Perhaps like you, I have friends who make long trips to pray at the holiest sites in their belief systems. For Christians, that includes The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (where I visited in June). For Hindus, Varanasi, also known as Kashi, on the Ganges. For Muslims, Mecca. And there are hundreds of other sites.
In recent years, members of all these religions have been slaughtered by Islamist terrorists while making pilgrimages, part of the massive growth in Islamist terrorism worldwide. Here are just a few recent examples.
The Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, begins this evening. As you wish friends a “shanah tovah” or “happy new year,” now is a great time to take a few minutes to learn more about the religion they — and perhaps you — are a part of.
Here’s something very few people know: Jews, also known as Am Yisrael (“The People of Israel”), are not allowed to pray at our holiest site, known in English as The Temple Mount. It’s rare to even be able to visit the site. But if we get there and someone perceives that we might be — gasp — praying, we are accused of “provoking” violence.
The media never points out this insanity. Instead, it plays right into the “provocation” narrative — often, when a Jewish leader even visits a site without praying. Since mainstream news outlets now consider Islamist propaganda legitimate sources of “facts,” they run with these claims.
The loudest Americans echoing this messaging are those who inaccurately call themselves “progressive.” Now, as political violence sweeps across the United States on both ends of the political spectrum, progressives who think they stand for freedom of expression must finally be called out for their hypocrisy.
Members of other religions would be up in arms — literally — over being banned from praying at their holiest site. But the overwhelming majority of Jewish people simply accept it. Instead, we pray at the Western Wall, the holiest site where it’s allowed.
It’s one of the thousands of concessions Israel has made in hopes of achieving some semblance of peace in a region that was Islamized. A mosque, al-Aqsa, was built on top of Har HaBayit, and it became the third holiest site in Islam. In this crazy world we live in, only Muslims may pray there.
To learn about the real history that the media never mentions, I recommend Episode 51:
In it, you’ll hear from the brilliant Joel Margolis, who explains:
“Arab countries refused to view Israel as a product of decolonization, even though the surrounding states, the Arab states Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan were all products of the same act of decolonization.”
This year, as violent antisemitism rages worldwide, we can all do more than just wish The People of Judea/Zion/Israel a sweet new year. We can help to make the world safer and fairer to this tiny group of fewer than 16 million people.
To everyone helping spread truth and demand real justice for this actually oppressed minority — a peoplehood that nevertheless rejects a victimhood mentality — thank you. Here’s to stepping up those efforts in the year ahead.
Big love,
JL
P.S. A brief summary of beautiful history:
Shanah Tovah to those who celebrate!🍎🍯
Shana Tova! May you continue to be supported in this important work you do!