How They Do It–Jewish groups curry solidarity with Muslims by opposing Trump refugee order

Rabbi Joel Mosbacher had just finished the morning’s Shabbat service when he got an urgent message: Rabbis were needed at New York’s Kennedy Airport. People were being detained under President Donald Trump’s sharp travel restrictions on refugees. Would he come pray?

ed note–Years ago, when this thing was still in its embryonic form, as various white nationalist groups began infusing the Zionist-engineered anti-Islamic rhetoric into their daily bitching rituals, this website and a handful of others warned that this was a trap and that it was going to come back to bite them later. We warned that eventually, the same organized Jewish interests responsible for bringing about this ‘clash of civilizations’ between the Christian West and the Islamic East would–once the necessary inertia and momentum were achieved–back away from it all, run to the defense of the same Islamic world that these same organized Jewish interests had demonized up to that point and would throw all the blame for the whole mess directly into the lap of the white, Christian West which various WN groups and individuals claim they are trying to ‘protect and preserve’.

What we counseled was solidarity with other Gentiles of whatever stripe, and that if indeed this proved to be impossible on the part of these various groups and individuals (given their love affair with the color of their skin coupled with their own overblown sense of confidence in their superior DNA that they believed was all they needed in achieving their own liberation and victory) to at least not assist the enemy in his plans by contributing to the very same anti-Islamic hysteria/propaganda that formed the critical mass necessary for producing this conflict between West and East.

Sadly (but predictably) much (if not all) of this fell on deaf ears. Various groups and personalities, enjoying the intoxicating and narcotic sense of ‘brotherhood’ and ‘togetherness’ that came with membership in the ethno-theocratic cult of White Nationalism refused to bridle their rage and channel their frustration in a strategic way. Rather than making themselves an attractive alternative to the same organized Jewish interests responsible for creating the climate of fear in which Muslims have found themselves living even before 9/11, instead these various elements within the WN cult chose to behave like football hooligans, engaging in both violent action and violent rhetoric against ‘the Muzzies’ who they charge with ‘taking over’ white lands in exactly the kind of scripted dialogue/delivery that Judea, Inc needed in order to frame the narrative as it exists right now–that Islamophobia is a white, Christian, and western construct rather than a Zionist one.

As we say here often, no one ever accused the Jews of being stupid, a fact which unfortunately too many seem to forget (or not even consider at all) when engaging in their daily political Tomfoolery. As a result of various individuals and groups having deliberately forfeited opportunities for solidarity with other like-minded Gentiles and in not allowing Judea, Inc to gain the upper hand in creating and dominating the narrative, now, the very same ‘glorious leader’–Donald J. Trump–which WNs believe is going to save the white race will find himself incapacitated by political pressures that have not been seen since the days of pre-Bolshevik Russia, and while various individuals and groups will blame it all on ‘DJOOZ’ and their war against Trump, what they will leave out of the equation is how they themselves contributed directly to this situation with their half-witted decision to assist Judea, Inc’s drive in fomenting this conflict between the Christian West and Islamic East.

Times of Israel

By sundown, Mosbacher was part a group of rabbis at the airport, playing guitar and conducting a Havdalah service marking the end of the Sabbath. About 2,000 people gathered to rally against the new policy.

“We know what it’s like to be the stranger,” said Mosbacher, a Reform rabbi at Temple Shaaray Tefila, noting that Jewish refugees were at times turned away from the US. “As a person of faith, it was so important to be there.”

From pulpits to sidewalk vigils, clergy have been part of a religious outpouring against Trump’s plan to suspend refugee entry and bar entrants from seven majority Muslim countries. Faith leaders who support the president’s executive order as a way to fight terrorism have been far less vocal, ceding the religious discussion to those overwhelmingly opposed to the president’s sweeping immigration order, which suspends refugee admissions for four months and indefinitely bars refugees from Syria.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which runs the largest refugee resettlement network in the country, said it “strongly disagreed” with the prohibitions and pledged to work “vigorously to ensure refugees are humanely welcomed.” The Orthodox Union, the largest association for American Orthodox synagogues, acknowledged the complexities of fighting terror, but said “discrimination of any group solely upon religion is wrong and anathema to the great traditions of religious and personal freedoms upon which this country was founded.”

Trump’s executive order gives preference to refugees fleeing their countries over religious persecution. The president told the Christian Broadcasting Network he aims to prioritize Christian refugees. Still, relatively few evangelicals have voiced support for the idea.

Among those who did offer support was the Rev. Franklin Graham, whose aid agency, Samaritan’s Purse, works with refugees in Iraq, Greece and other nations. Graham said in a statement that he backed a closer examination of refugees’ views on “freedom and liberty” and that Islamic law was incompatible with the Constitution.

The Rev. Robert Jeffress, the leader of First Baptist Dallas and a vocal supporter of Trump, told “Fox & Friends” television show that Trump was “fulfilling his God-given responsibility to protect this country.” A few protesters gathered outside his church during services, with one carrying a sign that read, “Love Thy Neighbor.”

“We believe in security. We believe in careful vetting. We just don’t think a full shutdown is the right reaction,” said Scott Arbeiter, head of World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, which resettles large numbers of refugees. “These are people who are running from the very terror as a nation we’re trying to stop.”

Beth Hood, who attended Mass at St. Camillus Church in Silver Springs, Maryland, said her priest did not directly discuss the refugee restrictions, “but the whole tenor of the Mass was somber” and the reason why was obvious.

The Roman Catholic parish serves a large immigrant population from El Salvador, Guatemala, West Africa and Bangladesh. The Scripture reading for the day was from the Beatitudes, the blessings from the Sermon on the Mount, including blessings for peacemakers.

“There was just a real synchronicity between what we were feeling and readings for the day and again the somber tone of the homily,” said Hood, a social worker who works with Central American immigrants. She called Trump’s action “mean-spirited, abrupt and callous.”

A Mass near the White House organized in protest of Trump’s policy drew hundreds of participants, who knelt as they received Holy Communion on Sunday evening.

Many clergy had to take special care with how they addressed the issue during Sunday services, given a mix of political views in their congregations.

At Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, a Marietta, Georgia, evangelical church that resettles refugees, a pastor at an early morning service prayed that the congregation would “lift up the Syrian refugee families that we are sponsoring,” noting they may never see some members of their family again. The pastor also asked God to grant “wisdom” to Trump so he would make appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court “that can protect the right to life, protect the unborn.”

The Rev. Gary Manning, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, said he started revising his sermon at 2:45 a.m. Sunday, anxious to strike the right tone for his politically mixed suburban Milwaukee parish. Worried his preaching would be “not fiery enough for some and not practical enough for others,” he ended up speaking about mercy and reflecting on what can be done to help others.

“One of my Trump supporters walked by and said, ‘Thank you for keeping it subtle. I don’t think I could have handled being screamed at today,’” Manning said. “It’s incumbent upon me to remember that the people in my congregation are doing their best to live out their Christian values.”

Episcopal Bishop Sean Rowe, who leads the Dioceses of Bethlehem and Northwestern Pennsylvania, said he has never seen such a strong, across-the-spectrum religious response to a social issue. His dioceses include programs to settle refugees, including a Syrian family that had been expecting a relative to come soon — a plan now on hold indefinitely. Rowe said he planned meetings this week with his own clergy and leaders of other faiths on what they should do next to oppose Trump’s policy.

“I find it outrageous at every level,” Rowe said. “There’s a real sense that the church cannot be silent about this.”