Tuesday, December 05, 2017
PMW: UK Government contributes to PA payment of salaries to terrorists
The UK Government has decided to grant 20 million pounds to the Palestinian Authority's general budget. According to PA sources, a large part of the grant "will be allocated for the education [sector]." [WAFA, official PA news agency, Nov. 25, 2017]The Taylor Force Act Has Been Gutted
When deciding to contribute to the PA general budget, the UK Government presumably took into account the fact, as Palestinian Media Watch has shown, that the PA uses no less than 7% of its general budget for both paying salaries to terrorists and their families and for the glorification of terrorists in general.
The Palestinian terrorists who receive salaries from the PA include the members of UK proscribed terrorist organizations and murderers of UK citizens. For example, to-date, Mousab Abu Shkhidem, Nidal Shehadeh, Is'haq Arafe, and Hussein Kawasmeh, the murderers of Mary Jane Gardner, a UK tourist murdered in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem on March 23, 2011 have each received over 33,000 pounds sterling from the PA, for carrying out the attack and being sent to prison. Jamil Tamimi, the murderer of Hannah Bladon, a UK student murdered in Jerusalem on April 14, 2017 has received over 2,500 pounds sterling from the PA, for carrying out the attack and being sent to prison. Kifah Ghneimat and Iyad Fataftah - who on Dec. 18, 2010 near Beit Shemesh attacked and seriously injured UK citizen Kay Wilson and murdered US citizen Kristine Luken - have each received over 41,000 pounds sterling for carrying out the attack and being sent to prison.
A number of Palestinian terrorists have cited the payment of salaries by the PA as the motive for committing terrorist attacks. The salaries have also been used to fund terrorist attacks.
While the international community has demanded that the PA stop paying salaries to terrorists, PA officials have rejected any change of this policy. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas even went as far as to say that "Even if I have to leave my position, I will not compromise on the salary of a Martyr or a prisoner." [Official Fatah Facebook page, July 2, 2017] In addition to the payment of the salaries to terrorists, the PA also constantly glorifies terrorists.
The Taylor Force Act started out as a powerful and long-overdue tool for pressuring the Palestinian Authority (PA) to stop paying terrorists. But the legislation has been diluted, weakened and compromised in so many ways that it is now a pale shadow of its former self. The Taylor Force Act has been gutted.FULL Version of KuwaitAirways JewBoycotting @Heathrow
Known in the Senate as S. 1697, the Taylor Force Act is named after a young Vanderbilt University student — and US Army veteran — who was murdered by a Palestinian Arab knife-wielding terrorist in Jaffa in 2016. The lead Senate sponsor is Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.); Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) initiated the House of Representatives version, H.R. 1164.
The idea behind the bill was to reduce US aid to the Palestinians in proportion to the amount that the PA pays to terrorists.
Thanks to the good work of Israeli Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser and the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, we know that the PA has a precise and sophisticated system of providing financial incentives to the murderers of Jews.
An Arab who is imprisoned for attacking (but not killing) Jews receives a monthly salary of $400 from the PA. The amount goes up according to the length of the terrorist’s prison sentence. An Arab who succeeds in killing a Jew receives a monthly salary of $3,400.
Four main take-aways from ICC report on Israel-Palestinians
The International Criminal Court Prosecutor’s Office published its annual report on Monday on preliminary examinations of war crimes allegations, including regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Here are the four main take-aways:Senior official: EU hypocritical, 'spitting in Israel's face'
1. December 2016 UN Security Council resolution starts to hurt
Israel is starting to pay a concrete price for the December 2016 UN Security Council resolution, which was the first in decades to declare, without a US veto, the settlements illegal. Many viewed the Obama administration’s refusal to veto the resolution as a parting shot at the Netanyahu government for failing to progress in peace negotiations at a pace it considered acceptable.
2. “Occupied Gaza” dropped – could be good from Israeli perspective
The idea that Gaza is still occupied despite Israel’s 2005 withdrawal was conspicuously discussed in the 2016 ICC Prosecutor’s Report and – a possible big positive for Israel – is conspicuously absent from Monday’s report.
