Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, August 16, 2019

How yesterday's stabbing at the Temple Mount is being misreported

Despite dramatic video footage, yesterday's attack by two Palestinian minors on police at a gate to the Temple Mount is barely being covered in international media.

AFP reported it this way:

Two Palestinian youths attacked Israeli police with knives in Jerusalem's Old City on Thursday before being shot by officers, leaving one of the assailants dead, officials said.

Israeli police said an officer was moderately wounded and that the two assailants were shot.

The Palestinian health ministry said one was killed, while Israel's Shaare Tzedek hospital said the second was left in critical condition.

Another person in the area was injured in the leg, police said, without providing further details.

What practically none of the reports mention is that the two youths attacked the police from the Al Aqsa Mosque compound itself, as the video clearly shows.

Even the Jerusalem Post says the attack happened "at one of the walled Old City's gates," as if it was at the entrance to the Old City, not to the Temple Mount.

As far as I can tell, only Arutz-7 got it right.

This is why the Israeli police closed the Temple Mount briefly. It was the source of the attack. But Arab media and Palestinian officials condemned the closure without noting this fact that it was where the knife-wielding youths came from.

Ironically, Electronic Intifada ended up showing better than anyone that Israeli forces only kill people who are direct threats:

Six Palestinians killed this weekEighty-one Palestinians have died by Israeli fire so far this year, and six since Saturday.

Israeli occupation forces killed four armed Palestinians as they allegedly attempted to breach the Gaza-Israel boundary on 10 August.

One of the men had crossed the boundary “and fired at troops and tossed a grenade,” the Israeli military said.

The following day, Israeli forces killed another Palestinian who shot at soldiers while he attempted to cross the Gaza boundary.

EI absurdly complains about yesterday's attack, "The officers immediately open fire on the boys, and do not appear to attempt to subdue them with nonlethal means." As if any police officer in the world would respond differently to himself or a colleague being stabbed repeatedly.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

Why did Israel decide not to allow Tlaib and Omar to come?

The most popular theory to explain why Israel did an about-face and decide not to allow Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to visit is because President Trump tweeted that it would show "great weakness" on Israel's part:

It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep.Tlaib to visit. They hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds. Minnesota and Michigan will have a hard time putting them back in office. They are a disgrace!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2019

I think that was definitely a factor. It may be disrespectful for Israel to not allow two members of Congress to visit, but it is even more disrespectful to go against the President. For better or for worse, Israel has to engage in realpolitik, and Trump has been using Israel as a wedge issue for Democrats quite successfully.

But things sometimes have multiple reasons. It was only reported a day or two ago that Tlaib and Omar would visit the Al Aqsa Mosque/Temple Mount, and that could easily ignite riots where people could be hurt or killed. To turn away someone because of their extreme views is one thing; to keep security is a whole different ballgame.

Also leaked today was the itinerary, which was to be partially sponsored by Miftah, Hanan Ashrawi's NGO that has spread antisemitism both old and new: the blood libel, explicit support of terror and neo-Nazi literature.

Bibi Netanyahu gave his reasons for barring their entry, about 2 hours after Trump's tweet and while Trump probably was part of the equation, the itinerary was a factor:

No country in the world respects America and the American Congress more than the State of Israel.

As a free and vibrant democracy, Israel is open to critics and criticism with one exception: Israeli law prohibits the entry into Israel of those who call for and work to impose boycotts on Israel, as do other democracies that prohibit the entry of people who seek to harm the country.

In fact, in the past the US did this to an Israeli member of Knesset, as well as to other public figures from around the world.

Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar are leading activists in promoting the legislation of boycotts against Israel in the American Congress.

Only a few days ago, we received their itinerary for their visit in Israel, which revealed that they planned a visit whose sole objective is to strengthen the boycott against us and deny Israel’s legitimacy.

For instance: they listed the destination of their trip as Palestine and not Israel, and unlike all Democratic and Republican members of Congress who have visited Israel, they did not request to meet any Israeli officials, either from the government or the opposition.

A week ago, Israel warmly welcomed some 70 Democratic and Republican members of Congress, who expressed broad bipartisan support for Israel, which was also demonstrated a month ago in a resounding bipartisan vote against BDS in Congress.

However, the itinerary of the two Congresswomen reveals that the sole purpose of their visit is to harm Israel and increase incitement against it.

In addition, the organization that is funding their trip is Miftah, which is an avid supporter of BDS, and among whose members are those who have expressed support for terrorism against Israel.

Therefore, the minister of interior has decided not to allow their visit, and I, as prime minister, support his decision.

