Saturday, March 17, 2018
Alan Dershowitz: Ellison ‘Has to Be Fired Immediately’ From DNC
Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz on Friday said Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.) should "be fired immediately" as Democratic National Committee deputy chairman for falsely claiming he had ended his relationship with Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan.
Dershowitz joined "Fox & Friends" to discuss his new book, The Case Against BDS: Why Singling Out Israel for Boycott Is Anti-Semitic and Anti-Peace. Co-host Steve Doocy introduced the topic of Farrakhan's contraversial relationship with some members of the Democratic party, first playing a compilation of clips where the Nation of Islam leader slams Jews and white people as "satanic" and deserving to die.
"I hear the Jews don't like Farrakhan, so they call me [Adolf] Hitler. Well that's a good name. Hitler was a very great man…Your country has been taken from you by the synagogue of satan… The satanic Jews… Because you see white people deserve to die… White folks are going down," Farrakhan said.
Co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked Dershowitz, a lifelong Democrat and supporter of Hillary Clinton, whether he thought that more Democrats should speak out against Farrakhan and separate themselves from his views.
"I think Keith Ellison has to be fired immediately as the deputy chairman of the DNC. Not only has he become close to Farrakhan, but he's lied to the American public about ending his relationship with Farrakhan," Dershowitz said. "We know that he continued to meet with Farrakhan even after he said he longer met with him. This is the leadership of the Democratic Party. Farrakhan is a bigot. He is far worse than David Duke. Why? Because Farrakhan has a large following. David Duke is a joke.
Karl Marx’s Jew-Hating Conspiracy Theory
When God became sidelined as the source of ultimate meaning, “the people” became both the new deity and the new messianic force of the new order. In other words, instead of worshipping some unseen force residing in Heaven, people started worshipping themselves. This is what gave nationalism its spiritual power, as the volksgeist, people’s spirit, replaced the Holy Spirit. The tribal instinct to belong to a sacralized group took over. In this light, we can see how romantic nationalism and “globalist” Marxism are closely related. They are both “re-enchantment creeds,” as the philosopher-historian Ernest Gellner put it. They fill up the holes in our souls and give us a sense of belonging and meaning.'Jerusalem is not holy to Muslims, enough with this lie!'
For Marx, the inevitable victory of Communism would arrive when the people, collectively, seized their rightful place on the Throne of History.11 The cult of unity found a new home in countless ideologies, each of which determined, in accord with their own dogma, to, in Voegelin’s words, “build the corpus mysticum of the collectivity and bind the members to form the oneness of the body.” Or, to borrow a phrase from Barack Obama, “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
In practice, Marxist doctrine is more alienating and dehumanizing than capitalism will ever be. But in theory, it conforms to the way our minds wish to see the world. There’s a reason why so many populist movements have been so easily herded into Marxism. It’s not that the mobs in Venezuela or Cuba started reading The Eighteenth Brumaire and suddenly became Marxists. The peasants of North Vietnam did not need to read the Critique of the Gotha Program to become convinced that they were being exploited. The angry populace is always already convinced. The people have usually reached the conclusion long ago. They have the faith; what they need is the dogma. They need experts and authority figures—priests!—with ready-made theories about why the masses’ gut feelings were right all along. They don’t need Marx or anybody else to tell them they feel ripped off, disrespected, exploited. They know that already. The story Marxists tell doesn’t have to be true. It has to be affirming. And it has to have a villain. The villain, then and now, is the Jew.
Zionist Organization of America President Morton Klein spoke on Thursday night at the National Council of Young Israel's annual dinner, debunking the myth that Jerusalem is holy to Muslims.
"Jerusalem was the capital of Israel, under King David, 3,000 years ago," Klein said. "It was never, ever, the capital of any other nation except Israel. When the Arabs conquered Palestine in 716, they made Ramla their capital, not Jerusalem."
"The Jewish holy books mention Jerusalem 700 times. it is never, ever mentioned in the Quran. Even about Mohammed allegedly going from Jerusalem to heaven, in the Quran...this is described as a dream. He simply has a dream, and it says he went 'from the farthest place to heaven.' ... And the nearest place, in the Quran, is Palestine. So clearly, it was not from Jerusalem."
Klein also noted that the Arabs, historically, have not cared enough to invest in Jerusalem.
