<a href="https://dailywire.com/news/kathy-hilton-mistakes-lizzo-for-fictional-precious-character-viewers-melt-down-over-her-racist-mistake/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lizzo</a> used her moment in the spotlight at MTV&#8217;s Video Music Awards (VMAs) to claim that laws in the United States were &#8220;oppressing us.&#8221;
The artist took home the prize at Sunday&#8217;s event for &#8220;Music Video for Good,&#8221; and despite admitting she wasn&#8217;t even sure what a &#8220;music video for good&#8221; was, she immediately pivoted to talk about the power of a single vote and call on her fans to vote and change the laws that were &#8220;oppressing us.&#8221;
WATCH:
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Lizzo while accepting the Video for Good award at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VMAs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VMAs</a>:
“Your vote means everything to me, it means everything to making a change in this country … When you’re voting for your favorite artist, vote to change some of these laws that are oppressing us.” <a href="https://t.co/19UpJv3rkD">pic.twitter.com/19UpJv3rkD</a>
&mdash; The Recount (@therecount) <a href="https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1564070880409489409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what &#8216;Music Video for Good&#8217; means,&#8221; <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/woke-vs-patriotism-lizzo-and-john-rich-both-have-1-songs-right-now-but-who-wins/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lizzo</a> laughed, adding, &#8220;But I do know what your vote means, and that&#8217;s a f***ing lot. Your vote means everything to me, it means everything to making a change in this country.&#8221;
&#8220;So remember, when you’re voting for your favorite artist, vote to change some of these laws that are oppressing us,&#8221; she added, although she gave no indication as to what those oppressive laws might be.
Critics immediately responded, suggesting that Lizzo did not name any specific oppressive laws because there weren&#8217;t any and arguing that she was far from oppressed.
&#8220;Nothing screams oppression like than being given an idol made out of precious metals and lauded in front of millions. It’s a hard-knock life,&#8221; Angelo Isidorou <a href="https://twitter.com/angeloisidorou/status/1564083497106808832" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>.
Claremont Institute President Ryan P. Williams <a href="https://twitter.com/RpwWilliams/status/1564082690688573440" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>, &#8220;Laughable. Lizzo is clearly quite oppressed…&#8221;
&#8220;Idk who’s oppressing Lizzo But I do know we have an administration wielding the IRS and intel communities against Americans,&#8221; GETTR&#8217;s Kaelan Dorr <a href="https://twitter.com/KDORR_USA/status/1564079965389324289" target="_blank" rel="noopener">replied</a>.
&#8220;Lizzo has a net worth of 12 million dollars and is a media darling, whose immense girth keeps getting worshiped undoubtedly leading to kids everywhere living unhealthy lifestyles,&#8221; @thequartering <a href="https://twitter.com/TheQuartering/status/1564079808136597505" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asserted</a>. &#8220;Lizzo is not oppressed and is in fact actively causing harm.&#8221;
&#8220;Does she means laws like the one I signed in Wisconsin that requires a photo ID to vote?!?&#8221; former Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottWalker/status/1564090314817769479" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a>. &#8220;&#8216;Cause we saw the largest turnout in 70 years at the last fall election. Sounds like another celebrity ignoring the facts.&#8221;
&#8220;So oppressed she’s a multimillionaire and famous. Try traveling to some other countries around the world if you want to know what oppression really is,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/JamieRJN/status/1564079152554287109" target="_blank" rel="noopener">came from</a> @JamieRJN. &#8220;These speeches out of Hollywood are always some of the worst.&#8221;
&#8220;B****, you&#8217;re not oppressed. Just shut up. I&#8217;m so done with these people — the most successful, elite, out of sync, out of touch with reality, narcissistic a**holes, whining about &#8216;oppression,'&#8221; YouTuber Deb Fillman <a href="https://twitter.com/deb_fillman/status/1564078723049070596" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concluded</a>.

