Just a little antisemitism from “human rights lawyer” Noura Erekat

Noura Erekat, an assistant professor at Rutgers University who was most recently seen exploiting her car-ramming cousin within a day of his death as an excuse to sell copies of her anti-Israel book, has created a ridiculous video for the far left video outlet Now This where she lies about Israel’s goals with extending sovereignty.

This one section of the video tells you what you need to know about Erekat’s interest in truth as well as her“human rights” credentials.

 

 

The “Deal of the Century” is better known as “steal of the century” and the “apartheid plan?” Where? Only in the fever swamps of anti-Israel propaganda that Erekat inhabits. I follow the topic quite closely and have never heard it called either of those things, and even Arabic media routinely call it the “Deal of the Century.”

But beyond that, look at the stock footage she chose when showing the words “the apartheid plan.”

Yup – religious Jews. Jews who have nothing to do with Trump or the deal, nothing to do with extending sovereignty, Jews who for all we know are walking in Brooklyn.

Not a Tel Aviv beach. Not IDF soldiers. No, she chose to show Orthodox Jews while flashing the word “APARTHEID” on the screen, so her viewers would associate Jews with gross human rigths violations.

Yes, that is antisemitic. And this entire video is propaganda that a Rutgers instructor is not the least bit embarrassed to spread.

(h/t kweansmom)

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The times they are a changin’–UAE company signs agreement with Israeli defense contractors

A press release from the Emirates News Agency:

ABU DHABI, 2nd July, 2020 (WAM) -- Group 42 (G42), a leading technology company based in Abu Dhabi, announced today it has signed Memoranda of Understanding with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Rafael, and Israel Aerospace Industries, IAI, two leading Israeli technology companies, to explore collaborations in the research and development of effective solutions to combat SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 disease.

Executives from each company took part in a signing ceremony held via video conference between the UAE and Israel.

During the event, they discussed how they might capitalise on their respective expertise and technologies to develop cutting-edge solutions and medical initiatives that would benefit, not only the populations of both countries, but humanity as a whole.

This joint initiative brings together some of the most active players in the Covid-19 response in the region and aims to leverage their combined knowledge, human and technological assets, and other resources to accelerate the delivery of breakthrough solutions to safeguard the public health and support the global fight against the pandemic.

G42 is nominally an independent company specializing in artificial intelligence. However, its website makes clear that it works closely with, and aligns with, the strategic direction of the Abu Dhabi government.

 

While Israeli defense contractors have indeed pivoted to fighting the pandemic, they are still defense contractors –and the UAE chose those companies specifically to partner with. These are the very companies that Israel haters call out as violators of human rights.

My guess is that this agreement was made with a view to the future where Israel and Gulf countries will cooperate on military technology. After all, G42 could have chosen to partner with Israeli universities or pharmaceutical companies, and instead chose not one but two major military suppliers.

The UAE not only doesn’t care about what the pro-Palestinian crowd thinks, it is highlighting this agreement with the Israeli defense contractors  in its media.

This rapprochement between formerly bitter enemies shows what peace will look like and how we will get there. National decisions are driven by self-interest and Israel has a lot more to offer than Palestinians do.

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Israel is doing better than ever. Idiots tying up traffic can’t hurt it.

It’s easy to see the sheer volume of anti-Israel material online and in social media and feel like we are losing.

But when you step back, you can see that the reality is that Israel is winning in every conceivable field.

While the haters scream about "occupation" and "annexation," Israel continues to grow, get stronger and become more indispensable to the region and the world.

Israel is strong militarily, economically and in innovation. Both Western and third-world nations want to be like Israel. They want to learn from Israel. It really is a "light unto nations."

Israel is getting closer and closer to the Arab Gulf nations, as they realize that the Palestinian cause is a self-created dead end. While Palestinians make more and more demands on their Arab “brethren,”  Israel offers solutions.