"When the Arabs controlled Jerusalem from 1948-1967, when Jordan controlled it, they built everything of importance in Amman, not in Jerusalem," he said. "They allowed it to be a slum. There was no water, no electricity, no plumbing there. They destroyed the 58 synagogues in eastern Jerusalem."
Calling on his listeners to help debunk the lies, Klein said, "We must now tell everyone: It is not holy to Muslims, enough with this lie! Enough with the lie of occupation, there is no occupation, this is Jewish land, enough of the lie that settlements are the reason we have no peace. Settlements comprise 2% of all Judea and Samaria, there hasn't been a single new settlement built since 1993."
Omri Ceren: Can the Iran Deal Be Fixed? And should it be?
It’s not clear whether the president will tear up the deal. A team of American negotiators has been working on getting the E3 to agree to a range of fixes, and is testing whether there’s overlap between the maximum that the Europeans can give and the minimum that Trump will accept. The Europeans in turn are testing the Iranians to gauge their reactions and will likely not accept any fixes that would cause Iran to bolt.So Long to the Iran Deal
The negotiations are problematic. The New York Times reported that, as far as the Europeans are concerned, the exercise requires convincing Trump they’ve “changed the deal without actually changing it.” Public reports about the inspection fix suggest that the Europeans are loath to go beyond urging the IAEA to request inspections, which the agency may be too intimidated to do. The ballistic-missile fix is shaping up to be a political disaster, with the Europeans refusing to incorporate anything but long-range missiles into the deal. That would leave us with inadequate tools to counter Iran’s development of ballistic missiles that could be used to wipe Israel, the Saudis, and our regional bases off the map.
The U.S. negotiating team is cognizant of all this, and the Europeans have gotten significant pushback. U.S. diplomats turned the president’s January demands into a checklist and made it clear to the Europeans that they’ll have to check every box. The Europeans for their part have been aggressively leaking and maneuvering—though that may be having the opposite effect of the one intended. Just before a March meeting between the U.S. and the E3 in Berlin on this topic, the State Department started quietly signaling that it would lay down the law on ballistic missiles, and the administration announced that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be replaced by current CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Tillerson was one of the main forces in the administration for preserving the deal. Pompeo has been one of the main advocates for dismantling it.
There is always reason to worry, however. The problem is structural. If the Obama administration was being deliberately ambiguous because it couldn’t publicly justify concessions that the Iranians absolutely demanded, then the Europeans will have discovered as much when checking in with Tehran in the aftermath of Trump’s demands. There is a risk the Trump administration may be pushed to accept the hollow fixes acceptable to the Europeans.
Fixing the deal in this way would be the worst of all worlds. It would functionally enshrine the deal under a Republican administration. Iran would be open for business, and this time there would be certainty that a future president will not act to reverse the inevitable gold rush. Just as no deal would have been better than a bad deal, so no fix would be better than a bad fix.
Almost immediately after the news broke that President Trump intends to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA director Mike Pompeo, media figures speculated that the decision was about Russia. The argument went like this: Tillerson was fired because he had recently criticized the Russian government for its attack using a nerve agent on a former spy living in the United Kingdom. He thereby endangered détente with Russian president Vladimir Putin and so, the critics said, Trump sacked him.Hotovely to Spain: The two-state solution has failed
Yet the rumor was exposed as false almost as soon as it was aired. For one thing, Tillerson had been informed that he would be removed days before he made his entirely justified condemnation of Russian behavior. For another, the Trump administration soon came out hard against the assassination attempt. Nikki Haley lambasted Russia at the United Nations. President Trump signed a joint statement with the British prime minister, French president, and German chancellor assigning responsibility to Russia. The Treasury Department announced further sanctions against Russian cyber-warfare.
It was Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon who first reported the real story. Tillerson had been engaged in a months-long defense of the Iran nuclear deal that finally reached an impasse when he took Europe's side in debates over the agreement. As Trump said later, he and his secretary of state disagreed on important policies such as withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and putting "maximum pressure" on North Korea. When you add his backing of the Iran deal, widespread criticism of his management style, and the fact that he is said to have called his boss a moron, it's a wonder Tillerson made it this far.
