Sunday, September 04, 2016
A History of ‘Evenhanded’ Failure
Among those diplomats and journalists who don’t simply blame the Arab-Israeli conflict entirely on Israel, the preferred approach is “evenhandedness.” This approach, epitomized by the “cycle of violence” cliché, holds that both sides want peace and are equally to blame for its absence. Remarkably, this view has persisted despite decades of proving wrong in ways that hurt the very countries which espouse it – as demonstrated yet again by newly released documents from the Nixon Administration.JPost Editorial: Straight talk
The documents, which Amir Oren reported this week in Haaretz, include redacted versions of the CIA’s daily presidential briefings on the eve of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The agency’s cluelessness is mind-blowing.
On October 5, 1973, one day before the war began, the CIA acknowledged that “The military exercises underway in Egypt seem to be on a larger scale and are being conducted more realistically than previous ones,” but nevertheless insisted that “they do not appear to be preparations for an offensive against Israel.” The agency even dismissed an obvious danger sign as a reasonable response to fears of Israeli aggression: “Cairo may have put its air defense and air forces on alert as a precaution against an Israeli reaction to the initial phase of the exercise.”
On October 6, just hours before the war began, the CIA’s briefing was similarly disconnected from reality:
Tension along Israel’s borders with Egypt and Syria has been heightened by a Soviet airlift that is in its second day. Neither the Israelis nor the Arabs seem bent on starting hostilities, but in this atmosphere the risk of clashes is greater than usual. … Both the Israelis and the Arabs are becoming increasingly concerned about their adversaries’ military activities, but neither side seems bent on starting hostilities … A military initiative at this time would make little sense for either Cairo or Damascus.
At the Swedish Zionist Federation’s annual rally in Stockholm last week, visiting Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid made undiplomatic history by accusing Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom of anti-Semitism.Demand a full and transparent investigation of Syracuse University disinvite of Israeli filmmaker
While many members of the diplomatic community were no doubt shocked by Lapid’s remarks, they brought a refreshing moment of moral clarity.
For Lapid said what is too often let pass in a futile accommodation with hatred, the kind of enmity that spurred Wallstrom to demand an inquiry into Israel’s killing of terrorists while they were trying to murder Israelis.
“If the Swedish foreign minister is concerned about human rights in the Middle East, she needs to talk about the Palestinians’ use of children as terrorists and human shields,” he said. “She needs to talk about the discrimination against the gay community [by the Palestinians], about the Der Sturmer-like incitement spread by the Palestinian Authority, about the abuse of women in Gaza.”
Lapid categorized Wallstrom’s attacks as coming from a deeper source than the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians: “If your attack on Jews is detached from facts and based only on bias, there is a name for it: anti-Semitism.”
Lapid’s accusation was especially poignant at the rally in Raoul Wallenberg Square, named for the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, including his own father, the late justice minister Yosef “Tommy” Lapid. The heroic Wallenberg, whose execution by the Soviets following the war was recently revealed, is one shining example of Swedish moral courage during the war.
The academic boycott movement against Israel has achieved very little so far, though it has poisoned the campus atmosphere with its anti-academic freedom message.
There is no university or college in that United State that I’m aware of even considering the academic boycott of Israel. The academic boycott resolutions at faculty organizations have had limited success, limited to the humanities and social sciences, and even there the only significant sized group to adopt the boycott was the American Studies Association in December 2013.
The move to hijack faculty groups continues, and we can expect more boycott resolutions this annual meeting season in the fall and winter. The information spread against Israel by these faculty members is consistently false and misleading, and always one-sided. It is a critical part of the international effort to delegitimize and dehumanize Israeli Jews, and needs to be fought for that reason regardless of the relative lack of success.
Lacking institutional success, the BDS war on campus has devolved into trench warfare at a very personal level.
A historic turning point for Israel and the ICC
David Ben-Gurion is famous for referring to the UN with the dismissive Hebrew phrase “Oom shmoom,” meaning essentially that the UN does not matter and Israel cannot trust it.Abbas: PA will resume talks only if Israel accepts preconditions
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been at least as dismissive of the UN as his illustrious predecessor and has refused to cooperate with it on almost any issue involving war crimes allegations.
But that may all be about to change.
