Tuesday, November 10, 2015
40 Years After Infamous UN Resolution, It’s Clear That Anti-Zionism is Racism
This week marks the 40th anniversary of one of the worst instances of antisemitism since the end of the Second World War. On Nov. 10, 1975, the United Nations — a body created out of the ashes of the Holocaust — passed General Assembly Resolution 3379, which equated Zionism, the Jewish national liberation movement, with racism and racial discrimination.Alan Johnson: The Left and the Jews: Time for a Rethink
That resolution was the culmination of a lengthy campaign by the Soviet Union to turn Israel into the only state within the UN system to have its legitimacy questioned. Soviet Jews had been persecuted in the name of “anti-Zionism” since the days of Josef Stalin’s dictatorship, and Resolution 3379 represented the globalization of that campaign. To that end, the Soviets enlisted the support of Arab states and developing nations, all of whom, in promoting the slander that Zionism is racism, were engaging in the oldest form of racism themselves.
Only a handful of people at the General Assembly grasped this fundamental fact back in 1975. One of them was Chaim Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the world body. In his magnificent speech — commemorated at a special event hosted by Israel’s UN mission this week — Herzog reminded the delegates of another anniversary, also on Nov. 10: Kristallnacht, that dreadful winter’s night in 1938 when Nazi stormtroopers attacked defenseless Jewish targets across Germany. The pogrom resulted in the incarceration of 30,000 Jews, the murder of around 100, and the burning of thousands of synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses.
“It is indeed befitting,” began Herzog, as he proceeded to eviscerate the assembled delegates, “that this debate, conceived in the desire to deflect the Middle East from its moves towards peace, and born of a deep pervading feeling of antisemitism, should take place on the anniversary of this day. It is indeed befitting, Mr. President, that the United Nations, which began its life as an anti-Nazi alliance, should thirty years later find itself on its way to becoming the world center of antisemitism. Hitler would have felt at home on a number of occasions during the past year, listening to the proceedings in this forum, and above all to the proceedings during the debate on Zionism.”
A similarly eloquent appeal to conscience was expressed by the American ambassador to the UN, Daniel Patrick Moynihan. From the same rostrum as Herzog, Moynihan announced, “The United States rises to declare before the General Assembly of the United Nations, and before the world, that it does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act.” The joint outrage displayed by Herzog and Moynihan was a moving testament to the values that bind the US and Israel.
It’s this strand of distinctively left-wing hostility to Jews that I want to make some remarks about tonight. It has never been the dominant strand of opinion on the Left, and it is not so today; not by a long chalk. But it has always existed, it is growing today, and it must be part of any account of the breakdown in the relationship between Jews and the Left.The mood in Germany: Kristallnacht ‘nein,’ BDS ‘ja’
It was called the ‘socialism of fools’ in the 19th century.
It became an ‘anti-imperialism of idiots’ in the 20th century.
And it takes the form of a wild, demented, unhinged form of anti-Zionism – not mere ‘criticism of Israeli policy’ – that demonises Israel in the 21st century.
Part 1: The Socialism of Fools
Let’s begin with a short ‘who said this?’ quiz.
Who said, ‘The whole Jewish world constitutes one exploiting sect, one people of leeches, one single devouring parasite closely and intimately bound together not only across national boundaries but also across all divergences of political opinion.’? That was the 19th century anarchist, Mikhail Bakunin.
Who wrote, ‘Whoever fights against Jewish capital … is already a class-fighter, even if he does not know it … Strike down the Jewish capitalists, hang them from the lamp posts!’? That was the communist Ruth Fischer, a leading figure in the German Communist Party in the early 1920s.
Who said, ‘Wherever there is trouble in Europe, wherever rumours of war circulate and men’s minds are distraught with fear of change and calamity, you may be sure that a hooked-nosed Rothschild is at his games somewhere near the region of the disturbances.’ Well that was an editorial in The Labour Leader, organ of the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in 1891.
The drive to advance Kristallnacht as a means to turn Israel into an abnormal state is not limited to Germany but is in vogue across Western Europe. The European market’s demand for Holocaust events as a way to punish Israel exceeds supply.After Zoabi’s Kristallnacht Speech in Amsterdam, Nasrallah Hoping For an Invite to Yom HaShoah Next Year (satire)
A telling example: Arab-Israeli MK Haneen Zoabi (Joint List) told on Sunday the left-wing group Platform Stop Racism and Exclusion in Amsterdam: “Kristallnacht didn’t suddenly fall from the sky, come out of nowhere, it was the result of a development over time. We can see a similar development happening in Israel over the last several years.”
One of Germany’s sharpest commentators on the country’s grappling with its Nazi past was Eike Geisel, who would have turned 70 this year. Geisel did not live to write about BDS, but he delved into the motivations of alleged peace groups that later morphed into pro-BDS NGOs.
