IDROS cannot believe it has been two years. Arguably the worst two consecutive years for Jews and for humanity since any two years from 1933-1945. Maybe there is some hope now, with a nebulous offer on the table and finally some pressure placed by most of the world where it should have been for the past 731 days…on Hamas (not by the “Free Palestine” masses and celebrity racists, per se, who have been incredibly loud for most of the past 2 years, but by world leaders…most of whom have been vocally anti-Israel as well until the last week). Except while Israel accepted the deal, Hamas only sort of accepted…they “agreed” to release the hostages, but the rest of the deal remains, at least in their barbaric fantasy, an invitation to renegotiate.
We shall see. But at least there is some reason to be optimistic, and some unexpected but welcome voices joining the US and Israel in championing the deal on the table.
48 is an important number for us Jews. It represents the year Israel was reborn, the 48 prophets (of the Tanakh) and the 48 ways to accept/acquire Torah (from the Mishnah). There are many other significant gematria according to the Kabbalah. But for now, 48 represents the bodies and souls of the remaining hostages, abused, tortured and shattered for an unfathomable two years. And so, on this awful anniversary, IDROS will remain focused on the hope that those 48 will return home.
But know…even if they are returned, an immeasurable price will be paid. By Israel, and by all freedom, truth and peace-loving people of the world. Beyond the heavy price already paid: in lives, destruction, stolen years, journalistic integrity, spreading and proliferation of hatred, erosion of trust and everything else that the horrors of two years of war on eight fronts have cost all of us.
Consequences. The only way this nightmare will ever end is with real, measurable consequences. Kowtowing to terror, offering a reward of statehood, pressuring the victims, blaming the victims, forcing the side who was attacked to negotiate with terrorists…none of these ridiculous tactics or reactions by the global powers that be are acceptable, nor will they lead to peace or any semblance of a world order that any rational player in our world should desire.
Since October 7, only those warring parties or nefarious actors who have been met with overwhelming FAFO-level consequences have either surrendered completely (see Hezbollah, who was bitch-slapped with a masterclass in counter terror techniques exemplified by the exploding pagers), or have turned tail and amended their ways (see Columbia and Harvard (who allowed terrorists to basically run amok on campus for the better part of two years, harassing Jews, vandalizing campus buildings and basically turning their respective campuses into glorified homeless encampments with the added je ne se quoi of Jew Hate to make them truly unbearable and the true embodiment of an actual hate crime disguised as an institution of higher learning)…but when the current administration threatened and then actually cut off their federal funding – i.e., went after the MONEY, these Ivy League cauldrons of hate began to reform, arrest the terror sympathizers on their campuses, settle lawsuits (like the one brought by Shabbos Kestenbaum) and start to root out the Jew-hating venom that has gripped their campuses (the jury is still out on this one…IDROS fears it might take generations to ween the woke crowd off the drug of antisemitism).
But the threat to those sacred endowments, and loss of tax-exempt status and grant funding and lawsuits and court costs and oversight and bureaucratic red tape and congressional hearings, etc…that brings us right to the all-powerful…
Money.
For better or mostly worse…Jews are inextricably associated with money. And we have been for centuries. Why? To keep it simple, Jews were excluded from most professions (and most societal and community intermingling) throughout the world for millennia (even well into the 20th century). The Catholic church forbid Christians from working in the banking profession for religious reasons (which mostly centered around charging interest). Due to these circumstances. Jews, out of desperation, gravitated toward professions like money lending. As religious stigmas relaxed during the Reformation, Christians moved into banking and lending professions as well, but for many Jews, these roles were all they knew. And having worked in the industry for generations, they became quite good at it, as did their children and grandchildren. Jews got so good that they would be entrusted with large sums of money that needed to be transported from one city to another and even one country to another as payment for goods and services. But transport became dangerous, what with thieves and marauders. So, Jews innovated, and invented the first checking system, using systems of markings and designs on worthless paper to convey large sums of money over great distances. And as luck would have it…the whole world took notice, used our services when they needed them or it suited them, and badmouthed Jews for it in closed circles. And that phenomenon birthed one of the most defining derogatory associations Jews would have…and it still haunts us today.
But despite the jokes in poor taste and the racist undertones that accompany most mentions of Jews and anything money related, Jews do know money. And we know the power it holds over most in our world.