If Netanyahu grants a request by the International Criminal Court prosecutor to send representatives to meet with Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the coming weeks – which The Jerusalem Post confirmed on Friday that he is considering – it could be a game-changer.
Israel has not cooperated with numerous UN and other international investigations of alleged war crimes in the past, refusing UN officials entry when they requested to come to collect evidence.
Neither officials from the UN Human Rights Council’s Goldstone Report on the 2008-9 Gaza war or from its McGowan-Davis Report on the 2014 Gaza war were permitted to enter the country.
Netanyahu also attacked the ICC prosecutor’s legitimacy in January 2015 when it recognized Palestine as a state for its purposes.
So allowing the ICC prosecutor’s representatives to visit would be nearly unprecedented (Israel has had some limited cooperation with UN secretary- general inquiries in the past).
As efforts continue to return Israel and the Palestinian Authority to the negotiating table, the Palestinians have reiterated that their preconditions for renewing the peace process are still firm and valid, and that without guarantees that Israel will accept those preconditions, they have no intention of sitting down to talk.The Zohan Launches Presidential Run, Vows to “Make America Hummus-ier” (satire)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly considering an offer by Russian President Vladimir Putin to host a peace summit in Moscow, Israel Hayom learned last Sunday.
In Ramallah on Saturday night, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he would be prepared to return to the negotiating table with Israel over a final-status agreement only on the condition that Israel committed to fulfilling its obligations, which include the cessation of construction in settlements; stopping the establishment of new illegal outposts and settlements; and releasing prisoners it agreed to release prior to the cancellation of the previous round of talks.
Abbas emphasized that the Palestinians would not withdraw their demand that the future Palestinian state be established on all the territory conquered by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Abbas also said that despite the pressure put on him by various parties to postpone local elections in Gaza and the West Bank, the elections would be held as planned in October.
Declaring that “neither De Donald nor De Hillary has what it takes to spread de American Dream around,” counter terrorist-turned-hair and hummus tycoon Zohan Dvir announced a historic independent run for the White House today, potentially transforming the current two-way U.S. Presidential race.Mortar fired from Syria hits Golan Heights
“De Hillary is like smearing stale peanut butter on your toast, and De Donald like arsenic-laden shit,” said Dvir at his Ellis Island campaign launch, flanked by his running mate, wife and business partner, Dalia Hakbarah-Dvir, along with their four children, Bubblech, Lincolnia Coco, Israstina and Mohummus.
Unveiling his key policies, The Zohan promised that “by 2020 the U.S. will get over 30% of its energy needs from chickpea-derived renewables,” and that “under Zohancare, every American will receive government subsidized Poontachat and food stamps for de Mideast’s favorite dip – ‘cause a tub of hummus a day keeps de doc away.” The country’s first would-be Jewish president also vowed to “crush both Islamic terrorism and homegrown racism by deploying ‘The Sound’ from Aleppo to Alabama,” and “solve de Israeli-Palestinian conflict with state-sponsored mass interracial orgies.”
Hakbarah-Dvir – who would be both America’s first female and Muslim Vice President, as well as First Lady – then glowingly narrated her husband’s rise from Israel’s most decorated soldier to billionaire beauty industry pioneer: “With over 300 hair salons, 14 Hummus-based skincare products and six Disneyland-styled Hummusworlds across four continents, Zohan personifies the real American Dream.” “And unlike Trump,” she continued, “he had no help from his daddy. He also has real hair, a really big d*ck and even bigger balls. And unlike Dirty Donny, he doesn’t want to ‘make sticky’ with his daughter…”
A mortar shell fired from Syria hit an open area in the central Golan Heights on Sunday, the IDF said. No injuries were reported in the incident, but the mortar damaged a roadway.IsraellyCool: Let’s Talk Turkey About Aid To Gaza
Syrian opposition media reports around the time of the incident said forces in Tel al-Sha’ar, a village near the demilitarized zone separating Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, fired artillery at troops in Hamidiyah, a village in the DMZ. A report posted on Twitter by the Step News Agency wasn’t clear about which force was responsible for the fire. Clashes were also reported in the nearby village of Jubata al-Hashab.
