Thursday, May 17, 2018
New video purportedly shows UN influence in Gaza clashes
A video taken by the Center for Near East Policy Research at an UNRWA school and refugee camp in the Gaza Strip allegedly shows that UNRWA encourages anti-Semitism and the realization of the 'right of return' through violent means.
In the video, which was presented to Fox News by journalist David Bedein, children at an UNRWA-run school are seen gathered at a school assembly while repeatedly chanting 'Jerusalem is ours' before Monday's violent riots at the Gaza border.
Students can also be seen burning Israeli flags.
One student said that the school teaches students "how to defend the land, how to recapture the land."
Another student said that "what was taken by force will be returned by force, with jihad and all its means."
A third student was explicit in the means by which the 'right of return' would be achieved: "with weapons, stabbings, and car ramming."
UNRWA reportedly closed its schools in Gaza on Monday and Tuesday, allowing students to participate in the riots at the Gaza border. At least 40,000 people participated in the riots, in which at least 60 people were killed. The majority of those killed were confirmed to be members of Hamas by the terrorist organization itself.
UN Palestinian refugee agency ‘part of the problem’ — Swiss minister
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees is fueling “unrealistic” hopes of return after 70 years and is therefore helping keep the Israeli-Palestinian conflict alive, Switzerland’s foreign minister said Thursday.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was established after Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, when around 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes.
But Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis pointed out that the number of Palestinians characterized as refugees — the vast majority of whom are descendants of refugees — living in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank, and Gaza has swelled to more than five million.
“It is unrealistic that this dream [of return] will be fulfilled for all,” he said in an interview given to several German-language papers owned by the Swiss NZZ group.
“But UNRWA maintains this hope. For me, the question is whether UNRWA is part of the solution or part of the problem,” he said, concluding that “it is both.”
The UN agency, he said, “worked as a solution for a long time, but today it has become part of the problem.”
Caroline Glick: The Jerusalem Embassy and the Triumph of Truth
Monday’s ceremony marking the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, Israel, had a clear message: It is time to embrace truth.MEMRI: Lebanese Political Analyst: Abbas's Antisemitic Speech Harmed Palestinian Cause, Played Into Netanyahu's Hands
Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, put it plainly when he said, “In December last year, President Donald Trump announced to the world that the U.S. would finally recognize the truth: That Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.”
Kushner noted that accepting this fundamental truth is a critical foundation of any future peace between Israel and its neighbors.
“As Israel turns 70,” he said, “the search for a lasting peace turns over a new leaf, one of realism and of not being afraid to stand strongly with our allies for what is good, for what is right and for what is true.
“When there is peace in this region, we will look back upon this day and remember that the journey to peace started with a strong America recognizing the truth.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued Kushner’s theme in his speech.
Netanyahu said: “The truth and peace are interconnected. A peace that is built on lies will crash on the rocks of Middle Eastern realities. You can only build peace on truth. And the truth is that Jerusalem has been and always will be the capital of the Jewish people, the capital of the Jewish state.”
The ceremony Monday was a turning point in the Middle East, and in U.S. policy and leadership in the Middle East, because it marked the first time that U.S. policy has been firmly rooted in truth.
In his May 5, 2018 column in the daily Al-Hayat, senior Lebanese journalist, critic and political analyst Hazem Saghiya responded to Palestinian President Mahmoud 'Abbas's antisemitic speech at the Palestinian National Council on April 30, 2018.[1] Saghiya wrote that the speech had sabotaged the Palestinians' long struggle to distance themselves from antisemitism, and had played into the hands of Netanyahu and Israel's radical right by enabling them to claim that 'Abbas was and remains a flagrant antisemite. He wondered why 'Abbas insisted on spouting such nonsense and how anyone could now take seriously his claims about fostering a "culture of peace" and "peaceful popular resistance." The Palestinian leadership, he added, is no different from other dictatorial Arab leaderships, and keeps making mistakes that harm its cause no less than Israel's policies.MEMRI: Harsh Anti-U.S. Rhetoric By The Palestinian Authority And Its Daily Newspaper: Throughout History, U.S. Policy Has Been Based On Aggression, Mass Extermination; U.S. Embassy In Jerusalem Is 'Den Of Settlers'
The following are translated excerpts from his column:
"In his speech to the National Palestinian Council, Mahmoud 'Abbas defended the Palestinian cause and rights, which nobody contests. He showed how hypocritical the proposed solutions [to the Palestinian problem] are, and how devoid of justice and compassion. He rightly emphasized the extent to which the world ignores [the principle of] justice when it comes to [the Palestinians] and Israel. He described the cruelty of the Israeli occupation, which does not spare [even] children.
