Thursday, August 13, 2020
JCPA: Ancient Muslim Texts Confirm the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem
The Palestinian Lie about Jerusalem Has LegsMEMRI: Al-Jazeera Unmasked: Political Islam As A Media Arm Of The Qatari State
“A lie,” according to the well-known saying, “has no legs,” but that does not mean lies do not need them.
The “Al-Aqsa is in danger” libel rests on a huge false leg that, in the end, will collapse. The lie would not have survived so long without it. Today, the Palestinians and many Muslims charge that Israel “seeks to destroy al-Aqsa” and build the Temple in its stead on a site where no Temple ever stood; that the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount is al-miza’um, that is, “supposed,” “fraudulent,” “invented,” or “imaginary;” that the Jews have no connection to the Temple Mount or, for that matter, to the Western Wall.
This is a libel on top of a libel, a double lie. The many Muslims who are convinced that al-Aqsa is in danger are now also convinced that “their” al-Aqsa stands on a place where “our” Temple never stood – the latter being nothing but a fabrication.
Some of the legitimacy that terrorism draws from the libel rests on that added lie. It is more legitimate to libel and murder Jews, so as “to protect the captive al-Aqsa and free it from the Jews who are plotting to destroy it,” if Israel and the Jews who “conspire to attack the site,” have only a false and concocted connection to it. Thus, the lie that undergirds the libel also bolsters the legitimacy to murder in its name. From the standpoint of the “Al-Aqsa is in danger” terrorists and their supporters, they do not murder only those who seek to wrest the Mount from their hands. As they see it, they are also murdering the falsifiers of history, who have no link to the site at all. They also want the Mount to be “liberated” psychologically so that their historical and religious narrative will prevail. This chapter (the appendix of the book) aims to refute this lie as well and to prove that it is nothing but a broken prop.
To grasp the magnitude of the lie, one must go far back on the path the Muslims themselves trod over the past 1,350 years, the path from which they have strayed only in recent times. Despite the misrepresentations and the sweeping denial that many Muslims now adopt regarding the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and to the Temple that stood there, they themselves were the ones who, up until the Six-Day War, identified the Mount – unequivocally – as the site of Solomon’s Temple and as the place where David said his Psalms. Furthermore, Solomon and David, as important prophets in Islam, are seen as the ones who laid the foundations on the Temple Mount for the building of the mosques there. Nevertheless, today, Muslim clerics and leaders remove the Jewish Temple from the Mount and “transfer” it to places like Mount Zion, Nablus, and even Yemen.
Moreover, many of the names and terms the Muslims have used over the years for the Temple Mount, particularly “Beit al-Maqdis,” which is a translation of the Hebrew name Beit haMikdash, derive from the Jewish designation for the site, where the two Muslim shrines were built around 1,350 years ago. Today, Muslims commonly use the name Beit al-Maqdis for Jerusalem, but in the ancient past, they used the name for the Temple Mount itself. The Jewish people and the State of Israel do not, of course, need the Muslim sources – which, for more than 1,350 years, have identified the Temple Mount as the site of the Temple – to prove their connection to the place. Given, however, the dispute on this issue and the resolutions hostile to Israel in the international arena, which espouse the new Muslim narrative, it is worth presenting the primary Muslim documentation and sources for the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, and the Temple. Today, many Muslims erase this reliable documentation from memory. From such forgetfulness, the path is short to denial, and this gives rise to a lie. On this lie now rests the libel from which the “Al-Aqsa is in danger” terror derives its inspiration and legitimacy to murder Jews.
Al-Jazeera Arabic channel's promotion of a very tangible and identifiable editorial line is patently obvious to anyone who has watched it over time. Being pro-Islamist (particularly in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood) and anti-West have been benchmarks of its programming and its news coverage from the beginning. That is not to say that these are the only causes the network has trumpeted through the years, but these have been the building blocks for everything else. Both Islamism and anti-West sentiment featured on the channel are often rife with antisemitism. Many strands of this Islamism embrace openly hostile attitudes regarding "the Other," a category that can include all sorts of people, from non-Muslims, to Middle East secularists to gays.Tel Aviv Municipality lit up with UAE, Israeli flags following deal
Al-Jazeera's basic affinity for Islamist groups spills over repeatedly over time into giving other groups along the Islamist spectrum, up to and including Al-Qaeda and ISIS – a sympathetic hearing beyond what its regional rivals at Al-Arabiyya and Sky News Arabia would ever do.
While Qatar has at times gone on the record to try to distance itself a bit from the network it created, over secondary issues such as the hiring of Qatari citizens,[58] it has demonstrated its constant support by spending hundreds of millions of dollars over more than two decades faithfully bankrolling a media outlet that has been remarkably consistent in its editorial line. This is eminently logical, given the channel's dogged support in hammering daily Qatari foreign policy points, from North Africa to Pakistan.
