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Sunday, August 18, 2019

08/18 Links: Dems and Jewish Groups pick wrong side on Omar-Tlaib; IDF kills three armed terrorists attempting to infiltrate Israel; PMW: PA lies, but video tells the truth

From Ian:
Dems and Jewish Groups pick wrong side on Omar-Tlaib
Who can forget the embarrassing vote to reinstate language recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital at the 2012 Democratic National Convention? Convention chairman Antonio Villaraigosa had to call a voice vote three times before declaring it for the "Ayes." Anyone who heard the catcalls knows it was at best a tie, nowhere near the two-thirds votes required to make the change.

Some congressional Democrats are trying to fight the anti-Israel forces typified by Omar and Tlaib. The 41 Democrats who visited Israel this month is an example. Democrats on July 23 overwhelmingly supported a resolution which said BDS "promotes principles of collective guilt, mass punishment and group isolation, which are destructive of prospects for progress towards peace."

But Democrats have been afraid to take Omar and Tlaib head-on. Not only are they scared of their base, they’re fearful of antagonizing American Muslims, a voting bloc they have begun to woo. That is why their effort in May to pass a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, again sparked in reaction to Omar, was rewritten and watered down so as to be meaningless.

If American-Jewish organizations wish to help Israel, they’d encourage Democrats to go further in their efforts to push back against Omar-Tlaib. AIPAC, the ADL, the Conference of Presidents of American Jewish Organizations, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and all the others who see their job as defending Jewish interests should be encouraging Democrats to isolate this hateful duo and cut them off from the rest of the party.

Instead, they’ve strengthened Omar and Tlaib by giving moral backing to the position that these two should have been admitted to Israel regardless of their agenda, that it was Israel that was in the wrong. But Israel was right. It acted sensibly, stopping a propaganda-fest from being carried out on its home turf.

The House vote condemning BDS was 398-to-17. Five voted present. Two of the nays were Omar and Tlaib. This is a fight U.S. Jewish groups can win. Once they stop putting the ball in their own net.
JPost Editorial: Confronting Democrats
The decision to bar Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from entering Israel is a story that combines political interests in Washington and Jerusalem, the BDS movement, the future of bipartisan support for Israel in the United States and much more.

On the one hand, it is a decision that has the potential to create irreparable damage to Israel. Still today, members of the Democratic Party recall Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “insult” – as they call it – to President Barack Obama when he spoke before Congress in 2015 against the Iran deal. Many refer to that moment in time as the breaking point in ties between the party and the Jewish state.

The decision not to let Omar and Tlaib into Israel – on Friday the government agreed to let Tlaib cross into the West Bank to visit her grandmother but she has decided not to – could be remembered as another moment like the 2015 speech.

By reversing an earlier decision to let the congresswomen in, Israel – in one fell swoop – aligned the entire Democratic Party behind its two most radical and extreme members. It essentially gave Tlaib and Omar a gift they could not have imagined – propelling them to a status that even the mighty country of Israel is afraid of what they would do if allowed inside its borders.
Republicans: 'Attention-grabbers' will not hijack bipartisan goodwill from Israel trip
The decision by Israel to bar Reps. Rashid Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) due to their support for the anti-Israel BDS movement has generated international deadlines while at the same time sparking further partisan divide and debate. The controversy over the congresswomen, however, comes shortly after of a visit to Israel by 72 fellow members of the US House of Representatives that seemed to highlight rare public goodwill between Democrats and Republicans, as well as the broad bipartisan support that Israel still enjoys among lawmakers.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said “all members should visit Israel if they come with open minds, open eyes and open ears – ready to hear all sides.”

He told JNS that “coming to Israel and seeing it for themselves transforms every member from simply believing that the United States should support Israel to feeling the strong bond the United States has with Israel.”

McCarthy led the Republican contingent of a visit to Israel that wrapped up this week, sponsored by the American Israeli Education Foundation (AIEF), a division of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Both Omar and Tlaib rejected the AIEF-sponsored tour.

Despite their known hostility towards the Jewish state, Israel initially permitted Omar and Tlaib to visit the country “out of respect for Congress.” However, after it emerged that the two congresswomen’s visit would be one-sided and include only meeting with BDS groups, some with ties to terrorist organizations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reversed course.

“[T]he itinerary of the two Congresswomen reveals that the sole purpose of their visit is to harm Israel and increase incitement against it,” he said in a statement.



