Saturday, August 18, 2018
As pro-Palestinian pols win primaries, US Jews ask if it’s ‘a wave or a ripple’
This summer has been a good one for pro-Palestinian candidates running for the US Congress.Joel Pollak: Democrats Are Bringing a New Anti-Israel Caucus to Congress
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has slammed Israel’s West Bank occupation, shocked the political world with her upset victory over veteran congressman Joe Crowley for his New York House seat.
Illhan Omar, who has called Israel an “apartheid regime,” won the Democratic nomination for a Minnesota House seat.
And Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American who calls for a one-state solution that would spell the end of Israel as a Jewish state, and for gutting US military aid to Israel, won her party’s nomination for a Michigan House seat.
All of these candidates are heavily favored to win the general election in their reliably blue districts. And they are posing a question for Washington’s pro-Israel establishment: What does their collective ascendance forebode about the future of US-Israel relations?
The answer depends on who you ask. Pro-Israel operatives who focus on maintaining bipartisan support for the Jewish State insist it means very little. Presuming they go to Capitol Hill, they will be just three of 535 members of Congress.
Despite Israel’s socialist roots, the far-left now identifies with the Palestinians, overlooking the brutality of Palestinian terror, the pervasive antisemitism of Palestinian society, and the authoritarian rule of both the Islamist Hamas regime in Gaza and the secular Palestinian Authority.J Street drops endorsement of Michigan candidate for backing one-state solution
In May, after Hamas used a phony “mass protest” to in an effort to breach the Gaza border and attack Israeli civilians, AOC sided with the terrorist group, calling the Israeli response a “massacre” — even though nearly all of the 62 killed were Hamas operatives. In July, she stated that while she believed “absolutely in Israel’s right to exist,” she was opposed to the “occupation of Palestine.” She could not, when pressed, explain what she meant by the term, which the far-left often uses to refer to all of the State of Israel.
But there are two incoming representatives even more hostile to Israel than AOC.
One of them is Ilhan Omar, a Somali-born state representative who won the Democratic Party primary for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district — the seat being vacated by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) — this week. In the past, Omar has referred to Israel as an “apartheid regime.” In 2014, during a war in Gaza, Omar tweeted: “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.”
More recently, like AOC, Omar has deployed pro-Israel boilerplate to placate voters, donors, and critics. Earlier this month, she told a candidate forum: “I support a two-state solution. It is going to be important for us to recognize Israel’s place in the Middle East and the Jewish people’s rightful place within that region.” She also said that she opposed the “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” (BDS) movement.
But in the state legislature, she opposed a bill against boycotts of Israel and urged divestment from Israel bonds.
The other is Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American who won the crowded Democratic Party primary for the 13th congressional district of Michigan last week. She promptly launched a series of anti-Israel tweets, apparently in response to events in the Middle East, where Hamas launched nearly 200 rockets at Israeli civilians and the Israeli air force responded by targeting Hamas military infrastructure.
In the past, Tlaib supported Palestinian terrorist Rasmea Odeh’s bid to fight deportation, and is backed by anti-Israel Palestinian-American activist and Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour, who called for “jihad” against the Trump administration.
Curiously, Tlaib seems to be facing an onslaught of criticism from within the Palestinian-American community, for whom ordinary participation in American politics is seen as a form of selling out. One of her defenders tweeted that for Tlaib, “The first fight was for Palestine, always Palestine.”
J Street has withdrawn its endorsement of Rashida Tlaib, a Democratic candidate for Congress in Michigan who recently called for a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Tlaib, who is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, also called for a reduction in foreign aid to Israel. She is likely to win her Detroit-area district.
J Street, the liberal Mideast policy organization, advocates for a two-state solution to the conflict, among other things. Tlaib had previously received the endorsement of the lobby’s JStreetPAC based on her support for two states.
“After closely consulting with Rashida Tlaib’s campaign to clarify her most current views on various aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we have come to the unfortunate conclusion that a significant divergence in perspectives requires JStreetPAC to withdraw our endorsement of her candidacy,” read a statement from J Street Friday afternoon.
“While we have long championed the value of a wide range of voices in the discussion of the conflict and related issues, we cannot endorse candidates who come to the conclusion that they can no longer publicly express unequivocal support for a two-state solution and other core principles to which our organization is dedicated,” the statement said.