The fact that Al-Jazeera became, not surprisingly, one of the points of contention in the ongoing struggle between Qatar and its rivals in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, that exploded in 2017, means that the network is here to stay. Al-Jazeera will remain what it has always been, even though it has lost some of its luster over the past three years. The network that has been so influential for so long has become a bit predictable, not just on Islamism but because of the relentless focus on the ongoing blood feud with Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Cairo.
Without radically transforming Al-Jazeera or its editorial line, Qatar has tried to hedge its bets by funding and creating Al-Araby Television out of London since 2015.[59] Al-Araby seeks to propagate a more secular, pan-Arab voice than Al-Jazeera, still nationalist and broadly aligned with overall Qatari foreign policy goals but without the well-worn Islamist baggage. The idea is akin to the creation of leftist/secular Palestinian liberation groups in addition to Islamist ones. If Al-Jazeera is in a way a vision of Hamas on TV, then Al-Araby is Qatar's version of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Different approach, same ultimate goal.
But historically, on issues that Qatar seems to care the most about – political Islam across the world, support for Hamas, for Erdogan's Turkey, and most importantly, for not criticizing Qatar, its rulers, and its policies – there is no daylight between Al-Jazeera and the government in Doha. That is the surest way of gauging the steadfast and enduring official connection between the goals of the network and the goals of the state of Qatar. The convergence of a documented state funding stream and a broad policy direction between the state and the broadcaster is indisputable.
Following the announcement of a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, the Tel Aviv Municipality was lit on Thursday evening with the colors of the UAE and Israeli flags.
Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son, Yair Netanyahu, published a message on Twitter, referring to Huldai's decision to light up the municipality with the Lebanese flag following the devastating explosion that shook Lebanon a few days ago.
"If Ron Huldai doesn't light up the municipality building with the UAE flag tonight or tomorrow night, then you can understand just how much the Left cares about peace," Yair wrote.
Huldai, in turn, did decide to light up the building on Thursday evening with the UAE flag.
"I congratulate the prime minister for the double accomplishment of reaching peace with the United Arab Emirates and canceling the plan of annexation. Both actions are important for the security of the State of Israel," Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said in a statement.
Why are anti-racism forces silent on anti-Semitism?
The recent spate of African American celebrities disseminating anti-Semitic conspiracies and images on social media has grabbed national attention and has many wondering: Where are anti-racism advocates when the offense is anti-Semitism?Today, the Real Young Jewish Rebels Defend Israel
The expressions of Jew-hatred, including Twitter tirades glorifying violence, are not limited to athletes and artists with massive social media followers. Rodney Muhammad, head of the Philadelphia NAACP, shared a message attributed to a neo-Nazi.
Among the few anti-racism activists who have spoken up, former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar admirably called out the “shocking lack of massive indignation” against anti-Semitism in Hollywood and sports and warned of the blind spot’s deleterious impact on the social-justice movement.
Dave Zirin, sports editor at The Nation, charged that athletes’ comments demand a better response, not from the “craven right that abides it in their own ranks — and not as an excuse for anti-blackness.”
Zirin is right. With anti-Semitism on the rise and a coalitional social movement under way, public intellectuals — and African Americans in particular — shoulder a heavy burden. What they say matters; they influence broader culture in ways some may not appreciate.
Consider the roots of ideas disseminated by celebrity artist Nick Cannon on a recent episode of his podcast, “Cannon’s Class.” The show was hosted at Howard University, where Cannon is pursuing his graduate studies. Cannon’s guest, hip-hop artist Professor Griff, was promoting his book, which apparently was informed by illiberal views including the “Cress Theory of Color Confrontation.”
In the 1970s, psychiatrist and Howard professor Dr. Frances Cress Welsing articulated a theory of racism that ascribes white supremacy to white people’s biological inferiority. Unsurprisingly, proponents of such views identify “melanin-deficient” Jews as uniquely culpable in white supremacy’s atrocities.
Welsing and like-minded activists have occupied a significant place in recent Black American experience, with all its competing visions of racial solidarity and political consciousness for Black liberation.
These days, many feel it's cool to go against Israel and take the side of the Palestinians. In fact, it may be more conformist than cool. On college campuses especially, piling on the attacks on the Jewish state is the safe choice. To show real courage, one must stand up for the country that is singled out for animosity beyond all reason.11 new coronavirus deaths take toll to 633; 1,819 cases diagnosed in 24 hours
Anger at Israel has become the world's default position. You can never get in trouble today for bashing Israel. Because Israel is no longer seen as David versus Goliath, it's an easy target. Israel is strong and successful - it can handle all the bashing.
While fighting for Palestinians may be the popular choice, fighting for Israel is the courageous choice. None of this means that Jews should not care about the Palestinian cause. It's a question of proportion: Since most of the world is already taking the side of the Palestinians, shouldn't Jews feel obligated by fairness to somehow balance that out? The college students who choose to support Israel these days are courageous rebels fighting the good fight against an often-hostile world.