A determination that Gaza is still occupied could have had a massive impact on whether the ICC took Israel’s or the Palestinians’ side on borderline laws of war issues, as it framed the Palestinians more as the victims.
That section seems to have been replaced with a discussion about whether the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is an international or non-international armed conflict.
3. Neither Israel’s own probes nor Hamas’s lack of probes are mentioned
The decisive issue for Israel on whether the ICC prosecutor moves from the current preliminary examination of alleged war crimes to a full criminal investigation will likely be whether it views Israel as having properly probed its own alleged war crimes. If Israel is viewed as having probed its own, the ICC stays out. If it is viewed as having insufficiently probed, the ICC dives in.
In the past, the ICC prosecutor has referenced updated information received from Israel, while being silent about Hamas undertaking investigations.
4. Israel has time
Maybe the central words are “phase two.” Israel is still viewed as only in phase two of the analysis of whether to move to a full criminal investigation. It will need to be in phase three for some time before the ICC prosecutor makes a final decision.
Also, all of the rhetorical signs of momentum in moving toward a near future decision, not to mention the absence of any visits to the region in over a year, are missing.
This means that the ICC Prosecutor’s Office has probably had its hands too full with deciding whether to go after the US and has been distracted from fully focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Any final decision is almost certainly a year, if not multiple years, away.
European Union representatives plan to mark Human Rights Day on Dec. 10 with a photography exhibit by left-wing human rights organization B'Tselem, Israel Hayom learned Monday. The move has been criticized by a senior Israeli diplomatic official as a "disgrace."Is Europe Promoting the Next Mideast Massacre?
The exhibition, titled "50 Years," is set to take place at Jaffa Port. It includes 50 portraits of Palestinians born in 1967, who are described by B'Tselem as having lived their entire lives under Israeli "occupation."
The official told Israel Hayom the Europeans' behavior is "contemptible" and "irritating."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon also blasted the move, saying the EU officials "believe the way to Israelis' hearts is through spitting in their faces."
"We are again witnessing the same patronizing approach of hypocritical and condescending sermonizing," which instead of bringing people together, pushes them apart, he said.
Hezbollah is internationally recognized as a terror organization and a proxy for Iran. They massacre in Syria and want to destroy Israel. Yet in every European country (except the Netherlands) they are free to openly raise funds and recruit followers. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
B'nai Brith Canada Calls for Removal of UN Palestinian Rapporteur
"B'nai Brith Canada is calling on the United Nations to strip Michael Lynk of his position as 'Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory' after he headlined a fundraiser for a radical anti-Israel group.IsraellyCool: Palestinian Solidarity or The Illusion of Truth? Nakba Day at the UN
B'nai Brith has sent letters to both United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland demanding that Lynk be removed.
Lynk, who holds a one-sided UN mandate to 'investigate Israel's violations of the principles and bases of international law,' was the keynote speaker at a Nov. 29 event held at the University of Toronto campus and organized by the group Canadian Friends of Sabeel.
Sabeel is a Palestinian extremist group that has accused the Jewish State of operating a 'crucifixion system' against Palestinians, and advocates for 'a bi-national state in Palestine-Israel' – in other words, for the State of Israel to be dismantled altogether..."
A week passed since the Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians. But maybe it’s better that I waited a week before penning how that day made me feel.Bedeviled by Anti-Israel Boycotters at Duke
The UN once again proved itself to be a tool and platform for featuring a false Palestinian identity, whose mission isn’t to build itself but to destroy Israel – and, frankly, with that to destroy even what they have today.
There is something incredibly dangerous in repetition. Hitler knew that. Mussolini knew that. Every dictator knew and knows that. Repetition is the mass murder of the ability and the desire to think other than what has been told to us. Repetition is the ultimate weapon of any propaganda machine.
And frankly, at this point, no one can convince me about the opposite. Until the UN – besides the usual Israel-focused special meetings – dedicates a full day for nothing less than an Arab gathering with dozens of Palestinian keffiyeh visibly hanging on every second person, yes, until then, the UN is a propaganda machine.
