3 American Yeshivah bochurim are among the injured in a tragic accident in the Jordan valley earlier this week

Eight people were injured in a horrific car accident in the Jordan valley earlier this week . 

The incident took place on highway 1, right after the turn off from Kvish Habikah, between the Almog and Arava junctions. 

Three American yeshivah bochurim where among the injured, two of them critically and one moderately. The driver of the car was rescued from the crushed vehicle, and was transported by helicopter to Hadassah Ein Karem hospital in Yerushalayim. 

The other 2 bochurim were also transported to Hadassah Ein Karem, one in critical and one in moderate condition. 

The three bochurim from New York are learning in Yeshivas Mir, and where heading up north for a tour. 

The parents of the 3 boys departed from New York to Israel a short time ago.

Before boarding the plane, the parents spoke with the head of the 'ICU' in Hadassah Ein Karem, Professor Charlie Wiseman, who calmed the parents and told them that their children are not in a life-threatening situation. 

Relatives of the bochurim who spoke with "Bechadrei Chareidim", shared that one of the bouchrim, Asher Zelig Chaim Ben Rachel is conscious and recovering. While the other two, Yitzchok Izack ben Sarah Ester, and Ze'ev ben Sima are sedated and on a respirator, but B "H there is no immediate danger to their lives. 

New Report Sees McCain as not so Pro-Israel and How Trump Was Furious When He Heard That The UN Schools in Palestinian Schools Teaches Anti-Israel Propaganda

David Bedein, the head of the Center for Near East Policy Research, spoke to Arutz Sheva about the late Arizona Senator John McCain, who passed away on Saturday after a year-long battle with brain cancer, and of the US administration's rejection of the so-called 'Palestinian right of return.'

"Ten years ago, exactly, I had the opportunity to meet Senator McCain when Noam Bedein (Bedein's son and the head of the Sderot Media Center) organized a briefing for Senator McCain in Sderot when he was running for president. And he brought him to a house which had been destroyed by missiles," Bedein said.

"I came down there as the correspondent for the Philadelphia Bulletin and covered the event. A few months before Senator McCain had given over an interview to Amir Oren from Haaretzwhere he talked about his commitment to push Israel for unilateral withdrawals from Judea and Samaria," he added.

"We're sitting in the living room which had been destroyed by missiles. I asked Senator McCain, 'well, how do you react?

 Will you change your position now that you've seen what happens when Israel hands over territory to the other side?'

"He got very angry at me and said: 'No. You have to understand: Israel has a peace partner. Israel had better withdraw as soon as possible from the West Bank and give it to Abbas. Abbas is a man of peace.' He was very angry and he said 'I don't like your question,'" Bedein recalled.

"My conclusion is that while McCain was, as he saw it, very favorable to Israel, it would have been very difficult to deal with a McCain Administration where we had someone who loved Israel so much, but was at the same time demanding withdrawals.

"It was easier to deal with Obama, who simply didn't like Israel so much and demanded withdrawals," Bedein said.

David Katz Identified As The Shooter in Jacksonville Florida

David Katz 

The man who opened fire at a video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida on Sunday has been identified as 24-year-old David Katz, of Baltimore, Maryland, CNN reported.

Two people were killed in the shooting at the Jacksonville Landing shopping and dining complex. Eleven others were injured.

Katz died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Sheriff Mike Williams said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon. There are no other suspects.

The motive for the shooting, which took place during a qualifying event for the Madden 19 Tournament at the GLHF Game Bar, remains unclear.

Some reports said the shooter participated in the tournament and opened fire at participants after he lost.

The Baltimore Police Department on Sunday evening raided Katz's home, which is located in the city's Inner Harbor area. Investigators are interviewing the suspect's family.

A Little Gentile Girl Learns About The Holocaust

Oprah Meets a Black Chasidic Family

Filmed in 2012 .....

Yeshivah Bochur Stabbed by His Friend ..... in Modiin Illit

I don't think it was over a Tosfois! 

 Frummies, afraid that people will compare the Yeshivah boys to Arabs, are saying that the stabber was Meshugah .... I don't buy it!

A talmid of Yeshivas Knesset HaGedolah in Modi’in Illit was stabbed on Sunday by a friend, apparently the result of a heated argument. The incident occurred at the entrance to the yeshiva . According to a Magen David Adom report, the victim was in serious condition when transported to Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv. Police have apprehended the stabber, who fled the scene.