Nonetheless, if Congresswoman Tlaib submits a humanitarian request to visit her relatives, the minister of interior has announced that he will consider her request on the condition that she pledges not to act to promote boycotts against Israel during her visit.

The reasons I gave last month to allow the pair to visit was contingent on Israel setting up an itinerary and pushing it ahead of time, letting them reject it. This itinerary which doesn't even mention Israel shows that the opportunity was lost. Israel looks bad either way, but this way it only looks bad for a day instead of four days of incitement. And the Miftah angle is big: Miftah has been so bad over the years, and my tweets about it have been so popular, that there will probably be some media attention given to the organization tomorrow (if something similar happened on the Right it would be wall to wall coverage, of course.)

The itinerary is interesting for another reason. The pair weren't even planning to visit the PA president or prime minister. Terrorist supporters and BDS advocates consider the PA to be collaborators with Israel - and these two members of Congress are so extreme, they not only don't recognize Israel but also the Palestinian Authority. Even the AIPAC congressional group visited PA government officials.

That, by itself, shows how extreme and hateful Tlaib and Omar are.

Meanwhile, I love the irony that BDSers are now advocating that these two should visit Israel.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

08/15 Links Pt2: No, the United Nations Didn’t Create Israel; Who’s funding illegal Palestinian settlements in Area C?; Academic Prize For Scholarly Form Of Blood Libel

From Ian:

No, the United Nations Didn’t Create Israel

Hanan Ashwari, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, recently restated one of her favorite falsehoods about the creation of Israel. This falsehood — ironically often advanced by both Israel’s supporters and its enemies — holds that Israel was created by the United Nations in its Palestine Partition Resolution 181, passed on November 29, 1947, and implemented by Great Britain’s withdrawal on May 14, 1948.

This is a pernicious lie that portrays Israel as existing simply as a result of “the kindness of strangers” and as a foreign body imposed on the region by outside forces.

In fact, Jews have yearned and struggled to return to their ancestral homeland for three millennia. Zionism began as a movement in 1897, when Jews began to resettle in what was then called Palestine, culminating in Israel’s Declaration of Independence in 1948 on the same day that Great Britain left.

Those dates in 1947 and 1948 were momentous events in the Zionist effort to create a Jewish nation in its indigenous land, and are celebrated annually in Israel and among most Diaspora Jews. But November 29 — the date of the UN General Assembly vote to recommend the partition of Palestine — is, appropriately, not an Israeli holiday. But May 14 — or its equivalent date on the Jewish calendar — is feted as Israel’s Independence Day.

In any event, the UN Palestine partition is of merely symbolic value in explaining Israel’s creation.

The Waters Were Already Muddy: A Rebuttal to Victor Kattan

On 3 July 2019, we submitted a communication to the Office of the Prosecutor (“OTP”) of the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) (summarised here) which argued that Palestine’s objective legal status as a non-State entity, as well as Palestine’s indeterminate sovereign territorial claim, operate as barriers to the exercise of ICC jurisdiction in potential cases. On 9 August, Victor Kattan responded on these pages (here and here) by suggesting that our communication constitutes an attempt to “muddy the waters” and that Palestine’s objective legal status as a State is clear, as is its sovereign territory. Mr Kattan’s suggestion of bad faith is regrettable. Rather than demonstrate the clarity of Palestine’s status or territory, his posts further demonstrate their uncertainty.

Mr Kattan asserts that “only Palestine has sovereign legal title to the territories occupied by Israel in June 1967” and argues that to assert an Israeli claim in this territory makes “a complete mockery of the law of occupation”. Yet Mr Kattan’s argument relies on inconsistent and unsustainable legal and historical claims. Mr Kattan firstly claims that General Assembly Resolution 181(II) of 29 November 1947 is of dispositive effect. Secondly, he asserts that Israel waived its territorial claim to West Bank territory between 1949 and 1967. Thirdly, he appears to claim that following Jordan’s occupation of the West Bank between 1949 and 1967, a Palestinian State seceded from Jordan in the West Bank. This rebuttal considers these three dubious claims in more detail.

The effect of General Assembly Resolution 181(II)

Mr Kattan argues that the 1947 UN Partition Plan contained in Resolution 181(II)“represented a special agreement between the United Nations and the Mandatory Power” which was of dispositive effect. Yet it is trite that General Assembly resolutions are generally not binding and, in its own terms, Resolution 181(II) “recommended”its adoption and implementation to the UK (as Mandatory Power) and to UN Member States. It was not an agreement between them. Resolution 181(II) was, of course, vigorously rejected by Arab States who stated an objective to create a “United State of Palestine” throughout the former Mandate territory.