The media are mum on the virulently anti-Semitic group behind Rashida Tlaib’s and Ilhan Omar’s since-canceled Israel trip
Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib’s since-canceled trip to Israel was sponsored by Miftah, an exceptionally anti-Semitic group that praises Palestinian terrorists and claims Jews used the blood of Christians in the Jewish Passover. The organization also publishes Neo-Nazis and calls for the destruction of Israel.

But you would never know this about Miftah from following much of the press' coverage this week of the congresswomen’s fight with the government of Israel. In reporting on Omar and Tlaib’s controversial junket, some of America's largest and most prestigious newsrooms have managed somehow to omit the most damning details of the sponsoring group’s outright anti-Jewish bigotry.

Just an oversight, I am sure.

The L.A. Times’ editorial board, for example, describes Miftah simply as “a nonprofit organization headed by a Palestinian lawmaker." No further context is provided. Additional reporting from the L.A. Times on Israel’s decision to deny Tlaib and Omar entry does not even mention that their trip was sponsored by Miftah.

Elsewhere, a review of seven separate Associated Press reports found only a single example of Miftah mentioned by name. That lone mention is as follows:
MIFTAH, the Palestinian organization that was to host Tlaib and Omar in the West Bank, issued a statement saying that Israel’s decision was “an affront to the American people and their representatives” and “an assault on the Palestinian people’s right to reach out to decision-makers and other actors from around the world.”

The remaining six Associated Press reports refer to the anti-Semitic association simply as a “Palestinian group,” a “Palestinian organization,” and twice as a “Palestinian organization aimed at highlighting the plight of the Palestinians.” Miftah’s anti-Semitism and anti-Israel mission are never mentioned.
Tlaib, Omar share anti-Trump, Netanyahu image from cartoonist celebrated in Iran Holocaust contest
Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., continue to speak out against President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the decision to bar them from visiting Israel last week, but now recent social media posts from the freshman congresswomen – part of the “Squad” that includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley -- include a political cartoon from an artist celebrated for his anti-Semitic imagery.

Tlaib and Omar posted to their Instagram stories a cartoon which depicts Netanyahu silencing Tlaib by covering her mouth, and Trump doing the same to Omar, The Jewish Daily Forward’s Batya Ungar-Sargon noticed.

“The more they try to silence us, our voices rise. The more they try to weaken us, the stronger we become. The more they try to discredit us, the truth prevails,” was the statement included in Tlaib’s post.

Ungar-Sargon pointed out that the artist who drew the cartoon, Carlos Latuff, has a history of cartoons that compare Israel to Nazis, including an entry in the 2006 Iran Holocaust Cartoon Contest that won him second place.

Latuff himself shared the cartoon on his Twitter page, and early Sunday morning he posted a link to an interview he did with the Forward where he discussed his controversial artwork. He defended his use of the Holocaust to criticize Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, even while acknowledging that the two are not exactly the same.




Tlaib says maybe viewers should skip ‘Real Time’ after Maher’s BDS comments
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., suggested Saturday that viewers boycott comedian Bill Maher’s HBO talk show after he devoted a segment of Friday's program to bashing the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, calling it a “bulls--- purity test.”

"Maybe folks should boycott his show," said Tlaib, who went on to compare criticism of the BDS movement to the controversy surrounding boycotts of South Africa's apartheid regime in the 1970s and 1980s.

"I am tired of folks discrediting a form of speech that is centered on equality and freedom," the lawmaker continued. "This is exactly how they tried to discredit & stop the boycott to stand up against the apartheid in S. Africa. It didn't work then and it won't now."

Maher’s segment came one day after the Israeli government said it would deny entry to Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., for their support of the BDS movement following an appeal from President Trump.

Maher opined that Omar’s past comments, in which she seemed to suggest that “Jews control the world, control the money,” might have played a part in “why they don’t get a hero’s welcome.”

Tlaib's tweet came in response to a post by Intercept columnist Mehdi Hasan, who criticized “Liberal” Maher for “railing against BDS, Palestinians and Omar/Tlaib with an all-white panel featuring no Palestinians, no Arabs, no Muslims, no people of colour.”
Vile Woman Rejoices in the Massacre of 67 Hebron Jews
Exactly 90 years ago today, on Av 18, 5689, August 24, 1929, an Arab massacred 67 of their Jewish neighbors in Hebron.

