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Monday, August 24, 2020

08/24 Links Pt2: Black September Remembered: How The PLO Forged The Modern Middle East; NYTs Floats Plan To Hire 100 Orthodox Jewish Journalists

From Ian:
Black September Remembered: How The PLO Forged The Modern Middle East
It is a common, albeit false, assumption that the United States and Israel closely cooperated since the Jewish state’s recreation in 1948. Washington had supported the U.N. Partition Plan that would have created both an Arab and a Jewish state out of British-ruled Mandate Palestine, but then-President Harry Truman did so over the objections of top advisers. Indeed, the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon had argued that U.S. support for Israel would be a strategic liability.

America, in turn, often kept Israel at arm’s length, both forcing the Jewish state to give up territory won in the 1956 Suez War against Nasser and prohibiting weapon sales until 1962. While relations were cordial, and even friendly, the United States tended to view Israel less as a strategic partner and more as a burden.

With Syrian forces moving into Jordan, King Hussein asked for U.S. aerial reconnaissance. Washington turned to the Israelis.

On September 20, Kissinger told Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, the future Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, that King Hussein had asked to have Israel’s air force attack the Syrian invaders. A stunned Rabin asked, “Are you recommending that we respond to the Jordanian request?” Kissinger declined to give an answer, telling Rabin that he would get a response from Nixon within half an hour.

After speaking with Nixon, Kissinger told Israeli Premier Golda Meir, that the United States “would look favorably upon an Israeli air attack.”

Meir ordered the reconnaissance flights and Israel sent troops to its border with Syria. Israeli jets, meanwhile, flew low over Syrian tanks in Jordan—sending an unmistakable signal that Israel would intervene. “With that support,” Meir biographer Francine Klagsbrun wrote, “the king used his own air and ground forces to drive the Syrians back to their own country.” By July 1971 the PLO was crushed in Jordan, and Arafat fled to Lebanon.

Subsequently, Kissinger told Rabin that America was “fortunate in having an ally like Israel in the Middle East.”

Security cooperation would continue to improve between the two countries with Israel having demonstrated that it was more of an asset than a liability. Today, the nations enjoy unprecedented cooperation and Israel is considered a major non-NATO ally.

The event had other fateful consequences as well. The failed Syrian intervention led to the rise of Hafez al-Assad who, as defense minister, had opposed it. The PLO, meanwhile, would memorialize it as “Black September” and would go on to create another “state within a state” in Lebanon—igniting years more of warfare. Today another anti-Israel terror group, Hezbollah, has taken the PLO’s place in Lebanon. Elsewhere, Hezbollah has intervened in Syria to prop up Bashar Assad, Hafez’s genocidal son.

“History is not was,” the American novelist William Faulkner famously wrote, “it is.” (h/t Zvi)
This West Bank Land Is Not ‘Palestinian’
“Who can challenge the rights of the Jews in Palestine?” Yusuf al-Khalidi wrote to the chief rabbi of France on March 1, 1899. “Good Lord, historically it really is your country.” Yet, more than a century after Khalidi’s admission, the Jewish people’s connection to their ancestral homeland is often forgotten. Indeed, many news outlets and analysts not only ignore it — but often attempt to erase it.

Take, for example, The Washington Post. The newspaper’s August 13, 2020 report, “Trump announces historic peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates,” asserted that “Arab leaders had privately warned Trump that they could not agree to future economic or diplomatic ties with Israel if Israel took over land now considered Palestinian.” But the article, by reporter Anne Gearan and Jerusalem bureau chief Steve Hendrix, doesn’t say why the land is “now considered Palestinian.”

In fact, a sovereign Palestinian Arab state has never existed. Rather, the status of the territory is, at best, disputed. Its status is to be resolved by negotiations anticipated by UN Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian interim accords, the 2003 international “road map,” and related diplomatic efforts. Indeed, the co-authors of Resolution 242, US Under Secretary of State Eugene Rostow, US Ambassador to the United Nations Arthur Goldberg, and British ambassador Lord Caradon made clear, both then and later, that Jews and Arabs both had claims in the territories, and that no national sovereignty over them had been recognized since the end of Ottoman rule.

The Washington Post itself, in a September 4, 2014 correction prompted by CAMERA, noted that “the Israeli-occupied territories are disputed lands that Palestinians want for a future state.” In another recent CAMERA-prompted correction, The Wall Street Journal acknowledged on May 16, 2020, that “under the Oslo accords, sovereignty over the West Bank is disputed, pending a final settlement.”

Further, there is a legal basis for Jewish claims to the land. As CAMERA has documented (see, for example, “The West Bank—Jewish Territory Under International Law”), Israel has a foundation for asserting sovereignty over the area. Additionally, the League of Nations Palestine Mandate, adopted later by the United Nations, calls for “close Jewish settlement on the land” west of the Jordan River in Article 6. The UN Charter, Chapter XII, Article 80, upholds the Mandate’s provisions. The 1920 San Remo Treaty and the 1924 Anglo-American Convention also enshrined Jewish territorial claims in international law.
FDD: Boykott
With overwhelming support, the German parliament, or Bundestag, passed a resolution last year declaring, “[T]he arguments and methods of the BDS [Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions] Movement are anti-Semitic.” The resolution explained that the tactics of the BDS campaign “inevitably arouse associations with the Nazi slogan ‘Kauft nicht bei Juden!’” (emphasis added)1 – “Don’t buy from Jews!”