Morton Klein: Jonathan Neumann's Epic Takedown of 'Tikkun Olam'
Jonathan Neumann’s new book, “To Heal the World?: How the Jewish Left Corrupts Judaism and Endangers Israel,” is an important examination of the distorted theology employed by the radical left to lead many Jews astray.
Neumann describes how radical Jewish leftists distorted and turned a minor phrase, “tikkun olam” (repairing the world), into a left-wing political “social justice” universalist theology that is hostile to Israel and traditional Judaism, and which sympathizes with the Jewish people’s enemies.
Neumann explains that “tikkun olam” theology is relatively new, and is not grounded in traditional Judaism or an honest reading of Jewish sources. “Tikkun olam” is never mentioned in the Torah/Bible. The left takes occasional, insignificant mentions of the words “tikkun olam” in other Jewish writings out of context and reinterprets them.
For instance, a prayer (the “Aleynu“) that expresses the hope that G-d will establish his kingdom over the whole world, and that one day everyone will praise G-d and obey G-d’s laws, is reinterpreted by the left as a call for man to engage in left-wing political activism.
Neumann recounts how the Jewish Reform, Reconstructionist, and Renewal movements have rejected traditional Judaism in favor of universalist, left-wing “social justice.” However, their departure from tradition repelled some Jews who had a connection to or understanding of traditional Judaism. Thus, leftist leaders adopted a different approach: They falsely and deceptively claimed that revolutionary, left-wing “social justice” was really always part of the Jewish tradition. Thus “tikkun olam” theology was adopted by the liberal Jewish movements, and succeeded in turning many American Jews against the actual teachings of their own faith, and against the Jewish state.
“Tikkun olam” theology fixates on the Biblical creation story to support universalism above all else. Under this theology, there is nothing unique about, or even a need for, the Jewish people, because everyone came from the same creator.
MEMRI: Yemeni-Egyptian Liberal Dr. Elham Manea: The Arab Countries Are Responsible For The State Of The Palestinian Refugees; If The Right Of Return Materializes, It Will Apply Only To A Few Tens Of Thousands
Following her recent visit to Israel, Dr. Elham Manea, a Yemeni-Egyptian writer, human rights activist and women's rights activist who resides in Switzerland, began publishing a series of articles titled "If We Are Not The Emissaries of Peace, Who Will Be?" In the series, posted on the liberal website ahewar.org, she addresses various aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and describes her impressions of Israel.[1]2 Palestinians killed, 270 wounded in Gaza border clashes
In the first article in the series, she addressed the criticism that was directed at her for visiting Israel and the claim that her visit indicated a lack of sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians. She wrote that, unlike many of her critics, she has visited Palestinian refugee camps in the Arab world and is keenly aware of the Palestinians' suffering; however, she places the blame for their situation on the Arab countries, which have perpetuated their refugee status under the pretext of protecting the right of return. She called on the Arabs to recognize that Israel is a reality, and that if the right of return is ever realized, it will apply only to the remaining Palestinians who actually fled their homes in 1948, who number in the tens of thousands, and not to their descendants, who according to Dr. Manea "currently number five million." The latter, she said, will have to return to the territories of the Palestinian state, or else settle in their current countries of residence.
The following are excerpts from her article:[2]
"I went to Israel on a research and learning trip that taught me a great deal and I do not regret it. Most people from Arab states who visit Israel do so in secret... because our societies force us to lie and be hypocrites. [They make us] afraid to say what we really believe, to utter sincere words, or to openly do what we want. [This fear] sometimes drives us to curse those we love.
"[But] I am neither a liar nor a hypocrite. I publicized [my trip to Israel]. So why the criticism? Do you think I do not understand the meaning of the [Palestinians'] pain and loss?... That I do not empathize with them? How many of you have visited the refugee camps in the Arab countries? I have visited several as part of my work as a journalist and academic, and burned with the pain of the disgraceful reality [I saw there]... You know who I cursed then? [I cursed] the Arab countries that force them to live in homes like cages or dungeons, on the pretext that granting them permanent residence will lead to their naturalization and undermine the 'right of return'...