"But the old epithet 'bad advocate for a good cause' has come to be true of 'Abbas. His very lengthy speech, whose length did nothing to enhance its [value], undid decades of Palestinian efforts to cast off the antisemitic mindset, with all the racism, myths and ignorance it entails. Ignorance, like tolerance, has its limits, but the Palestinian president exceeded them all... He repeated the odious song and dance about usury and banks, and spouted nonsense about the history of European Jews, citing books that libraries have [long since] thrown out. He also denied that there had been any massacres of Jews in the Arab world, [which is untrue], even if these massacres were very few and limited compared to the ones in Europe.
"All this and more in a single speech, which exceeded Binyamin Netanyahu's [wildest] dreams, for it corroborated Israel's harshest claims, exonerated the Israeli settlements of the blame for thwarting the two-state solution, and enabled [Israel] to claim that 'Abbas draws [inspiration] from the notorious Hamas Charter. [It also provided Israel with an opportunity] to recall the dissertation ['Abbas] submitted in Moscow[iii] and to conclude that the man has not changed since then...
Following the transfer of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and the violent demonstrations on the Gaza border in which scores of Palestinians were killed, Palestinian Authority (PA) officials and the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida stepped up their rhetoric against the U.S. At a May 14, 2018 meeting of the Palestinian leadership, Palestinian President Mahmoud 'Abbas declared three official days of mourning for the Palestinians killed during the "Great Return March" demonstrations, and added: "I heard they opened the [American] embassy [in Jerusalem] today. It is a den of settlers, not an embassy... A den of American settlers in East Jerusalem. They opened it today, and said it was [located] in the land of the [Jewish] forefathers. This is a distortion of history. This Palestinian soil was the soil of our Canaanite forefathers, even before the era of our honorable [ancestor] Abraham, and we have continuously inhabited it [since then]."[1]How Our Current Politicians Are Abandoning John McCain’s Legacy of Support for Israel
In its May 15 editorial, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida harshly attacked the U.S., saying that it has always relied on a policy of force, violence and bloodshed and even of exterminating small and weak nations, and that this policy has now reached a climax in America's treatment of the Palestinians.
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida columnists wrote in a similar vein. 'Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, for example, extolled the people of Gaza for their bravery and sacrifice in the demonstrations on the border. He called on them to "shock" the Israeli enemies and "sprinkle their pure blood upon [the enemies'] reeking heads," and to " fire the bullet of mercy killing" at them. He also referred to the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem as "the cursed cowboy's embassy."[2]
Harsh anti-American rhetoric also appeared on the official Facebook pages of the Fatah movement, led by 'Abbas, including images attacking and vilifying Trump and images presenting the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem as "a new settlement."
The following are examples of anti-American articles in the PA daily and posts on the Facebook pages of Fatah and Fatah officials.
John “Maverick” McCain carries a certain amount of clout to his name, which was awarded by his peers and the American populace over the years. McCain has a distinct reputation as one of the last true advocates of bipartisan collaboration on issues benefiting the American people. This will characterize his legacy for years to come.VICE: Netanyahu says Palestinians should “abandon the fantasy that they will conquer Jerusalem”
McCain has never been one to acquiesce to the ideals or ulterior motives of others, be it constituents or donors, a prevalent component of the Washington political machine, regrettably. He has also refused to be swayed by fellow politicians or the media, even if it means he needs to “maverick” on a particular issue and adopt an unpopular stance for all the right reasons.
McCain has an evident moral compass and is also somewhat unique compared to many other politicians: He is a truly logical thinker and supports whatever position makes sense to him.