And the Iran deal may not last much longer than Tillerson. Last fall, Trump refused to certify the agreement. In January, he said he was waiving sanctions on Iran for the last time, barring alterations to the deal that strengthened America's position. Thus began a countdown that will expire in the middle of May. By then, Pompeo likely will have been installed at Foggy Bottom. A longtime critic of both Barack Obama's Iran policy and the Iranian regime's international terrorism and domestic repression, Pompeo will give Iran's rulers plenty of reasons to worry.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely met Thursday with Spanish Secretary of State Ildefonso Castro Lopez as part of the framework of the political dialogue held between the Israeli and Spanish foreign ministries.Palestinians believe US delaying peace plan for a post-Abbas era — report
Hotovely thanked the Spanish Secretary of State for his government's support for Israel and for the Spanish government's public and resolute opposition to demands Spain launch a boycott of Israel. The two countries share many fruitful cooperation agreements, including on issues of security and cyber security, Hotovely noted.
Turning to the Iran nuclear deal, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister provided an overview of the changes Israel believes the European Union must make to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in light of the change in the American position. "The main engine of terrorism in the Middle East is Iran, but the problem does not stop in the Middle East, it also reaches the doorstep of Europe."
Hotovely also raised a request for the Spanish legislation to ban initiatives to boycott Israel at the governmental level due to the active activities of the BDS movement in Spain.
During their meeting, Hotovely raised the issue of Spain's voting patterns in international forums such as the UN. She called on Spain to "change your voting pattern in the UN and international forums. If you intend to see a peace process in the Middle East, there is no substitute for direct negotiations. Do not create an illusion for the Palestinians that Europe will solve the problem for them without requiring them to fight terror and incitement."
"For 25 years, Israel has tried to resolve [the conflict through] the two-state solution. This attempt to solve it was a failure, and the time has come to think of new solutions to old problems," she explained.
The US administration is delaying the announcement of its Middle East peace plan because it believes the proposal would have a greater chance of success after a new leader replaces long-time Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a senior Palestinian official was quoted as saying Saturday.Guatemalan Consul General: Israel is a special friend and ally
“They [the Americans] know that President Abbas will not accept this plan,” the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper quoted an unnamed senior Palestinian official as saying. “They are betting on the time factor.”
The US administration is preparing for the day when there will be Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who “would not be able to reject the peace plan and would have to deal with it gradually,” the official said.
Two weeks ago, Abbas, who turns 83 later this month, reportedly told members of his ruling Fatah party that he does not intend to end his life as a “traitor.”
Referring to Trump’s purported plan, Abbas said, “I have said in the past — and afterward — that I will not end my life as a traitor. [The US] can announce the deal whenever and wherever they want, but nothing will happen against our will.”
Trump has referred to his peace plan, the details of which have yet to be made public, as the “deal of the century.”
Last month, Abbas underwent what his aides called “routine checkups” in a US hospital. Although the aides said the results of the checkups were “positive and reassuring,” unconfirmed reports in Palestinian and Arab media outlets insist that Abbas’s condition has suffered a “major setback” in recent weeks.
Consul General of Guatemala Nivia Rosemary Arauz Monzon spoke on Thursday night at the National Council of Young Israel's annual gala dinner.IDF names Ziv Daos, Netanel Kahalani as soldiers killed in Friday’s car-ramming
Speaking about her country's decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Monzon said, "As our president, Jimmy Morales said, [it] is the right thing to do."
"That is because Guatemala has been an ally of Israel for many years, more than seventy years. And our friendship continues until this day. Guatemala was one of the first countries to vote for the creation of the State of Israel."
She also noted that Guatemala feels grateful to Israel for its ongoing support.
"Israel has supported Guatemala...especially in the educational field," she said. "Our country feels a deep gratitude for such a significant level of support."
"It is important to mention that our countries should excel in bilateral relations that have become stronger over the years, and we will continue working together for our people and for a better world.
"Guatemala feels proud and honored to stand with Israel as a special friend and an ally."
The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday identified the two servicemen killed a day earlier in a West Bank car-ramming terror attack as Cpt. Ziv Daos and Sgt. Netanel Kahalani.Shin Bet says driver confesses to terror attack; family insists it’s an accident
Two other soldiers, who were seriously injured in the apparent terror attack remained in the hospital as of Saturday night. The army did not release their names.
Daos, 21, from the central town of Azor, was a platoon commander in a Home Front Command search and rescue unit. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of captain.
Kahalani, 20, from Elyakim in northern Israel, served as a driver in the Menashe Regional Brigade. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant.
The army did not release the slain soldiers’ identities until their families could be notified of their deaths.
