Wednesday, May 07, 2014
The Deep UN: Inside the Infrastructure of Hate
Indeed, even UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has conceded that “Israel has been weighed down by criticism and suffered from bias—sometimes even discrimination” in the international body.The Real Palestinian Refugee Crisis
The most glaring example of this tendency was UN General Assembly Resolution 3379, which horrendously declared Zionism to be a form of racism. Passed in 1975 following a sustained campaign by the Soviet Union, and rescinded in 1991 after a major push by the United States, the resolution triggered a measure of international revulsion, as it symbolized the extremity of the UN’s aversion to one of its own member states. But what few people realize is the extent to which we are still living with the resolution’s influence—especially in the form of a network of extremely well-funded UN structures and offices that have until now remained largely hidden from public scrutiny.
Despite the “Zionism-is-racism” resolution having been annulled, these offices, agencies, and committees continue operating as the engine of the effort to delegitimize the Jewish state and attack it through boycotts, sanctions and divestment. It is these structures and their activities that are being exposed here systematically for the first time.
The simplest solution would be to eliminate UNRWA and immediately subordinate all its agencies to the UN High Council on Refugees. This would be equitable and efficient–but since the prospects of such a decision being effected by the UN are slim to none, it is probably more sensible to look for solutions that can be implemented directly by the United States.JPost Editorial: For the record
Enacting Congressional demands for greater accountability and, especially, bringing UNRWA’s refugee policies into line with those of the rest of the world, would be essential steps toward meaningful reform. At the same time, we must strive to decrease UNRWA’s hold on Palestinian society. The services UNRWA currently provides should be slowly handed over to parallel agencies within the UN, which already provide these services to others, but which have no financial or political interests in perpetuating the problem. In particular, the ultimate goal should be to wean the Palestinians off UNRWA’s largesse completely, and shift the responsibility for providing services and employment to the Palestinian Authority. Doing so would not only be good for the Palestinians, but also for the peace process. It appears that peace cannot be achieved without compromise on the “right of return,” and there can be no such compromise until UNRWA is either substantially reformed or entirely dismantled.
Recently, Jerusalem Post columnist Avraham Avi-hai placed a new word and a new concept before its readers as well as on the agenda of world and Jewish public discourse.
The word is “culturocide.” With the murder of the six million in the Holocaust, two vibrant and living Jewish languages and cultures were murdered as well.
True, pockets of Yiddish- and Ladino-speakers still exist. The languages and cultures are studied in universities, and Holocaust museums devote exhibits to the theme. But Yiddish culture, the living Ashkenazi culture of the Jews of Warsaw and Vilna, Riga and Bucharest, Vienna and Budapest, as well as of hundreds of cities, towns and villages, was destroyed together with the Jews of Eastern and Central Europe. The living Ladino/Sephardi culture was similarly slaughtered along with the Jews of Salonika and Athens, Monastir and Sarajevo.
We are now entering the 70th year since the end of World War II. The number of survivors of the Holocaust dwindles daily. They lived in a world of rich language, press, theater, film, music and literature both sacred and secular.
‘A Death Sentence for the Jews’: 75 Years Since the British White Paper
In recent years, however, several pro-Roosevelt authors have depicted the Allies’ Palestine policy in a new light. Robert Rosen, author of “Saving the Jews,” claims the White Paper “saved [the Jews of the Middle East] from the Holocaust,” because otherwise the Arab world supposedly would have revolted against the Allies and the Nazis would have captured the region and killed all the Jews living there. Richard Breitman and Alan Lichtman, authors of “FDR and the Jews,” claim that during the St. James conference, Roosevelt secretly pressured the British “on behalf of Jews.” Their source for that claim, however, turned out to be a paranoid Arab delegate to the conference.Report: Film About Murder of French Jew by Islamists Removed From Cinemas in Paris
But these revisionist accounts got it all wrong, and Prof. Feingold got it right. We now know from declassified British records that some senior British government officials did, in fact, harbor anti-Semitic sentiments. And we also know that President Roosevelt never seriously considered pressing the British on Palestine.
FDR went through the motions. He instructed the State Department to inform London that the U.S. hoped “no drastic changes” were intended. In a private memo to Secretary of State Cordell Hull on the day the White Paper was issued, FDR called the new policy “something that we cannot give approval to.”
