Sunday, June 07, 2015
JCPA: Anti-Semitism is the Motivation for the BDS Campaign Whose Goal is to Delegitimize Israel
Israel is rightly alarmed at the escalating scale of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign. BDS constitutes a concrete threat to the future of Israel’s economic, academic, cultural, sports and political standing. BDS is not only a well-organized and structured global operation that aims to push for Israel to withdraw from territories, but a campaign of well-oiled lies, of dangerous international dimension.IsraellyCool: Answering The Olive Tree Destruction Libel
Of course it is legitimate to criticize the policies of a government, but the BDS movement goes far beyond legitimate criticism, and in essence calls for the dismantling of the Jewish state. How to fight against anti-Semitism when incitement to hatred of Israel and Jews is rapidly spread by globalization and social media?
While the Arab boycott against the Jewish state is not new– it began at the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, but it was organized then by the Arab League due to the territorial dispute with the nascent state. Since 2005, however, it has taken an unprecedented turn with the creation of the BDS movement.
Despite huge investment and effort, BDS has so far not scored any significant economic and trade sanctions against Israel, because governments are fiercely opposed to it.
The question is whether the spread of BDS and increasing public pressure will encourage leaders of the international community to change their firm opposition to the detriment of Israel.
Any fair-minded person must contemplate why the BDS movement is focused on the Jewish state, while massacres continue all over the Middle East and are almost completely ignored. A real theater of the absurd!
Every year in Israel we get a rash of news reports about Jews (or more likely “settlers”) cutting down “Palestinian” olive trees. The reports usually hint that thousands of trees were destroyed in a few minutes, usually over night and without anyone capturing this act on a cell phone video, of course. Because when it’s soldiers and little girls there are thousands of cameras; when it’s mythical acts of Jewish vandalism there are none.Bassem Eid: Calling for an awakening of conscience: Palestinians are real people
As I was walking through Park Hayarkon in Tel Aviv on Friday morning I came across two park employees cutting off a very small dead stump from a healthy young tree. Here’s the video.
It takes these two almost a minute to cut off a very small dead stump. They then clean off the shoots around the base leaving the healthy tree. That’s how you care for olive trees. Also notice how much work it is with a large chainsaw to cut even the smallest limb from an olive tree. Olive tree wood is very hard: cutting down mature olive trees is an extremely difficult task. This stump was around 20cm in diameter. Mature trees can be more than a meter across!
Whenever they are told that their actions hurt the Palestinians far more than they hurt Israel, “pro-Palestinian” activists plug their ears and start shouting “la la la la, I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you”, then they go back to their mantra about the Israelis having stolen land and needing to be punished and being all-around evil people and so on. It would be funny if it were not real.
It is appalling but somewhat expected (given over 67 years of violence against Israel) that some Zionists would dehumanize Palestinians, but it is quite a tragedy that “pro-Palestinian” activists are even worse offenders. The compulsive and fanatical nature of anti-Zionism is the problem. It prevents its adherents from seeing the trees while they obsess about a forest that mostly exists in their imaginations. The hateful nature of anti-Zionism burns everything around it, and the Palestinians are its main victims.
We therefore call for an awakening of conscience among the ranks of those who call themselves pro-Palestinian. If they truly are pro-Palestinian, and not simply anti-Israel, then we expect them to strongly condemn Hamas terrorism and Fatah corruption which are the main causes of Palestinian suffering, rather than demonize Israel while ignoring the consequences of that demonization on the lives of real Palestinians.
Revanchism: An Ideology That’s Swept the World.
The word of the month is “Revanchist”.Europe’s Anti-Israel Obsession Trumping Both Its Democracy and Its Economy
[ruh-van-chist, -vahn-shist]
1) An advocate or supporter of a political policy of revenge, (“revanche” is French for that), especially in order to seek vengeance for a previous military defeat. (Noun)
2.) Of or relating to a political policy of revenge. (Adjective)
The entire culture of Gaza and the West Bank is revanchist. Everything, the government does, from preschool to tourism to garbage collection, revolve around hatred of Israel and that quest for REVENGE!!!! The bees don’t produce enough honey? Israel. Your car breaks down? Israel. The PA government is a bunch of thieves? Israel. A shark bit your third cousin, while holidaymaking in the Red Sea? Israel. A comet slams into the innocent Planet Jupiter? Israel.
