Wednesday, July 30, 2014
14 Ways Hamas Weaponizes Women, Children, Animals, Against Israel
Although in 2005 Israel gave up Gaza to the Palestinians in a naive "land for peace" unilateral withdrawal, the result was not peace but rather over 10,000 rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli civilian communities. Here we show how Hamas and other groups weaponize Palestinian civilians and institutions to attack Israel.Andrew Bolt: Hatred of Jews is fuelling protests across the Western world
The Hamas Charter of 1988 - Defines the Hamas Mission Against Israel and Jews
Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it. (h/t Canadian Otter)
Yes, these pictures of dead Palestinian children are horrifying. They are meant to be, which is why Hamas shoots from among its civilians and orders them to ignore Israeli warnings to move clear of targets.JPost Editorial: Europe’s moral failure
That is also why the United Nations has found missiles hidden in at least three schools it runs in Gaza and why Hamas so pointlessly launches them at Israeli cities — to provoke Israel into exactly this self-defence against an enemy whose stated aim is to destroy it.
Then when Israel does shoot back, cue protests and riots around the world to exhaust the West’s willingness to defend not just Israel but Jews generally.
Don’t tell me these protests are about Israel’s “blockade” of Gaza, which actually has a border with Egypt porous enough to let Hamas smuggle in thousands of rockets.
Don’t tell me they’re about Israel’s “occupation” when Israel does not occupy an inch of Gaza.
And especially don’t tell me these protests are about Israel’s “war crimes” or “murders”.
No, if these protests are really against killing Muslims — and not against Jews — then where are the protests over the 2000 Syrians killed by other Muslims in the past two weeks?
Or is killing a Muslim only an international outrage when a Jew does it in self-defence?
Is the only good Jew one who let himself be killed?
In any case, European leaders have a moral obligation to fight anti-Semitism. Mass immigration cannot be the only answer.Richard Millet: Channel 4 News Is Doing Hamas' Propaganda Work for Them
Unfortunately, in a United Nations Human Rights Council vote last week, leaders of the EU failed their moral duty. The council’s member countries were asked to support a one-sided resolution condemning “in the strongest terms the widespread, systematic and gross violations of international human rights and fundamental freedoms arising from the Israeli military operations.”
Nothing was said of Hamas’s strategy of using Gaza’s civilians as human shields, placing its rocket launchers in the midst of civilian populations, firing at IDF troops from hospitals and schools and denying Gazans access to bomb shelters to maximize civilian deaths.
Instead of taking a decisive and principled stand against Hamas’s aggression and supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, every EU country on the council chose to abstain.
The US was the only member state that voted against the resolution.
By abstaining, EU leaders remained silent in the face of the Human Rights Council drawing a moral equivalence between a terrorist organization motivated by a violent, reactionary interpretation of Islam and a liberal, democratic state. If European leaders are unable to make this distinction, why should we expect more of Europe’s masses?
It would be comforting to think Snow was reporting out of real concern for Palestinian children. If that was true then why didn't he report that up to 160 Palestinian children may have died while being forced to dig Hamas's attack tunnels?
Jon Snow is an ever present on the anti-Israel circuit when not reading the news. At LSE last April he chaired a panel of the anti-Israel polemicists Ilan Pappe, Karma Nabulsi, Rosemary Hollis and The Promise writer Peter Kosminsky. During the event Snow referred to America's "Jewish lobby" and afterwards became very aggressive while I pressed him over his use of this phrase.
The news is too important left to those who express a strong ideological bent. It can be deadly also. Witness Mohammed Merah who murdered Jews outside a Jewish school in Toulouse after reportedly being spurred on by footage similar to Snow's.
Maybe Snow sees this this war as his final chance to get across his message that the Israeli army are a bunch of child killers before following Jeremy Paxman into a well-earned retirement.
Let's hope so, for all our sakes.
Dr. Phyllis Chesler: Incitement to Genocide: How NY Times' Coverage and UN Complicity Breed Anti-Semitism
I have written about this many times before. This time, I will refer to Anne Bayefsky’s most excellent coverage of the outrages, hot hatred, hypocrisy, perhaps madness, that dominates how the United Nations handles Israel even as it fails to deal with serious atrocities elsewhere, everywhere. Eleanor Roosevelt must be turning in her grave given the rather high hopes she had for her vision of Nations United.Stand with us videos:
Ambassador John Bolton has critiqued and condemned the United Nations for a long time. He was refreshingly cogent on the issue. No one took him seriously, least of all men like President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry who all worship the UN for it’s hard line, Euro-style anti-Americanism and anti-Zionism and for its deference to the Organization of Islamic States.
Anti-Zionism does not equal racism. Actually, as Martin Luther King Jr. once said: Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. And, as Judea Pearl has said: Anti-Zionism=Racism.
I have been covering the war against the Jews for more than forty-four years; some would say for sixty-six years, since I joined Hashomer Hatzair, (The Young Guard or Watchers), in Borough Park, Brooklyn, in 1948.
I believe the time is right for such questions to be posed and for lawyers to begin thinking about whether the poisoned propaganda being purveyed and unleashed by both the United Nations and the New York Times rises to the level of a civil or criminal lawsuit. If lawyers emerge to take this on, I will do all that I can to assist them.
Will You StandWithUs For Israel Now?
A Young Israeli Speaks Out About Gaza
3 Important Things to Know about the “Gaza Siege”
However, there’s a few salient facts that should be kept in mind when references are made to the border situation.Media Watchdog Asks Why WSJ Reporters Deleted Twitter Photos Implicating Hamas in War Crimes
1) Since Hamas came to power in Gaza in 2005, it has openly declared hostility and launched thousands of rockets into Israel. Is there any example on Earth where two warring parties have completely open borders with each other?
