Thursday, August 14, 2014
Alan Johnson: Rebuilding a Demilitarized Gaza Is the Road to Peace
Britain, France, and Germany have now proposed a plan. Gazans would not just get emergency humanitarian assistance, but long-term and large-scale economic development, as well as much greater freedom to trade and travel. Hamas, on the other hand, would get disarmed. The Israeli government and opposition are in favor of the idea, so too the United States, and the policy would likely attract support from regional Arab states such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates.Spoerl Captures Insanity of Hamas Coverage in New Hampshire Union Leader
Crucially, it also offers a framework to re-establish the authority of those Palestinians who oppose terror, recognize Israel, and want to negotiate a two-state solution—the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas.
I interviewed six Israeli and American policy experts this week—Matthew Levitt, Michael Herzog, Gershon Baskin, Jonathan Spyer, Jonathan Rynhold, and Asher Susser—about the viability of “reconstruction for demilitarization.” Could it be a political solution to the Gazan tragedy? As I sat and edited the transcripts, I identified these ten rules for success.
1. Only this policy paradigm can avoid the next round of violence. “If you want to stabilize Gaza over the long run and prevent the repetition of violent rounds of conflict, you have to support this,” said Michael Herzog, a former adviser to several Israeli defense ministers. The periodic restoration of deterrence over Hamas by airstrikes and ground invasions is simply “not a tenable plan anymore,” Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute told me. Jonathan Rynhold, head of the Argov Center for the Study of Israel and the Jewish People at Bar-Ilan University, argued that it is vital to show that “Israel’s war is against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people.” The policy “puts the onus on Hamas to explain why they are unprepared to give up their rockets in exchange for reconstruction.“
Joseph Spoerl, Ph.D., a professor of philosophy at St. Anselm’s College in New Hampshire, highlights a huge problem in the coverage enjoyed by Hamas during the ongoing conflict in Gaza. In a piece published today in the New Hampshire Union Leader, Spoerl puts forth the following scenario:Mark Steyn: Young Turks
"Imagine that [during World War II American and British reporters had sent back a steady stream of news stories and photos highlighting the plight of German civilians: photos of ruined homes and apartment blocks, wailing women and children, overwhelmed hospitals and so forth. Suppose, further, that these reporters never mentioned anything about the ugly ideology of Hitler and the Nazis, their genocidal hatred for Jews, their plans for world conquest, their persecution of political opponents, etc.
We would all agree that reporters acting in this way would be guilty of a serious breach of journalistic ethics. They would be actively misleading their audience by telling only a small portion of the truth."
Spoerl observes that such a scenario is taking place today as reporters highlight the suffering of the residents of the Gaza Strip without addressing the agenda of the fascist organization that controls the territory. “As absurd as it sounds, the imaginary scenario sketched out here has been unfolding before our very eyes in the Gaza strip over the past month.”
He concludes his piece as follows:
Hamas is an imperialistic, totalitarian political movement driven by genocidal hatred for Jews — in short, an Islamic Nazi Party. It exists beside the world’s only Jewish state, a liberal democracy.
No aspect of the conflict is more important, or more ignored by the mainstream media, than this one.
A Tweet from Yasmina Haifi:Dutch Official Suspended for Saying ISIS is 'Zionist Plot'Elad Benari Thursday, August 14, 2014
"ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. It's a preconceived plan by Zionists who want to deliberately blacken Islam's name."
Who is Yasmina Haifi? She's an official at the Dutch Ministry of Justice who serves as project leader at the Netherlands' National Cyber Security Center. And she thinks Isis is a Zionist plot to make Islam look bad.
She could be right. On the other hand, maybe Yasmina Haifi is a Zionist plot to make Islam look bad - or at any rate deranged. Presumably the many Dutch Muslims out on the streets holding pro-Isis demonstrations would disagree with her - because they surely wouldn't be demonstrating in favor of a Zionist front group, would they? Unless, of course, they're also in on the Zionist plot...
Look at Yasmina Haifi in the photograph at right - she's not a burqa-wreathed crone, but a modern western career woman in a foxy red jacket with just a hint of cleavage. And yet she cannot bear the truth about her religion and what is done in its name. So she takes refuge in the laziest conspiracy of all. In the Netherlands, an "extremist" Muslim supports Isis because it's chopping the heads off infidels, but a "moderate" Muslim opposes Isis because it's a Zionist front group.
This is the human capital with which the Netherlands has chosen to build its future.
