousand years that fuels our strength to fight against the group that is currently aimed at initiating the demise of Israel and the Jewish people today.

            We, as members of the international community, must not let deaths on either side of this current conflict go unnoticed or unobserved. But, before a “cease fire” policy will ever be accepted on either side of this bloody battle, we must also remember the root of the conflict that has evolved into what we see today. There are two sides to every story, and as the Palestinian side is skewed and painted into a faux light, those who see the Israelis as “inhumane” please take a moment to remember the life and history these people have been forced to endure for over one thousand years.

            Iran has publicly released statements supporting Hamas and promising donations of more missiles to them.

This is when the Gaza conflict becomes a global conflict.  

Benjamin Netanyahu on the War in Gaza 2014

World War 3 in the horizon

July 28, 2014


As today marks 100 years since the declaration of World War One, I would like to share the current state of the world today and allow others to understand that the hate and animosity has only increased over time. Since the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated, along with his wife, by the Serbians which initially began the war, the world has experienced many events that have fundamentally led the human race to this point that we currently reside. Basically, as I speak, there is a war going on between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza. Iran and North Korea are funding Hamas and providing them weapons to continue war with Israel. Isis, a very major terror organization, who some consider worse than Al Qaeda and the Taliban, has a rising number of supporters in Iraq. The United States is currently circulating new bills on immigration and taxes in this country. Also, today, the United States put a sanction on Russia due to the support Vladimir Putin is giving to pro-Russian rebels who shot down Malaysia flight M17 out of the sky over the Russia-Ukrainian border. Russia has already taken back the Crimean peninsula and is currently taking advantage of the Ukrainian civil war right now in an effort to gain more Russian territory. Syria is currently in the midst of a tragic and toxic civil war. There are major riots occurring in London, Paris, Berlin, Chilé, and other parts of the world against the Jewish people. In Africa, a virus called Ebola has just erupted, killing over 90% of those who become infected with the disease. The whole global economy is in a state of turmoil. On top of all of that, many major countries have access to the infamous atomic bomb. Of the countries without the technology or access to these bombs, many of them are allied with the major countries who do have access to them. Let's take a moment to remember during World War 2 when the United States dropped 2 of these bombs in Japan. One in Hiroshima and the other in Nagasaki. The US got to this point because they decided that enough was enough. Now that so many years have passed and more countries have access to such a weapon of mass destruction, it's only a wonder when other countries will decide that "enough is enough". On another note, a majority of the African continent is at an unstable place right now, apart from the Ebola contagion, but that there are many different terrorist groups aimed at the extinction of rivaling tribes and groups. Apart from all of the humanity crisis, what about our Earth's environment? People today are experiencing global warming, polar ice caps melting, extreme heats and colds, sea levels rising and falling abnormally, the major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that we've seen in the past 5 years. Also, Venice Beach, California today experienced a lightning storm never before seen in the drought and summer heat of California. Maine is under a tornado watch and a tornado made a touch down just north of Boston, Massachusetts today. For those who don't know, it's almost unheard of to have tornadoes in the north eastern region of the United States.
History is being made right before our eyes. I strongly believe that very soon, this period will be marked in history books as the beginning of the third world war.

My Thoughts on the Gaza Conflict of 2014

July 20, 2014

My Thoughts on the Gaza Conflict of 2014

            Before I begin on writing down the diatribe of information on this broad and opinionated topic that is stuck inside my head, I’ll give you some background information on myself and why I feel the need to document my thoughts on the conflict that is currently taking place in the Middle East. My name is Sarah Benaim and I was born in Houston, Texas. My father is not originally from Houston, or even the United States for that matter. My family on my father’s side, which includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins live half way across the world in the country of Israel. Most of my family resides in the Haifa area, which lies towards the Northern part of the country, so thankfully they have been out of the range of fire and off of the battle grounds that are becoming the streets of Gaza and even the main country Israel. I, as a social media user and a watcher of international news, have seen some atrocious accusations pointed at Israel for being too harsh on the counterattacks at the terrorist organization Hamas that have been taking place the past few weeks. I want to make it known that Israel has every right to defend itself against the attacks on their country and that though many people in this world may disagree, they are doing what is necessary to instill a calm environment for their citizens, no matter what it takes.

            The most recent conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza was sparked on June 12, 2014 when three Israeli teenaged boys were kidnapped (allegedly) by the terrorist organization Hamas. The three boys were found dead on June 30, 2014. Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the killings would not be taken lightly and that there would be consequences for the actions to those who killed these young men. After these statements were released, air strikes began coming towards the Israeli mainland from the Gaza strip. In the past few weeks, the number of missiles that have been fired into Israel have reached over 1,000, but by the grace of God and modern Iron Dome technology, none of the missiles have done major damage to Israeli citizens or the overall infrastructure.

            With this in mind, the death toll on the Israeli side is up to 20, and on the Palestinian side, it has toppled the 400 mark.

            I want to begin to refute and offer other information in response to some news networks that are only looking at this situation from the side of the Palestinians and who are releasing footage of Arab women “escaping their homes” with their children in their arms. I want to begin by saying some of these women are very clean for seemingly escaping through trashed and debris filled homes and streets. I want to inform citizens of other countries all over the world that Israel is not blatantly killing these civilians. Before a bomb is dropped, Israel has been phoning the citizens to inform them that they are about to be attacked, and it his Hamas that is telling them not to evacuate. Also, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been firing something like a warning bomb before the actual one comes. The warning bomb may break through the roof of a house or building, but won’t actually explode. It’s the real exploding bomb that comes next that will actually cause the damage. And many of those casualties were of people refusing to listen to the Israeli warning to evacuate and choosing to listen to Hamas telling them to stay put.

What is so irking about the whole situation is that Israel knows the location from where each missile is being fired from. So as soon as a missile is fired, less than one minute later the school/business/house that it was deployed from, it will be destroyed by the IDF. This is not what’s irking. It’s that Hamas has set up these houses, businesses and schools to be targets for the Israeli counterattacks. They know the force at which Israel will retaliate, and yet they are still more than willing for their citizens to be killed. And the citizens, brainwashed by Hamas, would rather die it seems than to evacuate.

Overall, it’s pretty sad that the population of the Gaza strip has allowed themselves to be run by and taken over by a terrorist organization as cruel and uncaring as Hamas is.

Even more, it’s sad that the innocent people residing in Gaza have been killed because they allowed themselves to be under the control of Hamas.

And above all, it’s ironic that the rest of the world is so quick to judge Israel for taking necessary action to neutralize their enemies in an “inhumane” manner. But, ask this, if Mexico just started shooting rockets into the southern border of the United States after kidnapping and killing three American citizens, and the United States responded in the way that Israel is currently responding to their own enemies, would the rest of the world judge the United States’ actions?