“Many were fed up with Mr. Xi … and his ‘Zero-Covid’ policy, which continues to disrupt everyday life, hurt livelihoods and isolate the country,” writes the Times in pacific unselfawareness.
eugyppius Nov 28
Three years ago, Zero Covid was the aspiration of public health bureaucrats and politicians across the West. Charlatan techbros like Tomas Pueyo appeared on national television to demand nationwide house arrest; leaders like Angela Merkel surrounded themselves with virus-eradicationist modellers and imposed unprecedented months-long closures upon their countries. When protests inevitably broke out, they were violently suppressed; the protesters were slandered as conspiracy theorists and fascists.
China Protests Break Out as Covid Cases Surge and Lockdowns Persist is a lead headline in today’s New York Times: “Strict Covid restrictions are hurting the country’s economy and angering members of the public, who are taking to the streets,” we read in the article that follows. Western anti-lockdown protesters are fascists and conspiracy theorists; Chinese anti-lockdown protesters, on the other hand, are ordinary people who are just fighting the power:
“Lift the lockdown,” the protesters screamed in a city in China’s far west. On the other side of the country, in Shanghai, demonstrators held up sheets of blank white paper, turning them into an implicit but powerful sign of defiance. One protester, who was later detained by the police, was carrying only flowers.
Over the weekend, protests against China’s strict Covid restrictions ricocheted across the country in a rare case of nationwide civil unrest. There had been signs of dissent, but the new wave of anger may pose a bigger challenge for the government.
Some demonstrators went so far as to call for the Communist Party and its leader, Xi Jinping, to step down. Many were fed up with Mr. Xi, who in October secured a precedent-defying third term as the party’s general secretary, and his “zero-Covid” policy, which continues to disrupt everyday life, hurt livelihoods and isolate the country.
Western lockdowns were necessary to save lives. Chinese lockdowns are the repressive tactic of an undemocratic regime.
The Chinese government on Monday blamed “forces with ulterior motives” for linking a deadly fire in the western Xinjiang region to strict Covid measures, a key driver as the protests spread across the country.
In much the same way, the New York Times blamed shadowy political actors with ties to Trump for anti-lockdown protests in 2020.
Outside China, the rest of the world has adapted to the virus and is near normalcy. Take soccer’s premier event, the World Cup. Thousands of people from across the globe have assembled in Qatar and are cheering on their teams, shoulder-to-shoulder, without masks, in packed stadiums.
China’s approach won praise during the beginning of the pandemic, and there is no doubt it has saved lives. But now that approach looks increasingly outdated. Almost three years after the coronavirus emerged, the contrast between China and the rest of the world couldn’t be starker.
Emphasis mine, because it’s probably the most amazing line in the whole piece. Here we have America’s foremost propaganda outlet, trying desperately to accuse China of unjust dictatorial repression, for the crime of implementing in a more organised and coherent way the very same Zero Covid policies that Times journalists spent nearly two years supporting. What’s actually wrong with the harsh Chinese lockdowns? Well, say the Times, who can’t say anything else – they’ve become unfashionable.
Chazon Ish Kovetz Iggros 1:33 (I didn’t see within now):
… עיקר עלי’ בתורה היא להבין דעת הניגוד תמיד, ואחר כך לשקול בפלס איזו דעה מכוונת טפי כו’ וחובה למי שקבע בדעתו את התמיהה להעמיק ולשמוע דעה השניה ואחר כך לשקול.
John Stuart Mill (Chapter Two of his “On Liberty”):
“Even in natural philosophy, there is always some other explanation possible of the same facts; some geocentric theory instead of heliocentric, some phlogiston instead of oxygen; and it has to be shown why that other theory cannot be the true one: and until this is shown, and until we know how it is shown, we do not understand the grounds of our opinion. But when we turn to subjects infinitely more complicated, to morals, religion, politics, social relations, and the business of life, three-fourths of the arguments for every disputed opinion consist in dispelling the appearances which favour some opinion different from it. The greatest orator, save one, of antiquity, has left it on record that he always studied his adversary’s case with as great, if not with still greater, intensity than even his own. What Cicero practised as the means of forensic success, requires to be imitated by all who study any subject in order to arrive at the truth. He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side; if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion. The rational position for him would be suspension of judgment, and unless he contents himself with that, he is either led by authority, or adopts, like the generality of the world, the side to which he feels most inclination. Nor is it enough that he should hear the arguments of adversaries from his own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations. That is not the way to do justice to the arguments, or bring them into real contact with his own mind. He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them; who defend them in earnest, and do their very utmost for them. He must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form; he must feel the whole force of the difficulty which the true view of the subject has to encounter and dispose of; else he will never really possess himself of the portion of truth which meets and removes that difficulty. Ninety-nine in a hundred of what are called educated men are in this condition; even of those who can argue fluently for their opinions. Their conclusion may be true, but it might be false for anything they know: they have never thrown themselves into the mental position of those who think differently from them, and considered what such persons may have to say; and consequently they do not, in any proper sense of the word, know the doctrine which they themselves profess.”
