08/15 Links Pt2: My Jewish Family’s Incredible Shrinking World; 4 Types Of Anti-Israel Leftists

From Ian:

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4 Types Of Anti-Israel Leftists

In recent weeks, debates have been flaring up on social media about who is to blame for the Arab-Israeli conflict in Gaza. Even celebrities such as Joan Rivers and Selena Gomez have gotten involved, dividing friends and fans. As someone who leans pretty left myself, I have always been baffled at how people who have rational, intelligent viewpoints that I agree with on every other issue somehow lose their minds when it comes to this conflict. The scientist that I am, I have investigated the reason for this discrepancy, and have noticed some patterns. The four categories displayed below seem to follow their own distinct flavour of anti-Zionism. They all have common threads in that they love to cite the heavily-biased UN for “evidence” of Israeli war crimes, to argue that criticizing Israel or even being anti-Zionist doesn’t make them anti-Semitic, and to nitpick at even the smallest of Israel’s faults, while obscuring the far more egregious faults of Hamas, to use as reasons for its nonexistence – something I never see done about any other country. However, the four schools of anti-Zionist thought are distinctive in their approach.
4. The Leftie Who Is Actually A Right-Winger
Common Giveaways:
-Mention of the “AIPAC lobby” or other implications that Jews control the government through their pockets.
-Accusing you of being paid to be pro-Israel by the Israeli government or Hasbara.
-“Jews love to accuse anyone who is anti-Zionist or has legitimate criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic in order to invalidate any opposition” – all four types of anti-Israel leftists use this line, but this wolf in sheep’s clothing has a particular affinity for it, as they are quick to try to hide that they are anti-Semitic knowing full well know that if their anti-Semitism was revealed, it would invalidate their claims.

Tunnels as war crime

The tunnels built by Hamas in Gaza, in particular, present novel issues for international law. Gaza’s tunnels are different from traditional military objectives like army bases or weapons depots. In their design, the tunnels burrow under an internationally recognized border, they traverse civilian areas, and their primary objective and effect – contrary to international law – is to harm and endanger civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian.
While being constructed, Gaza’s tunnels pose a substantial risk to those building them – often children – and to the civilian structures under which they are dug. The last few weeks have shown us that most tunnel digging begins within homes, hospitals, mosques and other “protected objects”. Filled with explosives and weapons, tunnels can detonate at any time, risking not only the lives of the diggers and operatives who use them, but also the civilians living above them. And this is only on the Palestinian side of the border.
Equally challenging are the conditions in which these tunnels may be eliminated. In Gaza, which does not have the open spaces found in Vietcong-controlled Vietnam or al Qaeda-controlled Afghanistan, the destruction of a tunnel inevitably results in the destruction of civilian structures above the subterranean passage, and in many cases the loss of civilian lives.

My Jewish Family’s Incredible Shrinking World

The Middle East is even more fraught, of course. “You can go to United Arab Emirates, certainly to Dubai,” people say. Can I? “Don’t be too open about being Jewish but they don’t care there. They’re very modern.” My husband was born in Israel and it says so on his American passport. They don’t allow Israelis into the United Arab Emirates, at least that’s the official policy of this “modern” country. Even if he wasn’t marked for exclusion, I’m not keeping my Jewishness a secret. If Saudi Arabia opened its doors to me tomorrow, I still wouldn’t go. I’m not covering my head. I’m a woman of the free world, I have spent my life being grateful for this, knowing that a twist of fate gave me freedom I could have so easily not have had.
I wore a Star of David around my neck the entire time I lived in Scotland. I think I’d be uncomfortable doing the same now. The rage emanating from Europe toward Jews is white hot. A synagogue in Surrey was defaced. Another synagogue was vandalized in Miami of all places. But what’s lacking when it happens in Europe is any sense of outrage from the Europeans. In Miami the atmosphere was “how could this happen here?” In Europe there is no such question. Of course it happens there. In France, when synagogues get firebombed, as they do with alarming frequency, there isn’t a national movement to say they won’t stand for it. They very much stand for it. French Jews are the scapegoats for the real problems in France, between the French and those the French call “the Arabs,” even though “the Arabs” have lived there for decades and should just be French by now. Forget Turkey, a country I once enjoyed visiting. They went off the rails years ago. It’s an election year in Turkey now, so obviously Israel is the top issue in a country with 9% unemployment.
Israeli performers get disinvited from a festival in Edinburgh as if disinviting artists from countries whose politics you don’t like is a normal thing to do. Where is the outrage? They pretend it’s because of Israel, not because they’re Jews. Then the Jewish Film Festival gets canceled in London. An embarrassment. Britain should hang its head in shame. It doesn’t. A crowd in Germany (in Germany!) shouts “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas.” Where is Germany’s soul-searching that this goes on within its borders? Forget Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem signing an anti-Israel letter in a Spanish newspaper. No big deal when the second-biggest newspaper in Spain prints a piece arguing Jews “are not made to co-exist,” with references to how good they are with money, how they deserved expulsion, wondering how they still exist (“persist”) at all.(h/t Phil)