Israel has become a powerhouse in desalination, de-desertification, and water conservation in a dry region. It has a lot to offer to its neighbors. They know this. What can Palestinians offer them? Forcing them to defend terror to the West that they are trying to get closer to?

Israel is the most stable nation in the region, and when Arabs are afraid of Iran hey are turning to Israel to be their protector as well, at least implicitly.

Israel is becoming an exporter of energy, now selling natural gas to Egypt and Jordan.

The moderate Arab nations need Israel, and their support of Palestinians is lip service.

When you look at anti-Israel demonstrations, they do not reflect anything close to reality. Israel is stronger than ever - and more liberal than the socialists leading the hate train.

The volume of the Israel-haters’ sound equipment as they robotically chant “From the river to the sea….”  isn't a reflection of success. The chants and pro-violence messages are the screams of frustration that they cannot destroy the Jewish state they hate so much.

(based a thread on Twitter)

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07/02 Links Pt2: Why is the ADL aligning itself with Al Sharpton?; U.S. Deputy Anti-Semitism Envoy: Anti-Zionism Is Anti-Semitism; Appeals Court frees Molotov Cocktail Lawyers on bail and home confinement

From Ian:

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Why is the ADL aligning itself with Al Sharpton?

My public relations agency has represented a myriad of interests promoting minority communities. In fact, over the years we have represented a number of individuals who are significant donors to the Anti-Defamation League, the latest organization working together with Sharpton. Civil rights issues in the African American community are indeed serious; and they should be taken seriously by leaders of the Jewish community. Indeed, it is important for there to be a united front among those in other minority communities in calling out racism in any way it may manifest itself. It's incumbent upon us as Jews to call out racism - and I've been personally heartened by the participation of members of the Jewish community in some of the peaceful demonstrations that have taken place.

But that does not and should not ever take place at the expense of promoting anti-Semites or bigots of any stripe. Indeed we are doing a disservice to the African American community by propping up someone like Al Sharpton by doing so. There are many decent and impressive civil rights activists within the African American community who deserve our support, and certainly deserve a platform. Al Sharpton is not one of them.

For those that don't know, Al Sharpton has a long and storied history of Jew hatred, that has been well documented over the years. Sharpton played a central role in provoking the rioters in Crown Heights back in the summer of 1991. Riots that led to the death of Yankel Rosenbaum. "If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their Yarmulkas back and come over...," said Sharpton, during that three day stretch of riots.

Sharpton never properly offered genuine remorse for this sort of rhetoric. And his actual participation and fomenting of violence in the form of these riots is something that the Jewish community can never forget. Sharpton's list of anti-Jewish screeds go well beyond the rhetoric he employed during those riots. Sharpton has referred to Jews in the past as "diamond merchants," "white interlopers," and "Jew bastards."

It is not therefore unreasonable to ask why the ADL and Jonathan Greenblatt are proudly collaborating with Sharpton in the #StopHateforProfit campaign. This isn't about the merits of the campaign. It's about a figure who no Jewish lay leader ought to be working with when it comes to issues of civil rights. It's not only a disservice to the Jewish community; but a slap in the face to the African American community as well. The African American community deserves better.

U.S. Deputy Anti-Semitism Envoy: Anti-Zionism Is Anti-Semitism

The "coronavirus conspiracy theory [is] a modern-day blood libel, where Jews or the State of Israel is blamed for the pandemic," U.S. deputy anti-Semitism envoy Ellie Cohanim told Jewish leaders on Monday. "It is not being spread by the usual bad actors on the dark web or elsewhere, but by government officials spreading the lies - from Turkey, the Palestinian Authority and Iran."

Cohanim, who fled Iran with her family during the 1979 revolution, said she had learned two lessons from her family's experience: that even societies welcoming or hospitable to Jews, like Iran was under the Shah, "can suddenly flip overnight"; and that Jews can "never underestimate the threat of anti-Semitism."

Asked about the possibility that extension of sovereignty by Israel to parts of the West Bank may lead to increases in anti-Semitism, she said, "Just the fact that American Jewry is nervous about this shows that we have been conditioned to feel the anti-Semitism in our bones." She noted that no other country is subjected to the same kind of scrutiny when they make decisions for their populace.