The Ministry of Security and Justice and the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) responded by saying they were opposed to Haifi’s tweet.
“Security and Justice and the NCTV distance themselves from her remarks,” the government said in a statement quoted by NL Times. “And since [the comment] relates to the work of the NCTV and the National Cyber Security Center, cause is shown to terminate her assignment NCSC/NCTV and outsource her work with immediate effect.”
In an interview with the local Radio 1 on Wednesday, Haifi said she will not take back her statements, saying she has the right to speak her mind.
“Freedom of expression is apparently only for certain groups,” she was quoted as having said.
“I have taken the liberty to express myself and obviously I have to pay for it. I do not know why I should take it down; this is what I think,” Haifi declared.
Reagan and Israel: the Real Story
In 2011, I contributed a post to National Review Online’s “Reagan at 100” series of remembrances NR was running on its Corner blog in honor of Reagan’s centennial. I wrote about Reagan and Begin. Here is part of my post:Dr. Phyllis Chesler: Western Sex Slaves for ISIS: The Twisted Psychology of Jihad Brides
Israel’s counteroffensive against the PLO in South Lebanon strained the relationship. But here, too, Reagan proved he could be open-minded about Israel’s predicament. When Reagan lectured Begin on the reports of civilian casualties, Begin painstakingly explained how the media reports not only weren’t true, but could not possibly be true. In a meeting that was supposed to be a dressing-down, Reagan became convinced the Israelis were getting a bad rap in the press. He brought Begin in to meet with his cabinet and told Begin to repeat to them what he had just told the president. Begin obliged, and left feeling a bit better about the trust between the two men.
Another test came with the killings at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon. The Israelis were blamed for supposedly allowing the massacre of Palestinians by Lebanese Christian militias. The accusation was outrageous, but it wounded Begin. Here again, however, Reagan stood out. [Yehuda] Avner was able to report to his boss that “there are people in the [Reagan] administration who are angry, but not the president.”
The point is that the Begin premiership was a series of challenges for Israel, its allies, and the Jewish diaspora. When Likud won national elections for the first time in 1977, the Columbia Journalism Review noted in a piece two years ago, “[Abba] Eban and others would continue to lunch with their friends at the Times in New York, where they regularly predicted the imminent collapse of the Begin government.” This cohort “spoke frequently to their friends in the media, telling them that the new crowd was a disaster, ‘that Begin was an extreme nationalist, a war-monger.’”
The most barbaric bunch of blood-thirsty misogynists this side of Genghis Khan are yearning for western “brides”—and the “brides,” who will be no more than sex and reproductive slaves, are coming, via an internet campaign, to service ISIS’s male Jihadis in the Caliphate in formation in Syria and Iraq. There is a “marriage bureau” in the northern Syrian town of Al Bab for Western women in a marrying state of mind.AACONS Interviews Michael Rubin and Chloé Valdary
Britain’s interior minister Theresa May warned that “we think around 400 UK-linked individuals have gone out to fight in Syria, mainly young men but also some women.” Officials worry that these numbers will rise “with the increased online activity luring vulnerable women to Syria.” The would-be “brides” are given point-by-point guidance on what to expect.”
What is coming their way is far darker than Fifty Shades of Grey.
I have been interviewed on African American Conservatives Blog Talk Radio multiple times. AACONS has a weekly podcast with some very interesting guests. AACONS will begin posting their weekly podcasts at Legal Insurrection. (Legal Insurrection has written extensively about one of the guests in this podcast, Chloé Valdary.) ]Facebook, Google Censor Human Rights Activists
Guests: Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute discusses new book, Dancing With the Devil; and Chloé Simone Valdary (starting at 21:30), college activist, blogger and Founder of Allies of Israel.
The most recent outbreak of violence in Gaza seems to have brought forth many who are violently opposed to any who support either side. On Facebook, for instance, there are pages such as "Death to Israel," which, despite many complaints about their offensive nature, Facebook has refused to take down. On the other side, some supporters of the Islamic Republic of Iran appear to have taken advantage of this outpouring of negative emotion against Israel. They seem to have mobilized the support of those opposing Israel and Judaism, and the results for many human rights activists have been distressing, unfair and unresolved.After Hamas Debacle -- A Way Forward For The People of Gaza
Instead of investigating these issues further, and providing those trying to expose human rights abuses and the people who perpetrate them with a proper explanation of why these accounts were suspended.