Your girlfriend ditched you at the Nabka day dance?…
You see how a single word can make life so much easier everyone? One clear word can replace hundreds of unclear ones. An honest discussion can take far less time or bandwidth and everyone can go away understanding everyone else. Clarity will rule.
The Scottish Nationalist Party is revanchist. The Palestinian Authority is revanchist. The Shiite militias are revanchists, as is ISIL. The government of Iran is especially revanchist. The reasons are a bit muddy, but the sentiment isn’t. Revanchism is everywhere and is getting stronger.
Learn the word, Use the word.
The first case involved a report by the Swedish parliament’s Committee on the Constitution, which concluded that Prime Minister Stefan Loefvan’s government violated proper legal procedure in its recognition of “Palestine” last year. The report said the government announced the decision and even instructed Swedish embassies worldwide to put it into practice without consulting parliament’s Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs, as required, and without taking other necessary preparatory steps, such as consulting with the European Union. The report was issued unanimously; even members of Loefvan’s own party signed it.And then, having unequivocally declared the decision to be in procedural violation of Swedish constitutional law, the committee said the recognition of “Palestine” should nevertheless stand, because that’s a “political” issue on which the panel can’t intervene. In other words, it declared that not only can Loefvan violateJPost Editorial: UNRWA’s birthday
And then, having unequivocally declared the decision to be in procedural violation of Swedish constitutional law, the committee said the recognition of “Palestine” should nevertheless stand, because that’s a “political” issue on which the panel can’t intervene. In other words, it declared that not only can Loefvan violate Swedish law with impunity, but the illegal decision he made won’t be overturned.Thus for the sake of catering to Sweden’s pervasive anti-Israel sentiment, Swedish parliamentarians have created a precedent that future premiers will be able to use to justify violating constitutional procedure in other cases. After all, if this unconstitutional move was allowed to stand, why shouldn’t others be? And letting a constitution to be violated with impunity is the surest way to destroy it.
Thus for the sake of catering to Sweden’s pervasive anti-Israel sentiment, Swedish parliamentarians have created a precedent that future premiers will be able to use to justify violating constitutional procedure in other cases. After all, if this unconstitutional move was allowed to stand, why shouldn’t others be? And letting a constitution to be violated with impunity is the surest way to destroy it.
That’s a very high price to pay for indulging anti-Israel animus, but Sweden is evidently willing to pay it.
Case number two involved the statement by a French cellphone company’s CEO that he would like to stop doing business in Israel in order to appease anti-Israel boycotters. Some French government officials promptly leapt to his defense: French Ambassador to the U.S. Gerard Araud, for instance, argued that Orange’s Israeli franchisee operates in the settlements and, under the Fourth Geneva Convention, “settlement policy in occupied territories is illegal. It is illegal to contribute to it in any way.” In other words, Orange’s Israeli operations violate international law.
Nor is Araud exceptional: Many European officials are increasingly pushing this view. In 2013, for instance, the Dutch water company Vitens canceled a deal with Israeli company Mekorot after the Dutch government warned of potential legal problems stemming from Mekorot’s operations in the settlements.
As law professor Eugene Kontorovich pointed out, this happens to be false: Even if you consider the West Bank occupied territory, neither international law nor European law bans private companies from doing business in occupied territory.
Staging another of its surreal spectacles, the UN last week marked the 65th birthday of one of its most deformed, misbegotten offspring – the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.Nuclear Talks Resume, Iran Refuses Inspection of Military Sites
UNRWA was established in 1949 to cater exclusively to those deemed to be Palestinian refugees. All other refugees, regardless of degree of plight and objective hardship, are looked after by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), while the privileged Palestinian category is singularly aided by UNRWA.
The defect was already implanted in UNRWA’s genome.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon admitted that UNRWA was never meant to live this long, but he contended that “it exists because of political failure.” Doubtless, as per the UN’s dishonorable tradition, Israel is blamed for this failure.
The Jewish state is habitually painted as the villain of any piece and its bogus villainy is exasperatingly accepted as an axiomatic premise.
