Palestinian Authority VP: Our People Are Working in Israel Boycott Movement
The vice president of the Palestinian Authority said the body has "our people work[ing]" in the anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, according to audio exclusively obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.Anne Bayefsky: Protect American business from blackmail – Congress, pass the Israel Anti-Boycott Act
Mahmoud al-Aloul, who assumed the position as PA President Mahmoud Abbas's first-ever deputy in February, said in a recording dated to March: "We have relations with BDS, our people work there and we have delegates there. We cooperate with BDS on all levels, and not only with the BDS, but every group whose aim is to boycott Israel, we are with. Every group working to lay siege on Israel and isolate it from the world, we are with it."
In a second audio recording, from August, a reporter with an Arabic-language news outlet asked al-Aloul, "Do you, as the PA, support BDS?"
"Yes, of course," said al-Aloul.
Asked how the PA shows that support, al-Aloul said, "In every way … We actively participate in the events they organize."
Al-Aloul stopped short of acknowledging financial support for BDS initiatives, but said the PA is "very pleased with their activity and endorse it."
These comments mark a departure from past statements by PA leadership distancing itself from the BDS movement, including a 2013 comment by Abbas stating, "We do not support the boycott of Israel."
The two goals of the U.N. blacklist are first, devastating Israel’s economy, and second, circumventing a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For according to existing legal agreements, ownership of disputed territories is to be determined through negotiations between the parties – not by U.N. bullies.Neil Macdonald: Israel is an Apartheid State
Asked about the blacklist on Aug. 22, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, told reporters: “We have made clear our opposition regarding the creation of a database of businesses…and we have not participated and will not participate in its creation or contribute to its content.”
The response is disingenuous. Last December the Obama administration agreed in the General Assembly to the overall U.N. regular budget, knowing full well that the budget included funding for the blacklist. Hence, American taxpayers are currently paying 22 percent of all the costs of creating the blacklist. That sounds like a “contribution” to those of us who don’t speak diplo-babble.
Which brings us to the bottom line.
U.N. High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein is the last person on Earth who should be telling American companies how to run their businesses.
And on the off-chance that U.N. letterhead makes American CEOs nervous, they need to be reminded that they owe their allegiance to American law and public policy.
It is past midnight for Congress and President Trump to step up and answer this U.N. assault on American businesses and our ally Israel.
Three simple, morally unambiguous steps will do it:
- The expeditious adoption of the Israel Anti-Boycott Act.
- The immediate resignation of the United States from the specious Human Rights Council
- The refusal to send Prince Zeid another penny.
Serial offender of journalistic ethics Neil Macdonaldwrites in Canada’s CBC News that Israel is an “apartheid state.”
Just one problem: it isn’t. Not by any accepted international standard nor by the dictionary definition.
So how does Macdonald come to this conclusion? By misrepresenting facts.
While a columnist is entitled to express an opinion (no matter how absurd it may be), changing facts, misquoting sources, and taking information out of context is never allowed, not even in an opinion piece.
Where is Macdonald’s support?
Littered with a litany of links, Macdonald’s article seems to have lots of support. Except that most of the links actually say the opposite of what he claims.
…with a long list of Israeli political leaders, academics and public figures … all of whom have warned that the Jewish state is becoming, or already is, an apartheid state.
Most of the people referenced specifically say that Israel is not an apartheid state.
Rutgers Professor Calls Judaism ‘Most Racist Religion,’ Blames Jews for Armenian Genocide, in Flurry of Antisemitic, Homophobic and Sexist Posts
A Rutgers University professor has published multiple social media posts containing antisemitic canards and caricatures, including blaming the Armenian genocide on Jews, describing Judaism as “the most racist religion in the world,” and calling Israel a “terrorist country.”IsraellyCool: Rutgers Now ‘Reviewing Matter’ of Antisemitic Professor Michael Chikindas
As first reported by the Israellycool blog, Michael Chikindas — a microbiology professor at Rutgers’ department of food science and director of the school’s Center for Digestive Health — promoted dozens of anti-Jewish conspiracies and comments on his Facebook page this past May, among them references to “international fat Jewish pockets,” and descriptions of “orthodox Judaism” and Zionism as “the best of two forms of racism.”
