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Saturday, September 19, 2015

09/19 Links: Reykjavik mayor withdraws Israel boycott (for now), more Palestinian attacks, Saudis to head UN human rights panel

A quick post-Shabbat linkdump from EoZ:


IDF strikes in Gaza after rocket fire
The IAF struck three terror targets in northern Gaza overnight as a direct response to the rocket fire emanating from the territory last night. Two rockets were fired from Gaza, with one being intercepted by the Iron Dome system which was recently deployed to south on the backdrop of tensions over Jerusalem.
One rocket fired from Gaza fell in an open area inside the city of Sderot in a residential area, damaging a bus and a home Friday night before a second round of code red sirens was heard in the south, this time in the city of Ashkelon.
One rocket were shot down over Ashkelon just after 11:30pm by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system for the first time since Operation Protective Edge in 2014, just three hours after the rocket strike on Sderot.
Weekend sees violent escalation
The weekend after Rosh Hashanah was marred by violence in Israel, with riots in the Shuafat refugee camp and in the At-Tur and Issawiya neighborhoods, Molotov cocktails that wounded border police fighters in Jabel Mukaber, Palestinians wounded and arrested, another attack on the Jerusalem light rail, and rocket fire in the south. This is a still incomplete litany of the violent incidents that rocked Israel this weekend (Friday and Saturday).
Jewish Lives Matter: Obama & World Silent as PA's Abbas Calls for Murder of "Filthy" Jews
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is calling on President Obama and other world and Jewish leaders to forcefully condemn the Palestinian Authority (PA) dictator Mahmoud Abbas' call to murder "filthy" Jews and "filthy" Christians to prevent them from "defiling" the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (which are the holiest places in the Jewish and the Christians faiths). Abbas promised that those who attack Jews and Christians would be martyrs who will go to paradise. This is an immoral Nazi - like outrage. Jewish and Christian lives matter.
Reykjavik mayor withdraws Israel boycott
The capital of Iceland's decision to ban Israeli products is to be withdrawn, Reykjavik Mayor Dagur Eggertsson told the Icelandic Broadcasting Service RÚV on Saturday, according to Iceland Magazine.
he magazine quoted Eggertsson: “Yes, the decision was poorly prepared. In the past I have taken great pride in preparing all big decisions thoroughly. I’ll admit here and now that I am angry with myself for not doing that, and for not having prepared the decision as well as I would have liked to. This was very unfortunate.”
While the statement may seem like backtracking, the magazine noted that the mayor intends to draft a new proposal that is more specific in its wording.
He earlier explained that he had intended to call for a boycott only of goods made by Israel in the Palestinian territories, not a blanket boycott of all Israeli goods.

Discerning God’s Will at the Society for Biblical Studies
Running straight through the Shabbat weekend between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a group called the Society for Biblical Studies (SBS) will be holding their national conference titled: Christians and the Holy Land: What Does the Lord Require?.
Now in days like the ones we live in, you might think that topics like the disappearance of Christianity from almost all of the places cleansed of Judaism more than half a century ago might be on the agenda. And for a group with a name like the Society for Biblical Studies running an event designed to try to divine the will of the divine, you might suppose their lineup of speakers would include theologians and other religious thinkers and leaders whose interest in “The Holy Land,” extends to the conflagration consuming that land’s neighborhood.
So who is on the lineup for this week’s event?
Well high on their guest list is Stephen Walt, one of the co-authors of The Israel Lobby, the book which helped mainstream the meme that Jewish power dictates American foreign policy, a thesis that – shaky enough when it was first proposed eight years ago – pretty much lies in ruins after this month’s Iran drama.
Right below Walt on the list is Ilan Pappe, a “New Historian” specializing in peddling long-debunked libels directed against the Jewish state to audiences around the world. And where would a local anti-Israel event be without an appearance by Sarah Roy, a “political economist” with apparently no training in either subject who specializes in using Holocaust imagery to bash the nation which emerged from its ashes while serving as Hamas’ #1 academic cheerleader.

Naked Spanish clowns anger Palestinians
Pro-Palestinian Spanish activists posted photos online Wednesday, naked except for red clown noses in front of the West Bank separation barrier in Jerusalem, meant to show opposition to the wall dividing Israelis from Palestinians.
The group witnessed a somewhat unexpected reaction online however, as members of the conservative-leaning Palestinian community slammed them for lack of respect and "disgusting solidarity.
"They're standing like animals," said one viewer. "They're pigs, nothing more. Our nation is too pure for pigs to visit."

Again: Saudi Arabia Wins Bid to "Behead" of UN Human Rights Council Panel
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power and EU foreign minister Federica Mogherini should condemn and work to reverse the appointment of Saudi Arabia as head of a key UN Human Rights Council panel that selects top officials who shape international human rights standards and report on violations worldwide, said UN Watch, a non-governmental watchdog organization based in Geneva.
“It is scandalous that the UN chose a country that has beheaded more people this year than ISIS to be head of a key human rights panel,” said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer. “Petro-dollars and politics have trumped human rights.”

StandWithUs Attends UC Regents Meeting, Urges Action on Anti-Semitism
Representatives from StandWithUs (SWU) attended the University of California Regents meeting at UC Irvine on September 17th, 2015, and were encouraged by the discussion held there on adopting a specific definition of Anti-Semitism for the UC System.
Student leaders representing the organized Jewish community from various UC campuses spoke passionately and persuasively in favor of the State Department definition, which includes demonization, delegitimization, and double standards against Israel.
It was clear that their voices were heard because every single Regent who spoke afterward expressed outrage at the notion that a generalized “statement against intolerance” would be enough to address the toxic climate that has developed on UC campuses. They stressed the importance of defining anti-Semitism specifically and taking action against it, along with other forms of identity-based hatred. As such, they announced the creation of a committee to develop their definition of anti-Semitism and a plan of action for the UC System, with students, regents, and other stakeholders represented.

Video of Palestinian police beating man goes viral
The talk of the day on the Palestinian social networks is not the recent violence in East Jerusalem, but rather a short YouTube video which was filmed during the clashes which took place on Friday afternoon in Bethlehem, near Rachel's tomb.
Other police join in at that point, and at least five of them begin beating the young man vigorously with batons until he becomes seemingly incapacitated, and was dragged away.


PA State Senate Passes Unanimous Resolution Opposing BDS
Leaders of the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition are hopeful that the September 18 unanimous passage by the State Senate of a resolution condemning actions taken by the international boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel will lead to a decline in the rapidly rising number of college campus incidents and other acts of intimidation against Jews.

BBC Apologizes for Antisemitic Caricature of Famous Jewish Violinist in Concert Program
The BBC apologized on Friday for publishing an antisemitic caricature of famed Jewish violinist Leopold Auer in a program for its annual summer concert festival.
“We use a range of caricatures and illustrations in our concert programmes and wanted one of Leopold Auer,” a BBC spokesperson said in an email to The Algemeiner. “We’re sorry to anyone who was offended by the image choice – this was never our intention.”

Al-Aqsa Mosque Address: Europe Wants the Muslim Refugees as Labor; We Shall Conquer Their Countries




In Senate Floor Speech, Rubio Opposes Iran Deal