Asked about the notion that one can be anti-Zionist and not anti-Semitic, Cohanim said U.S. policy is that "anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. Full stop." She added that when people criticize other countries for action they have taken, that doesn't lead to a discussion about the country's right to exist.

They changed the image but holy shit, CNBC. pic.twitter.com/azZILu9V7i

— Noam Blum (@neontaster) July 1, 2020

Ruthie Blum: The 'right' kind of gay pride

Israeli Public Security Minister Amir Ohana – a proud member of the LGBTQ community and equally proud member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party – has said that "being attracted to men doesn't mean you have to believe in creating a Palestinian state."

Ohana made that statement during an interview with The New York Times a year ago in June, when Netanyahu appointed him interim justice minister.

Ohana – a lawyer, a major in the reserves and a veteran of the Shin Bet security agency – is hated by the Left for the policies that he promotes and the bills that he has drafted. Among the latter is the Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People.

But it is Ohana's view of judiciary overreach that has earned him the greatest wrath among his detractors. When he was first appointed justice minister, he made a statement to the effect that not all Supreme Court decisions should be honored.

In the wake of the ensuing uproar from the disingenuous "defenders of democracy"– those who don't believe in the separation of powers as long as the judges that they deem politically correct are occupying the bench –Channel 12's Amit Segal asked Ohana if he really meant what he had said.

"Yes," Ohana answered, quipping, "the 'supreme' consideration must be to safeguard the lives of [Israeli] citizens."

Nor did Ohana falter when Segal challenged him to contradict himself in relation to the Supreme Court's liberalism towards gays is concerned. Ohana – who lives in Tel Aviv with his partner, Alon Hadad, and their two children – smiled and shook his head.

The most important strides in LGBTQ rights, he replied, were made in the Knesset – the legislative body, not in the courts. The point he was trying to drive home is that the business of enacting laws is the job of elected parliamentarians, not judges appointed by committees comprising their cronies.

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Zionism: From The "Jews Can't Agree On Anything" File (Daled Amos)

Last night, someone tweeted:

At first, this seems pretty straightforward -- and accurate.

After all, you would expect it would take someone who is actually familiar with Zionism to really understand it and besides -- the 'definition' of Zionism among the general population is going to be influenced by the "Zionism is Racism" crowd.

But that is not how people on Twitter saw it -- and I am talking about the reaction from Jews and non-Jews sympathetic to Israel.

I'm not even criticizing individual comments; I'm just pointing this out as a phenomenon.

So instead of stopping there, here are some of the reactions.
Note, responses by Rafaella Gunz, who started the thread, are indicated by "RG"

Not necessarily [and away we go...]

As I said on this thread yesterday, I know people who aren’t Jewish but definitely get it. Your tweet is insulting to them which I hope is not your intention. We need all the friends we can get.

RG: They get it because they speak to Jews. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about goyim who make up definitions of it being about stealing land and killing people.

I don’t think you should generalise like that, some of us have been well taught

RG: I said "probably." And I'm referring to goyim who make up definitions about it being about ethnic cleansing or land stealing. If that doesn't apply to you, the tweet wasn't about you.

What do you mean "probably"?

RG: Probably means probably.

Probably wrong, and definitely irrelevant.

What about if that definition comes from a Clown? And he/she/it could be a Noahide? Or, also maybe he could be like me, right now. Absolutely drunk? How much, bad/wrong it could be that definition my dear?

I'm a Gentile. I believe in Israel's right to exist with secure borders without qualification. Are you going to cancel me?

I’m a Zionist & I understand Zionism but I’m not a Jew. Your comment saddens me.

What’s the definition?

RG: The belief of Jewish self-determination in our indiginous homeland

You can't just kill other people who live there.

RG: Thaaats not in the definition. Thanks for proving my point.

