Saturday, December 21, 2013
Caroline Glick: The Left against Zion
The rejection of Israel is not a natural component of leftist dogma. It’s just that for the past decade, the smart money and the rising power on the Left has been with those who oppose Israel’s existence as a strong, independent Jewish state.Dieudonné hacker: 'Jews need to stop turning the other cheek'
While the ASA and its comrades are on the fringes of academia, they are not fringe voices on the Left. The Left has embraced the cause of Israel’s destruction. And its financial power has made it difficult for pro-Israel Democrats to act on their convictions, and those of their voters.
The combination of an exodus of supporters of Israel – Jews and non-Jews alike – from the Left and from the Democratic Party on the one hand, and generous funding for pro-Israel Democratic candidates on the other, can change the equation.
In an exclusive interview, man who hacked controversial French comedian's website explains motivesWill Zionist-trained Mandela now fall out of favour with hypocrite Left?
The website of French comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala was hacked, in what was dubbed by some as Dieudoleaks. The hacker has posted nearly 10,000 names, emails and postal addresses of subscribers to Dieudonné's newsletter, customers of his online store or "quenelleurs" ["quenelle" is an upside-down Nazi salute, coined by Dieudonné, which has become identified with disaffected youth in the French suburbs]. (h/t Elder of Lobby)
The revelation that Nelson Mandela was trained by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in 1962 will no doubt bring rise to cognitive dissonance in the most hard-line, anti-Israel campaigners around the world.Holocaust Denial In Iran: Iranian Website Claims Holocaust Photos Are Forgeries
But spare a moment to think how hard it will be for them to now urge the boycotting of Israel, and hurl words like “apartheid state” around when indeed it was the Zionists that trained the man who ended apartheid: Mandela.
Will Lefties and self-haters now boycott Madiba? Will his face adorn their placards, branded with the words, “traitor” and “ZioNazi?”
Somehow, I think not.
On November 26, 2013, the website Mashregh News, which is close to Iranian security circles, published a post titled "A Taste Of Holocaust Falsity + Photos," while noting that it was originally posted November 19, 2013 on the blog Shonood blog ir, which is written by Iranian journalist and filmmaker Mehran Mozoon, a supporter of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.Rozen: ‘Jewish Senators’ Hold Sway on Iran Debate
The post presents what it alleges are Holocaust photos that are well known in the West, and says that they are doctored, comparing them to what it claims are the original photos. For example, it shows a photo of men placing an emaciated corpse into a crematorium, and compares it to the alleged original, which does not include the corpse, and which it claims was actually taken in the Soviet Union and has no connection to Jews or Nazi Germany.
Rozen, a former reporter for Politico and current reporter for the Middle East news site Al Monitor, got in a Twitter spat Thursday evening with a prominent American Jewish community official after he criticized her for suggesting that the Jewish religious affiliation of some senators influences their policymaking decisions on Iran.US and UK spied on Olmert, Netanyahu and Barak
Rozen was criticized for her remarks by a number of Twitter observers, who said they are reminiscent of the longstanding anti-Semitic trope that Jews have dual loyalties.
This is the second time in recent weeks that Rozen has deleted tweets after coming under fire for controversial comments about American Jews and Israel.
The New York Times, The Guardian and Der Spiegel reported Friday that Olmert, as well as then-defense minister Ehud Barak, were among more than 1,000 high-profile targets of surveillance in more than 60 countries; the documents were dated between 2008 and 2011. Israel’s Ynet added that the surveillance extended to email intercepts at Netanyahu’s office when he took over from Olmert as prime minister in March, 2009.Spy-target Netanyahu uses ‘gestures’ and ‘codes’ in sensitive discussions
Netanyahu has no computer in his office, does not use email, and does not maintain a private phone, Channel 2 reported.Oren calls on US Congress to quell movement to boycott Israel academically
More dramatically, when discussing especially sensitive issues even at his home, Netanyahu and guests sometimes resort to “gestures” rather than speech, because of concerns that they are being listened to, Channel 10 reported.
