Monday, September 04, 2017
Melanie Phillips: The Greater Danger is on the Left
So who’s more dangerous for the Jews right now, the far-left or the far-right?UK synagogue hosts Muslim cleric who urged ‘jihad against the Jews’
After the violence at Charlottesville over the neo-Nazi rally, widespread fury was directed at President Donald Trump who was thought to have said the two were equivalent (which in fact he didn’t do).
I certainly don’t believe they are equivalent. The left is currently much more dangerous, not only to Jews but to the west in general.
You may need to lie down after reading that. For the prevalent Jewish view is that only far-right whites pose a serious danger.
Since all neo-Nazis and white supremacists are potentially lethal Jew-haters, many Jews think that all potentially lethal Jew-haters are neo-Nazis or white supremacists.
This is ludicrous, just as it is equally absurd to think Nazi slogans or symbols are only deployed by far-right whites. Last weekend, a man who threw a glass bottle at Jewish girls in Stamford Hill while shouting “Hitler is a good man; good he killed the Jews” was described by the police as a “light-skinned black male”.
More to the point, left-wing antisemitism is running at epidemic level. The Labour Party is convulsed by it.
Demonisation of Israel based on serial lies, double standards and a near-supernatural attribution of cosmic malevolence is the default position on the left.
For David Duke has heaped praise on Jeremy Corbyn for battling the “Zionists”. According to the Elder of Zyon [Ziyon] blog, the neo-Nazi Stormfront website has quoted the obsessively Israel-hating Mondoweiss and Electronic Intifada sites more than 100 times each; it has quoted Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada more than 35 times, and Mondoweiss writer Max Blumenthal more than 80 times.
Both Blumenthal and Abunimah have written for the Guardian. Both demonise Israel in language almost indistinguishable from the rantings against Israel by David Duke.
By the left’s own lights, that makes Corbyn and the Guardian complicit with neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Unlike the left’s tactic of character assassination, however, this is not a wildly unfair smear by association. (h/t dabney)
A London Orthodox synagogue hosted an “extremist” Muslim cleric who has previously called for jihad against Jews in Palestine.David Collier: Exposing an antisemitic fraud: The case of ‘State of Terror’ by Thomas Suarez
Concern was raised after news that Catford and Bromley United Synagogue – an affiliate member of the United Synagogue – hosted influential imam Shakeel Begg, together with Christian religious leaders, at an event in mid-July.
Begg is head of Lewisham Islamic Centre and regularly preaches to thousands of members, but in 2013 he sought to sue the BBC for defamation, in a High Court case concluding in October last year, after ‘Sunday Politics’ presenter Andrew Neill labelled him “an extremist preacher… with extremist positions”.
Begg denied this but was unsuccessful at trial, the judge instead finding that he “promoted and encouraged religious violence,” after considering a selection of Begg’s speeches from 2006-11.
The court noted Begg’s fondness for quoting Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Baz, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia from 1993 until his death in 1999, who was a primary driver of the fundamentalist Salafi-Wahabi Islam.
The judge said Begg quoted bin Baz “without equivocation” in saying that “solidarity amongst Muslims means making jihad against the Jews and fighting the Jews in an Islamic Jihad until the Territory [Palestine] goes back to its proper people”.
As each page of the Thomas Suarez book, State of Terror, is turned, another horrific statement against Zionists appears. The book was called a ‘tour de force‘ by Ilan Pappé. Jenny Tonge referred to its central ‘truth‘. Publishers Weekly suggested it is ‘an impressive display of historical excavation’.
So we (David Collier and Jonathan Hoffman), went digging to see if the Thomas Suarez story ‘held up’ – to see if he had used his sources properly when he wrote his book. This meant dozens of visits to the National Archives at Kew, and other days spent diligently reading books by anti-Zionists such as Ilan Pappé, Hanna Braun and Yosef Grodzinsky. There is no getting away from it. ‘State of Terror‘ isn’t just a vile book, it isn’t just antisemitic, it is a pyramid of errors. Far too many for this to ever have been accidental.
As Thomas Suarez opens his introduction he uses a quote from 1946. He forgets to tell his readers that he cannot confirm it was ever said. This is the way the book begins. The first archive file he lists says something very different to the way he describes events in 1938. This is the way the book ends. Between these two are a couple of hundred pages full of unsupportable libels. We know they are unsupportable because we checked some of the source material behind the claims. Today we publish our report.
Most of the errors inside the book stem from sloppy research. The result of a rabid little man, motivated by hatred, grabbing at archive files in a desperate attempt to find something, anything, that sounds like it is attacking Zionists. Suarez is no historian and does not possess the frame of mind to provide context to anything he writes. For a wannabee historian, this is a fatal weakness.