Reuters reports that Iran and the six world powers resumed negotiations on Iran's nuclear program yesterday, seeking to iron out their remaining differences before the June 30 deadline.Why Saudi Arabia is kicking back against the USA
A framework accord had been reached between Iran, the United States, France, Britain,Germany, Russia and China on April 2, but several issues remain to be resolved, among them monitoring and verification measures and access for U.N. nuclear inspectors to Iranian military sites - which Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran's top military commanders flatly refuse to allow.
As Iranian deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi put it,
Inspection and access to non-nuclear and military sites will not be accepted by Iran. Controlled and managed access does not mean inspection. We are trying to set some rules for managed access to non-nuclear sites.
France said last week it would block any nuclear settlement that does not allow inspectors access to all installations, including military sites.
The Islamic Republic denies that it has any ambition to develop a nuclear arms capability.
In a ruling house long known for geriatric leadership, the new king has pushed aside elder statesmen and seasoned technocrats alike in favour of an impetuous and uncredentialled son, Mohammed bin Salman, who may be in his late twenties. Now the world’s youngest defence minister, the princeling is already second in line for the throne, prompting grumbles from Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, about ‘inexperienced youngsters’. As if to make the ayatollah’s point, Salman père et fils have — without bothering to check with the White House — plunged into a disastrous and unwinnable war against Houthi rebels who were until recently the only successful counterweight to al-Qaeda in Yemen.IDF retaliates for rocket fired from Gaza with air strikes
After years of shunning the rabble-rousing Muslim Brotherhood in favour of Mubarak-style dictators, the Saudi regime is cosying up to Islamists. Though it is officially part of the coalition against Isis, it has made little secret of its support for the Syrian jihad. And it has developed a sudden predilection for sectarian conflict, even as Isis’s new Saudi branch has started a terrifying campaign to annihilate the country’s own Shia minority.
Add to this the colossal tantrum the Saudis are throwing about the US negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme. Riyadh has let it be known that it might acquire nukes from Pakistan. Meanwhile, King Salman has thumbed his nose at a Camp David summit intended to showcase US-Arabian military ties — this from the leader of a country that has spent more than $46 billion on US weapons since Barack Obama came to office.
The Israel Air Force retaliated on Sunday for a Gazan rocket fired at the Ashkelon region on Saturday night by striking a terror infrastructure site in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said in a statement.Netanyahu chides world over silence after Gaza rockets
The IDF also said Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon gave an order to close the Erez and Kerem Shalom border crossings between Israel and Gaza for all but humanitarian purposes. The border crossings will be re-opened based on how the security situation develops, the military said.
The IDF repeated its stance that Hamas is held responsible for everything that happens in the Strip. However, a radical Islamist Salafist group calling itself the Omar Brigades claimed responsibility for the rocket attack, according to Israel Radio.
On social media, the twitter account thought to be that of the extremist Salafi brigades said the rocket was fired in protest of brigade members who are being held in Gaza prisons, as well as those conducting hunger strikes across Israeli prisons.
According to Israel Radio, only hours before the attack, a Salafi leader called for continued rocket firings at Israel in order to disturb the relative calm.
Netanyahu said Israel blamed Hamas for the rocket fire despite the fact that smaller Salafist groups in the Gaza Strip had claimed responsibility for it, and noted the lack of international condemnation over the attacks.Haaretz Editorial & 'Errant' Rockets from Gaza
“I didn’t hear anybody in the international community condemn the fire, and the United Nations didn’t open its mouth,” Netanyahu said at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting. “I’m interested if the silence will continue even when we exercise with our full strength our right to defend ourselves.”
“The hypocrisy that has spread across the world won’t tie our hands from defending Israeli citizens,” he added.
In fact, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon did condemn a rocket attack last week, calling on “all parties to avoid further escalation and prevent incidents that jeopardize the lives of Israeli and Palestinian civilians,” according to a statement from his spokesperson.
On Saturday night, a rocket was launched from Gaza, hitting an open area south of Asheklon. The fire followed a similar attack on Wednesday night, in which two rockets were fired at the Ashkelon and Netivot areas.