Alliance said cinema house managers have been claiming a lack of interest in the film, ’24 Days: the truth about the Ilan Hamili affair.’ The website exhorted Jewish readers to prove them wrong and support Ruth Halimi, Ilan’s mother, who wrote the book the movie is based on and has had to endure reliving the tragedy to bring the story to the public.French TV censors comparison between Toulouse killer and IDF
Last week, the film’s director, French Jew Alexandre Arcady, said, “Ilan’s death reflects a sick society.”
Halimi, 23, was kidnapped and tortured for 24 days by a gang led by Youssouf Fofana. Halimi was found naked, handcuffed and bound to a tree near a railway station in February, 2006, and his body had been mutilated. Still alive, he died on the way to hospital.
Aymeric Caron, a left-wing French journalist, made the comparison on April 26 on France 2’s show “On n’est Pas Couche” (“We’re Not Asleep”) during a discussion on anti-Semitism in France and the 2012 murder of three children and a rabbi in Toulouse by Mohammed Merah, a radicalized Islamist.Presbyterians Escalate War on Jews
“Merah would say he killed Jewish children because the Israeli army kills Palestinian children,” Caron said, according to a transcript of the censored sequence that appeared last week on the news website causeur.fr. “There are numbers on that too. I have the numbers. How do you respond?”
Caron made the remark as a panelist during a 30-minute talk with Alexandre Arcady, the director of a newly released film titled “24 Days” about the 2006 murder of Ilan Halimi — a young cell phone salesman who was tortured and murdered near Paris by a gang of 16 people who abducted him because he was Jewish.
While the question of who sits on church committees may not strike many people as an earthshaking question, Butzer’s treatment is significant. His ouster signals a new turn in interfaith relations. Whereas in the past Israel’s foes in mainline Christian churches have sought to cloak their hostility to Zionism and to affirm that they did not wish to harm interfaith relations, it’s now clear that this is no longer the case. By saying that participation in any trip that allows Christians to hear Israel’s point of view even alongside the voices of Palestinians is beyond the pale, the Presbyterian Church USA is telling us that they are declaring war on American Jews as well as Israel.Vassar College Wins (Update – Video added)
What is also interesting about this tale is that Butzer should in no way be considered an ardent advocate for Israel. In his piece, he goes to great lengths to demonstrate his sensitivity and even sympathy for the Palestinian point of view. He is willing to view Israel in a negative light and seems not to challenge the Palestinian narrative. But he is willing to listen to the other side in the conflict and that is something that BDS supporters inside the church rightly consider to be dangerous to their cause.
Of course, the BDS crowd at the Presbyterian Church USA isn’t saying who is sponsoring the various pro-Palestinian dog and pony shows in the region (here and here) that it is schlepping its members to this year.
But the point here is that it is drawing a line in the sand and labeling anyone who makes common cause with mainstream American Jewish groups as beyond the pale. In return, Jews and all Christians and people of faith who truly care about peace should make it clear that so long as the Presbyterian Church USA is waging war on the Jews, they will treat it as a hate group masquerading as a community of faith. (h/t Norman F)
One thing I learned for the first time was that while most of the 39 professors did not respond to the debate invitation sent out by the student organizers, one of the professors who did respond said that I should be boycotted. Imagine that.'The J Street Challenge'
There was a very lengthy question and answer period, a lot of it focused on the role of faculty in the BDS movement on campuses.
All in all it was a big win … for Vassar.
J Street would be happy if, over time, it became the group that Democrats in Congress lined up behind, and AIPAC was left for the Republicans, which would of course mean the end of a bipartisan consensus in Congress on anything impacting Israel, since J Street can be defined by its opposition to AIPAC's agenda. In essence, J Street's goal is to make Israel a Democrats versus Republicans issue, as is the case for so much else in Congress and America, especially since the Left believes that demographic changes in America will soon make the Democrats the dominant political party. Soon it hopes that hostility to Israel will be as much a mainstream Democratic Party issue as global-warming hysteria, affirmative action, immigration reform, increasing the minimum wage, and raising tax rates on the wealthy.The J Street nose in the Jewish tent
"The J Street Challenge" is an attempt to offer a clear-eyed view of the real J Street agenda -- especially its goal to destroy the bipartisan consensus on Israel, so that its soft, mushy PR campaign of presenting itself as the group representing the pro-peace, pro-Israel majority in America can be seen for what and who is really behind the propaganda campaign.