Israel frequently retaliates against stray fire from Syria that strikes the Golan Heights. Last month a mortar round hit a minefield in the Israeli Golan, causing no damage or injuries. In response, the IDF targeted a Syrian Army target on the opposite side of the DMZ.
The Syrian Golan has been the site of intense fighting in recent years between Assad regime forces and the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate.
“Big news” from Turkey as its second ship of “humanitarian aid” to Gaza left the port of Mersin on Friday. It has been almost 2 months since Turkey sent its last ship, which Israel allowed to dock at Ashdod before transferring its cargo into Gaza despite the fact that Ankara had not yet ratified the reconciliation deal.Despite gloom in Israel, PA officials insist Fatah will sweep local elections — even in Gaza
It isn’t immediately clear just how much cargo this new ship is carrying, but if it is anything like the first ship, it has roughly 12,000 tons. Expect Erdogan to praise himself thoroughly for his humanitarianism – and his this “monumental breakthrough” which he will say justified reconciliation with Israel. Just don’t expect him to put this in context for you.
That’s our job.
So let’s compare Erdogan’s Turkey, the Friend of Hamas, Defender of Gaza and Savior of Palestine to the actions of the evil, genocidal, Apartheid Israel:
In two months, Turkey sent two ships to Gaza with a total of roughly 24,000 tons of aid/goods.
In the month of August, according to COGAT, Israel transferred 412,820 tons of aid/goods to Gaza, with an average of 22,934 tons per day during the workweek. That means that every day, Israel is transferring roughly the twice the amount to Gaza as contained in each Turkish “aid” ship!
Among the most urgent challenges that await the new mayors of the adjacent West Bank cities of Ramallah and El Bireh is a prosaic one: traffic congestion. The traffic jams, which are increasing in frequency and severity, are a blight on the downtowns, as well as the suburbs. And although there are new buildings, shopping malls and restaurants opening in the two ever-growing cities all the time, the road infrastructure seems stuck in the 1970s. Some argue that’s caused by the Israeli occupation, but this problem, at least, cannot be so easily laid at the feet of the “Israeli enemy.”PreOccupiedTerritory: Israel Treats Us Horri- HEY! Stop Them! They’re Doing Good Things For Us! by Mohammad Shtayyeh, Fatah official (satire)
The new mayors will be chosen in local elections throughout the West Bank and Gaza on October 8, and winning those races is now the most urgent task faced by the top leadership of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority.
When the elections are over, of course, they will be able to turn their attention to other issues, such as traffic, sanitation, culture, and what-have-you. But the main effort at the moment is focused on ensuring their victory five weeks hence.
These efforts have been quite impressive. While some squabbles have arisen among high-ranking Fatah-linked officials, the movement as a whole has maintained a surprising degree of unity. Even the close associates of Mohammad Dahlan — the erstwhile senior Fatah official expelled from Ramallah in 2011 who now lives in the United Arab Emirates and is considered Mahmoud Abbas’s main rival — have refrained from running on competing lists and are cooperating with Fatah’s efforts to win big in Gaza as well.
The sins of the Occupation continue to degrade us and make our lives miserable. The evil Zionist imperialists must be stopped, because their brutal policies do not allow us even to- hey, what’s going on? They’re building a pipeline to supply us with clean drinking water! NO! Cease that at once!IsraellyCool: German Teacher’s Union Wants To Party Like It’s 1933
If the Occupation of Palestinian lands does not end, we will never be able to ensure the health and prosperity o- WILL YOU STOP CREATING JOBS ALREADY? Don’t you know your role is villain here? How are we supposed to train ourselves and the world to see you as unvarnished wickedness if you keep providing us with essential services and goods? It’s like no one has explained this to you before, or you refuse to understand. Typical Jewish stubbornness.
As I was saying, it’s crucial that we Palestinians highlight the oppression inherent in Israeli military occupation, especially the aspect of it that allows Palestinians to receive advanced medical treatment in Israel. It’s intolerable that we are denied access to- You! Get out of here! Who gave you the right to accept Palestinian patients, you monsters?! Go back to Europe with your advanced hospitals and pioneering technology! There’s no place for that in Muslim land!