Mr Kattan nevertheless relies on Lausanne Protocol of 1949 to support his argument with respect to Resolution 181(II)’s supposedly dispositive effect, as well as to Israel’s supposed waiver of claims to West Bank territory in 1949. Yet the Lausanne Protocol, in its own terms, was a “working document… to be taken as a basis for discussions.” It was a “proposal” which would “bear upon the territorial adjustments necessary” for its “objectives” to be satisfied. At the Lausanne negotiations, Israel contemplated a land for peace formula and expressly excluded Jerusalem from the negotiations (see UN doc. A/927, 21 June 1949, paras. 28, 30). It is plainly wrong for Mr Kattan to suggest that the Protocol conferred a binding effect through agreement on the 1947 UN plan.

Myths and Facts: Palestine is a geographical area, not a nationality

Historically, before the Arabs fabricated the concept of Palestinian peoplehood as an exclusively Arab phenomenon, no such group existed. This is substantiated in countless official British Mandate-vintage documents that speak of the Jews and the Arabs of Palestine – not Jews and Palestinians.

In fact, before local Jews began calling themselves Israelis in 1948 (when the name “Israel” was chosen for the newly-established Jewish State), the term “Palestine” applied almost exclusively to Jews and the institutions founded by new Jewish immigrants in the first half of the 20th century, before the state’s independence.

Some examples include:
- The Jerusalem Post, founded in 1932, was called The Palestine Post until 1948.
- Bank Leumi L’Israel, incorporated in 1902, was called the Anglo-Palestine Company until 1948.
- The Jewish Agency, an arm of the Zionist movement engaged in Jewish settlement since 1929, was initially called the Jewish Agency for Palestine.
- Today’s Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1936 by German Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany, was originally called the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, composed of some 70 Palestinian Jews.
- The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was established in 1939 as a merger of the United Palestine Appeal and the fund-raising arm of the Joint Distribution Committee.

Arabs are not satisfied with one Palestinian political entity (Jordan) where they are the uncontested majority and have the political machinery and the territory for self-determination. Instead, they want an additional state because twenty-one Arab states are not enough (and one Jewish state is one too many).

Arabs mark the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the 1929 pogroms

A pan-Arab news site has an article on what they say was the beginning of the events that led to the massacres of Jews throughout the Land of Israel in 1929.

The article says, "In the following days, clashes intensified and spread to other cities, where Arabs in the city of Hebron killed 67 Jews from the city. A number of Jews enjoyed the protection of some Arab residents who opposed violence but were forced to abandon Hebron for fear of continuing clashes. In Gaza, there was a small Jewish community who had abandoned the city with the help of British troops. Safed's Jews were also subjected to violence by the Arab population."

There doesn't seem to be any regret. The article says that the riots were a major stage in the Palestinian national movement.

It mentions previous deadly riots against Jews, including one in 1924 I had never heard of where they claim that Jews dressed up in "the clothing of Islamic clerics, and made a mockery of them." They said it was around Easter time but perhaps it was Purim, which was a month before.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

Suffering Michiganders Hope Tlaib Takes Time Out Of Palestine Trip To Visit Them (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Suffering Michiganders Hope Tlaib Takes Time Out Of Palestine Trip To Visit Them
Rashida Tlaib

Flint, August 15 - Residents of this beleaguered neighbor of Detroit voiced expectation today that as part of her announced trip to witness the plight of faraway Palestinians firsthand, a congresswoman from their state might make a stop in their troubled city to get a better picture of what fellow Michigan inhabitants need.

As the people of Flint continue to recover from a drinking water and public health crisis stemming from mismanagement, aging infrastructure, lack of transparency, and, many charge, environmental racism, Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan plans a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories later this year to gain an on-the-ground picture of the complex situation people there face, despite the Palestinian situation having little or no bearing on the lives of the people who populate her home state. Nevertheless, Flint residents hope that Ms. Tlaib might deign to set aside some of her time to meet with them and see their trouble in person, since she harbors such concern for people of color and their struggle against systemic prejudice.

Congresswoman Tlaib plans a visit to the Holy Land with fellow progressive "Squad" member Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a public relations move aimed at keeping the Palestinian issue at the forefront of progressive politics and positioning the two legislators as prominent fighters for the oppressed. Flint inhabitants told reporters that they find that mission noble, but also think that perhaps the two American lawmakers representing the constituencies that elected them should consider placing the emphasis of their public activities on serving those constituencies and the states in which they reside, if that is not too much trouble.