In one post, Chikindas claimed, “Israel is the terrorist country aimed at genocidal extermination of the land’s native population, Palestinians,” and added: “we must not forget that the Armenian Genocide was orchestrated by the Turkish Jews who pretended to be the Turks.”
He argued that Israel was failing in this attempted “extermination” mainly “because of the number of the Jews of ‘alternative’ sexual orientation (25% of the Tel Aviv inhabitants are gay/lesbians and Israel has more of these than the Netherlands).”
In an earlier post, Chikindas wrote “that Israel, the country of the Jews and for the Jews, has one of the highest percentage of gays in the world.”
The professor also called Judaism “the most racist religion in the world” and shared an interview with Christopher Bollyn, a conspiracy theorist who has claimed American Jews and Israel orchestrated the 9/11 attacks.
More importantly, Rutgers is now aware of his antisemitic postings, and seems to be taking the matter seriously.EXCLUSIVE: UC Berkeley Chancellor Issues Heated Response To Daily Cal's Dershowitz Cartoon
Neal Buccino, a spokesperson for Rutgers, told The Algemeiner that “Professor Michael Chikindas’ comments and posts on social media are antithetical to our university’s principles and values of respect for people of all backgrounds, including, among other groups, our large and vibrant Jewish community. Such comments do not represent the position of the University.”
He added that while Rutgers respects the free speech rights of its faculty members, it also seeks to “foster an environment free from discrimination, as articulated in our policy prohibiting discrimination.”
“The university is reviewing this matter to determine if actions taken in the context of his role as a faculty member at Rutgers may have violated that policy,” Buccino added.
Here’s hoping Chikindas gets his marching orders (I do not know about you, but I doubt he could be objective when grading any Jewish students).
And if he does get fired, he can blame that also on the Jews!
Update: Looks like the good professor has taken down his Facebook profile – or perhaps Facebook did! Good thing I took screenshots..
Carol Christ, Chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley, issued a furious, scathing response to the vitriolic, malignant cartoon the Daily Cal, the university’s student newspaper, published targeting famed attorney Alan Dershowitz.Reactions to anti-Semitic cartoon in the Daily Cal
Christ’s letter to the editor, obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire, read:
To the editor:
Your recent editorial cartoon targeting Alan Dershowitz was offensive, appalling and deeply disappointing. I condemn its publication. Are you aware that its anti-Semitic imagery connects to the centuries-old “blood libel” that falsely accused Jews of engaging in ritual murder? I cannot recall anything similar in the Daily Cal, and I call on the paper’s editors to reflect on whether they would sanction a similar assault on other ethnic or religious groups. We cannot build a campus community where everyone feels safe, respected and welcome if hatred and the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes become an acceptable part of our discourse.
As The Daily Wire reported, “The drawing showed Dershowitz’s head fitting through a stock emblazoned ‘The liberal case for Israel’ (the title of the speech Dershowitz gave on campus on October 16), while on the other side of the stock the palm of his hand held an IDF soldier standing with his rifle drawn with a bloody, prostrate Palestinian lying in front of him as blood dripped down toward Dershowitz’s shoe, which was crushing another Palestinian.”
Last week, an anti-semitic cartoon featuring a caricature of civil rights attorney Alan Dershowitz appeared in UC Berkeley's student newspaper, the Daily Cal.In Thrall to Theory
Adam Naftalin Kelmen, director of Berkeley Hillel also weighed in
To see The Daily Californian’s anti-Semitic cartoon online depicting Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz was a reminder that as a Jew living in our open society, we are still plagued by undertones of historical anti-Semitism. There should be no excuse or rationalization for why this cartoon is “simply” a critique of Israeli policy or the speaker’s opinion. Like any bigoted cartoon, it should be called out, and the leadership of The Daily Californian needs to take responsibility for its actions. Jewish students on campus have every right to be included, practice their beliefs and express their passion for and love of Israel — their Jewish homeland — without experiencing anti-Semitism.
There has been no comment from the staff at the Daily Cal, or Joel Mayorga, the illustrator of the cartoon
William F. Buckley Jr. once wrote of his friend and frequent sparring partner John Kenneth Galbraith, “It is fortunate for Professor Galbraith that he was born with singular gifts as a writer. It is a pity he hasn’t used these skills in other ways than to try year after year to bail out his sinking ships.”JPost Editorial: Celebrating Balfour
It is tempting to apply this quip to Nathan Thrall. A harsh critic of Israeli policy, Thrall nonetheless has earned a rare degree of respect and intellectual admiration from his ideological adversaries. And that’s why Thrall and his belligerent new book, The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine, must be taken seriously.