You might as well say all Palestinians are terrorists which clearly they’re not- I say that as a Jew before you all pile in! But in all seriousness, and as I keep repeating; if people study, research history, they’re entitled to form an understanding of Zionism. Don’t diminish friends

Defining Zionism is as problematic and controversial as defining antisemitism. That should not come as a surprise. But just as Jews should be able to define what qualifies as Jew-hatred when we are attacked, we should also be respected enough to define our own movement to reclaim and live on our indigenous land -- land that both European (Roman) and Muslim invaders conquered and colonized.

Fat. Chance.

One of the concerns expressed is an appeal to an "open tent" -- that we should do whatever is in our power to avoid turning away people who are potential allies.

Yes, there is some merit in the importance of not turning friends away, but we are talking here about a tweet, and even at that, a tweet that was qualified by the word probably. And even then, all that was being said is that some non-Jews are probably wrong. Not probably evil.

Other groups can say outsiders don't get it. Just now, I did a search on the phrase "white people just don't get it" and it got 112,000 hits. When I did a search on "white people don't get it," it got 837,000 hits.

I understand the sentiment, but I don't think it should stop us from admitting the truth -- and doing our part to educate Jew and non-Jew alike on what Zionism is.

Also, such a tweet is not an attack, let alone a threat to "cancel" someone. Jews did not go rioting in the streets when they were attacked on the streets of New York City and shot in their shuls. We have been working within the system. That claim borders on the "straw man" argument that criticism of Israel is accused of being antisemitic. Demonization of Israel is antisemitic, criticism is not. Not our fault that these days people don't know the difference.

And if that 'saddens' them, that is OK. It is not personal, it is a reflection of the reality of the growing power of antisemites in the Democratic Party and among antisemitic groups that recognize their growing impunity to attack Jews and Israel with vicious labels and lies. If anything, we need to speak out more forcefully about that, not less.

Yes, people who "study and research history" are entitled to form their own opinions. But is that supposed to mean that if they don't do the study and research, they are not entitled to their own opinions? The fact is on the one hand that people do not base their opinions on research, and on the other hand, even if they do their research -- that doesn't mean it is "correct" or that I have to agree with them.

Rafaella Gunz makes it clear that she was referring to non-Jews who actually twist and distort the meaning of Zionism. It is an important distinction.

The bottom line, it is great for Jews -- and Israel -- to have allies, but that doesn't necessarily mean that those allies fully understand us or our love of Israel in the same way that we do. Maybe some do. It doesn't matter.

Other groups have the right to have their history, culture and homeland respected -- regardless of one's ability to identify with them.

Jews deserve no less.

And we should say so.

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At Our 'Day Of Rage' Gathering We Almost Had A Minyan To Say Kaddish For Terrorists (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

At Our 'Day Of Rage' Gathering We Almost Had A Minyan To Say Kaddish For Terrorists

by Yonah Lieberman, If Not Now

New York, July 3 - Yesterday's series of protests in solidarity with Palestine and against Israeli annexation of Palestinian land attracted so many attendees that at our best-attended event, in Philadelphia, we could almost cobble together the ten-person quorum necessary for the Mourner's Kaddish in honor of Palestinians who died trying to kill Jews. It was a smashing success.

Our organization aims to smash the monopoly that certain established groups have long exercised over perceived authority to speak for American Jews, and we do that by showing how out-of-step those mouthpieces for Israeli expansionism and Apartheid are with the bulk of American Jews. The fact that we could muster as many as two demonstrators for some of our Day of Rage rallies demonstrates to those stodgy mainstreamers just who has the numbers behind them, and who can make the more credible claim to speak for American Jewry.

The direction of the trend is clear, but that does not mean this accomplishment signals we can rest on our laurels. Much remains for us to achieve - keep setting higher and higher goals, or, as our Palestinian allies have always put it, keep increasing your demands after the other side has already made concessions, because concessions are a sign of weakness, so if they'll grant you autonomy over part of the territory from which you want to cleanse them, keep pushing and eventually you'll push them into the sea as you originally intended more than seventy years ago. It's not a perfect analogy to our situation, but I appreciate the poetry and obvious resonance of it.