I recently met a couple who told me that their Jewish daughter attends Duke University, which they believe to be a great school for Jewish students. I would be pleased to share their enthusiasm. But in certain pockets of that institution, a serious, faculty-driven, anti-Israel bias exists, often expressed publicly and unreservedly.Michael Lumish: This Week on Nothing Left
Recently, Duke University Press (DUP) published The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability, by Jasbir Puar. Elsewhere, I have written about Paur’s modernized brand of blood libel, which often relies on the fog of absurd, self-consciously academic jargon to disseminate antisemitism. At least six members of Duke’s Editorial Advisory Board and a number of DUP staff members publicly support initiatives related to the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. As the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) explains, “The predominant drive of the BDS campaign and its leadership is not criticism of policies, but the demonization and delegitimization of Israel.”
No less a source than the US Department of State recognizes the demonization of Israel, the application of a double standard to that nation, and attempts to delegitimize it, as three distinct examples of antisemitism. Numerous members of the faculty and staff at Duke commonly engage in such acts. Sometimes, the validity of an entire department may be in question.
The Cultural Anthropology Department lists 10 faculty members with the title of Professor. Of these, seven have supported initiatives related to the BDS movement. Anne Allison, Charles Piot and Orin Starn are signatories to DukeDivest, which calls upon Duke University to “end military ties to Israel.” Engseng Ho and J. Lorand Matory are signatories to the Anthropologists for the Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions (ABIAI). Ho is also listed as a signatory on the “Call by Middle East Studies Scholars and Librarians for the Academic Boycott of Israel.” Diane M. Nelson supports both DukeDivest and the ABIAI. Irene Silverblatt is listed a signatory to the “Historians’ Letter to President Obama and Members of Congress,” which states, “We urge you to suspend US military aid to Israel.”
The participant that they have this week who most catches my interest is Judith Berman. I often read her material at the Gatestone Institute. She's tough as nails.Berlin art show sparks outrage with jihadi 'martyrs' display
Nothing Left
3 min Editorial: Milo Yiannopoulos event in Melbourne
9 min Sharren Haskel, MK in Australia
32 min Judith Bergman, commentator and blogger
51 min Julie Nathan, ECAJ on anti-Semitism in Australia
1 hr 5 min Matthew Hausman MD, trial attorney and writer on antisemitsm
1 hr 28 min Danny Lamm, ZFA on Australia voting at UN
A Berlin art installation dedicated to "martyrs" has prompted outrage by including one of the Paris jihadist terrorists alongside the likes of civil rights activist Martin Luther King and Greek philosopher Socrates, a move French officials blasted as "deeply shocking."Lindsay Shepherd’s Attacker Who Labeled her “Alt-Right” Was Ousted from Windsor University Position After Anti-Semitic Scandal
According to French news agency AFP, the so-called "Martyr Museum" by a Danish art collective called The Other Eye of the Tiger, shows the portraits of 20 people throughout history who "died for their convictions," accompanied by short biographies.
As well as icons such as King and Socrates, the exhibition includes an image of French jihadist Ismael Omar Mostefai, one of three gunmen and suicide bombers who stormed the Bataclan concert venue in Paris in 2015 and killed 90 people. On display next to his portrait is an entrance ticket to the Bataclan.
Also sharing the wall is Mohamed Atta, the pilot who flew a passenger plane into one of New York's World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
The weeklong installation by the collective was launched last Wednesday at the Kunstquartier Bethanien art center and immediately sparked an outcry in German and French media and on social networks.
Mohommad Akbar, one of Lindsay Shepherd’s most vocal opponents, helped lead a 2014 BDS campus movement that emboldened anti-Semites to endanger the safety of Jewish students at Windsor University.IsraellyCool: Roger Waters In Interview With Terrorist Advocate: I Am Not An Antisemite (And Other Lies)
University of Wilfrid Laurier alumnus Mohammad Akbar recently published a hit piece on Lindsay Shepherd, the TA who had the audacity to simply play a clip of Jordan Peterson and others debating gender pronouns.