One account closed down belongs to me, Shabnam Assadollahi, an Iranian-Canadian human rights activist and author. I have also been invited on countless television and radio shows to expose the horrendous human rights violations in Iran. Since July 27, 2014, my public Facebook account has been suspended. Closing down social media accounts appears follow false and unsubstantiated claims, in this instance, most likely from supporters of Iran's current regime who are trying to silence our exposing their abuses and them -- their expanding sham trials, their brutal treatment of prisoners, their accelerated rate of hanging of people from cranes -- and close us down.
UNRWA’s kowtowing to Hamas and other terrorists are problematic, but it is not its defining fault. UNRWA assures the transmission of an ethos of victimhood and dependence to future generations of Palestinians. It is the only UN agency that addresses a single group of displaced people. Every other refugee problem on the globe is serviced by a single agency, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). UNHCR helps people quickly start their lives anew, supporting them as they find housing, education and livelihood. UNRWA, on the other hand, perpetuates refugee status by keeping people in camps in substandard housing, telling them that they are refugees until they return to houses that no longer exist. In UNRWA camps, successive generations are fed on the dole, adding dependency on others to dreams of re-conquest. UNRWA feeds 60% of Gazans; it is the second largest employer, only behind the government; Gaza has the 13th highest rate of population growth in the world, despite severe overcrowding.JCPA: The Gaza Water Crisis
Weaning Gazans away from the stifling handouts of UNRWA will mean more and more Palestinians who acquire meaning in their lives beyond fanatical visions of the death of Israel.
Not so long ago, Gaza had light industry and agriculture. It had vocational schools, universities, and civil society. It can recapture and surpass the past successes it and the West Bank enjoyed between the two Intifadas. There are two main roadblocks that need to be removed. Hamas’ debacle could lead to the removal of a group that proudly deploys its civilians as human shields. But as important, the US, EU, and Gulf States should lead the way in permanently deconstructing UNWRA’s welfare state and give the long-suffering people of Gaza and their Israeli neighbors a fighting chance to rebuild lives, infrastructure and peace.
The water crisis is different from the other infrastructure crises. Unlike its provision of electricity, Israel currently provides only negligible quantities of water to Gaza. Gaza’s water crisis was created completely by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority before it, and was not caused by any Israeli action or misstep. On the contrary, Israel is the only actor capable of extricating Gaza from the crisis, meaning that it has a lever to help achieve strategic objectives.Six Ways Hamas Could Limit Civilian Casualties in Gaza
Pro-Palestinian human rights organizations often approach the water crisis as another issue for which Israel bears the blame, and as ammunition to use against Israel in international tribunals.
Israel must avoid being drawn into the water issue as a “humanitarian” concern; it must instead present it as a political issue, expressing willingness to supply the residents of Gaza but only in return for the dismantling of the terror infrastructure. Gaza can manage with intermittent electricity and with sewage in the streets, but there is no life without water. By being drawn into the issue as a humanitarian one, Israel would also validate claims against it, and lose a winning card when it comes to demilitarizing Gaza.
In the reports of human rights organizations one has to distinguish between factual information, which is generally reliable, and political conclusions, which are biased against Israel. What do these organizations say?
Hamas, the de facto government of Gaza, has repeatedly avoided taking basic measures to protect the civilian population during wartime, despite the fact that civilians have been killed in substantial numbers in all three conflicts with Israel since 2009. The group's willingness to accept high casualty counts suggests that this is part of its political and military strategy. When used as human shields, civilians provide cover for Hamas military activities, and the resultant casualties serve the group's propaganda interests. In short, Hamas is acting more like a guerrilla group fighting an insurgency than a government responsible for the safety of its citizenry.Don’t Count on Abbas to Save Gaza
Some have argued that Gaza is too small and Israel too strong for Hamas to conduct military operations in a way that does not put civilians in danger. Yet there are at least six actions the group could take to limit such casualties. These steps are described below, roughly ordered by magnitude of effect -- though Hamas is unlikely to take any of them.