“To be against Israel in the name of peace is something new.... This new anti-Semitism does not arise from base instincts, nor is it the product of honorable political intentions. It is the morality of morons.”
Geisel continued, “Anti-Jewish...hostility arises from the purest human needs; It comes from the yearning for peace. It is therefore entirely innocent; It is as universal as it is moral. This moral anti-Semitism completes Germany’s restoration to goodness, in that it heralds the perfection of inhumanity: the banality of good.”
By commemorating Kristallnacht, many Germans may believe that they are combating German anti-Semitism. Yet by sponsoring BDS and promoting trade with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which seeks to obliterate Israel, things have turned out topsy-turvy.
After controversial MK Hanin Zoabi’s (Joint List) speech at an Amsterdam Kristallnacht commemoration, Hezbullah Leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah feels that “the time is ripe” for him to address next year’s Yom HaShoah commemoration in that city. “Hanin, my sister in the struggle with the Zionist Entity, just did an amazing job. The way she took a commemoration of a Nazi pogrom against Jews and turned it into an anti-Israel screed….amazing. But I think this is just the beginning. Maybe if my Iranian handlers say that it’s cool, I can make it up to Amsterdam next year for Yom HaShoah. To commemorate the Holocaust. You know, if it really happened.” When asked what a man who promised to hunt down Jews worldwide would have to say about the Holocaust, Nasrallah noted; “Well I was thinking of saying that Israel created ISIS. But if that’s not a good fit then my Brother Mahmoud Abbas knows a few things on this subject.” As for Ms. Zoabi, while she enjoyed the event commemorating the Nazis’ systematic destruction of German Jewry, she was disappointed in that she thought it would be more of an instructional “how-to” event.
London Mayor Dismisses Israel Boycotters as Left-Wing Corduroy Jacket-Wearing Academics (VIDEO)
Mayor of London Boris Johnson told reporters in Tel Aviv on Monday that a boycott of Israel in Britain would be “completely crazy,” the UK Jewish News reported.
This comes mere weeks after 343 British academic professionals took out an advertisement in the Guardian calling for an academic boycott and divestment from Israel.
But, Johnson said, there was a misunderstanding in Israel about the scope of the boycott, which he said was only supported only by a “few lefty academics” in “corduroy jackets.”
“Not that there’s anything wrong with wearing a corduroy jacket, I hasten to say,” he quipped, but added that those left-wing academics have “no real standing in the matter” and are highly unlikely to be influential in Britain.
Johnson questioned in front of reporters the logic of disregarding one of the Middle East’s only democracies.
“I cannot think of anything more foolish than to say that you want to have any kind of divestment or sanctions or, whatever, or boycott against a country that when all is said and done is the only democracy of the region. Is the only place that has in my view a pluralist, open society. Why boycott Israel?” Johnson told London-based Channel 4 news.
London mayor Boris Johnson has tech fun in Tel Aviv
Officially, London Mayor Boris Johnson is in Israel on a trade mission to boost business and technology partnerships. But he’s also having a ton of fun.Boris Johnson experiences dog simulation in Israel BBC News
“Both London and Tel Aviv share the values of innovation and tolerance, and it is no surprise that so many tech startups choose Tel Aviv as their home. We look forward to working together to enhance both of our tech communities,” Johnson said.
The London mayor was accompanied by 15 London tech firm representatives on his three-day tour here, and got to ring the opening bell at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
At the Google Campus in Tel Aviv – a lively hub for entrepreneurs – Johnson outfitted himself with Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles and barked at journalists as he demonstrated dog simulation.
Sens. Cruz and Gillibrand Lead Bipartisan Letter to the EU Opposing New Guidelines for Israeli Product Labeling
U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) today sent a bipartisan letter signed by 36 senators to Federica Mogherini, vice president of the European Commission. The letter expresses concern over reports that the European Union (EU) intends to move forward with new guidelines this week to label certain products made by Israeli companies imported into the EU.Senators denounce EU's labeling plan
“As allies, elected representatives of the American people, and strong supporters of Israel, we urge you not to implement this labeling policy, which appears intended to discourage Europeans from purchasing these products and promote a de-facto boycott of Israel, a key ally and the only true democracy in the Middle East,” the letter states. “We believe strongly that these efforts are unwarranted, dangerous, and damaging to the prospects of a negotiated solution to [the Israeli-Palestinian] conflict.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), a Republican presidential candidate, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), on Monday sent a bipartisan letter signed by 36 senators to Federica Mogherini, vice president of the European Commission.Analysis: The ICC decision on ‘Mavi Marmara’ may actually be good for Israel
The letter expresses concern over reports that the European Union (EU) intends to move forward with new guidelines to label Israeli products made in Judea and Samaria.
“As allies, elected representatives of the American people, and strong supporters of Israel, we urge you not to implement this labeling policy, which appears intended to discourage Europeans from purchasing these products and promote a de-facto boycott of Israel, a key ally and the only true democracy in the Middle East,” the senators wrote.