2) There has been no blockade on basic food items, medicine, and other humanitarian goods. Since Hamas came to power, trucks pass over the border with Israel almost every day, laden with these supplies. There have been no reports of starvation or health epidemics in Gaza. Even during the current conflict, supplies of humanitarian goods enter Gaza almost every day. Again, how often does one party in a conflict try and feed and provide medical services to the ones attacking it?
3) Perhaps the most important question is this: If the borders were truly “sealed,” how did Hamas manage to import an estimated 800 tons of concrete and 10,000 rockets? Think how many schools, hospitals, and apartments could have been built using the steel and concrete that instead went to build offensive weapons and sophisticated tunnels under the border.
Two reporters in Gaza for The Wall Street Journal have deleted photographs that implicate Hamas in war crimes, namely using the Al Shifa hospital as a military headquarters, and media watchdog CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, on Tuesday asked them why the posts were removed? So far, CAMERA has received no answers from the reporters or from their editors, but the group said the deleted posts might be further evidence of Hamas intimidating journalists.A Field Guide to Liberal British Israel Haters
“The Wall Street Journal’s credibility hinges on it being transparent about what information is being withheld from readers, and why,” CAMERA wrote in a note to subscribers. “If information that casts Hamas in a negative light is being censored for the safety of journalists — The Times of Israel documented such intimidation of journalists in an article today — then readers must be informed that they are only getting a partial story.”
I was brought up in this community. My parents subscribed to ‘The Guardian’ and ‘The New Statesman’. They were proud that 300,000 liberally minded people turned back an army of Blackshirts and won a victory over anti-semitism on Sunday October 4 1936, the ‘Battle of Cable Street’ in London.AP Mocks Congressional Support for Israel
I was brought up to admire how the Jews created a social democrat Israel. How it survived attempts at extermination by its neighbours.
Now the same community is marching hand in hand with Jew haters and those that want to exterminate Israel.
What happened?
In a shocking instance of journalistic malpractice, the Associated Press, which describes itself as committed “to the highest standards of objective, accurate journalism,” criticized congressional support for Israel in its ongoing conflict with Hamas, tweeting “As much of world watches Gaza war in horror, members of Congress fall over each other to support Israel.”NBC Touts Palestinian Teen Praising 'Justified' Hamas Terror Attacks on Israel
In response, as the Washington Times reports, the AP “received a wave of backlash on Twitter,” forcing it to send out a revised tweet: “Many U.S. lawmakers strongly back Israel in Gaza war (revises wording in this @AP tweet).” As the Washington Times report points out, the original Associated Press tweet has not been deleted from the AP’s twitter feed.
In a report for Wednesday's NBC Today, chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel – who on Monday fretted that Hamas would get "nothing" out of a cease-fire deal with Israel – highlighted a Palestinian teenager celebrating the terror group's attacks: "In Gaza, many see these attacks as justified. 16-year-old Farah Bakkar has developed a following online after live tweeting as [Israeli] bombs fell....Farah never supported Hamas before, but does now." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]The Anti-Israel Bias of the New York Times
A sound bite ran of Bakkar proclaiming: "When I see the [Hamas] rockets getting to Israel, I start loving them more and more and I pray for them." (h/t MtTB)
Manfred Gerstenfeld interviews Ricki Hollander and Gilead IniIndy suggests slick Israeli PR obscures truth about dead Palestinians (Updated)
“The New York Times (NYT) is guilty of advocacy journalism. Both its editorial pages and news reporting lean heavily toward an anti-Israel perspective. This is in blunt contravention of its directive to journalists in the Ethical Journalism handbook it publishes, ‘to cover the news as impartially as possible’ and ‘tell our readers the complete, unvarnished truth as best we can learn it.’
“Without employing the type of crude incitement against Israelis that is rampant in Palestinian society, the NYT poisons the public's mind against Israel by shaping the perception of the Jewish state as responsible for many, if not most, of the region's ills. It does this with double standards in reporting about Israel versus her enemies and recounting only half the story. It sanitizes the role of Israel's adversaries, including terrorist organizations, and obsessively indicts Israel at every turn.”
The first sentence in Patrick Cockburn’s latest Indy op-ed provides enough insight into the ideological myopia of the British far-left to properly contextualize the rest of the piece.Filing for divorce from the New York Times
"To many readers the New York Times coverage of the war in Gaza comes across as neutered or as having a pro-Israeli bias"
The risible claim (easily refuted by a large volume of CAMERA’s reports on the NYT’s coverage of Israel) introduces readers to the main narrative being advanced:
Instead of accurately investigating and reporting the news of the Arab-Israeli situation these last few weeks, you have been editorializing and espousing your opinions. Not only is this behavior offensive to me personally, but you are feeding the infectious fury of virulent anti -Semitic sentiment that is roaring through our crazy planet and threatening the stability of our greater world. I have no choice now but to ask you to leave my home. And, while I admit that I will miss you terribly and that no other newspaper can fill the void your departure will create, I prefer to engage in social intercourse with those whose who make me feel safe.The Role Of Lethal Journalists In Hamas War Strategy
You may think that there are a lot of other people out there prepared to give you a shot, but the educated balanced resourceful population is no longer buying your words.
Maybe after you begin to report the news fairly, we can meet for coffee again. But until then, you are out of my life.