Gellman has the right to demonize those he disagrees with, but he can’t then claim that he supports civility and open discussion. And after the things he has written about the Israeli army, Gellman also can’t claim that he is pro-Israel. Commenting in support of the widely discredited Goldstone Report – disavowed even by author Richard Goldstone himself – Gellman claimed: “Orthodox Israeli rabbis encouraged soldiers to be particularly ruthless to Gazans during Operation Cast Lead – reportedly encouraging them to show no mercy to innocent Gazan citizens, women and children. There is an increasing amount of solid evidence that shows many of those soldiers followed those instructions and behaved very badly – perhaps criminally.”Video: J Street Exclusion 'Undermines Credibility' of Conference of Presidents Says ADL's Foxman
This is a disgusting false smear that reads more like Hamas propaganda than pro-Israel messaging by a self-described “savior of the Jewish people.” Yet too often this has been J Street’s style. Its leaders complain about the lack of civility in the Jewish community while personally insulting its critics and falsely attacking the Jewish state. They demand open debate for their fringe, often anti-Israel positions, while also demanding that their critics be silenced.
J Street’s behavior in response to The J Street Challenge should serve as a warning to the “mainstream” Jewish community. Modern- day Jacobins like Ben-Ami and Gellman don’t do compromise. Once accepted into the big tent, as J Street’s reaction to The J Street Challenge demonstrates, they demand silence from those who challenge their opinions or contradict their dubious claims of being pro-Israel.
Foxman said that he finds it "somewhat bizarre that there is more tolerance for dissent and difference in the state of Israel and views of future peace and negotiations than there is in the American Jewish community." Foxman also noted that he felt "J Street is akin to Meretz or the Labor party," two left leaning political groups in Israel.A Slap to the BDS Bullies
Contrary to Foxman's claim that J Street's views are somehow excluded, the Conference of Presidents houses a number of progressive organizations including Ameinu, Americans for Peace Now, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Jewish Labor Committee/Workman’s Circle, Jewish Reconstructionist Movement, Jewish Women International and the National Council of Women.
One of the most insidious elements of the BDS assault on Israel’s legitimacy is the high profile targeting of culture figures who agree to visit Israel or speak out positively about Israel.Press TV, Like Haaretz, Pushes Bogus PM Quote on Home for Jews
BDS gains undeserved headlines every time it browbeats a celebrity to forego visiting Israel. In recent times, however, the group has been getting publicity it may not want – culture figures standing up to the challenge and declaring their support for Israel.
That’s exactly what happened this week when Telegraph writer Jake Wallis Simons found himself on the receiving end of a bully campaign for agreeing to participate in a literary event in Jerusalem:
Iran's Press TV, along with Israel's Haaretz, falsely reports that earlier this week Israeli Prime Minister stated that Israel is home only for the Jews.< In fact, as we noted Monday, the prime minister said in the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday that Israel is "the nation-state of the Jewish people -- and no other," and ensured "full equal rights to each and every citizen."IsraellyCool: Roger Waters - Comfortably Dumb!
Hello! Roger are you in there?Ex-London mayor: As Jews get richer, Tories gain votes
Why did you join this conspiracy, to taking away the Jews home?
Come on Now,
Why are you acting like a clown?
Putting all the blame on those eternal Jews again?
Former London mayor Ken Livingstone said Tuesday that Britain’s Jewish community has increasingly supported Conservative candidates as it has gotten richer.Visitors to Auschwitz Are Stealing ‘Souvenirs’
“If we were talking 50 years ago, the Roman Catholic community, the Irish community in Britain, the Jewish community was solidly Labor,” Livingstone told BBC’s Newsnight while addressing the role of ethnic minorities in UK politics. “Still the Irish Catholic community is pretty solidly Labor because it is not terribly rich.
“As the Jewish community got richer, it moved over to voting for Mrs. [Margaret] Thatcher as they did in Finchley,” he said, referring to one of London’s northern districts with a large Jewish community.