Click on the video below and watch a hate-filled elderly Arab woman recalling with delight her memories of those murders, some of which involved rape, torture and sexual mutilations. They’ve all have remained with this woman to this day, without a hint of remorse or shame, only glee and satisfaction, and a hearty blessing that her children and grandchildren share in future massacres of Jews:

On Friday, August 23, 1929, Arab youths threw rocks at Hebron yeshiva students on the street. A student named Shmuel Rosenholtz was trapped by the rioters who killed him.




The Tlaib-Omar Trainwreck: An Early Assessment
In general, the venom of denunciations of Israeli policy and expressions of hurt may index the desire to fundamentally change the relationship between the two countries.

Beyond this, the description of the decision as unprecedented and an affront to Congress is not only deliberately exaggerated and ahistorical — it is also an un-ironic endorsement of Israel’s vassal status. Vassalage was “proven” by “taking Trump’s’ advice” and by making a sovereign decision. But Democrats also expect to be kowtowed to, perhaps even more than Trump, as Israel’s saviors and in the name of “preserving Israeli democracy.”

The lack of anticipation on the part of Israeli officials rankles; the train was sighted long before the wreck occurred. An impetuous and destructive intervention by Trump should have been anticipated and contingencies planned for. There is no sign this was done. Israeli public diplomacy, clumsily divided between the Prime Minister’s Office, the multi-faceted Strategic Affairs Ministry, and the kneecapped Foreign Ministry, fell between the cracks. Coordination with the US at the formal diplomatic level and that of various legislators and organizations was also lacking.

In the end, it would have been wise to allow Omar and Tlaib to visit and to have been gracious in the face of their animus. Nevertheless, despite the storm, it is unlikely that this particular train wreck will destroy the Israeli-American relationship or even invigorate the BDS movement. It will instead cement views, including hostility, on all sides, and reinforce sadly warranted views of Israeli diplomatic ineptitude.
Superficial Media Reporting on the Tlaib and Omar Story
According to that itinerary, what the BBC presents as “peace activists” are in fact political NGOs such as ‘Mercy Corps,’, Amnesty International, Al Haq, B’tselem, DCI-Palestine, and Breaking the Silence.

Readers were told that:
The trip to the West Bank was planned by Miftah, an organisation headed by Palestinian peace negotiator Hanan Ashrawi.

No background was provided concerning Miftah and its record of advocating the BDS campaign and glorifying terrorists.

The following day — August 16 — that article was replaced by another, headlined, “Rashida Tlaib rejects Israel’s offer of ‘humanitarian’ visit,” which included much of the same content, but also informed readers that:
In a series of tweets on Friday, Ms Omar hit back at claims that she and Ms Tlaib hadn’t asked to meet with Israel’s government or opposition officials.

The Minnesota congresswoman said that, during their visit, they had planned to meet Jewish and Arab members of Israel’s parliament, along with Israeli security officials.

Among other plans, they had also intended to tour the West Bank city of Hebron with Israeli military veterans, she said.

Readers were not told that those “Israeli military veterans” were in fact members of the foreign funded political NGO ‘Breaking the Silence’ or that the itinerary shows no evidence of planned meetings with Israeli Knesset members or officials.
CBC & CTV’s Misleading Portrayal of Israel’s Decision to Bar 2 U.S. BDS-Supporting Congresswomen
Contrary to these reports, Israel didn’t bar the two U.S. Congresswomen simply because they are “have been openly critical of Israel”, they were barred because they both support the BDS movement which calls for boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel. Israeli law prohibits entry of those who espouse and advocate for BDS, which Israel views as antisemitic and an effort to overthrow the government and topple the Jewish state. On the basis of this report, viewers may wrongly conclude that Israel denies entry to anyone who is a critic of its policies, which is most certainly not the case. In fact, Israel is widely regarded for domestically having a robust debate about it’s political decisions, and for being tolerant of dissenting opinions, whether in government, media or in the public sphere.

Israel’s law is similar to a U.S. law which denies entry to those calling for an overthrow of the American government.

While there is a wide marketplace of ideas in Israel and in the diasporic Jewish community about Israel’s decision, nevertheless, Israel has the right to deny the Congresswomen entry.
Feminist icon Steinem says she won’t visit Israel while ‘bully’ Netanyahu is PM
In her Saturday comments, Steinem, who is Jewish, accused Netanyahu of bullying Omar and Tlaib. “You were a conversational bully to your guests” at a dinner table the two shared in the 1980s, she charged, “just as you are a bully to these two elected women leaders now.”