2022 MTV VMAs – Show

Lizzo Uses MTV Award Speech To Claim That She’s Oppressed

Lizzo Uses MTV Award Speech To Claim That She's Oppressed

Lizzo

Music

Oppression

As everyone knows, June is African-American Music Appreciation Month. It&#8217;s also National Safety Month and National Smile Month. And we can&#8217;t forget that it is ALS Awareness Month, Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, Cataract Awareness Month, Hernia Awareness Month, Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month, National Aphasia Awareness Month, National Congenital Cytomegalovirus Awareness Month, National Scleroderma Awareness Month, and Scoliosis Awareness Month. But all of these holy observances must take a backseat to the most hallowed of them all: LGBT Pride Month.
Indeed, we have heard nary a word about congenital cytomegalovirus, despite this being a month of awareness about that illness, because every company, corporation, celebrity, and television channel has been tripping over itself to exclusively celebrate LGBT pride. Or, more specifically, LGBTTQQIAAP pride. That last part of the acronym must not be neglected, even as it rapidly grows, adding new letters by the day and threatening to take over the entire alphabet.
Sure, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, IBM, YouTube, AT&amp;T, Disney, Chevron, H&amp;M, Adidas, Nike, Reebok, the MLB, Listerine, Levi&#8217;s, American Eagle, Calvin Klein, Express, Target, Michael Kors, etc., are all offering sacral gifts before the LGBT altar this month, but Budweiser, a company best known for its alcohol-flavored water, may have out-woked the competition. In a tweet thread, Budweiser unveiled a series of cups which commemorate not only the classic LGBT members — gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender — but also pay homage to some of the lesser known characters. There is a cup for genderfluid (no, not a cup that contains gender fluid), a cup for non-binary, a cup for intersex individuals, a cup for pansexual individuals, and a cup for those who are asexual, demisexual, and greysexual. Those last three deserve closer examination.
Budweiser <a href="https://twitter.com/BudweiserUK/status/1134491737920065536">explains</a> that asexuals are those who have no sexual attraction to anybody. This is a category that includes approximately seven people on Earth. Demisexuals are those who are more likely to experience sexual attraction after they get to know someone. Another name for this group is &#8220;women.&#8221; There are about 3.5 billion of them. Greysexuals are people who are sometimes sexually attracted and sometimes not. Another name for this group is &#8220;literally everyone&#8221; and it includes literally everyone (except for the seven asexuals, I suppose). Apparently, there is not yet any label for those are sexually attracted all the time to everything. Omnisexual? Fullsexual? Perhaps there is no such thing as that type of person, but so what? There is no such thing as a genderfluid person but that doesn&#8217;t stop us from coming up with a label for them.
A question comes to mind: If gay people are systemically oppressed in this country, if they are in fact a persecuted minority, then why are all of the most powerful companies on Earth clawing out each other&#8217;s eyes in a competition to be the most pro-gay? And, even more confusingly, why are people so desperate to be included in this persecuted minority that they&#8217;re coming up with ridiculous labels for even the most normal sexual appetites? And how are gay people able to march through the streets of every major city, sometimes with <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1135893862944268289">cross-dressing children</a> at the head of the parade, announcing their sexuality to the whole world — even if the world didn&#8217;t ask and doesn&#8217;t care — if they are so oppressed? I have never seen oppression that works like this.
Compare this situation to that faced by black Americans before the Civil Rights Era, or Jews in Nazi Germany. I do not think that the wealthiest and most powerful voices in either country were publicly sucking up to either group. I do not think that those who did not belong to either group in either country were clamoring to be included in it. LGBT folks will often appropriate the historical plight of both groups in an effort to paint themselves as victims, but the comparison does not do them any favors.
The LGBT acronym expands because everyone wants into the club. People do not join clubs because they want to be persecuted. People join clubs because of the benefits that membership will grant them. What are the benefits of being LGBT? Well, you get your own Budweiser cup, for one thing. And you also get vociferous admiration from almost every corner of society. Whether this is a good or bad situation is up to each individual to decide. Just don&#8217;t tell me that this is what persecution looks like. There is another &#8220;p&#8221; word that better describes it: Privilege.

WALSH: LGBT People Are Not Oppressed Or Persecuted In This Country. Here’s How We Know.