He applies this nearly infallible logical reasoning to the complex issues surrounding the Middle East and Israel. While Republicans comprise a significant part of Israel’s American support, Senator McCain doesn’t rely on his party’s alignment with Israel to influence his understanding of what’s going on. Instead, McCain reaches the conclusion that Israel is a free, democratic, and just state, through logical reasoning.
McCain always takes an “America first” approach to any and all political matters, applying his sensibility to assess ramifications for the American people — a tactic surprisingly little-used by most American politicians. He reasons that American support for Israel can only prove beneficial for American national security efforts.
According to McCain’s logic, having a staunch democratic ally in the Middle East can only be good for America.
World leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out against Israel’s response to the protests on its border, and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said it was "alarmed by the disproportionate use of force displayed by the Israeli security forces against Palestinian demonstrators."
Yet Netanyahu was unyielding, and defended his country’s response against what he called a "deliberate infiltration attempt — paid and organized by Hamas."
Netanyahu then pivoted to the other crisis on his border: mounting tensions with Iran forces in Syria. He showed off the exploded parts of what he says is an Iranian drone that was shot down by Israeli forces. The drone attack, he said, precipitated a volley of Iranian missiles launched at Israel from Syria’s Golan Heights. This is the first time Israel has put the Iranian drone on full display since it was destroyed in February.
“You see that wing? I think this is the first time we’re showing this,” Netanyahu told VICE News. “We know for sure because this is an Iranian drone. You could see pictures of this drone, by the way, in Iran.
Prime Minister spokesman David Keyes was just as adamant that the Israelis are the ones in danger.
"A genocidal terrorist organization that long before any embassy was spoken about — Hamas — was calling to kill every single Jew," Keyes told Smith. "We can't afford to just say well that's hyperbole. Maybe they don’t mean it."
Ambassador should have attended Jerusalem embassy opening
Australia’s foreign affairs department has said the country’s ambassador to Israel could not attend an event celebrating the opening of the new US embassy in Jerusalem as he was on personal leave.Paraguay to open Jerusalem embassy next Tuesday
“The Minister did not instruct the Ambassador with regard to his travel. The ambassador was on personal leave,” a department of foreign affairs spokeswoman said.
The Australian understands the ambassador, Chris Cannan, received the invitation in the days before the event on May 8, but had pre-planned personal leave on the day of the diplomatic reception on May 13 and was out of the country.
The explanation comes after prominent Jewish community leaders — traditional supporters of the Coalition’s stance on Israel — hit out at the government over his absence.
While Australia has been one of Israel’s biggest backers on the international stage, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Mr Cannan, was not in the country at the time.
Paraguay’s government said Thursday that President Horacio Cartes will open the country’s new embassy to Israel in Jerusalem next week, following similar steps by the United States and Guatemala.Palestinian Authority Will Use Upcoming UNESCO Meeting to Claim Ownership of Dead Sea Scrolls Site, Jewish Group Reveals
Government spokesman Mariano Mercado said Cartes will leave his country en route to Israel on Saturday.
While Mercado said the opening would be on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said it would take place on Monday at noon.
Paraguay will be the third country to move its embassy to Jerusalem, after the United States and Guatemala opened embassies in the city this week.
Last month, Cartes said that he wanted to relocate the country’s embassy to Jerusalem before the end of his presidential term in August.
A leading Jewish human rights organization disclosed on Wednesday that it had received advance warning of a Palestinian attempt to claim ownership of the historic Jewish site of Qumran, in the West Bank, at a forthcoming meeting of the UN’s educational and cultural agency UNESCO.Turkey says it’s helping Palestinians sue Israel in International Criminal Court
Shimon Samuels — director for International Relations at the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) — said in a letter to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay that he had “learned from UNESCO Arab Group sources of an apparent plan by the Palestinian delegation to claim the Qumran Caves and the Dead Sea Scrolls at the May 30-31 May session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to Its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation (ICPRCP), at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.”
Contemporary knowledge of Jewish society and life in Israel during the Hellenic and Roman periods was given an extraordinary boost by the discovery of eleven scrolls in the caves of Khirbet Qumran, near the Dead Sea, between 1947 and 1956. UNESCO’s own description of the site notes that the series of scrolls, written mainly in Hebrew and Aramaic, “provides us with valuable information about the history of Judaism and the early phase of Christianity.”