Isi Leibler: Jewish leaders' deafening silence

Today, despite the concerns about further polarization, the leadership of the Jewish community is failing to fulfill its mandate if it remains silent when the White House makes negative statements while Israel is locked in a bitter war with genocidal terrorists.
In the wake of the inexplicable silence by the Jewish leadership on the New York Metropolitan Opera's performance of the anti-Semitic "The Death of Klinghoffer," questions are being raised as to whether Jewish leaders are unconsciously drifting back to the "trembling Israelites" approach of the 1940s.
There is an urgent need for soul-searching by the American Jewish leadership. Failure to respond to such provocative outbursts from the White House sends a message of weakness that the Jewish community is no longer willing to publicly confront hostility, and could lead to a significant erosion of American Jewry's political influence.
American Jewish leaders may be motivated by good intentions, but there are means of expressing dissent and retaining respect and dignity. Their ongoing public silence is likely to be condemned by future historians.

Israel and America: Time for a Trial Divorce?

Not since the early 1980s, when the Reagan Administration withheld delivery of promised F-16 fighter planes as a response to Israel’s bombing of Iraq’s nuclear plant in Osirak, has the U.S. acted in such a brazen, reckless manner.
Effectively, President Barack Obama has made Israel weaker.
Coincidentally, Washington recently signed a $4 billion arms deal with Turkey. This agreement comes on the heels of the $11 billion deal that was finalized a few weeks ago between the U.S. and Qatar, a country described by former Israeli President Shimon Peres as “the world’s largest funder of terror.”
With Barack Obama outsourcing Washington’s Middle East policy to two of Hamas’s primary benefactors, Israel may want to consider a trial separation from its ‘special relationship’ with the United States.

Israel Should Ignore Obama’s Tantrum

The thing that is driving Obama crazy is not so much Netanyahu’s willingness to say no to him but the fact that Congress and most Americans seem to think there is nothing wrong with it. The president may be, as Aaron David Miller famously said, someone who is “not in love with the idea of Israel” as his recent predecessors have been. But the alliance he inherited from George W. Bush and Bill Clinton is one that is so strong and so deeply entrenched within the U.S. political and defense establishments that there isn’t all that much he can’t do about it.
Try as he might, Obama can’t persuade any Israeli government to endanger its people by repeating the Gaza experiment in the West Bank. Nor will he persuade them to refrain from hitting Hamas hard and opposing negotiations that further empower it. Netanyahu has a relatively united Israeli nation behind him that rightly distrusts Obama. He also can count on the support of a bipartisan consensus in Congress that sees no reason to back an increasingly unpopular and ineffective lame duck president against the country’s only democratic ally in the Middle East.