US college students attack, spit on Israeli delegation
An Israeli delegation attempting to hold an event in May met with violence from supporters of the anti-Semitic BDS movement.
The event was scheduled to be held at the University of California in Irvine, and a delegation from "Reservists on Duty" arrived to present a unique perspective on the Israeli-Arab conflict and life in Israel.
"Reservists on Duty" is an Israeli NGO which aims to fight propaganda from anti-Israel organizations such as BDS. It was founded by Israeli reserve soldiers and officers in December 2015.
According to Hebrew-language newspaper Yediot Ahronot, students from the anti-Israel "Students for Justice in Palestine" (SJP) arrived at the campus "saturated with anti-Semitism" and began to do everything possible in order to silence the reserve soldiers who had arrived.
SJP attempted to prevent Reservists on Duty from meeting with the students, and one SJP representative spat on the face of a female Israeli delegate.
Events reached their peak during the question and answer panel, when the reservists invited all pro-Palestinian participants to participate in a discussion. However, instead of participating, the anti-Israel group attempted to silence the Israelis with screams and curses, preventing them from speaking.
After approximately 20 minutes of disturbances, campus security and police officers walked the Israelis back to their vehicle.
IsraellyCool: Diablo Magazine Includes Terror Supporter Reem Assil in its ’40 Under 40′
Diablo magazine, which calls itself “the only monthly publication written specifically for the San Francisco East Bay market” and “a unique celebration of the area we call home”Arab commentators: ‘Zionist lobby’ influences Hollywood
The latest issue features an article called 40 Under 40:
From activists, to restaurateurs, to scientists, to musicians, these 40 movers and shakers are making a name for themselves before reaching the age of 40—and they show no signs of slowing down.
One of those featured is Reem Assil, owner of Reems Bakery, and lauder of terrorists.
Naturally, there is no mention of this apparently trivial fact in her profile, which paints her as a social justice activist.
In a talk show that aired on the Al-Jazeera network recently, commentators claimed that the “Zionist lobby” influences Hollywood to demonize Arabs and Muslims.IsraellyCool: Believe it Or Not: Linda Sarsour Called a “Zionist Shill”
The show aired on August 29 and the comments were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
The show featured Lebanese writer Sarkis Abu Zaid, who said that the “Jewish Zionist lobby” influences the Hollywood film industry, with a tradition of presenting the Arabs as deceitful, terrorist, murderous sheikhs.
Tunisian Professor Muhammad Hneid, of Sorbonne University, said that "the U.S. and Western powers that control the film industries are Zionist in orientation, and they play a constant role in the demonization of the Arabs and Muslims."
MEMRI has in the past published a clip of a report on Hezbollah’s television channel in which it was claimed that Hollywood was an invention meant to help Jews “take over” America.
The Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera has come under fire over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt has accused Al-Jazeera in general, and its Egypt affiliate, Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr, in particular, of doing Doha's bidding by serving as Islamists' mouthpiece at a time of a ferocious crackdown on their ranks.
The station denies any bias, saying it is simply covering Islamist protests.
Israel hating faux feminist Linda Sarsour has definitely seemed like an apologist for Hamas at times. For instance, she has tweeted the following:PreOccupiedTerritory: Activists Struggling To Call Attention To Atrocities Not Committed By Jews (satire)
What defenders of massacre don't tell u re: Hamas is they dropped call 4 destruction of Israel from manifesto http://t.co/AxFEWzFM6C #2006
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) August 4, 2014
And posed for a picture with Salah Sarsour, a member of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and former Hamas operative who was jailed in Israel because of alleged work for Hamas.
But in the interests of accuracy, she has also criticized them strongly.
And it is exactly those two tweets that had Nadia Chan – the woman Britain’s Channel 4 featured in their video on Muslim women “fighting back by rejecting stereotypes” – fuming.
To the point where she called Sarsour the “Z” word.
Boy, did Channel 4 get it wrong with this one! (hat tip: uberfeminist)
The proxy war raging on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula between American allies and Iranian-backed insurgents has claimed tens of thousands of lives and numerous noncombatant casualties, but human rights activists and organizations have faced an uphill battle generating significant international uproar because nether side in the war is Israel.Spectator article suggests ‘Israeli money’ manipulates US policy towards Iran.
Civil war in Yemen has raged in various forms since 2004, with Shiite Iran backing the militant Houthi movement, with Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and the US, among others, supporting predominantly Sunni forces that once ruled the country but have been ousted from the the capital. Aid workers, parties to the conflict, local witnesses, and journalists have documented possible war crimes perpetrated by various combatant forces, but admit they remain powerless to generate enough international attention to address the atrocities absent accusations that Israel had committed said atrocities.