Samuels said that the Palestinian bid to claim Qumran “continues the antics of annual historical revisionism at UNESCO to validate a Palestinian mythology.” In that regard, he cited the Palestinian campaign over the last several years to claim as “Muslim” historic Jewish sites like Jerusalem’s Western Wall and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
Turkey’s foreign minister said Thursday that Israel should be tried at the International Criminal Court for “massacring” Palestinians in recent clashes on the Gaza border, saying Ankara was actively helping the Palestinian Authority prepare a lawsuit against Israel.We will not let Israel steal Jerusalem, Turkish leader vows
“Israel should be taken to the International Criminal Court,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT. “Since third parties cannot do it, Palestine needs to initiate this.”
The Palestinians joined the ICC as a member and signed the Rome statute in 2014, meaning that the Palestinian Authority can sue Israel in The Hague.
“We are analyzing what kind of legal steps can be taken,” he said, according to Turkey’s Hurriyet daily, adding that his country was giving legal aid to the Palestinians.
He said an international commission should investigate the Gaza violence and that “Israel should account for its actions.”
Turkey will stand by the Palestinians with all the resources at its disposal, and "will never allow Jerusalem to be stolen by Israel," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Wednesday at a dinner on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.UN probing Turkish shipment of Israeli-made equipment to Iran — report
The Turkish president addressed the high number of Palestinian casualties in the violent clashes with Israeli forces along the Gaza border – many of whom were Hamas operatives, the organization admitted Wednesday – and said that Turkey would make an effort to bring wounded protesters from Gaza to Turkish hospitals for treatment.
"Even if the whole world shuts their eyes, we will not allow Israeli cruelty. We will continue to be with our Palestinian siblings not only with our hearts, but with all our resources," he said.
"In the face of all these events, the United Nations has ended. [It has] become exhausted and collapsed," Erdogan said.
"If Israel's bullying is met with more silence, the world will rapidly be dragged into a chaos where thuggery prevails."
The United Nations is reportedly investigating a shipment of electronic components from Turkey to Iran last year in violation of international sanctions, and has asked for Israel’s cooperation since the products were manufactured in Jerusalem.IsraellyCool: US Police Allowing Officers To Fire at Moving Vehicles To Stop Ramming Attacks
The case began in July 2017, when inspectors in the United Arab Emirates checked an Iran-bound shipment and found the electronic parts, which are banned from being exported to Iran under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, advanced as part of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Thursday.
The UN was said to find that the electronic parts were made by Celem Power Capacitors, an Israeli firm based in Jerusalem. The UN Secretariat — the body responsible for investigating breaches of Security Council resolutions — subsequently wrote to the Israeli government, asking it to provide “relevant information” on the subject.
Celem Power Capacitors, one of Israel’s largest manufacturers of electronic capacitors, was shocked to receive the UN request, the newspaper report said.
The company said it had no idea its products would be sent to Iran, saying it had been “deceived” by the Turkish firm to which it made the delivery.
Police in Washington, New York City, Chicago and Las Vegas have revised their shooting policies to allow officers to fire at moving vehicles to stop vehicle ramming attacks.Outrage over exhibit honoring Gaza dead at Jerusalem arts school
Two decades ago, amid a growing controversy over police shootings in the nation’s capital, officers in the District were largely barred from firing at moving cars.
The rules didn’t apply if someone in the car was firing at police, but officials concluded that in most cases, the practice was dangerous and ineffective. Bystanders could be hit, and shooting at a car usually didn’t stop it anyway. Other departments nationwide adopted similar policies.
Now, however, several major cities are loosening those rules to deal with a new threat: terrorists in trucks mowing down and killing pedestrians. Police in Washington, New York City, Chicago and Las Vegas have begun allowing officers to fire at moving vehicles to stop such ramming attacks. While concern about the tactic remains, authorities say that, in extreme instances, trying to shoot the driver might be the only way to save lives.