Following both attacks, Israeli planes bombed “terrorist infrastructure” in Gaza, the army said, without elaborating.
"Israel is busy maintaining the balance of terror with Hamas, which any errant rocket fired from the Gaza Strip could end. . . " begins the Haaretz editorial today ("Let the people of Gaza go").PreOccupied Territory: Herzog: Time To Set Aside Politics, Focus On Sowing Division (satire)
The thing is, as reported in the news section of the very same newspaper, none of the recent rockets fired from Gaza at Israel were "errant." They were all intentionally targeting Israel.
In short, all of the rockets fired at Israel in recent weeks, without exception, were intentionally targeting Israel, and were not "errant," contrary to the Haaretz editorial.
In another sleight of hand, the editorial's reference to Israel's "balance of terror with Hamas" is equally deceptive. On the one hand, various terror organizations in Gaza violate the ceasefire by launching rockets indiscriminately at civilian populations. On the other hand, in each of the aforementioned incidents, Israel responded by bombing apparently empty buildings used by Hamas.
Salafi militants in the Gaza Strip sent a second volley of rockets toward Ashkelon this afternoon and evening, following Wednesday’s attack. While neither set of launches caused any casualties, the danger of a reopened front with the Gaza Strip proved real enough for the IDF to deploy Iron Dome missile defense batteries in the region on Friday. At the same time, the high-profile case of Orange Telecom announcing its intention to pull out of the Israeli market, apparently as a result of pressure from anti-Israel activists, has blown new wind into the sails of those seeking to isolate Israel politically and economically.Second Lebanese man arrested in Cyprus bomb case
While both the military and commercial situation would have to deteriorate drastically before significant damage occurs, Herzog has already admonished his fellow parliamentarians not to let petty partisan concerns overshadow the lurking existential dangers, and that they must therefore instead look for ways to make Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appear weak, indecisive, or vindictive.
“The specter of war again looms in the south, and foes in Europe and elsewhere continue to find every excuse imaginable to turn world opinion against our tiny slice of the world,” said Herzog in an address to Opposition members of Knesset. “For those reasons we must err on the side of responsibility. I, for one, will be withholding my customary reflexive criticism of the prime minister until these crises have abated, and will instead work on openly fomenting dissent and mutiny.”
A second Lebanese man has been arrested in connection with the seizure of five tonnes of possible bomb-making material ammonium nitrate, police said Saturday.Khaled Abu Toameh: Jordan said threatening to renounce citizenship of senior PA officials
The 62-year-old from Lebanon, said to have Cypriot identity documents, was detained in the capital Nicosia.
According to the official Cyprus News Agency, police believe he imported the nitrate in ice packs as part of first aid kits.
He is expected to appear at a court in the coastal city of Larnaca on Sunday for a remand order.
Last week, police said they had detained another man after the ammonium nitrate was found at his residence in Larnaca.
The 26-year-old Lebanese-Canadian appeared in court on Friday facing possible charges of conspiracy to commit a crime and illegal possession and transfer of explosive materials.
Jordan is threatening to revoke the Jordanian citizenship of 30 senior PA officials, including President Mahmoud Abbas and his sons, London- based Alquds Alarabi newspaper reported over the weekend.Israel to #ShareaCokeWithGaza as Palestinian low blood sugar found to be cause of conflict (satire)
It said the threat is seen in the context of the deterioration in relations between Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
The latest crisis erupted after the Jordanians accused Jibril Rajoub, chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, of failing to vote in favor of Prince Ali bin al-Hussein for the presidency of soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, during its 65th congress in Zurich last week.
Rajoub, who holds Jordanian citizenship, has been declared persona non grata and banned from entering the kingdom. Rajoub insists he did vote for Prince Ali.
According to the report, Jordanian parliament members are working toward convincing the Jordanian government to revoke the citizenship of several PA officials as part of the kingdom’s 1988 decision to cut off its administrative and legal ties with the West Bank.
The decision could affect Abbas and his two sons, who have businesses in Jordan, the newspaper said.