Shepherd was censured and brought in for a meeting with Laurier faculty, who berated her until she broke down in tears. They equated her airing a Jordan Peterson clip in class with playing a Hitler speech. Since the audio of her abuse was leaked, the school has issued a retraction, but some of the leftist activists and journalists are coming after Shepherd, and they won’t stop until they have her head on a platter.
Mohammad Akbar wrote a smear piece in NOW Magazine claiming that Shepherd is linked to the anti-Semitic alt-right movement. The irony is that Akbar was himself ousted from a student office at University of Windsor after an anti-Semitic hate crime scandal in 2014. Akbar was the UWSA vice president of external affairs during the time that the UWSA passed an anti-Israel bill. In fact, as the Toronto Star reported, the bill “sparked safety concerns for some Jewish students on campus, as well as complaints that have prompted an investigation of the vote by the school’s administration.”
Rock’n’roll BDShole Roger Waters has been interviewed by one Dimitri Lascaris, a fellow Israel hater who has used social media to advocate on behalf of terrorists who murdered Israeli civilians.
The interview is what we have come to expect from Waters – long, unhinged, denials of antisemitism, full of lies, and generally showing the dark side of this moron.
Waters’ denying (again) he is an antisemite (something I have shown to be the case here)
They tell lies. They say, for instance, that I’m an anti-Semite. Which is a bare-faced, out-and-out, lie. And anybody who knows what anti-Semite means, and is a reasonable person, of any faith, whatever their faith or color or nationality, will absolutely agree that you can accuse me of being many things. Outspoken, you could accuse me of being. Political, you can accuse me of being. You cannot accuse me of being anti-Semitic. They conflate the idea of criticism of the policies of the current Israeli government, and previous Israeli governments, with anti-Semitism. Which it isn’t. They’re just wrong. It’s a misunderstanding. It’s semantics. It’s a misunderstanding of the meanings of the words, anti and Semite.
So it’s something that, hopefully, we could have cleared up years and years ago. But we can’t. And the reason that we can’t clear it up is because they have no reason or defense of the policies of the Israeli government, and its occupation of its beleaguered, neighboring, people. In consequence, they try to deflect the conversation, always, away from the realities by calling people, like me, names like anti-Semite. It’s simply to deflect the spotlight away from the reality of what the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinian people.
IsraellyCool: Reader Post: A Nazi-Style Meeting in Parliament
Last week Sheppard hosted a meeting of the Muslim Brotherhood-supporting ‘EuropalForum’ in Parliament. When the meeting was switched to a smaller room, several Jews were told they could no longer attend. When they nevertheless came to the meeting, they were locked out.Newsweek Relies on Electronic Intifada, Gets the Facts Wrong
Tomorrow’s meeting is redolent of Nazi meetings. A group of “good” Jews has a tame MP to host them free-of-charge in Parliament, a meeting to denigrate “bad” Jews who complain about antisemitism. Moreover the “bad” Jews will be locked out, or if they do get in and protest even silently, will be thrown out.
Parliament is a public building financed by the taxpayer. This racist meeting has no place there. A meeting to denigrate Muslims who complain about Islamophobia would never be held there. Nor would a meeting to denigrate blacks who complain about racism. So why is this meeting permitted?
Complaints have gone to the Speaker, the Board of Deputies and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Antisemitism. How can they be indifferent to what is happening under their noses?
‘Free Speech on Israel’ are free to hold this meeting; they can hire a room at commercial rates.
But it has no place in Parliament.
In an egregiously skewed Nov. 30 article, Newsweek's Carlos Ballesteros relies on Electronic Intifada, the fringe discredited virulently anti-Israel propaganda site, and, unsurprisingly, given his sources, trips up with a ridiculously false factual error in an article about a letter from Senate Democrats to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposing plans to demolish two Palestinian villages ("Israel Must Stop Plans to Demolish Palestinian Villages, Senate Democrats Say").'We will continue to fight against anti-Israel fake news'
In a laughably ahistorical error, the staff writer claims that the Palestinian village of Susiya, which faces demolition because it was established without any building permits, has been in "Palestinian control since the 1830s."