Some of those in attendance at the Philadelphia rally argued for reciting the Mourner's Kaddish without the full complement of ten, but more circumspect heads prevailed, with the contention that if we want to portray ourselves as Jewish - echoing, as our name does, the admonitions of a famous Jewish sage - we ought to give at least some nod toward Jewish tradition. At our New York event, our activists woke up Chuck Schumer with Klezmer music, for example, the rationale being that only evoking a period when Jews were powerless and their security depended on the good will of cynical rulers who only saw them as political and economic pawns can we convey the compelling justice of our position. Wouldn't it be grand to bring that period back?

Someone also pointed out that Schumer is already opposed to annexation, but the rest of our groups shouted her down for implying we targeted Schumer just because he's Jewish. We did choose him for that reason, but you're not supposed to say that out loud.

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07/02 Links Pt1: Parents of Jerusalem Terror Victim Launch Petition Demanding Jordan Extradite Bombing Mastermind; Israeli media's annexation scare tactics

From Ian:

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Parents of Jerusalem Terror Victim Launch Petition Demanding Jordan Extradite Bombing Mastermind

The parents of the one of the victims of a suicide bombing at a Jerusalem pizza restaurant in August 2001 have launched an online petition demanding that the Kingdom of Jordan extradite the atrocity’s main planner, who has been residing in Amman since she was released in a prisoner exchange with the Israeli government a decade ago.

“Ahlam Tamimi today lives in Jordan where she is a television personality and icon of the kingdom’s social media and public opinion,” stated the petition posted by Arnold and Frimet Roth — whose 15-year-old daughter Malki was killed in the Aug. 9, 2001 bomb attack inside a Sbarro pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem.

Fourteen other people were killed in the bombing, among them a pregnant woman, while 130 more were wounded in an attack timed to coincide with the height of the lunch hour.

The bomber — a supporter of the Islamist Hamas movement — was driven to the restaurant by Tamimi, who participated in the planning of the atrocity and disguised herself as a Jewish tourist on the day of the attack.

The US Justice Department unveiled terrorism charges against Tamimi in 2017 and formally notified Jordan of its request that she be extradited to face trial.

Jordan has consistently ruled out the prospect of deporting Tamimi — a stance that has piqued some American legislators, seven of whom wrote to the Jordanian ambassador in Washington, DC, in April in protest.

Obama Judge Frees 'Palestinian' Al Qaeda Backer Who Recruited Dirty Bomb Terrorist

Not long after 9/11, Adham Amin Hassoun, a Lebanese 'Palestinian' computer programmer, was arrested at a Florida traffic stop. The arrest had been a long time coming.

Hassoun had entered the United States on a student visa in 1989 and quickly got involved in Islamic terrorism. By the early 90s, the FBI had noticed Hassoun because of his conversations with the Blind Sheikh, the Islamic cleric at the center of the World Trade Center bombing and even larger terror plots targeting New York City landmarks.

The Blind Sheikh was the leader of Gamaa Islamiya or the Islamic Group, a Muslim Brotherhood splinter terrorist group responsible for horrifying atrocities like the brutal Luxor Massacre of foreign tourists, including women and children, where the Islamists had tortured young girls, cut off ears and noses, and left a note praising Islam inside a disemboweled body.

Despite, or perhaps, because of their atrocities, the Islamic Group won the support of leftist advocates like Lynne Stewart: the National Lawyers Guild member who was convicted of helping the Blind Sheikh relay guidance to his terror group from prison.

"The FBI has identified Hassoun as a focal point for communications among persons associated with AGAI and with the international radical fundamentalist community. He has been a major fundraiser for extremist Muslim causes in Chechnya and Bosnia and, since as early as 1994, is believed to have recruited... 'mujahideen,' for those conflicts." the FBI's counterterrorism section chief had warned.