With Israel and Palestine resolutely agreeing on absolutely nothing, Israel has chosen to make the controversial move of allowing Coke into Gaza, risking massive sugar rushes across the strip in the hope that Israelis and Palestinians might, in fact, agree over one thing: ‘Coke is delicious.’Orange CEO is welcome to explain his remarks in Israel, Netanyahu says
Previously, Gaza residents have been receiving Coca-Cola products from a factory in Ramallah, which often led to enormous Coca-Cola shortages whenever the borders closed. This caused Gaza’s collective sugar to drop drastically; resulting in severe crankiness, increased aggression, and at times even resulted in double or blurry vision (which goes a long way to explain the vast amount of missed targets during the last period of rocket fire).
It is understood that Gaza’s low blood sugar is, most likely, the main cause of the conflict. ‘Opening a Coke factory in Gaza is the first step in achieving peace,’ said Israel’s Defence Minister. ‘Not only because we can all agree that Coke is the best carbonated beverage out there, but it will also keep them sweet.” Scientists claim that a rise in Gaza’s blood sugar will result in ‘hyperness, giddiness and excitement’ which are all essential components to a productive peace process.
Israel’s #ShareaCokeWithGaza peace campaign is all about ‘not bottling things up anymore,’ and ‘having delicious Sprite not f#cking spite’. A PA spokesman welcomed the news but added, “If they try to screw us with Pepsi, shit’s gonna get real!”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the Foreign Ministry on Sunday to inform the CEO of French telecom giant Orange that any explanations of his remarks regarding the termination of his company's activities in Israel should be made in Israel itself rather than at the Israeli embassy in Paris.Orange pullout seen as sign of BDS influence on French policy
Stephane Richard, who heads the French telecommunications company, affirmed on Saturday that Orange plans to continue its business ties with Israel, back-pedaling comments he had made to the contrary a few days earlier.
“Let me make it very clear that the Orange Group is in Israel to stay,” Richard said in an email to AFP. “Orange does not support any form of boycott, in Israel or anywhere else in the world.”
He sent the message after a speech in Cairo on Wednesday, in which he said he would terminate his company’s contract with its Israeli subsidiary, Partner Communications, “tomorrow” if he could.
His words immediately sparked fears that Orange was about to boycott Israel as a response to the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians and was seen as part of a larger effort to delegitimize Israel by supporters of the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement.
The furious reaction comes amid mounting concern about the growth of the BDS movement as well as growing anger at the French government.Fight BDS through attack, not defense
Last month, the CRIF took the rare step of publishing a letter its president, Roger Cukierman, had sent to Fabius complaining about France’s support for United Nations anti-Israel resolutions that are opposed by many other major democratic powers, as well as the reception in March of a convicted Palestinian terrorist at the Foreign Ministry’s headquarters. While the CRIF has conveyed similar messages privately, the publication of its complaint was an exception for an organization that generally aims to cultivate constructive relationships with French officials.
“These policies create a certain atmosphere that is conducive to boycotts,” said Ghzolan. “Orange took its cue from the French government.”
France’s government is not the first to be perceived as encouraging divestment from Israel. In the Netherlands, the Vitens water company in 2013 cited its consultations with the Dutch Foreign Ministry in explaining why it decided to end its cooperation with its Israeli counterpart, Mekorot.
“The influence of BDS on policy is more than a trickle; it’s a flow,” said Shimon Samuels, the Paris-based director for international relations of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “And it’s happening all over Europe.”
Two years after the interview quoted above, the Jewish American historian Norman Finkelstein -- one of Israel's biggest critics (haters?) and a fervent supporter of the BDS movement -- said straight out (in a filmed interview, also available online) that despite the BDS claims that it wants to apply international law to Israel, Israel was correct in its claim that the BDS wanted to destroy it: "They're talking about they want to destroy Israel. ... I'm not going to lie."Qatari pressure prompted Orange anti-Israel bid, Israel Hayom learns
Finkelstein added: "They think they're being very clever. They call it their three tiers ... We want the end of the occupation, we want the right of return, and we want equal rights for Arabs in Israel. And they think they are very clever, because they know the result of implementing all three is what? What's the result? You know and I know what's the result: There's no Israel." He also told the interviewer: "It’s not an unwitting omission that BDS does not mention Israel. You know that and I know that. ... They won’t mention it because they know it will split the movement. 'Cause there’s a large segment of the movement that wants to eliminate Israel."