I swear, some people…
Then there’s the restrictions on movement and travel. What kind of occupying regime allows worshipers from the Gaza Strip to travel every Friday to Al Aqsa and back? It boggles the mind. Religious oppression is what it is, I tell you. No one with a heart would subject Palestinians to such degradation. And the tens of thousands of Palestinian workers who enter Israel each day – that’s a clear violation of their human rights and self-determination. No one has the right to deny their self-determination to mark Israel as the epitome of depravity.
The Jerusalem Post, September 3, 2016:Israel's strategic affairs minister heads to London on BDS-fighting mission
"The anti-Israel activist and teacher Christoph Glanz outlined the goals of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement in his two-page article in the magazine of the Education and Science Workers’ Union (GEW).
The GEW article was titled, “Palestine/Israel: Documenting injustice and call for justice – not possible in Oldenburg?” The German-Israel Friendship Society (DIG) in Oldenburg – a city in Lower Saxony state with a population of nearly 164,000 – was the first group to slam the union’s leadership."
As for Glanz, he goes by the name Christoph Ben Kush on Twitter.
“Ben” means “son of” in Hebrew, while “Kush” denotes someone from the ancient kingdom of Kush – but has been mistranslated to mean something more sinister by those demonizing the Jewish state. One can only speculate why he chose that name (and would probably be correct).
Perversely, Glanz seems to love comparing Israel to the Nazis, using the same sort of terminology associated with the Third Reich and what they did to the Jews.
He also seems to revel in invoking the Holocaust – while attacking Israel.
Glanz has also written for hate rag The Electronic Intifada.
Shame on the Oldenburg teacher’s union for endorsing Glanz’s boycott calls, which I strongly suspect are fueled by antisemitism.
As part of his efforts to fight boycotts, delegitimization of Israel and related online incitement, Public Security and Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan flew to London on Sunday to discuss those issues with top officials there.PreOccupiedTerritory: Sweden Seeks Volunteers To Be Raped, Make Refugees Feel Welcome (satire)
“Great Britain is the world center of the anti-Israel BDS campaign,” Erdan said. “I’m going there to battle the boycott and delegitimization in every arena, and to discuss with members of the British government – which is also committed to fighting boycotts – ways to strengthen our cooperation against the anti-Semitic boycott campaign.”
The UK and Israel are both fighting radical Islamic terrorism, which is often encouraged by online incitement, the minister said. “I will meet with government officials and law enforcement in order to form a front of democratic countries against the worldwide threat, which includes targeted action against incitement on the Internet,” he said.
Erdan will meet with Sajid Javid, minister for communities and local government, to discuss local governments in Britain which boycott Israel. He will also meet with Jo Johnson, minister for universities and science, to discuss boycotts and anti-Israel actions on British campuses, as well as ways to strengthen academic ties between the UK and Israel in response to boycott efforts.
The Swedish Ministry of Justice and Migration has launched a program to recruit women volunteers for purposes of undergoing sexual assault and forced coitus by Muslim migrants from the Middle East and North Africa in order to make the migrants and refugees experience the openness and tolerance with which the host country treats the newcomers’ native culture.IsraellyCool: New York Times Admits Palestinians Treated Way Worse By Own People
Minister of Justice and Migration Morgan Johansson announced the start of the Rape All Volunteers for Immigrant Societies’ Honor (RAVISH) program, which aims to make migrants from predominantly Muslim, conflict-riven countries feel welcome in Sweden. The program, which will formally begin this Tuesday, aims to enlist at least four thousand females to serve as “welcome consorts” for male migrants from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Somalia, Libya, Sudan, the Palestinian Territories, and Yemen, among others. Through RAVISH, Johansson said, Sweden will attempt to reduce the cultural friction that affects both parties to the immigrant experience.
“More than three quarters of rapes committed in Sweden are committed by Muslim migrants,” noted the minister. “That is an appalling statistic, one that demonstrates rather starkly how sorely this program is needed. We must make our new residents feel welcome, not alienated by a culture that is unfamiliar to them. In their native culture, it is unheard of for a woman to have power over a man, and forcing our newcomers to depart from that established societal model is nothing less than cruel.”
“Therefore,” continued Johansson, “we have established RAVISH to serve as a welcome mat, a bridge, if you will, a vehicle to ease the adjustment for Muslim men into Sweden.”