The book gets many things right, as when Thrall scornfully offers a list of common excuses for why each round of diplomacy fails:
Bad timing; artificial deadlines; insufficient preparation; no agreed terms of reference; inadequate confidence-building measures; coalition politics; or leaders devoid of courage. Many blame imbalanced mediation; poor coordination among separate negotiating channels; scant attention from the U.S. president; want of support from regional states; exclusion of key stakeholders; or clumsily choreographed public diplomacy.
He justifiably knocks the naive and “deep-seated belief that both societies desire a two-state agreement and therefore need only the right conditions—together with a bit of nudging, trust-building, and perhaps a few more positive inducements—to take the final step.”
Thrall reminds readers that “no strategy can succeed if it is premised on Israel behaving irrationally.” And he chides those who warn Israel that she stands on the precipice of a one-state solution: “In fact, Israelis and Palestinians are now farther from a single state than they have been at any time since the occupation began in 1967.” That’s because the very security measures that draw the ire of the international community, like fences and other physical barriers, have been making separation, not integration, a fact on the ground. And the very incrementalism Thrall denounces as counterproductive, like “quasi-state” Palestinian governing institutions, makes political separation easier.
Alas, what Thrall gets right is far outweighed by what Thrall gets wrong. Begin with the book’s central thesis: Only displays of force by one side can win (and have won) meaningful and lasting concessions from the other. The imbalance of power in this situation, in Thrall’s telling, is that Israel has it and the Palestinians don’t. Thus, The Only Language They Understand is a call to violence against Israel.
If 20th century history has taught us anything it is that the real “crime” committed by Britain was the postponing of the creation of the State of Israel. If Britain’s 1939 White Paper had not been issued as Nazi Germany prepared to articulate and implement its Final Solution, millions of Jews living in Europe at the time could have been saved. Six years later, when six million of them were dead, the British remained steadfast in their opposition to immigration.WZO responds to 100-year-old Balfour letter
And today, more than seven decades after the fact, when the full magnitude of the Shoah is well known, there are those who would have us believe that the Balfour Declaration is something to be ashamed of. For them apparently even the 600,000 Jews who made up the Jewish Yishuv in Palestine and thus were spared the fate of their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters who remained behind were too many.
There are those who believe Britain should apologize for the Balfour Declaration, exactly because Britain helped facilitate the creation of a Jewish state in the Jewish people’s historic homeland.
Notably, under the leadership of Theresa May, Britain has made it clear that Balfour should be celebrated. In April, the official UK response to a petition signed by 13,600 people demanding an apology for Balfour, was that: “We are proud of our role in creating the State of Israel. Establishing a homeland for the Jewish people in the land to which they had such strong historical and religious ties was the right and moral thing to do, particularly against the background of centuries of persecution.”
As for claims by Palestinians that the Balfour Declaration was a betrayal of the Palestinian people, the true betrayal was the Palestinian political leadership’s rejection of a pragmatism that would have led to the creation of an Arab state alongside the Jewish state as stipulated in the 1947 UN resolution for the partition of Palestine. Instead, Palestine’s Arabs, backed by all the Arab nations of the region, chose the path of war – and lost.
Palestinians’ disastrous choices and leadership failures have left them stateless, not the Balfour Declaration.
The only tragedy of the Balfour Declaration is that it was not implemented earlier. This should be remembered in London next week.
Balfour had requested that Rothschild transmit the letter to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, but according to the WZO, until now the umbrella organization never sent him a formal response.Barbara Kay: Honouring Lord Balfour, who made Israel possible
"Honorable Lord Arthur James Balfour, First and foremost, allow me to express our deep regret over the delay in response," World Zionist Organization Vice Chairman Yaakov Hagoel wrote in the letter which he posted to the Balfour family, while in London for a WZO conference on antisemitism last weekend.