It only takes Obama to his third statement to say “The pictures of destruction from Gaza distance the world from Israel’s position.” Well that’s correct, the lethal journalism of the BBC, CNN, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and many other international reporters in Gaza, who are completely handled by Hamas, are having the exact effect Hamas wants. It was really no different in Lebanon in 2006 when Hezbollah completely controlled what the world’s media said to. That forced Israel to finish prematurely there.Robert Fisk is worried about terror threat posed by ‘radicalized British Zionists’
And that so many of them are quiet and compliant: its hard to believe they are, any longer, honest reporters. Far too many will look desperately for any sign of Jewish or Israeli misbehaviour and gleefully report it (such as the residents of Sderot on the hill). What they won’t report (and it took days for this to emerge) is 25 or more Palestinians murdered by Hamas for little more than having an Israeli cell phone sim card. None of the many world reporters in Gaza, apparently, witnessed the Hamas police shooting starving people trying to get food either. No photos or video of that.
These journalists are not in Syria because Syria is too dangerous. None of the combatant parties in Syria have anything to gain from the world’s media at this stage so they kill them. That keeps them away. Oh and, of course, Muslims killing Muslims (or a few Christians) is nothing like as important as Jews trying to defend themselves.
It is pretty clear, in order of intent to kill maximum numbers of Palestinians, Hamas ranks highest. The World’s media are a close second in the operation, and last of all are the military forces of Israel who are trying to stop terrorists invading our country and dropping explosives on our people.
I hope you are all proud of yourselves, world media, you have more blood on your hands than ever before.
An article in the Independent on June 22nd reported that “hundreds of veteran fighters from Syria and Iraq are already back in Britain, among them radicalized jihadists intent on mounting terror attacks”. In a speech last October, MI5 director-general Andrew Parker said: “A growing proportion of our casework now has some link to Syria, mostly concerning individuals from the UK who have traveled to fight there or who aspire to do so.” Even more troubling, according to the Financial Times “more than half of MI5’s anti-terror investigations involve Britons who have travelled to fight in Syria“.Guardian uncritically cites ‘expert’ views of racist and conspiracy theorist
While it’s well-known that the 7/7 London bombers trained in jihadist camps in Pakistan, and that the main suspect in the murder of Lee Rigby attempted to train with a group linked to al-Qaeda, the threat posted by radicalized European Islamists was illustrated more recently when it was reported that the terrorist who murdered four at the Brussels Jewish Museum spent over a year in Syria training with “jihadist terrorist groups”.
Nonetheless, despite such incidents, the threat which seems to keep Robert Fisk up at night is one of fairness – the question of whether British security agencies are equally keeping an eye on a potentially radicalized group of another religious tradition.
In a truly risible column at the Indy on July 28th titled “It’s not just radicalised Islamists – what about foreign fighters who flock to the IDF?”,
A recent update from the Guardian’s Live Blog of the war noted the following.CNN Embarrasses Fatah Leader Calling for Ceasefire
Dozens of international law experts, including John Dugard and Richard Falk, both former UN special rapporteurs on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, have said the “civilian population of the Gaza Strip is under attack”. They say that the launch of rockets from Gaza is illegal under international law as well as morally intolerable but that Israel’s actions are of “incomparable magnitude”.
Blandly characterizing Richard Falk as an “international law expert” is of course akin to describing Gilad Atzmon – the Hitler apologist and Holocaust denier - as merely a jazz musician.
Former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath feigned hearing problems when CNN host John Berman confronted him about Hamas’ rejection of a 24 hour cease-fire.CNN to Hamas: Thank You for Joining Us!
The awkward exchange took place Tuesday on CNN’s This Hour. Shaath repeatedly touched his earpiece when Berman began discussing the rejected cease-fire. “Do you believe that Hamas truly wants peace? And talk to me about the tunnels from Gaza into Israel- what are they for if not to infiltrate and target civilians?” Berman asked him. Shaath blinked several times and stayed silent to give the impression that he could not hear Berman. He finally answered after a few quiet moments.
“The Palestinian people are for a cease-fire,” the former Palestinian Foreign Minister declared.
Berman told him, “But Hamas just rejected a 24 hour cease-fire.”
Hamas, the governing body of the Gaza Strip which has fired thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians, is designated a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and other allies.
Hamas asks Gaza civilians to serve as human shields, has employed suicide bombings to kill Israelis, and its charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.
BBC’s Jon Donnison misrepresents PFLP ‘fighter commander’ as charity worker
Donnison is equally vague about that “children’s charity” for which the pleasant-sounding Mr Abu Maria worked. In fact he was an employee of a political NGO with which many readers will also be familiar – Defence for Children International – Palestine Section. That NGO – frequently quoted and promoted by Western journalists – has links to other anti-Israel organisations including the Alternative Information Centre and the ISM – which has a permanent representative also connected to the extended Abu Maria family in Beit Ummar. But most notably, that “children’s charity” also has links to a terror organization – the PFLP – via one of its board members and also, it transpires, via none other than its former employee Hashem Abu Maria. Below is a screenshot of the PFLP’s Facebook announcement and here is an obituary on the PFLP website which describes Jon Donnison’s ‘charity worker’ as “fighter commander”.CiF Watch prompts 3rd correction over false claims that murdered Israeli teens were ‘settlers’
Since Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel were abducted and murdered by Palestinian terrorists last month, we’ve prompted two corrections to false claims (at the Independent and the Guardian) that the three teens were ‘settlers’.Cruz, Bardem call Israeli op ‘genocide’
More recently, we contacted Indy editors about the following passage in an op-ed at the paper by the British-Israeli anti-Zionist historian (and Guardian contributor) Avi Shlaim.
