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July 24, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: On the road again --- and again and again

Richard Z. Chesnoff: Mideast Refugees --- Failure vs. Success

JWisdom:: Word power is about more than vocabulary by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

July 23, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: The Mufti of Jerusalem's Nazi ideology lives on among contemporary Islamists

The Kosher Gourmet by Joe Gray: Smoked paprika turkey meatballs simmered in red wine and tomato sauce

JWisdom:: 'Routine' doesn't need to mean ‘rote’ By Rabbi David Aaron

July 22, 2008

Yossi Klein Halevi: Dear Barack Obama

Elliot B. Gertel: Eli Stone: Self-indulgent, arrogant corporate attorney as modern-day prophet

JWisdom:: Three Weeks - Nine Days - One Purpose by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

July 21, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Spending your kids' money

Mitch Albom: A grim exchange illustrates a key difference

JWisdom:: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: Hammered on the Anvil --- Severed by the Sickle by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

July 18, 2008

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: The Sanctification and Importance of Time

Caroline B. Glick: US wants it absolutely clear it has no intention of attacking Iran's nuclear installations

Mona Charen: What can you say about a people who welcome a child murderer as a hero?

JWisdom:: Living a dog's life, dawg? by Rabbi Dovid Gross

July 17, 2008

Steven Emerson: Deals with devils

Libby Lazewnik: One Step at a Time

JWisdom:: Leader the follower? by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

July 16, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Poaching humans

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Meaty pasta salad with summer berries perfect for warm evenings

JWisdom:: Keeping A Secret by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

July 15, 2008

Dennis Prager: False Equation: Opposing Same-Sex Marriage and Opposing Interracial Marriage

Joel Greenberg: Researchers look to Israeli circumcision program to help combat AIDS 'Alternatives' to Logic Won't Work

JWisdom:: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part V: Why Judaism ISN'T Spiritual by Rabbi David Aaron

July 14, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: A warning from Canada to those who value life

Jonathan Tobin: 'Alternatives' to Logic Won't Work

JWisdom:: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Poland's Unique Antisemitism, Part II

July 11, 2008

Rabbi Francis Nataf: It's hard to be humble when you're great

Caroline B. Glick: A tale of two hostages

JWisdom:: Profane for Prophet by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

July 8, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. Duty to save gullible from themselves?

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Islamists have the West just where they want us

JWisdom:: Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality, Part 3: The Fully Loaded Human Being by Rabbi Dovid Gross

July 3, 2008

Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget (TOUCHING!)

Jeff Jacoby: Israel still paying for its defeat

JWisdom:: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part IV by Rabbi David Aaron

JWisdom:: The Moses Method by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

July 2, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Appeasers Make Poor Patriots

The Kosher Gourmet By Kathleen Purvis: Slaw, y'all: For BBQs or Sabbath dinner, these southern recipes are something else!

JWisdom:: Rabbi Mordechai Becher: Jewish Rx for A Simpler Life

July 1, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. I think it's important to leave a legacy to my children. How much should I save towards this end?

Paul Greenberg:A President who is history deficient?

JWisdom:: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Poland's Unique Antisemitism

June 30, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Remembering the architect of Torah Judaism for the modern world

Abe Novick: Hulk: Still a Jew?

JWisdom: : Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality, Part 2: The Abandoned Child

June 26, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Quantum leap to evil

Caroline B. Glick: Victimized families must not be allowed to dictate policy

June 25, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Today in Biblical History: King Jeroboam of Israel prevents pilgrimage to Jerusalem

Jonathan Tobin: Real Friends and Real Enemies

JWisdom: Raping of reason By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 25, 2008

Steven Emerson: Kristof: Never Mind the Terrorists

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: Mediterranean Flyover: Telegraphing an Israeli Punch?

JWisdom: Rabbi David Aaron: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part III

June 24, 2008

Caroline B. Glick: What were they thinking!?

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Guilty knowledge

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Warping Innocence

June 23, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Diploma dilemma

Jeff Jacoby: A world without children

JWisdom: Rabbi Dovid Gross: Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality --- Introduction

June 20, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Man: The Crowning Glory of Creation

Caroline B. Glick: Israel's darkest week

JWisdom: We aren't worthy? by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 19, 2008

Rabbi Elazar Meisels: The saints who don't come marchin' in

Chris Christoff: Muslim woman demands an apology from Obama after camera snub

June 18, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Still Dancing Around Jerusalem

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: Chilled fruit and vegetable soups

JWisdom: Souls Need A Check Up? by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 17, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Baby Einstein

Caroline B. Glick: Bush's rhetoric, Bush's policies

JWisdom: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part II by Rabbi David Aaron

June 16, 2008

Varda Branfman: Bob Dylan, won't you please come home?

Diana West: Academic dares to question the 'religion of peace'

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Positive Backfire

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review July 27, 2005 / 20 Tammuz, 5765

Needed in this war against civilized society

By Ed Koch


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | "The choice is not between order and liberty. It is between liberty with order and anarchy without either. There is a danger that, if the court does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact."