The Shin Bet security agency said Saturday that the Palestinian man who allegedly killed two IDF soldiers and seriously wounded two others in a West Bank car-ramming confessed to carrying out the attack.Netanyahu says Israel will demolish home of car-ramming attacker
The security agency said that it appeared that 26-year-old Ala Qabha acted alone, and possibly spontaneously, when he drove his vehicle into a group of soldiers standing guard near the settlement of Mevo Dotan in the northern West Bank on Friday afternoon. The army on Friday designated the car-ramming as a terror attack.
Qabha did a U-turn on the road before plowing into the soldiers, and accelerated into them, Israeli TV reports said Saturday, leaving no doubt that the attack was deliberate.
Qabha’s family insisted the deadly incident was an accident. His father told the Walla news site Saturday that his son is not affiliated with any terrorist group, and did not intentionally target Israeli troops. “This isn’t the first car accident like this and won’t be the last,” Rateb Qabha said. “You hear about accidents like these every day in the news.”
Earlier Saturday, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot confirmed that Israeli forces arrested Qabha’s brother and an uncle in the family’s hometown of Barta’a, outside Jenin. Both relatives were suspected of helping him carry out the deadly attack.
Forces also mapped out Qabha’s home in preparation for its demolition, conducted a broader search of the village for illegal weapons, and continued security checks of cars in the roads surrounding Barta’a.
“I know my son well,” his father said. “This is a young man who works, he dreams of getting married and having a family. He doesn’t have [terrorist] leanings… I extend my condolences to the families of the victims,” Qabha added.
Qabha also told Walla the family rejected Hamas’s praise for the attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday vowed that Israel would demolish the house of the Palestinian who ran over and killed two IDF soldiers and wounded two others in a car-ramming attack in the West Bank.After car attack, coalition MK vows to pass bill on death penalty for terrorists
“From the depths of my heart, I send condolences to the families of the IDF officer and soldier who were murdered yesterday by a reprehensible terrorist and my best wishes for a quick recovery to the wounded,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued minutes after the end of the Sabbath.
“We will work to demolish the home of the terrorist and will deal with him to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.
Earlier several law makers said they would work to ensure the Knesset passes legislation to allow the death penalty for convicted Palestinian terrorists.
In a statement, President Reuven Rivlin sent “a hug of comfort and strength to the families of the dead and prayers for a speedy recovery to the wounded.”
A lawmaker from the Yisrael Beytenu party on Saturday vowed that in the coming months his party would ensure the Knesset passes legislation to allow the death penalty for convicted Palestinian terrorists.Palestinian terror groups praise car-ramming attack that kills two soldiers
A day after a Palestinian man killed two Israeli soldiers and seriously injured two others in a West Bank terror attack, MK Oded Forer told a cultural gathering in the southern city of Beersheba that the measure would serve as a deterrent for future attackers.
“There is no doubt that the terrorist should not have been alive by the time the incident was over,” Forer said, according to Channel 10.
“We intend to finalize the legislation on the issue during the summer session,” Forer added. “This is not a demand for revenge. But it’s inconceivable that an attacker can leave his house knowing that he will be allowed to watch the World Cup games this summer.”
Forer also accused Palestinian leadership of responsibility for inciting attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.
“Beyond dealing with this incitement, Israel must make it clear to terrorists who take the lives of Israelis… that it’s time for them to meet their makers,” he said.
Several Palestinian terror groups and activists on Friday praised the “heroic” car-ramming attack in which two IDF solders were killed near Jenin, saying it was an “appropriate” response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.Danon calls to end 'despicable pay to slay' policy after ramming attack
While no group claimed direct responsibility for the terror attack, it came after Palestinian groups had called for Friday to be a “day of rage,” in response to Trump’s December decision.
The Hamas terror group was the first to “welcome” the attack.
“This heroic and courageous operation underscores our people’s insistence on pursuing the path of resistance,” read a terse statement published by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Abdel Latif al-Qanua, a Hamas spokesperson, said that the “heroic operation underlines the vitality and continuity of the intifada, and our people’s rejection of the US decision on Jerusalem.”
Another Hamas spokesperson, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that the attack was a “message” to those who have been calling on his terror group to lay down its weapons.
“This is a message to the effect that the weapons of the resistance are the uppermost,” he added. “It is also a message to the effect that there is no future for those who conduct security cooperation,” he said, referring to the cooperation between the Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank and the IDF.
Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon demanded that the Palestinian Authority put an immediate end to its “despicable pay to slay” policy in the wake of terror attack on Friday that left two Israeli soldiers dead and two others injured.Bomb detonates along Gaza border, Israel destroys Hamas post in response
The Israeli envoy also said it was imperative that the world join him in condemning the attack which occurred in the West Bank settlement of Mevo Dotan after a suspected Palestinian terrorist used a car to ram into a group of IDF soldiers.
"As long as the Palestinian Authority continues to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorists who kill Israelis, we will continue to see such heinous attacks,” said Dannon.
He added: “The international community must condemn this hateful act of terror and demand that the Palestinian leadership finally put an end to the despicable practice of ‘pay to slay.’”
The attack occurred on the 585 highway near the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Mevo Dotan some 10 kilometers southwest of Jenin.
The driver, who fled from the scene, was captured by Israeli security forces shortly after the attack and was lightly injured, he was evacuated to the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera.
A bomb planted near the Israel-Gaza border exploded Saturday, causing no casualties, the military said. In response, Israeli tanks destroyed a Hamas post in the area.Israeli minister: Qatar making true effort to stop Gaza aid from boosting Hamas
The IDF said there were no troops near the bomb when it detonated.
On Thursday, two improvised explosive devices were detonated as a military patrol vehicle drove by the security fence surrounding northern Gaza, prompting the Israel Defense Forces to retaliate with tank fire at terror targets. There were no Israeli injuries reported in the IED attack.
On Friday, Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians issued a warning to Hamas about the bombs, saying, “The provocations by Hamas and other terrorist organizations could lead to an escalation” of violence along the Gaza border.
Improvised explosive devices have long been a concern for the IDF in Gaza, as they are relatively easy and inexpensive to produce and can be set off from afar. In light of the threat, the army has a number of protocols for how to deal with suspicious objects near the security fence so explosives can be disarmed or destroyed in a controlled explosion.
Last month, four IDF soldiers were injured when an IED was detonated along the southern Gaza fence.
Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi on Friday said Qatar was “endeavoring hugely to ensure its aid” to the Gaza Strip “does not end up as any Hamas force build-up.”Hamas shuts Qatari cell provider in Gaza after convoy attack
According to Reuters, Hanegbi told 102FM radio: “We know this, we supervise this and we approve this, because they really are doing construction — the construction of neighborhoods.”
Hanegbi confirmed that he met with a Qatari envoy during the latter’s visit to Jerusalem last month.
Hangebi said the meeting with Doha’s envoy to Gaza Mohammed Al-Emadi came as part of an effort “to expand our diplomatic horizon with Middle East states that, for practical and formal reasons, cannot have above-the-radar relations” with the Jewish state.
During his visit to Jerusalem in February al-Emadi had stated that he met with Hanegbi. The minister expressed surprise at the admission.
“Usually there is an agreement that a meeting of this kind remains secret. But they decided [to come forward with it] and that’s their prerogative,” he told 102FM.
Gaza’s Hamas rulers have shut the offices of a Qatari-Palestinian cellular provider in connection with its investigation into an explosion that targeted the visiting Palestinian Authority prime minister.Abbas aide threatens to punish Hamas amid fallout from Gaza attack
Hamas police spokesman Ayman Batniji said Saturday that Wataniya Mobile, a subsidiary of Qatar’s Ooredoo, was being closed down for “refusing to cooperate” in the inquiry.
A roadside bomb struck a convoy carrying PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Tuesday after he crossed into Gaza from Israel, wounding some of his bodyguards. Local reports said a second bomb that failed to detonate contained a Wataniya SIM card.
After the attempted assassination, the Hamas Interior Ministry in Gaza announced it had launched a “high-level investigative committee” into the bomb attack, which dealt a further blow to faltering reconciliation talks between Hamas and president Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party. On Wednesday, a Hamas official said the terrorist group knew the identities of the attackers, but did not identify the suspects.
The Palestinian Authority and Hamas continued on Friday to trade allegations over the bombing of the convoy of PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in the northern Gaza Strip earlier this week.U.S. army: Iran has stopped its provocations in the Gulf
Rawhi Fattouh, a senior official with the PA’s ruling Fatah faction, called for an international commission of inquiry to investigate the incident, like the one that was formed after the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Fattouh said he was not sure the PA wold be able to continue with the process of “reconciliation” with Hamas while its leaders are being targeted and intimidated.