Hollywood power couple Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are just two of the Spanish film stars and directors to add their names to a harsh denunciation of Israel’s operation in Gaza, calling the operation “a genocide.”Hollywood Jews Ignore Hollywood Jew-Hatred
Cruz and Bardem, as well as acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and dozens of other artists from the country, signed their names to an open letter castigating Israel’s three-week incursion into the Gaza Strip, whose aim is to stop ceaseless rocket fire from Gaza onto Israeli civilians as well as rout out dozens of cross-border terror tunnels.
It is unsurprising that leftist film luminaries oppose Israel; they have done so for decades, going all the way back to Vanessa Redgrave’s support of the terrorist Palestine Liberation Organization (she denounced a “small bunch of Zionist hoodlums” in her Oscar speech the same year she expressed that support). It is similarly unsurprising that film stars hailing from Spain, in particular, would express sympathy for Hamas; Spain has long been the most anti-Semitic country in Western Europe.LBC's war against Israel
Sadly, it’s most unsurprising that Hollywood’s reaction thus far has been silence. The same supposed Jew-dominated industry that tossed Mel Gibson out on his ear for drunken anti-Semitic remarks has now gone completely AWOL with regard to Cruz and Bardem.
That’s because the vast majority of Jews in Hollywood do not care about Israel. Jewishness in Hollywood is merely a cultural hallmark, allowing you to make Holocaust jokes and avoid being labeled part of the xenophobic white majority. Jewishness in Hollywood has to do with bagels, lox, and half-days on Yom Kippur before brunch. Bashing Mel Gibson is an easy way to reinforce cultural Jewishness.
But calling out Cruz and Bardem would require actual Jewishness. It would require acknowledgment that Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people, that it is the Jewish state, and that it is in the moral right. It would require Jewish pride, not just obnoxiously self-targeting jokes about loud mothers and stinginess.
On LBC this morning the antisemite presenter James O'Brien said thatThe BBC's Gaza Reporting is Biased and Naive
"any person who defends Israel must be classified as a radical extremist exactly like an Al Qaeda or ISIS supporter".
Also, in every main news report on LBC yesterday evening about the (Hamas) rocket that struck the Shifra hospital in Gaza the newsreader said
"Both Palestinian and Israeli militant extremist groups claimed it was the other side whose rocket struck the hospital"
Over the last week BBC news bulletins have, inevitably, led with the Gaza war. This might seem like an obvious, rational choice, although of course it was also the worst week of the last three years in the Syrian war, with at least 1,700 deaths. Still it is fair enough for the BBC to have decided that war and death in Gaza are more important than war and death a few hundred miles to the North.Mika Brzezinski: ‘Keep it Right Here on Morning Jew’
The Syrian war story is relentless and complicated with villains everywhere you look; these days, anyway, it would be hard to present it as a compelling David and Goliath narrative. Even more important, it is difficult and lethally dangerous to report. The latter seems not to be the case in Gaza – which itself may say something about the reality of the conflict there, as opposed to the rhetoric of massive bombardments and massacres.
What strikes me as less rational and more peculiar is the way the BBC’s news bulletins about the casualties of the war do not distinguish between Palestinian combatants and Palestinian victims, yet always do that for the Israeli side: Each bulletin begins with the datum that 1,000 (say) Palestinians have died and 40 (say) Israelis have died, all of whom were soldiers apart from (say) three civilians.
The implication of course, whether deliberate or not, is that all the Palestinian deaths are civilian.
MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski is having a tough Wednesday.Norman Finkelstein's Sparsely Attended pro-Palestine Rally in NYC Leads to Arrests
After interviewing Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer, Brzezinski said “keep it right here on Morning Jew.”
Twenty to thirty people were arrested “for Hamas” today at midday in New York City. They lay down in the street opposite the Israeli Mission to the United Nations and blocked traffic for miles around. They chanted nothing and simply lay there in silence. The police asked them to get up—and thirty people did so—but when the remaining lie-in protestors refused to do so, the police arrested them.An Open Letter to Pro-Palestinian Protestors
Their leader was none other than Norman Finkelstein,” the known and proud supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah, a man who defends their right to target Israeli civilians." Finkelstein is the troubled and troublesome Jewish anti-Zionist activist and author who is also the son of Holocaust survivors.
He is living proof that Hitler’s evil lives on in the lives of both Holocaust survivors and their descendants.
The reason I'm writing to you today is to discuss things that happen here in Britain and in other European countries. You see, it seems that sometimes, some people find it difficult to distinguish between protesting against Israeli policy and abusing Jews here in Britain. You'd think the difference between the two would be fairly obvious, but apparently not. So in that spirit, and to help you tell right from wrong, here are a few tips:What The Local Media Missed: Days of Rage in Boston
On you way to or from the demonstration, do not shout "Heil Hitler" or "Death to Jews" or "Burn in hell" at random Jewish people in the street, as has happened in Manchester and London in the past two weeks.
While you are on the demonstration, if passersby disagree with you about Israel and Gaza, do not surround them, shove them, steal their phone and call them a "Jew Zionist". Having a different view of where blame and responsibility lie in the current conflict does not make someone a proxy-combatant for you to attack.
As the photos above show, the so-called peace and justice community in the city of Boston has a problem. Its leading lights have helped promote ugly hostility toward Israel and its supporters. At several recent rallies, protesters falsely accused Israel of genocide, ignored Hamas' war-crimes and worked to portray Jewish self-determination as a singular source of suffering in the Middle East. The hostility has only gotten worse as the rallies have progressed.Jewish-Owned Cars Covered With Swastikas, Tires Slashed in Suburb 20 Minutes From New York City
These hostility displayed at these putative "peace" rallies cannot be excused, justified or explained by the tragic deaths currently taking place as a result of fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The underlying emotion at these rallies is hate toward the very notion of Jewish sovereignty and hate toward Jews who support Israel.