Steinem also criticized Trump, calling him the “accidental occupant” of the White House, and suggested Netanyahu had joined the ranks of strongmen like Vladimir Putin in Russia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia.

“I know that Donald Trump, the accidental occupant of the White House, is drawn to successful bullies, from Russia to Saudi Arabia, but I hoped that as the leader of a nation dedicated to democracy and free speech, you would support the same rights for two elected leaders from my country.”



Jordan reprimands Israeli ambassador over Temple Mount ‘violations’
Israel’s ambassador to Jordan was summoned on Sunday by the Jordanian foreign ministry for a dressing down amid tensions over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

In a statement, Jordan’s foreign ministry said it stressed to Amir Weissbrod its “condemnation and rejection of the Israeli violations” at the holy site, which is revered by both Muslims and Jews and is under Jordanian custodianship.

The compound was the site of clashes between Muslim worshipers and police last week over the entry of Jews during the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, which this year coincided with the Jewish fast day of Tisha B’Av mourning the destruction of the two Jewish temples at the site.

Amman called for an immediate end of “these provocative and absurd violations,” which it said were “inflaming the conflict” and were a violation of international law.

Sufian Qudah, the ministry spokesman, said Weissbrod was told to inform the Israeli government that Jordan rejects any efforts to change the status quo at the Temple Mount.

The spokesman also said Jordan strongly rejected comments by Public Security Ministry Gilad Erdan that Israel should work to change the arrangements in place at the flashpoint site in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Sanders Uses Holocaust Bona Fides in Black Campaign Stop
Jewish Senator Bernie Sanders on Saturday told the conference of African American Young Leaders in Atlanta, led by the Black Church PAC established by distinguished black pastors: “I’m Jewish. My family came from Poland. My father’s whole family was wiped out by Hitler and his white nationalism.”

According to his online bios in Wikipedia as well as the Jewish Virtual Library, Sanders was born in 1941, in Brooklyn, New York City. His father, Elias Ben Yehuda Sanders, was born in Słopnice, Galicia (now part of Poland), and immigrated to the United States in 1921. His mother, Dorothy Sanders (née Glassberg), was born in New York City to Jewish immigrant parents from Poland and Russia. So his immediate family was removed from the Holocaust by a generation.

Over the years, Sanders has used references to his connection to the Holocaust to make similar points. In fact, a 2007 New York Times Magazine article by Mark Leibovichjan titled The Socialist Senator, states (likely based on material provided by the Senator’s office): “His father, Eli, a struggling paint salesman who saw his family wiped out in the Holocaust, worried constantly about supporting his wife and two sons.”

Bernie’s feverish references to the Holocaust over the years is not fraudulent—the anguish of Jewish immigrants in America over the fate of their families in Europe has been well documented in many works of art as well as by historians and social scientists—but they come disturbingly close to being cynical.


IDF kills three armed Palestinians attempting to infiltrate Israel
Three armed Palestinians were killed by IDF troops as they tried to cross into southern Israel from Beit Hanoun shortly after three rockets were launched into southern Israel, the IDF said on Saturday night.

“A short time ago, an IDF force identified a number of armed suspects near the Gaza perimeter fence,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement, adding that “an IDF attack helicopter and tank shot at them.”

The three armed men were engaged and killed by IDF troops after they attempted to infiltrate across the border fence.

They were identified by Palestinian media as 21 year-old Mohammed Al-Taramsi, 23 year-old Mohammad Abu Namous and 22 year-old Mahmoud Al-Walaydeh. Their bodies were recovered by medical crews Sunday morning and moved to the Indonesian hospital before their burial later in the day.

The three were wrapped in flags belonging to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fatah and Hamas’ Izzedin al-Qassem brigades during their burial.

While no group claimed responsibility for the infiltration attempt, PIJ mourned the three men and warned that Israel is fully responsible for “it’s heinous crimes against the Palestinian people” and that the group reserves “the right of our people to resist and confront all forms of Zionist agression.”

The group stressed that “the crime of targeting a group of angry youths” comes against a backdrop of “systematic terrorism, escalation aggression, ongoing siege, daily incursions in the al-Aqsa Mosque, agression against prisoners and settlement expansion. It is an aggression that comes in the context of the declared war on our people.”

The attempted infiltration came after three rockets were fired towards southern Israel, with one Qassem rocket striking the yard of a home in Sderot.