The activity against Orange this past weekend was an introduction on how to deal with the BDS movement: by going on the attack, not on the defensive. We are the ones who are right, not the pack of lies those who hate us are spreading. The BDS movement is nothing new. Many companies boycotted Israel in its first decades. We got through it, and even prompted U.S. legislation [late] against them.
We can bring lobbies to the various parliaments to push for counter-BDS legislation. Such efforts are already underway, although limited in scope, but it's definitely possible. Jews throughout the world are being called to the colors and can certainly help, both through taking financial action against BDS and by political lobbying. The international leftist organizations that operate against us are a model for how we should engage against their nations. We can do it.
The reason behind recent efforts by French telecom giant Orange to boycott Israel is the deepening relationship between France Telecom, the parent company of Orange, and Qatar, Israel Hayom has discovered.Germany accused of paying off Saudi Arabia with weapons to host 2006 World Cup
The relationship between France Telecom and Qatar, mediated by the Qatari Sheikh Fahad Ghanim Al Thani, is part of warming ties between the company and the Arab world. Just in the last year, France Telecom signed contracts with Morocco, Tunisia, Iraq and Saudi Arabia totaling $3 billion.
According to information passed onto senior officials at Partner -- the Israeli company that licenses the Orange brand -- the motive for Orange's moves against Israel are not just business related, but rather a capitulation to Arab pressure, mainly exerted by Qatar. Qatar is expected to sign a $1 billion deal to expand their cooperation with the French company in the near future.
Meanwhile, Orange has backtracked from its plan to withdraw from Israel. The company's CEO, Stéphane Richard, said Saturday that he has no plans to quit Israel.
FIFA is again involved in scandal following allegations that the German government gave weapons to Saudi Arabia in order to win the vote to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup games.Ben-Dror Yemini: Exposing the lies of BDS
According to a report in German newspaper Die Zeit, the German government, headed by former chancellor Gerhard Shroeder, temporarily removed arms restrictions and transferred weapons to the Saudis, one week before the deciding vote over whether Germany or South Africa would be the 2006 hosts.
In the end, 12 voted in Germany's favor and 11 voted for South Africa. One FIFA delegate from New Zealand, who was planning to vote for South Africa, was mysteriously absent from the vote.
Germany's win at the time came as a shock to the sporting world since South Africa was heavily favored to host the games.
South Africa ended up hosting the World Cup in 2010.
Many a good person has fallen for the persuasive arguments of the boycott campaign, which appears to be driven by respect for human rights. But the truth is far more nefarious.Fight boycotts, abandon delusions
The "Fighting the Boycott" campaign launched by Ynet's sister publication, Yedioth Ahronoth, has sparked numerous reactions and questions – some challenging and significant.
They attest to the challenges posed by the BDS movement. The questioners are not anti-Semites. A portion of the BDS supporters are falling under the spell of the movement because it purports to be tackling a real problem.
Yes, the Muslims and Arabs are killing Arabs and Muslims as a matter of routine, and far more than any operation by Israel – and it's only intensifying. But the focus on Israel, some critics of the country argue, stems from the fact that Israel is a democracy. There are other questions and issues too – concerning the occupation, human rights, the settlements, the blockade, and more.
And look, says the man on the fence to himself, the occupation has been around for decades, and there's no peace and no hope. So perhaps the non-violent approach offered by the boycott campaign is in fact the right way?
Let's try to answer some of these questions – because they represent the questions of many a good man and woman who are being sucked into the rhetoric of the BDS campaign not out of hatred for Israel or anti-Semitism, but because they truly believe in human rights, non-violence and fixing the world. They deserve answers.
In December 2014, I took part in the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association. There, alongside respected academic figures whose papers were selected with extreme care, there were leaders of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The anti-Israel movement's hostile takeover of the academic arena is gaining speed -- the only reason the proposal to boycott Israel was rejected by the AAA was fear of a low turnout. The few people who opposed the boycott presented a counterproposal seeking to remove the boycott proposal from the conference's agenda.Swiss MPs: Funding for Breaking the Silence a ‘scandal and misuse of tax money’
Before the vote, the supporters of the BDS movement took the stage, one after another. The opponents of the boycott tried to explain that "we, the academics in Israel, are the ones who fight against the occupation. Why do you want to boycott us, of all people?" But they were booed off the stage, and returned, humiliated to their seats.