If these protesters were serious about promoting peace and human rights, they would have confronted the terrible acts of violence perpetrated by ISIS in Syria and Iraq, where thousands of people have been turned into refugees and hundreds, if not thousands, of young men have been murdered, and in some instances, have had their heads cut off.
These atrocities have largely gone unnoticed by the activist organizations that organized these days of rage in Boston. They have, however, held more than five anti-Israel rallies in the last month alone.
This is not about peace. This is not about justice. And it's not about human rights.
It's about hate.
And lots of it.
Two cars owned by a Jewish couple in suburb Pearl River, New York, a 20-minute drive from midtown Manhattan, were covered in swastikas and vulgarities, and their tires were slashed on Sunday morning.Labor for Palestine barely scrapes together 200 signatures on anti-Israel petition
The couple posted the photos to Facebook where dozens of friends and neighbors expressed their surprise and horror at the hate crime in their small town of 15,000 people, many of whom are commuters to New York City.
Approximately 11.3 percent of all American workers are members of labor unions. In 2013 there were 14.5 million wage and salary workers who belonged to unions. Of those 14.5 million workers, less than 200 signed on to a repulsively biased and one sided anti-Israel labor petition calling for an end to all aid to Israel, for dock workers to refuse to handle cargo destined for Israel and for labor bodies to divest from Israel Bonds, and cut ties with the Histadrut, Israel’s labor federation.Antisemitism continues at third Sydney rally
That’s 200 out of 14,500,000. Even the addition of international union members, retired union members and members of professional associations could not push the number of signators on this travesty to even 1/2 of 1 percent.
Anti-Israel protests continued for a third week in a row around Australia. On Sunday in Sydney, the scene was similar to the previous two weeks, albeit with a much smaller crowd.'Jews, the End is Near', Says Graffiti in Rome
The flags of jihad and Hezbollah still flew amongst the Palestinian and other flags. Overt antisemitism was still much in evidence, mainly through words and images on placards.
The protesters no longer bother to hide the fact that they are calling for Israel’s destruction.
Some of the antisemitic slogans from previous weeks were gone, but these were replaced with others. A particularly nasty placard had the Star of David equaling a swastika, with the words “Stop the Holocaust in Palestine”. Another placard also had the Star of David equaling the swastika and the words “Shame shame shame Israel, Zionism = Nazism, Nazism = Zionism”.
Rome's mayor has denounced anti-Semitic graffiti and swastikas that have appeared across the city, The Associated Press (AP) reported on Tuesday.'Palestinian' Man Detained Over Firebombing of German Synagogue
Some of the graffiti referred to the escalating violence in Gaza and included taunts such as "Jews, the end is near."
Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino offered his solidarity with Rome's Jewish community and said the graffiti, which appeared near Jewish-owned businesses, was an "offense to all Romans."
Marino also ordered the graffiti and swastikas removed, according to AP.
German police detained an 18-year-old man over an attempted arson attack against a synagogue Tuesday which drew a shocked reaction from the country's Jewish community.Anti-Israel Protesters Block London Traffic, Wave Al Qaeda Flag
The building in the western city of Wuppertal was not damaged in the incident and no one was hurt, a police spokesman said.
The suspect was arrested soon after the early-morning attack, in which incendiary devices were thrown at the building.
A shocking video from a major traffic artery in London shows Islamist protesters blocking the route in a loud protest which included the waving of an Al Qaeda flag.UK Council Which Flew Flag for Pro-Hamas Group Received 'In Excess of 300 Complaints'
The footage was taken last week in Blackwell Tunnel - a major traffic route which runs underneath the River Thames in Britain's capital city, leaving motorists temporarily trapped in the tunnel.
Anti-Semitism has spiked sharply in the UK during the past few weeks, as clashes between the IDF and terrorists in Gaza prompted anti-Israel groups to mobilize en-masse. Earlier this month the Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors anti-Semitism in the UK, said it had registered a nearly 100% rise in anti-Semitism in July compared to the previous month.
But Britain has largely avoided the kinds of large-scale violence and anti-Semitism which has erupted in other European countries, including attacks on synagogues and Jewish businesses in France, and violent anti-Semitic demonstrations in Germany, where an imam in Berlin recently called on Muslims to "kill Zionist Jews."
As we exclusively revealed this weekend, the council was responding to demands by a group called the 'Children of the Ghetto', whose Chairman has gone on record in his support for the terrorist group Hamas. When asked about the connection between the Council at the Children of the Ghetto group, the Council responded: "The Council holds no information regarding the Children of the Ghetto."City Councillor Claims Campaigners' Pro-Hamas Links are 'Of No Relevance'
And yet the council published information about the group and undertook work with the organisation just five days ago. The link on its website is still active.
The council said of the flag flying ceremony, which also raised £1500 for the pro-Hamas group: "The Council responded to a request from members of the community in Preston. The decision does not infer the Council’s support for Hamas."
When asked about the group's noted pro-Hamas status, Cllr Boswell told Breitbart London: "I have no idea and it is of no relevance to our decision to do the flag.Hamas goes postal? Only in Canada
"I had no idea who they support and it frankly wouldn't make any difference because they presented us with evidence plus evidence that we've seen on the television of an ongoing humanitarian crisis".
When asked if it was proper for British elected officials to work with pro Hamas groups, Boswell said: "Does that make the suffering of people any less, you answer me that".