Two people sustained minor injuries Saturday evening while running to bomb shelters during the rocket sirens, a 30 year-old woman who fainted and a 76-year-old woman who required hospitalization.
IDF releases footage of foiled Gaza infiltration attempt
The Israeli military on Sunday released video footage of a foiled infiltration attempt from the northern Gaza Strip the night before, in which five Palestinian men attempted to breach the security fence and enter southern Israel.

In the surveillance camera footage, at least two of the men can be seen holding what appear to be guns.

The Israel Defense Forces said five suspects were spotted by soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras as they approached the border with Israel on Saturday night. An attack helicopter and a tank opened fire on the suspected terrorists, the army said.

According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, three of the men were killed and a fourth was injured. There was no official comment from the Strip on the fifth terrorist.

An IDF spokesperson said there were no reports of Israeli casualties.

The Hamas-linked Palestinian Information Center said the men had been on the Gaza side of the fence when they were killed, and that some of the bodies had been taken by Israel, citing “local sources.” The reports could not be confirmed.

The infiltration attempt came hours after three rockets were fired at southern Israel from the coastal enclave. Two of the projectiles were intercepted. One rocket struck outside a home in the town of Sderot, causing light damage and no injuries.
Terrorist squad near the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip


Heading to Ukraine, Netanyahu says military operation in Gaza possible
Despite the tense security situation in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for Ukraine Sunday on a two-day visit that political analysts are saying is primarily geared toward currying favor with Russian-speaking immigrants ahead of next month’s Knesset election.

Netanyahu’s working visit to Ukraine is the first by an Israeli prime minister since he traveled to the country during his first term in March 1999.

In Kiev, he will meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, both of whom are Jewish. Ukraine is currently the only country besides Israel where both the president and the prime minister are Jewish.

The trip comes a day after three armed Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops who thwarted an infiltration attempt in the northern Gaza Strip. Earlier Saturday and on Friday night, three rockets were fired at Israel from the coastal enclave.


Hamas says armed men killed by IDF on Gaza border were ‘rebellious youth’
The Hamas terror group said on Sunday that “rebellious youth” were killed by Israeli forces near the border fence between the Jewish state and the Gaza Strip on Saturday night.

The Israel Defense Forces said early on Sunday that its soldiers had spotted a group of armed suspects near the fence. The military said that an attack helicopter and a tank fired at the suspects, but did not provide details on casualties.

Later in the day, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said three Palestinians were killed by the Israeli fire.

Spokesman Abdelatif al-Qanou said on his Facebook page on Sunday that Israel had “killed and injured four rebellious youths, which is a reflection of its brutal behavior against our people and proof of the ugliness of its crimes.”

Islamic Jihad, the second largest terror group in Gaza, said in a statement that Israel had targeted a group of “angry youths” and stated that it holds the Jewish state fully responsible for “its ugly crimes at our people’s expense.”

Hamas officials have previously attributed attacks to “rebellious” or “angry” youths to distance itself from those actions.
Nasrallah praises rash of West Bank attacks as ‘future generation of resistance’
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday praised a string of recent terror attacks in the West Bank carried out by so-called lone-wolf assailants, saying the young perpetrators were “the future” of Palestinian resistance against Israel.

Speaking to mark the 13th anniversary of the 2006 Second Lebanon War, Nasrallah said: “A few days ago there was an attempt to abduct an Israeli soldier” — an apparent reference to the murder of off-duty soldier Dvir Sorek. “They didn’t manage to abduct him so they killed him,”he said.

“Today there was a ramming attack. Yesterday young boys attacked policemen, as you saw on TV, with knives,” he added.

Noting that the assailants were all young men, Nasrallah said: “This is an important development. This is the future generation of Palestine and the resistance.”

The terrorist leader also claimed that if Israeli ground forces were to invade Lebanon today Israelis would “watch their destruction on live broadcast.”

He said the residents of southern Lebanon were now secure and safe from attack due to cooperation between his group, the Lebanese people and the country’s army.
After rockets, Sderot mayor urges ground operation in Gaza to ‘eradicate’ Hamas
The mayor of the southern town of Sderot on Sunday morning called for an Israeli ground operation in the Gaza Strip to “eradicate” the Hamas terror group, following heightened tensions on the border that included several rockets fired by terror groups at his city.

Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired three rockets at southern Israel Saturday night for the second night in a row, two of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, the military said.