No matter how you slice it, there simply is no scenario in which the PA really can wrench control of Gaza away from Hamas while the latter is still fully armed and in control of the strip’s government. Building a port in Gaza or anything else intended to make it easier to import materials and arms into the strip without first eliminating Hamas is asking for trouble. Nor is it reasonable to expect Abbas to recognize Israel’s legitimacy as a Jewish state and begin the process of ending the conflict while he is put in such an untenable situation.Stop mowing the grass
Much as many in Israel and the United States would like to imagine that Abbas can somehow supplant Hamas, that just isn’t in the cards short of an all-out Israeli invasion of Gaza. More sensible Israelis know that the results of their nation’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 makes it obvious that any further territorial surrenders in the West Bank won’t enhance the chances of peace but will, instead, create new terror strongholds that will be even more dangerous and harder to wipe out. Though the Cairo talks have raised his profile from the near-anonymity that was forced upon him during the fighting, Abbas is just as irrelevant to the solution to the problem of Gaza as he ever was.
The stated goal of Israel’s incursion is the elimination of Hamas’ terror infrastructure, allowing Israeli residents in the area to live in safety without constant, indiscriminate terrorist attacks. If Israel does not stop Hamas now, the next time Israel launches an incursion into Gaza it will most likely be as a response to a terrorist attack like the one planned for Kibbutz Nir Am.Support for Israel: A gay liberal perspective
Additionally, now is the best time to quash Hamas, as it is currently isolated. The Egyptian government is no longer a friend to Hamas after the Egyptian military overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood government. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has destabilized the Middle East and has left Hamas’ allies unable to come to their aid.
Operation Protective Edge has allowed Israel to eliminate a large portion of Hamas’s tunnels and seize scores of weapons caches. Along with a lack of assistance from its allies, Hamas is now at its most vulnerable. It is imperative that Israel continue its incursion and reject any long-term truce that does not involve the complete elimination of Hamas and its infrastructure.
It is time we consider a small country that has managed to make immense social progress in terms of human rights despite the politics of its surrounding countries, and despite constant threats against it. It’s time we examine what could have been.Hamas Lies And the media believed it
It could have been very possible that Israel was never founded... and that a piece of land “the size of New Jersey” could have been an Islamic state instead, implementing sharia law and keeping Jews from visiting their holy city of Jerusalem. Tel Aviv would never have existed, and its first gay pride parade never would have occurred. Freedom of religion would never have been implemented in the land, nor would women be able to hold positions of leadership.
We forget, at a very unfortunate cost, that Israel was one of the first governments to talk about gay rights, starting with Yael Dayan’s speech in 1993. It’s interesting that members of the American Left are ready to hold signs saying “Gaza Strong” when Islamic Gaza is against the very liberties that American liberals stand for.
Why, then, do the media continue to accept Hamas propaganda unchallenged? Partly because the death of any civilian – particularly children, who are half of Gaza’s population – is heart-rending. Partly because the heat and fog of war make precise figures unknowable until well after the fighting. Partly because the narrative of a guerrilla militia confronting a modern military makes for compelling copy, and partly – perhaps mainly – because of Hamas intimidation and restrictions on the ground.Norwegian Journalist: Hamas Expels Reporters Over Critical Coverage
Hamas mendacity, however, is old news. During its first major clash with Israel in 2008-09, for example, the organization claimed that fewer than 50 of the dead had been combatants. Years later, it conceded that the total had been identical to that acknowledged by Israel: between 600 and 700.
It is therefore all the more extraordinary that journalists cast their usual skepticism to the winds and instead followed the script of an unrepentant, unreliable terror outfit.
Hamas has taken a beating in its latest battle with Israel, but so too has media credibility.
Pål T. Jørgensen of Norway’s TV 2 charged in a report that aired this week, that Hamas in Gaza has imposed strict restrictions on the foreign press, and backed them up with “threats.”Sunny Hundal: Gaza, Falsehoods, Moral Equivalence
While Jorgensen said conditions were “decent working here,” he added that “there are several foreign journalists (that) have been kicked out of Gaza because Hamas does not like what they have written or said. We have received strict orders that if we record that Hamas fires rockets or that they shoot, we get serious problems and are expelled from Gaza.”
One such person is Sunny Hundal. I have many differences with Hundal, but he is not someone who can be readily bracketed with anti-Western head-bangers like Mehdi Hasan and Owen Jones. Hundal supported military intervention in Syria and, domestically, he has been supportive of counter-extremism efforts by organisations such as Quilliam to combat homegrown radical Islam.Mike Carlton sued for racial vilification
The Gaza war, however, has completely screwed up his critical perspective, and he has gone beyond simply condemning Israeli policies and actions, and has endorsed the Tricycle Theatre’s recent refusal to host London’s annual Jewish Film Festival as long as it accepts funding from the Israeli embassy.