It added that Netanyahu conducts his most sensitive discussions in the offices of the Mossad intelligence service, because only there is he confident that he is safe from listening devices.
"Laws could be passed withholding federal or state funding from any academic program that knowingly blacklisted Israeli scholars or institutions or cooperated with associations that did," Oren argued.Israeli Universities: American Studies Boycott Targets ‘Breakthroughs That Benefit Humankind’
"While an organization like ASA might prefer punishing Israel to receiving government funds, other academic bodies—including universities—most likely will not. At the very least, lawmakers on the local and national level can go on record expressing their unequivocal opposition to such boycotts," he added.
In an advertisement appearing in the New York Times on Dec. 20, the American arms of seven Israeli universities said that the American Studies Association’s (ASA) boycott of Israel targets an academic community that“achieves breakthroughs that benefit humankind.”Boycotting the Boycotters
“Preventing scholars who live in a pluralistic democracy from participating in the global academic community is reprehensible,” the ad said.
The ad noted achievements of Israeli universities including: Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s development of the Exelon drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and dementia; Tel Aviv University’s development of BioPetroClean, an environmentally friendly technology for cleaning oil spills in seas; Technion-Israel Institute of Technology’s development of Velcade, an new cancer drug; University of Haifa’s identification of the gene capable of increasing the protein content of wheat, contributing to the fight against world hunger; the Weizmann Institute of Science’s development of the multiple sclerosis drugs, Copaxone and Rebif; and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s work towards developing a cure for diabetes. The Open University of Israel, meanwhile, “makes it possible for all Israelis from all walks of life to achieve their full potential through higher education,” said the ad.
As I sit here in Israel and read about the boycott by the American Studies Association of Israeli academic institutions because of the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians, I wonder if they are referring to the same country in which I currently live. (h/t AlexandreM)Association of American Universities rejects Israel boycott
The list of universities rejecting and denouncing the anti-Israel boycott resolution of the American Studies Association is growing rapidly.Boston U. President rejects Israel academic boycott
In a statement signed by its Executive Committee, the Association of American Universities has stated its opposition to the boycott. ASA quickly is becoming a pariah in the academic community.
Robert A. Brown, President of Boston University, will be issing a formal statement rejecting the Amercian Studies Association’s anti-Israeli academic boycott. The statement is not yet posted on BU’s website, but was obtained by Legal Insurrection and confirmed with the President’s office.Willamette rejects Israel boycott, denies being Institutional Member of American Studies Assoc
President Brown, however, is deferring the decision on withdrawal of Institutional Membership to the American and New England Studies Department on grounds of the academic freedom of that department.
Willamette University joins an increasing number of universities rejecting the anti-Israel academic boycott, but in a twist, denies having any knowledge as to why ASA lists it as an Institutional Member.US calls for UN’s Falk to step down… again
Update: Hamilton also denies being Institutional Member // Update No. 2: Northwestern denies being Institutional Member too
A day after Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird called for the immediate removal of the Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the US condemned Richard Falk’s statement that Israel had “genocidal intents.”IDF soldiers wound Palestinian trying to plant bomb along Gaza-Israel fence
Although State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki blasted Falk’s statements as “despicable and deeply offensive,” the US stopped short of echoing Canada’s calls for Falk to be fired.
A Palestinian was wounded on Saturday after he and others approached the Gaza-Israel security barrier in an attempt to plant an explosive device.PA backtracks on ‘don’t boycott Israel’ comments
An IDF unit was dispatched to the area and soldiers fired at the legs of one of the suspects, striking and injuring him. The suspects then fled the area.The incident occurred on the border with southern Gaza.
The Palestinian diplomatic mission in South Africa released a statement Friday, saying that it does support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, and claiming that PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s comments stating the contrary were “taken out of context and misconstrued” by the media and “members of the Israeli lobby.”When will the Western media grasp the self-inflicted Palestinian energy crisis?