That is what Justice Robert H. Jackson said in his dissent in a free speech case in 1949 when according to Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia, "the majority opinion, by Justice William O. Douglas, overturned the disorderly conduct conviction of a priest whose anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi rantings at a rally had incited a riot. The court held that Chicago's breach-of-the-peace ordinance violated the First Amendment."

Yet, in Congress last week, when the Patriot Act, dealing with a far greater danger to this country, was reauthorized by a vote of 257 to 171, 17 members of the House of Representatives from New York voted against it. They are: Ackerman, Bishop, Crowley, Engel, Hinchey, Israel, Lowey, Maloney, McCarthy, McNulty, Meeks, Nadler, Owens, Serrano, Towns, Velazquez and Weiner, all Democrats.

Last week in London, an innocent man, by admission of the London police, was shot to death by a police officer and, according to The New York Times, that has "revived and fueled an already tense debate over the arming of British police officers."

Most London police officers are unarmed. Most of the English underworld has apparently responded by not carrying guns themselves.

Terrorists don't play by the same rules. They have no respect for western laws or traditions. They carry explosives and are prepared to and have, in fact, blown themselves up in a number of incidents worldwide, killing on occasion when stopped by a security officer, themselves and the officer.

The London bombings on 7/7 are the first introduction of the use of suicide bombers in Europe. By stopping a terrorist, the officer may be preventing many more deaths of innocent civilians while risking his own life. Should reasonable and responsible people deny British police officers assigned to the task of preventing terrorism the permission they have been given to bear arms?

About ten percent of the London police force, about 2,000 officers, fall into this category. In the case of the shooting of the innocent man, a Brazilian, the London police have, according to The Times, "started a formal inquiry." What has been made public before the inquiry reported in The Times is the following: "The police had believed the man, who was shot at 10 a.m. Friday at the Stockwell subway station in south London, was a would-be suicide bomber because he had left an apartment under surveillance. They said the man behaved in a 'highly suspicious' manner — he was wearing a winter coat on a warm summer day, repeatedly ignored officers' instructions to stop and jumped over the subway turnstiles before running toward a waiting train and tripping and falling to its floor, the police said. Stunned witnesses said a police officer used a pistol to shoot the man five times, at point-blank range, in the head."

Why did what appears to be an execution take place and is now defended by the London Metropolitan police? Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, accused by some in Britain of being supportive of the aims of terrorists, elsewhere in the world, defined as seeking to achieve their political goals through tactics which include the deliberate killing of innocent civilians. Red Ken, which is how he is known in Britain, apparently sees such people on occasion as militants or freedom fighters, in effect excusing their tactics, if the terror is visited on Israeli civilians including children, women and men.

Livingstone, faced with continuing terror tactics against the city he leads, explained the new British police policy that now includes shoot-to-kill orders in some circumstances, is quoted in The Times as saying, "If you are dealing with someone who might be a suicide bomber, if they remain conscious they could trigger plastic explosives or whatever device is on them. And therefore overwhelmingly in these circumstances, it is going to be a shoot-to-kill policy." The Times further reports, "Police guidelines for dealing with suspected suicide bombers recommend shooting at the head rather than the body in case the suspect is carrying explosives."

That policy makes common sense to me.

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There will be an official inquiry in London. That report will undoubtedly be made public. Whether it bears out the facts as alleged by the London Police Department, only time will tell. When I was mayor and with Police Commissioner Ben Ward attended crime scenes throughout the city, I knew, having been told by Ward, that on many occasions the alleged facts initially reported by the police initially to the press would turn out to be inaccurate in some respects. Ward explained that the presence of the press and demands for information, and even my presence, could cause a premature, rushed public report that upon further analysis would show errors in the first released statement.

We know that happened in London after the 7/7 bombings. The Times, discussing this aspect of the case, reported, "However, in this enormously important inquiry, Scotland Yard has often rushed to release relevant developments. But the result has been the risk of divulging incomplete or even wrong information to a demanding public …the police have made a number of high-profile public statements that they were later forced to retract or modify."

We here in the U.S. and those on the ground should, under these circumstances, hold our own lethal fire, in this case, criticism of the police, until the official inquiry has been concluded. Public criticism of the police force without knowing all the facts can promote fear in the police force and a belief they are viewed as villains instead of protectors. We depend, in London, New York City and everywhere else, on our police forces to protect us, often at great personal risk to themselves. If they see a lack of public support and therefore lose confidence in themselves, and decide that doing as little as possible in their response is their best defense, we the public will suffer.

Let us remember Justice Jackson's words and their relevance to the war against terrorism. Democracies, when attacked as we have been by Islamic fanatics, must examine what they must do to prevail against the enemy. That cannot be limited simply to the size and quality of the personnel and the arms they bear. It also requires that we create appropriate laws needed to protect us, some of which will be far more intrusive than we would accept in peacetime; and provide law enforcement with constitutional and critically needed statutes that will permit them to apprehend and convict criminals engaged in terrorism who threaten not only individuals, but all of Western civilization. The Patriot Act, imperfect as it may be, now renewed by the House and awaiting Senate action, is urgently needed in this war against civilized society.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Edward I. Koch, the former mayor of New York, can be heard on Bloomberg Radio (WBBR 1130 AM) every Sunday from 9-10 am . Comment by clicking here.

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