“It’s frustrating,” lamented Sarah Leah Whitsend of Human Rights Watch. “Part of the difficulty lies in verifying what really happened when reports are conflicting, confusing, and distorted by prejudice, of course, but that doesn’t fully explain the problems, since that never stopped us and our buddies in the UN Human Rights Council from full-throated condemnation of Israel for lesser alleged crimes in Gaza. I don’t see any BDS efforts aimed at anyone in or around Yemen.”
There’s a lot about John R. Bradley‘s piece on Iran in The Spectator (Forget our misguided friendship with Saudi Arabia: Iran is our natural ally, Sept. 2) that reads like something you’d expect to find in the Guardian.Reviewing the language used in BBC reports on the Munich Olympics Massacre
Whilst Bradley’s broad argument, that Saudi sponsored Wahhabism is a greater threat to the West than Shia, is at least debatable, parts of his op-ed seem like an outright defense of the Islamist regime. For instance, he describes the US “singl[ing] out Iran and its Shia proxies as the instigators of terrorism and sectarian bloodshed” in the Middle East as “bizarre” and mocks what he characterises as America’s “borderline-insane obsession with the supposedly existential threat posed by Iran to Israel”. However, he fails to explain why the US assessment of Iran’s sponsorship of terror throughout the world is misguided, or why Israeli fears of Tehran’s repeated threats to annihilate their country are unfounded.
Bradley also strangely suggests that Iran is more decent than Saudi Arabia merely because their antisemitic rhetoric usually employs the euphemism “Zionist” instead of the word “Jew”, and describes the “military sacrifices of Iran and its Shia ally, Hezbollah” in Syria as, yes, “heroic”!
However, it’s when he attempts to explain the reason why Americans “never hear” the Iranian side of the story that he descends into a conspiratorial trope.
One reason is that almost all the ‘experts’ on the region, who contribute countless op-eds to US newspapers, brief US intelligence officials and appear as pundits on TV, work for think-tanks funded by the Arab monarchies or Israel.
Notwithstanding those exceptions (and the impression that BBC sports journalists make a better job of using accurate terminology than their counterparts in the news department), the dominant BBC editorial policy over the years has been to refrain from describing the 1972 attack on the Israeli Olympic team as terrorism and its perpetrators as terrorists.Cherry picking terror and ‘explaining’ radicalisation at the BBC
However, in a Radio 4 programme broadcast earlier this year, BBC audiences were told that:
“Terrorism can mean different things to different people; it isn’t black and white. States allegedly resort to it too, as Israel did to avenge the 1972 Munich Olympic Games massacre. Eleven Israeli athletes died following an attack by Palestinians from a shadowy group known as Black September. In revenge, Israel’s intelligence agency, the Mossad, covertly assassinated those suspected of involvement in the attack.”
After forty-five years it is clearly high time for BBC News to ensure that reports relating to the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre use accurate and consistent terminology which clarifies to audiences that the incident was an act of terror perpetrated by terrorists.
On August 30th the BBC News website published an updated version of a commissioned backgrounder which first appeared in June of this year. Titled “Who was behind the jihadist attacks on Europe and North America?“, the backgrounder is based on a study analysing 63 terror attacks in the 28 EU countries, Norway, Switzerland and North America over the past three years.Zionists Sank The Titanic, New Study Shows (satire)
“A series of attacks in Europe over the summer months has raised the number of people killed in the West by jihadists during the past three years to more than 420, writes Dr Lorenzo Vidino.
The deaths of 16 people in Barcelona and Cambrils earlier this month highlighted the continued threat posed by Islamist militants.”
Along with many other countries, Israel does not fall into the geographic area covered by the study concerned and readers are told that:
“Although the vast majority of Islamist attacks are elsewhere in the world, an unprecedented number have taken place in Europe and North America since the declaration of a “caliphate” by the so-called Islamic State, in June 2014.”
The first link in that paragraph leads to a feature published on the BBC News website in December 2014 under the title “Jihadism: Tracking a month of deadly attacks”. Israel was not included in that study either for reasons discussed here at the time.
The sinking of an ‘unsinkable ship’ always raises suspicion, and where there is suspicion, there is the ZIONIST PLOT. It permeates everything we do, only noticed by those who pay attention. The story of the Titanic is one of the best told and well known in the entire world.30% of Spanish Google searches for 'Jew' are anti-Semitic
Despite being ‘unsinkable’, on April 14, 1912, the Titanic ‘accidentally’ struck an iceberg, killing 1,517 passengers. The Titanic never reached its destination. Because of THE ZIONISTS.