Even the EU’s own auditors recognise it is a scandal that cannot go on. According to a BBC report, the European Union (EU) still funds Gaza’s non-working civil servants – a full seven years after Hamas won power and placed them on ‘gardening leave’. Needless to say, the pro-Palestinian BBC report makes much of the poverty and hardship being suffered in Gaza today, and thus the on-going need for foreign aid. What the report doesn’t say however is that the misery of the Gaza Palestinians is entirely self-inflicted. Not least as billions in natural gas revenue lies just offshore.Nasrallah Vows to ‘Punish’ Israel Over Death of Top Operative
It is estimated that Gaza has an offshore natural gas energy resource worth around $4 billion.
While the massive gas discoveries off Israel are proving to be world class, Gazans could well be looking to their own energy good fortune and a bright future. Yet abject poverty and hopelessness prevails. The standard explanation by many Arabs and the liberal Western media is to depict the Palestinians as in a permanent state of Israeli-inflicted victimhood. The truth is that Gaza is the poster child for all that is wrong with Islamism, as exemplified by Gaza’s governing party, Hamas.
Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general, blamed Israel for the assassination of his top operative Hassan al-Laqqis last month and vowed to “punish” Israel for the killing.2 Egyptian soldiers killed in clashes with 'Supporters of Jerusalem' terror group
“All evidence indicates that Israel is behind the assassination,” Nasrallah said Friday in a televised tribute to al-Laqqis, the Jerusalem Post reported.
“If the Israelis think… that Hezbollah is busy and that Israel will not pay the price, I say to them today, ‘You are wrong,’” Nasrallah added.
The two soldiers, both conscripts, died when a gunbattle broke out after the troops came under fire, the army said in a statement. It said the operation was continuing and armed helicopters had been deployed.Vienna Philharmonic strips ex-Nazis of honors
Security sources said the militants involved in the gunbattle were members of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which means "Supporters of Jerusalem".
The famed Vienna Philharmonic orchestra has quietly stripped six former senior Nazi officials of honors awarded them — a late act of contrition for its embrace of the Hitler era that included purging Jewish members from its ranks.US Senate c'tee passes bipartisan US-Israel energy bill
The decision was divulged to The Associated Press by an orchestra member on Friday and confirmed by historian Oliver Rathkolb.
The United States Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday passed a bipartisan bill that aims to bolster collaborations between Israel and the US on energy issues.‘Bubble tech’ start-up closes deal with huge UK water concern
Led by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana), alongside Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the United States-Israel Energy Cooperation Enhancement Bill hopes to foster partnerships on developing resources such as natural gas and alternative fuels, on academic, business and governmental levels.
Landrieu and her colleagues introduced the bill in September, at which time she argued that the US is "uniquely qualified to lead the effort to help Israel develop" its new-found hydrocarbon resources. Her region of America – the Gulf Coast – has one of the most advanced offshore drilling industries in the world.
Israel’s Mapal Green Energy this week closed a deal with Britain’s largest water provider, Thames Water, to provide its bubble aeration technology water purification system for use in municipal and regional water supply systems. In the first stage of the deal, Mapal will set up a purification system in the city of Chesham, north of London. Later on, Thames Water will have the option of adding more Mapal systems to its network, as the water provider moves forward in its long-term project of replacing old and outmoded purification systems.1000 French teens arrive for weeklong tour
Amid an unprecedented rise in French immigration to Israel, 1,000 French high school seniors on Thursday arrived in Israel to take part in a weeklong tour of the country organized by the Jewish Agency.
During a gala celebration held Thursday night in Jerusalem’s International Convention Center, agency Chairman Natan Sharansky told the French Jewish teens participating in Bac Bleu Blanc (“Seniors in Blue and White”) that France’s roughly half a million Jews are “leading a new wave of aliyah [immigration] to Israel.”