Discrimination

Leftism

LGBTQ

When Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) tweeted about &#8220;art and architecture&#8221; during the Notre Dame fire, I defended her against the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46006/ilhan-omars-response-notre-dame-cathedral-burning-amanda-prestigiacomo">criticism it drew</a> from Christians who accused her of pointedly ignoring the spiritual significance of the building. I thought the tweet was perfectly normal and acceptable, and I don&#8217;t really expect a Muslim woman to find any spiritual significance in a building meant for Christian worship. To my mind, that outrage &#8212; if we can call it an outrage &#8212; was overblown.
But &#8220;Easter worshippers&#8221; is a different thing entirely. Responding to the slaughter of hundreds of Christians during Easter attacks by <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/21/whats-behind-the-terrorist-attacks-in-sri-lanka/">radical Islamic terrorists</a>, a number of prominent Democratic politicians chose to issue statements that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46251/obama-hillary-ripped-refusing-say-christians-after-amanda-prestigiacomo">glaringly omit</a> any direct mention of the faith identity of the victims.
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Barack Obama said this: &#8220;The attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity. On a day devoted to love, redemption, and renewal, we pray for the victims and stand with the people of Sri Lanka.&#8221;
Hillary Clinton seemed to be working literally from the same script: &#8220;On this holy weekend for many faiths, we must stand united against hatred and violence. I&#8217;m praying for everyone affected by today&#8217;s horrific attacks on Easter worshippers and travelers in Sri Lanka.&#8221;
Several other Democrats latched onto this same phrase &#8212; &#8220;Easter worshippers.&#8221; If just one of them had gone this route, perhaps I could be convinced that it might be clumsy wording and nothing more. But it is simply impossible to believe that several significant Democrats would all independently and innocently think to refer to Christian victims in such a roundabout and obscure way.
I have been a Christian all my life and if I&#8217;ve ever heard the term &#8220;Easter worshipper,&#8221; or something like it, it would have been in reference to Christians who only go to church on Christmas and Easter. Generally we call those types &#8220;Christmas and Easter Christians&#8221; or &#8220;CEOs&#8221; (Christmas and Easter Only). But the general mass of people who show up to worship on Easter have always, in my experience, just been called Christians. It would be technically accurate to use a label like &#8220;Passover observers&#8221; in the place of &#8220;Jews&#8221; and &#8220;Ramadan commemorators&#8221; for &#8220;Muslims,&#8221; but I can&#8217;t imagine why anyone would be so unnecessarily vague and wordy. Unless, of course, there is some reason why they don&#8217;t want to explicitly acknowledge the group in question. And that appears to be the case here.
As it happens, we don&#8217;t need to wonder how the likes of Clinton and Obama would respond to a similar attack against Muslims. There was just such an attack a few weeks ago in New Zealand. Let&#8217;s look at their statements.
Obama: &#8220;Michelle and I send our condolences to the people of New Zealand. We grieve with you and the Muslim community. All of us must stand against hatred in all its forms.&#8221;
Clinton: &#8220;My heart breaks for New Zealand &amp; the global Muslim community. We must continue to fight the perpetuation and normalization of Islamophobia and racism in all its forms. White supremacist terrorists must be condemned by leaders everywhere. Their murderous hatred must be stopped.&#8221;
This gives the game away. No rational person could fail to notice a stark contrast between these statements and the ones issued in response to nearly 300 butchered Christians on Easter Sunday. They both make sure to use the word &#8220;Muslim.&#8221; Clinton goes further and ropes in &#8220;Islamophobia&#8221; and &#8220;[w]hite supremacist terrorists.&#8221; Not only does she omit &#8220;Christian&#8221; from her comments on Sri Lanka, but she certainly says nothing about &#8220;Christophobia&#8221; and &#8220;Islamic terrorists.&#8221;
Are we supposed to believe that this is a mere coincidence? If so, is it also a coincidence that Hillary Clinton, who accidentally forgot the word &#8220;Christian&#8221; yesterday on Easter, did not forget the phrase &#8220;LGBT community&#8221; after the shooting at a gay club in Orlando three years ago? Of course not. There is a purpose behind this, and the purpose matters.
Christians are among the <a href="https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/">most persecuted groups on the planet</a>. On a monthly basis, hundreds are murdered for their faith, hundreds more are locked in prison without just cause, and dozens of churches are burned or vandalized. Indeed, the most shocking thing about yesterday&#8217;s tragedy is how utterly routine it has become. It was only two years ago that over a hundred Christians were killed in explosions at Palm Sunday services in Egypt. Many Christians across the world know that they take their lives into their hands when they gather for worship. This fact &#8212; that Christians are not only a victim group, but are one of the most victimized groups &#8212; is extraordinarily inconvenient for Democrats, who have structured their whole agenda around their victimhood narrative. By their telling, racial minorities, women, homosexuals, and Muslims are The Victims while white men and Christians are The Bad Guys. This dichotomy would be thrown wildly out of balance and sent into disarray if Christians were admitted into the victim column &#8212; especially because they are so often victimized by Muslim extremists.
No, the Democrats can&#8217;t have that. So they usually ignore the genocide of Christians, and often enact policies that make it worse. And when they are forced, on the rare occasion, to acknowledge an attack of this sort, they will do it without saying anything that might give ignorant Americans the impression that there is a real systematic problem of Christians being constantly blown up and murdered by Muslim extremists. But the systematic problem is real, even if these conniving cowards won&#8217;t admit it.

WALSH: Yes, ‘Easter Worshipper’ Was Intentional. Yes, It Matters. Here’s Why.

