Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

As I viewed the recent press conference with Jordanian King Abdullah II and President Donald Trump, I couldn’t help but reflect on the history of Jordan and the king’s namesake and great-grandfather, Abdullah I.  After Jordan illegally conquered Judea and Samaria, including the eastern portion of Jerusalem, in 1948, it sought to legitimize its conquest…

Peace in the Middle East has been elusive. It has been bedeviling and challenging because of Arab intransigence and delusional thinking. The Partition Plan of 1947 was accepted by Israel and rejected by the Arab world leading to five Arab countries attacking Israel. The 1956, 1967 and 1973 wars against Israel were inspired by Arab…

U.S. President Donald Trump’s groundbreaking idea about Gaza shows concern about the well-being of both the Palestinian Arabs and Israel. The rules of war say that those wanting to flee a war zone for their safety should be given refuge. In the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, for instance, some 7 million Ukrainians fled the…

Last Monday, January 27, marked the fourth time in two years that I attended an event at the United Nations commemorating murdered Jews. Two events memorialized Holocaust victims on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and two events remembered the victims of October 7. Speaking at the Holocaust Remembrance commemoration in front of the UN exhibition, “Auschwitz,…

To our esteemed President Trump, From the depths of our hearts, we express our most sincere and profound gratitude for your unwavering support of Israel. Your unshakeable commitment to truthfulness, honesty, and leadership has sent shockwaves of hope and inspiration globally, touching the lives of millions. Your remarkable hospitality towards Prime Minister Netanyahu and your…

There has been an enormous, misleading perception concerning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to agree to the latest blackmail, extortion hostage agreement with Hamas. For those who have criticized the prime minister for waiting until now to sign a deal with Hamas, the fact is that if Netanyahu had agreed to its prior terms,…

Immediately after it became known that Hamas took 251 hostages in the course of their terrorist assault in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the United States called for their unconditional release. In November, Israel agreed to a deal with Hamas in which more than 100 hostages were released in a three-to-one exchange for terrorists who…

There is a famous Yiddish saying, “Der dreydl dreyt zikh”, which literally translates into “the dreidel turns”. It is an age-old and apt adage, especially now, for the alternating rise and fall of people’s fortunes. There can be no better illustration of this than President Trump’s triumph over his political nemeses in Washington, the media,…

In the days following the appalling atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, there was a symbiotic virtual uprising that occurred on many US college campuses in support of Hamas and its goals. The basic playbook followed was reportedly developed by sponsors and affiliates of Hamas. It included intimidation and harassment of Jews and…

Lexis Roberts was 12-years-old when Thomas Sanders shot her four times and cut her throat, four days after he murdered her mother on a road trip near the Grand Canyon. The cold-blooded murderer was on federal death row until President Biden commuted his sentence two weeks ago. Sanders was one of 37 out of 40…