Fragments from one of the rockets struck the yard of a home in Sderot, causing damage. While there were no physical injuries caused by the shrapnel in the town, one woman received medical treatment after she suffered an acute anxiety attack because of the impact, medics said.

Later in the night, Israeli forces shot dead a group of armed Palestinians trying to cross into Israel along Gaza’s security fence.

The cities of Beersheba, Ashdod, Ofakim, Gan Yavne and Yavne subsequently opened their municipal bomb shelters ahead of expected reprisal rocket attacks. The Magen David Adom ambulance service also said it was going on high alert.


Teen seriously hurt in car-ramming remains in serious condition after surgery
A teen seriously wounded in a car-ramming attack in the West Bank remained in serious condition Saturday after undergoing neurosurgery.

Nahum Nevis, 17, and his 19-year-old sister Noam were hit by a car Friday as they waited for a bus outside the Elazar settlement.

The car rolled over after the terror attack, and when the assailant tried to emerge from it, he was shot dead by an off duty police officer who was driving behind him.

While Nahum remained sedated and hooked up to a respirator, the Walla news site reported a slight improvement in Noam’s condition as she was transferred from Shaare Zedek Medical Center to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, where her brother is.

The director of Hadassah, prof. Yoram Weiss said Friday Nahum had suffered a skull fracture and a brain injury. Doctors at Shaare Zedek said Noam had injuries to her limbs.

The siblings are residents of Elazar.

Video of the attack, which was recorded by the officer on his dashboard camera, showed that the two siblings were not standing behind the reinforced pillars set up in front of the bus stop to protect against car-ramming attacks.

The attacker was identified as Ala’a Harimi, 26, from Bethlehem, who was driving a stolen car.
Cop injured in Jerusalem stabbing attack released from hospital
A policeman injured in a terror attack last week in Jerusalem’s Old City was released from the hospital Sunday after his condition improved.

The officer, in his 40s, was moderately injured on Thursday by two Palestinian assailants who charged at him with a knife from inside the Temple Mount holy site. The stabbers were shot by security forces at the scene. One of them was pronounced dead, while the second was critically wounded and taken to the hospital, a police spokesperson said.

Shaare Zedek hospital, where the Israeli victim had been treated, said on Sunday that he was being sent home to continue his recovery.

“The policeman arrived in moderate condition with several wounds in his upper body,” said the medical center’s director, Prof. Ofer Marin. “After quick treatment at the trauma department and further examinations to verify that there are no serious injuries, he was transferred to the surgery department for recovery.

“We are very happy with the swift recovery and wish him good health.”

The officer’s name has not been published.
PMW: PA lies, but video tells the truth
On Thursday afternoon, two 14 year old Palestinians exited the Temple Mount and immediately stabbed and attempted to murder and Israeli policeman. Video footage shows the attack, the wounded policeman falling to the ground, and the quick response of the other policemen who shot the 2 terrorists before they could continue stabbing the fallen policeman or others. As soon as the terrorists fell to the ground, one policeman is seen raising his hand signaling to the others to stop shooting. The entire terror attack lasted only a few seconds, and left one officer wounded, one terrorist dead, while the second terrorist died later of his wounds.

Notwithstanding the video footage, official PA TV in reporting the story totally ignored the terror attack and referred rather to the children being shot and a "summary execution," as if these were innocent children. In addition, the would be murderer was called a "Martyr", which Palestinian religious leaders have repeatedly explained represents the highest achievement that can be attained by a Muslim.

Ignoring the circumstances, PA officials then used the event to condemn Israel for arbitrarily closing the Temple Mount in an attempt to inflate hatred of Israel.

Official PA TV newsreader: "The occupation authorities are continuing to hold the body of child Martyr Nassim Mukafih Abu Roumi (i.e., terrorist, stabbed and wounded 1), while the arrest of young Hamouda Al-Sheikh from the town of Al-Eizariya east of occupied Jerusalem continues (i.e., Abu Roumi's accomplice, later died of his wounds). The occupation police shot them next to the Chain Gate [of the Temple Mount]." [Official PA TV News, Aug. 16, 2019]

Abu Roumi's father further embellished the story:
"They could have overpowered them in the first moment, because the army is trained. Seven soldiers came, lay them on the ground, and shot them several times - a summary execution that the Israeli forces commit against our children within Jerusalem."