With Israel Still Under Terrorist Attack, Obama Denies Ammo

While the White House may believe it is encouraging an end to the conflict by denying Israel the weapons it needs to continue fighting, in practice it is achieving the opposite. By showing Hamas that Israel is becoming more vulnerable, it is encouraging the terror group to reject compromise and promise future conflict. Hamas has adopted a more belligerent tone in recent days--as has the Palestinian Authority itself.
Meanwhile, the much-vaunted security cooperation that Obama had used to burnish his pro-Israel credentials has now been severely damaged.
Israel's opposition parties have seized on the rift between Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a rare political opportunity. But Netanyahu is not to blame--and he has not damaged relations with the U.S.: Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of Obama's Israel policy. This is Obama's fault. (h/t Canadian Otter)

The Last, Desperate Defense of Obama on Israel Just Evaporated

Obama never hid his contempt for the Israeli government, its political class, or the majority of Israel’s voters. Even as a candidate in 2008 he let loose, ranting about Likud in a way that showed his lack of understanding of the basics of Israeli political life as well as his desire to push back on Israel’s supporters in the U.S. When he became president, only the most dedicated leftists were surprised when he, in entirely predictable fashion, picked silly fights with Israel and tried to collapse its elected governing coalition. (Though it can also be argued that those leftists were cheered by this course of action.)
There was always, however, one defense Obama’s fanboys in the media would fall back on: at least he is dedicated to ensuring Israel has what it needs to defend itself. This was generally thought to be a fair point, though never as compelling as they hoped it would be. After all, “Obama hasn’t abandoned Israel to a bloody genocide at the hands of its neighbors” is quite a low bar to clear. But the Journal story takes apart the idea that Obama has always had Israel’s back when the chips were down:

Obama’s ‘Unprecedented’ Support of Israel Includes Blocking Arms

Former White House National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams, who is intimately acquainted with the U.S.-Israel military alliance, said the move is likely to undermine confidence in Israel among other close U.S. allies.
“The facts are not yet clear, and perhaps the White House just wants to be sure it knows exactly what is moving when,” said Abrams, who served in the George W. Bush administration. “That is always a White House prerogative. But interfering in the flow of arms to an ally who is under fire would be entirely different, undermining the confidence in the White House not only in Jerusalem, but in every allied capital.”
“Officials in Seoul, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Tokyo, Manila—you name it—will think, ‘If they can do this to Israel they can do it to me,’” Abrams said. “The whole purpose of the emergency reserve stocks we keep in Israel, and the Bush administration gave Israel access to in 2006 during the war with Hezbollah, is to be sure that supplies flow fast and smoothly.”
The White House’s decision to exert increased oversight contradicts Obama’s own rhetoric on the matter.

The new US-Israeli quarrel. How bad is it, really?

Among Israeli pundits, evaluations of the suspended shipment, combative phone call, anonymous sniping incident range all the way from “Move along, there’s nothing to see here” to “Be afraid, be very afraid.”
In the “Move along” camp, former Likud defense and foreign minister Moshe Arens said the episode can’t even be considered a crisis. “I’ve no doubt that it’s going to pass,” he told The Times of Israel. “There’s no need to worry.”
Udi Segal, the diplomatic correspondent of Israel’s Channel 2, suggested that the suspension of the missile deal is Washington’s way to pay Jerusalem back for the harsh criticism of Obama and his Secretary of State John Kerry. Rather than indicating a fundamental shift in American defense policy vis-à-vis Israel, it could be understood as the latest round in a tit-for-tat that both sides think is beneficial to them.

 Drawing Conclusions From the Myth of Middle East Moderates

Zakaria is merely stating what has long been obvious to critics of the political culture of the Arab and Muslim world. In that toxic environment, “moderation” is political poison and extremism, especially of the Islamist variety has become mainstream. As Zakaria rightly notes, the dynamic that has brought ISIS to the brink of overrunning Iraq has been manifested throughout the Middle East over the last generation as Islamists have become more powerful and their so-called moderate opponents have become less moderate as well as unpopular.
The purpose of this Obama cheerleader’s detour into reality is not, however, to debunk the fantasy that Israel must make concessions to the Palestinians in order to strengthen their moderates. Nor is he seeking to pour cold water on those promoting the delusion that Iran’s leaders are becoming more moderate and that justifies American appeasement of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Those are two fallacies that Zakaria is perfectly happy to continue promoting in his writing and on the bully pulpit he occupies on CNN.
No, the only reason that Zakaria is interesting in shooting down the idea of Arab moderation is because that is a convenient way to defend the Obama against the criticisms lodged against him by Hillary Clinton last week in her Atlantic interview with Jeffrey Goldberg. Clinton rightly noted that an early and vigorous Western intervention in Syria would have probably toppled the brutal Assad regime. But even more importantly, the chaos that stemmed from the protracted civil war there led to the rise of ISIS, a vicious Islamist terror group that has overrun parts of Syria and much of Iraq.