According to the FBI report, Hassoun had been a member of Gamaa Islamiya. By the second half of the decade, he had moved on to Al Qaeda acting as a registered agent for the

Benevolence International Foundation. Despite its ‘benevolent’ name, BIF was a front for Al Qaeda and its name originated with an organization run by Bin Laden’s brother-in-law.

After the Saudis shut down BIF, it headed to Florida, where Hassoun helped out.

Hassoun had become quite fond of Osama bin Laden. “May Allah protect him,” he told one of his collaborators during a phone conversation after the Al Qaeda leader had threatened to carry out attacks against America in a CNN interview.

Experts at Hassoun’s trial later noted that the Islamist had called Bin Laden,

“Abu Abdullah”, a name usually used by Al Qaeda members and close supporters.

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Twitter suspends me! (UPDATE)

Twitter just suspended the Elder of Ziyon account…apparently for antisemitism!

 

I’m appealing, but please tweet to @Twitter and @TwitterSupport to ask them to restore my account!

UPDATE: Thanks for all the support and people who tweeted, I'm back up although it takes a couple of days for things to get back to normal (restoring followers, and I'm not seeing new tweets from those I follow yet.)

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No one seems to criticize the Palestinian one-staters as “apartheid”

Yesterday’s “Day of Rage” demonstrations were ostensibly against Israel’s plans to “annex” parts of Judea and Samaria. The chants, however, told a different story: the message was to destroy Israel and replace it with a Palestinian state.

“We don’t wanna go just back to our homes in Gaza and the West Bank. We want all of it...we don’t want your two states.”

A taste of today’s #DayofRage in Brooklyn.

Additional chants from today include the genocidal “From the river to the sea” and “Intifada, intifada.” pic.twitter.com/DeUUZ6x44I

— Tali Goldsheft (@TaliGoldsheft) July 1, 2020

pic.twitter.com/o3WHFZYvlG

— Tali Goldsheft (@TaliGoldsheft) July 1, 2020

A Jewish state with an Arab minority given equal rights is “apartheid,” but an Arab state with a Jewish minority – which, history shows, would inevitably be as oppressed as Jews have been in every single Arab and Muslim state - is “justice.”

Israel wanting to set its borders in a way that 97% of Palestinian Arabs can still live in autonomy in their own self-declared state is “stealing land.” A Palestinian state “from the river to the sea”  where there is no Jewish autonomy is perfectly fine.

If Israel wanting to set its borders for its security is “apartheid,” then what is this PLO logo?

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“Day of Rage” rallies support violence and terror

Some scenes from yesterday’s “Day of Rage” rallies across America that glorified and incited to violence.

Salt Lake City’s rally had support for an airplane hijacker saying that “resistance” (i.e., terrorism) is justified.

 

The Brooklyn rally, in a heavily Muslim neighborhood, chanted support for “intifada” and had some direct incitement for American Muslims to burn down police precincts and cars.

Sheer, unabashed incitement. pic.twitter.com/lEkdQCm3Kl

— Tali Goldsheft (@TaliGoldsheft) July 1, 2020

In San Francisco, the crowd was told that of course Palestinians can murder Jews to protect “their land,” just as a mother can protect her children.

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Portland Jewish Federation unwilling to denounce BDS (UPDATE: They absolutely do denounce BDS, reporter was a jerk)

A reporter in Portland’s KOIN News, Jenny Young,  came under fire when she tweeted a very accurate statement.

She described a speaker at a “Day of Rage” rally as  “openly anti-Zionist”, and the BDS movement as “an anti-Semitic movement that’s been admonished by U.S. lawmakers.”

All of this is perfectly true.

There was a huge outcry from anti-Israel activists, of course,  and the tweet was taken down after an hour.

All of this is depressingly familiar.

But here’s the part that is really upsetting:

Bob Horenstein, spokesman for the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, said he felt the reporter’s tweet was an oversimplification of the issue, but said he also took exception with some other organizations’ characterization of the BDS movement. He said the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland had made their stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict clear.