“We believe strongly that these efforts are unwarranted, dangerous, and damaging to the prospects of a negotiated solution to this conflict,” they added.
The letter continues, “We are also deeply concerned that enacting this policy would lead to the broader boycott of Israel. For decades, it has been the policy of the United States to oppose economic boycotts by other countries against Israel. In the 1970s, the United States Congress enacted legislation making it illegal for a U.S. company to comply with the Arab League boycott of Israel. This year, Congress has passed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation requiring the United States to discourage Europe from enacting any politically motivated policies that would boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel when negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.”
“Differentiating between products made by Israeli companies,” the letter said, “creates a troubling precedent that could eventually lead to the type of activities that the TPA provisions aim to address.”
The senators also expressed concern that “the EU is considering a proposal intended to impose more diplomatic and economic pressure on Israel” during the current period of regional instability.
If the ICC lower court and the ICC Appeals Chamber had been unanimous against her, she might have felt compelled to change her decision and delve deeper into the Israeli-Arab conflict than ever before.PA continues filing complaints against Israel at ICC
But the lower court was split 2-1 when it told her to reconsider and the Chamber was split 3-2 when it confirmed that decision.
Anyone who has been speaking of the ICC as being a unified body which is for, against or neutral on Israel must now realize that the ICC is as divided on the Israeli-Arab conflict as can be, with each individual judge ruling differently.
That is not only potentially good for Israel in having hope that there are ears within the ICC’s court system willing to listen, it also gives Bensouda a pretty free hand to close the file.
Judging from how adamant she was in criticizing the ICC lower court’s second- guessing her initial decision, closing the file is probably what she will do.
It is a more convoluted route to putting the flotilla behind Israel than if the Chamber had nixed the case itself, but if it has cleared the way for ending the case, it is about as good as Israel could have hoped for.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is continuing its “diplomatic war” against Israel and has submitted more complaints against the Jewish state to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Saeb Erekat told the Hamas-affiliated Palestine newspaper on Monday that the PA a few days ago filed another lawsuit against Israel for "crimes of execution in the occupied West Bank."
The PA, which joined the ICC on April 1, has in the past year filed a number of claims against Israel, including ones related to alleged Israeli "aggression" in Gaza in the summer of 2014, communities in Judea and Samaria, Israeli treatment of Palestinian security prisoners, the arson in Duma in which members of the Dawabshe family were killed, and alleged "settler terror".
Two weeks ago, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas met with the ICC’s chief prosecutor and handed to her a file documenting alleged Israeli crimes such as "ethnic cleansing".
Erekat’s comments on Monday follow ones he made last week, when he declared that the PA had filed more complaints to the ICC against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, with regards to what he called "extrajudicial executions" during the current intifada - part of the same “diplomatic offensive”.
Amnesty International criticizes proposal to halt ICC action against Israel
Amnesty International on Tuesday criticized a section of New Zealand's proposed UN Security Council resolution which calls for a renewal of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), yet proposes that the Palestinians pause their efforts to bring Israel to the dock of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague.At sensitive meet, Obama and Netanyahu carefully present themselves as allies
In a statement, Amnesty expressed that it is "deeply concerned" that the move could damage chances for a lasting peace.
Amnesty's Executive Director in New Zealand Grant Bayldon wrote that the proposal "disregards the situation of Palestinian and Israeli victims... and would not address the impact of the long-standing impunity in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories."
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully, whose country is serving a two-year term on the Security Council, told a council meeting last week that recent events “cry out for action.”
After a year of acrimonious and public differences, US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a demonstrable effort to present themselves as allies bound by shared interests at the White House on Monday.JPost Editorial: Netanyahu’s trip
Netanyahu had gone to the extraordinary length of lobbying In Congress against the president over the Iran deal in March. Obama has repeatedly attacked the prime minister’s settlement policies. Each thinks he knows better than the other about how to run both of their countries.
But Obama does not want to move toward the end of his term in open dispute with Israel and its supporters in the United States. He may soon be entering the last year of his presidency, but he wants to ensure that it is a Democrat who succeeds him, and thus to avoid alienating voters for whom Israel is a key concern.
And Netanyahu, accused by many critics of turning Israel into a partisan issue in the United States through the ferocity with which he campaigned against Obama’s Iran deal, would plainly like to begin working to bolster the previous, long-time bipartisan support for Israel in the American body politic.
In order for this to happen, both Obama and Netanyahu must get beyond the acrimony that has characterized their relationship thus far. Regardless of what is going on in their heads or behind closed doors, both men have an interest in fostering an improvement in ties.Recognize Israeli annexation of Golan, Netanyahu hints to Obama
Israel, after all, is heavily dependent on the US’s largesse, particularly in the area of security.
Obama, meanwhile, does not want unnecessary friction that would come off as the Democratic Party’s inability to maintain good ties with a democratically elected Israeli government. A high-profile clash now could hurt Hillary Clinton’s bid for presidency vis-à-vis the Republican candidate.