The PA will not allow the “assassination attempt” that targeted Hamdallah to go unpunished, another senior Palestinian official warned. “What happened will not pass without a response,” said Mahmoud Habbash, religious affairs adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamdallah and PA General Intelligence Chief Majed Faraj were on their way to inaugurate a wastewater treatment plant during a visit to Gaza Tuesday when a roadside bomb was detonated near their convoy. The two senior officials were not hurt.
The attack, which has been strongly denounced by both the PA and Hamas, has sparked renewed tensions between the two rival parties.
“The Palestinian leadership will not allow this murderous terror act to pass without punishment,” Habbash said in a sermon he delivered during Friday prayers at Ramallah’s Muqata’a presidential compound.
Habbash said the PA would take “decisive and tough” measures in response to the attack. However, he did not specify the nature of the punitive measures.
A U.S. military official said on Thursday that Iranian naval forces appear to have deliberately halted their provocations of U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf in recent months, The Associated Press reported.Anti-Israel Students at UC-Santa Barbara Endorse ‘Armed Resistance,’ Share Images With Pistol, AK-47
Navy Cmdr. William Urban, spokesman for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, said there have been no "unsafe and unprofessional" actions by Iranian naval forces in the Gulf since August 2017.
Prior to that, Iranian vessels had periodically made high-speed approaches to U.S. ships that were considered dangerous provocations.
In July of 2017, a U.S. Navy ship fired warning shots at an Iranian ship in the Persian Gulf, after it came within 150 yards of the U.S. vessel.
A month earlier, an Iranian missile boat pointed a laser at a U.S. Marine helicopter while two Navy warships and a cargo ship were transiting out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz.
The laser triggered a response and the U.S. helicopter automatically fired off flares toward the offending vessel.
In March of 2017, the U.S. aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush confronted two sets of Iranian Navy fast-attack boats that had approached a U.S.-led, five-vessel flotilla as it entered the Strait.
The anti-Zionist group Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) published a series of images on Monday that appeared to condone “armed resistance.”BDS Supporters at Top South African University Manipulate Image of Anne Frank, Vandalize Campus With Anti-Israel Graffiti
The Facebook post included a photo of a Palestinian woman holding a pistol, as well as a cartoon — drawn in an outline of Israel and the Palestinian territories — depicting a woman with an AK-47 assault rifle.
Another photo featured an armed Leila Khaled, who helped hijack two planes in Europe on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The Marxist-Leninist group is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the United States.
“Solidarity is the weapon and armed resistance is the catalyst,” SJP captioned the post. “Support all mujeres taking arms against imperialism.”
In response to criticism, a moderator of the page appeared to defend “the justified methods of those Palestinians seeking liberation from fascist Israeli occupation & apartheid.”
SJP said in a comment published below the post that it did “not condone bigotry against any group of people no matter their race, ethnicity, religion, class position, and/or gender & sexual orientation, etc.”
Flyers featuring a doctored image of Anne Frank have been used to promote a campaign by anti-Israel students at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.Exclusive: PayPal shuts third BDS French account in 2018
First spotted on campus on Wednesday, the flyers show Frank — a Jewish victim of the Holocaust whose diary became one of the most widely-read books in the world — wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh.
The Wits Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), which is currently hosting its annual “Israel Apartheid Week” (IAW) campaign on campus, said the flyers include “amazing art work from one of our members,” identified as Nuraan Khan.
In a statement shared online, Khan claimed the flyers draw “attention to the fact that the same racism, hardship and oppression that was faced by Jews during Nazi times is being repeated in modern times.”
“Since Palestine has been under Israeli oppression for about 50 years now, there are only 50 flyers,” she added. “These will be put up in various public spaces around Wits.”
According to photos uploaded by Khan, the flyers have been posted in at least 35 different locations.
The South African Union of Jewish Students (SAUJS) expressed “disgust” at the initiative, calling it “a gross form of cultural appropriation towards a figure that is symbolic of the plight of the Jewish people.”
PayPal has closed the account of French BDS organization Collectif 69 Palestine, the third boycott-Israel account the US online payment service has terminated in France since late January.Exclusive: How a Soros-funded NGO lobbied one EU country against another
The Jerusalem Post sent a query to a PayPal representative on Monday and was told that PayPal opened an investigation into the account of Collectif 69 Palestine.
A review of Collectif 69 Palestine’s donation page on Thursday showed the PayPal section stating: “This recipient is currently unable to receive money.”
Collectif 69 Palestine did not immediately respond.
PayPal shuttered the account of the BDS entity Jewish French Union for Peace (UJFP) in February.