We know hate laid the foundation for October 7 and the past two years of unrelenting antisemitism. But we also know that money was the fuel used by sinister and nefarious forces to orchestrate all that has unfolded…and the flow of this money began decades before October 7, 2023.
So, let’s follow the money…
The money that was stolen by Hamas, which built terror tunnels and bought weapons (and yachts for their leaders) instead of schools and infrastructure and hospitals for the Gazan citizens.
The money that was funneled by Qatar to every university campus in the Western world over the past four decades to create an antizionist, anti-West PR campaign the likes of which have never been seen, and one which is self-fortifying and sure to grow over time because the students who are indoctrinated will eventually become future professors or attain even more dangerous positions of power and influence outside of academia.
The money that Iran spent from its vast oil reserves to build nuclear weapons, fund terror throughout the Middle East through its proxies and the rest of the world through terror-linked non-profit organizations (Iran linked organizations pay many of the keffiyeh-wearing radicals on college campuses and at protests in cities across the western world).
The money the Palestinian Authority uses for its PAY-TO-SLAY policy whereby they pay the families of terrorists who kill Jews or are “martyred” trying to kill Jews.
The money allocated by the entire world to organizations like the UN, UNRWA, the Red Cross, Amnesty, etc., which get hijacked by terrorists within the organizations, or due to bias and racism, are used in ways that lack integrity (even the World Central Kitchen was infiltrated by terrorists posing as WCK team members, which was just finally admitted and apologized for by Jose Andres and his organization, but not before irreparable libel, slander and lies were wielded as weapons to undermine and cast Israel as evil).
The money earned per click and per viewership by every mainstream media outlet, credentialed or not. This includes podcasters, influencers and rags like the Huff Post, the Guardian, the Atlantic, Haaretz, the Forward, and of Course, news outlets that should, but somehow aren’t, held to journalistic standards and integrity, such as WaPo, NYT, Reuters, the AP, the BBC, etc.
The money funneled to and earned by al Jazeera, which is funded by Qatar, to spread false information, libels and undermine Israel and all Western Democracies in more ways than most can fathom…including harboring actual militant terrorists who cloak themselves in Press jackets to allow them full access to the battlefield where they capture (read: choreograph) the money shots for the press with one hand, while firing bullets at the IDF, hostages and innocent Gazans with their other hand.
The money lining the pockets of politicians throughout the Western world, bought and paid for by Qatar and Iran to help do their bidding.
The billions if not trillions of dollars in losses caused by the Houthis in Yemen, who have continuously disrupted shipping in and around the Persian Gulf, destroying cargo ships and rerouting countless others adding exponential costs to an already supply chain-constrained global economy – not to mention the money required for the air defense systems like the Iron Dome, to shoot these missiles down, and the money to rebuild the catastrophic damages caused by the missiles that get through.
The money spent by nefarious governments like Russia, China and North Korea to sow chaos and unrest throughout the West with online libel campaigns, hackings, bot infestations and by providing weapons to terror groups and despots throughout the Middle East.
The trillions of dollars in oil money that flow to and from the Middle Eastern oil rich emirates and cartel members every year, allowing the region to influence policy worldwide, build and support terror organizations, fund supposed philanthropic efforts, etc.
We must stop these fountains of money from flowing, or at least slow them down, make those who benefit most and who facilitate the nefarious transactions feel serious pain.
IDROS recommends the following courses of action:
- The money stolen by Hamas from various Gazan relief efforts, including UN and UNRWA allocations as well as from philanthropic efforts from the West must be frozen, and those providing funds must be sanctioned.
- Any aid getting into Gaza (now and in the miracle scenario that could end this war) must be secured, and Hamas must be prevented from seizing, and then selling the aid to their own benefit. Things have been better since GHF began operations, but there is so much aid being dropped by so many parties that there is no way some of it isn’t slipping through the cracks or that gets hijacked by Hamas like it always has been.
- Qatar must be brought to task. IDROS doesn’t know how Qatar has skated by basically with impunity since October 7, but they are and have been the biggest reason so many lives have been lost in Gaza, Israel and throughout the diaspora. They also somehow get to mediate and broker hostage deals but are as biased a player in that role as there could be. They harbor terrorist leadership in Doha, run mass antizionist, antisemitic and anti-Israel PR campaigns through both al Jazeera and through their flooding western institutions with cash and this must stop. Israel and America (and preferably many others) must put pressure on Qatar, threaten their oil reserves, threaten their leadership and sanction them until they free the hostages (and if/after the hostages are freed, pressure them even more). Any university who has taken funds from Qatar over the past 30 years should be forced to return every penny or risk having their own assets frozen or tax- exempt status revoked, etc.