If a West Bank Arab village called Susiya has been in place since the 1830s – (B'Tselem claims it has existed "for at least a century," but then goes on to qualify that "photographs from 1980 show cultivated farmland and livestock pens," but not homes) – it was not under "Palestinian control" at that time or any time. Indeed, the land where Susiya is located was under Ottoman control until 1917, at which point it fell under British control as part of the Mandate. In 1948, when the British withdrew, and Israel's war of Independence ensued, the West Bank land where Susiya is located fell under Jordanian control. The Jordanians ruled that territory until the Six Day War, at which point, Israel gained control of the West Bank, including the land where Susiya is located. Israel has maintained control of that area to this day.
As for the Palestinians, the first Palestinian government ever in history came into existence in the 1990s, thanks to the Oslo Accords, which established the Palestinian Authority. At the same time, the Oslo Accords determined that Susiya is part of Area C, meaning that it is under full Israeli civilian and security control. The status of that land has not changed since that time. Thus, contrary to Bellesteros' claim that Susiya has been in "Palestinian control since the 1830s," not for one day in history has Susiya been under Palestinian control.
Arutz Sheva's Joe Frager spoke with Fox News rising star Pete Hegseth about Hegseth's upcoming visit to Israel, the Iranian threat, and the lingering question of whether Trump will indeed move the US embassy to Jerusalem in the imminent future.Ombudsman: Neil Macdonald’s Smearing Israel as an “Apartheid” State Unclear, But Didn’t Violate CBC Policy
"We'll be [in Israel] in February. Seeing is understanding, is fortifying, is being able to fight back against the fake news and the things people want to say about Israel as opposed to what is reality on the ground. [After our previous visit,] we're going to do it again," Hegseth said.
Regarding the lingering question of whether Trump will order the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem, Hegseth said that "Jerusalem is the eternal and undivided capital of Israel. There's no reason why the US hasn't recognized that and shouldn't. Trump made [moving the embassy] a central part of his election campaign. So I would be more surprised if he didn't make this move ultimately. [The move] would be a symbol to the rest of the world of where we truly stand with Israel, and a truly welcome one. So I'm crossing my fingers that we'll see that in the next couple of weeks."
In a review released on November 30 and posted to the CBC Ombudsman’s website, Ombud Esther Enkin wrote that:UKMW prompts correction to Times of London claim Sharon visited “al-Aqsa Mosque”
The complainant, Terry Specter, objected to an Opinion piece by Neil Macdonald in which he labelled Israel an apartheid state. She rejected the characterization and questioned Mr. Macdonald’s claims that statements from former Prime Ministers and high-ranking officials substantiated his claim. This was a provocative column but it did not violate CBC journalistic policy.”
HonestReporting Canada filed a complaint with CBC executives noting that Macdonald’s commentary crossed the line and was misleading, lacked context and was replete with errors. Our complaint is contextualized in our November 3 media action alert entiteld: “Neil Macdonald’s Apartheid Slur is Inflammatory and Unfounded”.
An article at Times of London yesterday (US to rule on recognising Jerusalem as capital of Israel, Dec. 4) included one extremely misleading passage, which we brought to the attention of the journalist (Bel Trew) in the following tweet:Toronto Star Contributor Ignores that Canadian Teacher Praised Terrorists
.@Beltrew Hi. Your report at @thetimes on J'lem recognition was good. But, passage in below image is misleading
— UK Media Watch (@UKMediaWatch) December 4, 2017
Sharon didn't visit al-Aqsa mosque. He visited the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site
Also, his visit didn't CAUSE the intifada, it was a PRETEXT for the intifada pic.twitter.com/EHetm7qkSw
As we explained in our subsequent complaint to Times of London editors, the language used by their reporter erroneously suggests that Sharon, then the opposition leader, visited a Muslim holy site, when in fact his 34 minute tour was to Judaism’s holiest site, the Temple Mount. Though the al-Aqsa Mosque is located within the larger Temple Mount compound, Sharon did not visit the mosque itself. Indeed, the language used by Trew mirrors Palestinian propaganda which frames a visit by any Jew to the Temple Mount as an incendiary act and a desecration of a Muslim holy place.
