OldLawyer 🇺🇸🇮🇱⚖️✡️

In November 636, Arab armies began the siege of Jerusalem and their colonization of the Land of Israel. The Kingdom of Israel had already existed for more than 1,600 years. Neo-Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines had all ruled the region. Jews and Samaritans were still the indigenous majority. The conquest was followed by settlement of Arabian tribes, the Pact of Umar (which imposed the jizya and barred Jews from building synagogues, riding certain animals, or holding equal legal status), and centuries of discriminatory rules that gradually reduced the original populations. By the 9th century, Islam was the majority religion and Arabic the dominant language. The Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa were built directly atop the ruins of the Jewish Temples. This was settler colonialism.

“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” Arnold J. Toynbee

One of the things the data analysts on our side obsessed over was "composition"—whether the electorate looked close enough to 2024 for Republicans to win. And despite polls that showed a Democrat blowout, the data kept on telling us the same story: in some states turnout was merely OK, in other states it was downright amazing, and in no state was it catastrophic. There was a genuine sense of optimism on our team: our people were showing up. So, I asked the smartest data guy I know, does that mean we're going to shock the world? "No," he told me. "We might do better than the polls suggest. But the data is telling us that a lot of Trump/Vance 2024 voters are pissed and planning to vote for the other guys. Our voters are turning out, but they may not vote for us." Well, that looks prophetic now. Our voters did show up. In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026. There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why that is. One of the pollsters I really respect told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough down the stretch. I’m sure that’s true. But the real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone. Another pollster—one of the smartest people I know in politics, told me yesterday we’d lose the generic ballot by 13 points. I felt negative going into Tuesday, but even I was shocked by this. In his polling, he saw that a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats. He asked those voters who had abandoned us what would cause them to come back on our team. The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses were: 1) End the war 2) Focus on cost of living/inflation 3) Put America First 4) Change our relationship to Israel Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats. This is according to a pollster who nailed the results. While many spent Monday attacking Rachel Campos Duffy for calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, it turns out her political advice was sound. (She’s also a great person.) In the next few months, there's going to be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I'm open to the idea that we should change enforcement—by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you. The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night. If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that's at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there. I remain hopeful about our country. To the people who are pissed off and want to say, “I told you so”: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country.

On this day—November 2, 1945 Arab mobs in British-occupied Tripoli and Benghazi massacred 130+ Jews in three days of barbaric violence. Synagogues were burned, homes were looted, and entire families were wiped out. The British intervened slowly and inadequately. Violence against Jews spread across the Arab world. Two years later, on November 24, 1947, the head of the Egyptian delegation to the UN warned the establishment of a Jewish state would threaten “the lives of millions of Jews in Muslim countries” and “create in these countries an antisemitism even more difficult to uproot than the antisemitism the Allies tried to eradicate in Germany.” That prophecy was fulfilled almost immediately. After the November 29 UN partition vote, Jewish communities in Aden (80+ killed), Bahrain, Syria, and Egypt came under attack. In Mandate Palestine, Jews were attacked within hours. The targets were Jewish civilians, including bus ambushes, market massacres, ambushed convoys, and bodies were often mutilated. The war cry was “Itbah al-Yahud”—slaughter the Jews. The Secretary-General of the Arab League declared against the Jews, “a war of extermination and a momentous massacre that will be remembered like the Mongol massacres and the Crusades.” The ancient Jewish communities in what had become the Arab world were from there systematically attacked and ethnically cleansed.

BREAKING: Molotov appears to be thrown at riot police in Paris France as Halloween protests kick off. Video by @ClementLanot @CLPRESSFR | Licensing @FreedomNTV [email protected]

KIPP DC GROW ACADMEY GUN FOUND IN BOX OF HALLOWEEN CANDY: "A staff member at KIPP DC Grow Academy found a firearm inside a box of candy today. Staff immediately followed safety procedures, secured the firearm, and notified the Metropolitan Police Department. All students and staff remained safe, and no students came into contact with the firearm. We are grateful to our staff for their quick and careful response.” -KIPP DC Public Schools

2.1 million Arabs live in Israel today. In 1948, that figure was 156,000. Fewer than 4,000 Jews remain across the Arab world today. In 1948, there were 850,000. History gets uncomfortable when you count everyone.

In Gaza, Jews get decapitated and their bodies are torn into trophies for Palestinians. In Israel, Arabs get to vote. I’m tired of listening to progressives with no education beyond Twitter claiming Palestinians are the oppressed ones.

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan slams Democratic rival Mary Peltola over alleged ballot scheme, calling it 'scandal of the highest order' trib.al/8LVm0TI