Anti-Semitic
Behavior, False Claims of Genocide and Market Review
By Victor
Sperandeo with the Curmudgeon
Whos Behind the Surge in Anti-Semitism on College Campuses?
A major shocking surprise after Hamas murderous October 7th
attack in Israel (killing over 1400 people and taking ~242 hostages) was the
ubiquitous anti-Israel and anti-Semitic protests by the most prestigious U.S.
universities and student unions.
Pro-Palestinian protests at some universities have crossed
over the line into extreme anti-Semitism and prompted Republicans and some
Democrats to warn campuses are in the grip of far-left radicalism. Social media has pulsated with hatred against
Jews, leaving a community that can never escape its historic trauma yet again
wondering where and when it can ever be safe.
For example, a Cornell University professor said he
was initially exhilarated over the Hamas attacks at a pro-Palestinian event,
because the group had changed the balance of power. A feeling of fear pervades Cornell, said
Molly Goldstein, co-president of the Cornell Center for Jewish Living. Jewish
students on campus right now are unbelievably terrified for their lives, she
told CNN. I never would have expected this to happen on my university campus.
The astonishing surge in anti-Semitic behavior has become
equally intense in the UK and Europe.
According to University
Minister Robert Halfon , UK universities have had a problem with
anti-Semitism for a long time. Now he says the Oct 7th Hamas
massacre in Israel pushed things off the scale. A particular flashpoint has been inflammatory
motions at some branches of the University and College Union.
At University College London (UCL), members of the
union approved a motion calling for a mass uprising against Israel. Only a mass uprising on both sides of the
green line and across the Middle East can free the Palestinian people, end the
occupation and ensure equal rights for all peoples. The same motion later resolved the branch to
call for a Socialist Federation of the Middle East Intifada until victory!
In Victors opinion, this had to be a concerted effort by the
far left (e.g., anarchists and communists) to teach this mentality of extreme
hatred of the Jewish faith.
-->Could university professors and leaders be
responsible for instigating these protests? Look no further than Cornell!
The unison messages and protests were not only anti-Semitic,
but pro-Palestinian - without distinguishing between the Hamas serial
killers and the innocent Palestinians living in the Gaza strip (or the West
Bank Palestinians governed by the Palestinian Authority). This should open the eyes of all U.S.
citizens and parents, as to what is being taught in these most expensive and
highly respected colleges and universities.
Jewish day schools have canceled classes. Synagogues have
been locked. Jewish owned stores have been vandalized with Free Palestine
graffiti spray painted on the walls. Many Jews are wondering if their safety
can be guaranteed in the United States.
Victors Opinion:
It is disgraceful and mind blowing that this type of hatred
of the Jews exists in the U.S. The lefts propaganda has made the Hamas
murderers to be the good guys. Even though they use their own people as human
shields- hiding among civilians in Gaza hospitals, schools, apartment buildings
and mosques.
Meanwhile, Israelis are the bad guys, because they
retaliated to destroy Hamas and free the hostages. The self-defense by the Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) when going into Gaza to find and kill the Hamas leaders and fighters
responsible were then called genocide. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
-->To be defending Hamas and condemning Israel is
astonishing to me as the facts are clearly the opposite!
What is Genocide and is Israel Guilty of That Crime?
Genocide is the systematic and
widespread killing and attempted extermination of a national, racial,
religious, or ethnic group. In other words, the systematic killing of a racial
or cultural group. For example:
l Nazi genocide killing 6+ million Jews in Germany and Poland
during World War II.
l Armenian Genocide (1915-1916 resulted in the killing of as
many as 1.2 million Armenian Christian people living in the Ottoman Empire.
l Cambodian Genocide killing 3 million by the Communists (Khmer
Rouge).
l Holodomor (death by hunger, in Ukrainian) refers to the
starvation of millions of Ukrainians in 193233 as a result of Soviet policies
of Communist leader Joseph Stalin.
The Israeli military warned the 1.1 million residents of
North Gaza to evacuate and move southward well in advance of the IDF entering
the strip to hunt down Hamas leaders.
That was an attempt to save Palestinian lives - not take them. It is 180 degrees opposite of Genocide!
Curmudgeon: As a point of
order, Jews place the highest priority on preserving life, but not those
of an enemy thats out to destroy them (e.g., Hamas). When a life is at risk,
even if the risk is small, the duty to save a life is so great that it
overrides religious prohibitions and all Jewish laws (aka Halakha).
.
Its important to note that there are 2.1 million Arab
citizens living in Israeli which is 21% of the country's population. The
majority of these citizens identify themselves as Palestinian by
nationality and as Israeli by citizenship.
Arab-Israelis have the highest standard of living outside of
the Persian Gulf, and they have more rights and voting privileges. They have
political parties that were previously represented in the Knesset. Palestinians
living in Israel have formed the opposition in a way that's impossible in Gaza,
impossible in Syria, and impossible anywhere else in the Arab world.