Laughing or crying?

Among the many emails I received this week was one from a group called BDS Italy. The self-righteousness of the far Left made me laugh so much I feel compelled to share the bad joke with readers: “BDS Italy expresses its unequivocal and absolute condemnation of the shameful posters plastered around the city of Rome by the neo-fascist group Militia, as well as the general co-optation of the Palestinian cause by the extreme right to spread anti-Semitism,” it read. “BDS Italy denounces anti-Semitism as racist and reactionary ideology and condemns the use of Palestinian suffering as a pretext and tool for spreading this vile ideology. In particular, we condemn the fascist call to boycott Jewish-owned businesses, a call which includes an appalling ‘blacklist.’ “BDS Italy notes that the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel... has nothing to do with the odious and despicable maneuvers of fascists new and old.”
Well, thanks for clarifying that. I’ll sleep much easier now, missile alerts permitting.
While so many of us are wondering if Europe has returned to the pre-World War II era, it is clearer than ever that the existence of Israel (albeit under fire both physically and figuratively) has made a difference. When Jews hear calls to “Get out!” and “Go home!” they at least have a homeland to go to. That could have altered the shape of Jewish history had it been the situation in the 1930s and the first half of the 1940s.
I’m waiting for the BDS-ers to wake up and realize who else is lying in the same bed with them: radical jihadists.

If You Like ISIS, You'll Love Hamas.

For Palestinian Jihadists in Gaza, as for ISIS executioners in Iraq, killing unbelievers offers nothing less delightful than a full pardon from personal death. Understood in more narrowly psychological terms, for these aspiring "martyrs," the death fear of the ego is lessened by the killing, the sacrifice, of the "other." This incomparable diminution is best captured by Ernest Becker's oft-quoted paraphrase of Nobel laureate Elias Canetti: "Each organism raises its head over a field of corpses, smiles into the sun, and declares life good."
A Palestinian state could become conspicuously lethal to Israel, and also starkly injurious to America. Beginning with a much greater understanding of prospectively pertinent linkages between violence and the sacred, both Jerusalem and Washington must now acknowledge that any emergent "Palestine," even one that had previously agreed to its own "demilitarization," would regard the entirety of Israel's remaining territory as "Occupied Palestine." In consequence, Arab demands for additional Israeli territorial surrenders would continue even after a bestowal of full Palestinian sovereignty.
Unrequited, such essentially cartographic demands would generate endless cycles of additional anti-Israel terror. Over time, these cycles could even come to include mass executions, and certain weapons of mass-destruction.
If you like ISIS, you'll love Hamas.

Israel-hating lunatics too crazy to make fun of

The sheer irrationality of the Israel-haters is so great that it becomes impossible to mock them.
When the news of the massive protests and police reaction in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting of an unarmed black teenager reached Israel, people joked about how long it would take before Israel would be blamed.
The actual answer was ‘a couple of days’.
Yes, really. It seems that US police sometimes visit Israel for courses in counter-terrorism, and the previous police chief of Ferguson, Tim Fitch (not Finch, as at the link) did so in 2011.
Case closed, say Glen Greenwald and Trita Parsi!
And what do American policemen learn in Israel? Max Blumenthal, famous for interviewing drunks in bars, explains that they learned about torture, “Israeli killing methods” and “profiling and behavioral assessment techniques … that were initially tested on Palestinians.” US police and security agencies are being, gasp, “Israelified.”