Health Ministry figures released Wednesday morning showed 11 new deaths from coronavirus, taking the national death toll to 633.First 3 Israelis treated with new passive vaccine recover, leave hospital
Meanwhile infection numbers showed 1,819 new cases had been confirmed over a 24-hour period since Tuesday morning.
Of the 24,963 active cases, 379 were in serious condition with 109 on ventilators. Among the rest of the patients, 160 had moderate symptoms and the rest light or no symptoms.
Since the beginning of the virus outbreak earlier this year there have been a total of 87,173 cases in Israel, according to ministry figures, while 61,577 people have recovered.
The figures came hours after the government on Tuesday evening approved a framework for permitting shows and performances to be held in outdoor spaces.
The culture and art sectors have been among the hardest hit by restrictions imposed to curb the virus spread. Large gatherings, particularly in closed spaces, are still banned, keeping theaters, concert halls and other venues shuttered and leaving artists, producers and support staff out of work.
The first three patients treated with a new COVID-19 “passive vaccine,” which was developed by Hadassah Medical Center and the Israeli biopharmaceutical firm Kamada, demonstrated rapid, clinical benefit and have already been released from the hospital to their homes, Hadassah reported on Thursday.One-second coronavirus test achieves 95% success rate - initial data
“For three months now, despite the initial opposition of the former director-general of the Health Ministry, Hadassah has been collecting plasma donations from coronavirus patients,” Hadassah head Prof. Zeev Rotstein said.
Specifically, the plasma was collected with the help of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) organization Yad Avraham and the haredi community. Patients who tested negative for the novel coronavirus twice and showed high levels of antibodies in their blood were asked to donate.
Those who develop any virus, including the novel coronavirus, develop special antivirus proteins or antibodies in their plasma, which can help sick patients cope with the disease. According to webmd.com, plasma is the yellow, liquid portion of blood that carries important proteins, minerals, nutrients and hormones to the right places in your body, making up more than half of the blood.
The plasma donations were collected by the blood bank at Hadassah and then transferred, together with doses collected by Magen David Adom, to the Kamada company, where appropriate antibodies were produced for the experimental treatment.
An initial clinical trial of a coronavirus-testing technology that is believed to detect viruses in a fluid sample in less than a second has achieved a 95% success rate, according to data from the trial performed at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer.Israel donates advanced medical equipment to India's leading hospital
The test was designed by Newsight Imaging, a Ness Ziona-based start-up firm, and centers on a device that is about the size of a computer mouse, which can identify and classify evidence of a virus in the body in less than a second, using a sample of fluid – blood serum or saliva – inserted into a disposable test cuvette.
In spectroscopy, a sample is tested with a broadband light source, Newsight CEO Eli Assoolin told The Jerusalem Post last month when it first received Sheba Medical Center’s IRB Ethics (“Helsinki”) Committee approval to conduct a pilot program for rapid COVID-19 detection tests. The light that returns from the sample is analyzed to determine its wavelength content.
“We collect the spectral signature after the light is absorbed in the sample, and then we can analyze the content of it,” he said, noting that spectral-analysis technology has already been used to identify certain human diseases and abnormalities.
“Basically, on one side, you have the source of light, and on the other side, you have the sensor chip – a sensitive and fast camera that can see different wavelengths. In the middle, you put the sample,” Assoolin said.
The State of Israel has donated advanced medical equipment developed for combating the coronavirus to a hospital in India.JPost Editorial: The Democrats are sending mixed messages to Jerusalem
The Israeli-Indian joint effort in combating the coronavirus pandemic took a step forward on Tuesday, with the announcement of a technological cooperation effort that will include Israel's latest developments in the field of treatment and containment of the coronavirus.
The decision came after the Israeli-Indian cooperative effort proved itself with successful research conducted by Israeli and Indian scientists, resulting in a rapid coronavirus tests.
In a festive ceremony on August 11, the Israeli Embassy in India delivered groundbreaking medical equipment to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, one of India's leading hospitals.
The technology, developed in Israel and found to be highly effective in combating the coronavirus, includes sensory systems that can treat patients remotely, thus reducing the risks of the virus being transmitted to medical staff; coordination and management systems for faster communication; and treatment processes and advanced medical systems based on artificial intelligence technology.
The US Democratic Party sent Israel a mixed message on Tuesday.History often repeats itself and Joe Biden is no exception
First, the good news: Kamala Harris was selected as presumptive Democratic nominee for Joe Biden’s running mate. Harris, and not Elizabeth Warren. Harris, and not Susan Rice.
Warren is deep in the Progressive wing of the party, and said during her presidential campaign that she would consider withholding military assistance for Israel, and pointedly boycotted the AIPAC policy conference this year.