Granted, it’s not quite the flying pig moment like this was – after all, it appears in a report that still manages to get in a few sneaky jabs and uppercuts against Israel – but still.BBC sidelines accuracy in rush to promote another ‘racist Israel’ story
NABLUS, West Bank — The brother of the dead man sat in a plastic chair, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee as mourners approached to pay respects. On the wall was a poster of the slain man, the latest Palestinian to meet an untimely, violent end.
But this man, Ahmed Halawa, was not killed in a clash with the hated Israeli military. A Palestinian police officer accused of plotting the murder of two other officers, Mr. Halawa was beaten to death while in the custody of Palestinian security forces.
“We’re living under Israeli occupation,” said the brother, Abdullah Halawa, “but to be honest with you we’ve never seen anything like this from the Israeli soldiers.”
That article has not been updated to clarify that the incident was the subject of a subsequent investigation which indicated that the BBC’s use of the word “unprovoked” is inaccurate.Iranian Officials Meet with Hamas, Agree to Face “Zionist Danger” Together
“Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said Sunday he will close the criminal investigations against both the police officer who manhandled Ethiopian-Israeli soldier Demas Fekadeh and against Fekadeh himself. The incident in early May was caught on CCTV and sparked angry protests by thousands of Israeli Jews of Ethiopian descent in Tel Aviv and elsewhere.
Weinstein’s decision comes on the recommendation of the state prosecutor and Justice Ministry investigators, who determined that Fekadeh initiated the clash with the policeman, and that the policeman’s handling of the confrontation was “impeccable.”[…]
Justice Ministry investigators say Fekadeh attacked the policeman first and disregarded the officer’s instructions. “From the investigative material, including the film that documented the incident, which was studied extensively, including in slow motion, it emerged that after the police officer asked the soldier repeatedly to leave the scene because of a suspicious object nearby, and the soldier did not do so, and pushed the policeman, the policeman used tangible force to distance the soldier from the scene. In response, the soldier struck the policeman with his fist and in response to that, the police officer struck the soldier with his fist. In the end, the two police officers overpowered and restrained the soldier.””
In the same 2015 BBC article readers are told that:
“One of the early incidents that exposed this approach was the revelation in the 1990s that the Israeli national blood bank had routinely destroyed blood donated by Ethiopian Israelis for fear of HIV.
It sent a message of exclusion from the rest of the Israeli society.”Three years ago BBC audiences saw Yolande Knell promote that same inaccurate claim and as was noted here at the time:
After representatives from Hamas and the Iranian government met in Beirut on Friday, the two parties promised to work together to unite the Muslim world to face the “Zionist danger” together, Ma’an News reported.Experts: Iran’s Decision to Fortify Nuke Site With S-300 Missiles Is ‘Very Peculiar’
Ali Baraka, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, was received at the Iranian embassy in Beirut by the embassy’s head consul, Mohammad Majedi. Baraka emphasized the need to strengthen ties “in order to support Palestinian resistance,” Ma’an reported. Majedi stated his agreement, and reiterated his country’s support.
The meeting came after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) stated its support for Hamas in July, praising the terror group for its “humiliating defeat” of Israel in recent conflicts. The IRGC said that Hamas was “at the forefront of the Palestinian nation’s anti-Zionism resistance and fight.”
Iran reportedly restored ties in May with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based terror group, promising it $70 million in military aid.
On Aug. 28, Iranian state television broadcast live images of Russian-made, highly advance S-300 surface-to-air missiles being transported by trucks to the Fordo nuclear facility south of Tehran. The move by Iran to further fortify one of its most secretive nuclear sites has led to questions over its intentions at the site, while also raising doubts about their commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or Iran nuclear deal that was agreed to by Iran and the world powers last July.The Kurds, against all odds
During the weapons delivery, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech, “Continued opposition and hype on the S-300 or the Fordo site are examples of the viciousness of the enemy. The S-300 system is a defense system, not an assault one, but the Americans did their best for Iran not to get hold of it.”
The S-300 surface-to-air-missile was initially developed under the old Soviet Union, and its newer variants are regarded as the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems in the world.