In January, PayPal closed the account of the France-Palestine Solidarity Association.
The Post initiated an investigative series in 2016 into the funding streams of BDS organizations and the connections between BDS and terrorist entities.
After a Post 2016 exposé on Campagne BDS France, PayPal and the bank Credit Mutuel closed the group’s accounts amid escalating criticism over its illegal practices.
The head of an organization funded by George Soros described how the group used its influence on one government to pressure another country for the benefit of the Hungarian-American billionaire.The Jewish Voice for Labour or for Antisemites?
The Civil Liberties Union for Europe is headed by Balázs Dénes, the group’s Berlin-based executive director. The organization was spun off from Soros’s Open Society Foundation in January 2017.
In recordings of a meeting in Amsterdam in January – between Dénes and someone he thought was a supporter – Dénes talked about his organization’s work to pressure Hungary to overturn a law limiting foreign funding for NGOs that was an attempt to rein in Soros’s activities in the country. The European Commission has said the law goes against the values of the European Union.
Dénes’s remarks show a focused effort by his organization to influence Hungarian law by leveraging German influence against the country. He detailed attempts to convince Germany to put heavy economic pressure on Budapest to abrogate the NGO law, because German companies have invested heavily and are major employers in Hungary.
When it comes to the NGO law, Dénes said, “We work very strongly. I’m having a meeting this week with a think tank, an organization which is influencing the German government and the Foreign Ministry of Germany, and I’m bringing them copies of the law, just translated from Hungarian, and I’m explaining them what they can do against it.”
Asked how Germany can fight a Hungarian law, Dénes pointed to factories in Hungary owned by Mercedes, Audi and Bosch.
“Germany, because of the German investors and German companies, is an influential player in Hungary. So if the German Foreign Ministry wants something, they can, they have means,” Dénes said.
There’s a newish group in the Labour Party called the Jewish Voice for Labour.Facebook Decides on Israel’s Permanent Borders
We’ve covered them in previous posts.
Jewish Voice for Labour decided to have a friendly word in the ear of Elleanne Green.
She rewarded their efforts by posting their letter into the group for all to see. Here it is:
It’s interesting to note that while JVL are prepared to write to Green to ask her to remove antisemitic posts and state that such posts won’t be tolerated (she responded by making the letter public and taking no such action) their stated reason for doing so is that they have caused “reputational issues” for JVL officers. The objection isn’t the antisemitism in and of itself. Collier says this in his report and JVL have proved him to be correct.
As Arthur says in the letter, members of JVL are still present in the group even since the group was unmasked;
Earlier this year, an Israeli site wanted to advertise its offerings to readers in Jerusalem. This being 2018, and all of advertising now held exclusively in Facebook’s claws, the site contacted the social media behemoth and paid for a campaign. When the time came to drill down on the ads’ geo-targeting, however, something strange happened: Facebook wouldn’t let them select any Jerusalem neighborhood east of the Green Line.Twitter Hosts Women’s March Leader Connected to Louis Farrakhan
“Whoever is living in Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood has definitely seen our ads,” a spokesperson for the site told the Israeli press this week, “but anyone living in Har Homa, right next door, has never come across them.”
Puzzled by Facebook’s decision to define Israel’s borders, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Tzipi Hotovely, wrote to the company demanding an explanation. “It’s inconceivable that Facebook takes neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem off the map,” she wrote. “We cannot consent to a situation in which a commercial corporation determines the borders of the state of Israel.”
Facebook was quick to reply, apologize, and correct the mistake. Still, according to the Israeli newspaper Yisrael Ha’Yom, Facebook still refuses to place ads targeting Israelis living in Judea, Samaria, or the Golan Heights.
It’s quite disappointing to see Twitter host Mallory because something tells me the company wouldn’t invite Nazis or members of the KKK.New York Times Errs on Cause of Gaza Water and Medicine Shortages
Farrakhan has captured more heat recently after CNN’s Jake Tapper held the anti-Semite’s feet to the fire. Farrakhan and other supporters, including those in Congress, have vilified Tapper, who is Jewish, and those who dare point out that the Nation of Islam’s leader is a racist bigot.
If your leader does not have the same enemies as Jesus, they may not be THE leader! Study the Bible and u will find the similarities. Ostracizing, ridicule and rejection is a painful part of the process...but faith is the substance of things!