Rice is someone with whom Jerusalem had a difficult relationship when she served as Barack Obama’s national security adviser from 2013-2017 – a period of US-Israel ties that will be remembered as one of the rockiest ever.
So Jerusalem heaved a sigh of relief when Harris was selected. Like the head of the ticket, she is a Democratic moderate who understands the significance of the Israel-US alliance and Israel’s genuine security concerns.
Harris stood up to pressure during her short-lived presidential run to take a more critical position toward Israel. She came out against aid cuts to Israel and refused to join those candidates slinging insults at Israel’s government and leaders.
She is aligned with the traditional pro-Israel camp inside the Democratic Party. As a JTA article put it last year, “She’s more AIPAC than J Street,” which is very welcome news for Jerusalem. This does not mean that she supports all Israel’s policies – she has come out solidly against annexation – but it is clear that she still views Israel as the “good guys.”
19th century Zionist philosopher, Max Nordau, was quoted as once telling Jewish leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky that “the Jew learns not by way of reason, but from catastrophes. He won’t buy an umbrella merely because he sees clouds in the sky. He waits until he is drenched and catches pneumonia.”Non-Jewish New York assemblywoman targeted in anti-Semitic attack
Did American Jews not learn enough about Joe Biden when he was Vice President to Obama, the most Anti-Israel President in history? Obama stood against Israel – and Biden was by his side.
American cities ruled by Democrats are literally being destroyed – New York City, Chicago. Portland....
Do American Jews need to wait for it to get even worse? We know that History often repeats itself amd the well known paraphrase of Santayana's famous saying is most applicable: Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
On June 22 1982, Joe Biden was a Senator from Delaware and confronted then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during his Senate Foreign Relations committee testimony, threatening to cut off aid to Israel.
Begin forcefully responded, “Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.”
During the exchange in ’82, Senator Biden reportedly banged on the table with his fist, and Begin retorted, “This desk is designed for writing, not for fists. Don’t threaten us with slashing aid. Do you think that because the US lends us money it is entitled to impose on us what we must do? We are grateful for the assistance we have received, but we are not to be threatened. I am a proud Jew. Three thousand years of culture are behind me, and you will not frighten me with threats. Take note: we do not want a single soldier of yours to die for us.”
The fact that New York state Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright isn’t Jewish didn’t stop a vandal from leaving behind an anti-Semitic note after defacing her office.An Antisemitic ‘Peace’ Organization Strikes Again
Seawright, a Democrat whose district includes part of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, called for a police investigation into the incident at a news conference Tuesday. The intruder, whose note also included a sexist message, sprayed white paint on the office Monday night.
Seawright is a member of the Assembly’s Jewish caucus and her husband is Jewish.
“I want to speak loud and clear today that we will never be intimidated by this criminal act,” she said at the news conference, according to Jewish Insider. “We will stand together, speak up and remain vigilant against this violence and anti-Semitism.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo denounced the incident in a tweet Tuesday, saying he would “hold those responsible accountable.”
Nobody involved is talking, but it sure looks like American supporters of Sabeel, the antisemitic “peace” organization founded by Anglican Priest Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek in Jerusalem, have forced the ouster of Rabbi Daniel Lehmann from the presidency of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), a consortium of theological schools located in Berkeley, California.Holocaust denier David Irving praised by American activist Norman Finkelstein at pro-Corbyn meeting, where David Miller also continued venomously targeting Jewish charities
In an August 6, 2020, article that appeared in The Forward and The Jewish News of Northern California, Gabe Stutman chronicled GTU’s hiring of Lehmann in the spring of 2018, the October 2019 ceremony at which he was officially installed as president, and his quiet departure from the job he had held for about a year and a half on February 24, 2020.
The stealth ouster of Lehmann, who had moved from Boston, went unreported until Stutman broke the story.
Lehmann’s exit is a big deal. Before heading west, he was a pillar of the Jewish community in the greater Boston area, serving as the founding headmaster of the Gann Academy, a respected Jewish day school in Waltham, Massachusetts. After that, he served as president of Hebrew College in nearby Newton, and chair of the Board of the Boston Theological Institute (which now calls itself the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium).
There was big hoopla surrounding his hiring in May 2018, with GTU board chair Susan Cook Hoganson declaring, “Rabbi Daniel Lehmann is unquestionably the right person to lead the Graduate Theological Union in its interreligious engagement of the critical issues of our time.”
The controversial American activist Norman Finkelstein praised Holocaust denier David Irving at a pro-Corbyn meeting of Labour Against the Witch-Hunt, an antisemitism-denial group of former and expelled Labour members.StandWithUs: Thanks FSU Administration for Strong Action Against Antisemitism
Mr Finkelstein described Mr Irving as a “very good historian” who “knew a thing, or two or three.”