But beyond the narrow political considerations of Obama or the existential needs of the Jewish state, America and Israel share common values and ideals. The ties between the countries are deep and profound.
Obama and Netanyahu might not see eye to eye on a number of issues, from the feasibility of establishing a Palestinian state right now to the ability of diplomacy to “engage” enemies like the Iranians. But much more unites Israelis and Americans than divides them. And while Obama has clashed with Netanyahu on specific policies, he has never once failed to articulate his unwavering support for Israel’s right to defend itself and thrive as a uniquely Jewish state.
It is, therefore, inevitable that the two leaders and their respective administrations look beyond their differences in a fruitful dialogue regarding Israel’s new challenges in a rapidly changing Middle East.
While no one, not even the White House, expects much movement on the Israeli-Palestinian issue to emerge from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current trip to Washington, another theater of conflict on Israel’s borders became a subject of discussion with US leaders.Netanyahu calls meeting with Obama ‘one of best’ they’ve had
Netanyahu raised the issue of the Golan Heights, albeit obliquely, in his Monday meeting with US President Barack Obama, the Haaretz daily reports citing sources familiar with the meeting.
The Israeli leader hinted that given the ongoing war across the border in Syria and the jihadist militias and Iranian-backed forces slowly taking over the country, Israel now seeks American recognition of its annexation of the Golan Heights.
Israel claims the western Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War and took steps to formally annex in 1981. The plateau is considered a critical strategic asset for Israel because it overlooks the towns and villages of much of the Galilee.
Speaking to reporters moments after his two-and-half hour powwow with Obama, Netanyahu said the discussion focused mainly on Israel’s security needs and American military aid to Israel, and steps on the ground Jerusalem intends to take to stabilize relations with the Palestinians. Netanyahu is to meet with Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday to discuss such steps.WaPo: Bipartisan American Support for Israel Is Strong and Growing
The president did not ask Netanyahu to freeze settlements, Netanyahu said. His controversial appointment of Ran Baratz as his new communications director did not come up during the meeting, the prime minister added, reiterating that he will “deal with the matter” upon his return to Israel.
“What you saw from the outside is also what transpired on the inside. It was one of the best meetings I’ve had with Obama,” Netanyahu said.
“The conversation was in very good spirits and very honest; no one hid the disagreements between us. Rather, we focused on how to go forward,” he added.
The two leaders discussed ways to ensure Iran doesn’t violate the agreement and possible means to counter the regime’s aggressive behavior, the prime minister said.
The description ran counter to what many analysts expected to be a tense meeting after a year in which ties between the two have become frayed over the Iranian nuclear issue and settlement building.
A paper cited and co-written by Smeltz, which was also released Monday, provided more details supporting her observation:Obama won’t intervene to let Pollard move to Israel — report
But if the past is any indication of the future of the US-Israel relationship, public opinion trends suggest the relationship will continue to be a warm one. Results from the 2014 Chicago Council Survey show that favorable feelings toward Israel have increased among supporters from both parties in recent years. Republicans’ favorable views of Israel have increased 12 percentage points since a low point in 1998. A majority of Democrats also continue to feel favorably toward Israel, up from a low point of 50 percent in 2002. Gallup surveys conducted in 2014 and 2015 corroborate these trends. In both years, seven in ten Americans expressed favorable views of Israel, suggesting that events over the last year did not affect American support for Israel.
In her Post study, Smeltz further noted that a majority of Americans would support U.S. military intervention to defend Israel if it was attacked by an enemy, a figure that “is currently at the highest level recorded among […] Republicans, Democrats and Independents.”
US President Barack Obama won’t intercede on behalf of American-Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard to allow him to relocate to Israel, administration officials told The Washington Post Monday.Vic Rosenthal: Jeffrey Goldberg finally gets it, then quickly loses it again
Pollard, who is set to be released next Friday after 30 years in prison, must remain in the US for five years, according to the terms of his parole.
While Pollard’s attorney had expressed hope that the president would use his executive powers to let his client leave the US, administration officials said Monday that Obama would not intervene.
The report came hours after Obama met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House. The prime minister would not say whether he had raised the issue with Obama.
The first paragraph correctly recognizes that the conflict cannot be about settlements because it preceded them and because of the implacable “Palestinian narrative” that insists that Jews have no place in the land of Israel.PreOccupiedTerritory: Obama Reverses Roosevelt Decision, Will Take Refugees Fleeing Nazis (satire)
The second then says that the way to change this – to ‘soften’ the narrative – is to surrender a piece of the land (which just happens to be the traditional heart of the land of Israel) to these ‘Palestinians’ who do not accept any Jewish presence between the Jordan and the Mediterranean.
There are three reasons that this analysis is wrong.
- Such a surrender would be seen as a victory for the violent tactics of the Arabs, an expression of weakness by the Jews, and an encouragement to press for a complete victory. The idea that it would ‘soften’ anything is sheer wishful thinking. It would do the opposite.