"Lebanon denies the Palestinian men and women the most fundamental right to a dignified existence... This reality of the discrimination against them is well known and familiar in many Arab countries... I still remember how the authorities in the Arab [states] humiliate Palestinians when they enter and leave the country. Anyone who travels is familiar with this reality... Have any of you thought to take to the streets and protest against it, and demand a change to this racist discrimination? Or is it easier to focus [the blame] on Israel?
Two Palestinians were killed and 270 others were wounded in clashes with the IDF along the Gaza border Friday in what appears to be a rise in tensions amid rumors of cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas.UN chief proposes military force to protect Palestinians from Israel
According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Office, thousands of Palestinians gathered and rioted in the Gaza Strip, mostly deep within its territory and not adjacent to the border fence.
However, a number of Molotov cocktails and IEDs were thrown toward the security fence, but there were no casualties or damage to Israeli forces.
The Israeli forces responded in accordance with IDF regulations.
In addition, incendiary balloons launched from the coastal enclave sparkled fires in the Be’eri Forest in the Besor region south of Saad Junction.
Despite the attempts to broker a cease-fire, which included a meeting between Egyptian intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Abbas Kamel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas-affiliated sources stated Friday that its followers would continue to engage in weekly “Great March of Return” protests along the border. Those demonstrations and riots have been taking place every Friday since March 30.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday presented four options aimed at boosting the protection of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, from sending UN rights monitors and unarmed observers to deploying a military or police force under UN mandate.Denouncing UN chief, Danon says Gazans need protection from Hamas, not Israel
The proposals were contained in a report requested by the General Assembly in response to a surge of violence in Gaza, where 171 Palestinians have been killed during Hamas-led clashes with Israeli troops since late March. Dozens of the dead were members of Hamas and other terror groups, Hamas has acknowledged.
The UN chief stressed that for each of the options, cooperation by Israel and the Palestinians would be necessary. It remained unlikely however that Israel would agree to the proposals.
In the 14-page report, Guterres proposed:
– Providing a “more robust UN presence on the ground” with rights monitors and political officers to report on the situation.
– Pouring in more UN humanitarian and development aid to “ensure the well-being of the population.”
– Creating a civilian observer mission that would be present in sensitive areas such as checkpoints and near Israeli settlements, with a mandate to report on protection issues.
– Deploying an armed military or police force, under a UN mandate, to provide physical protection to Palestinian civilians.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon condemned on Saturday several suggestions aimed at boosting protection of Palestinians, which were proposed the day before by the international body’s Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Danon said that Arab civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank required shielding from their own leaders, rather than from Israel.Hamas says ceasefire talks on hold until after Eid al-Adha holiday
Guterres’s proposals included sending UN rights monitors and unarmed observers, and deploying a military or police force under UN mandate. The suggestions were contained in a report requested by the General Assembly in response to a surge of violence in Gaza, where 171 Palestinians have been reported killed during Hamas-led clashes with Israeli troops since late March. Dozens of the dead were members of terror groups, Hamas has acknowledged.
“The only protection the Palestinian people need is from their own leadership,” Danon said in a statement. “The [Palestinian Authority] incites its people to demonize and attack Jews, and Hamas, a terrorist organization, uses the people in Gaza as hostages and endangers the lives of civilians for terror’s sake.”
“Instead of delusional suggestions on how to protect the Palestinian people from Israel, the UN should hold the Palestinian leadership accountable for the harm caused to its own people,” he further charged.
A member of the Hamas terror group’s political bureau said Friday that internal Palestinian talks on a long-term ceasefire agreement with Israel were put on pause until the conclusion of a Muslim holiday later this month.Abbas calls for intensifying 'popular resistance' against Israel
“Today we finished a round of consultations in Cairo with the Palestinian factions regarding the calm [ceasefire deal] and the reconciliation” between Hamas and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, Izzat al-Rishq wrote on his Twitter account, according to Channel 10 news.
“We made clear that we insist that all steps be in a national framework. We presented our vision regarding the calm and we heard ideas and comments from the brothers in the factions,” added al-Rishq, one of the Gaza-based terror group’s top leaders abroad.
“God willing the efforts will renew after the holiday” of Eid al-Adha, a Muslim feast that begins on Tuesday and lasts until the end of next week.