An arts school in Jerusalem drew outrage Wednesday after dozens of posters were put up on its walls, displaying names and ages of Palestinians killed in clashes on the Gaza border.U.S. Designates Iran’s Central Bank Chief as Terrorist for Support of Quds Force, Hezbollah
Other banners at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design featured a map of the Gaza Strip with the words “not your toy,” a reference to Israel’s 2018 Eurovision Song Contest winner “Toy,” by singer Netta Barzilai.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 62 Palestinians were killed Monday and Tuesday in clashes. Israel said many of those killed were members of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terror groups who were using the violent protests as cover to carry out attacks and damage the border fence. Hamas said Wednesday that 50 of the dead were its members, and earlier in the week the Islamic Jihad terror group claimed three.
The display was made by a group of Arab students, one of whom said that “we are all Palestinians, we are all one nation and that is our only way to make our voice heard.”
“There are a lot of people who don’t know what’s happening in Gaza and don’t know how many people died, so we reminded them,” she added, according to the Ynet website.
The United State Treasury Department has sanctioned the Central Bank of Iran and its head for their support of terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, The New York Times reported Tuesday.New York Times Issues ‘Epic’ Correction of ‘Hatchet-Job’ Profile of Iran Deal Critic
This is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to disrupt Iran’s support for terrorism. Last week the Treasury Department announced that it had broken up a money laundering scheme, with help from the United Arab Emirates, that provided millions of dollars to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-Quds Force, which is in charge of the IRGC’s foreign operations.
In addition to sanctioning Iran’s Central Bank, the Treasury Department designated its governor, Valiollah Seif, who “covertly funneled millions of dollars” to Hezbollah for the IRGC through al-Bilad Islamic Bank in Iraq, as a global terrorist.
Also sanctioned was Ali Tarzali, another senior official at Iran’s Central Bank, and Aras Habib, chairman of the Al-Bilad Islamic Bank. Habib is a candidate on the list of current Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, in this past week’s elections.
“Iran’s Central Bank Governor covertly funneled millions of dollars on behalf of the IRGC-QF through Iraq-based al-Bilad Islamic Bank to enrich and support the violent and radical agenda of Hizballah. It is appalling, but not surprising, that Iran’s senior-most banking official would conspire with the IRGC-QF to facilitate funding of terror groups like Hizballah, and it undermines any credibility he could claim in protecting the integrity of the institution as a central bank governor,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin in a statement announcing the new sanctions. “The United States will not permit Iran’s increasingly brazen abuse of the international financial system. The global community must remain vigilant against Iran’s deceptive efforts to provide financial support to its terrorist proxies.”
The New York Times has issued a four-part correction to its hatchet job profile of a prominent critic of the Iran nuclear deal.Guardian warns that US abandonment of Iran Deal will jeopardize Mid-East “peace”
The original Times article was the subject of an Algemeiner column I wrote pointing out some of the errors that were eventually corrected by the Times. The article was about the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Mark Dubowitz. A former Times reporter and editor who is now president of FDD, Clifford May, described the Times article as a “hatchet job.”
The seven-sentence, 154-word Times correction reads:
An earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to the salary of Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of Foundation for Defense of Democracies, when compared with those of leaders of other Washington think tanks. Mr. Dubowitz’s $560,221 compensation in 2016 was determined by the foundation’s board of directors and is commensurate with the average annual salary of other think tank leaders in Washington in recent years. It is not nearly twice as much as the salaries of his counterparts. The article also inaccurately linked the foundation to Israel’s Likud party. While the think tank does align with some of Likud’s positions, it is not directly involved with the party. The article also referred imprecisely to the funding of conferences held by the foundation and the Hudson Institute. While Elliott Broidy provided $2.7 million in funds for consulting, marketing, and other services, the foundation says it received only $360,000 from Mr. Broidy for one conference.
“This is one hell of a correction,” observed Daniel Drezner, a professor at Tufts University who is the author of a book about think tanks.
Just how stable is this Middle East which President Trump might wreck?Iranian professor slammed for pro-Israel tweet
Iran supports terrorist groups around the region – Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in Gaza. Each of these are already causing havoc: Hezbollah are engaged in the Syrian civil war, the Houthis are part of the bloody Yemenite civil war, and Hamas continue to make life miserable in Gaza. Most significantly, Iran provides crucial support for Bashar Assad in Syria. Thousands of Iranian fighters, Iranian weapons, Iranian generals, based in tens of bases around Syria – all are supporting the greatest murderer of the 21st century. So surely before talking about how Trump might destabilise the Middle East, there should be a reckoning with the actual instability there today, as a result of the actions of Iran.