- Iran must pay for the chaos they have wrought on the world. Much like the Nazis after WWII, the US and Israel should pressure the mullahs with sanctions and military destruction until they surrender. Iran’s nuclear capabilities must be investigated more closely and should be hit again if there are any traces remaining of any of the materials feared prior to the stealth bomber efforts earlier this year.
- Yemeni Houthis must pay for the damage and chaos they have levied upon global shipping and logistics, as well as for raining missiles at a sovereign nation. What they have done amounts to no less than a declaration of war on the entire Western world, and requisite countermeasures must be taken until the Houthis are no longer, and until Iran (and others such as North Korea) is no longer able to fund and arm them.
- The UN must be dismantled or drastically overhauled/amended. Much of the other “philanthropic” organizations must be carefully vetted, cleansed of terrorists and terrorist sympathizers, and the money trails for all must be audited and accounts frozen/seized as necessary.
- And Jews all over the world must initiate class action lawsuits against any number of offenders listed above. IDROS recommends starting with media companies who have stoked the flames of antisemitism and anti-Israel bias/hatred, and in fact, are accomplices in and the root cause of many murders, violent assaults, harassment, acts of vandalism and other criminal activity throughout the diaspora including the murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim in Washington DC, and the murder by firebombing of Karen Diamond in Boulder, CO. These class action suits should continue with colleges and universities who failed their Jewish students (their parents) and faculty miserably over the past 2 years. These suits should include civil suits against specific inciters on campus such as Mahmoud Khalil.
And there have also been ridiculous sums of money spent out of necessity by those directly and indirectly targeted by the actions listed above:
- The money spent on defense for places like Israel and for Western military installations in the Middle East to prevent catastrophic and genocidal fallout from a constant barrage of rockets, missiles and other weaponry fired from myriad proxies and sovereign nations throughout the Middle East.
- The money Jews in Israel and throughout the diaspora are forced to spend every year to secure synagogues, Jewish Day Schools, Jewish neighborhoods and events because just existing in our world as a Jew is among the most dangerous realities in the world.
- The billions in taxpayer dollars spent each year on clean-up for Jew-hate related vandalism, graffiti, cemetery desecration, security (armed police, guards and even militia) for protests and rallies, rising insurance premiums etc.
- The millions spent on hospital bills and funerals for those targeted in terror attacks, taken hostage and later released (dead or alive), beaten or attacked in the streets across the world, etc.
- Legal fees and wasted hours by courts and courtroom professionals to navigate this circus and its fallout, much of which is yet to come.
- And the untold billions not yet known that will be spent by the victims, their extended families and every Jew in the diaspora on PTSD, anxiety and other mental health trauma care and stress related illnesses as a result of the October 7 massacre and subsequent rise in Jew hate.
Finally, IDROS would be remis if not discussing an enormous bill that remains outstanding: The mammoth costs to rebuild Gaza. Whoever signs on to foot this bill would be crazy to write this blank check if things remain status quo. Should Hamas, or any terrorist organizations, remain in Gaza after a treaty/agreement is signed to end the war, the risk of renewed fighting and destruction will remain at 100%…it will not be an IF, but a WHEN. So, who would invest billions if not trillions in such an endeavor with such risk outstanding? And if Qatar or others are willing to move forward with such an undertaking without being absolutely certain the terror threats have been fully mitigated, it begs the question…If Qatar (and/or others) have that kind of sway with these barbarians, and trust them enough to invest billions or more into rebuilding the enclave without fearing re-escalation in the future, why couldn’t they use the same sway to get the hostages back more quickly? Or maybe these players have so much money that they just don’t care what happens? True F-YOU money. And the YOU, unfortunately, is all of us. God help us.
F anyone and everyone who celebrated this dubious anniversary in any way, shape or form. You all disgust me and deserve to burn in eternal hellfire.
As for the rest of you, IDROS send vibes of hope and optimism…for better days and years ahead; for an end to this unrelenting madness; for a return to truth and sanity; and of course, for the return of our 48. (And if you want to move on bullet 7 above, IDROS is ready).
#BringThemHomeNow
Thanks for reading,
IDROS
idontrollonshabbas 