The PA often claims that Palestinian terrorists who are killed in the course of attempting to carry out a terror attack were "summarily executed" by Israel.


Islamic State claims bombing at Kabul wedding that killed 63
A local affiliate of the Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility Sunday for a late-night suicide bombing at a crowded wedding party in the Afghan capital that killed at least 63 people, including women and children, in what was the deadliest attack in Kabul this year.

The Saturday night blast occurred in a western Kabul neighborhood that is home to many of the country’s minority Shiite Hazara community. IS has claimed responsibility for many attacks targeting Shiites in the past. A statement by the militant group posted on an IS-linked website on Sunday said a Pakistani IS fighter seeking martyrdom targeted a large Shiite gathering in Kabul.

The statement also claimed that after the suicide bombing, a car bomb was detonated in the attack but Afghan officials have not confirmed this.

Another 182 people were wounded in the explosion, government spokesman Feroz Bashari said. Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi confirmed the casualty toll as families began to bury the dead. Some helped to dig graves with their bare hands.
Disastrous California curriculum
California, America’s most populous state, has unveiled a widely criticized draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum for public schools. The proposed curriculum remains in a public-feedback period until August 15th, when its content will be finalized.

Unfortunately, the contents of the current draft are wholly inadequate at achieving a balance of ideas and representing a diversity of ethnic groups. Instead, it promotes markedly politicized ideologies at the expense of Jewish and Israeli students.

The curriculum firmly espouses an unmistakably slanted perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, beginning with a hyper-partisan and inaccurate characterization of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. The glossary for the curriculum calls BDS “a global social movement that currently aims to establish freedom for Palestinians living under apartheid conditions. Inspired by tactics employed during the South African anti-apartheid movement, the Palestinian-led movement calls for the boycott, divestment, and sanctioning of the Israeli government until it complies with International law.”

In fact, the BDS movement rejects the concept of compromise with a Jewish state under any circumstance, marginalizing Jewish and Israeli students in the process. Prominent endorsers of BDS regularly harbor and overtly condone antisemitic ideology. Founder Omar Barghouti has repeatedly hailed the demise of the potential for a two-state solution in favor of a sole Palestinian state. “Definitely, most definitely we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine.” Barghouti has also made calls to “armed resistance” against Israelis and, in true antisemitic revisionist fashion, denied the historical suffering of Jews in the Middle East altogether, stating, “There were no pogroms. There was no persecution.” BDS in actuality is a far cry from the favorable language utilized by the draft curriculum.
Samia Shoman. The anti-Israel drafter of the California Ethnic Studies model curriculum.
The fix was in from the very beginning. The 18 member curriculum committee tasked with writing the new ethnic studies curriculum was peppered with die-hard Israel haters, including Palestinian -American educator Samia Shoman.

Samia Shoman wasted no opportunity to demonize Israel when she taught World History at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo.

Shoman's classroom was decorated with anti-Israel posters and propaganda.

Her definition and examples of "truth", "fact", "perspective" and "narrative" were enough to make George Orwell reach for a drink.

Her "Teaching Palestine" curriculum and its accompanying material are available online. Her teaching incorporates the long-discredited 4 part map "Palestinian loss of land". She spreads the Mohammed al-Durrah blood libel- the one that gave rise to the term "Pallywood," writing:

"In Gaza, a French broadcast crew captured footage of a boy called Mohammed al-Durrah being shot repeatedly by Israeli forces as he clung to his father."

She rationalizes and excuses the suicide bombings that lead to thousands of Israeli civilian casualties during the second Intifada, decorating her classroom with material that glorifies the murderous attacks on pizza places, buses and cafes.

Samia Shoman's 2011 handout to her history grade class was simply false, deliberately mischaracterizing Israel's security fence as a "485 mile long concrete barrier", used to "humiliate" the Palestinians.






Ohio man arrested for threat to shoot up Jewish community center
An Ohio man is in custody after making public threats to shoot up a Jewish community center in Youngstown, Ohio, news outlets reported Sunday.

On July 11, James Reardon Jr., 20, tagged the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown in an Instagram post that featured a video of a man shooting a semi-automatic weapon. This launched what New Middletown Police Chief Vincent D'Egidio described as an "intense … rapidly evolving investigation."

Police described Reardon as an "avowed anti-Semite and white nationalist" whose social media was full of racial slurs. He was arrested after the FBI raided his home on Friday and seized a stockpile of semi-automatic weapons and ammunition, bulletproof armor, and a gas mask, as well as anti-Semitic and white supremacist propaganda.