Christianity

Persecution

Radical Islamic Terror

Terrorism

At first blush, it may seem surprising that the Democratic Party would struggle so mightily to condemn the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44380/every-democratic-excuse-ilhan-omars-anti-semitism-ben-shapiro">anti-Semitism of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)</a>. After all, Jewish Americans are largely a Democratic constituency. It&#8217;s not like the Democrats are being asked to come out in defense of white evangelicals or something (perish the thought).
Still, they punted on the chance to pass a resolution denouncing Omar&#8217;s anti-Jewish statements. Instead they condemned &#8220;hatred&#8221; in the vaguest terms possible, lumping Jews in with other random groups and calling out bigotry against &#8220;African-Americans, Native Americans, and other people of color, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, immigrants and others.&#8221; Jews are sandwiched into the middle of the list — a list which notably excluded one of the Abrahamic faiths.
Why is this so difficult for them? Why not come out forcefully against a Muslim woman&#8217;s attacks on Jewish people? The answer is partly politics, of course, but that&#8217;s not the whole story. To appreciate their dilemma, we first need to understand the Left&#8217;s Victimization Flow Chart. In its current form, it looks like this:
White men
⬇️
White women
⬇️
Non-white men
⬇️
Non-white women 
⬇️
Gay white men
⬇️
Gay white women
⬇️
Gay non-white men
⬇️
Gay non-white women
⬇️
Transgenders
On the leftist view, oppression flows down from the top, starting with white men. A group can only be oppressed by the groups above it. Think of victimhood like a waterfall: The laws of gravity dictate that the flow can never be reversed. White men victimize everyone but cannot be victimized by anyone. Transgenders, at the other extreme end, are victimized by everyone and can victimize no one. Oppression always flows downward.
The current rules of intersectionality tend to lump Jews into the &#8220;white&#8221; category. That means Ilhan Omar, a non-white woman, simply cannot be guilty of bigotry against Jews. It is definitionally impossible. This isn&#8217;t my invention, by the way. This is what they teach kids in college. Of course, when a college professor teaches the Victimization Flow Chart, he will not call it a Victimization Flow Chart. Instead, he&#8217;ll structure it in terms of privilege and &#8220;institutional power.&#8221; White men at the top have the most privilege and power, then white women, and so on. A group with less power and privilege literally cannot be racist or sexist or bigoted against groups with more power and privilege.
A Democratic congressman cited the Victimization Flow Chart, in so many words, when he <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ilhan-omars-experience-more-personal-than-jews-whose-parents-survived-the-holocaust-dem-congressman">argued</a> that Ilhan Omar&#8217;s experience of bigotry and persecution is &#8220;more personal&#8221; than that of Jews whose parents survived the Holocaust. Such a claim is madness to those of us who aren&#8217;t beholden to the flow chart. But the Left&#8217;s theories of race and gender require them to rate people who were nearly driven to extinction just a few decades ago as &#8220;less oppressed&#8221; than a 37-year-old Muslim woman from Minneapolis.
This also explains why leftists will casually compare the plight of modern American homosexuals to that of African slaves in the 19th century. And it explains why, even in the midst of the #MeToo movement, young girls are still often forced to share their bathrooms and locker rooms with gender-confused men. The victimhood rules must always be followed, no matter what. And that means Ilhan Omar can say whatever the hell she wants to say.

WALSH: Understanding The Left’s Victimization Flow Chart

2018 Election

Anti-Semitism

Democratic Party

Homosexuality

Ilhan Omar

Islam

Judaism

Transgender

Jussie Smollet has finally been arrested for staging a fake hate crime attack against himself. Police believe he also sent a threatening letter covered in white powder to himself, which could presumably lead to more (and potentially much more serious) charges. He was motivated, according to law enforcement, by a desire for a pay raise. It is not clear how getting beat up would necessarily lead directly to a raise. It certainly seems like an odd way to engage in salary negotiations.
I would theorize that there was probably more to it, psychologically, than mere greed. Everyone likes money, everyone wants a raise, but most people don’t hire two large Nigerian men to kick the hell out of them in order to achieve that goal. Why did Jussie take that rather drastic and convoluted step? Because, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/43617/walsh-smollett-matt-walsh">as I wrote a few days ago</a>, he covets victimhood. Our culture fosters such a mentality, teaching kids from a young age that victimhood is power, victimhood is status, and victimhood is privilege.
It is a very unfortunate thing, then, to live in the most tolerant and open civilization in the history of the world while at the same time seeking validation and identity in oppression. The <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2019/02/18/hoax-hate-crimes-list/">rash of fake hate crimes</a> shows how desperate the victimhood mongers have become. But we need not limit ourselves to hate crime hoaxes.
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Consider other recent events. A few weeks ago, the media spun a dramatic yarn about Catholic school students randomly accosting an innocent Native American man. This week, leftists on Twitter dusted off an offensive 50-year-old Playboy interview with John Wayne and spent the day scolding his corpse. Yesterday, feminists got very upset because the director of the upcoming &#8220;Ghostbusters&#8221; movie said he wanted to &#8220;give the movie back to the fans,&#8221; which apparently is <a href="https://www.themarysue.com/jason-reitman-ghostbusters-back-to-fans/">hurtful to women</a> for some reason or another. Meanwhile, a performance of &#8220;The Vagina Monologues&#8221; was <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/vagina-monologues-still-not-inclusive-enough">canceled</a> because the show is now offensive to transgenders. I could go on.
The point is that the Left must now apparently dig up the dead or hire Nigerians if they want to be oppressed. They are reduced to searching for persecution in &#8220;Ghostbuster&#8221; films and renditions of &#8220;The Vagina Monologues.&#8221; They are martyred even by facial expressions. They cannot just admit that we are the least racist, least sexist, least &#8220;homophobic,&#8221; most open-minded and welcoming society to ever exist on Earth. Rather than express gratitude for the unearned privilege of living in by far the most accepting time and place imaginable, they go around turning over every rock and shining a flashlight into every crevice, hoping to find the faintest hint of something they can construe as bigotry. And if they cannot find it, they invent it themselves.
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-matt-walsh-show/id1367210511?mt=2">Listen</a> to Matt&#8217;s latest podcast