Eyewitness report the two were arguing and the atmosphere escalated to the physical attack. The attacker fled, but police did not take long until they were able to apprehend him and take him into custody.

Rabbi Yitzchak Zeev Zacks, the Rosh Yeshivah is declaring a public fast tomorrow for the Yeshivah bochrum ... 

Please be mispallel; for Yedidya Ben Michal. 

In an update, there has been an improvement in the condition of the victim...

Last week a 25-year-old chareidi male sustained moderate injuries as a result of a machlokes with another person.

It starts with violent protests, and this is the result .....
Modiin Illit is a hotbed for fanatical bochrim!

 Latere in the day A frum reporter, Akiva Weiss  reporting in front of the Yeshivah was attacked and beaten  by the boys of this yeshivah ...and his phone forcibly taken and broken.. 
Time to draft these guys in the Army ..

Akiva Weiss Reporter Beaten By Yeshivah Boys 

He Thinks His Dog is a DemocRAT!

Yosef Yehoshua Folger Bobover Shoiteh Who Gave His Child 9 Names Changes His Child Name to Only 3

"Ehr iz gekimmin tzim seichil"

Yosef Yehoshua Folger, a student of  Bobov in Boro Park, received an aliyah last Shabbas on the eve of his daughter's birth, and when the Gabbai asked the father the name he wished to give his newborn daughter, the Gabbai was surprised to hear the name: 
"Leah, Hinda, Tsirel, Malka, Attia, Shaina,  Chana, Chava Tzviya" 

But on the Monday after last Shabbos , Folger asked the Gabbai for another aliyeh and in the blessing of "Mei Brachach" changed the name of the baby, so that she currently has "only" 3 names,...

It is not clear what caused the father in the first place to declare the long name.

Some of them claim that he is a "letz" and that this was a joke, and that at some point the father realized that the person who would suffer would be his daughter, so he wisely decided to change her name.

Empire Chickens May Be Contaminated with Salmonella

Federal authorities issued a public health alert Friday over raw chicken products possibly contaminated by Salmonella.

The Empire Kosher Poultry, Inc. products affected -- which may include raw whole chicken, raw chicken parts, -- were produced and sold to consumers from last September until this past June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said.

The agency issued the alert "out of an abundance of caution due to concerns about Salmonella illnesses reported in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States that may be associated with raw chicken products."

Trump can survive the onslaught against his presidency

From Day One, President Trump has been fighting a war for survival on two fronts. One front involves law enforcement, led first by James Comey’s FBI and now by special counsel Robert Mueller. The other front is political, where Trump faces the resistance movement led by congressional Democrats.

But sift through the fog of last week’s dizzying headlines about guilty pleas, immunity deals and possible impeachment, and a clear picture emerges: The two fronts have united, with the anti-Trumpers in the Justice Department and those in politics now openly working hand-in-hand against him.

Media Called John McCain "a white supremacist" and "sick in the head" Now That He is Dead They Pretend That He is a "hero"

When John McCain ran for President in 2008, the media called him "sick in the head" and a "racist"  "unfit to for office." Now they all pretend to care about him, its fake and a sick game by sociopaths, they destroy a man when he opposes DemocRATS, Now they love him!

'An American patriot and true friend of Israel'

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this morning, Sunday, issued a statement on the passing of US Sen. John McCain.

"I am deeply saddened by the passing of John McCain, a great American patriot and a true friend of Israel. I will always treasure the constant friendship he showed to the people of Israel and to me personally," Netanyahu said.

"His support for Israel never wavered. It sprang from his belief in democracy and freedom. The State of Israel salutes John McCain."

The prime minister's statement came as Israeli politicians across the political spectrum eulogized the former US Senator McCain's office said in a statement that the Arizona GOP senator died at 4:28 p.m., and was accompanied by his wife, Cindy McCain, and their family.

"At his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully for sixty years,” McCain's office wrote.

McCain’s death from brain cancer came more than a year after he announced he had the condition in July of 2017.

His death comes a day after his family announced that he had chosen to discontinue medical treatment because the “progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age” had rendered “their verdict.”

McCain has been absent from the Senate this year due to his illness, and cast his last vote on December 7. Before he left, treatment had forced him to use a wheelchair in his final days in Washington.