"The Zionist leaders welcomed Lord Rothschild's message in which His Majesty's Government provided its recognition to the Zionist desire to establish a Jewish national home in its historical homeland -Israel. With a profound sense of gratitude for all your efforts promoting this goal, we wish to inform you that the endeavor was successful, and that the State of Israel was founded and serves as the national home of the Jewish people, welcoming Jews from all countries of the Diaspora," he continued.
Hagoel proceeds to address all aspects of the Balfour Declaration, which stated that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
Hagoel’s letter discusses how minority rights are protected in the Jewish state, detailing the presence of different parts of society in the Knesset, the judiciary and the IDF.
The problem with the sanctuary vision is that the national Jewish home is looked at as a gift rather than a right. What is given by others can be taken away by others. Israel’s moral legitimacy is contingent on its passing what is sometimes referred to as the Holocaust test: you Jews suffered violence, you may therefore not show violence to others, even in your own defence. The question of legitimacy is always on the progressive mind. Increasingly, Israel is perceived of as having failed that test.Douglas Murray: UK's Hateful Hate-Crime Hub
For those who hew to the existential line of thought — Zionists like Weizmann, Ben Gurion and Benjamin Netanyahu — the central tenet is not sanctuary, but nation-building. In this view, Israel’s legitimacy is inherent to Jewish history. When Balfour met Weizmann, he had only known Jews who embraced the first, social-justice vision.
Weizmann opened his eyes and heart to the existential vision. That is no small thing. It led to the great promise. And a most unusual friendship: when Balfour lay dying, Weizmann was the only friend admitted to see him. They did not speak, but Balfour moved his hand to touch the bowed head of his visitor.
The Declaration was regrettably later honoured more in the breach than in the observance. Still, it is doubtful that modern Israel would exist without the support of Lord Balfour. And so, in spite of the many betrayals of the Declaration that were to follow, the memory of Lord Balfour should be honoured in perpetuity by all right-thinking Jews, and other well-wishers of Israel besides.
If you were a police officer what would you rather do: sit in the cold outside the house of a known extremist all day, or sit behind a desk with a cup of tea and scrolling through Twitter?Germany Opens Investigation Into Kuwait Airways’ Refusal to Fly Israeli Passengers
In May, just after the second of four Islamist terrorist attacks in the UK so far this year, British intelligence officials apparently identified 23,000 known extremists in the country. Of these, around 3,000 are believed to pose a present threat and are under investigation or active monitoring. The other 20,000 are categorised as posing a "residual risk". Due to the strain on resources, those 20,000 are not under constant observation.
This is a subject which, since the terrorist attack in May, has caused some agonising among the British public, not least because of the identities of the attackers. Khalid Masood, the Westminster Bridge and Parliament assailant, for instance, as well as Salman Abedi (the young man of Libyan heritage who carried out a suicide bombing outside a concert in Manchester) had both been on the radar of the British authorities -- both had been in the pool of people considered "former subjects of interest" but not an immediate threat. If the authorities had sufficient resources to follow everyone of interest, perhaps they would have been under observation at the time they were planning their attacks. Perhaps, also, a number of people killed in those attacks would still be alive.
The public, though, can be forgiving on these matters. They recognise that resources are not endless, that judgements have to be made and that departments have to choose where to allocate their budgets.
These choices are another reason why the public may judge dimly last week's announcement from the Home Office. Last week, Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced the creation of a new national police hub to crack down on hate-crime and "trolling" online. The unit -- which will apparently be run by specialist officers -- will assess complaints and work out whether they amount to a crime or not. They will also recommend removing material from online platforms if they -- at the official hate-crime hub -- deem such material "hateful".
The German government has opened an inquiry into whether Kuwait Airways’ policy of refusing to fly Israeli passengers violates aviation law.Judo federation chastises Abu Dhabi over Israeli treatment
The new probe — ordered by German Federal Minister of Transport Alexander Dobrindt — is separate from legal proceedings already underway in the Frankfurt District Court stemming from a suit brought earlier this year by an Israeli citizen whose ticket to fly from Germany to Thailand via Kuwait was cancelled by the airline due to his nationality.
Brooke Goldstein — the executive director of the Lawfare Project, a US-based pro-Israel non-profit legal group which is aiding the plaintiff in the Frankfurt case — stated on Tuesday, “We commend the German Federal Ministry of Transport for launching an investigation into Kuwait Airway’s discriminatory practices. Our team will continue to pursue legal action until the German Government makes clear that Kuwait Airways must either comply with the law or cease doing business in their country.”