WALSH: The Left’s Demand For Oppression Has Exceeded The Supply

Jussie Smollett

This week, Nike athletic company announced that it’s launching a &#8220;Pro Hijab&#8221; line for female Muslim athletes, joining such fashion labels as <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/2401/no-hijab-not-empowering-luxury-fashion-line-doesnt-joshua-yasmeh">Dolce &amp; Gabbana</a> in the race to the bottom to monetize a religious custom that promotes misogyny and oppression.
&#8220;The Nike Pro Hijab may have been more than a year in the making, but its impetus can be traced much further back, to an ongoing cultural shift that has seen more women than ever embracing sport,&#8221; a statement from the Oregon-based company reads. &#8220;This movement first permeated international consciousness in 2012, when a hijabi runner took the global stage in London.&#8221;
The sporting wear giant reportedly met with female Muslim athletes to design garments that could withstand humid and warm Middle Eastern weather.
&#8220;Nike said it gathered athletes&#8217; performance feedback but also listened to reactions on the garment’s aesthetic and solicited the opinions of advocates and local communities to &#8216;ensure the design met cultural requirements,'&#8221; <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/en/sports/2017/03/06/Nike-set-to-launch-the-Pro-Hijab-for-Muslim-female-athletes.html">reports</a> Al Arabiya news.
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The subjugation of women under patriarchal sartorial codes never looked so good.
As The Daily Wire’s Amanda Prestigiacomo <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/13453/mainstreaming-hijabsor-oppression-amanda-prestigiacomo">reported</a>, several high-profile Western companies have already moved to exploit the Islamic custom to expand the bottom line, despite pleas from Muslim reformers to stop mainstreaming oppression:
<blockquote>[T]he Western adaptation of wearing the hijab in &#8220;solidarity&#8221; of Muslim women—mostly done by affluent, white liberal feminists—has been rejected by female Muslim reformers, who assert that this act only perpetuates oppression. 
&#8220;In the name of &#8216;interfaith,&#8217; these well-intentioned Americans are getting duped by the agenda of Muslims who argue that a woman’s honor lies in her &#8216;chastity&#8217; and unwittingly pushing a platform to put a hijab on every woman,&#8221; <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/12/21/as-muslim-women-we-actually-ask-you-not-to-wear-the-hijab-in-the-name-of-interfaith-solidarity/?utm_term=.59f1d625dfbe">write</a> female Muslim reformers Asra Q. Nomani and Hala Arafa in The Washington Post. </blockquote>
Nike now joins a long list of fashion conglomerates submitting to multiculturalism.