"As American taxpayers we pay the salaries of Ms. Tlaib and Ms. Omar," stated Flint resident Stacy Mbeke. "Now, I might be a little presumptuous here, but I think the people whose interests Rashida Tlaib is paid to represent should take precedence over those who live elsewhere and who have no democratic say in her decision-making. The senators and Congressional representatives from Michigan are busy people, and we understand that, but maybe Ms. Tlaib can make a minor change to her itinerary and swing my Flint on her way to Palestine. If it's not too much trouble."

"I get it, she has important things to do that aren't making sure the problems of her state are solved and don't recur," agreed fellow resident Shawnda Pike. "My kids and their elevated lead levels can wait, because Rashida knows it's more urgent to draw he world's attention to Palestinian minors jailed for using rocks and firebombs to try to kill Israeli motorists."

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

08/15 Links Pt1: Interior minister confirms Israel will bar Omar, Tlaib; Mahmoud Abbas’s time-machine politics dooms peace (again); Terror attack in Old City of Jerusalem

From Ian:

Jonathan S. Tobin: Mahmoud Abbas’s time-machine politics dooms peace (again)

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas' latest speech revealed that the new starting point for the Palestinian quest for "justice" is sometime in the 13th century BCE. That's when the tribes of Israel began the conquest of the land of Canaan they had been promised when they left Egypt a generation beforehand.

Abbas declared that the Jewish interlopers in the country would eventually be expelled. "They will be in the dustbins of history, and they will remember that this land is for its people, its residents and the Canaanites who were here 5,000 years ago. We are the Canaanites."

The notion that the current population that calls itself Palestinian can link themselves to the vanished Canaanites is pure fiction. Some Arabs arrived in the early 20th century from surrounding Arab lands as the country began to experience rapid economic development as a result of the return of the Jews and Zionist settlement.

It really doesn't matter when Palestinian Arabs arrived. What matters is that their leader is still doubling down on an effort to deny history and the right of the Jews to a Jewish state, no matter where its borders might be drawn. In his conversations this week with a delegation of visiting Democratic members of Congress, Abbas wasn't willing to say he recognized Israel or to admit that the Jews were also entitled to a state.

Israelis and Palestinians don't live in a theoretical world in which dividing adjacent land into states coexisting peacefully is the obvious answer to their problems. They live in the real world, where the only Palestinian leaders are the Islamists of Hamas, who still seek the death of Jews, and the "moderates" of Fatah led by Abbas, who is selling his people a fairy tale about Canaanites who will somehow use a historical time machine to expel the descendants of Joshua.

Only an Israeli Victory Can Bring Peace. America Can Help by Telling the Truth

The Israel-Palestinian conflict, writes Max Singer, cannot be resolved through compromise, but only through a decisive victory by one side or the other. But Singer does not envision the Jewish state winning on the battlefield of war; rather, the necessary triumph must be moral and psychological:

Israel’s essential goal is to continue to exist in its homeland, and the Palestinians’ essential goal is the elimination of Israel. Thus, if one side wins, the other side loses. There is no way Israel can continue in peace and at the same time be eliminated. The two essential goals clash, making compromise impossible. “Victory” is not a matter of declarations and celebrations. It means achieving your essential goal. Nor is “defeat” groveling and humiliation: it is giving up your central goal because you realize it cannot be achieved.

The Palestinians will have been defeated when they become convinced that Israel cannot ever be destroyed. That defeat would be tantamount to an Israeli victory, and it is required for peace to be possible. [Currently], a Palestinian who wants to argue for the advantages of peace can’t get anywhere so long as his audience believes that continued Palestinian resistance just might eventually defeat Israel.

To help bring about such a change in mindset, the U.S. can do much without expending blood or treasure:

A key component of U.S. strategy . . . should be a campaign of assertive truth-telling. . . . A major part of Israel’s problem is that most of the diplomatic world accepts key falsehoods about Israel and its conflict with the Palestinians and the Arab world. [For instance], there has never been any “Palestinian territory” anywhere. That being the case, there cannot now be “occupied Palestinian territory.” [Moreover], the Palestinian belief that the Jewish people are European colonialists invading the area with no historical claim or right is entirely false. . .

