Thursday, December 12, 2013
Gerald Steinberg: Peace Now and the facade of democratic debate
Peace Now and its allies, which use the label but not the values of the “liberal progressive Left,” have long ignored this demonization and political warfare targeting Israel. In their black vs. white political world, complex images that are presented by Einat Wilf, who entered the Knesset as a member of the Labor Party and promotes a two-state framework while denouncing the demonization campaigns, are perceived as outside the discourse. Similarly NGO Monitor, whose research played a central role in convincing Judge Goldstone to acknowledge the false foundation of his UN “report,” is attacked and defamed as a dangerous enemy.Why so many students love the pro-Palestinian movement
Having often watched young pro-Palestinian activists yell their prescribed chants and ditties outside Ecostream, and flashing “V for Victory” signs, I am reminded again of how often it seems “cool” to be a pro-Palestinian activist among some students in colleges and universities around the world.Student Leader Wants to Decapitate ‘All Who Support the IDF’
Why?
With the younger members of the BDS, it appears as if the protest is all fun and games to them, and there have been several occasions when they really have no idea what they are supposed to be doing outside the Ecostream store, even the ones who have been indoctrinated by their activist parents. Some of them do understand what they are protesting against, but some do not, and others have, on occasions, whispered across to our group, asking us what this protest is all about! (One girl thought she was at an “anti-war” rally. I truly wonder if she expected to see “Ban the Bomb” icons!)
Can the SFSU environment be considered a safe one with a student leader – let’s say that again, a student leader! - who has already posed making threats while caressing a knife, and is now calling for the beheading of IDF soldiers and anyone who supports them? Surely any “dialogue with student groups and counseling resources” is a tack already taken, one revealed to be insufficient.Richard Falk Calls for ‘Legitimacy War’ against Israel
Will SFSU make clear that threats against its population will not be tolerated? The SFSU administration is already on notice. Any action taken after someone is already harmed will not be defensible.
In a new interview, Richard Falk, the UN Human Rights Council’s permanent investigator on “Israel’s violations of international law,” explained the strategy of his “legitimacy war” against Israel—but complained that UN Watch “complicated my task.”IsraellyCool: Roger Waters Receives Seal Of Approval From David Duke
According to Falk, “extremely defamatory attacks by UN Watch”—which he described as “an ultra-Zionist, ultra-Israeli organization”—succeeded in getting him “attacked” by the American ambassadors in New York and Geneva, “and by the UN Secretary-General, actually, on a couple of occasions.”
Mazal tov to Roger Waters for making it to antisemite David Duke’s website, for his choice words against Rabbis and the “Jewish lobby.”Does American Studies Association have guts to boycott Cornell too?
Regardless of any alleged military involvement, Technion would be covered by the ASA boycott resolution.Preserve the truth of the Holocaust
To be consistent and intellectually honest, if the ASA boycott resolution passes the membership, must ASA not also boycott the Cornell-Technion joint campus? And since the joint campus will draw resources, faculty, staff and students from Cornell’s Ithaca campus, wouldn’t the boycott of necessity have to include the greater Cornell University?
Picking on Israel is easy for tenured radicals. It comes at no professional cost, particularly for organizations and academics not in the sciences.
One of the manifestations of modern Holocaust denial involves a new narrative-oriented discourse that seeks to create a new perception. To further this end, the deniers use unimportant facts that are fed to the public and give rise to new narratives. For example, the Polish historian who heads the State Museum at Majdanek claims that the death camp was never used for large-scale, deliberate extermination of the Jews with gas. He insists that Majdanek was a concentration and labor camp where Jews and Poles died because of the various hardships of the ongoing war all around them. The Poles were quick to embrace this narrative, because it expunges a large part of their collective record, a record marred by their decision not to lift a finger when the camp was active.Anne Frank tree cutting destroyed in Germany
Until recently, such claims would have been dismissed out of hand. But during the recent "renovations" in the museum, the plaques that detailed the activity of gas chambers in a certain area were removed. Instead, the signs now indicate the area was used to do the laundry. Similarly, the explanations in a certain section of the museum where gas chambers were used now say they were built only in 1943, when the camp no longer had Jews. Such examples lead directly to the denial of any extermination activity in the chamber. Those who visit the "renovated" museum, among them many Israelis, learn about this new narrative without even talking about how the changes in the museum attempted to change reality. Auschwitz-Birkenau has seen similar "modifications," although those are more subtle.
A sapling that came from the tree that stood outside the hiding place of Anne Frank in Amsterdam was cut down and stolen in Frankfurt, German police said.Biden announces effort to help Holocaust survivors
The cutting was planted in 2008 outside Frankfurt’s Anne Frank School, named after the world-famous Jewish teenage diarist who was born in the German city in 1929 and murdered during the Holocaust in 1945 after her family was caught hiding in the Nazi-occupied Dutch capital, where they had moved to escape persecution in Germany.