Nathan Gelbart — the Lawfare Project’s German counsel — added, “This case makes clear that there should be no room for discrimination in Germany. Our country’s laws and common values should call German policymakers to act immediately in ending Kuwait Airways systematic violations of civil rights in our country.”
The International Judo Federation is demanding that the United Arab Emirates treat Israeli athletes equally after reports it is banning the Israeli flag at an upcoming contest.Caterpillar Stock Surges. BDS fails
A letter from the IJF to the president of the UAE Judo Federation says “all delegations, including the Israeli delegation, shall be treated absolutely equally in all aspects, without any exception.”
The letter was sent to the World Jewish Congress, which had asked the IJF to intervene.
There was no comment Wednesday from the UAE, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev condemned the ban, saying a boycott pacifies “those refusing to recognize our existence.”
Muslim states or athletes often boycott Israeli competitors. An Egyptian judoka refused to shake hands with his Israeli opponent at the Rio Olympics.
Caterpillar has been in the cross-hairs of Team BDS for years now. Looking at Cat's performance over time shows how irrelevant the BDS agenda is.IsraellyCool: Exclusive: Blatant Antisemitism at McGill General Assembly
Caterpillar's sterling performance this quarter reinforces the irrelevancy of BDS as a tactic. So, hows that boycott working for you, anyway?
Three chosen Students’ Society of McGill University board members were called to be removed from their appointments after a vote at the Fall General Assembly last night due to a “Jewish conflict of interest.”How Sweden supports terror against Israel
Upset over the Judicial Board’s decision to make BDS unconstitutional at McGill, pro-BDS student group Democratize McGill launched a campaign to reverse it:
What spurred this initiative? On September 17th, the SSMU Board of Directors (BoD), an unelected body, ratified a non-binding Judicial Board opinion declaring that the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and any “similar motions” brought to the SSMU General Assembly contradicts the SSMU Constitution. The Democratize SSMU campaign is not only a response to the decision itself, but also to the undemocratic and unconstitutional nature in which it was approved.
The campaign then introduced its strategy, to remove all those they disagree with due to “conflict of interests” which arose from their “biases”:
The political affiliations of the Board’s members at large, the clear bias of the SSMU Nominating Committee in selecting these members, and the abuse of power by the Board’s Chair, President Muna Tojiboeva, all point to a pressing need to reform the SSMU Constitution and Internal Regulations in order to prevent this type of political corruption–which happens year after year–from continuing on any longer.
The campaign then went on to say, according to my source at McGill, that “they took issue with some of the members due to a Jewish conflict of interest.”
In Sweden there is an ongoing discussion about whether Sweden is funding Palestinian terrorism or not. The truth is that Sweden supports Palestinian projects and NGOs promoting terrorism and violence. By doing so Sweden is in fact guilty of encouraging violence and extremism in the Palestinian society.The Swedish aid is not peaceful and we need to protest how it has been misused.New York Times on Jewish Identity: Pork, an Israel-Apartheid Slur and Bashing Adelson and Netanyahu
For years Sweden has, unfortunately, been promoting violence by funding NGOs which encourage violent resistance to the Israeli presence in the Middle East.
In Jenin, a town in the Palestinian controlled part of the disputed territories in Samaria there is a theatre called the Freedom theatre (TFT). The theatre very actively promotes BDS against Israel, glorifies terror and takes part in campaigns aimed against Palestinians who choose peaceful co-existence with the Israeli society.
Sweden supports TFT with hundreds of thousands of shekels every year. According to the theatre’s annual report of 2015 the Swedish government payed salaries and student grants to the staff at the theatre for about NIS 152 083 and supported TFT with NIS 204 449 in total in 2015. In 2016 TFT received NIS 244 000 from Swedish funds. The money is transferred through PPAN a Palestinian BDS network which has been given over NIS 8 million from generous Sweden since 2016. This money cover the TFT’s performances in Jenin's refugee camp. And last year over 12 500 Palestinian children and adults watched its performances.
Sunday’s issue of “T,” The New York Times’ style magazine, carries a four-page feature headlined “Great American Novelists” in which “three fiction writers and one cartoonist ruminate on Jewish identity and its relationship to Israel and the U.S. in 2017.”CAMERA Op-Ed: Does The Washington Post Even Read The Washington Post?