Amb. Alan Baker: A Ha’aretz Columnist Mangles History, Facts, and International Law

On August 9, 2019, the Ha’aretz newspaper featured an op-ed article entitled “The Ignorance of Trump Envoy Greenblatt Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg.”1

The author of the article, Shaul Arieli, described by Ha’aretz as a colonel in the IDF reserves, harshly criticized and attacked President Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Jason Greenblatt, who, in a speech to the UN Security Council on July 23, 2019, had expressed the Administration’s view on to how to achieve an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Greenblatt asserted in his speech that the accepted bases of the world order – international consensus, international law, and UN Security Council resolutions – have been proven to be unsuccessful in seeking an end to the conflict.

In his article, Arieli presents this U.S. Administration viewpoint as a “threat to the post World War II international order” by dictating “an order based on force rather than decisions by the international community.”

He compared this viewpoint to a “giant iceberg threatening an ice-age on the existing international order” but ultimately melting away, leaving “international order to the forces of aggression.”

Arieli’s anxiety and fears for the integrity and future of the old international order would appear to be misplaced. Not being an international lawyer, he seems to be unaware of some basic principles underlying the very international order that he seeks to safeguard.

UNRWA reports:

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) started construction on a new health centre in Zohour area within the Jordanian capital Amman. ...

The actual construction activities started late in July 2019 and the health centre is expected to be functional by August 2020 and will improve access to health care for over 68,000 Palestine refugees in the area. The new health center will replace the existing, congested rented premises and will introduce the Family Health Team (FHT) - the Agency’s new approach to health care delivery.

According to UNRWA itself:

In Jordan, the 2.2 million Palestine refugees who are registered with UNRWA enjoy broad inclusion in social and economic life. The vast majority have Jordanian nationality, with the exception of some 158,000 ‘ex-Gazan’ refugees.

Meaning, some 93% of "Palestine refugees" in Jordan are citizens.

And UNRWA admits elsewhere:

[M]ost of the over 2 million Palestine refugees in Jordan have been granted citizenship, and have the same access to health care as other Jordanian citizens.

Jordan has a very good health care system, both private and public. It is a destination for medical tourism.

However, nearly a million Palestinians who can use Jordan's own health care system use the UNRWA system instead:

In Jordan, our clinics serve more than 1.1 million people, nearly 56 per cent of the registered Palestine refugees in the country

UNRWA is very proud of their facilities and their "new approach to health care delivery" - but, except for the 158,000 Palestinians that Jordan refuses to naturalize, why are they providing services for a million people who are already covered by the state that they are citizens of?

UNRWA could convert all of its clinics to be public clinics for all Jordanian citizens, reducing the impression in Jordan that Palestinians aren't "true Jordanians." Its budget could be given to Jordan for five years or so. But to keep a completely parallel health system in Jordan for only a portion of the citizens is inefficient, promotes bigotry and tells Palestinians that they are not quite full citizens.

The world shouldn't be paying for a separate health system. There is no justification for it. But no one at the UN is seriously questioning why Palestinians who are full citizens should get special treatment - with money that could go to people who are truly in need.

UNRWA is soon going to apply for another extension of its mandate. It is way past time that UN member nations start asking why Palestinians who are not refugees should get extra medical and educational and housing services paid for by the rest of the world.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

From the Jerusalem Post:

Following a verdict given at the Jerusalem district court, a total sum of 12.7 million NIS was transferred to the offices of foreclosure in Jerusalem after several files were opened against the Palestinian Authority for incarcerating citizens accused of collaborating with Israel.

The ones who will benefit the most from these files are the Arab-Israeli citizens living in the West Bank, who were falsely imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority under the suspicion of helping Israel.

According to the verdict given by judge Moshe Drori, the arrest and imprisonment were done without authority, as the PA was never given such power beyond the West Bank. The Imprisonment itself provided enough grounds to sue for damages.

Judge Drori described in his decision the various atrocities done at the basements of the PA's security facilities, which included torture, rape, amputations and even murder.

The Law Enforcement and Collection System Authority will work in the following days to distribute the money to the people involved in accordance with the court's decision.

This story shows much of what is wrong in both Israeli and Arab media.

When were Israeli citizens arrested and imprisoned by the PA? Where was the coverage?

Was this downplayed because they were Arabs and not Jews? If so, this is unacceptable.

I found some details in this story from two years ago, in what appears to be the same case:

52 Palestinian collaborators, or those suspected of collaborating with Israel, have received recognition for the first time from an Israeli court that the Palestinian Authority had in fact arrested and tortured them for years. In the over 1,800-page judicial ruling, Jerusalem District Court Vice President Justice Moshe Drori wrote that beyond a reasonable doubt, systematic arrests took place between 1990-2003, during which dozens of Palestinians suffered severe abuse, that left them with physical and mental disabilities.