The Obama administration is working to help Holocaust survivors in the United States, many of them living in poverty, by coordinating assistance, working with aid groups and using diplomatic means to help recover property confiscated during the Nazi era.Bavaria Retracts Reprint Plans for Mein Kampf
Vice President Joe Biden announced the effort this week in a speech to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The administration says 100,000 Holocaust survivors are in the United States, and 25 percent live below the poverty level.
In 2012, Bavaria announced plans to publish an annotated version with historians' commentary in 2016, citing "academic" purposes and to help "demystify" the text. While Bavaria’s finance minister Markus Soeder made clear at the time that the book is full of "nonsense" that had "catastrophic consequences," he still advocated that the text be reprinted, as long as it would not be used to "incite hatred."Romanian state TV airs Christmas carol about burning Jews
However, this week, reacting to complaints from Holocaust survivors, the government of state premier Horst Seehofer redacted the announcement.
Bavaria stated instead that the "seditious" book must stay off the market and warned that any publishers who print it will face criminal charges -- a move that was praised by Jewish groups.
TVR3 Verde, a television channel for rural communities, presented the carol on December 5 during its maiden transmission.Esther Pollard: Pollard’s Nightmare
Sung by the Dor Transilvan ensemble, it featured the lyrics: “The kikes, damn kikes, Holy God would not leave the kike alive, neither in heaven nor on earth, only in the chimney as smoke, this is what the kike is good for, to make kike smoke through the chimney on the street.”
In a statement, TVR3 (Romanian Public Television Channel 3) distanced itself from the broadcast, saying it did not select the carol but only broadcast songs that were chosen and compiled by the Center for Preservation and Promotion of Traditional Culture, which belongs to the eastern county of Cluj.
In a Kafkaesque nightmare, Jonathan Pollard was sentenced to life in prison, without benefit of trial, in violation of a plea agreement. Now, nearly three decades later, he is kept in chains by being denied access to his full sentencing file. His only remaining hope is presidential clemency.Ex-UN envoy Richardson calls for Pollard’s release
A recent op-ed in The Jerusalem Post declares that President Barack Obama will never pardon Jonathan.
However, a pardon is not what Jonathan is seeking. He is seeking commutation of his sentence to the 28 years he has already served. Unlike a pardon which exonerates the offender, commutation merely corrects the sentence. Among those American officials who have first-hand knowledge of the case there is consensus that Jonathan’s sentence is grossly disproportionate. Even former heads of the CIA and the FBI have joined the calls for commutation.
Bill Richardson, the former UN ambassador known for his efforts to release American captives overseas, called on President Obama to free Jonathan Pollard immediately.BBC picks up Israel’s ‘Hostages’ — in Hebrew
In a Dec. 10 letter to Obama, whom he endorsed after dropping out of the 2008 presidential race, Richardson noted that an increasing number of figures involved in government when Pollard was given a 1987 life sentence for spying for Israel now believe his sentence should be commuted.
BBC4 has announced its Saturday night programming lineup will include Israeli drama, Hostages. And while many Israeli TV shows have been acquired by global television channels, this is the first time the original series will be aired abroad in Hebrew.Daily Mail Travel Editor Endorses Israeli-Style Airport Security
Hostages is a 10-part thriller about the family of a surgeon who are taken hostage in order to coerce the doctor to assassinate the president on the operating table.
Frank Barrett, Sunday Travel Editor for the UK’s Daily Mail, lauded the Israeli airline for its no-nonsense approach to airport security in a recent op-ed.A helping Internet hand for shoppers, via Israeli tech
“El Al security experts scoff at the way that other countries think they can deal with terrorism merely by introducing the likes of full body scanners or getting people to take their shoes off,” Barrett wrote. Travelers with other airlines literally spend hours standing in line waiting to be examined by a machine, and Barrett thinks this is time that could be better spent. “The only sure way of dealing with the threat is to talk to every passenger,” he wrote.
In a rare move for an American company, New York-based LivePerson dual-listed itself on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 2011 after having been traded on NASDAQ since 2000.Israel Set to Become Full CERN Member
The TASE listing is more than the result of LivePerson’s acquisition of several Israeli companies, according to company CEO Robert LoCascio. “About half of our employees are located in Israel, and all of our research and development is being done in Israel,” LoCascio said. “We now have 400 people working at our Israel R&D center.”
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is set to vote to admit Israel to full membership in the organization, making it the first non-European member of the group. Israel has been a provisional member of the group for the past two years.Katie Couric Hosts Event that Raises $1 Million for Magen David Adom
CERN's current main activity is the administration and experimentation work of a particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, located on the Swiss-French border. As a member country, Israel could send scientists and conduct experiments at the accelerator. As a member, Israel would also approve new experiments and the construction of new accelerators.
Television journalist Katie Couric, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor headlined a Dec. 9 dinner in Manhattan that raised $1 million for Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency response, ambulance, and blood services organization.Snow in Jerusalem -- Pictures We Presented in Winters Past
Strong rain, winds and snow storms are hitting the Middle East this week. And snow is falling today in Jerusalem, the Golan and parts of the Galilee.
We present here pictures of snow in Jerusalem taken early in the 20th century and found in the Library of Congress collection.