The cartoonist, Vanessa Davis, submitted “an original comic” titled “Talking About Israel.” The cartoon features two characters, one who announces “I hate talking about it” and another who replies, “Sure, stay quiet! So you’re fine with APARTHEID, O.K!”
If you think that represents the range of New York Times-approved opinion from American Jews about Israel and Jewish identity, wait, there’s even more.
One of the fiction writers, Nathan Englander, describes himself as a “pulled-pork-loving, drive-on-Saturdays secular Jew.”
An old adage, often attributed to Mark Twain, observes: “Truth is stranger than fiction because we don't meet it as often.” Close readers of The Washington Post, however, might wish for more factual encounters—and less fiction. When it comes to its coverage of Israel, the paper seems increasingly unable to discern the difference between truth and fantasy—even contradicting its own reporting to advance a false narrative.PragerU Sues Google and YouTube, Claims Unlawful Censorship and Discrimination
Take, for instance, the issue of “settlements.” The Post offers inordinate coverage of Jewish homes in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), filing dozens of dispatches from 2015-17 alone, on that very issue—and often at the expense of fully covering Palestinian political affairs.
For example, an Oct. 6, 2017 article by Ishaan Tharoor claimed that “Israeli settlers continue to expand across the West Bank” and “negotiations” between Israelis and Palestinians only give “settlers more time to build settlements.” Yet, settlements are not expanding externally; beyond existing boundaries. Most of the population growth is the result of natural increase and not from new arrivals.
And to find out as much, The Washington Post could have just read The Washington Post.
A March 31, 2017 Post report, for example, was entitled “Israel set to approve first new settlement in 20 years.” This hardly squares with a description of ‘Israeli settlers continuing to expand across the West Bank…' that is presented in Tharoor's Oct. 6, 2017 piece.
PragerU, an online purveyor of educational videos run by its namesake, Dennis Prager, filed a complaint against Google and YouTube Monday. The complaint alleges unlawful censorship and discrimination of first amendment rights.One to watch out for on BBC Two
YouTube, which is a subsidiary of Google, has on numerous occasions censored PragerU videos. Often, restricted or demonetized videos aren’t even what most would consider controversial subject matter, but offers opinions from a conservative point of view. “Why America Must Lead,” “The Ten Commandments: Do Not Murder,” “Why Did America Fight the Korean War,” and “The World’s Most Persecuted Minority: Christians” have all been dinged by YouTube.
Just weeks ago, former Dirty Jobs host turned skilled worker spokesman was shocked to find a video he’d done in conjunction with PragerU had received the YouTube ban hammer. The video? “Don’t Follow Your Passion“.
“Is it possible that YouTube has determined that the IDEAS expressed in my speech are inappropriate for people under 18 – The precise audience that most needs to hear this message? The answer appears to be yes,”
Via the BBC Media Centre we learn that a one-hour programme by Jane Corbin titled “The Balfour Declaration: Britain’s Promise To The Holy Land” will be aired on BBC Two at 9 p.m. on October 31st.Toronto Star Downplays Imam’s Anti-Semitic Comments
The BBC describes the programme as follows:
“One hundred years ago, just 67 words on a single sheet of paper lit a fire in the Holy Land, igniting the most intractable conflict of modern times.
The Balfour Declaration was the first time the British government endorsed the establishment of ‘a national home for the Jewish people’ in Palestine. While many Palestinians see it as a betrayal, many Israelis believe it was the foundation stone of modern Israel and the salvation of the Jews.
The legacy of the declaration is one that BBC reporter Jane Corbin has watched unfold over the last 30 years – charting the conflict on both sides. But it’s also a story that Jane has a personal connection to. One of her own ancestors, Leo Amery, a British politician and Cabinet Minister, played a key part in drafting the original declaration and then oversaw Britain’s governance of Palestine in the 1920s.
On October 22, the Toronto Star published a feature length front-page article about a Toronto imam, Ayman Elkasrawy, who was accused of preaching hate against Jews in a sermon he gave at his mosque, Masjid Toronto, in the Summer of 2016.Europe has a ‘Jewish’ soccer team problem
To recall, Elkasrawy (then a junior employee of the Mosque and a former teaching assistant at Ryerson University – who was subsequently fired for his remarks) is alleged to have given a sermon in Arabic where he read Islamic scriptures calling for Jews to be slaughtered: “O Allah! Count their number; slay them one by one and spare not one of them. O Allah! Purify the Al-Aqsa mosque from the filth of the Jews!”