“Throughout the day you’re tied to the wall, at night, they take you to interrogations,” one of the collaborators claimed. “From the moment you enter the room, you don’t see the interrogator since they place a sac over your head that was probably in the sewer for ten years. You don’t see who is hitting you…They say, ‘You worked with the Israeli Shin Bet, you have to admit it, period.'”

Attorney Barak Kedem, who represents the plaintiffs stated, “It’s as if someone read Dante’s Inferno and asked to imitate it.” The three plaintiffs said that at no point were they presented with any evidence or witness testimony, rather, only with the demand for a confession.

Some of the torture also included sadistic harm to the detainees’ genitals. Many reported similar methods of horrific sexual abuse that left them infertile and unable to have sex. “There’s some contraption there called ‘the bottle fixer,'” said one of the plaintiffs. “It’s a 1.5-liter bottle of Coca-Cola with a broken top placed inside a block of concrete, and you sit on top. They take care that your life is over. They finish you, ensure you won’t have kids.”

After the court’s ruling this week, which also recognized cases of extrajudicial executions carried out by the Palestinian Authority, the plaintiffs and their next of kin intend to move on to the next stage in their lawsuit: compensation claims worth millions of NIS, each, in the hope that Israel will confiscate the funds from the Palestinian Authority.

This story doesn't mention that they were Arab Israelis.

Where did they live? Did they move into areas under Palestinian Authority control to be with relatives? Or were they "settlers" who were arrested when visiting PA-controlled areas? (Israeli Arabs are allowed to visit PA-controlled areas, Israeli Jews aren't.)

It is great that they are getting compensated, but the paucity of information about Israelis in Palestinian prison shows a deep bias in the media not to report on what should have been a major story.

UPDATE: In 2002, CNN reported that the Palestinians had killed some 1500 "collaborators" between 1987 and 2002. Did you know that?

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

The Arrogance and Ignorance of Tikkunist Jews (Vic Rosenthal)

Weekly column by Vic Rosenthal:

You want to know what’s wrong with progressive American Jews? Here it is:

NEW YORK — Jews across the United States took to the streets on Sunday, marking Tisha B’Av (the Jewish day of mourning) with protests against the Trump administration‘s treatment of undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers. In New York City, during the fast day commemorating the destruction of the two Jewish temples in Jerusalem, over 500 Jews joined the "Close the Camps" demonstrations, holding signs reading “Never Again." Participants first gathered at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in Manhattan for learning, prayer and activities. Some made signs, others participated in a songwriting workshop or text studies of letters from refugees. …

“This is personal for the Jewish community,” Rabbi [Yael] Rapport told Haaretz, holding back tears. “Public outcry, especially in our modern age, can really change attitudes, and change policy. This is a deeply Jewish thing to do.”

Before you jump all over me for being an evil, fascist, deplorable Trump-lover, I wish to announce that I, as an Israeli citizen who has not set foot in the USA for five years, do not have an opinion about Trump’s treatment of immigrants. It isn’t my issue. It is up to the Americans who live there to decide how to protect their borders (or not, if they choose) – just like Americans do not have the right to tell us how to defend our border with Gaza.

Although I might argue with the participants in these demonstrations about whether their religious practice is actually Judaism (I call it “Tikkunism”), I believe that they have a right to their religious beliefs. Although I think that Tisha b’Av has nothing to do with immigration policy, I believe that they have a right to believe whatever they want to.

What they do not have a right to do, what I find infuriating, what exemplifies their arrogance and lack of respect for personal boundaries, is to insist (“this is personal for the Jewish community … this is a deeply Jewish thing to do”) that they speak in the name of all Jews and Judaism.

Of course they do not speak for “the Jewish community!” Who gave them that right? There is no reason they should not demonstrate – as progressives, as Democrats, as concerned Americans. But not as Jews.

There is also their misuse of the Holocaust metaphor. Seriously, is temporarily detaining illegal border crossers and asylum seekers anything like shooting and gassing millions of people because they are Jews? Are they ignorant enough to think so? As the saying goes, “if everything is the Holocaust, then nothing is the Holocaust.”

It’s not like they don’t understand what it is to transgress personal boundaries. “Not in my Name” is a popular slogan for left-wing Jews calling for Israel to withdraw from Judea/Samaria or to remove the partial blockade of Gaza. It bothers them when the government of Israel acts as if in the name of the Jewish people. But they seem to have no problem themselves speaking in the names of others. Why?