- The loss of the biblical heartland of the land of Israel would be a huge psychological and spiritual blow to Zionism.
- Simple geostrategic considerations imply that the Jewish state could not survive with a hostile entity in control of Judea and Samaria. Historical precedent tells us that a Palestinian state would be or quickly become hostile.
Goldberg adds that peace requires a ‘divorce’ between the Jews and the Arabs, and he is correct again. But he is unable to take the next logical step, necessitated by the Palestinian narrative and the abusive behavior of the Palestinian partner.
US President Barack Obama today ordered the State Department to issue entry visas to the more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany aboard the MS St. Louis, departing from the policy of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration.Rolling Stone: StandWithUs Refutes Roger Waters' Comments on Israel
The St. Louis embarked from Hamburg, Germany in May 1939 with 937 Jews aboard, most of whom had arranged for passage to Havana, Cuba. However, the Cuban government altered its immigration and refugee policy before the ship arrived, and retroactively voided the visas of most of the passengers. Captain Gustav Schröder eventually took the St. Louis toward US shores, but Roosevelt refused to admit them. The Canadian government similarly rebuffed such requests. Various European countries agreed to take the Jews, but eventually most of those countries were in turn overrun by the Nazis. The move to issue the entry permits comes amid questions of policy surrounding other beleaguered refugee and migrant populations.
“This is an opportunity to right an historic wrong, and I am proud as an American, as a member of an ethnic minority, and as a human being to finally grant these entry permits to people so desperately in need of a safe haven,” said Obama at a ceremony on the East Lawn of the White House. “I believe President Roosevelt made a grave error, and it is time both to own that and to take the necessary steps to fix it.” Obama said he would personally affix his signature stamp to each of the 937 documents if necessary.
Passengers say that while they appreciate the gesture, it may be too late for some of them. “One man slit his wrists and jumped overboard” when Cuba and the US refused to let them in, said Meyer Krakov, 81, who left Frankfurt in March 1939.
StandWithUs is an independent non-profit organization founded and headquartered in the United States. It is not, as Roger Waters claimed in his recent interview by Rolling Stone, "an arm" of the Israeli government. It is run by American citizens who are concerned about the rise of misinformation, discrimination and bigotry against Israelis and Jews – a trend which Roger Waters unfortunately plays an active role in perpetuating.WATCH: Roger Waters At His Hypocritical Best
Waters' history of racism includes projecting the Star of David (the universal symbol of the Jewish people) onto a pig during concerts, waxing conspiratorial about the "Jewish lobby" and making slanderous, dehumanizing statements about Israelis. Waters also wholly ignores violent racism against Israelis by Palestinian political and religious leaders, and whitewashes the murder of innocent civilians that follows this abhorrent incitement.
He may believe that he's doing this with the best of intentions, but it is up to the Jewish community, not Roger Waters, to decide whether or not he has engaged in anti-Semitism. In fact, his words and actions fit squarely within the U.S. State Department definition of anti-Semitism, which includes demonizing Israel (like when Waters compares Israelis to Nazis), delegitimizing Israel (like when he erases Jewish history, rights, and indigenous roots in the land of Israel by labelling them "colonizers") and applying a double-standard to Israel (like when he demands cultural boycotts against Israel, but not other nations with plainly far worse human rights records).
Furthermore, as a leading spokesperson for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, Waters promotes an agenda that undermines hopes for a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians. BDS actively discourages cultural exchanges between Israelis and Palestinians, effectively seeks to censor Israeli artists and has been overwhelmingly condemned for promoting violations of academic freedom. BDS's ultimate goal is the elimination of Israel and the violation of Jewish rights to self-determination – just ask their co-founder, who has said that "we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine." Indeed, the core of BDS is not reasoned criticism of Israeli policy, but rather the notion that Palestinians can't be free without turning the Jews back into a stateless people.
Rock’n’roll BDSHole rambling on about “being human.”PreOccupiedTerritory: EXCLUSIVE: Israel’s Plans For Temple Mount: Dome Of The Hard Rock Cafe (satire)
Talk about dehumanizing Israelis.
This is apparently a supplement to some movie called Stay Human – The Reading Movie, which features the reading of the book Gaza – Restiamo Umani (‘Gaza – Stay Human’) written by Vittorio Arrigoni, the “peace activist” murdered by palestinian terrorists – very possibly for being homosexual. Yet Waters does not have anything to say about them losing their humanity.
Or those firing rockets at Jews, or shooting Jews, or stabbing Jews.
Notice also how Waters makes mention of human rights abuses around the world a few times, as if he has taken note of the criticism leveled against him for singling out Israel. But it is really only paying lip service – it is clear he is obsessed with demonizing us.