Hussam Badran, another senior Hamas member, also said the talks would resume after Eid al-Adha. He said the terror group’s aim is to have the blockade on Gaza lifted.
“The discussions in Cairo focused on the cease-fire stabilization mechanisms from 2014 in a way that will lead to the breaking of the siege on the Gaza Strip,” Channel 10 quoted him as saying.
The announcement from the Hamas officials that the talks would be put on hold for a week came after another senior member of the terror group said Friday that negotiations for a long-term ceasefire deal are in “the final stretch.”
WHILE FATAH and Hamas appear to be inching toward a rapprochement over the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday called on Palestinians to “keep the ground aflame with popular resistance” against Israel. The Palestinians, he said, should not “underestimate the importance of popular resistance.”Abbas: Either PA controls both West Bank and Gaza, or Hamas does
In closing remarks in Ramallah to the PLO Central Council, a key decision-making body, Abbas called on Palestinians to protest at Khan al-Ahmar, the Bedouin shantytown located east of Ma’aleh Adumim which is slated for demolition.
He claimed the decision to demolish Khan al-Ahmar and evict its 180 residents was part of an Israeli plan to divide the West Bank.
Abbas repeated his demand that Hamas hand full control over the Gaza Strip to the Ramallah-based PA government. Otherwise, he said, Hamas should assume full responsibility over the coastal enclave.
“There should be one state, one system, one law and one security force in the Gaza Strip,” Abbas added. “If they [Hamas] don’t want to hand the responsibilities over to the Palestinian Authority, then they should assume their responsibilities.”
Abbas said that any funds earmarked for the Gaza Strip should be channeled only through the PA government.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned Saturday that there can be no two separate entities ruling Palestinian lands, saying either the PA controls both the West Bank and Gaza or Hamas does.Tehran Regime to Host Turkey’s Erdogan and Russia’s Putin for Heads of State Summit
“We will not allow a separate state in Gaza,” he said.
Abbas made the comments amidst the backdrop of reportedly intensifying negotiations for a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza — talks not said to involve the PA.
“Either we [the PA] receive power… in Gaza and the West Bank — one country, one system, one law, one weapon — or they [Hamas] receive it,” Abbas said during a speech at the closing session of the Palestinian Central Council, the PLO’s second highest decision-making body.
The PA leader added that his body would not continue paying for services in the coastal enclave if it is not returned to power there.
Abbas said the PA would call on the General Assembly to condemn Israel’s recent nation-state law when it reconvenes in September.
Russia’s presidential office has announced that President Vladimir Putin will fly to Tehran in early September for a summit meeting with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts.Israel mourns late UN chief who ‘opposed attempts to delegitimize Jewish state’
The exact date for the summit would be released once “the three presidents’ schedules are agreed on through diplomatic channels,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
In a separate briefing, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the parley would be held in the first week of September.
The talks between Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will focus on the war in Syria, although growing US economic pressure on both the Turkish and Iranian governments is likely to be discussed.
In Iran’s case, the US aims to have a full range of punishing sanctions in place by Nov. 4, including a ban on transactions with Iran’s central bank, while in the case of Turkey — which continues to hold the American pastor Andrew Brunson in prison — the US has sanctioned two senior government ministers and placed new tariffs on imports in recent weeks.
Israel joined countries around the world in an outpouring of condolences on Saturday after the death of former UN Secretary General and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan.Mayor of Arab city in Israel condemns police shooting terrorist
“We will remember him as having been very active in the international arena and as someone who fought anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. We send our condolences to his widow and his family,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
The Foreign Ministry said Annan devoted his life to world peace.
“During his tenure he opposed the attempts to delegitimize Israel and resolutely fought against Holocaust denial,” the ministry added in a statement.
Annan was a firm supporter of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and was involved in peace negotiations between the sides throughout his tenure between 1997-2006.
Last year he told the Associated Press he did not believe peace was possible under the two sides’ current leadership.
The mayor of the Arab-Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm condemned the killing of a terrorist in Friday's stabbing attack in Jerusalem on Saturday.UK’s Corbyn endorses boycotting Israel in 2015 video
Mayor Khaled Hamdan condemned Israeli police following the killing of Muhammad Mahameed, who carried out the stabbing attack in the Muslim quarter of the Old City.