Poll: 63 Percent of British Jews Question Future in Country Amid Wave of Anti-Semitic Attacks

Britain’s The Jewish Chronicle conducted the straw poll this week asking 150 people, “Since the protests against the war in Gaza began, have you or your friends had a discussion about whether there is a future for Jews in the UK?” A little over 63 percent answered “Yes.”
“I used to live in Israel but I do regret coming back to the UK. I can’t understand the hatred in this country, the anti-Semitic remarks, when we are all British,” Manchester resident Carole Sewelson, 70, told The JC.
Glenn Cohen, 25, a shop worker from Prestwich, expressed similar sentiments, saying, “I think about leaving all the time. I love this country, but there are hotter countries where you don’t get all of this tension.”
Watchdog group Community Security Trust logged 240 anti-Semitic incidents in Britain throughout the month of July, making it the second worst month for anti-Semitism since British records began. A spokesperson for the CST said the number of racist incidents continued to “rise steadily” during the first two weeks of August.

Hillel at Kent State Slams Anti-Semitic Professor Who Declared 'Jihad Until Victory'

In a public statement, Hillel at Kent State slammed Associate Professor of History Julio Pino who has vowed "Jihad until victory" and claimed that "Zionism is the spiritual heir to Nazism." Pino also claimed that Allah will inflict a "painful punishment" on those who stand with Israel.
"Hillel at Kent State joins the Kent State University in condemning the repeated hate rhetoric of faculty member Dr. Julio Pino. His reprehensible comments harm our university and create a divisive and harmful atmosphere for the students and the entire Kent State community by creating a toxic environment which is closed to the free exchange of ideas," the statement read. "We commend the University administration for their strong statement in speaking up against this vile hate speech in order to uphold the integrity of our academic institution."
In a firm statement, Kent State condemned Pino's remarks as "reprehensible and irresponsible."

BBC News’ blockade backgrounder not fit for purpose

With disturbing frequency we have noted here during the past few weeks many examples of BBC reporting which are in fact part and parcel of the corporation’s ongoing advocacy campaign in support of Hamas’ demand to lift border restrictions and the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip.
In none of those reports were BBC audiences given a clear, accurate and factual picture of the nature of restrictions themselves and at no point has the BBC explained that what brought about, and sustains, that Israeli policy is terrorism against Israeli civilians emanating from the Gaza Strip.
On August 13th those repeated failures to accurately and impartially inform BBC audiences were further exacerbated by the appearance of an item on BBC television news and on the BBC News website purporting to provide background information on the topic.

BBC airs inaccurate report by Yolande Knell on Gaza infrastructure

Knell then interviews the director of Shifa hospital, but predictably refrains from popping down to that hospital’s basement to ask the Hamas leaders ensconced there for well over a month about their years of neglect of Gaza’s infrastructure, their short-sighted policy decisions which have left the civilian population without sufficient electricity supplies and their diversion of concrete, piping and other materials which could have been used to improve Gaza’s neglected utilities to terrorism.
Of course the real aim of Knell’s report is not to inform BBC viewers why Gaza’s infrastructure is so badly neglected. Her entire report is in fact yet another contribution to the BBC’s ongoing advocacy campaign for Hamas demands concerning the lifting of border restrictions – as can be seen in her conclusion.

Watchdog: Obstructionist Israel Plans to Continue Existing (satire)

In its latest report on what it calls Israeli intransigence, Peace Now calls attention to the Jewish State’s declared intent of maintaining itself despite opposition from hundreds of millions of opponents. Peace Now called the news “disappointing” and “yet another example of the Netanyahu administration’s willful political and demographic blindness.”
The Peace Now report covers numerous areas of Israeli activity as it affects the question of the dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace process. It characterizes the Israeli assertion of the country’s right to exist as a way to establish certain facts on the ground that would make accommodation of any good-faith proposals by third parties unlikely.
“Once again the radical right-wing government of Netanyahu and his ideological allies have demonstrated their complete unwillingness to consider dismantling the entire Zionist enterprise, which we have long maintained is the only just way to resolve the issues surrounding the Occupation of Palestinian territory,” the report’s conclusion reads. “Only by subjecting Jewish Israelis to expulsion, genocide and oppression at the hands of Palestinian hordes can this administration satisfactorily demonstrate its commitment to a negotiated peace.”