nike_hijab

Monetizing Oppression? Nike Launches Islamic ‘Pro Hijab’ Line For Women

Feminism

Radical Islam

On Saturday night, the Jewish people will start commemorating Chanukah, commonly known the Festival of Lights. For the next eight nights, we will light the Menorah (what we refer to as the chanukiah), where each branch represents a singular night where the oil miraculously burned after the Maccabees rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. While Chanukah is a minor Jewish holiday compared to the holy festivals of Sukkos, Pesach, and Shavuos, it represents an important moment in our history and it embodies the Jewish people&#8217;s soul.
The story begins in Judea, the Jewish people&#8217;s indigenous homeland where Israel and the disputed territories currently exist. Prior to the Maccabean Revolt, there were two Hellenistic empires in the Levant: The Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Seleucid Empire. At one point, they were united under Alexander the Great of Macedon. Following his death over 100 years prior, a leadership dispute resulted in competing political and military alliances that resulted in the two Greek kingdoms splitting control over land. In 198 BCE, Antiochus III of the Selecuid Empire defeated the Ptolemies, gaining control of Judea. Initially, Antiochus III promised the Jewish people that they would be allowed to live under the laws of the Torah instead of the Hellenized laws he imposed in his other territories.
Despite the freedom the Jewish people possessed to maintain their traditions, many Jews opted out of their culture to adopt Hellenized customs and beliefs. The Hellenized Jews, in turn, managed to acquire more power and influence amongst their Greek conquerors than the High Priest of Jerusalem. It was not the first time that the Jewish people found themselves divided in its history, but the significance of the rise of Hellenized Jewry changes how we understand the story of Chanukah.
When Antiochus IV came into power in 175 BCE, he dramatically altered the empire&#8217;s goodwill to the Jews that his father promised by ousting Onias, the High Priest at the time, in favor of Jason, a Seleucid loyalist. Jason had promised to pay the Seleucid king a very high tribute if he used his power to remove Onias and if the king helped build a gymnasium in Jerusalem. Seeing it as an opportunity to increase the revenues of the empire and to acquire more control over his subjects, Antiochus IV complied. In his capacity as High Priest, Jason wrote a decree stating that Jewish law no longer dictated the holy city. This created deep divisions within the Jewish people, who believed that Jason&#8217;s actions were an abomination to the title he held.
Tensions rose dramatically between the Rabbinic Jews and the Hellenized Jews when Antiochus IV removed Jason in favor of Menalaus. Menalaus oversaw the murder of Onias and allowed his brother Lysimachus to steal various sacred items within Jerusalem. While the Rabbinic Jews revolted and arrested Lysimachus for his criminal acts, Antiochus IV acquitted him of all the charges when Menalaus promised a larger tribute to the empire. To add insult to injury, Menalaus also oversaw new projects that increased the rate of Hellenization within the Jewish people. When the Antiochus IV went to Egypt for a military campaign in 168 BCE, Jason started a revolt to reclaim the priesthood following false reports of the king dying in battle. It failed.
Once Antiochus IV discovered that Jason&#8217;s revolt took place, he decided to punish the entirety of the Jewish people for their supposed disloyalty. As such, the king prohibited the Jews from praying in the Holy Temple, keeping Shabbos, performing circumcisions, and any study of Torah. Those anti-Jewish decrees had the sole intention of destroying Rabbinic Judaism. These events led to the rise of both Mattathias and Judah, who believed not only that Jason and Menalaus were illegitimate priests of Jerusalem, but also that the Jewish people should no longer live under Antiochus IV&#8217;s rule. Two years after the king began to oppress the Jewish people, the Maccabeean Revolt commenced. The revolt resulted in the land of Judea being liberated by the Maccabees and the establishment of the Hasmonean Dynasty, the second independent Jewish kingdom in the land.
What most American Jews do not realize about the story of Chanukah is that it was more than just a story of the Jewish people fighting against the oppressive Seleucid Empire. It was also a story of a civil war between two camps of Jews: One who believed that the Jewish people should maintain their Halachic traditions and the other who wished to assimilate with their oppressors. It serves as a lesson to the importance of Jewish unity in troubling times where the Jewish people&#8217;s very existence is threatened by evil. Despite the challenges that the Jewish people fared, the Jewish people managed to prevail not only against anti-Jewish oppressors but also the divisions within their own community.
Today, most American Jews identify on the left of the political spectrum and many remain dismayed over Donald Trump&#8217;s election as President. Furthermore, some far-left Jews went berserk over Trump&#8217;s choice for US Ambassador to Israel and have falsely painted themselves as representatives of American Jewry. As a result, our community remains deeply divided and it will most certainly not change any time soon. However, starting Saturday night, most of us will light the chanukiah, recite the three blessings for the first night of Chanukah, and recall the story of the Jewish people fighting back against oppression and overcoming one of the most deeply divided moments in our people&#8217;s history. It should also serve as a reminder that it never helps the Jewish people to side with those who openly seek to destroy us. Instead, we should do everything to fight back against our oppressors and all who wish to submit us under tyrannical rule.
In the spirit of Chanukah, I wish everyone Chag Sameach and I pray that we continue to embody the spirit of the Maccabees for generations to come.
Follow Elliott on <a href="https://twitter.com/ElliottRHams">Twitter</a>.