The Bundestag resolution had few tangible effects, since it was not legally binding. Yet it challenged the BDS campaign’s portrayal of itself as an advocate for human rights and an opponent of prejudice. While the resolution made points similar to those offered by the campaign’s other critics, it endowed such arguments with the moral weight of Germany’s efforts to grapple with its own history of anti-Semitism.

The German parliament also brought a new sense of democratic legitimacy to the effort to counter BDS initiatives, since the parliament spoke on behalf of more than 80 million inhabitants of the most populous country in the European Union. There had been no comparable vote in any other country, not even the United States. Six months later, Paris would follow Berlin’s precedent.2 Then, in February 2020, the Austrian Parliament unanimously passed an anti-BDS resolution, declaring the campaign to be anti-Semitic.3

While the Holocaust informs much of the German debate about BDS, it does not explain why the Bundestag rejected a common defense of BDS – namely, that objecting to the actions of the Israeli government is in no way anti-Semitic. Indeed, the Bundestag condemned statements “that are formulated as alleged criticism of the policies of the State of Israel, but are actually expressions of hatred of the Jewish people.”4

To understand how and why German lawmakers arrived at this position in 2019, one must view BDS in the context of Germany’s evolving relationship with the State of Israel. The governments of both West Germany and the post-Cold War reunified German state interpreted their responsibility for the Holocaust as including an obligation to fight anti-Semitism and protect Jews. A sticking point has been whether Germany has an obligation to serve as protector of the Jewish state.

At the conclusion of the Cold War, it was no longer a question. Germany began to embrace the notion of a special relationship with Israel. This relationship still requires give and take, rather than a mandate for deference to Israeli wishes. For example, Germany and Israel have had sharp differences regarding how to address the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program. Germany had also, until recently, refused to designate the entirety of Lebanese Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. That ended in April 2020, when Berlin outlawed all Hezbollah activity within its borders.5 But this step was taken in line with Germany’s own interest, even if it was prodded by the United States.

The BDS campaign is an issue that goes beyond traditional foreign policy. It is an ideological issue that touches a raw nerve connected to Germany’s troubled past. It should come as no surprise, then, that Germany took a leadership role in countering the campaign.



Jemele Hill: America ‘Nearly as Bad as Nazi Germany’
Atlantic contributor and sportswriter Jemele Hill said Sunday that the United States was "nearly as bad as Nazi Germany."

"Been reading Isabel Wilkerson’s new book, ‘Caste,' and if you were of the opinion that the United States wasn’t nearly as bad as Nazi Germany, how wrong you are," Hill tweeted.

Been reading Isabel Wilkerson’s new book, "Caste," and if you were of the opinion that the United States wasn’t nearly as bad as Nazi Germany, how wrong you are. Can’t encourage you enough to read this masterpiece.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) August 23, 2020

Wilkerson's social history book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents compared the Nazi Third Reich to the United States and received rave reviews. Hill, a frequent MSNBC guest who also has a weekly talk show on Vice TV, used this to argue the Nazis actually learned their genocidal tactics from studying America.

"What would you call it when a country that murdered millions of Jews learned their systems of genocide by watching America, and studying our history of racialized slavery, and great knack for racial terrorism?" she wrote.

What would you call it when a country that murdered millions of Jews learned their systems of genocide by watching America, and studying our history of racialized slavery, and great knack for racial terrorism?
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) August 24, 2020


Ilhan Omar May Have Won, but the Pro-Israel Community Stood Strong
One takeaway from the recent Democratic primary in Minnesota is that the pro-Israel community won’t stand idly by when a member of Congress actively seeks to undermine America’s close relationship with its democratic ally.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of the most vocal detractors of the US-Israel relationship, faced the stiffest challenge of her career in this month’s Democratic primary. Pro-Israel groups and grassroots donors brought an enormous amount of money and issue advocacy to the effort to unseat Omar, sending a clear message that support for America’s alliance with Israel runs deep and broad.

Antone Melton-Meaux, a rather unknown candidate, took on a very well-known incumbent congresswoman, ran an impressive campaign, and made inroads that no one expected. Melton-Meaux’s campaign was rooted in building alliances and delivering results. While not at the core of his platform, he made clear that he believed in the value of America’s alliance with Israel. His decision to challenge Rep. Omar, and his message of unity, attracted support from the pro-Israel community.

While he came up short in the primary, he received more votes than Rep. Omar did in her 2018 primary, and nearly as many votes as Senator Bernie Sanders received in the district during the 2020 presidential primary, which he won. Melton-Meaux kept Rep. Omar below 60% of the vote, a particularly impressive feat contrasted with the vote shares received by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) (66%) or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) (72%).