His recent Guardian debate with Nick Cohen on the subject opens with a paragraph of anti-Israeli half-truths, canards and falsehoods, and since they form the moral basis of his call to boycott the Festival (to which I’ll return), they should be dealt with.
The Racial Discrimination Act will be used in a complaint against The Sydney Morning Herald over its anti-Semitic cartoon and the accompanying article by former columnist, Mike Carlton.Relativity CEO Ryan Kavanaugh: How Can 'Tolerant' Hollywood Tolerate Hamas' 'Utter Tyranny?'
A Sydney engineer, Wayne Karlen, 60, has lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission arguing the publication of the cartoon and column caused offence to Australian Jews.
Mr Karlen also referenced the subsequent abuse of readers by Carlton, stating in the complaint that The Sydney Morning Herald has committed an unlawful act within the meaning of the Racial Discrimination Act.
“This cartoon racially vilifies Jews and the similarity to Nazi propaganda compounds the distress to those of us that had relatives fight and die in WWII,’’ he said. “The absence of a strong formal censure for publishing this racist and offensive material conveys an appearance of official acceptance of same.”
Mr Karlen, who is not Jewish, said he decided to lodge the complaint on Tuesday after the ABC’s Media Watch defended the cartoon and Carlton the night before.
On Aug. 5, Relativity Media CEO Ryan Kavanaugh blasted celebrities like Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz for labeling Israel's self-defense measures against Hamas as "genocide."Did Hamas and Sky News cynically exploit a paralyzed Palestinian girl?
He wasn't done.
Kavanaugh penned a scathing op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter today, shaming his Hollywood peers for either staying silent or aligning themselves with a group that would crush their artistic achievements ... and do far worse if they lived in Gaza.
If you’re a woman, gay, Christian, Jewish or just non-Muslim and reading this, be thankful you don’t live in Gaza. Not only would you not be allowed to read this, you probably would be publicly executed. If you've ever voiced an opinion that isn't shared by Hamas publicly or merely attended a meeting where people are discussing anything Hamas does not support, be thankful you don't live in Gaza, as you probably would be publicly executed....
Why, in a community [like Hollywood] that celebrates the human spirit and the right to share opinions via art, do some celebrities express opinions that Hamas would support in its war against Israel. Israel is perhaps the closest free-thinking place to Hollywood....
How can a Hollywood community so tolerant … tolerate this utter tyranny?
My sources in the IDF and with COGAT were never contacted by Sky News concerning this incident.BBC Tries to Interview Jihadi About Robin Williams Film Jumanji
COGAT was, however, later contacted by Palestinian health officials and they are coordinating with them (and also with the World Health Organization) to have the girl removed from Gaza as soon as a new request is received together with all the relevant documents and information. She will be removed first to Jerusalem and then on to a hospital where she can receive the best of care.
Moreover, COGAT has facilitated every request received by people needing to leave Gaza for serious medical cases, one hundred and fifty in number, throughout this current Gaza conflict.
As for Sky News, I have yet to receive a response to my numerous complaints.
A new low for BBC 'journalism' came yesterday as Britain's public broadcaster tried to interview a known ISIS fighter on Twitter about the Robin Williams film Jumanji.How the BBC made missile fire from the Gaza Strip almost disappear
Setting aside that using the death of Robin Williams to try and open a channel with a jihadist is a new low for the organisation, it doesn't even look like the BBC producer got his scoop.
The account 'Mujahid4Life' on Twitter belongs to a British man who goes by the name of Abdullah, who often reports favourably about ISIS's wars in Iraq and Syria. He is thought to now be based in the region.
But the BBC had other designs on Abdullah following a tweet about the Robin Williams hit film.
The 72-hour ceasefire which came into effect on August 11th and was supposed to expire at midnight on August 13th was broken when missiles were fired from the Gaza Strip some two and a half hours before its end. Between 21:30 and 01:00 local time, eight missiles were fired at Israel, some of which were intercepted. The IDF responded with strikes on missile launching sites and weapons facilities. Whilst a Hamas spokesman denied that Hamas had fired the missiles, other terrorist factions in the Gaza Strip claimed responsibility.BBC’s Guerin expunges Hamas and its terrorism from the story of Gaza
So how did the BBC News website report those events? The article which currently appears under the title “Israel and Palestinians begin tense five-day Gaza truce” with the date August 14th opens with typical ‘last-first’ reporting:
“Israel and the Palestinians have begun a fresh five-day ceasefire in Gaza, agreed at the end of a three-day truce.