According to the municipality of Umm al-Fahm, the police used excessive force during the handling of the incident and could have neutralized the terrorist without killing him. In addition, the municipality called on the state to release Mahameed's body for a proper burial.
"This is unreasonable behavior of Israeli security forces against a young man who suffered from medical problems, there was another way. He should be released tomorrow so that he can be laid to rest," the municipality said in a statement.
According to the same statement, Mayor Hamdan and his deputy Bilal Daher contacted the terrorist's family and discussed his medical problems.
"According to the videos, he could have been arrested without shooting him to death," the municipality said in its statement.
Mahameed approached a policeman near the council gate, also known as Majlis gate and an entrance to the Temple Mount, and stabbed the policeman.
Footage from 2015 shows Jeremy Corbyn endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel as “part and parcel of a legal process that has to be adopted.”UK’s Labour suspends former MP for comments against Jews
Corbyn, a far-left politician who became the leader of Britain’s Labour Party in 2015, is shown during a conference in Northern Ireland’s capital of Belfast months before he assumed the party leadership.
Corbyn has maintained that he opposes a blanket boycott of Israel, supporting instead only boycotting produce from Israeli settlements.
“Jeremy is not in favor of a comprehensive or blanket boycott,” a spokesperson for Corbyn told The Guardian in December. “He doesn’t support BDS. He does support targeted action aimed at illegal settlements and occupied territories.”
In the footage filmed in Belfast, he is asked: “Can the panel give hope to the people of Palestine by supporting the movement for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions against Israel?”
He replies: “I think the boycott campaign, divestment campaign, is part and parcel of a legal process that has to be adopted.” He later adds: “I believe that sanctions against Israel, because of its breach of the trade agreement, are the appropriate way of promoting [the] peace process.”
Jeremy Corbyn addresses a crowd in London’s Trafalgar Square, July 13, 2018. (Niklas Hallen/AFP/Getty Images/via JTA)
The footage was published in 2015 by Sinn Féin, the nationalist left-wing Irish political party that hosted Corbyn in Belfast. Corbyn, who in 2009 hosted a visit to Britain’s parliament by Hamas and Hezbollah politicians, calling them his “friends,” was then an outlier in Labour for his radical politics. He was widely seen as having slim chances of leading the movement.
A former Labour MP has been suspended from the party over comments apparently made online about the Jewish community.Thread by @TheLurkPack: "Would you vote for some who has done all of this?
It comes after a social media post Jim Sheridan was allegedly responsible for which spoke of his loss of “respect and empathy” for the community amid the row about anti-Semitism.
The suspension of the former Paisley and Renfrewshire North MP, now a councillor in Renfrewshire, is understood to have happened on Saturday after a complaint was received.
Labour did not comment on the individual case but said all complaints of anti-Semitism are fully investigated by the party.
22. Said Hamas and Hezbollah are his “friends“.Citing rising anti-Semitism, leading lawyer to leave UK for Israel
23. Called for Hamas to be removed from terror banned list.
24. Called Hamas “serious and hard-working“.
25. Attended wreath-laying at grave of Munich massacre terrorist.
26. Attended conference with Hamas and PFLP.
27. Photographed smiling with Hezbollah flag.
28. Attended rally with Hezbollah and Al-Muhajiroun.
29. Repeatedly shared platforms with PFLP plane hijacker.
30. Hired aide who praised Hamas’ “spirit of resistance“.
31. Accepted £20,000 for state TV channel of terror-sponsoring Iranian regime.
32. Opposed banning Britons from travelling to Syria to fight for ISIS.
33. Defended rights of fighters returning from Syria.
34. Said ISIS supporters should not be prosecuted.
35. Compared fighters returning from Syria to Nelson Mandela.
36. Said the death of Osama Bin Laden was a “tragedy“.
A top British lawyer and his partner said they will leave the United Kingdom due to growing anti-Semitism, which they blamed in large part on Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party.Canadian Lawmaker Rescinds Award to Activist Who Participated in Pro-Palestinian ‘Hate Rally’
In an interview with the BBC this week, Mark Lewis and Mandy Blumenthal said they intend to emigrate to Israel by the end of the year. They also said they know other people who are considering leaving the country because of anti-Semitism.