Would you want a terrorist sympathizer coming to your door every day?Newsweek Cover on 'Why Europe's Jews Are Fleeing Once Again'
Apparently, that may already be happening.
A pro-Palestinian rally in Ottawa last week demonstrated more than just support for the average Palestinian mother and child.
Among the protesters were those carrying the flag of Hamas, a group recognized officially by the Canadian government as a terrorist organization.
Next to those flags, flew the flag of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).
In an explosive front page story, Newsweek examined the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the growing trend of immigration to Israel.Muslim Doctors Who Murder Children. Nazis Did Too
The article began by describing a horrifying anti-Semitic scene in Europe similar to that of the Holocaust, though it occurred just last month:
After highlighting that "the violence comes as no surprise" for Jews of Europe and France, the article outlines the trend of Jews "getting out."
The mastermind of Palestinian Arab terrorism, George Habash, was a doctor. The head of the Palestinian Popular Front was never troubled by the thought of the innocent victims of terrorism, the seven Jews burned in the synagogue in Hamburg, forty-seven passengers (including children) who died in the Swiss plane which exploded in flight and crashed into the forest Doettingen, civilians torn apart by dynamite in the offices of El Al in Europe.Christian support for Israel rooted in Genesis promises, not end-times prophecy, evangelicals say
"The end always justifies the means," said Dr. Habash. "To kill a Jew away from the battlefield has more effect than killing a hundred Jews in battle."
Yet, before killing people, this man took care of them. And with how much dedication. He was a doctor. Habash owned a clinic in Amman, where he worked eighteen hours a day with a group of nuns, the Sisters of Nazareth, mainly children (Habash had specialized in pediatrics), but also old, poor. He bought the medicines to patients. The clinic was also his home.
One day Habasha disappearead: he wanted to kill Jews. (h/t Alexi)
Polling consistently shows overwhelmingly support for Israel among American evangelicals, one of the factors that explain why the modern Republican Party has become so supportive of Israel.Christians United For Israel Comes Through at a Critical Moment
Critics have attempted to dismiss this support, however, by insinuating that it’s actually rooted in end times prophecies.
David Brog, director of the 1.75 million strong Christians United for Israel, said that this couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Any one who says that evangelical support for Israel is all about somehow speeding the end times, bringing Jesus back, [and killing or converting Jews] ... any one who does that is showing their own ignorance,” Brog said in an interview during the recent gathering of thousands in Washington for a CUFI conference.
“They’re pointing a finger at Christians, trying to make Christians look ignorant. They’re simply showing their own complete ignorance,” he said.
Recent events have propelled Christians United for Israel (CUFI) to the front row of pro-Israel organizations.CUFI Fighting Back: Adding a Christian Pro-Israel Voice On Campus
The group advertised last week’s Washington D.C. Summit, held July 21, as a more compact two-day program. Last year’s conclave offered a three-day affair. But if anyone thought the faith-based pro-Israel organization was becoming less relevant, they would think otherwise after attending the latest confab.
At the very moment when the Jewish State was under a crushing vise of global criticism for its involvement in Operation Protective Edge, CUFI (pronounced koo-PHI and not koo-FEE) roused its American heartland membership in loud, rollicking support of Israel. It did so in the pivotal capitol of Washington D.C. at a pivotal time.
More than 400 pro-Israel students congregated in Washington, DC to attend the National Conference of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) last week. As part of its national conference, CUFI on Campus hosted an additional day to educate each other about the latest pro-Israel advocacy strategies on campus. Sessions focused on debunking myths about Israel and teaching students about the true nature of the Jewish state.Catholic League slams Obama: ‘Do Christian lives mean so little to you?’
CUFI launched its campus division in 2007 in response to the rising tide of rabid anti-Israel activism on American campuses. Throughout the country, its chapters have since battled anti-Israel students and various anti-Semitic of faculty members. Last week’s conference sessions and networking opportunities helped educate participants about CUFI’s central role on campuses for which it has chapters.
The head of the Catholic League issued a scathing criticism at President Obama, posting on his group’s website an essay that pointed to all the Christians being beheaded by Muslim terrorists and asking: Doesn’t that matter to you?Presbyterian Church Criticizes Israel, Remains Silent on Brutal Anti-Christian Persecution in Middle East
“Christians are being beheaded all over the Middle East because they are Christians, and those carrying out this mass murder are doing so in the name of Islam,” Bill Donohue wrote on his group’s website, Newsmax reported. “Yet you continue to say and do absolutely nothing about these unspeakable crimes. Do Christians mean so little to you?” (h/t Canadian Otter)
Yet nary a word from these same church leaders concerning the rampant persecution of millions of Christians at the hands of Muslims in the Middle East – a persecution that makes the Palestinians’ situation pale in comparison.Trampled in Abraham’s dust: The destruction of Near Eastern Christianity
Other “leftist” Protestants do find time to criticize Muslim persecution of Christians – but only to blame Israel for it. Thus, Diarmaid MacCulloch, a Fellow of St. Cross College, wrote an article in the Daily Beast ostensibly addressing the plight of Mideast Christians – but only to argue that the source of Christian persecution “ in the Middle East is seven decades of unresolved conflict between Israel and Palestine.”
In reality, far from prompting the persecution of Christians, the Arab-Israeli conflict is itself a byproduct of the same hostility Islamic supremacism engenders for all non-Muslims. The reason hostility for Israel is much more viral is because the Jewish State holds a unique position of authority over Muslims unlike vulnerable Christian minorities who can be abused at will (as fully explained here).