Facebook Censors an Article From New York Post because It Was Pro-Trump

by 

At 7:55 a.m. Thursday morning, I posted a story I had written for The New York Post on both Facebook and Twitter. It was a reported piece on how people who voted for President Trump were feeling after both former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his lawyer Michael Cohen found themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Within two hours I started receiving a handful of notes from people who are friends on my personal Facebook page that their posting of my piece, entitled “Why Trump’s supporters won’t care about Cohen and Manafort,” had been removed.

Sometimes the removal was accompanied by a message from Facebook. “Spam” was the most common reason given, but a couple of people were told Facebook removed the post because “it did not follow our Community Standards.”

Immediately I went to my original post, which led to the link with this graph: “Right now the value of Trump to the Trump voter is he is all that stands between them and handing the keys to Washington back over to the people inside Washington. That’s it. He’s their only option. You’ve got to pick the insiders or him.”

The post was gone.

Why? Facebook had given me no reason why it would censor a story, and asking them for an explanation wasn’t easy.

First I politely published a public Tweet requesting some direction. No answer. I noticed that their Direct Message was open on Twitter so I asked in that format. No answer. Then I turned to their own page and asked through a series of confusing messaging options that appear to require a Ph.D. to access let alone find, still no answer.

Ninety minutes after removing it, the article reappeared as if nothing ever happened.

No one told me why it was taken down. No one told me why the piece suddenly reappeared with no explanation of what had happened.

Facebook offers no transparency for its methods or decisions.

The article was based on my conversations with Trump voters. It had no expletives, conspiracy theories, hate speech or sexual language. What sort of algorithm would find it, much less censor it?

Perhaps someone doesn’t like my stories and complained about it. But then, who is that person and why does Facebook give them that sort of power?

The third option is that someone working for Facebook actually saw it and made the decision to take it down. If that’s the case, what standards are they working from?

Lekuvid Shabbos ... Artetha's Frankilin Lecha Dodi

Sung by Chazanit Beth Griffith

Here is the complete Kabbalat Shabbat

Israeli Court Rules That Chareidie Yeshivois Do Not Have to Admit the children of the "Auerbach Crazies"

פסיקה דרמטית: אין חובה לקבל את ילדי 'הפלג' למוסדות החרדיים

בהמשך לדיון המשפטי הסוער שנחשף לראשונה ב'בחדרי', קבע היום בית המשפט המחוזי באופן תקדימי הצפוי להיות בעל השלכות רוחב, כי מותר למוסדות חינוך חרדיים להפלות ילדים ממשפחות 'הפלג הירושלמי' ולהימנע מלקבלם כתלמידים. וגם: כיצד עקץ השופט את העותרים

החלטה דרמטית - חשיפת 'בחדרי חרדים': בית המשפט המחוזי בירושלים דחה היום (חמישי) את עתירת משפחות 'הפלג הירושלמי' תושבי רכסים נגד המחוז החרדי במשרד החינוך, תלמוד התורה הליטאי 'תשב"ר' ומועצת רכסים, והשאיר את החלטת המחוז החרדי לאפשר לת"ת שלא לקבל את ילדי 'הפלג הירושלמי' לת"ת.

כזכור, כפי שנחשף ב'בחדרי חרדים', מספר משפחות תושבי רכסים הגישו ערר למחוז החרדי לאחר שהת"ת המקומי סירב לקבל את ילדיהם בטענה שהם משתייכים לקבוצת 'הפלג הירושלמי' ש"יוצא להפגנות לא חוקיות ופרובוקציות נוספות הקוראות תיגר על הוראות גדולי הדור שליט"א".

כאמור, וכפי שנחשף ב'בחדרי חרדים', באופן דרמטי, המחוז החרדי דחה את הערר שהגישו משפחות 'הפלג הירושלמי' והם הגישו עתירה לבית המשפט, שכאמור דחה היום את טענותיהם - מה שצפוי להשליך על מקרים דומים רבים שיהיו בעתיד.

בית המשפט, שקיים בנושא דיון בדלתיים סגורות, קיבל את עמדת המחוז החרדי, תלמוד התורה ומחלקת החינוך במועצה, וקבע כי הת"ת לא מחויב לקבל לשורותיו את בני המשפחות המשתייכות ל'פלג הירושלמי', וכי לא מדובר באפליה האסורה על פי חוק.