For example, The Joint List (now dissolved) was a
political alliance of four of the Arab-majority political parties in
Israel. It was the third-largest faction
in the Knesset after the 2015 election.
Do you think a Jewish political party could ever be elected in an
Islamic Republic like Iran?
PROFESSOR EMERITUS VICTOR DAVID HANSON:
When you look at the
conduct of war, if Israel wanted to conduct genocide, they wouldn't be phoning
people or dropping leaflets to get away. The people who would be subject to
genocide would not be forcibly taking their own people and putting them in
front. For example, do people really who use that word think that in the Polish
ghetto, Jews that were militant and resisting the Gestapo took other Jews and
put them in front of them, assured that the Gestapo wouldn't shoot them?
But they themselves have been advocating for genocide,
because they have a phrase, Palestine will be free from the river, meaning
the Jordan River to the sea, the Mediterranean.
That just assumes the complete liquidation of Jews in Israel.
They're calling for it openly, and then they're saying, "We caught you in
genocide because you had the audacity to go back and hit us in Gaza City after
we murdered a thousand of your people. We're calling our parents up and saying,
I killed 10 Jews. Allahu Akbar. Come on, great." It's surreal, it's La
La Land. They think this is going to get them empathy. Only a society that was
completely morally bankrupt would give them empathy. There's something very
sick going on there in this cult of hatred.
WSJ
Editorial Anti-Semitism Poisons America, by Russell Mead:
Anti-Semitism is a problem, and not only for American Jews.
The beliefs that have made the U.S. a uniquely hospitable home for Jewish
citizens are essential to national cohesion and strength. If we lose faith in
what was once proudly called the American Way, there is little chance that
society can summon the energy and unity to withstand attacks from our enemies
abroad.
Market Comments:
Bond and stock markets rallied
across the board last week as the Fed left the Fed funds rate unchanged as
expected. The real reason for the rally came from the U.S. Treasury, which
announced that U.S. long duration bonds were to be a smaller portion of the new
debt to be auctioned. Instead, shorter term debt would be used to help fund the
huge U.S. budget deficit.
The TLT (20+ year US bond ETF) suffered a decline of -46.38%
from the high on 11/29/21 of 154.35 to the low of 82.77 on 10/19/23 (If you
used the all-time closing high from 7/30/20 of 171.11 thats a -51.63%
decline). This is still not justification for a Fed pivot to lower rates, so I
still see problems for the long bond.
Until the Fed gives a clear signal that they will NOT raise
rates anymore, assumptions the Fed is done are not a reason to buy stocks or
bonds yet. The October 27th
closing low of 4,117.37 could be a potential intermediate term bottom for
stocks.
Gold was up in a minor way as
the threats from Iran and Hezbollah to enter the war with Israel faded. As a result, the premium of physical gold
(bars and coins) over spot declined to 1.6% from over 6% the previous week.
Victors Conclusions:
The best word to describe Hamas is FANATICS! Yet their
supporters have had a great deal of influence and impact in the U.S. and the UK
with a distorted and false disinformation campaign.
Evidently, propaganda is what is taught at U.S. colleges
these days. That has nothing to do with education. It appears that the
leaders of many U.S. universities do not want their students to be thinkers or
educated in the traditional sense.
This is clearly an attack on the U.S. constitution and our
political system. Outbursts of antisemitism have often been harbingers of
societies in deep trouble and omens that extremism and violence are
imminent.
FBI Director Christopher Wray warned Tuesday that
anti-Semitism is reaching historic levels in the U.S. In fact, our statistics would indicate that
for a group that represents only about 2.4% of the American public, they
account for something like 60% of all religious-based hate crimes, Wray said
of the Jewish American community during a Senate hearing.
If left unchecked this recent wave of anti-Semitism will
negatively impact the U.S. political system, economy and destabilize global
financial markets. Sadly, that is what this surge in anti-Semitism has
revealed.
End Quote:
We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and
the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who
pervert the Constitution.
..Abraham Lincoln
Be well, try to be objective, debunk false narratives, and
seek the truth. Till next
time
.
The Curmudgeon
ajwdct@gmail.com
Follow the Curmudgeon on Twitter @ajwdct247
Curmudgeon is a retired investment professional. He has been involved in financial markets since 1968 (yes, he cut his teeth on the 1968-1974 bear market), became an SEC Registered Investment Advisor in 1995, and received the Chartered Financial Analyst designation from AIMR (now CFA Institute) in 1996. He managed hedged equity and alternative (non-correlated) investment accounts for clients from 1992-2005.
Victor Sperandeo is a historian, economist and financial innovator who has re-invented himself and the companies he's owned (since 1971) to profit in the ever changing and arcane world of markets, economies, and government policies. Victor started his Wall Street career in 1966 and began trading for a living in 1968. As President and CEO of Alpha Financial Technologies LLC, Sperandeo oversees the firm's research and development platform, which is used to create innovative solutions for different futures markets, risk parameters and other factors.
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