"We came out with a statement opposing unilateral annexation of the West Bank. We support a two-state solution," he said.

He said while the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland doesn’t believe everyone who supports the BDS movement is anti-Semitic, he said many people believe the effects of the BDS movement harm Jewish people.

He also noted that while some local Black Lives Matter chapters have come out in support of the BDS movement, most around the country have not taken a stand on the issue.

The newspaper already had quoted multiple Muslim leaders who all supported BDS and denounced Israel and Zionists. (It referred to them as “civil rights organizations.”) They wanted to hear from the other side for a token comment. And instead of a full-throated expression of support for Israel and against antisemitism and BDS, Mr. Horenstein hedged and dodged and declared how reasonable many Jews are in drawing fine lines between supporting Israel and opposing sovereignty over Judea and Samaria (which the reporter didn’t ask about) and how some people who want to see the Jewish state destroyed are perfectly fine people who aren’t antisemitic at all, oh no, they just want to boycott Jewish businesses and entertainers and academics from Israel while not boycotting Israeli Arab entertainers or businesses or academics.

He doesn’t even know what he is talking about with Black Lives Matter – it is a national BLM decision to support BDS, not local. If Horenstein wanted to make distinctions, he could have distinguished between the Black Lives Matter movement and supporting black lives.

It is possible that the paper selectively quoted Horenstein. He has explicitly called out antisemitism on the Left. But the way that this reads is that both sides are against the decisions of the Israeli government, both sides don’t consider BDS to be antisemitic  - and the Jews are wishy-washy while the Muslims are passionate.

The tweet should have been defended by the Jewish community. BDS has been recognized as antisemitic not only by US lawmakers but by European leaders as well, and it fits the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

Furthermore, Jenny Young should be supported by the Jewish community for what she wrote instead of getting hung out to dry.

UPDATE: It turns out that the reporter, Jayati Ramakrishnan, did cherry pick Horenstein's comments. A reader who is the head of another Jewish organization reached out to the Portland Federation and their president/CEO Marc Blattner categorically denounced the piece and said that with no ambiguity that the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland is "100% against BDS." They contacted the journalist who refused to correct the piece. Apologies to the Federation. 

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07/01 Links Pt2: How Blindness to Anti-Semitism Threatens Parties and Movements; Why does ‘The Forward’ continue to promote falsehoods about Israel?

From Ian:

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How Blindness to Anti-Semitism Threatens Parties and Movements

It is this modern politicization of anti-Semitism that ensured that Rebecca Long-Bailey, who would have been instantly awake to a racist jibe directed at any other minority group, could mistake the anti-Semitism in the interview for benign criticism of a state she doesn't much care for.

The belief that every injustice can be traced to Israeli evil was perhaps best demonstrated by another British Labour politician (now mercifully retired), Clare Short, who claimed during a pro-Palestinian conference in Brussels in 2007 that not only was Israel "much worse than the original apartheid state," but that it "undermines the international community's reaction to global warming." Given Short's conclusion that global warming could "end the human race," one can readily connect the dots about how loathsome and threatening Israel must be, and what should be done with it. For good measure, Israel has also been accused of causing domestic violence in Gaza.

More recently, Black Lives Matter, a group ostensibly formed to combat racism, adopted in 2016 a manifesto that, amidst the discourse on incarceration rates, police conduct and racial profiling, also accuses Israel of being an "apartheid state" and committing "genocide" of the Palestinians—whose population throughout the Holy Land has undergone a continuous and spectacular increase since the advent of modern Zionism in the 19th century. The British arm of the movement then paused its tweets on black lives in order to shoot off an anti-Israel medley, including offering its weighty legal opinion that Israel is in breach of international law and lamenting the "gagging" of attacks on Zionism.