בה בעת, השיתו שופטי בית המשפט המחוזי על העותרים, כאמור משפחות מ'הפלג הירושלמי' בעיר הצפונית, לשלם למשיבים הוצאות משפט בסך של חמשת אלפי שקלים.

בנבירה בהחלטת ביהמ"ש, ניתן לראות שהשופט אלכסנדר רון עקץ את העותרים עם ציטוטים מתוך עיתון 'הפלס', אשר דיווח מצד אחד על פתיחת שנת הלימודים של משרד החינוך, בעוד מנגד העותרים קוראי העיתון עותרים נגד משרד החינוך.

כמו"כ, בפסק הדין יש עוקץ משפטי נוסף נגד עותרי 'הפלג הירושלמי', על כך שהם אוחזים את החבל מ-2 קצוותיו, מצד אחד הם מבקשים ללמוד במוסד מוכש"ר בגלל שהוא קובע לעצמו את הסגנון, ומצד שני מנסים להכתיב לו סגנון אחר.

ב'פלג הירושלמי' אמרו הערב ל'בחדרי חרדים' לנוכח הפסיקה כי: "ליבנו עם אחינו ברכסים הנרדפים על צווואריהם רק בגלל רצונם ללכת בדרך רבותם הגדולים מצוקי ארץ. ולעיר הנידחת רכסים נזעק ארץ ארץ אל תכסי את דמם של מי שנגזר עליהם להיסרק במסרקות הברזל של הברבריות החולנית מבית דגל התורה. יש בורא לעולם והוא כבר יבוא חשבון עם כל כוחות האופל שנהנים לראות את דמם של בני התורה ניגר על העפר".

כזכור, בתגובת הת"ת למשפחות 'הפלג הירושלמי' נכתב כי "לא נוכל לקבל את בתכם לגנ"י/לביה"ס בשל העדר התאמה בין רוח הבית ורוח המוסדות. אי ההתאמה מתבטאת בהשתייכות המשפחה לזרם קיצוני הפועל בניגוד לחוק ובכך נלחם ופועל בניגוד להוראות גדולי דורנו שליט"א. זאת, בין היתר על ידי יציאה להפגנות לא חוקיות ופרובוקציות נוספות הקוראות תיגר על הוראות גדולי הדור שליט"א, ועומדות בניגוד לחוק". כאמור, היום העניק ביהמ"ש גיבוי לעמדה זו.

Alan Dershowitz to UK Interviewer: Don’t Lecture US About Trump When You Have ‘Antisemite’ Corbyn Poised to Become PM

Watch the exchange below:

Wired Sources@WiredS

Alan dershowitz has mic-drop response to British journalist asking "where is the moral backbone of America these days?"

3:25 AM - Aug 23, 2018

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Two Female Israel Prison Authority Guards Attacked by Meah Shearim Savages

They wouldn't try that with Arabs, but they sure learned from the Arabs how to behave ..

Two female prison guards from the Israel Prison Authority came under attack on Wednesday night while driving through Meah Shearim. Extremists identified them, and the attack began.

At around midnight on 12 Elul, they entered the community in a private vehicle. According to an eyewitness, one asked the woman what they were looking for. They responded “We are okay. We do not require assistance”. A short time after, a few additional residents arrived and inquired, and the women stated they are from the Israel Prison Authority and do not require assistance.

The rumor spread, perhaps they were going to make arrests, and the rocks began flying, smashing the vehicle’s rear window. At one point they shouted police were responding, and this led to more rocks hurled at the vehicle.

A few minutes later, a resident came and managed to calm the extremists. The two were extricated from the area via Shivtei Yisrael Street.

It appears there were not in the community on official business, just traveling through the neighborhood. B’chasdei Hashem, no one was injured.

Parhat Ki Teiztei ...

by Rabbi Shmuel Knopfler

Parshat Ki Teitze, encounters a commandment that speaks of a reality with which we are completely unfamiliar, the “eshet yefat to’ar” (taking a beautiful woman as a war bride). Here, the Torah describes a scenario in which a Jewish soldier wishes to marry a woman captured from the enemy. The Torah allows the soldiers to do so, even if it is against the woman’s will. The Torah states, “When you go out to
war against your enemies, and the Lord, Hashem, will deliver him into your hands, and you take his captives, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman and you desire her, you may take [her] for yourself as a wife.”

This is undoubtedly a thorny issue, and I am not sure if I would feature it as a preface to a discussion of the basic principles of Judaism, especially considering how much the Torah warns us against marrying non-Jewish women, who could exert a pagan cultural influence on us.