Lewis, one of the UK’s leading libel lawyers, said he has been increasingly subjected to hate speech and threats for being Jewish.
The couple blamed the leadership of Labour for creating an atmosphere that allows anti-Semitic feelings to bubble up and largely dismissed Corbyn’s assertion that anti-Semitism is not tolerated in the party.
“Jeremy Corbyn moved the rock, and the anti-Semites crawled out from underneath the rock. They’re not going back,” said Lewis.
“There’s been a total climate change. It’s become acceptable to be anti-Semitic. It’s brought out people’s feelings to the surface,” Blumenthal said.
She said though Corbyn and Labour are not solely responsible for the recent anti-Semitism, they have a “very loud part” in its rise.
A Canadian lawmaker rescinded an award on Thursday from an activist affiliated with a controversial Palestinian community center who participated in what critics called a “hate rally.”BDS activists shut down Berlin festival event due to Israeli sponsorship
Iqra Khalid, a member of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ruling Liberal Party, apologized for her “mistake” in granting a Certificate of Appreciation to Amin El-Maoued, the public relations chief of Palestine House.
The group — which describes itself as “an educational, social and cultural center of the Palestinian Canadian Community” — was cut off from receiving government funding in 2012 due to what officials called a “pattern of support for extremism.” This reportedly included hosting events honoring the founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terrorist organization responsible for multiple suicide bombings in Israel, and celebrating the release of hundreds of convicted terrorists.
In a petition launched on Wednesday, the civil rights group B’nai Brith Canada shared a video showing El-Maoued participating in a July 22, 2017 rally in Mississauga, Ontario.
He is seen holding a megaphone used by protesters to shout various slogans, including, “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammed is returning.” The Arabic saying refers to a 7th-century battle fought by the Islamic prophet Muhammad against Jewish tribes near Medina, and is often invoked by Islamist terrorist groups including Hamas and Hezbollah.
Anti-Israel activists in Berlin lashed out at a podium discussion at the Pop Cultural festival opening on Thursday, disrupting the panel conversation because the Jewish state provided a small donation to the event.Michael Lumish: This Week on Nothing Left
Highly aggressive BDS activists shouted at the podium participants: “Israel is an apartheid state. Are you not ashamed? You are racists who support the Apartheid regime. You are the true antisemite. You are criminals. Because of leftists like you I support BDS.”
German media reported on the outbursts directed at Shelly Kupferberg, the journalist and podium moderator, the Israeli author Lizzy Doron and Berlin’s Left party cultural senator Klaus Lederer. The podium panel was titled “Boycott” and had to be ended because of the hostility created by the anti-Israel activists in the audience.
Six artists have boycotted the Berlin Pop Culture Festival, because Israel contributed €1,200 to cover the travel expenses for its artistic participation.
BDS has infected Berlin, and posters across the city showed an imploded city with the statement: “Pop Culture. Sponsored by Apartheid.” Lederer has won praise for his opposition to the BDS campaign and is widely considered a rare voice among the German Left who rejects assaults on Israel’s existence. Lederer termed BDS “structural antisemitism.”
This week Michael Burd and Alan Freedman begin with some comments regarding the disgraceful treatment meted out to Andrew Bolt by some of our communal organisations, and then catch up with Daniel Mandel of the Zionist Organisation of America for the inside information on events over there.Tale of Two Obituaries Shows New York Times Tilt
The guys speak with Juliet Moses, a leader of the Jewish community in New Zealand on events that have been happening there recently, and then hear from Toby Greene, a British-Israeli analyst who has co-authored an essay on the difficult relationship between the EU and Israel.
And of course, Isi Leibler joins the fellahs from Jerusalem with his take on the week’s events.
Here is this week's episode of Nothing Left ...
2 min Editorial: Andrew Bolt’s treatment by communal orgs
14 min Daniel Mandel, Zionist Organisation of America
51 min Juliet Moses, in New Zealand
1 hr 9 Toby Greene, BICOM analyst on EU-Israel relations
1 hr 31 Isi Leibler in Jerusalem, on Nation-State bill
Two Jewish women recently died.Palestinian envoy’s falsehoods go unchallenged on BBC’s ‘Hardtalk’ – part one
One was a prominent, widely respected American Zionist leader who was the first woman to serve as president of the Council of Jewish Federations and the first woman to serve as chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. She also was chair of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, chair of the United Israel Appeal, and president of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Before her career as a Jewish volunteer, she worked to advance women’s ability to get credit in their own names.