The Imam had previously “apologized” on Twitter for his remarks claiming that he misspoke and saying that he holds no animus towards Jews. And yet, when interviewed by the Star recently, the Imam now contends his words were “twisted”. As reported by the Star when the controversy first ensued, the Muslim Association of Canada said Elkasrawy had (emphasis added) “used language during prayers that was unacceptable and against the values and practices of MAC, Masjid Toronto and the Muslim community at large… The incident occurred when inappropriate supplications, in Arabic, were added without authorization, and in contravention to MAC’s code of conduct for participants.”
Importantly, Elkasrawy’s own mosque condemned their Imam’s inappropriate and offensive remarks. Meanwhile, a criminal investigation is still open.
Seventeen-year-old Sjuul Deriet, standing outside this port city’s main soccer stadium on a rainy Sunday, vividly explains why he hates the people he calls “the Jews.”Anne Frank’s Diary to Be Read Out Loud at All Italian Soccer Matches This Week
“They have the money, they run the business from management positions and they think they’re better than blue-collar people like us,” said Deriet, who works at a catering business.
Yes, the statement sounds like typical anti-Semitic cliches. But it has nothing to do with actual Jews, Deriet hastened to tell JTA.
“I have nothing against your people. When I say I hate Jews, I just mean supporters of Ajax,” he said, referring to the Amsterdam soccer team that is an archrival of Deriet’s beloved Feyenoord Football Club of Rotterdam.
For the uninitiated: Fans of Ajax are often referred to as “the Jews,” likely because of the historical presence of Jews in the Dutch capital. As it happens, there are several soccer teams across Europe that are known as “Jewish” for similar reasons, including England’s Tottenham Hotspur — they once had a strong fan base among the Jewish immigrants of North London — as well as Italy’s Roma and Germany’s Bayern Munich.
Lazio and Roma are two Italian soccer teams that share a stadium, Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. Earlier this week, to taunt their cross-town rivals, Lazio fans littered the stadium with stickers showing Anne Frank wearing a Roma jersey, an allusion to Roma’s fans being left-wing and Jewish.Truus Wijsmuller saved thousands of Jews in WWII. Why has no one heard of her?
It was a sickening gesture, but nothing, sadly, out of the ordinary in European soccer, where teams are frequently identified as “Jewish” by fans and foes alike and where Holocaust and other anti-Semitic references are common. What is exceptional is the Italian league’s reaction: Immediately after the offensive stickers were discovered, Italy’s soccer federation announced that portions of Frank’s diary will be read at all league games this week, combined with a minute of silence for the victims of the Holocaust.
“Anne Frank doesn’t represent a people or an ethnic group. We are all Anne Frank when faced with the unthinkable,” Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said. “What has happened is inconceivable.”
Every time one of Arthur Adler’s grandchildren had a bar or bat mitzvah, he brought along the Bible he received at his own bar mitzvah at Amsterdam’s Spanish Portuguese Synagogue in March 1939.IAI unit to sell maritime patrol radar for Canada’s search & rescue efforts
Adler’s bar mitzah was not arranged by his parents, but instead by a non-Jewish Dutch woman named Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer (also known as Truus Wijsmuller) who had brought him and his sister Melly out of Germany on a Kindertransport four months earlier. A year after Adler’s bar mitzvah — shortly before the Netherlands came under German occupation — he and Melly sailed for the United States, where they reunited with their parents and other siblings. This, too, was thanks to Wijsmuller’s efforts.
“Auntie Truus” saved the lives of thousands of Jews — mainly children — during the Holocaust, yet her story is not widely known.
Other rescuers are household names: Steven Spielberg made a Hollywood film about Oskar Schindler. Streets in countries worldwide are named for Raoul Wallenberg. Nicholas Winton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.
But few, even in the Netherlands, have heard of Wijsmuller since her death in 1978 at 82.