Furthermore, later in the parsha, the Torah cautions us against sexual promiscuity on army bases: “… your camp shall be holy, so that He should not see anything unseemly among you and would turn away from you.” God is in our midst, in our army bases, and this is why we need to take special care.

If so, we would expect the Torah to forbid us from taking non-Jewish wives altogether, and it goes without saying that we should not marry non-Jews against their will. Yet some of our Sages interpreted the fact that the expression used, “eshet yefat to’ar”, instead of the proper Hebrew expression, “isha yefat to’ar”, indicates that the Torah allows us to marry the non-Jewish woman, against her will, even if she was already married to someone else!

You need not possess a particularly gentle soul to find such behavior revolting. It violates our most basic religious and human values, and it begs an obvious and justified question: why did the Torah allow and accept this type of behavior, instead of waging all-out war against it?

Our midrashic Sages never concealed their reservations and criticism of people who behave like this. They state that anyone who marries such a woman will end up hating her later, and that this is why the next subject discussed in the parsha concerns people with hated wives, followed by the laws of sorer u’moreh, the rebellious son that such a marriage would inevitably result in. According to this interpretation, our Sages made a poignant statement against anyone who feels this is the proper thing to do.

Still, this does not answer the question of why the Torah does not explicitly forbid it, just as the Geneva Convention banned harming civilians many centuries later. Rashi, one of our greatest commentators, wrote, “The Torah [in permitting this marriage] is speaking only against the evil inclination. For if the Holy One, blessed is He, would not permit her to him, he would take her illicitly.”

Otherwise put, the Torah is not about to require people to do something at which they could not possibly succeed, simply for it to appear on paper. To do so would be to set people up for failure. Rather, the Torah is trying to foster an understanding of how indecent this behavior is, and how much a person could lose by acting in this way. It will also try to stop this from happening by creating a set of rules that make it hard to follow through with such an idea. Sure enough, the verses describe a list of things the man must do, designed to cause him to restore the woman’s freedom. For example, “… she shall let her nails grow”. Our Sages remark that “she should grow them out so that she should appear unattractive to him”.

The verse continues, “And she shall remove the garment of her captivity from upon herself…” Our Sages comment that “[this is] because they are pretty; they decorate themselves during battle in order to cause others to have illicit relations with them.”

The verse then says, “and [she shall] stay in your house”, which our Sages explained that a person would “see her when he comes in, and when he goes out, when she cries, and when she is repulsive, so that she would become undesirable to him.” In other words, short of prohibiting this practice altogether, the Torah will go to every length to nip it in the bud, because there is always the chance that a person will not heed the words of the Torah.

Why, though, would a person not heed the Torah’s instructions, if the Torah had forbade this behavior? Rav Kook explained that a person cannot base every action on whether it is legal. Humanity needs morality and benevolence to elevate it beyond just doing what is allowed, or not doing what is forbidden. For instance, if a particular law obligates every citizen to give charity to poor people they pass
by on the street, the poor would obviously benefit from the law, but as human beings, we would become less benevolent, since we are only giving charity because the law requires it.

As parents, we know that our children understand what we want from them, not just because they hear us explicitly allowing or forbidding certain behaviors, but also because of the gestures we make, and especially when they notice our faces shining with pride, or green with disgust.

No one studying the Torah would have any doubts about what the Torah wants from him or her. This type of educational guidance is right for us, as families and as a society. It would be wrong to assume that if a certain behavior is legal, it is automatically the right thing to do. Our sense of morality and humanity demand a lot more from us than just doing what is allowed and refraining from what is forbidden.
בברכת התורה והארץ‎

שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם

B'Birchat Hatorah V'Haaretz

Shabbat Shalom

Shmuel Knopfler

One May Not Bring Arba Minim Into Israel

With Tishrei on the horizon, the Ministry of Agriculture reminds travelers that one may not bring arba minim into the country for Sukkos.

The Ministry’s Plant Protection & Inspection Services is increasing its manpower assigned to border control, in light of the increase in the number of attempts by private individuals and merchants to bring arba minim into Israel, and at times, the arba minim are infected by various pests.

As in past years, agents assigned to border control will offer a person bringing arba minim with a personal (non-commercial) product made in Israel, including hadassim, aravos, and of course, a lulav. It should be noted that the passengers are permitted to bring one esrog per passenger.