Seminole leader Elvis Costello said they are close to signing with an Israeli firm to handle the design, construction, and preservation elements of the project. “In a country such as Israel, there is fortunately no shortage of experts who blend all three fields, given the extent to which that land is suffused with artifacts and charged with history,” he said. “As an indigenous population we find such a phenomenon particularly resonant, and are looking forward to seeing this through.” Costello added that several giants of rock ‘n’ roll and pop culture have already agreed to headline the Dome of the Hard Rock Cafe grand opening, including Axl Rose, who has already taken to referring to himself as Al-Axl Rose for the occasion.British IVF Pioneer: Boycotters of Israel are Mostly “Second-Rate Academics”
A Ministry of Religious Services spokesman said the arrangement was green-lighted after Jordan agreed to relinquish its role in administration of the compound atop the Temple Mount. “The recent troubles drove home to Amman the difficulties inherent in managing the space and the tensions,” said Yinon Molotov. “King Abdullah was apparently quite upset that the Palestinians were opposed to the installation of security cameras, so he went and handed control to Israel just to spite them,” Molotov said his office was now exploring ways to bring other prominent businesses to holy sites in an effort to leverage their popularity.
Tourism industry experts hailed the decision. “This is about the smartest thing that’s been done with the Temple Mount since 1967,” said commentator Sak Rilledge. “The area is crying out for a Hard Rock Cafe since the Tel Aviv branch closed in 1997. There’s one in Dubai, and one planned for Qatar, but neither of those have the universal appeal and charge of a Dome of the Hard Rock Cafe.” Rilledge noted that the planned Temple Mount branch has even more of an opportunity given the terrorism expected to keep tourists away from the Hard Rock Cafe in in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and the closings of the branches in Beirut and Cairo over the last five years.
“Personally, I’m wondering what kind of memorabilia will grace the walls of the Dome of the Hard Rock,” he mused. “It might be appropriate to have Roger Waters donate something.”
Lord Robert Winston, a British academic and leader in the field of in vitro fertilization (IVF), said that anti-Israel boycotters are “mostly second-rate academics from minor universities who have never done anything,” during a dinner hosted last week in his honor by the British ambassador to Israel, Ha’aretz reported. Winston received an honorary degree from the Weizmann Institute of Science on Monday.Students Supporting Israel: "Social Justice-Pursuing" and "Human-Rights Loving" BDS Show Its True Colors of Hate and Incitement at the University of Minnesota
“The people who have signed up for that boycott are mostly second-rate academics from minor universities who have never done anything. They really are,” Winston emphasized in a pre-dinner interview with Haaretz. “Not exactly at the cutting edge of British intellectual thought.”
Winston, who was born into an Orthodox Jewish family and first visited Israel in 1958, said that his religion complemented his chosen field. He added that his work, which included pioneering surgical techniques that improve fertility treatments, was “always backed” by rabbis.
His lectures were, in the early days, picketed by those who considered his work to be “immoral,” and “an infringement on human dignity,” and he was called – by many in the Catholic church, among others – “evil.” But the rabbis, he points out, always backed him.
I’ve walked home wearing Israeli flags. I’ve gone undercover to BDS protests. I’ve lived in France during Operation Protective Edge.Rude awakening for an Israeli peace activist
At this point in my Israel activism, I’ve encountered most things. But I had never encountered hate speech. I had never encountered a limit to my freedom of expression under the pretense of protest, and consequently, free speech. I had never encountered a paralyzing fear that prevented me from showing my support for Israel.
Last week, I was hoping to hear noted Israeli philosopher and professor, Moshe Halbertal, at the University of Minnesota. Thoroughly lost and un-fashionably late, I followed the sound of chanting until I finally made my way to the lecture hall. I figured that there couldn’t have been many protesters. I had never faced the BDS head-on before, and expected no real problems. Then again, the University of Minnesota had never before hosted a “war crimes apologist,” in the eyes of the BDS movement.
The space outside the auditorium had morphed into a crowd of screaming protesters. “Viva Viva Palestina!” they roared. “Netanyahu, you will see! Palestine will be free!” they proclaimed. “Hey hey, ho ho, the occupation has got to go!” they announced.
I felt like a bad person for going to a lecture in the hopes of supporting Israel. That said, I felt even worse once I realized that I couldn’t even get into the room without facing the verbal abuse of the protesters. The crowd grew and grew, and every few minutes, voices from inside the lecture hall were raised, followed, each time, by exuberant BDS-ers abandoning the intellectualism in the lecture hall for the misinformed cheers and clamor of their fellow protesters.
An Israeli peace activist who has devoted much of his life to demanding that Israel make more concessions to the Palestinians was treated to a rude awakening earlier this month on a Minnesota campus: it turns out that pro-Palestinian advocates don't just hate Israeli policy -- they hate all Israelis, including Israeli peace activists.Shocked at Yale and Mizzou? Pro-Israel students have lived with intimidation for years
Hebrew University professor Moshe Halbertal was invited to deliver the University of Minnesota's annual Dewey Lecture in the Philosophy of Law. Unfortunately, the Palestinian and pro-Palestinian activists on campus don't have very much respect for the philosophy of law, at least not the laws that protect freedom of speech. Two dozen hecklers tried to drown out Halbertal by shouting "denunciations of Israel" (as the local press described it) and accusing Halbertal of being "a war crimes apologist."