The editorial does not totally ignore this point, but it severely downplays these egregious facts, saying that “Iran’s actions in Syria, Yemen and other places are cause for legitimate Western concern….. but these are separate problems.” “Legitimate concern” seems a bit of an understatement for supporting Assad, whose war has left 500,000 people dead, 5.6 million refugees, and 6.6 million internally displaced people. The editorial does lambast Iran as “its human rights record is dreadful, witness its inexcusable treatment of Nazhanin Zagar-Ratcliffe.” Somehow, holding a journalist in prison incorrectly raises the ire more than the support for a genocidal dictator.
The article attempts to ignore and downplay the fact that Iran is currently causing death and destruction across the Middle East, saying they are a source of “legitimate concern.” And then it attempts to paint a picture of how US actions will be what causes the Middle East to go up in flames, with “wide-ranging and extremely serious” consequences.
Here is the basic question: Why is the Guardian more concerned about possible future instability caused by Washington’s pullout from the Iran Deal than the actual death and destruction that Tehran is causing today in the Middle East?
Sadegh Zibakalam, a political science professor at the University of Tehran and prominent liberal intellectual, sparked outrage in the Iranian conservative media with a tweet that questioned the government's bellicose stance and actions towards Israel.Pennsylvania Democratic Congressional Candidate’s Fund Has Donated Hundreds of Thousands to Pro-BDS Groups
"If, God forbid, there is a war between us and Israel, we will have to tell future generations why we fought a war with a country 200 kilometers away that never threatened us or had any other dispute with us," Zibakalam wrote on Twitter on May 10. "What were all those casualties, and the billions of dollars in military expenditures for?"
Zibakalam's comment came on the same day that the Israeli Air Force struck dozens of Iranian targets in Syria, the most significant confrontation since the recent rise in tensions between the two countries over Iran's involvement in the Syrian civil war and entrenchment in Syria.
The tweet attracted 2,500 comments and was favorited almost 10,000 times on the popular social media platform. It was shared, among others, by Israel's official Twitter account in Persian.
The ultra-conservative daily newspaper Keyhan, whose editor-in-chief Hossein Shariatmadari is reportedly a close confidant of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, blasted Zibakalam for his tweet.
The foundation run by Pennsylvania Democratic congressional candidate Scott Wallace has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to organizations that promote the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.American Islamists Celebrate an Avowed Anti-Semite's Election
Wallace won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night to face Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania's new first congressional district, seen as a key race in the 2018 battle for control of the House of Representatives. He is a wealthy philanthropist and the grandson of Henry Wallace, the second of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's three vice presidents.
The Forward reports Wallace ran the Wallace Global Fund from 2003 until this year, when he made his run for Congress, and the organization has dispensed more than $300,000 to anti-Israel groups in support of BDS. The Anti-Defamation League has condemned BDS as a movement to delegitimize Israel and "rampant with misinformation and distortion."
The support for BDS could be damaging to Wallace, given the district's relatively high Jewish population.
Fresh off the increasingly awkward relationship between some of the leaders of the Women's March and their associations with notorious anti-Semites such as Louis Farrakhan, there is a new champion illustrating the consistent disregard for anti-Semitism when it serves an Islamist purpose.IsraellyCool: WATCH: Epic Trolling of BDS-Holes
Women's March organizers Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory have run into trouble for supporting Farrakhan, and Sarsour has been criticized for her anti-Zionist and downright anti-Semitic social media posts.
Malaysia's newly elected leader never kept his anti-Semitism a secret, yet his election is feted on social media by renowned American Islamists.
A recent Times of Israel article lists some of the anti-Semitic rhetoric expressed by newly elected Prime Minister Mahathir Muhamad:
He claimed that "1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews," he said at the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit in 2003 in Kuala Lumpur. "There must be a way. And we can only find a way if we stop to think, to assess our weaknesses and our strength, to plan, to strategize and then to counterattack. We are actually very strong. 1.3 billion people cannot be simply wiped out. The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million."