He reportedly went on to say: “I don’t see the reason to get excited about Holocaust deniers. First of all I don’t know what a Holocaust denier even is. People say if you deny the centrality of the six million Jews being killed and you try to bring in other groups of people you become a Holocaust denier. Other people say if you deny the centrality of the gas chambers you become a Holocaust denier.”
For the benefit of the perplexed Mr Finkelstein, one of the examples of antisemitism provided by the International Definition of Antisemitism captures well the manifestations of Holocaust denial: “Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust)”.
There is a difference between historical exploration of humanity’s darkest hour in a good faith effort to pursue the truth on the one hand, and on the other hand deliberate attempts to minimise Nazi brutality in an ideological effort to rehabilitate Nazism or diminish the reality or legacy of Jewish suffering.
Other speakers at the meeting, a recording of which was made public by the Community Security Trust, included the veteran activist Tariq Ali, who has previously linked Israel to the racist killing of George Floyd, the notorious antisemite Jackie Walker, expelled Labour members Marc Wadsworth and Tony Greenstein, and the disgraced former Labour MP Chris Williamson, who (unusually for an incumbent) humiliatingly lost his deposit in his attempt to win re-election to Parliament as an independent last year.
StandWithUs commends Florida State University (FSU) President John Thrasher and his administration for taking decisive action to address a growing trend of antisemitism within the FSU campus community. This is a necessary step following a series of student-to-student expressions of anti-Jewish rhetoric that raised serious concerns for Jewish members of the FSU body. These incidents inspired a wave of student and alumni activism against antisemitism at FSU and prompted action in support of those efforts by StandWithUs and a number of our partner organizations.
According to President Thrasher’s statement, issued earlier today, not only have the FSU adminsitration, Student Body Executive Cabinet and the Student Senate embraced the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism (as the State of Florida has done previously), but the administration has now initiated “a task force to review Jewish student life on campus and develop recommendations for Vice President [of Student Affairs Amy] Hecht to consider by Sept. 7, 2020.” The task force will, among other things, conduct a campus survey on Jewish life. This is a welcome development that will give a voice to those most directly impacted by campus antisemitism, sending the clear message that they finally have the ear of the university’s leadership.
Additionally, President Thrasher noted that the Division of Student Affairs “will institute annual training for its staff surrounding Antisemitism, religious discrimination and ways in which to foster a more inclusive campus for our Jewish students and employees.” The administration has likewise ensured that the university calendar has been updated to reflect “all significant religious holidays,” has “reestablished its Jewish Student Union and is creating a Jewish Alumni Association to provide enhanced support and educational resources” for students.
Kudos to @floridastate @fsupresthrasher for adopting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. #leadership https://t.co/Thod4Um6Sc
— Kenneth L. Marcus (@Klmarcus) August 12, 2020
Progressive groups launch campaign demanding BLM drop partnership w/ @ADL. Under ADL's woke new leader, the group has embarrassed itself placating radical groups & ignoring left-wing antisemitism. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to laugh. https://t.co/jRMfRgKwDk
— Noah Pollak (@NoahPollak) August 12, 2020
When you try and tweet a football/soccer match to discredit Israel and it turns out to be Maccabee Tel Aviv made up of all Jews. 🤦🏻 https://t.co/pOytvkPX8U
— Proud Jew (@americanzionism) August 13, 2020
Success: Facebook to Update Antisemitism Policy After Campaign Including HR
Facebook ReactsHonest Reporting: The Guardian Whitewashes BDS Hatred
A few days after the open letter was sent, many of the 100+ organizations in the coalition issued tweets on the social network site Twitter, featuring the hashtags #AdoptIHRA and #DefineItToFightIt.
In response, Facebook’s Guy Rosen announced that the company is “updating our policies to more specifically account for certain kinds of implicit hate speech, such as content depicting blackface, or stereotypes about Jewish people controlling the world.”
Rosen added that Facebook will “prioritize the removal of content that violates our policy against hate groups.”
HR Responds: “Step in the Right Direction”
This is a welcome move, but it’s only a first step, said HonestReporting CEO Daniel Pomerantz. As a step in the right direction, it gives us confidence that Facebook is listening and taking our concerns seriously, and now needs to back that up by fully adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
By implementing a hate speech policy based upon IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism, Facebook and Instagram will put themselves in a position to identify modern forms of anti-Jewish hatred, thereby paving the road for their swifter removal from these platforms, Pomerantz added.
As progressive politicians continue to make inroads in the US political sphere, it is increasingly important that media outlets accurately describe their ideology and the aims of the movements they support.Honest Reporting: Guardian Publishes Letter Falsely Accusing Israel of Destroying COVID-19 Palestinian Centre
Unfortunately, this does not apply to a recent article by Arwa Mahdawi published in The Guardian. Entitled “Cori Bush has proved progressives are gaining strength – and that gives me hope”, the piece highlights Bush’s rise to prominence in the wake of her recent victory in a primary over long-term Missouri Democratic congressman William Lacy Clay.