Ironically, in his remarks (after the hecklers were removed), Prof. Halbertal suggested that Israeli soldiers were not doing enough to protect enemy civilians during warfare. Since that was his position, Halbertal must have been puzzled that the Palestinian advocates would attack him so fiercely.
Don’t be so shocked that at Mizzou a professor was involved. The academic boycott movement against Israel is led by professors. Despite systematic academic boycotts having been declared by the American Association of University Professors to be a violation of academic freedom, thousands of faculty at U.S. campuses have signed on. This fall and winter will see academic boycott efforts at the American Anthropological Associations, the Women’s Studies Association, the American Historical Association, and from what I am hearing, others as well.A Statement in Opposition to the NWSA Resolution on BDS
Anti-Israel students and faculty long have run amok in silencing opposing views and rejecting academic freedom. They are steeped in the same far-left ideology that Chait described in New York Magazine:
But to imagine p.c. as simply a thing college kids do relieves us of taking it seriously as a coherent set of beliefs, which it very much is. Political correctness is a system of thought that denies the legitimacy of political pluralism on issues of race and gender. It manifests itself most prominently in campus settings not because it’s a passing phase, like acne, but because the academy is one of the few bastions of American life where the p.c. left can muster the strength to impose its political hegemony upon others. The phenomenon also exists in other nonacademic left-wing communities, many of them virtual ones centered on social media, and its defenders include professional left-wing intellectuals.
We have lived for years in a campus environment that now is so shocking to liberals because it no longer is targeting just Israelis and pro-Israel students.
Welcome to our world, everyone.
The National Women’s Studies Association, at their annual conference beginning Nov. 14, will hear arguments for and against their proposed resolution, to support an economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel, in support of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement.Ten Top American Universities Most Friendly to Terrorists
Dr. Janet Freedman, a longtime member of the NWSA as well as a member of the HBI’s Academic Advisory Board and a scholar at the Women’s Studies Research Center, prepared these remarks in opposition.
I cannot allow the words of this resolution and these FAQs to tell me whether a “good” Jew is one who sides with those who see Israel as a demonic entity or to imply that if I do not, I do not deserve to be heard, to be seen, perhaps even to live.
I am not among those who feel that they can be Jewish without supporting the existence of the state of Israel. I know too many people who would have no home without that home.
I am shocked and offended that an academic organization that prides itself on “difficult dialogue” would adopt any sort of boycott of ideas.
We can do better than this. We must do better than this. If we do not the search for justice will devolve into a call for vengeance.
I hope you will join me in opposing the endorsement of the BDS resolution.
The David Horowitz Freedom Center watchdog group recently published a list of what it called the “Ten Top American Universities Most Friendly to Terrorists.”European rights court rules against anti-Semitic comedian
The list, which can be read here, asserts that “there are organizations on American campuses that support the agendas of these terrorists (al-Qaeda, Islamic State, and Hamas) and spread their propaganda lies, and do so with the financial and institutional support of university administrations.”
“Two of these organizations, the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), were created by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, godfather group to al-Qaeda and Hamas,” the Freedom Center stated. “They are the chief sponsors of annual campus events called ‘Israeli Apartheid Weeks,’ whose sole purpose is to spread the propaganda lies of the terrorist organization Hamas, and to demonize the Jewish state….They are the chief sponsors of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, inspired by Hamas, whose goal is the economic strangulation of the Jewish state….We are publishing this report to put a spotlight on these American college campuses most supportive of these sinister activities, which put not only our ally Israel in danger, but our homeland as well.”
The universities on the Freedom Center’s list include (in alphabetical order) Brandeis University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, San Francisco State University, University of California, Irvine, University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, San Diego, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and University of New Mexico.
Europe’s top human rights court has ruled against the controversial French comic Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala, saying the right to free expression does not protect anti-Semitism or Holocaust denial.Human rights group: Jewish mausoleum fire in Ukraine possibly arson
Dieudonne, as the comic is known, finished up a December 2008 show by inviting a prominent Holocaust denier on stage, then having an actor dressed to resemble a concentration camp detainee offer him a prize. He was convicted by a French court in October 2009 of hate crime charges and fined 10,000 euros. He lost repeated appeals, until finally bringing it before the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights.
The court noted Dieudonne’s stated desire to stage “the biggest anti-Semitic meeting since the last World War” and ruled Tuesday that the show was not a show but the expression of an ideology.
A Jewish mausoleum in western Ukraine burned down in what a human rights group said may have been a deliberate arson attack connected with a dispute over a commemoration project.Are Australia and Israel destined to be best mates in high-tech?