He has also said, "I am glad to be labeled anti-Semitic [...] How can I be otherwise, when the Jews who so often talk of the horrors they suffered during the Holocaust show the same Nazi cruelty and hard-heartedness towards not just their enemies but even towards their allies should any try to stop the senseless killing of their Palestinian enemies."
He wrote in his 1970 book "The Makay Dilemma" that "The Jews are not merely hook-nosed, but understand money instinctively."
At a BDS demonstration in Paris, a pro-Israel person gets a couple of BDS-holes to recite something in Hebrew. That something happens to be a prayer for Israel and PM Netanyahu!
BBC WS ‘special report’ claims Israel attacked Hizballah in 2006
Moss then gave listeners an inaccurate portrayal of how the Second Lebanon war began. It was of course Hizballah that initiated the conflict by carrying out a cross-border raid into Israeli territory and concurrently fired missiles at Israeli civilian communities before any Israeli response took place.Ukrainian mayor, diplomat caught engaging in antisemitic rhetoric
Moss: “Patricia Khoder is a writer for L’Orient le Jour newspaper here. She was reporting when Israel last attacked Hizballah in Lebanon back in 2006 and fears Lebanon once again being the arena where this battle is played out – although this time, she says, Hizballah is better armed.”
Khoder: “We don’t have figures but Hizballah is saying that it has 100,000 weapons. Now, they fought in Syria and they were trained as an army and Iran also is training them and Israel would not accept this.”
Curiously, Moss showed no interest in informing listeners that those weapons were supplied to Hizballah by Iran – in violation of the UN SC resolution that brought the previous war between Israel and Hizballah to an end. Listeners did however hear some interesting advance framing:
Moss: “If there was a conflict, what could Hizballah possibly achieve from it? It would be just a defensive war, wouldn’t it?”
Khoder: “Personally I don’t think Hizballah would achieve a lot. It would be a horrible war that would put Lebanon on its knees.”
Amid international pressure on Ukraine over its perceived tolerance of antisemitism, a local mayor and a diplomat were documented engaging hate speech against Jews.Buenos Aires teacher caught defending Hitler and justifying anti-Semitism
Eduard Dolinsky, director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, posted a video on Facebook Monday of Mayor Vlodimyr Moskal’s address to city councilmen in which he railed against Jews. Moskal is mayor of the village of Skole, located 60 miles southwest of Lviv.
Quoting Henry Ford’s antisemitic writing about Jewish schemes for world domination, Moskal said: “A lot of that work is devoted to the death of the goyim,” Hebrew for non-Jews. “Christians, Arabs, Buddhists, they are not people to them after their reaching world domination, which they are clearly trying to do through cosmopolitanism and liberalism in order to destroy all nations, to leave the political nation, to mix everyone into one lump, migrants, blacks,” the mayor said. He also called the government, whose prime minister, Volodymyr Groysman, is Jewish, “Muscovite Jews”– an insult in a country where anti-Russian sentiment is rife.
Separately, screenshots shared online show that Vasyl Marushchynets, who works at Ukraine’s consulate in Hamburg, Germany, blamed Jews for World War II and said “death to the anti-fascists” on his private Facebook page, Reuters reported Monday. Marushchynets and the Hamburg consulate did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but Ukraine’s foreign ministry confirmed his suspension.
“Antisemitism and those who stir up inter-ethnic discord can have no place either in civilized society or in the foreign ministry,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Twitter.
A teacher in a Catholic high school in Buenos Aires repeated anti-Semitic stereotypes and said Hitler did “good things” in a lesson caught on camera.German newspaper apologizes for caricature of Netanyahu
History teacher Denise Yanet Evequoz told her students that Hitler was demonized when the United States entered World War II and seemed to justify why Europe was “always anti-Semitic.”
“Jews took advantage of the people who needed money, they loaned the money and then they chased them to get their money back, always with interest. They had the money but they did not help Germany improve. They did not help the people to generate employment nor to create industries. This generated a certain hatred towards Jews,” Evequoz said in a lesson recorded in 2015, which was posted on social media this week.
Evequoz is a teacher at the Jesus Maestro high school in Castelar, a neighborhood in the western area of Greater Buenos Aires. The class was recorded by a student and the video since Monday has gone viral.