Bush is now well-positioned to become a member in the House of Representatives, with the general election slated for November.
One line, in particular, is cause for concern:
When Clay criticized Bush for being sympathetic towards the non-violent Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to pressure Israel to comply with international law, she did not back down.”
Let’s start with the facts.
Numerous prominent BDS activists have gone on record to make clear the true aims of the movement.
Co-founder of the BDS movement Omar Barghouti has said, “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine.” On another occasion he clarified that by “Palestine” he meant all of modern-day Israel.
On August 11, The P.E.I. Guardian published the following letter by Marian White of the so-called “Island Peace Committee” who falsely accused Israel of demolishing a Palestinian drive-through coronavirus testing centre in Hebron:BBC ignores social media bans on ‘comic’ it quoted denying antisemitism
Importantly, there’s no foundation to this incendiary claim by Ms. White alleging that the Israel Defense Forces destroyed a Palestinian Covid-19 centre. This claim was previously circulated by New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament (MP) Matthew Green who following outcry, deleted his tweet, but did not apologize.
In truth, and as the Jerusalem Post and Jewish Journal reported recently, the demolished facility was a planned private car dealership and not a COVID-19 testing center or health clinic. The building was located in Area C of the west bank, which Israel controls and the building, Israel says, did not have a required permit and was an illegally built structure.
There’s no truth to Ms. White’s allegation that during the pandemic that Israel is “hindering the Palestinian public health initiative and destroying medical resources.” Instead, A May 7 Jerusalem Post report highlighted how Israel has donated test kits and testing swabs to Palestinians as well as provided training to Palestinian doctors on how to properly handle COVID-19 patients. In March, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process Nickolay Mladenov hailed the Israel-Palestinian cooperation on the COVID-19 pandemic as “excellent.”
Last week Facebook announced that it had banned the French ‘comedian’ Dieudonné from that platform as well as from Instagram.French anti-Semitic comedian banned from TikTok
“Facebook said Monday it had permanently banned French comedian Dieudonne, a convicted anti-Semite, from its platform and from Instagram for content it said mocked Holocaust victims.
It also said some of his posts used “dehumanizing terms against Jews.”
“In line with our policy on dangerous individuals and organizations, we have permanently banned Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala from Facebook and Instagram,” the company said in a statement, using his full name.
“Banning a person permanently from our services is a decision that we always weigh carefully, but individuals and organisations that attack others on the basis of what they are do not have a place on Facebook or Instagram,” it added.”
The ban follows the deletion of his YouTube channel by Google in June.
On June 30th BBC Business produced a report titled “YouTube bans prominent white supremacist channels” which did not note that Dieudonné’s channel had been terminated at the same time. In fact no reporting on his bans from YouTube, Facebook and Instagram appears under the BBC’s tags YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or social media.
Dieudonné’s Facebook account was flagged up by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs in 2017 due to content promoting Holocaust denial.
The controversial French comedian Dieudonne has been banned from TikTok, the video-sharing app said Wednesday.Weisenthal Centre demands France place guards at Jewish institutions
The convicted anti-Semite — who has also been found guilty of condoning terrorism — had already been removed from YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
“Dieudonne’s account has been removed from the platform,” a spokesman for TikTok told AFP without giving a reason for the decision.
Facebook — which also owns Instagram — said pulled his account last week because he “had mocked victims of the Holocaust” and used “dehumanizing terms about Jews.”
Dieudonne, 54, has a loyal following among some in France’s poor immigrant suburbs.
The stand-up, whose full name is Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala, was sentenced to two years in jail for tax fraud and money laundering last year.
In the wake of horrific antisemitic attacks in France, from the Hypercacher kosher supermarket siege in 2015 where four Jewish hostages were killed, to the brutal murder of Mireille Knoll, an 85-year-old French Jewish woman and Holocaust survivor who was murdered in her apartment in Paris in 2018, anti-Jewish hatred in France is still not decreasing.Greek Air Force memorial defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti
Dr. Shimon Samuels, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s (SWC) Director for International Relations, called on French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin to “bring back the armed military to guard Jewish neighborhoods, synagogues, schools and other community institutions.”
“Mr. Minister, it is time for clear counter-measures. If caught, perpetrators can no longer be sent to psychiatric clinics or be given judgments of acquittal because they were ‘under the influence of narcotics or alcohol,’” he added, regarding the lack of antisemitic attack condemnations, given that the attackers were systematically sent to psychiatric clinics.
The case of Sarah Halimi’s murderer is a strong example. On April 4, 2017, Halimi, a 65-year-old Jewish woman, was beaten and defenestrated in Paris. The Court Judge decided in July 2019 that there was no criminal responsibility and that her murderer was “unfit for trial.” The case was still being appealed to the Court of Cassation a couple of months ago.