Reardon is currently being charged on counts of telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing. The FBI has yet to announce if it plans to seek federal charges against the suspect.

In response to Reardon's arrest, the Cleveland branch of the Anti-Defamation League tweeted a message of thanks to the FBI and local law enforcement and "community partners."

"We will continue to employ all our resources to stop the spread of white nationalism and violent extremism," ADL Cleveland stated.
Ex-Muslim to ‘Post’: Trying to teach ‘naive West’ about true nature of Islam
Yasmine Mohammed has a story that sounds like an adventure novel. The ex-Muslim, as she calls herself, escaped a forced marriage to an Al Qaeda operative, who was bailed out of prison by Osama bin Laden himself.

Now, the author of Confessions of an Ex-Muslim is open about her past so she can help others, she told The Jerusalem Post. Mohammed says that she is on a mission to help closeted apostates living in Muslim-majority countries, and to teach the “naive West” about the true nature of Islam.

The educator and author has become a prominent voice within the growing global ex-Muslim community, speaking extensively to audiences worldwide.

It all started when she was a child.

Mohammed grew up in Canada. Her typical Western childhood was interrupted when her mother married a devout Muslim; the little girl went from riding her bike and going swimming to wearing a hijab and enduring beatings for not memorizing the Quran.

Years later, under the torment of a horrific forced marriage, she would risk her life braving an escape in a bid to rescue her daughter from the threat of female genital mutilation.

“I lived every aspect of Islam up to actually being a jihadi,” said Mohammed. “I was the embodiment of an extremist Muslim. To see someone like me change so resolutely to a person who is in many ways the complete antithesis of who I was, speaks to the power of human resilience.”

The “catalyst” for Mohammed to start speaking out was the now infamous 2014 clash between Ben Affleck and Sam Harris on The Bill Maher Show where they debated about radical Islam. When her Facebook page was inundated with people praising Ben Affleck for shutting down “that racist Sam Harris,” she realized things were profoundly twisted and the time had come to speak up.
Nazi persecution of North African Jews to be included in 12th Grade exams
In a break with its Euro-centric history curriculum, the Education Ministry will include the persecution of North African Jewry during the Holocaust in material it prepares for grade 12 students, beginning September 1. The material will be part of the bagrut (matriculation) exam.

“The subject of the Tunisian Holocaust was taught a few years ago as part of history studies in the upper grades, and students were tested on it in the matriculation exams,” the Education Ministry explained in a statement, but the material only addressed the “Jewish experiences in Tunisia during the six months of the occupation part of the Holocaust.” There was no reference to the history of Jewish communities in other North African countries occupied by the Nazis from 1940 to 1943.

In a 2014 reform, former education minister Shai Piron revised the curriculum and removed the Holocaust as a mandatory subject. Instead, it became a research project for students that their teachers would assess.

“Each school built its own curriculum, provided a general background [on the Holocaust], and selected a number of in-depth topics,” the ministry explained.

Following a backlash, former education minister Naftali Bennett reinstated the Holocaust into the curriculum, but the emphasis on the persecution of North African Jews during this period remained neglected.

Now, “with the reintroduction of the previously studied chapters, students will also be able to learn more about the Holocaust of North African Jewry as part of the mandatory program.”
Historic Budapest synagogue to reopen amid Jewish cultural revival
Tamas Irsai was a teenager when he last sang in the choir in Budapest's Rumbach synagogue during World War Two, before most Hungarian Jews were deported to death camps.

Irsai survived the Holocaust but the great majority of Hungarian Jews, including many of his relatives and friends, did not. Under Communist rule, more Jews emigrated and the synagogue finally ceased to be a place of worship, its last rabbi leaving Hungary, after Soviet tanks crushed a 1956 uprising.

Since the 1989 fall of communism, however, Jewish community life has revived. The community now numbers about 100,000, with new schools and renovated synagogues - including Rumbach which will reopen early next year after decades of neglect during which pigeons moved in.

Built in stunning Moorish Revival style in 1873, the Rumbach - one of Budapest's most prominent synagogues - will be re-established for religious observance and also act as a cultural center with concerts and exhibitions.

It is a dream come true for Irsai. "This temple, this community gave me the nicest experiences that a young man could have. I had my bar mitzvah here," said Irsai, now 89, looking around in the splendidly restored, ornate building.

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