Seventy-two years after the end of World War II, not many of the mainly German- and Austrian-Jewish children whom Wijsmuller rescued are still alive to share their memories of her and what she did for them.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the nation’s largest aerospace and defense firm, has won a contract from Airbus Defence & Space SAS to supply it with maritime patrol radars. The amount of the contract was not released.Israel’s David’s Sling Missile Defense System Awarded Tech Prize in Boston
Canada’s government is acquiring 16 airplanes from Airbus Defence that will be equipped with advanced sensor systems to support Canada’s search and rescue operations. The key surveillance sensor that will be installed onto the aircraft will be the ELM-2022 radar system developed by IAI’s subsidiary, ELTA Systems Ltd., IAI said.
The radar, operated from an antenna located under the fuselage, helps detect, localize, classify and track targets such as maritime vessels, on the sea and land in all weather conditions, including low visibility, day and night.
It can be used for maritime surveillance and patrols as well as other surveillance operations. The radars can be installed in a range of fixed-wing and rotary-wing, manned and unmanned aircraft.
Israel’s cutting-edge David’s Sling Weapons System (DSWS) was awarded the Technology Pioneer Award at the 2017 Multinational Ballistic Missile Defense Conference in Boston on Tuesday.Jewish educator uses analogies to explain Middle Eastern conflict
“The marvelous capabilities of the David Sling Defense System are a significant breakthrough in the world of interception technology,” said Moshe Patel, director of Israel’s Missile Defense Organization. “The unique characteristics of the system interceptors are astounding in every test that is done. The DSWS is an important component of Israel’s operational capability to defend the country against regional missile threats.”
“I would like to thank to our American partners on the recognition of the DSWS and the message it brings along,” Patel added.
David’s Sling, also known as the “Magic Wand,” joined Israel’s Iron Dome and Arrow anti-missile systems in April, with all three missile interceptors jointly developed and funded by the US and Israel.
In comparison, Americans in their twenties remember watching SpongeBob as a child, Lazarus said.Einstein Note on How to Live Happy Life Sells in Jerusalem for $1.56 Million
Lazarus pulled a student, who said his name was Nate, from the audience. He told the student he was a security officer and he would have to give him a prompt answer to a video he was about to show him.
Lazarus then showed the student a clip of two Palestinian gunmen climbing into an ambulance in Gaza and driving to the border of Israel to fire a rocket. After the clip ended, Lazarus turned to the student.
“Do you fire, yes or no?” Lazarus said. “I need an answer.”
“Yes,” Nate said.
“Are you sure?” Lazarus said. “What if there are kids in the ambulance?”
Nate hesitated and stumbled through an answer.
“I need an answer, yes or no,” Lazarus said, interrupting the student.
The student said yes because it would save others.
“There were four children on their way to a hospital in the ambulance,” Lazarus said.
Lazarus asked the student how old he was. He said he was 18.
“I want you to get it,” Lazarus said. “The people pressing the button are 18-year-olds in the Israeli army. It’s not the old guys. It’s you.”
Lazarus said he believes the root of the problem is in education. Lazarus shared a video from a Middle Eastern children’s TV program featuring a kid who wrote a poem about how he wants to kill all the Jews and free Israel.
Lazarus said he doesn’t expect channels to be showing reruns of Fiddler on the Roof, a popular Jewish musical, but rather the programs should teach children hope and not hate.
“At the end of the day, it’s about education,” Lazarus said. “If you want peace, you have to teach children peace.”
A note handwritten by Albert Einstein in the 1920s, detailing the German-born physicist’s simple theory for a happy life, sold in a Jerusalem auction to an anonymous European buyer on Tuesday for $1.56 million.Looking Back at the Delegation to Mexico
The auction began at $2,000 and a series of bids pushed the price up rapidly until two final bidders competed by phone to own the historic piece. Thunderous applause erupted at Jerusalem-based Winner’s Auctions when the final bid was closed.
“It was an all-time record for an auction of a document in Israel,” Winner’s spokesman Meni Chadad told AFP.
The auction house originally estimated that the note would sell for between $5,000 and $8,000. The note was written during Einstein’s 1922 visit to Japan after he was informed that he would be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. It was penned on Imperial Hotel Tokyo stationery and says in German, “A quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest.”
The note is one of two that were gifted to a Japanese courier at the hotel in lieu of a cash tip. According to the seller, Einstein told the courier at the time, “Maybe if you’re lucky those notes will become much more valuable than just a regular tip.”