“Following the 2015 Jihadi assault on a Paris Kosher supermarket, then president Hollande provided a security detail to all Jewish buildings that needed it," Samuels continued. "The military guards were eventually removed and never replaced by the Macron administration.
“Jewish districts require a mass of CCTV cameras to ensure rapid identification and intervention... Right now, the French Jewish community has three needs: Security, Security and Security,” concluded Samuels.
A memorial to fallen Greek Air Force personnel in Athens has been defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti.
The words "Satanic Jews Out!" were spray-painted on the Fallen Aviators Monument in Karaiskaki Square in Athens, along with Christian symbols.
"Unfortunately, bigotry and incitement against the Jewish people has also reached the memorial sites of the Greek Air Force, falsely pointing the finger and blaming the Jews," said vice chairman of the World Zionist Organization Yaakov Hagoel after the vandalism was reported.
"We have seen how such incidents can lead to murder," Hagoel added.
The WZO vice chair issued a call to the Greek government and city authorities of Athens to investigate and prosecute the vandals, and urged them to ensure the safety of the Greek Jewish community.
Earlier this month, a monument to Holocaust victims that stands in the northern Greek city of Trikala – once one of the country's oldest Jewish communities – was vandalized, and the exterior of the city's synagogue was defaced with slogans such as "Jewish snakes out."
Miko Grimes, wife of some has been NFL player, goes on an INSANE antisemitic bender on Instagram.
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) August 12, 2020
Anyone shocked she’s been arrested for disorderly conduct?! pic.twitter.com/7TZO58tAHc
Austrian Airlines Fires Flight Attendant Caught on Video Chanting Antisemitic Slogans
Austrian Airlines announced on Thursday that it had fired one of its flight attendants after video footage emerged of her chanting antisemitic slogans at a far-right demonstration in Vienna.NYPD Opens Hate Crime Investigation Into Antisemitic Vandalism on Upper East Side
The national carrier, which is owned by Germany’s Lufthansa airline, confirmed in a statement that Christina Kohl was no longer its employee.
Kohl — a political activist who is standing for election to Vienna’s municipal council — was filmed chanting slogans at a demonstration that attacked the familiar targets of the far right, including the Rothschild banking family, the financier George Soros and the “Illuminati,” a purported cabal that right-wing conspiracy theorists insist controls the world.
Kohl is standing for election on the ticket of “Team HC Strache,” a far-right grouping launched by the former Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache.
A video showed her at a protest in the Austrian capital chanting “Soros must go,” “Rothschild must go,” “Rockefeller must go” and “Illuminati must go,” among other slogans.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) has opened a hate crimes investigation following two separate incidents of antisemitic vandalism this week on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.David Duke’s BFF is an anti-Semitic student group at Harvard
On Tuesday, the office of NY Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright was daubed with white paint alongside a note littered with antisemitic and sexist phrases that was apparently written by the culprit.
Later on the same day, Eileen Toback — executive director of the New York Professional Nurses Union — reported antisemitic graffiti by her office, which is located close to Seawright’s office. Written in green marker on a construction porta-potty, the message contained sexist and antisemitic tropes similar to those contained in the note left for Seawright.
The incidents came two weeks after Seawright hosted a virtual town hall on combating antisemitism with a panel of members from the Jewish community. The Democratic assembly member held a similar event last year after Nazi swastikas were discovered at the Asphalt Green athletic complex.
Several elected officials condemned the rhetoric used in the note and spoke out in support of Seawright.
“This cowardly act is antithetical to New York’s values,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo posted on Twitter on Wednesday. “New York has zero tolerance for hate and we will do everything in our power to hold those responsible accountable. I extend my sympathy to @SeawrightForNY that this repugnant note was left at her office.”
What do Harvard’s Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) and former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke have in common? More than you’d think. Including a shared belief that Jewish self-determination is “Jewish supremacy.”
Over the past year, Harvard’s PSC has used its Instagram account to spread hateful anti-Jewish tropes and foster hostility towards Jewish students.
In one particularly anti-Semitic post, on Holocaust Remembrance Day no less, the group shared a meme from the “International Holocaust Cartoon Contest,” a competition that aims to delegitimize one of the history’s greatest tragedies. The cartoon depicted a Jewish man wrapping tape around the mouth of a personified globe apparently trying to speak out about Israel’s “crimes.” The meme plays into the racist stereotype that Jews control the world, an age-old dog whistle that has been used to justify the persecution of Jews across history. As if posting such hateful content in the middle of Holocaust Remembrance Day isn’t evidence enough of their Jew-hatred, David Duke himself shared the cartoon.