As Threats Rise, Israelis Mull Nixing Turkey From Travel Plans (VIDEO)

In the wake of crude anti Semitic remarks by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, warnings by Turkish Jews to watch their backs, insults during hotel bookings, and harassment by Istanbul airport employees, some Israelis are weighing less hostile vacation venues.
A Channel Two News team made test calls to several Turkish hotels to book a room, and received supportive replies. However, in email communications to book rooms at 10 hotels in Istanbul, Ankara, and Antalya, the responses were far more disturbing.
One replied, “We do not have any problem with Israil people, the problem is your government ( killing childs with bombs ).” Another warned that “for your further safety concerns it is our duty to inform you that the Palestine embassy is our next door neighbor and we do not have private security within the hotel…”

Jewish Agency Bringing Ukrainian Jewish Community to Israel

Some 40 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17 from Donetsk and other embattled areas of Ukraine are currently participating in the ZMAN.IL summer camp, located on Kibbutz Kalia near the Dead Sea. During their time in Israel, they will tour the country, be immersed in Israeli culture, and learn about Jewish history.
At the same time, Jewish Agency representatives are working intensively to provide individuals who wish to immigrate to Israel with immediate assistance.
Since tensions flared in May, some 400 individuals have been rescued from the embattled areas and brought to Israel thanks to Christian organizations and the Jewish community of Dnepropetrovsk. The new immigrants were flown to Israel via Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, and Kiev.

Agriculture Ministry to farmers: Separate West Bank, Golan Heights products ahead of EU ban

In a letter recently sent out by the Ministry of Agriculture to Israeli dairy and livestock producers, Israeli farmers were told to start separating out their products that come from beyond the Green Line ahead of the European Union's boycott of dairy, poultry, eggs and meat that come from the West Bank and Golan Heights. The separated products will then not be sent to the European Union.
The EU's ban is designated for products from the West Bank and Golan Heights, but would technically include certain parts of Jerusalem, though no Israeli goods are produced there anymore.

Snowden: CIA Shared Arab, Palestinian-American Emails, Phone Calls With Israel

In an article appearing in the latest issue of Wired Magazine, CIA whistleblower and fugitive, Edward Snowden alleged that American intelligence agencies shared immense amounts of raw electronic and telephone data on US-based Arabs, and, specifically, Palestinians, with Israeli counterparts over the last few years.
“I think that’s amazing,” Snowden told a reporter during the course of several shadowy interviews held at various locations in Moscow, “It’s one of the biggest abuses we’ve seen,” he told the tech magazine of the unsubstantiated charges.
The information was gathered, inter alia, from “emails and phone calls of millions of Arab and Palestinian Americans whose relatives in Israel-occupied Palestine,” at least, according to the report, which alleged that they “could become targets based on the communications.”

London theater will host Jewish film fest after all

A London theater that refused to host a Jewish film festival because of the event’s Israeli government funding has reversed course.
The Tricycle Theatre decided to continue serving as a venue for the UK Jewish Film Festival after the theater’s initial refusal earlier this month sparked criticism, The Telegraph reported.
The Tricycle earlier said it would not host the UK Jewish Film Festival, which it has hosted for eight years, unless the annual festival eschewed funding from the Israeli embassy, which the theater described as “party to the current conflict” in Gaza.
Festival organizers said the demands were “entirely unacceptable.”

Israel – Vietnam Seeking Major Boost in Defense Ties

Vietnam and Israel are working towards a major upgrade in bilateral defense relations, Hanoi media reported Wednesday.
After a meeting with Israeli counterparts, Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister Lt.-Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh announced that both sides are interested in what Janes Defense termed a “formal framework.”
Vinh, at a meeting in Hanoi a day earlier with Israeli defense affairs representative to Thailand and Vietnam, Dan Camen, said he hoped the Jewish state would appoint a defense attaché to Vietnam soon, and develop a joint working group on defense cooperation, according to local media.

Saying it’s anti-Israel, some members quit NY gay shul

A small but vocal exodus from New York City’s only gay synagogue has brought the congregation’s views on Israel and the Palestinians under increased scrutiny.
Bryan Bridges, a longtime member of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST) in Manhattan, was surprised by an outpouring of online support this week when he publicly declared he was quitting both the congregation and his position on the CBST board in light of what he felt were pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel tendencies.