According to the Plant Protection Law, and in order to prevent the passage between countries of pests and pathogens to plants (insects, mites, nematodes, fungi, bacteria and viruses), it is absolutely forbidden to bring fruits and vegetables and any other plant products into the territory of the State of Israel. Any transfer of agricultural produce to the borders of the State of Israel without the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture constitutes a criminal offense.

It should be noted that when an importer or a citizen wishes to bring in agricultural produce from a foreign country, the Plant Protection & Inspection Services of the Ministry of Agriculture conducts tests to ensure that the produce meets the import requirements. Pests and pathogens do not always appear in the eye, but the introduction of lulavim, esrogim, plants, or any other fruit or vegetable left in one’s breakfast bag, then eaten at the hotel and even thrown into the garbage, can cause the introduction of a new species of harm or disease causing local agriculture .

The Ministry of Agriculture makes it clear that those interested in bringing the arba minim to Israel in advance should contact the Plant Protection & Inspection Services of the Ministry of Agriculture.

When Are Arabs Really Happy?

When politics becomes personal

by Judith Colp Rubin

A close American friend recently revealed why a mutual friend was no longer speaking to me.

“She said you support Donald Trump. But that isn’t true, is it?”

My first reaction was incredulity. My second was to laugh hysterically. My third was to get angry. My fourth was to write about this, knowing that it might cost me some more friends.

How had it come to this? How did it happen that I, a relatively apolitical person who hadn’t even voted in the last US presidential election (what was the point when my home state, Maryland, always went Democratic?) and never wrote about political topics, was being shunned because of my political beliefs?

I considered what I had said that prompted my friend to drop me. I had expressed my approval that Trump had moved the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and rescinded the treaty with Iran. Additionally, I had said that it was Northeastern elitism and arrogance that had brought him, not Hillary Clinton, to power. I don’t consider either comment to be especially controversial.

I had also stressed that Trump wasn’t my top choice for president then or likely ever. But I had already said enough.

For many Trump haters, there is a “you are with us all the way or against us” mentality that has reached hysterical proportions. It is a view no longer relegated to just a few hotheads. It is a hysteria that permeates our most elite media, institutions, and individuals. It is mean, ugly, and very personal.

After discussing politics one evening at a café, another friend remarked to me: “I don’t understand how such a nice person as yourself can be right wing.”

The implication is that the left has a monopoly on goodness and caring for others. The comment echoes the words of the late great columnist Charles Krauthammer who once noted: “To understand the workings of American politics you have to understand this fundamental law: Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil.”

I understand that comment because I once thought so myself. I was the third generation of my family to attend a “progressive” private school where we learned more about Martin Luther King, Jr than the Founding Fathers. I worked on my first political campaign at age 15 for ultra-liberal Bella Abzug and a few years later trudged through snowy Maine and New Hampshire canvassing votes for liberal icon Sen. Ted Kennedy. President of my college Young Democrats, I wept when Ronald Reagan was elected and bought a t-shirt at the 1984 Democratic Convention reading “Friends Don’t Let Friends Vote Republican.”

I was drawn to liberal Democrats because they represented my values: freedom of speech and religion, civil rights, gender equality, gun control, and non-elitism. I thought conservatives were wealthy white men who abused the poor and saw women as intellectually inferior sex objects.

But slowly, while Trump was just focused on amassing New York City real estate, liberals have been attacking America and Israel, while glossing over the threat of Islamic fundamentalism. They have castigated working class people in middle America as ignorant hillbillies and mocked their religious beliefs. And they have created an intolerance for dissent.

The mythical liberal of the past — an open-hearted and generous soul helping the underdog — has become an ugly figure excoriating anyone who doesn’t share his views. Those who don’t swoon over Obama and foam at the mouth at the mention of Trump are being branded as racist and evil. Equally shocking are the stories of elitist universities refusing to let non-left speakers on campus.

All of this has succeeded in pushing people like me, who do not feel entirely comfortable voting Republican, further and further away from the Democratic Party.  We are the voters up for grabs in the next election. Those that criticize and ostracize us do so at their own peril.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Former journalist -- The Washington Times, USA Today, New York Daily News, Women's International Net -- among others. Co-author -- Arafat: A Political Biography (Oxford, 2001), Hating America (Oxford, 2003). Completed the Masters in Creative Writing at Bar Ilan.