Palestinians’ New Method Of Encroaching On Israeli Land: B&Bs
September 21, 2023
The Regavim watchdog reports a systematic expansion of these vacation accommodations.
Menu
Popular Articles
Read More »
Anti-Israel Activists Promote Israel’s Destruction And Antisemitism
September 21, 2023
Prominent Canadian Anti-Israel Activists Spread Hatred on Media Platforms
Nazism’s Legacy In The Arab World
September 21, 2023
A new book shows that Arab antisemitism is not a backlash but the cause of the conflict with Israel.
A Renewed Call For UNRWA Policy Change: From Incitement To Peace
September 21, 2023
As Yom Kippur approaches, we reflect on our efforts to expose and change UNRWA’s policies.
An Armenian Leader’s False Holocaust Analogy
September 21, 2023
The American Jewish community must condemn Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s comparison of the situation in Karabakh to Hitler’s ghettos.
Ben Ezra Synagogue In Cairo Reopens After Significant Restoration
September 21, 2023
The current building dates to the late 19th century, though the synagogue’s origins trace all the way back to Maimonides and the Middle Ages.
Israeli-American Council (IAC) Appoints Elan Carr As CEO
September 21, 2023
Former U.S. Special Envoy Takes the Helm of Prominent Israeli-American Organization
Making Investments, Collecting Dividends
September 21, 2023
Reflecting on Life’s Investments and Dividends
World’s Largest Sukkah Returns To Jerusalem
September 21, 2023
The structure outside city hall will have a capacity of 650 people.
JCC Chicago Honors Outstanding Early Childhood Educators With Spirit Of Sheva Awards
September 21, 2023
Eight dedicated educators recognized for their commitment to nurturing young learners and fostering excellence in early childhood education.
Previous
Next
Previous
Next
While the naturalized American uses his Austrian background to give credence to his false likening of the Capitol Hill violence to Kristallnacht, he also seems not to know the meaning of the word “coup.”
- 19 January 2021
- 11:46 pm
Click an icon above to share, email, or save this article
- 19 January 2021
- 11:46 pm
Former Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Source: Screenshot)
Click an icon above to share, email, or save this article
(JNS) Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger received a lot of ill-deserved praise this week for his response to the Jan. 6 riots on Capitol Hill.
In a seven-and-a-half-minute video clip that he posted on social media, not only did the body builder-turned-movie star-turned-Republican politician compare last week’s events in Washington D.C. to Kristallnacht, but did so with the self-assured “authority” of someone born and raised in Austria in the immediate aftermath of World War II.
Kristallnacht (“The Night of Broken Glass”) was the Nazi pogrom against Germany’s Jews on Nov. 9-10, 1938, which involved the smashing of storefronts, synagogues, schools and hospitals. Right off the bat, Schwarzenegger describes this as “a night of rampage against the Jews carried out … by the Nazi equivalent of the Proud Boys.”
This would be laughable if it weren’t such an egregious distortion. The Nazis were not “equivalent” to a gang of American and Canadian extremists who cropped up in 2016. If anything, it’s the other way around, and even that’s an immoral stretch of the imagination.
Previous
Next
Previous
Next
Schwarzenegger goes on to explain that, in some ways, the siege on the meeting place of the U.S. Congress was worse because “the mob did not just shatter the windows of the Capitol; they shattered the ideas we took for granted. They did not just break down the doors of the building that housed American democracy; they trampled the very principles on which our country was founded.”
To strengthen his analogy, Schwarzenegger recounts having grown up “in the ruins of a country that suffered the loss of its democracy … surrounded by broken men drinking away the guilt over their participation in the most evil regime in history.”
His father was one such man, who “would come home drunk once or twice a week, and he would scream and hit us and scare my mother. I didn’t hold him totally responsible because our neighbor was doing the same thing to his family, and so was the next neighbor over. I heard it with my own ears and saw it with my own eyes. They were in physical pain from the shrapnel, and in emotional pain from what they saw or did.”
According to Schwarzenegger, “not all of them were rabid anti-Semites or Nazis. Many just went along, step by step, down the road.”
It all started, he says, “with lies and lies and lies, and intolerance. So, being from Europe, I’ve seen firsthand how things can spin out of control.”
Before proceeding to savage U.S. President Donald Trump, he assures the Twittersphere that he doesn’t believe America is on the path to becoming Nazi Germany. However, he warns, “we must be aware of the dire consequences of selfishness and cynicism.”
Yes, Schwarzenegger asserts, Trump “sought to overturn the results of … a fair election. He sought a coup by misleading people with lies. My father and our neighbors were also misled with lies, and I know where such lies lead.”
Get thej.ca a Pro Israel Voice by Email. Never miss a top story that effects you, your family & your community
While the naturalized American uses his Austrian background to give credence to his false likening of the Capitol Hill violence to Kristallnacht—and disgustingly suggests that Trump’s “lies” resemble those of the Third Reich—he also seems not to know the meaning of the word “coup.”
As inexcusable as the violent break-in of the U.S. Capitol building was, it was not an actual attempted coup. It was a vile expression of rage on the part of people whose behavior neither I nor any of my fellow Trump supporters condone. Trump’s actions in the wake of his electoral defeat, which became clear following vote recounts, too, were unacceptable.