'Righteous Gentile' Gives Israel Back Award Over Gaza

Henk Zanoli, 91, hid a Jewish child in his home between 1943 and 1945, saving the child's life. Zanoli and his mother, Johana Zanoli-Smit, received the medal for their actions in 2011.
But Zanoli returned the accolade earlier this week to the Israeli embassy in the Hague, citing the death of several family members of his great-niece's husband, who is a Gaza native and whose family
members died in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge last month.
It has not been confirmed, however, whether the deaths Zanoli's relatives spoke of actually happened - as Hamas in Gaza has been shown again and again to falsify deaths for the media in order to win the "PR war" against Israel.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that a New Statesman report claiming an entire family died in Gaza was false; not only was the entire family found alive, but the Hamas "policeman" - or terrorist - was said to somehow have been bombed twice.

Dutch Mayor Bans Pro-Israel, Anti-ISIS Rally as ‘Too Provocative’

While Islamic State (IS) jihadists battle their way across Syria and Iraq – beheading soldiers and civilians, training children for jihad - their supporters across Europe demand “death to Jews” and call for the blood of infidels.
Now, it seems, some European leaders are refusing to fight back.
The situation has become especially controversial in the Dutch political capital of The Hague, where pro-IS protests in July involved anti-Jewish chants and a violent attack on a female journalist covering the event. As the Jew-hate worsened and violence intensified, witnesses and Jewish advocacy groups called on the mayor’s office to step in. But Mayor Josias van Aartsen was on holiday; and his deputy, left in charge, found no reason to intervene.

Syrian rebel commander says he collaborated with Israel

A Free Syrian Army commander, arrested last month by the Islamist militia Al-Nusra Front, told his captors he collaborated with Israel in return for medical and military support, in a video released this week.
In a video uploaded to YouTube Monday by the Executive Sharia Council in the eastern Daraa Region, an Islamic court established by Al-Nusra in southern Syria, Sharif As-Safouri, the commander of the Free Syrian Army’s Al-Haramein Battalion, admitted to having entered Israel five times to meet with Israeli officers who later provided him with Soviet anti-tank weapons and light arms. Safouri was abducted by the al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front in the Quneitra area, near the Israeli border, on July 22.

With Gaza Fighting Over, World Refocuses On Ignoring Syria Conflict (satire)

Now that a cease-fire has taken effect between Israel and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, international attention is returning to anything but the ongoing civil war in Syria.
The war, which has claimed more than 150,000 lives, has reached a strategic stalemate; loyalist air power continues to pound rebel positions and supply lines, while the opposition has gained political backing from players such as France, Britain and the Arab League. But worldwide appetite for actual intervention remains all but nonexistent, primarily because no one really cares.
“It’s one thing if Israel is involved, because everyone can get behind an anti-Zionist initiative,” said a frustrated rebel spokesman in Aleppo. “But as soon as you take Jews out of the equation, it doesn’t matter how many Muslims or Arabs die. Just look at Iraq,” he said, referring to a brutal insurgent campaign that gets mentioned in Western media outlets but generates no agitation for serious intervention of any sort.

Egypt’s top cleric condemns Islamic State

The Islamic State is “violating all the Islamic principles and the intentions of the Shariah (Islamic law),” said Grand Mufti Shawki Allam, Egypt’s highest religious authority.
In his remarks, which were carried by Egypt’s state news agency late Tuesday, Allam also said the “bloody extremist group” had tarnished the image of Islam and paved the way for the destruction of Muslim nations.
“Confronting terrorism requires international and regional cooperation on all levels,” the cleric urged. “The Arab world’s future is facing a hard test.”

Nasrallah Worried About the Islamic State 'Monster'

IS is planning "on expanding toward Jordan and Saudi Arabia by undermining the security and stability of these countries," Nasrallah said in a meeting with the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, according to the Lebanese The Daily Star on Thursday, which cited a Hezbollah official.
The terror leader went on to say of IS that the "takfiri (apostate) monster is on the loose," adding that "everyone is aware of the seriousness."
Confronting IS is "a battle of life and death no less important than fighting the Israeli enemy, as (IS) actions and objectives only serve Israel,” continued Nasrallah, calling for Lebanese unity in facing IS.