Further, as our tweet noted, it’s also extremely misleading to claim that Sharon’s visit “triggered the intifada”. His visit, which was coordinated in advance with Palestinian security officials, may have been the pretext for the subsequent orchestrated Palestinian campaign of violence, but it certainly was not its cause. (We didn’t include this in our complaint, as editors would have likely viewed the question of causation as open to interpretation.)
Later in the day, we learned that our complaint had been upheld.
In her latest Toronto Star commentary on November 30, contributor Azeezah Kanji failed to mention that elementary teacher Nadia Shoufani (pictured right) gained notoriety for a speech she gave which saw her “support the resistance (against Israel) in any form imaginable.”Error acknowledged, complaint upheld – yet BBC inaccuracy still remains online
“Resistance” is a Palestinian euphemism which promotes terrorism against innocent Israelis. Shoufani also praised Ghassan Kanafani and Georges Ibrahim Abdullah, two individuals from the proscribed terror group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Shoufani has also expressed “glory to the martyrs” — including to Samir Kuntar, a now deceased member of the outlawed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, who smashed the head of a four-year-old Israeli girl with rocks. In posts on her Facebook page, Shoufani celebrated Kuntar as a “hero among heroes”.
That a Canadian educator of our children would laud and glorify Palestinian terror is alarming. Shoufani is entitled to support Palestinian rights, but she crossed the line when praising Palestinian terror.
Back in August we noted that the BBC had published acknowledgement of an inaccuracy that had appeared in a BBC Radio 4 programme in May 2017 on its ‘Corrections and Clarifications’ page.Alleged thief with prior conviction for antisemitism remains at liberty despite reportedly targeting three synagogues in Stamford Hill in under three months
When notification of that correction was received, BBC Watch had already submitted a Stage 2 complaint to the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit. The ECU has now informed us that the complaint was upheld.
However, the programme concerned is still available online and it has not been edited to correct the presenter’s inaccurate claim (from 38:10) of “Jewish riots in the 1940s” in Manchester. Neither has any footnote been added to the webpage informing audiences that the ECU upheld a complaint concerning that statement.
BBC Watch has written to the ECU once again, pointing out that such an absurd situation does not inspire public confidence in BBC handling of editorial complaints.
A burglar with multiple convictions for targeting synagogues allegedly struck again yesterday, according to Stamford Hill Shomrim, a Jewish community volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.American teen gets suspended sentence for vandalizing Auschwitz barracks
The man, who Stamford Hill Shomrim says has committed burglary and theft at three synagogues in Stamford Hill, remains at liberty although he is known to the police and has a prior conviction for an antisemitic public order offence.
Yesterday’s burglary, in which valuable items were stolen, is the third incident alleged to have been perpetrated by the same individual in the last two-and-a-half months. Stamford Hill Shomrim has notified the police. As yet no arrest has been made.
We commend Stamford Hill Shomrim for its vigilance and urge the Metropolitan Police Service to investigate this report urgently.
A Polish court gave a suspended one-year sentence to an American teenager for scratching his name on a barracks wall at Auschwitz.BBC presenter steps down from show after Jewish comments
Polish police arrested the yeshiva student, 17, in July after he was caught by a guide while etching his name into the interior wall, according to reports.
The teen also was ordered to pay 1,000 zlotys, or $280, to the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum. He did not appear at the court hearing.
The judge at a court in the town of Oswiecim said he was surprised that a yeshiva student would desecrate the site.
“This act was committed by a student of a religious school for future rabbis, so by someone who should be fully aware of the importance and nature of the former Auschwitz camp,” Judge Konrad Gwozdziewicz was reported as saying.