The campaign to attach Zionism to every grievance and injustice has its origins in Stalin's deteriorating mind during the last years of his reign. It became the basis for official Soviet anti-Zionism and remains as a vestige in far-left political movements today. But in a sense, it runs even deeper than that. It is the hallmark of an irrational, fanatical mind, incapable of grasping the nuance and complexity of life. Just as traditional anti-Semitism brought ruin and misery, anti-Zionism will corrupt noble movements and worthy causes unless it is finally stamped out.

Why does ‘The Forward’ continue to promote falsehoods about Israel?

CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, recently prompted three corrections from The Forward. All involved one of the publication’s contributing columnists, Muhammad Shehada.

In one case, he had falsely claimed that, in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, officials in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip “have a shortage of the chemicals necessary to make disinfectants, including hydrogen peroxide and chlorine,” because “Israel bans both from entering Gaza under the pretext of ‘dual-use’ items—items they say can also be used for building weapons.”

The correction noted that “an earlier version of this piece stated that Israel bans hydrogen peroxide and chlorine. Israel does not ban either; it restricts hydrogen peroxide. We sincerely regret the error.”

Two other corrections that were made just this month pertained to factual misstatements made nearly a year ago in an August 28, 2019 opinion column. In those cases, notably, the publication did not even indicate that they had made any changes.

But these were just a few of the many false claims that Shehada has made over time in The Forward, a national Jewish media outlet that began publication at the end of the 19th century as a Yiddish-language socialist newspaper. And, as described below, some of those that remain uncorrected were of far greater magnitude.

Shehada is on the leadership team at the NGO EuroMediterranean Human Rights Monitor, an organization whose board of trustees is chaired by Richard Falk. Falk was condemned in 2011 by then-British Prime Minister David Cameron for publishing an anti-Semitic cartoon, and in 2012 by the U.K. Foreign Office “for providing a cover endorsement for an anti-Semitic tract called ‘The Wandering Who’ that compared Jews to Nazis.”

Falk has also embraced 9/11 conspiracy theories. In addition to writing for The Forward, which he has been doing regularly since January 2018, Shehada has written for The New Arab, Al Jazeera, Vice and others.

Douglas Murray: Britain’s woke police forces have lost their way

In the last few weeks, around 140 police officers have been injured in this country; 27 in just one night last week in Brixton. A day later, the force’s LGBT+ network could be found tweeting their support for asexual people. Perhaps the thugs who assaulted their colleagues in Brixton would have been mollified had they known how supportive the constabulary is of the asexuals in their midst? Or perhaps – and I simply put the possibility out there – such efforts by all branches of the British police do not in fact show how much the police have got with the beat, but just makes things harder for the policemen and women on the actual beat?

When you cast your mind back across recent months what are your most distinctive memories of the British constabulary? Dancing for public likes in TikTok videos? Skateboarding down major London thoroughfares closed down by climate extremists? Officers “taking the knee” before Black Lives Matter activists shortly before some of those same officers had to flee from the protesters who had turned violent?

All of these sights are indelibly linked in the minds of everybody who has seen them. But in the minds of a portion of the public they meld with another vision of the British police. A vision which numerous commentators and politicians have helped to exaggerate in recent weeks.

In the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, politicians and Left-wing pundits in the UK as much as in the US sought to make some grand strategic play off the back of that appalling incident. In the US, various commentators argued that the Minnesota incident was not isolated, but part of a broader problem of US policing and of American society as a whole. There is a debate to be had about certain aspects of US policing, certainly. But inevitably there were those in our own country who tried to make political gains by claiming the same situation exists here. These people – not least the organisers of BLM UK – wish to present the British police and the American police as being the same and the history of American racism synonymous with all British history.

It is a very dangerous game that such opportunists are playing. Some responsibility at least for the assaults on police officers that have occurred since the first BLM UK protests must be laid at their door. A week before the assault on police in Hackney, the Labour MP Dawn Butler stood in the House of Commons and told the Conservative government that it needed to “get its knee off the neck of the Black, African, Caribbean, Asian and minority ethnic community in this country.” It was a disgraceful intervention, that went off almost without censure.

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