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) March 1, 2018
Mallory has had no problem reaffirming her support of Farrakhan. After all, why should she when hardly anyone will push back? She penned this op-ed and the lack of self-awareness blows my mind:
I am the same woman who helped to build an intersectional movement that fights for the rights of all people and stands against hatred and discrimination of all forms. I am the same person today that I was before Saviour’s Day, which begs the question – why are my beliefs being questioned now?
I was raised in activism and believe that as historically oppressed people, Blacks, Jews, Muslims and all people must stand together to fight racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. I believe that LGBTQAI people are not an abomination or a creation of man, but simply people, and that religion is not to be used as a tool to abuse, divide, harm, bully or intimidate.
She says, “Wherever my people are is where I must be.” So…your people are anti-Semitic racists? OK.
Mallory, you support and prop up a MAN WHO REGULARLY SPEWS ANTI-SEMITIC LANGUAGE. So yes that’s why we’re questioning your beliefs.
A March 12 story in the New York Times attributes a shortage of medicine and water in the Gaza Strip to "a blockade by Israel and Egypt," even though Israel's security restrictions do not prevent medicine and water from entering the Strip, and are not responsible for the shortages. Instead, shortages of medicine are a direct result of political decisions by the Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank government, and water shortages stem from the overpumping of water from the aquifer under the crowded Gaza Strip.White supremacists hung 72 banners across US in last 10 months — watchdog
The piece, "The Mideast Plan Is Nearly Ready. Will either Side Read It?" by Mark Landler, refers to Gaza as a territory that "has been racked by shortages of medicine and water after years of a blockade by Israel and Egypt." Of course, the laying out of a sequence in this way — x happened after years of y — will be taken to indicate a direct, causal relationship between the two. (A serious newspaper wouldn't assert that "schools shut down after days of heavy rain," for example, if the shutdown was actually due to a teacher strike.)
Medicine
As Amira Hass indicated last month in Haaretz, Mahmoud Abbas's government is responsible for a scarcity of medicine in the Gaza Strip. "The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority government is responsible for the purchase of medicaments, but fails to send them regularly to Gaza," said Hass, a strident critic of Israel, in a Feb. 8 story.
She continued, "Some argue that the shortages are politically motivated, constituting part of the pressure the PA applies on Hamas. The question of why Hamas spends money on rearmament and on electricity for mosques and not on public health is being asked, but not openly."
The latter point was echoed by the New York Times itself in a Feb. 14 editorial about suffering in the Gaza Strip. Though the editorial, as most Times editorials on the subject of the Arab-Israeli conflict, did not spare Israel, the piece acknowledged that in the Gaza Strip "Money that should have gone to hospitals and medicine has been spent on futile confrontation with Israel and digging tunnels…."
The last 10 months has seen a proliferation of white supremacists hanging signs with racist and anti-Semitic messages on highway overpasses and other highly visible places, according to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League released Thursday.Poles march to protest rising racism, anti-Semitism
The Jewish civil rights organization tracked 72 incidents of such banners going up throughout the country from May 2017 to March 2018, averaging seven per month.
Roughly 73 percent of these signs were orchestrated by groups associated with the alt-right movement, an array of neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansman and other white nationalists who have risen to greater prominence since the 2016 election and a white power rally turned violent in Charlottesville, Virginia last summer.
The ADL and other watchdog groups have recorded an uptick in anti-Semitic and racist incidents in the US since 2016.
Eight of the banners contained unambiguously anti-Semitic language, including one that said “UnJew Humanity” and another that said “The Jews Did 9/11.” Others were explicitly racist, xenophobic and anti-immigrant.
The ADL said the trend indicates a new tactic that these hate groups are deploying to promote themselves and promulgate their odious ideas, as many of the signs included the name of their group or insignia.
Hundreds of Poles staged protests in Warsaw and other cities against racism and anti-Semitism to show they don’t agree with the rising wave of hostility and intolerance in Poland.
Pounding drums, some 1,000 people walked in downtown Warsaw chanting “Freedom, equality, tolerance!” and carrying banners that called for a stop to conflicts like the war in Syria.
Racism and anti-Semitism on Twitter, in graffiti, and in public discourse have been on the rise since Poland’s right-wing government refused to accept Muslim migrants under an EU plan.
That has only increased after Poland recently adopted a new law that banned blaming the Polish nation for the crimes of the Nazis in the Holocaust.
Israel protested the law, which it and Jewish groups said prevents open discussion, and may limit research on thousands of Poles who betrayed Jews to the Nazis or killed Jews.