Little wonder, then, that more Arab Christians – double the number of each of the preceding three years – are now joining the Israel Defense Forces.
Near Eastern Christians have been regarded as the “native Americans” of the Middle East by many, “the ones who were there first.” They constituted twenty percent of the region’s population at the turn of the last century, a decent percentage by any measure given the millennial history of Islam as hegemon in that part of the world. Yet in our second decade of the twenty-first century, the numbers of Near Eastern Christians had dwindled to a mere five percent.Act Now: Protest BDS Motion in Dublin
In the past hundred years, prejudice against them was no longer the veiled affliction of a bigoted few; it had become the banner of those who allegedly speak for Islam.
The agonizing fate of Iraq’s Christians today may be a latest flare-up of hostilities.
But it is symptomatic of a longstanding epidemic that has, for fourteen centuries, pitted the youngest of the “Children of Abraham” against their elders. Ironically enough, those Iraqi Christians, trampled as they are in the dust of Abraham, are being oppressed in the supposed birthplace of Abraham, no less by an ISIS Caliph fashioned as “Ibrahim,” the Arabic rendering of Abraham.
Dublin City Council has voted for a motion in favor of a trade embargo against Israel.Israel Thrives: While global anti-Semitism surges, don't forget U.S. campuses
The motion has expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, Israel is currently conducting Operation Protective Edge, fighting Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza that attack not only Israeli citizens, but also Palestinian men, women and children, using them as human shields and encouraging them to remain in northern Gaza after getting multiple warnings from the IDF to leave the area for their own safety.
This motion is biased against the Jewish state and completely one-sided. Dublin City Council, in promoting such a motion, ignores Western interests. Israel is protecting not only the Jewish state, but also the entire Free World, from Islamist terror.
Irish United with Israel urges each and every one of you to write to the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor, demanding that they reconsider this motion.
In light of the alarming rise in global anti-Semitism and the unwillingness of university or government officials to protect Jewish students from campus-based anti-Semitic activity, it is fair to say that when Jewish students return to school in the fall, they will be the single-most vulnerable students on campus.Don’t Dismiss California School System’s Fights Over Israel Divestment
The Jewish community must act now. As university stakeholders—students, parents, alumni, donors, and taxpayers—members of the Jewish community and their supporters have every right to use their influence as consumers and funders to demand that Jewish students are protected from the growing scourge of Jew-hatred on U.S. college campuses.
Experts disagree about who first observed “academic politics is so vicious because the stakes are so low,” but when it comes to the ongoing student debates about divestment in companies doing business with Israel, the sentence is only half true.Michelle Nunn’s Campaign Plan
The conflicts have been remarkably emotional and acrimonious, but the stakes are so high that last week I wrote University of California (UC) President Janet Napolitano urging her to become personally involved.
As the nation’s former Homeland Security Secretary, President Napolitano should recognize that it would be a grave mistake to dismiss recent divestment votes on five of the 10 UC campuses as just symbolic expressions of misplaced youthful idealism.
The campaign’s finance plan draws attention to the “tremendous financial opportunity” in the Jewish community and identifies Jews as key fundraisers. It notes, however, that “Michelle’s position on Israel will largely determine the level of support here.” That’s a position she has yet to articulate — her message on the subject is marked “TBD” in the document — and Israel goes unmentioned on her campaign website.Suspect in Abu Khdeir killing says he’s ‘the messiah’
Asians are also identified as key fundraisers. The community is described as “very tight,” one in which people work to “become citizens quickly.” Nunn’s strategists also say there is a “huge opportunity” to raise money from gays, bisexuals, and transgender individuals, who are described as having “substantial resources.” (h/t MtTB)
Ben-David’s lawyer, Aharon Roza, said that the statement shows that the suspect was in deep mental distress, and asked for Ben-David to be examined by an outside psychiatrist.Protesters rally outside air base against bombings
The defendant is expended to plead temporary insanity.
A group of anti-war protesters held a small demonstration outside an air force base used as the main starting point for bombing runs on the Gaza Strip to call for an end to the military offensive.Peace Now Head Criticizes Bennett Over Gaza Statements
The 15 demonstrators, dressed in white overalls daubed with blood-red paint, held up signs outside the Hatzor air base near Beersheba calling to “Stop the Gaza in massacre” and “Stop the siege.”
Other signs read “Bombing civilians won’t bring a solution” and “The blood of children is on your hands,” Channel 2 reported on Tuesday.
Yariv Oppenheimer, director of the far-left Peace Now organization, criticized Economy Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday, after Bennett said that the goal of the current campaign in Gaza must include a clear military decision that leaves Hamas defeated and disarmed.Knesset passes law to re-arrest released terrorists
"How convenient it is to be Bennett and push Netanyahu into Gaza," said Oppenheimer.
"If it does not happen that you can blame Netanyahu and say ‘we told you so’, and if it does happen, Netanyahu will be responsible for the failure and the complication of the day after,” he added.
"I propose that Israel agree to lift the siege on Gaza in return for security arrangements and to ensure that the Gazans really will have nothing to lose next time. Every other option will shed blood and ultimately lead to the same end result," said Oppenheimer.
Prisoners who are released in diplomatic negotiations and return to terrorism can be re-incarcerated, according to a law the Knesset passed Tuesday night.1,000 people attend Jerusalem memorial event for slain teens
The legislation proposed by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Ze'ev Elkin (Likud) would also have the government make the final decision on prisoner releases and not have the president pardon terrorists.
Terrorists' release will be conditional on the continued diplomatic or security interests in relation to the government's decision and on the prisoner not returning to terrorist activities or crime.