British actor and TV host Reggie Yates will be stepping down from his position hosting the Top of the Pops Christmas and New Year’s specials after comments he made were perceived as antisemitic.Joe, we can't go back, they've taken it all away
Yates, who has hosted the music countdown show for many years, including when it was a weekly program, apologized last month for what he said on a podcast. Speaking to Halfcast podcast host Chuckie Lothian in early November, Yates said: “The thing that makes it great about this new generation of [music] artists is that they ain’t signing to majors... They’re independent, they’re not managed by some random fat Jewish guy from northwest London, they’re managed by their brethren... So it’s amazing to see now the example isn’t get hot and then give all of your publishing to these idiots. Or go and give all of your rights to these dickheads over here.”
The relationship between Jewish agents and managers and black musicians has long been a complex, heated topic.
Yates’s comment got traction later in the month in British media, and the TV presenter apologized then for his “flippant” remarks. But on Monday, he went a step further, announcing that he
will step down from hosting this year’s Top of the Pops shows on BBC.
Writing on Twitter, Yates said he made some “ill-considered remarks which have hurt many people. I can see clearly that the words I used reinforced offensive stereotypes and that there is no context which would justify such remarks.” He added that he wanted to “apologize unreservedly to the Jewish community.”
“This has been, and continues to be a huge learning experience for me, and on reflection I have taken the decision to step down from hosting Top of the Pops this year.”
The story of the dispossession of Joseph Smouha, who built Smouha City in Alexandria out of marshland, is a remarkable one. What is perhaps more remarkable, is that this article by Joseph Braude appeared in the Arab magazine Majalla (with thanks: Richard).SodaStream enters Latin American market through Argentina
Ask a young Egyptian what “Smouha” means and he will likely tell you it is an excellent football team in Alexandria, lately ranking third in Egypt’s premier league. He may also know that the team takes its name from Smouha City, a resplendent Alexandrian suburb.
So it wasn’t surprising that when Richard Smouha, a Swiss national, recently submitted his passport to a man of Egyptian origin at an airport in Amsterdam, the officer asked him, “Did you know that your family was named after a place in Egypt?”
But Smouha’s reply surprised the officer: “Actually, the place in Egypt was named after my family.”
It may further surprise many Egyptians to know that the builder of Smouha City, Richard’s grandfather Joseph, was an Iraqi Jew, born in Baghdad in 1878. At age 14, he moved with his family to the British city of Manchester, where he gained his education and began a prosperous career as a cotton broker. At age 36, with the outbreak of World War I, he closed his business and offered himself for public service.
The Israeli seltzer company SodaStream will begin operating in Argentina as a first step to selling its products throughout Latin America.‘American Pie’ singer Don McLean and The Scorpions to perform in Israel
The company will invest approximately $36 million in its first industrial plant in Argentina. “Here is the first country where we are going to settle with an office, then we will go to Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and Colombia; for us, Argentina is the capital of Latin America,” announced SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum on Thursday in Buenos Aires.
Among the factors triggering the decision to establish the plant in Argentina is the large consumption of soda and recent agreements signed between Argentina and Israel. Argentina is the second-largest consumer of soda in the world, with 80 liters per capita annually, behind Germany, with a soda consumption of 160 liters.
Last September, during the first visit of a sitting Israeli prime minister to Argentina and the region, Benjamin Netanyahu and Argentinean President Mauricio Macri signed a cooperation agreement between the countries to promote investment and trade.
In September 2011, Argentina signed a free trade agreement with Israel. Israel’s trade agreement with countries that belong to the South American joint market known as Mercosur — namely Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay — went into effect in June 2010, and in September 2011 with Argentina.
With iconic hits like “American Pie” and “Vincent,” Don McLean is one of America’s most beloved and enduring artists. He will be performing at the Ra’anana Amphitheater on June 16. Since first hitting the charts in 1971, McLean has amassed more than 40 gold and platinum records worldwide, and in 2004 was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. Over the years a number of artists have recorded cover versions of his songs including Elvis Presley (“And I Love You So”), Madonna (“American Pie”) and George Michael (“The Grave”).With youthful exuberance, singer Bryan Adams does it for Tel Aviv
In 2016, McLean was arrested for domestic abuse for allegedly trying to strangle his wife. Patrisha McLean wrote in a declaration filed in a Rockland County district court that he had displayed anger issues and antisemitism in the past.