What many people don’t know is that the Titanic was built at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard, which was co-owned by JEWS, Gustav Wolff. Wolff clearly used his JEW TRICKS to build a ship that was sure to become one of the great tragedies of our time. Why, you ask?
The sinking of the Titanic led directly to the filming of the 1997 movie, Titanic. Hollywood, run by JEWS, made $1,843,201,268 from the movie’s release. Coincidence? We think not. Aside from the massive success of Titanic, it skyrocketed a young actor named Leonardo DiCaprio into superstardom. DiCaprio became an object of desire for millions of women all over the world. However, in 2005 it was revealed that out of all these women, the actor had begun a relationship with ZIONIST AGENT, Bar Refaeli.
Too many questions surround the Titanic. How did an unsinkable ship sink? Why did a JEW want to build it? Why would a handsome actor become associated with a SHE-JEW? This was clearly all orchestrated as part of the ZIONIST PLOT, aimed at making Bar Rafaeli a household name, thus expanding the influence of the ISRAELI REGIME.
OPEN YOUR EYES!!!!!!!!
Some 30 percent of the page results returned in a Google search for the word Jew, or Judio, on Spanish-language websites contain anti-Semitic content.Belarus defends construction project atop Jewish cemetery
This is one of the conclusions of a report on web results for 2016 by the Web Observatory, or Observatorio Web, a Buenos Aires-based watchdog group monitoring online hatred.
Another trend is that anti-Semitic videos on YouTube, the leading social network video platform, had a growing number of likes throughout last year. In January they received 3 likes for every 1 dislike, but by the end of the year the figure changed to 4-1, revealing an increased proportion of approbation, according the report released on Friday.
According to the Web Observatory, some 484 Spanish-language videos denying the Holocaust have received nearly 1.7 million views collectively during 2016 alone.
Authorities in Belarus defended a local court’s decision to authorize a controversial construction project atop what used to be a Jewish cemetery.Jewish cemetery in Poland destroyed by illegal digging
The Belarusian foreign ministry on Sunday defended the court decision amid international media criticism, saying the local Jewish community in Gomel in the country’s southeast approved the plan because it is impossible to pinpoint exactly where the bodies are buried.
The foreign ministry said the court authorization was granted after the Rabbi David Kantarovich of the Beit Ya’akov Orthodox congregation gave his consent for the project.
A judge from the Tsentralny District Court ruled on August 21 against intervening in plans for the construction of two luxury apartment buildings on the grounds of a former cemetery on Sozhskaya Street in the city. The court was responding to a motion for an injunction submitted by Yakov Goodman.
Building contractors in Poland destroyed a Jewish cemetery approximately one year after it was entered into a local register of protected sites.Far-right German candidate promises to get rid of Arabic numerals
The old Jewish cemetery in Maszewo, a city located near Poland’s border with Germany, was completely destroyed in digging performed illegally earlier this month, the Polsat news website reported Thursday.
Wojciech Janda, a member of a historical association in Poland that had the Maszewo cemetery registered as a protected landmark in 2016, told the news site a bulldozer leveled the headstones, pushing the debris, along with bones, to the edge of the plot where the headstones used to stand.
The digging came roughly three months after a woman, who was not named, bought the plot for development purposes. The deed of sale did not specify that it was a cemetery, according to the report.
A spokesperson for the Maszewo municipality told Polsat that the municipality was not aware of the digging at the site, which the spokesperson said had only recently been found to contain a small Jewish cemetery.
A mayoral candidate for the far-right, anti-immigrant NPD party promised to get rid of Arabic numerals if elected, German media reported Friday.German national soccer team rejects fans shouting Nazi-era chants
Otfried Best, who is hoping to become mayor of Völklingen, near the French border, was asked by a member of Die Partei, a satirical party, during a debate earlier this week what he thought of Arabic numerals used in the town, Stern magazine reported.
“Mr. Best … I find it alarming that in Völklingen many house numbers are displayed in Arabic numerals. How would you like to take action against this creeping foreigner infiltration?” asked the Die Partei politician.
The audience cheered and laughed, but Stern reported that Best gave a serious answer: “You just wait until I am mayor. I will change that. Then there will be normal numbers.”