3. Not one MK called for mass non-compliance during the corona restrictions
4. The system is rigged: my guy is never getting in
5. Even if he does get in, he would accomplish absolutely nothing that will shrink the power of the state
6. What about the charedi parties?
They have zero klal yisrael mentality and are stuck in the status quo ditch: they do not campaign for things that actually matter. Things such as; the temple mount, korban pesach, sound money, abolishing the IDF draft and replacing it with a paid volunteer force, getting rid of daylight savings time in the summer, the right to bear arms, ending taxes, especially the ridiculous 100% car sales tax, making it easier to make aliyah
7. “But without the charedim in the Knesset things will be much worse”
Yeah, right! The Charedi parties were complacent in the destruction of millions of lives from the corona restrictions. They allowed yeshivos, school, and businesses to be closed by force
8. Politicians’ salaries are funded by money stolen from the people. If they are caught performing with malfeasance, there is no recourse, there is no redress of grievances
9. There is a simple and peaceful way to deal with the Arab problem: pay them all to move to Arab countries
Look at all the beautiful ‘settlers storming the Temple Mount,’ July 21, 2022.
Beyadenu reports that an all-time record number of Jews ascended to the Temple Mount in 5782. A total of 51,254 Jews ascended the Temple Mount this year. For the sake of comparison, in 5779, a total of 29,420 Jews ascended the Temple Mount. In 5780 (corona year), there were 22,367, and in 5781, a total of 25,582 Jews ascended the Temple Mount.
Beyadenu also reports that this year the record number of ascenders to the Temple Mount was broken in one day, on Jerusalem Day 5782. 2,626 Jews ascended the Temple Mount, on a day when hundreds more remained outside the Temple Mount due to the authorities’ lack of preparation to receive the many ascenders to the Mount, and the failure to extend the hours of the pilgrimage and the gates of the pilgrimage to the Mount.
During the year 5782, about 30 pre-military preparatory schools went up to the Temple Mount, of which about 20 went up under the guidance and direction of Beyadenu. Over 1,000 ascenders to the Temple Mount received guidance from Beyadenu guides during the year.
The month in which the most Jews ascended the mountain in the past year was the month of Tishrei, in which a total of 6,102 Jews ascended the mountain, followed by the month of Av with 5,833 ascenders, followed by Iyar with 5,766 ascenders to the Mount in one month.
The Temple Mount is the Jewish people’s holiest site, it was the site of the first two Temples, and will be the site of the Third Temple.
Aerial view of the new highway, which for the first time will allow people travelling on Route 1 to directly enter Jerusalem to the South and West of the city. This new addition is expected to significantly reduce congestion where it matters most.
Photo Credit: Jerusalem Municipality
Representing a major transportation revolution to anyone driving into Jerusalem from the center of the country (including Tel Aviv) Highway 16 has opened to the public!
The new 6 Km (3.7 mile) road was built with 4 tunnels (dug deep into the mountains), 7 bridges and exits into the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Givat Shaul, Har Nof, and Givat Mordechai. The road connects Highway 1 (Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Route) with Highway 50 (Begin Boulevard) which is the ultra-important highway connecting Jerusalem’s northern and southern neighborhoods. Previously, one wishing to visit these neighborhoods had to enter from the heavily congested city entrance. It is expected to help 40% of all commuters to the city, who until now had to enter from the same roads as all other drivers.
The project, started in 2019, cost an estimated 450 million dollars and has been completed more than a year in advance of its due date. To further reduce traffic into the city a large parking lot will be built, allowing drivers to park for free, rather than enter the city with their cars. The parking lot will be connected to the (currently under construction) green Line of the Jerusalem light rail (so far, only the red line is in use). Besides the hugely impactful advantages of reducing heavy traffic, much effort was put into the surrounding aesthetics, including 50,000 acres of newly landscaped territory such as walking and bike paths, picnic areas, and observation points overlooking the enchanting forests of the Jerusalem hills.
In recent years, many major infrastructure projects have taken place in and around the Holy City with the goal to reduce traffic. In 2011, the first (electric) light rail line opened (currently two other massive lines are being constructed within the city, while the current line is being extended). In 2017, a third lane in each direction was added to Highway one, which significantly cut travel time. In 2018, the high-speed train between Jerusalem to Tel Aviv was completed, cutting the journey down to only 31 minutes between the cities, including a stop at the airport on the way (as of 2022, the route from Jerusalem now connects to all the Tel Aviv train stations and even beyond to Herzliya, Israeli’s high-tech capital). For those who live south of Jerusalem, for example Gush Etzion in Judah and Samaria, a new lane is being added in each direction.
While Israelis will clearly benefit, tourists wanting to maximize their experience in Israel’s eternal capital will now be able to see much more, while traveling much less!
Nosson Shulmanis a journalist and Licensed Tour Guidein Israel specializing in Biblical tours. To allow tourists to experience Israel during the Corona era, he created the new hit Israel tour video series which brings Israel to the home of viewers by simulating actual tours. To check out his free sneak preview tour videos, click here.To view sample tour itineraries or to inquire about private tour opportunities with a personalized itinerary on your next trip to Israel, click here.