In fact, they completely undercut the many accomplishments that he made during the past four years. Even worse, they led to the loss of the Senate to the Democrats and handed the left its most coveted gift: the moral high ground. In one fell swoop, the months of looting and rioting by Black Lives Matter and Antifa thugs in cities across America were erased. And all the ideological battles that we conservatives have been waging against the cancel-culturalists went up in smoke.
To make matters even more depressing, the pro-Trump camp instantly became divided with those daring to criticize the president for not doing us proud by bowing out gracefully and working with other Republicans to try to rectify the situation in 2024 being called traitors.
In his diatribe, spoken in soft tones for greater effect, Schwarzenegger calls Trump a “failed leader [who] will go down in history as the worst president ever.”
Talk about misleading lies.
Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, where some smashed windows and entered the building while protesting the results of the November elections, on Jan. 6, 2020. (Source: YouTube Screenshot)
Really, Trump’s downfall was not the fault of his policies—many of which, such as the Abraham Accords, will go down in history as stunning achievements—but rather of his hubris and big mouth. In this respect, he’s a tragic figure whose time in office will be the subject of much study—and deservedly so.
Schwarzenegger isn’t concerned about the man himself, however, who he says “will soon be as irrelevant as an old tweet.”
No, it’s “those elected officials who have enabled his lies and his treachery” that the Californian with an Austrian accent bemoans. He feels it’s his duty, then, to remind them of how Teddy Roosevelt, America’s 26th president, defined patriotism—“[standing] by the country … not … by the president.”
Another late U.S. leader he invokes is John F. Kennedy, who “wrote a book called Profiles in Courage. A number of members of my own party, because of their spinelessness, would never see their names in such a book. I guarantee you. They’re complicit with those who carried the flag of self-righteous insurrection into the Capitol.”
Luckily, says Schwarzenegger, it didn’t work. “Our democracy held firm. Within hours, the Senate and the House of Representatives were doing the people’s business and certifying the election of President-elect [Joe] Biden. What a great display of democracy.”
America, he continues, “will come back from these dark days and shine our light once again.” He then calls on Republicans and Democrats alike to join him in bolstering Biden.
His message to the president-elect is: “If you succeed, our nation succeeds. We support you with all our hearts as you seek to bring us together. … [W]e stand with you today, tomorrow and forever, in defense of our democracy from those who would threaten it. May God bless you and may God bless America.”
It’s a worthy sentiment, to be sure. But it isn’t one that was extended to Trump in 2016 or afterwards by anyone who didn’t vote for him. Nor is Schwarzenegger’s professed love for America rampant among the radicals in the Democratic Party.
Indeed, if there’s one thing they’ve made plain about their views, it’s that the United States was born in sin and lives on in infamy. Shame on Schwarzenegger for conveniently leaving that perilous reality out of the equation.
Ruthie Blum is an Israel-based journalist and author of “To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the ‘Arab Spring.’ ”
Click an icon above to share, email, or save this article
Click an icon above to share, email, or save this article
Previous
Next
Previous
Next
Read More
Thank you for choosing TheJ.Ca as your source for Canadian Jewish News.
We do news differently!
Our positioning as a Zionist News Media platform sets us apart from the rest. While other Canadian Jewish media are advocating increasingly biased progressive political and social agendas, TheJ.Ca is providing more and more readers with a welcome alternative and an ideological home.
We revealed the incursion of anti-Israel progressive elements such as IfNotNow into our communities. We have exposed the distorted hateful agenda of the “progressive” left political radicals who brought Linda Sarsour to our cities, and we were first to report on many disturbing incidents of Nazi-based hate towards Jews across Canada.
But we can’t do it alone. We need your HELP!
Our ability to thrive and grow in 2020 and beyond depends on the generosity of committed readers and supporters like you.
Monthly support is a great way to help us sustain our operations. We greatly appreciate any contributions you can make to support Jewish Journalism.
We thank you for your ongoing support.
Happy reading!
Thank you for choosing TheJ.Ca as your source for Canadian Jewish News.
We do news differently!
Our positioning as a Zionist News Media platform sets us apart from the rest. While other Canadian Jewish media are advocating increasingly biased progressive political and social agendas, TheJ.Ca is providing more and more readers with a welcome alternative and an ideological home.
We revealed the incursion of anti-Israel progressive elements such as IfNotNow into our communities. We have exposed the distorted hateful agenda of the “progressive” left political radicals who brought Linda Sarsour to our cities, and we were first to report on many disturbing incidents of Nazi-based hate towards Jews across Canada.
But we can’t do it alone. We need your HELP!
Our ability to thrive and grow in 2020 and beyond depends on the generosity of committed readers and supporters like you.
Monthly support is a great way to help us sustain our operations. We greatly appreciate any contributions you can make to support Jewish Journalism.
We thank you for your ongoing support.
Happy reading!
Sponsored Content
cOMING SOON…….
Breaking News
Recent
Features
News
Current Events
Opinions
Politics
Religion
Culture
Memoriam and Obituaries
PodcastS
Subscribe Now
Receive the latest in community & international Jewish news direct to your inbox