Some 1,000 people attended a memorial event Tuesday at the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem to mark 30 days since the burial of kidnapped and murdered teens Gil-ad Shaer, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach.John Oliver Rails Against Egypt and Its 91% Female Genital Mutilation Rate
President Reuven Rivlin, who also attended, condemned Hamas terrorism and said: "In these days, we must safeguard the value of life. Now that time has passed and the terror tunnels have been discovered, we can clearly see the deep ties between Hamas in Gaza and Hamas in Hebron.
"The strategy of evil is what ties together the workings of the murderers of Eyal, Gil-ad and Naftali and the perpetrators of the infiltration attacks planned by Hamas into Nir Am, Kissufim, Kfar Aza and Kerem Shalom. To kidnap indiscriminately, to murder indiscriminately to cause pain and horror. Despite the cynicism of Hamas' engineers of death, we must insist on life and on the value of life. We must remind ourselves that there is another way."
During his Sunday HBO “Last Week This Week” program, host John Oliver took on the merits of a report that ISIS forces in Iraq were performing genital mutilation on women as part of its effort to spread Sharia Law in its conquered territory.Rouhani Regime Arrests Washington Post Reporter
Although those reports may have not been accurate, Oliver called it to question places where it still does occur in Africa and in particular Egypt, which he says occurs at an alarming 91 percent rate. That according to Oliver should be the first thing people think of when it comes to Egypt, and not anything else it is known for including the pyramids.
Rezaian, who began his stint as the post’s Tehran correspondent in 2012, most recently published an article last Friday. The piece confirmed the four-month extension of negotiations between Iran and six world powers, quoting diplomats who asserted that negotiations had made “tangible progress” but “significant gaps on some core issues” remained. The article also detailed a short history of nuclear talks, including which issues garnered the most contention and how different world leaders view possible solutions.Islamic State fighter: 'Turkey paved the way for us'
Last year’s election of Hassan Rouhani as president of Iran was hailed as a harbinger of liberalization in the Islamic Republic. However, since Rouhani assumed office last August, executions have risen sharply, persecution of minorities has continued, women face intimidation, and freedom of the press has been under assault.
An Islamic State fighter, who is in Ankara for medical care, told a Turkish journalist that since the war in Syria began, the “AKP government has helped us a lot.”Erdogan 'glad' to return award given to him by American Jewish Congress
"Turkey paved the way for us. Had Turkey not shown such understanding for us, the Islamic State would not be in its current place. It [Turkey] showed us affection. Large number of our mujahedeen received medical treatment in Turkey,” said the Islamic State fighter.
“We do not have the support of Saudi Arabia, but many Saudi families who believe in jihad do assist us. But anyhow, we will no longer need it, soon,” he said.
"We will build the Islamic state in the territories from Tigris to Jordan and Palestine and to Lebanon. Sunni Law will rule,” he added. (h/t Canadian Otter)
The Turkish ambassador to the US replied to a request by the American Jewish Congress saying that Erdogan was "glad" to return the award in light of ongoing events in Gaza.Women should not laugh in public, Turkish deputy PM says
The American Jewish Congress asked Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to return an award which the congress presented to him in 2004, according to a report by the Turkish paper al-Hurriyet.
Speaking during an Eid el-Fitr meeting on July 28, Arınç described his ideal of the chaste man or woman, saying they should both have a sense of shame and honor.India strengthening economic ties with Israel
“Chastity is so important. It is not only a name. It is an ornament for both women and men. [She] will have chasteness. Man will have it, too. He will not be a womanizer. He will be bound to his wife. He will love his children. [The woman] will know what is haram and not haram. She will not laugh in public. She will not be inviting in her attitudes and will protect her chasteness,” Arınç said, adding that people had abandoned their values today.
After heated debate over the situation in Gaza led to a walkout in the Rajya Sabha earlier this month, the Modi government’s decision to remain neutral in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas is being interpreted by some analysts as a clear signal of strengthening Israeli-Indian economic ties.LabStyle gets Israeli approval to market diabetes meter
While previous Indian governments have tended to side with the Palestinians in their political and military disputes with Israel, India’s relationship with Israel has strengthened considerably since the two countries established full diplomatic relations in 1992.
Over the last two decades, bilateral trade between Israel and India has increased rapidly, growing from US$180 million in 1992-93 to around US$6 billion last year.
During the same period, major exports from India to Israel included precious stones and metals, chemical products, textile and textile articles, mineral products and machinery. Similarly, Israeli exports to India included precious stones and metals, chemical and mineral products, base metals, machinery and military and transportation equipment.
LabStyle Innovations Corp said on Monday it has received approval from Israel's Ministry of Health to sell its Dario smart meter for diabetes in Israel.3 Israelis included in ’22 Most Powerful Women Engineers In The World’ list
The market launch of Dario began in late March in the United Kingdom, Italy, and New Zealand. In early 2014 LabStyle said it filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market the Dario system.
LabStyle said it plans to market Dario in six additional territories by the end of 2014.
Dario is a cloud-based, diabetes management solution that allows diabetics to monitor their blood sugars and gain insights into managing their disease using their mobile devices.
Three Israeli engineers are among the most powerful women in the tech industry, according to a new list published by Business Insider.
The online business news site has released its annual report on the ‘most powerful women engineers in the world’ to show that despite being outnumbered 3:1 by men in the tech industry, women engineers are making a footprint and can be found in top positions.
Israel’s three representatives on the prestigious list are Tal Rabin (IBM), Yoelle Maarek (Yahoo), and Tamar Bercovici (Box).