This isn’t an accident. It is in part a strategy to draw attention to their campaign with the outrageousness of their claims, but also it is a Tikkunist religious ritual intended to produce a psychological feeling of satisfaction, similar to the satisfaction traditionally religious people obtain from prayer or other rituals. And by imputing religious motives to their political activity, and implying that all Jews must share the obligation to act similarly, they validate their Tikkunism as a legitimate form of Judaism.

But Tikkunism is a radical departure from traditional Judaism. Reform Judaism deemphasized the “ritual” commandments like observance of kashrut and Shabbat, while emphasizing the “social” commandments like concern for strangers, widows, and orphans, and the political vision of the Prophets. Tikkunism goes even farther and redefines the social commandments and in terms of progressive politics. For example, the “stranger” (ger) in the Torah, who in traditional Judaism is a convert to Judaism or a non-Jew living in the Land of Israel and obeying the Noachide commandments (ger toshav), becomes any outsider – even a Palestinian terrorist or an illegal immigrant. The injunctions of the Prophets are also interpreted in the most extreme left-wing way possible.

In the past decade or so, the leadership of the Reform Movement, its membership eroding, has consciously chosen to adopt Tikkunism as a way of generating excitement and commitment from its members. In today’s politically charged America, it may be a good strategy; but it takes the movement even farther from traditional Judaism.

And the Tikkunist ritual of self-justification is insensitive, insulting, and offensive to those who do practice Judaism.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

Archbishop Atallah Hanna of the Greek Orthodox Church in Palestine issued an interesting statement, where he polishes off his dhimmi credentials in fine form.

"Our resistance to the evil which targets our ancient Christian presence in this holy spot of the world must be through our clinging to our spiritual and faith development and also our adherence to our national identity, we belong to this country and Palestine is our homeland and it is our cause.

No, when he says "the evil which targets our ancient Christian presence" he is not talking about the Muslims who have been methodically ethnically cleansing the areas under Palestinian control of Christians. He isn't talking about Hamas under whom the number of Gaza Christians has gone down dramatically.

No, he means the Jews.

But don't worry. He is full of love: "I love this homeland, because the Church always preaches love. Indeed, the Bible says that God is love and true Christian is the one who must be dedicated and sacrificed for those who love."

See? When he calls Jews evil, he is saying it lovingly.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

08/14 Links Pt2: California Board of Education rejects proposed curriculum that angered Jews; Matti Friedman: What Really Happened at Masada?; Deals with Terrorists The Summer of ’82

From Ian:

California Board of Education rejects proposed curriculum that angered Jews

The California State Board of Education has rejected a proposed ethnic studies curriculum for the state’s schools, saying it “falls short and needs to be substantially redesigned.”

The Jewish community is among several minority groups that have protested the draft. Earlier this month, the California Legislative Jewish Caucus said that the curriculum “effectively erases the American Jewish experience,” “omits anti-Semitism,” “denigrates Jews” and “singles Israel out for condemnation.”

“Following the Instructional Quality Commission’s review and response to all public comments, a new draft will be developed for State Board of Education review and potential approval,” school board leaders said in a statement Monday. “The Board will ultimately adopt an ethnic studies model curriculum that aligns to California’s values.”

A 2016 law ordered the Board of Education to create a curriculum that would highlight the contributions of minorities in the development of California and the United States. The board has put the model curriculum up for public comment and will vote on it next year.

CA State Board of Education Says Proposed Ethnic Studies Curriculum Will ‘Be Substantially Redesigned’

The California State Board of Education (SBE) announced on Aug. 12 that the proposed anti-Israel Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) will be replaced with an entirely new draft.

SBE President Linda Darling-Hammond, Vice President Ilene Straus and Board Member Feliza Ortiz-Licon said in the statement, “The current draft model curriculum falls short and needs to be substantially redesigned. Following the Instructional Quality Commission’s review and response to all public comments, a new draft will be developed for State Board of Education review and potential approval. The Board will ultimately adopt an ethnic studies model curriculum that aligns to California’s values.”

Myriad Jewish groups have criticized the drafted ESMC for supporting the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and failing to mention anti-Semitism as an example of bigotry; other ethnic groups have also called for the ESMC to be re-drafted. More than 13,000 people have signed an Israeli-American Council petition against the ESMC. The Los Angeles Times also came out against the ESMC in an Aug. 2 editorial.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center said in a statement to the Journal that the SBE’s decision is a “victory for all Californians and a defeat for anti-Semites and extremists” and they are “Grateful to elected officials who intervened.” The Wiesenthal Center said they are “ready to help revise [the] curriculum.”