Khamenei Publicly Berates Iran-US Rapprochement, Limits FM’s Role

“There are no benefits in having relations or negotiations with the United States, except in certain specific cases,” Khamenei told a gathering of Iranian diplomats, according to a statement on his website.
“Of course, on the nuclear front, talks will continue. What (Foreign Minister Javad) Dr. Zarif and his team started and has been going well until now, will continue,” he said. “We will not ban them (the negotiations). But this has become yet another invaluable experience that interaction and talks with Americans have absolutely no effect in easing their animosity (towards Iran),” Khamenei said.
“Some people were under the impression that sitting down to talk with America would solve all our problems. I knew that wouldn’t be the case, but gave it a try due to the sensitive nature of the nuclear issue,” he said

Wear It Well: Top 10 Wearable Tech Made In Israel

Wearable technology is steadily becoming the next frontier for high tech companies, investors and consumers. From earphones to pedometers, we are only at the beginning of a rising trend in wearable technology gear, gadgets, and gizmos.
Leading in this steadily growing sector, also known as the Internet of Things (IoT) movement that wants to connect every aspect of our worlds to the Internet, is Israel. Although the country is somewhat of a novice in this sector, holding its first ever wearable tech conference this past May, Israel has, in a short span of time, produced an impressive number of incredible technologies for you to wear.
Here we bring you the top 10 list of Israeli wearable technology:

Israeli ECG T-shirt monitors hearts, saves lives

An Israeli company is one of the first in the world to market with a T-shirt that can read a patient’s heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac irregularities, and other vital signs that could be the key to preventing heart attacks. Speed is the key — data is generated in real time and reaches the doctor immediately, instead of waiting until the next scheduled exam. And you can throw the special T-shirt in the laundry with the rest of your clothes.
HealthWatch debuted its hWear line of 15-lead ECG-sensing garments at the recent annual meeting of the American Telemedicine Association. It allows doctors and medical workers to keep track of a heart condition remotely, without having to hook the patient up to a heart-measuring device in a doctor’s office.
It’s made with standard cotton or synthetic yarn, with special electrodes woven in that include extremely thin electrocardiogram sensors that read vital signs and upload them to a monitoring device via Bluetooth or a Wifi connection to a cloud-based database, where the data is processed. If anything abnormal is detected, the patient’s doctors can be alerted, and a treatment protocol can be instituted right away.

Jerusalem’s summer of culture rescheduled for August’s end

Originally scheduled for July 10, the event was postponed due to the rockets falling in Jerusalem and throughout the country.
“We’re not really back to routine, and we don’t think we can celebrate the end of summer or dance like nothing’s happened,” stated the festival organizers.
The evening will offer its annual roster of views, glimpses and contact points with the museum, mostly along the paths, courtyards and sculpture garden of the multi-level cultural institution.

New Photo Resource Uncovered: The Ottoman Imperial Archives

These pictures and English caption appear in the Ottoman Imperial Archives. They show the forced conscription of residents of Palestine, including Jews, prior to the Turkish attack on the British controlled Suez Canal in 1914. The picture on the right shows the confiscation of supplies and food stuffs from Jerusalem residents.
According to the report "Palestine during the War, 1914-1917" by the London Zionist Organisation, life for the Jews of Palestine was difficult and perilous:
Jews and Christians ...were for the most part not placed on active [army] service but assigned to various labor battalions. The members of these battalions were the pariahs of the army; their clothing, feeding, and general equipment was abominable, and they were treated worse than slaves. The Jew would sell his last stick in order to scrape together enough money to ransom him from the slavery of this battalion. But there were still many who could not raise sufficient, and who had to serve in the labor battalions; and these had to leave their families behind entirely unprovided for.
A large part of the Jews in the workers' battalions never returned. They fell victims to epidemics and starvation. A large part of the families of these soldiers also perished from poverty and sickness.