The grave site of Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein, a 19th-century Jewish sage and former chief rabbi of the Ukrainian city of Kolomyia, was partially destroyed last week in a fire that began in the early hours of the morning, according to a report published on Monday by the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.
The watchdog said the fire was the second arson within two months committed at the grave site, which is located inside a sealed room at the center of a Kolomyia park that used to be a Jewish cemetery.
The previous arson occurred on September 18 and was extinguished before it spread.
This month, however, the fire caused extensive damage to the structure around the grave site, consuming the walls and the roof.
By any measure, Australia is one of the most successful countries in the world. It ranks seventh in personal freedom and well-being (Israel ranks 38th), 11th in perceptions of corruption (Israel is 37th), and is considered the tenth richest country globally.Microsoft buys Israeli cybersecurity firm Secure Islands
“We’re very lucky to live where we do,” Wyatt Roy, Australia’s assistant minister of innovation, tells The Times of Israel.
No doubt Israel has a lot to learn from Australia. But last week, an Australian trade mission of parliament members, venture capitalists, business leaders and entrepreneurs visited Israel to learn something valuable from this country, namely, how to jump-start Australia’s startup scene and transform the country into a knowledge economy.
“Everyone oversells Israel. We’re pragmatic people so we have to cut through that,” says Jonathan Marshall, CEO of Bondi Labs, a startup that creates job training games for the developing world, “but I was blown away.”
Indeed, if there’s one area where Israel actually excels, it’s in startups. Israel ranks fifth on Bloomberg’s index of the world’s most innovative countries (after South Korea, Japan, Germany and Finland) and attracts more venture capital per capita than any country on earth.
Microsoft has announced the buyout of Israeli data protection firm, Secure Islands.IsraAID Only Foreign Group Still Helping Survivors in Japan, Four Years after Tsunami
“Furthering Microsoft’s investments in security technology, I am pleased to announce today that Microsoft has signed an agreement to acquire Secure Islands, an innovator in advanced information protection solutions,” said Takeshi Numoto, Microsoft corporate VP Cloud and Enterprise Marketing.
“This acquisition accelerates our ability to help customers secure their business data no matter where it is stored – across on-premises systems, Microsoft cloud services like Azure and Office 365, third-party services, and any Windows, iOS or Android device.”
This is Microsoft’s third purchase of an Israeli cybersecurity company. The multinational company paid $320 million for Adallom in July and $200 million for Aorato last November.
The nine-year-old company is said to have been bought for $150 million, according to Israeli business daily, Globes.
When ISRAEL21c President Amy Friedkin was touring Japan recently, she met with representatives of IsraAID-The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid.Living Word From a Dead World
“I wanted to see for myself what they’re doing in Japan four years after the tsunami, and to learn from Yotam Polizer, IsraAID Global Emergencies Director, where else they are in the world right now,” Friedkin says.
She met with Polizer at the Japan International Center for Trauma and Emergency Relief and showed him the Israel Aid Map recently added to the ISRAEL21c home page.
Polizer explained to Friedkin that IsraAID is the only foreign organization still on the ground after arriving in March 2011 to provide assistance after the tsunami. This is in keeping with IsraAID’s policy of helping communities move from devastation to self-sustenance, he told her.
“We’re helping the Japanese government and NGOs build a mental-health support system on the community level, involving a lot of training and capacity-building, and training social workers, counselors and teachers — about 3,200 people so far,” Polizer says. “We’ve brought in more than 70 Israeli specialists.”
A new project at Yad Vashem analyzes the first letters that survivors wrote after the Holocaust, letting their loved ones know that they were alive
The letters contain information that survivors rarely spoke about otherwise. “Survivors were able to write things that they were unable to say orally,” said Nidam-Orvieto.
Bernard Zucker, who wrote to his sisters in Palestine, went from the refugee camp in Austria to Italy, where he rescued Jewish children and brought them to Palestine with him. There he reunited with and married the woman he had proposed to before the war, who was also a Holocaust survivor. Together they settled on a kibbutz and had eight children, eventually changing their last name to Tzur.
Eli Tzur, their now-67-year-old son, is one of 7,000 Israelis who has donated Holocaust artifacts to Yad Vashem since 2011. Like many children of survivors, he grew up in a home where the subject of the Holocaust was untouchable.
“They barely ever spoke about their experience in the war, and I didn’t ask,” Tzur said. “Many children didn’t ask their parents what happened. They were silent and so were we. We didn’t want to hurt them by opening their wounds.”
Before his father died in 2001, Tzur returned to Poland with him to visit the various camps where he had been a prisoner. Even there, he said, he was afraid to hurt his father, and so he didn’t ask many questions. Only after reading his father’s letters did he finally discover all he had witnessed and felt during the five horrific years of his life that he had tried so hard to forget.
Still, there are some stories and people that have simply been lost to history. Some letters just don’t have enough clues.
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