A German newspaper apologized on Wednesday for publishing a caricature of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu dressed as Eurovision winner Netta Barzilai and holding a rock with a Star of David on it, i24news reports.Israeli researchers say they have found a way to curb growth of cancer cells
The Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany’s top dailies with a circulation of 1.1 million readers, printed the cartoon on Tuesday, three days after Barzilai won the Eurovision Song Contest and in the midst of the protests on the Gaza border for which Israel was criticized.
The cartoon that appeared in the opinion section, by veteran caricaturist Dieter Hanitzsch, portrayed Netanyahu with oversized ears, nose and lips and in the Eurovision logo the ‘v’ was replaced with a Star of David.
“Next year in Jerusalem,” the figure is saying.
Jewish organizations, as well as publicists and activists, took to social media to protest the caricature, according to i24news.
One critic, Malca Goldstein Wolf, accused the newspaper and the 85-year-old cartoonist of crossing a line.
A group of researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has developed a new molecule that they say inhibits the growth of cancer cells and also reprograms them to be noncancerous.Six Israeli startups that are helping save lives
The new treatment is based on inhibiting the production of a protein, the voltage-dependent anion-selective channel 1 (VDAC1), highly increased levels of which are found in many solid and non-solid tumors.
The research was led by Prof. Varda Shoshan-Barmatz of the Department of Life Sciences and the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev Ltd. (NIBN), both of which are part of BGU.
The VDAC1 protein regulates the mitochondria, which control cell metabolism. Cancer cells are known to have a very active metabolism.
“Cancer cells have hundred times more VDAC1 than normal cells,” said Shoshan-Barmatz in a phone interview. “So we said, let’s prevent, down-regulate its formation.”
Here are summaries of six of the companies featured in the book, courtesy of the author, David Wanetick (see an interview with the author).Netanyahu Does ‘Chicken Dance’ With Israeli Eurovision Winner
Love-bombing mosquitoes: Mosquitoes cause more human death and suffering than any other organism on earth. Female mosquitoes are incentivized to bite as many people as possible since they depend on protein from blood to reproduce. They also multiply prolifically: for every milligram of human blood extracted, female mosquitoes lay roughly 40 eggs. Kfar Saba, Israel-based Senecio is love bombing mosquitoes into oblivion. Senecio packs airplanes with sterilized male mosquitoes. When released in mosquito-dense areas, these little Romeos mate with their awaiting Juliets. Since female mosquitoes only make love once in their lifetimes, no offspring result from these Senecio-induced liaisons.
Converting the movement of ocean waves into energy on land: Ocean waves hold an annual 3.5 terawatts of raw energy potential—the equivalent of 3,500 large coal plants operating at full capacity. Most ocean energy companies place their wave capture systems four or five kilometers from the coast, where higher waves tend to pack a powerful punch. This strategy is tempting but tremendously expensive and risky given the unsparing weather conditions that lie so far away from the shorelines. Tel Aviv, Israel-based Eco Wave Power has developed technology that allows it to convert the movement of ocean waves into energy on land. Positioning ninety percent of its equipment (just about everything except for floaters attached to long arms) on land enables Eco Wave Power to improve the reliability of electricity generation, reduces stress on equipment, and slashes insurance premiums.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu couldn’t resist doing the “chicken dance” with Netta Barzilai when the Eurovision song contest winner visited the Israeli leader and his wife, Sara, in his official residence.
“What fun to meet Netta Barzilai in Jerusalem!,” Netanyahu tweeted after the meeting on Wednesday. “We all love you. You brought great honor to our country.”
A video clip he posted on Twitter showed a beaming Netanyahu flapping his arms with Barzilai as they did her trademark moves.
Wearing a Japanese-style kimono and geisha hairdo, the 25-year-old Israeli singer won the glitzy Eurovision pageant, watched by more than 200 million people around the world, in Lisbon on Saturday.
Her song, “I’m Not Your Toy,” has a woman’s empowerment twist, and it began with Barzilai mimicking chicken clucking. Thousands of her Israeli fans took to the streets of Tel Aviv to celebrate after her victory, and Israel will host the song contest next year.
🇮🇱🐔@NettaBarzilai pic.twitter.com/3cQtS6yNio
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) May 16, 2018