Visitors to Auschwitz are taking in more than just the experience of being at the infamous concentration camp in Oswiecim, Poland—they’re taking actual artifacts from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Last month, an Italian tourist was arrested at the airport for attempting to smuggle 16 inches of barbed wire from the concentration camp out of the country. Now, according to the Telegraph, the rise in acts of vandalism and theft at the museum has stymied administrators.Tunisian synagogue vandalized for third time
Visitors of all ages, apparently, have been scratching their names onto the walls where prisoners slept. “I had a smoke here,” one vandal wrote. Others have stolen “souvenirs” from the camp, including spikes from the railway line that transported thousands of Jews to Auschwitz.
“This is shocking,” said Antoni Dudek, a Polish historian and a board member of Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance, an organization charged with investigating wartime crimes. “This isn’t really vandalism because vandalism is something you do to a bus stop. This is barbarism.”
Local media put the blame on teenagers from a nearby high school. The same reports suggested that the assault on the building was not religiously motivated, and that the students were just “having some fun,” according to French-language news site DesInfos.com.Heir to priceless Nazi-era art hoard dies aged 81
Though no longer in service — for lack of religious patrons — the synagogue houses many religious texts, including Torah scrolls.
The site had previously been vandalized in August of 2011 and December of 2012.
Gurlitt had last month struck an accord with the German government to help track down the rightful owners of pieces in his trove of 1,280 artworks, including Jews whose property was stolen or extorted under the Third Reich.Backstreet's back and coming to Israel
The works, whose value has been estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars, were seized in February 2012 when they were discovered by chance in the course of a small-scale tax evasion investigation.
Holzinger said the probe would now end with Gurlitt’s death.
The Backstreet Boys are now mounting their assault on competing boy-band star Justin Timberlake from 'N Sync with a new world tour, also called "In a world like this."Jewish National Fund’s ‘Blue Box’ Reimagined
The band hopes to fill Ra'anana amphitheater's 8,000 seats on July 29, 2014.
But the date selected by the boy-band will not please everyone in Israel. July 29, 2014 falls during the nine days before the fast of Tisha B'Av when observant Jews do not listen to live music.
The Jewish National Fund (JNF) has announced a new version of its charity-collecting pushke—the “Blue Box,” as it is best known. Over the years, the Blue Box has been an iconic symbol for American Jews of their link to the Jewish state.French Jews organize Kaddish at Normandy for fallen Jewish invaders
“More than a century old, our little Blue Box is known the world over but it does change to keep up with the times,” said Russell F. Robinson, CEO of JNF. “Today’s pushke represents the many projects in Israel that we and our partners are funding to build a prosperous future for the land of Israel and its people.”
The commemoration is planned for June 8 — two days after the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the first landing by American troops in France — and will feature a collective Kaddish prayer for 149 Jewish soldiers who died there, the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities said in a statement published Tuesday on its website.Qanta Ahmed: Peace goes by the name Hadassah
“What would have become of us had the Allied forces not landed on June 6, 1944?” CRIF wrote in the statement. “We are organizing a day that will honor the memory of our brothers who fell in battle.”
In coming days the same insights are echoed when I meet with Dr. Osnat Levtzion-Korach the female physician Director of Hadassah University Hospital-Mount Scopus, and Dr. Hani Abdeen, the former Palestinian Minister of Health who is now the Dean at the School of Medicine at Al Quds University Medical School in East Jerusalem. Numerous Israeli and Palestinian medical residents and faculty observe the same themselves. The unity of their commitment to serve a shared population are striking, inconsistent with a region portrayed as in interminable, violent conflict. I find both Israeli and Palestinian physician leaders seek the same goals — to better serve their hybrid community, to better educate the physicians of the future and above all to pursue these complex goals together in close collaboration.
I absorb all this despite the overwhelming distractions of Hadassah’s extraordinary environment. As my colleagues speak, I realize to them this diversity of faith, race and ethnicity is unremarkable — its all they have ever known. To me, who has practiced a few hundred miles east of here in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia nothing could be more extraordinary than the intimacy, respect, solidarity and sense of community I could feel, a community which was expressed without words, without shared language but which was utterly palpable. Often during my time at Hadassah I find myself daydreaming and re-imagining my world in Riyadh if it were one day populated with Jewish patients alongside Muslim patients, Jewish colleagues alongside Muslim colleagues. It seems at once unimaginable, and as I return to my surroundings, immensely possible. (h/t Herb Glatter)
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