The other worked at a much smaller Jewish organization. Her contribution is described by her partner as “a counter to Zionism,” and enabling Jews to exist “without believing that Israel is their homeland.”
Guess which one got the respectful, long obituary, complete with a photograph, in the New York Times, and guess which one was skipped, ignored, omitted entirely by the Times?
Sure enough, the August 14 New York Times carries an article reporting the death of “Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, 72, Feminist and Author.” The quotes in the piece come almost all from her “longtime partner, the activist and organizer Leslie Cagan, who confirmed the death.”
With no challenge to his guest’s inaccurate description of the violent rioting and attacks as ‘peaceful protest’ and making to effort to remind viewers that the Gaza Strip has not been ‘occupied’ for thirteen years, Sackur interrupted Mansour in order to pose his question for a third time.Palestinian envoy’s falsehoods go unchallenged on BBC’s ‘Hardtalk’ – part two
Sackur: “Whatever the situation in terms of Israel’s open fire policy on that border, you know and Hamas leaders in Gaza know that if people go down to that border – particularly if they go with an intent to throw Molotov cocktails or fly their kites – they are going to be targeted and in the interests of saving life, is it not time for this to end?”
Mansour: “I think that it is in the interest of saving lives to do the following: one, for the Israeli armed forces not to be trigger happy to aim at civilians and to shoot them. Secondly, if international presence to get closer to the borders – whether UN international presence or Red Cross teams – I think that that would lead to saving civilian lives. It is the right of not only the civilian Palestinian population but all civilian populations in any corner of the globe have the right to peacefully protest against certain issues that are influencing them in a very negative way. That is also including the Palestinian civilian population in the occupied territory including in the Gaza Strip.”
Sackur: “Things have escalated in the last week or so as you know. Last weekend we saw roughly 200 rockets and mortars fired towards Israeli territory from positions inside Gaza. Sderot – one Israeli town – was hit. In return the Israelis used their war planes to bomb targets across Gaza. What is your message to those inside Gaza who resumed the rocket and mortar fire?”
Sackur failed to clarify that those events in fact began when an Israeli officer was wounded in a grenade attack during what only seconds before had been portrayed to BBC audiences as ‘peaceful protest’, thereby paving the way for Mansour’s subsequent distortion of events.
Mansour: “Well first of all I’m not so sure that, you know, that this cycle of violence was initiated by the Palestinians. I think it was initiated by the Israeli aircraft and their bombardment, by their artillery in which a number of children were killed – at least four – and more than 65 have been injured through this violence from the Israeli side. I don’t believe that there is, you know, but maybe one or two from the Israeli side that were injured through this cycle of violence. From our position that we declare very repeatedly, we are against the killing of innocent civilians from any side and under any conditions.”
As we saw in part one of this post, in the first part of the July 19th edition of ‘Hardtalk‘ (aired on the BBC News channel and the BBC World News channel and available to viewers in the UK on BBC iPlayer for the next eleven months) BBC audiences were exposed to a series of falsehoods, distortions and whitewashing of the ‘Great Return March’ violence that has been taking place throughout the past four and a half months.Hundreds of neo-Nazis march in Berlin, protected by police
After presenter Stephen Sackur had allowed his guest the PA envoy Riyad Mansour to get away with pretending not to have heard violent threats against Israelis from Hamas’ top man in the Gaza Strip, he changed the topic of the conversation.
Sackur: “You earlier referred to Gaza as a prison. You talked about the desperate conditions – humanitarian conditions – that people live in; pretty much 2 million people inside the Gaza Strip. In that circumstance, why is it that over recent months the Palestinian Authority has been imposing its own financial punishments and sanctions on the people of Gaza?”
Mansour retorted “I would not use, you know, these words that you are using” before going on to state that the Palestinian National Council had authorised the payment of salaries to employees of the Palestinian National Authority in Gaza.