As the ceasefire was announced, Israel launched air strikes in response to alleged rocket fire from Gaza.”
Guerin of course neglects to point out the fact that had Hamas not opted to turn the Gaza Strip into a terrorist enclave, there could have been a seaport in Gaza years ago.BBC News promotes Tariq Ali’s lies and disinformation
Despite this being the third report in as many days promoting the Hamas demand for a seaport, yet again BBC audiences were exposed to context-free presentation of the topic of the naval blockade with no explanation of the relevant background and no mention of the terrorist activity by Hamas which brought about both the naval blockade and the restrictions at land crossings.
The BBC has made absolutely no attempt to inform audiences of the relevant sections of agreements signed two decades ago by Israel, the Palestinian authority, Egypt and representatives from the US and Russia. Article XIV of the Interim Agreement is titled “Security along the Coastline to the Sea of Gaza” and it maps out the areas in which fishermen from the Gaza Strip can fish. The terms of that agreement place Gaza’s coastal waters under Israeli responsibility and those waters are divided into three different zones named K,L and M.
The BBC News website version of this television news report appeared under the title “‘Israel started this war’ – Tariq Ali at Gaza rally in London” on August 9th. Why an interview so replete with disinformation and downright lies was considered appropriate for further promotion on the BBC News website is a question in itself.Kent State Professor Explains ‘Painful Punishment’ Of Israel By Allah
Of course ‘live’ television is often not live at all, with a broadcast delay routinely employed as a safety net. It is therefore all the more unclear why the BBC broadcast an entire interview with the backdrop shown below.
Kent State University associate professor Julio Pino told Watchdog.org that Jews and Israel can expect Allah to exact a “painful punishment” for their disbelief.Jews join Kurds in anti-ISIS protest
Watchdog this week pressed the taxpayer-funded history professor to own up to and elaborate on his open letter to Israeli academics calling for a jihad on Israel, a regime, according to Pino, “that is the spiritual heir to Nazism.”
“Open Letter to Child in Gaza,” provided exclusively to Watchdog, earned Pino an unsigned condemnation posted Aug. 4 on the Kent State University website.
When asked for further comment on Pino’s open letter, Kent State spokesman Bob Burford told Watchdog, “That is all we have to release at this time.”
Some 500 demonstrators gathered outside Downing St yesterday evening to protest noisily against the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Yazidis and Assyrian Christians in northern Iraq by the jihadist army ISIS, also known as IS (Islamic State). Shouting 'Stop the crisis, down with ISIS", 'Today the Middle East, tomorrow the UK' and 'We are all peshmerga (a reference to Kurdish independence fighters)!" the crowd was dominated by a spirited contingent of Kurds, some in traditional dress.Holocaust Imagery, Anti-Semitic Stereotypes Punctuate Chicago Anti-Israel Rally (PHOTOS)
Joining the protest, which was organised at short notice by Solidarity against ISIS and the British Pakistani Christian Association, was a group from Harif, the UK association of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa. A couple of Harif members, Michelle Huberman and Ralph Assor, gave interviews to LBC and Kurdish radio.
At another rally on July 26 he captured similar anti-Semitic rhetoric including “lots of Nazi and Israel comparisons.” He also revealed what some would deem hypocritical. Gay activists openly condemning Israel, which arguably exceeds the United States in protecting the human rights of the GLBTQ community. Gays in Palestine are often jailed and tortured for their sexual orientation.Russell Brand urges Israel boycott
“One of the things I found most notable at the anti-Israel rallies I’ve been to is the number of children there, many holding inflammatory anti-Israeli signs with Nazi references or those comparing the current conflict in Gaza with the 9/11 attack in the U.S.,” said Hoenig.
Chicago media paid little attention to the rally, devoting less than a minute of coverage during their ten o’clock evening newscasts. The most extensive coverage was conducted by Univision Spanish language newscast. Chicago’s ABC affiliate did report that demonstrators chanted demands that Israel’s land be given to the Palestinians.
British comedian and actor Russell Brand has added his voice to those calling for a boycott of Israel in the wake of its month-long Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip — but has gone a step further, urging banks and pension funds to sever investment ties with Israel and introducing an online campaign to pressure top firms to withdraw their investments in projects that “finance illegal settlements.”University of Aston Hosts Extreme Anti-Semitic Charity
In the latest episode of his online show “The Trews,” Brand singles out UK bank Barclays — albeit with a pinch of humor — for managing the portfolios of Elbit, an Israeli defense electronics company that, in Brand’s words, “make the drones that bomb Gaza.”