McLean responded on Twitter: “Among the many lies told about me by my soon to be ex-wife Patricia is the statement that 24 years ago I made an anti-semetic [sic] remark. This is false given the facts. I was married for almost 30 years to a Jewish woman who I worshiped. I was proud to have 2 Jewish children.”
The 71-year-old rock star also noted that he had written a song called “Jerusalem” and is a “staunch supporter of Israel.”
“I wrote the song ‘Jerusalem’; for [former Jerusalem mayor] Teddy Kollek and made a film about that city for him,” McLean tweeted. “I did many tours of Israel during the Iran-Iraq War and lived with an Israeli girl who was in the army at that time. I am a staunch supporter of Israel then and now.”
It was a full 10 minutes into his first concert in Israel before Bryan Adams hollered out the unfailing “Shalom, Tel Aviv” at the audience in the coastal city, to rip-roaring cheers.
“My name is Bryan,” he told the crowd of thousands of Israeli concert-goers who know his name is Bryan.
In the sold-out Nokia stadium, some of the overtly diehard fans were staking out the front rows. A fired-up woman in a rhinestone skirt proudly brandished a red banner reading “Bryan, you’re my ultimate love.” Two rows ahead, another woman held up a handwritten sign that said: “We <3 U, straight from the heart.” “I don’t know how much time you have. You have to work in the morning,” the throaty Canadian singer continued, addressing the mostly over 30 crowd. “But we’ve got a lot of songs.” (Adams was set to play another show Tuesday in Tel Aviv and Wednesday in Jerusalem.) “Shall I keep going, or shall I stop?” he teased the audience, an hour and a quarter in. The answer: A resounding, thunderous yes.
Israeli Doctors Treat Seriously Ill Children in Tbilisi, Georgia
A baby born without an esophagus and a five-year-old boy unable to eliminate bodily waste naturally were among the complex cases awaiting senior Israeli surgeons on their voluntary visits to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.Pvt. Ori is Using Her Disability to Teach Others About Tolerance
“It gives us a chance to do something good for others. I don’t care if I treat a Georgian child or an Israeli child. I like to give good medical solutions to those who don’t have them,” says Dr. Ran Steinberg, director of pediatric surgery at Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital on the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa.
ISRAEL21c last wrote about Steinberg in September 2014, when he and his staff saved the life of a teenager from Gaza, giving him a kidney transplant and an improvised solution for poorly functioning blood vessels.
Steinberg leads a group of medical personnel from the Rambam pediatric intensive care and anesthesia departments, all working pro bono, twice a year, to perform complex medical procedures on children Tbilisi doctors have been unable to treat successfully. Air fare and accommodations for five days are provided by the Georgian government.
“This began as an initiative of the president of Georgia to encourage other countries to support medicine there,” Steinberg tells ISRAEL21c.
Two months before she put on her uniform for the first time, Pvt. Ori had already been to the base where she would eventually serve several times. “I went to the base to study it,” she explains. “My cane can only tell me where obstacles are – it doesn’t guide me. It was really frustrating. It was hot and I had to walk the same route over and over again so many times, but my desire to enlist gave me the energy to do it. I always insisted on being independent on base, so I wouldn’t need help.”
Pvt. Ori was born blind, but she never let that stop her. She attended a regular high school, took matriculation exams, went on annual trips with her classmates, and even took part in a trip to Poland. “When others see me going about my day like everyone else and that I don’t feel sorry for myself, then they treat me like an equal,” she says.
Therefore, enlisting to the IDF with the rest of her classmates was only natural for her, and for everyone who knew her. “My friends enlisted to the IDF and it was obvious to them that I would enlist too. I’ll have a regular service like everyone else,” she says.
“There are people who tell me that I could’ve easily avoided serving, and that I didn’t have to volunteer to serve, but I have no doubt that I did the right thing. I grew up with brothers who were combat soldiers, who never stopped talking about their experiences in the IDF. I always wanted to enlist – to give back to the country and at the same time to develop my independence and myself. I really feel like I did the right thing,” she says.