Hundreds of neo-Nazis waving flags with the colors of the German Reich marched through central Berlin Saturday, protected from counter-protesters by police in riot gear.10 prominent Israelis at the head of US businesses
Berlin police spokesman Thilo Cablitz said officers had to physically remove some left-wing demonstrators who had staged sit-down protests along the route of Saturday’s march.
He added that stones and bottles were thrown at some of the far-right protesters, but couldn’t immediately say how many people were injured.
The far-right protesters wore white shirts to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the death of high-ranking Nazi official Rudolf Hess and carried banners with slogans such as “I regret nothing.”
Hess, who received a life sentence at the Nuremberg trials for his role in planning World War II, died on Aug. 17, 1987.
The list of Israelis heading American companies is impressively long. ISRAEL21c chose 10 to highlight here, all of whom spent their formative years in Israel (excluding, for example, Israeli-born Oracle co-CEO Safra Catz, who moved to the United States at age six).Israeli gymnast Linoy Ashram sets world record at World Cup, wins gold
We’ll start with Saban and continue in random order.
1. Haim Saban
Haim Saban was born in 1944 in Egypt. His family immigrated to Israel in 1957 and his father sold pencils to pay the rent on a one-room Tel Aviv flat with a leaky roof. A problem student, Saban did his time in the Israel Defense Forces and then played bass guitar in a band before setting out to find fame and fortune first in France and then in Los Angeles.
“Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” the show he remade from an obscure Japanese series and labored for eight years to sell, debuted on American TV in 1993 and became one of the longest-running children’s action series as well as the basis for three movies. In May, Saban sold the Power Rangers franchise rights to Hasbro in a $522 million deal.
In 1995, Saban Entertainment and Fox Kids merged to form the Fox Family Channel, acquired by Disney in 2001 for $5.2 billion (Saban’s take was reportedly $1.7 billion).
He went on to found Saban Capital Group and Saban Ventures, which makes worldwide investments in real estate, venture capital and public markets; and its affiliates Saban Brands and Saban Films. Saban Ventures recently opened a Tel Aviv office. He also chairs Univision, the largest Spanish-language media company in the United States.
2. Adam Neumann
Born in 1979 in Beersheva and raised primarily on a kibbutz near Gaza, Adam Neumann served as an Israeli naval officer for five years before relocating to New York where his sister, Adi, had started a modeling career.
Adapting the communal principles of his kibbutz background to rethink the corporate office, Neumann cofounded WeWork in 2010. The fast-growing, high-profile company provides community, workspace and services to 268,000 members in 77 cities in 23 countries — 287 physical locations as of now, including eight in Israel.
WeWork has given momentum to the “sharing economy” movement sweeping the world. According to Forbes, the company is valued at $21 billion.
Israeli gymnast Linoy Ashram on Saturday broke the world record in the clubs-handling round at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Minsk, and went on to win the gold medal in the all-round phase of the competition.Unopened letter mailed to Anne Frank’s home to be auctioned
The 19-year-old Ashram received a score of 20.65 for her clubs demonstration, surpassing the 20.05 record set at the 2018 European Championships by Russian Dina Averina.
The all-around competition includes hoop, clubs, ball and ribbon.
Ashram went on to receive a final score of 77.800 in the all-round stage, winning the gold medal.
The Israeli Olympic Committee noted that Ashram is the first person in the history of the Challenge Cup to win two gold medals in one season, after she won a gold in the competition in Spain in May.
An auctioning house is selling an unopened letter that was mailed to the home of Anne Frank while she and her family were hiding elsewhere from the Nazis.
Bidding on the envelope, which came from an insurance company in 1942, will begin at $570 during the auction, which is scheduled to take place on September 21 at the Corinphila Auction House in Amstelveen south of Amsterdam.
The letter is of “paramount importance, a testament to the most difficult period in the life of the Frank family, their underground existence,” the auction house wrote in a statement.
The envelope carries a red “return to sender” stamp and is addressed to Otto Frank, the teenage diarist’s father and the only member of her nuclear family who survived the Holocaust.
When it was sent to the family’s home in Merwede Square in Amsterdam’s south, the Franks were already in hiding in what is now called the Anne Frank House in the Dutch capital’s west. They hid there for over two years, until they were discovered and sent to concentration and death camps.
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