Today, with the scope and intensity of the boycott movement finally beginning to become clear, there are still quite a few people in Israel who can't seem to free themselves of the prevalent delusion. Opposition MKs Yair Lapid, Tzipi Livni and Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog made the same comment this week in a number of variations: We oppose boycotts, but … if only there was a peace process. If only we behaved differently. The world would love us and forgive us.
These assertions are not only naïve, they are dangerous. We heard the same sentiments voiced by U.S. President Barack Obama, who said that if Israel fails to take diplomatic steps, the U.S. would have a hard time defending us at the U.N. In other words, he is making the same misguided link between boycotts and diplomacy.
The opening of the Breaking the Silence exhibit in Zurich on Thursday unleashed a firestorm of criticism from Swiss politicians who say the country’s Foreign Ministry misused public funds to finance a hate-filled exhibit targeting the Jewish state.BDS protesters disrupt UK security firm meeting
“We condemn sharply the sponsorship of Breaking the Silence, with public monies through the EDA [Swiss Foreign Ministry] and the Zurich Finance Department, and expect in future a careful examination of projects and those organizations standing behind such projects before Swiss taxpayer money is misused,” 10 Swiss MPs from the parliamentary Swiss-Israel parliamentary group said in a statement dated Tuesday.
“Disinformation and the political ideology of hatred are being directed against the Jewish state and, of all things, it is shameful that Switzerland, on whose soil the nucleus of peaceful political Zionism developed in Basel [at the First Zionist Congress in 1897], is participating in such activities,” they continued “This should never be allowed to happen again,” the lawmakers said.
They called on the EDA and the Zurich Finance Department to “publicly distance themselves from the Breaking the Silence exhibit and make clear their positions to Israel.”
British multinational security services G4S plc had its annual general meeting at London’s ExCeL Exhibition Center disrupted for the second year running by anti-Israel demonstrators.Jimmy Carter Joins ISIS (satire)
This despite extra security measures being taken including the confiscation of mobile phones and other electronic devices after pictures of the previous year’s protest were given publicity.
The annual meeting on Thursday was patrolled by “uniformed and plainclothes security staff” who “intervened frequently,” The Guardian reported. Nine “activists” were “bundled out” over protests about the firm’s operations in Israel.
Protesters who gained entrance to the meeting by buying G4S shares were said to have been removed “violently” at the 2014 general meeting after raising complaints about the company supplying equipment to Israeli prisons. Video footage of that protest was said to be the main reason extra security was put in place for this year’s meeting.
The Islamic State scored a coup today when the former president, formerly known as Jimmy Carter, held a press conference in Syria and pledged allegiance to ISIS. “Ever since people made the mistake of voting me out of office, I just haven’t been all that sold on America,” explained Carter, who now insists on being addressed by his “Islamic name,” Ali ibn Nudnick. “I may be 90, but that’s not too old to change. Besides, in ISIS, I’ve found good folks who share my values. Allahu Akbar!”Scottish First Minister Decries Levels of Antisemitism in Scotland
Not all ISIS members were enthusiastic about their latest recruit. “Ibn Nudnick seems like a nice old guy, but he’s always droning on about settling the Panama Canal crisis and appointing Paul Volker, and ‘I’d have won if it weren’t for the Jews.’ And I’m like, dude, I just beheaded this guy and want to enjoy his daughter who’s now my newest sex slave. Tone it down, I’m trying to concentrate here…”
Carter however told The Israeli Daily that he’s beloved by his new comrades. “I just walk up to the fellas as they’re torturing some infidel or planning some new bit of savagery and they’re always like ‘thank God! Nudnick’s here.’ I can’t recall ever being so wanted since I left office. Hamas and North Korean officials never treated me like this.”
The head of Scotland’s government called the level of Scottish antisemitism “unacceptable,” the British Jewish Chronicle reported on Friday.Kissinger: My Family Escaped the Horrors of the Holocaust by ‘Just a Few Months’
In her first meeting with representatives of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon vowed to hold public meetings with the country’s Jewish leaders to discuss combating the trend of Jew-hatred, among other concerns.