The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) announced on 5 August that it has “teamed up with the organisers of Eden, an exciting retreat featuring an array of exciting activities and world renowned speakers.” Eden, which includes “seminars, sports activities, workshops, performing artists, night prayer and so much more,” is due to take place between 22 and 25 August at Aston University in Birmingham.Malaysian Teen Investigated for 'Liking' Israel
The organisers of Eden are the Islamic Network, “a da’wah organisation which aims to promote awareness and understanding of the religion of Islam.” It is a UK-registered charity.
As part of its mission to “promote awareness and understanding” of Islam, the Islamic Network offers an Islamic advice service on its website. In a series of religious rulings, the Islamic Network advocates the murder of apostates and adulterers; urges Muslims to hate non-Muslims; states that when ”kafirs” [derogatory term for non-Muslims] die, “the whole of humanity are relieved”; claims that music is a “satanic voice”; and describes Western civilisation as “evil.”
Police in the Muslim-majority country of Malaysia are investigating a Malaysian teenager for "sedition," after he "liked" a pro-Israel Facebook post.Canadian Radicals Target IDF Lone Soldiers, 'Vampire' Netanyahu
The 17-year-old student in the northern state of Penang "liked" a post that read "I love Israel," and featured a picture of the Jewish state's flag, Penang police chief Abdul Rahim Hanafi was quoted as saying Wednesday by Malaysian media.
Abdul Rahim said that under the harsh police crackdown, the student claimed to accidentally clicking "like." Sedition charges can hold a three-year jail sentence in the Muslim-majority nation.
At the height of the operation Canada's National Post published an article focusing on Canadian lone soldiers. Nefesh B'Nefesh reports that 145 young Canadian citizens are currently serving in the IDF as lone soldiers, living by themselves in Israel and defending the Jewish state.Coming face to face with anti-Semites in Paris
In response to the article, Arab Canadians and radical leftist groups called for the Canadian law preventing citizens from leaving the country to join terror groups to be expanded to include those leaving to serve in the IDF, in a shocking equivocation of Israel and terror, reports Shalom Toronto.
The delegitimization campaign comes as the Arabic-language Toronto-based paper Meshwar published in one of its recent editions a photo-montage picture. In it, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is presented as a vampire, murdering and drinking the blood of a Palestinian Arab child.
A Star of David is seen on Netanyahu's forehead in the image, and in front of him is set a picture of a wounded Arab child, bleeding and crying. Blood is seen dripping from fangs in Netanyahu's mouth, as he is shown pouncing on the infant.
A young black man with a Parisian accent told a dozen friends loudly, but without shouting, “OK, guys. Let’s go hunt some Jews.”Parliament Square Occupied by Gaza protest
His friend answered, “Let’s break their heads.” To which the first speaker replied, “Catch them fast, kill them slow.”
The group blended into a mass of thousands of people who were marching toward the Gare du Nord train station while shouting slogans accusing Israel of genocide.
My shock stemmed from the fact that while anti-Semitic violence accounts for a fair share of my reporting here in Europe, I have personally been insulated from it — perhaps because I live in Holland, where such occurrences are rarer, or maybe because I had lived most of my life in Israel, where one receives only a theoretical understanding of the phenomenon.
This morning around 50 anti-Israel activists filled the patch of land opposite Britain's Houses of Parliament, better known as Parliament Square.Cops Confirm ISIL Flag Removed from New Jersey Home
The protesters sat in small boxes, many of them having dragged their small children along with them to cram them inside the small plastic squares in order to draw attention to the ongoing war against Hamas. A large sign at the front of the protest read 'GAZA' with no further explanation. Britain's press were out in force, evidently lapping it up.
Following publication of the story, Garwood Police Chief Bruce D. Underhill denied that the police “ordered” the flag to be removed and would not discuss whether or not the police had been contacted about the home in question. He also declined to discuss what “appropriate steps” were taken after his officers became aware of the situation. The headline and the story have been updated to reflect Underhill’s further comments.Scottish Jew says he was fired for wearing Magen David
Edinburgh native Jonathan McKean-Litewski told The Times of Israel he was fired from his job Tuesday because he refused his manager’s repeated requests to remove his Star of David pendant.Shylock slur for Key
The 26-year-old Scottish Jew was an employee of the trendy Old Town Context retro homewares store owned by Andrew and Alice McRae, and claims store manager Joyce Boyle had an anti-Semitic motive in his dismissal.