Russia began delivering the highly advanced S-300 missile system last April, just months after many international sanctions were lifted against the Islamic Republic as a result of the nuclear deal.
Aided by the chaos in Syria, the Kurds have tried benefiting from all worlds. They are cautiously venturing to form autonomous institutions, while their militia is fighting to secure territorial continuity in the north, with aim of establishing a true autonomy there similar to the one that exists in Iraq. This endeavor, of course, was a call to arms for Turkey, which is fearful of Kurdish sentiments in Syria spilling over the border, and whose relationship with the Kurdish population at home is already at a boiling point.IsraellyCool: Not So Dear Abby
Thus the Kurds are maintaining a dialogue with the Syrian regime and with the Russians, who want to use them to hit the Syrian rebels -- Arabs supported by Turkey and Arab states. Meanwhile, Washington has also come to their aid, coldly calculating that the Kurds can be used to fight Islamic State. As usual, however, when it comes to the Obama administration, American policy is shortsighted, merely capitalizing on a tactical and perhaps cynical opportunity that could end in the abandonment of the Kurds when American interests call for appeasing Turkey; or as part of a deal with Russia and the Assad regime to end the war in Syria.
It appears the regional and global game is too big for the Kurds. When they are called to the table once the fighting ends, they are liable to discover they were invited to be part of the menu, not a fellow victor to feast on the spoils of war. But this is the painful reality in our region, and the Kurds are one of the more prominent examples of it.
Abby Martin is an American “journalist” and former presenter on the Russian RT network.Canadian team signs player who called Jews ‘devils’
She is also a virulent hater of Israel who resorts to lies and falsehoods to promote her agenda.
Just watch the palpable hatred she exhibits in this clip as she compares Israel to Nazi Germany.
She is currently in Israel and, as you can see from her Tweets, is doing what she can to demonize Israel, with scant regard for that little thing called “truth.”
Notice also how she characterized Israel’s self-defense as “looking for blood“, which besides being an outright lie is a deliberately loaded term, reminiscent of those medieval libels of which we have been the subject.
Having said that, Martin is usually careful about not appearing antisemitic. She outright denies it.
A Canadian football team has signed a player who tweeted anti-Semitic messages even after being fined in 2015 for doing so.IsraellyCool: Sophia Loren To Visit Israel
The Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League signed lineman Khalif Mitchell Wednesday, drawing criticism from a Canadian Jewish group.
“We are deeply troubled that Mitchell is continuing to spread messages of hate against the Jewish people,” said Shimon Koffler Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, according to The Toronto Sun. “Clearly, Mitchell has not learned from his past mistakes. We have engaged with the CFL and the Saskatchewan Roughriders and they have assured us they are investigating.
In May 2015, the CFL fined Mitchell, a Virginia native, for sharing anti-Semitic posts on Twitter. One of his posts included a link to a YouTube video that called the Holocaust “The Greatest Lie Ever Told.”
The following month, Mitchell was released from his team, the Montreal Alouettes.
Iconic actress Sophia Loren is reportedly heading to Israel on November 25th, to talk about her life story, and will be followed by film experts who will be discussing her movies in depth.Jewish Paramedic Team Comes to Rescue of Drowning Muslim Teens at Sydney Shore (VIDEO)
This won’t be Sophia’s first time here. She was last here 10 years ago to attend the 70th birthday celebrations of Zubin Mehta, and before that in 1999 for Mehta’s 30th anniversary as director of the Israel Symphony Orchestra.
And she was also here filming the 1966 film Judith.
(The Arabs banned her films back in the day)
So yes, she’s a fan.
A Jewish-run emergency response group helped save the lives of two Indonesian Muslim teenagers who almost drowned at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Tuesday, according to media reports from Australia.
Six Hatzolah volunteers arrived at the beach less than two minutes after receiving a call about the teenagers, both 16. Mendy Litzman, founder and president of Hatzolah in Sydney, told the Australian Jewish News that the boys were not breathing when they were pulled out of the water by lifeguards.
One teen was taken to Westmead Children’s Hospital and confirmed to be in serious but stable condition while the other was transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital in an unknown state of health, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.
“We assist everyone regardless of religion, race or gender, and I’m proud that we were able to help the teenagers [who] were plucked from the surf,” Litzman said.
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