The Arabic numeral system [actually Indian in origin] is the most common system used worldwide, introduced to Europe around the 12th century, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
The coach and players on Germany’s men’s national soccer team condemned fans who traveled to the World Cup qualifier for shouting Nazi-era chants.52 American Police Officers Participate in ‘Unity Tour’ Delegation to Israel
Fans chanted “Sieg Heil” on Friday during a World Cup qualifier on Friday in Prague. The German team beat the Czech Republic 2-1. The fans also whistled and chanted during a moment of silence for two Czech officials who died.
“I’m full of anger and I’m very much shaken to see that some so-called fans use football, and an international match, for their deplorable demonstrations,” German team manager Joachim Loew said during a news conference. “They bring shame on our country.”
Loew said he hoped the raucous fans would be sanctioned. “We don’t want them, we’re not their national team, and they’re not our fans. Given our history, it’s very important for us to represent our country in a dignified fashion and its values of tolerance, respect and openness to the world. These troublemakers demean this image,” Loew said.
The national team responded to the chants by refusing to applaud the visiting fans after the match as is customary, the AFP news agency reported.
Fifty-two American police officers arrived in Israel on Sunday as part of a “Police Unity Tour” delegation.At Venice festival, Israeli film probes family grief, trauma of war
Officers from both countries participated in a joint ceremony, saluting one another and standing at attention as the flags of both nations were raised and the American and Israeli national anthems were played.
“We have the utmost respect for you, and we will do everything to make you feel at home,” an Israeli police officer stated while addressing his American counterparts during the ceremony.
The Israeli officer also took a moment to commemorate fallen police officers from both countries. “In their names we stand here,” he said.
While in Israel, the American officers are learning techniques from the Israelis, touring the country and participating in a ceremony to commemorate the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
US law enforcement and security delegations frequently visit Israel to learn cutting-edge security and counter-terrorism techniques, defying criticism from various anti-Israel groups regarding the American officers’ training relationship with the Israel Police.
The last time Israeli director Samuel Maoz came to the Venice Film Festival, he won the top prize with his first feature film.
Then, his main feeling was shock. Eight years later he's back with only his second feature, "Foxtrot," a critical hit that could win him his second Golden Lion.
"This time I hope to enjoy it," Maoz said.
There's just one bad omen. His luggage went astray on the way to Venice, where "Foxtrot" had its red carpet premiere on Saturday.
Maoz is philosophical about it. He is acutely aware how many things are beyond our control.
"Foxtrot" is a potent parable about fate and people's powerlessness to direct their destinies.
The film opens with an affluent Tel Aviv couple -- portrayed by actors Lior Ashkenazi and Sarah Adler -- being informed their soldier son has died in the line of duty.
The parents are floored by grief, and the film has more shocks in store for them as it explores the way trauma scars individuals and societies, and ripples across generations.
IsraellyCool: Food Blogger Mark Wiens Does Israel
Mark Wiens is a full time travel food blogger with over 1 million subscribers to his YouTube channel.The Ultimate JERUSALEM FOOD TOUR + Attractions - Palestinian Food and Israeli Food in Old Jerusalem!
He has been in Israel sampling the food, and has posted the following videos.
I find his enthusiasm to be infectious. And I am really hungry right about now.
Unfortunately (but predictably), he is attracting some bile from the Israel haters in the comments to his videos, so feel free to show some support.
Tel Aviv Food Tour - BEST Sabich, Hummus, and Lamb Pita - Middle Eastern Israeli Food!
London festival aims to introduce Israeli culture to British audience
A festival celebrating Israeli culture will be held in London from Sept. 8 to 11, showcasing a line of Israeli artists at several different venues to acquaint the British with Israeli culture.Conan O'Brien interview with Yonit Levy in Israel 2017
The weekend-long, "TLV in LDN" festival will include artists Dana International, Marina Maximilian, Nasreen Qadri, Ester Rada and Mira Awad, electronic group Infected Mushroom, Yemenite girl group A-WA, dance and percussion troupe Mayumana and trumpeter Avishai Cohen. In addition, Israeli chef Shaul Ben Aderet will participate in the festival as well by exposing the British to the unique tastes of the Israeli kitchen.
The events are scheduled to take place at the Roundhouse in Camden, in Cadogan Hall and in the Coronet Theater.
The festival was organized by the Strategic Affairs Ministry under Minister Gilad Erdan, the Jewish community in London and British businessman Marc Worth, along with the support of the Israeli Embassy in the U.K. and Ambassador Mark Regev. Government employees, business people and cultural figures will be among the 20,000 people expected to attend the various shows and events.
The festival will include an Israeli food market, a dance party featuring Dana International alongside Israeli and British DJs, a drumming workshops with Mayumana members, a fashion show by Israeli brand Maskit, contemporary Israeli art exhibits and more.
Conan O'Brien in the desert -TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