Armenian, Hellenic, Hindu, Jewish, and Korean Civic Groups Issue Joint Statement condemning California ethnic studies Curriculum

Its not just the Jewish community that feels left out of the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. The Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian National Committee of America -- Western Region (ANCA-WR), American Hellenic Council (AHC), American Jewish Committee (AJC), Hindu American Foundation (HAF), and the Korean American organization FACE (Faith and Community Empowerment) have showed the state Department of Education just what solidarity looks like:

From the AJC:
Diverse Coalition Urges Department of Education to Rewrite Ethnic Studies Curriculum

Los Angeles – August 13, 2019 – Six major organizations, representing a very large and diverse constituency across California, today called on the state’s Department of Education to set aside the draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum and rewrite the document.

The Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian National Committee of America -- Western Region (ANCA-WR), American Hellenic Council (AHC), American Jewish Committee (AJC), Hindu American Foundation (HAF), and the Korean American organization FACE (Faith and Community Empowerment), issued the following joint statement:

“California high school students deserve an opportunity to learn the role of ethnicity, race and religion in the life of all its citizens, including those previously ignored. But the proposed Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, in its current form, does not come close to achieving this admirable goal."

“The draft lacks cultural competency, does not reflect California’s diverse population, and advances a political agenda that should not be taught as unchallenged truth in our state’s public schools."

“Judeo-Christian” is a term that should be banned from all thy mouths. There simply is no such thing. Thus sayeth The Vard.

When I thought about whether I wanted to write about this nonsense term, “Judeo-Christian,” I decided to do a Google search: *no such thing as judeo-christian*. I wanted to see what was out there, if the topic had been covered. Sure enough, BOOM. Up comes an article with that title by Yori Yanover, of The Jewish Press, “There’s No Such Thing as Judeo-Christian . . .”

“Darn. Somebody’s already done it,” I thought, ready to move on. But then I took a second, closer look. I realized the title actually said, “There’s No Such Thing as Judeo-Christian Values.”

Well! I thought. I'll show him. I’ll go him one better: There's no such thing as “Judeo-Christian.”

Period.

My interest in the topic was sparked by something else. A response to columnist David Brooks, who wrote, “Protestants, Catholics, and Jews did not get along, so a new category was created, Judeo-Christian, which brought formerly feuding people into a new ‘us.’”

Ira Stoll, writing for The Algemeiner, responded, “The term ‘Judeo-Christian,’ though perhaps useful as a political, rhetorical formulation to label the Jewish and Christian alliance against Nazism and later Communism, never really became a practically meaningful ‘us.’”

That’s true. I thought. But I was irked at the thought of Brooks getting away with floating this false idea into the ether: that the term “Judeo-Christian” had been invented because Christians and Jews didn’t get along.

That needs to be addressed. That’s not how the term “Judeo-Christian” came into being. It’s a false etymology and a false story.

The term “Judeo-Christian” was created to make Christianity palatable to the Jews. It does this by comparing the basic elements of Judaism and Christianity side by side, in order to make them look similar.

A missionary might say in response to a Jewish concept, for instance, “We have that, too,” and then cite a verse or practice in Christianity. The purpose of this is to reassure his prospect. It is like saying, “We are really just regular people, like you. We believe in the same things—we just do it in just a slightly different fashion.”

But this is a tautology:

If Christianity borrows from Judaism, then Christianity is like Judaism.

How do we know this is false logic? Because the underlying premise of one religion negates the other.

Judaism does not resemble anything else or share anything with other religions. That is because it is discrete from other things, and certainly other ideologies, or religions. It is distinct. Unique. It is also whole.

To suggest otherwise is an insult. Which makes the term “Judeo-Christian,” an insult.

When you borrow ideas from Judaism and add it to whatever you have, it is no longer Judaism. It also isn’t “like” Judaism. Judaism can’t be attached to things, cannot be a prefix. A thing cannot be “Judeo.” Therefore it cannot be “Judeo-Christian.”

There is no such thing.

I think that people in general, have a sickness. They need to find things in common, things that they “share.” This is not about making connections. It’s about needing everyone to be like you, because it’s really, really scary when they’re not.

“Finding things we share” is a symptom of xenophobia. We can’t stand it when anyone is different, so we have to find the ways that we are the same. Even if we have to invent those things, building towers of words that express false logic, phrases like “Judeo-Christian.”

This is wrong and also very sad. It is okay to be different. Though it does take courage to be an original. Which is exactly what faithful Jews have done for thousands of years: taken courage to remain original and one-of-a-kind. It’s how we made it through being hated and hunted, how we made it through the bloodshed.

It's how we survived.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.