The Real Story of Chanukah And What It Should Mean for American Jewry Today

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The left has a bad habit of <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/file/ben-shapiro-truth-about-planned-parenthood">rationalizing evil</a>, and this weekend was an eye-opening reminder of just that. In the wake of the death of murderous Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on Friday, the anti-police group Black Lives Matter disturbingly praised and defended the human rights oppressor via a letter posted in Medium, entitled &#8220;Lessons from Fidel: Black Lives Matter and the Transition of El Comandante.&#8221;
The letter, which was also posted on Twitter by the <a href="https://twitter.com/Blklivesmatter/status/802917456331280384">Black Lives Matter</a> Twitter account and its <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BlackLivesMatter/?fref=ts">Facebook page</a>, opens by excusing Castro&#8217;s &#8220;flaws&#8221;&#8212;otherwise known as the imprisonment, torture and murder of dissidents for 47 years&#8212;and calling on Black Lives Matter members to not only &#8220;come to the defense of El Comandante,&#8221; but to learn from the dictator:
<blockquote>
&#8220;We are feeling many things as we awaken to a world without Fidel Castro. There is an overwhelming sense of loss, complicated by fear and anxiety. Although no leader is without their flaws, we must push back against the rhetoric of the right and come to the defense of El Comandante. And there are lessons that we must revisit and heed as we pick up the mantle in changing our world, as we aspire to build a world rooted in a vision of freedom and the peace that only comes with justice. It is the lessons that we take from Fidel.&#8221;
</blockquote>
The radical group, apparently hell-bent on losing what&#8217;s left of their credibility, then praised Castro for harboring cold-blooded cop-killer Mama Assata Shakur. 
&#8220;As a Black network committed to transformation, we are particularly grateful to Fidel for holding Mama Assata Shakur, who continues to inspire us,&#8221; states the letter. 
As <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/1343/five-things-you-need-know-about-black-lives-matter-aaron-bandler">noted </a>by Daily Wire&#8217;s Aaron Bandler, &#8220;Shakur, previously known as Joanne Chesimard, was convicted for murdering a New Jersey state trooper in 1973, but fled to Cuba, where she currently resides.&#8221; Black Lives Matter leader DeRay McKesson praises Shakur on a frequent basis. 
<div class="media_embed">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
We watched an officer kill an unarmed Eric Garner on video. Don&#8217;t try to convince me that the justice system is just. Free Assata &amp; Mumia.
&#8212; deray mckesson (@deray) <a href="https://twitter.com/deray/status/582726626103812097">March 31, 2015</a></blockquote>
</div>
&#8220;With Fidel&#8217;s passing there is one more lesson that stands paramount: when we are rooted in collective vision when we bind ourselves together around quests for infinite freedom of the body and the soul, we will be victorious,&#8221; the group continues. 
Concluding their disturbing letter, Black Lives Matter praises the dictator one last time: &#8220;As Fidel ascends to the realm of the ancestors, we summon his guidance, strength, and power as we recommit ourselves to the struggle for universal freedom. Fidel Vive!&#8221;
Of course, Black Lives Matter wasn&#8217;t alone in their praise for Castro, as Daily Wire&#8217;s Joshua Yasmeh <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/11107/wests-moral-cowards-us-president-canadian-pm-joshua-yasmeh">pointed out in depth</a> on Sunday, the Western left is rife with moral cowards all too willing to rationalize Castro&#8217;s murderous reign in the name of &#8220;social justice.&#8221; President Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn all made the list. 
As the left celebrates the life of Castro, his victims and their ancestors celebrate his death in Miami&#8217;s &#8220;Little Havana.&#8221; Those in Cuba are not allowed to celebrate publicly.

Black Lives Matter’s Disturbing Letter Praising  Cuban Dictator: ‘Castro Vive!’