Incidentally, this isn’t PSC’s first time sharing content with David Duke. On Aug. 4, they created and shared a post entitled “What is Zionism?” In it, the group went on to call Zionists “Jewish supremacists,” a term first coined by Duke to instill fear about the Jewish people. Beyond borrowing a term from a KKK leader, the group also accused Zionism of being “genocidal,” “insidious” and an example of “settler-colonialism.” These characterizations insinuate Jews are power-hungry and untrustworthy, once again pushing anti-Semitic stereotypes under the veil of political disagreement.
Roald #Dahl June #Empathy day - It’s a crying shame that @PenguinUKBooks did not respond to emails in June re empathy day connected to #antisemite @roald_dahl -we will continue our campaign over social media to remove him from any other empathy day promotion @Campaign4T #racism pic.twitter.com/JcKh5aUrYl
— Eye On Antisemitism ✡️ (@AntisemitismEye) August 12, 2020
Israel’s credit rating under no ‘immediate’ threat for downgrade: S&P
Israel’s credit rating is under no immediate threat for a downgrade, even as the country struggles to contain the coronavirus, has been working without a budget and faces the prospect of a fourth round of elections in two years.D.C. Area Families Gift Fire Trucks to Israel through JNF-USA
That is the message that emerges from an exclusive interview The Times of Israel held with the credit analyst at Standard & Poor’s in charge of setting Israel’s sovereign rating.
Israel’s macroeconomic economic fundamentals are “strong” and its institutions, including the Bank of Israel, are “credible,” said Karen Vartapetov, the Frankfurt-based director for S&P’s Global Ratings and a sovereign credit analyst for the ratings firm. Vartapetov, a doctor in philosophy graduate of the University of Oxford, is a former employee of the Russian Finance Ministry.
“We really need to see some persistent and protracted weakness in economic and fiscal performance before we start moving the rating,” Vartapetov said in the interview.
Israel’s budgetary performance this year is “likely to be very, very weak,” he said, with double digit deficits of over 14 percent of GDP, up from 3.7% in 2019.
But this is “not unique,” to Israel, he emphasized, and other nations will be suffering from a similar malaise.
“In the US we expect budget deficits to widen to 17% of GDP, in Japan and Italy to 14%-15% of GDP and so on, so this is not unusual,” he said.
The “exceptional sudden stop” of economic activity globally will have an impact on the sovereign credit ratings of mainly emerging market economies, those less advanced countries that have less credible fiscal and monetary policies, Vartapetov said.
Two Washington, D.C., area families have gifted fire trucks to the people of Israel through Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF-USA).
"My father was a volunteer firefighter in Baltimore, and I wanted to gift a fire truck to Israel in memory of my parents," said Harvey Goodman of Potomac, Md.
Andrew Quartner of Bethesda, Md., said, "We have only one Israel....A fire truck was an important way for us to continue to keep Israel safe and strong."
American donors, synagogues, temples, and Jewish community groups have gifted over 170 fire trucks to serve Israeli communities.
In Jerusalem, even #COVID19 cannot stop the #music. 💃🎶📣
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) August 12, 2020
The #Jerusalem municipality is turning some of the city's most popular streets into pedestrian-only streets on nights during August, for a safe, festive & colorful celebration of the #summer.
🎥/ @Jlm_city pic.twitter.com/c0aAQV4ouH
In 1880, a book was published called "Picturesque Palestine", illustrated by 2 artists who spent 1877-1879 in the Holy Land drawing the landscapes & people they encountered. It is beautiful and full of scenes of Jewish life in Eretz Israel. I created this video about it. Enjoy.📽️ pic.twitter.com/E40qkuiJNd
— Proud Jew (@americanzionism) August 12, 2020
Survivor Lily Ebert, 96, sees herself being liberated on film for first time
A 96-year-old Holocaust survivor this week praised “the power of modern technology” after seeing footage of her 20-year-old self being liberated from Buchenwald for the first time.
Lily Ebert was shown video reel filmed by US troops in June 1945 in the German camp. It shows her boarding a train to Switzerland – to freedom.
Her great-grandson, Dov Forman, 16, who found the clip through the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, said: “When we showed it to her she really couldn’t believe it was her – as she could not see her two sisters in the footage. During her time in the camps she was very protective over them and always kept them very close.
“After a few days of processing the find and watching the rest of the clip, we compared the dress she was wearing, and her face to other photos we have of her, around that time, and confirmed that it was her. We also think we can see her sister’s face for a second in the film.
Lily, second-right, in the video reel
“When she finally took it in that it was her she was happy, shocked and amazed that we have this footage of a happy time of her life.”
Forman says her dress in the clip was made by Lily and her sisters from fabric given to her after liberation. He said three identical dresses were made, which helped her family to identify her in the video.
After he watched it again with his great-grandmother, she smiled and said, “These were happy times. We were leaving, to start a new life”.
Lily, who stayed in Engelberg, Switzerland, for a year before moving to Israel, and then to London in 1967, also praised modern technology as “we would have never been able to find such footage without it.
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