McKean-Litewski said he is working with the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC) in reporting the event to the authorities who, in Scotland, are required to investigate based on his accusations.
A New Zealand lawmaker has apologised for describing Prime Minister John Key as “Shylock” on Facebook.Orthodox Jewish Tourist Assaulted in Switzerland
Labor Party member Steven Gibson has been criticised for using what many considered an anti-Semitic slur alongside a photo of the Conservative Party leader.
On Monday, Gibson said the comment was “completely inappropriate” and that he didn’t fully understand the term “Shylock.” The post has since been deleted.
“I was only repeating what a constituent had said to me,” local media reported him saying. “And it’s only now that I realize the connotations of it. I’m sorry people have been offended and I’ll take the post down – that’s all I can do.”
Add Switzerland to the list of countries in Europe where Jews have been targeted in recent months. A 26-year-old from Antwerp, Belgium, visiting Davos with his wife and four children, was assaulted by a man who yelled “Juden raus” are him while his family watched from inside a car, JTA reports.US, Israel Issue Landmark Agreement for Mutual Investor Visas
"The victim, identified only as A. Wachsstock, was walking toward his car, where his wife and four children were waiting for him, when a man in his sixties began hitting him and shouting anti-Semitic profanities, including “Juden raus,” or “Jews, get out” in German.
Wachsstock entered his car with lacerations on his right hand from the assault and drove away, Tachles reported. The man’s family witnessed the assault."
Through a reciprocal agreement with US officials, the move allows US citizens to obtain visas to invest and conduct business in Israel, and vice versa. The visa pact is aimed at encouraging economic growth in both countries and strengthening relations between the two.What’s on your mind? ElMindA’s ‘helmet’ knows
An inter-ministerial team led by Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) found that there is a need for the provision of economic and social investor visas to citizens of the United States.
Granting the visa would allow the citizens of Israel and the United States to make joint investments as well, and encourage and develop economic investment in the Israeli economy, as well as increasing the number of employment opportunities in Israel.
A helmet-like Israeli brain monitor that works without penetrating the skull has the potential to spot problems early, giving doctors a chance to step in with treatment programs to help patients cope with disorders like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ADHD.An hour from Khan Younis, Hala gets a new lease on life
ElMindA received FDA clearance in early August for use of its brain activity monitoring system in assessing brain function in patients. ElMindA’s BNA Analysis System uses sensors that measure and analyze neural activity during specific brain processes, presenting information about brain activity and measuring it against a database of over 7,000 brain functions to see how a patient’s condition stacks up. BNA stands for Brain Network Activation.
A 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire in Operation Protective Edge allowed toddler Hala to keep her biannual appointment at the hospital’s pediatric cardiology department. When she was eight months old, Hala underwent surgery at Wolfson to treat her for congenital heart disease. Having made a full recovery, on Tuesday she became the first Gaza patient to return to the hospital following Israel’s ground operation, which lasted from July 17 to August 5.Looks like a Segway, acts like a wheelchair
Hala is one of nearly 300 children treated yearly in Wolfson through Save a Child’s Heart, an Israeli nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of pediatric cardiac care for children from developing countries. Since its establishment in 1995, SACH has provided care to over 3,000 children aged 0-18, mostly from Africa and the Arab Middle East.
“It was nerve-wracking to come here in these conditions,” Sha’er told The Times of Israel. “If things would be like before, with war and missiles over our heads, we wouldn’t have come. But now there’s a three-day ceasefire and things are good. People in Khan Younis come and go and the market is open.”
The robotic ReWalk exoskeleton from Israel’s Argo Medical Technologies, featured on primetime’s Glee, Time magazine’s list of greatest inventions of 2013 and at the London Marathon, will be a hard act to follow.
But the ReWalk’s inventor, Amit Goffer, is hoping to score another hit with a new innovative wheelchair, UPnRIDE, designed for people like himself who cannot benefit from the ReWalk because they are quadriplegic and don’t have full functionality in their arms. (The ReWalk is only by those who are paraplegic, paralyzed below the waist.).
UPnRIDE will enable many wheelchair users to be fully mobile in standing position anywhere, including in an urban environment, says Oren Tamari, CEO of RehaMed Technologies.
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