She said she was concerned that many Jews in Scotland said they were afraid to present themselves in public as Jewish or were considering emigration.
Sturgeon also asked to visit a local synagogue to learn more about Jewish customs, according to the Chronicle report.
“I was delighted to meet the [Scottish Council of Jewish Communities] and to hear their views on the experiences and issues of concern to Jewish communities in Scotland,” she said, according to the report, adding that she looked forward to further engagement.
The director of the Scottish Jewish council presented Sturgeon with a report summarizing local concerns that stemmed from the spike in antisemitic incidents following last summer’s 50-day war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger told Charlie Rose on Wednesday that his family escaped the worst atrocities of the Holocaust by just “a few months.”Bon Jovi heading to Israel
Speaking to the famed broadcaster at the Jewish Heritage Museum in New York, the former secretary of state under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford recounted his early childhood in Germany, shortly before the outbreak of World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust.
He began by describing his father’s pride at having a “spectacular” career as a school teacher in a public school, with “a title,” as it was very rare for Jews to hold state jobs in the 1920s and 1930s.
“I had a sort of German Jewish middle class existence until the Nazis came … in ’33. And they began a systematic campaign of segregation, delegitimization, and it was sort of permissible for Hitler youth kids to beat up Jewish kids.”
The rock group Bon Jovi is close to sealing a deal for a long-awaited one-off concert in Israel, Hebrew media reported Sunday.Bestselling French-Jewish author contemplates move to Israel
The band, one of the most successful to ever emerge from the US, was said to be ironing out final details for a show in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, likely scheduled for October 3.
Bon Jovi, led by guitar-strumming vocalist Jon Bon Jovi, is known to be booked for a performance on October 1 in Abu Dhabi, putting the band within striking distance of Israel.
Full details of the date and location, including when tickets are to go on sale, are expected to be released on Tuesday.
In 2010 Jon Bon Jovi, 53, declared his intention to bring the band to Israel as part of a concert tour at the time, but the performance never materialized.
Although a work of fiction, Eliette Abecassis’s new book “Alyah” reads like a pamphlet against the rise of anti-Semitism. Published in France mid-May and written in reaction to the January attacks against Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket, the book is a heart-felt cry that has kept French media buzzing.American Pharoah, owned by orthodox Jew from Egypt, wins horse racing triple crown
“A few years ago I would go out on the street wearing a Star of David around my neck. I was proud to be named Esther Vidal, and I would never lower my voice to say my name. We were not in danger in the city, nor attacked in front of a school, a synagogue, or in the privacy of our home. Calling someone a ‘dirty Jew’ was taboo.
“I never thought it would be possible to see anti-Semitic riots in Paris. In truth, I never imagined that I would hear the words ‘Death to Jews’ at a demonstration,” Abecassis writes in “Alyah.”
In “Alyah,” Abecassis tells the story of Esther Vidal, a Jewish woman of Moroccan descent living in Paris. Caught between her love for France and the temptation to move to Israel, the character’s dilemma echoes Abecassis’s fears for the future.
American Pharoah entered the pantheon of US thoroughbred racing's all-time greats by winning the Belmont Stakes on Saturday to become the first horse to capture the coveted Triple Crown in nearly four decades.
In winning his seventh straight race, American Pharoah becomes the 12th horse to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes and the first since Affirmed in 1978.
According to JTA, a win was a triumphant stand for Ahmed Zayat, an Orthodox Jew from Egypt who has become one of the biggest forces in horse racing but has mostly tasted bitter defeat in recent years.
Before American Pharoah’s victories last month, Zayat had watched horses he owned finish second in the Kentucky Derby three out of the last four years. In 2012, horses owned by Zayat finished second in each of the three Triple Crown races – the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.
In his history-making attempt, American Pharoah may have some Jewish luck in his favor. Jockey Victor Espinoza, who is not Jewish, visited the Lubavitcher rebbe’s grave on Thursday in Cambria Heights, New York, in the borough of Queens, where he prayed and presumably asked for good luck.