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In a <a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/10/04/ben_carson_slanders_islam_heres_exactly_why_his_claims_about_muslims_are_dead_wrong/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=socialflow">fact-defying column </a>attacking GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson for Salon, Qasim Rashid, Esq. a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University’s Prince al-Waleed bin Talal School of Islamic Studies, makes the astonishing claim that Islam is more pro-woman than America.
Rashid quotes Carson&#8217;s claim that “Under Shariah law, women must be subservient and people following other religions must be killed.&#8221; He continues, &#8220;If Dr. Carson is correct—and unfortunately his rising poll figures indicate that enough Americans believe he is correct—then America’s 3 million Muslims are obliged to make America’s 170 million women subservient and likewise kill the nation’s 330 million non-Muslims. Both concepts are beyond absurd and wholly unfounded in Islam.&#8221;
Then Rashid delivers his pronouncement: &#8220;Far from Dr. Carson’s claim that in Islam women are subservient, Islam gave women equal rights in 610 that our own United States haven’t given even in 2015. To this day America has not passed the Equal Rights Amendment. Meanwhile the Quran 33:36 emphatically declares the equality of men and women: &#8220;Surely, men who submit themselves to God and women who submit themselves to Him…God has prepared for all of them forgiveness and a great reward.”
Rashid resorts to claims that are patently false: &#8220;Islam was the first religion to give women the right to choose to marry or to divorce, the right to own property, to become secular or religious scholars, the right to inherit, or to run a business—all in the 7th century &#8230; Fatimah al-Fihri, an African Muslim woman scholar, used her inheritance from her father to establish the world’s first University, al-Qarawiyyin University in 859 C.E.&#8221; He ignores the Bible completely, in which the daughters of Zelophehad inherited their father&#8217;s property, as he had no sons, as well as the story of the judge Deborah, lauded by the Jewish people for her wisdom. In addition, the world&#8217;s first university was <a href="http://veda.wikidot.com/tip:world-first-university-takshila">established</a> in 700 B.C.E. in Takshashila, in the northwest region of Bharat (India).
<blockquote>&#8220;Just how in the name of reality does Rashid claim Islam treats women better than America?&#8221;</blockquote>
But leaving ancient history aside, just how in the name of reality does Rashid claim Islam treats women better than America? As Matthew famously said, &#8220;Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.&#8221;
<blockquote>In fact, in 2011, The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women didn&#8217;t even list statistics for violence against women in virtually any Islamic country, with the exceptions of Egypt and Turkey.​</blockquote>
As the <a href="http://www.clarionproject.org/understanding-islamism/womens-rights-under-sharia">Clarion Project</a> has pointed out, certain constants remain in Islamic marriage laws, including:
<blockquote>A man is entitled to up to four wives, but a woman may only have one husband. In Western societies, a man typically only takes one wife.</blockquote>
<blockquote>The husband (or his family) pays a “bride price” or &#8220;dower&#8221; (mahr, which is money or property paid to the bride) which she is entitled to keep. This “mahr” is in exchange for sexual submission (tamkin). Sexual submission is traditionally regarded as unconditional consent for the remainder of the marriage.</blockquote>
<blockquote>A man can divorce his wife by making a declaration (talaq) in front of an Islamic judge irrespective of the woman&#8217;s consent. Even her presence is not required. For a woman to divorce a man (khula), his consent is required.
There is no joint property; the man owns all property, (except for what the woman owned before the marriage).In addition,</blockquote>
Where do you start with abuse of women in Islamic societies? In <a href="http://www.carefrance.org/ressources/themas/1/3958,CARE_The-Girl-Has-No-Rights_GBV-in-.pdf">Sudan</a>, where &#8220;the vast majority of women and girls will survive at least one form of gender-based violence (GBV) — be it rape; sexual assault; physical assault; forced/early marriage; denial of resources, opportunities or services; or psychological/emotional abuse?&#8221; In Iran, where <a href="http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2015/03/vigilante-violence-report/">acid was flung</a> in to the faces of women, and other women have been <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/special-report-the-punishment-was-death-by-stoning-the-crime-having-a-mobile-phone-8846585.html">stoned</a>? In <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/country-chapters/saudi-arabia">Saudi Arabia</a>, where women are not allowed to visit a male doctor without their male guardians, or arry without the permission of their guardian? The list goes on and on.
Rashid also attacks Carson’s second claim, that Shariah requires killing people of other faiths, protesting that the Koran only permits fighting in self-defense, or to protect “churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques” from attack. He asserts, &#8220;Prophet Muhammad issued numerous charters with Christians, Jews, and pagans to affirm his commitment to universal religious freedom and equal human rights for all people regardless of faith.&#8221;
That ignores Muhammad&#8217;s massacre of the Jewish tribe of the Qurayzah in 627 C.E. As one website <a href="http://www.hirhome.com/islam/art.htm">notes</a>, &#8220;according to a consensus of classical Muslim scholars of hadith (putative utterances and acts of Muhammad, recorded by pious Muslim transmitters), biographers of Muhammad’s life, jurists, and historians &#8230; some six hundred to nine hundred men from the Qurayzah were led on Muhammad’s order to the Market of Medina. Trenches were dug, and the men were beheaded; their decapitated corpses were buried in the trenches while Muhammad watched.&#8221;
Rashid also ignores the famous dictum from the hadith, “The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.” (related by al-Bukhari and Muslim).&#8221;
Rashid also ignores Shaykh Muhammad Mukhtar al-Mahdi, professor at Al Azhar and head of the Islamic Law Society, <a href="http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2011/12/jew-behind-tree.html">quoting </a>this text at a major conference at Al Azhar in Cairo. Barack Obama loves Al Azhar University, of which he <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-cairo-university-6-04-09">once said</a>, &#8220;For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning.&#8221;
If someone needs a dose of reality, it isn&#8217;t Carson.

This May Be The Dumbest Column Ever Written

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