The pro-Israel community saw this race as a critical moment to fight back against Rep. Omar’s dangerous foreign policy positions and the antisemitism she has repeatedly displayed.

In the first year of her first term, Representative Omar made comments that invoked antisemitic tropes, prompting strong rebukes from her Congressional colleagues. She promoted foreign policy positions that would threaten America’s national security and our alliance with Israel. She advocated cutting military assistance funding for Israel, even while it was being attacked by neighboring terrorist groups. She called for lifting sanctions on Iran, while championing legislation to embolden activists to place sanctions on Israel. She’s endorsed the harmful Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, whose goal, according to its founders and leaders, is the elimination of the Jewish state of Israel.


Biden Campaign Apologizes Privately to Linda Sarsour for Condemning Her Publicly
Joe Biden’s presidential campaign privately apologized to radical left-wing activist Linda Sarsour after publicly condemning her extreme anti-Israel views last week.

Sarsour is a leader of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which singles out Israel for isolation. As a former leader of the anti-Trump Women’s March, she excluded pro-Israel Jewish women and maintained ties with the racist and antisemitic Nation of Islam. She also called for “jihad” against President Donald Trump.

Last week, Sarsour spoke during the Democratic National Convention’s virtual caucus meeting for the Muslim Delegates and Allies Assembly, declaring that the Democratic Party was “absolutely our party in this moment.” After critics complained, the Biden campaign publicly criticized her and attempted to distance itself from her views.

Biden spokesman Andrew Bates told CNN: “Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns her views and opposes BDS, as does the Democratic platform … She has no role in the Biden campaign whatsoever.”

However, the Middle East Eye reported Sunday that Biden campaign officials privately apologized to Sarsour on a call with Muslim community activists, which was recorded and leaked to the publication.

Biden coalitions director Ashley Allison said she was “sorry”:
Allison said she empathised with “the pain” that the campaign had caused to Arabs and Muslims by disavowing Sarsour.

“I am sorry that that happened. And I hope that whatever trust was broken, that this conversation is one small step to help build back the trust, but that is not the last time we have this conversation,” Allison told the activists.

Biden foreign policy advisor Tony Blinken, a former Obama administration official, also apologized:
Biden campaign appears to walk back apology over condemning Linda Sarsour
The Biden campaign has been sending conflicting messages over whether or not it regrets comments directed at Linda Sarsour, a prominent pro-BDS activist.

On a private call on Sunday with dozens of prominent Arab and Muslim activists, the Biden campaign expressed regret over how it construed a statement condemning former Women’s March leader and Bernie Sanders surrogate Linda Sarsour. Sarsour was featured last week at the Democratic National Convention’s Muslim Delegates Assembly, despite her history of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, and other bigotry.

In that call, top foreign policy adviser Tony Blinken expressed “regret” over the matter, according to Middle East Eye, which obtained a recording of the call and first reported on it.

National coalitions director Ashley Allison reportedly said, “I am sorry that that happened. And I hope that whatever trust was broken, that this conversation is one small step to help build back the trust, but that is not the last time we have this conversation.”

The call followed the backlash the Biden campaign received from the Arab and Muslim communities after it rebuked Sarsour.

Andrew Bates, the director of rapid response for the Biden campaign, told CNN, “Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns her views and opposes BDS, as does the Democratic platform. She has no role in the Biden campaign whatsoever.”

On Monday, the Biden campaign disputed that the call was an apology for its reaction to Sarsour.


Linda Sarsour’s Acts of Hate Against Jews: A Running List
Once again, Linda Sarsour has come under fire for being welcomed in mainstream politics and progressive spaces despite her long history of degrading, demonizing, and spreading harmful tropes about Jewish people.

However, whenever Jews express discomfort with Sarsour, they are told they are conspiring to falsely accuse her of antisemitic behavior.

Rather taking the majority of the Jewish community and its legacy institutions at their word, Sarsour’s supporters often prop up fringe Jewish voices who defend her – yet never address her specific actions. Others bring up that she has raised money for Jewish causes, as if any sum of money somehow erases years of anti-Semitism.

In the wake of being gaslit, Jews are often forced to “prove” Sarsour’s antisemitism.
Here is Linda Sarsour’s history of antisemitism all in one condensed place.

- We understand that many claim that Linda Sarsour is merely critical of Israeli policies.
- Criticizing the Israeli government, even passionately, is not an act of hate against Jews.
- However, Sarsour has repeatedly engaged in antisemitism that is completely unrelated to Israel.
- Meanwhile, when Sarsour brings up Israel, she often engages in antisemitic tropes.
- It is not that she is criticizing the Jewish state that is an issue — it is that she frequently uses hateful rhetoric that have gotten millions of Jews murdered to make her points.
Leading UK Jewish Group Blasts Major Muslim Charity After Second Antisemitism Scandal This Year
The president of the leading Jewish group in the UK sharply criticized a major Muslim organization after its leadership was forced to resign en masse due to an antisemitism scandal.

Trustee and director Almoutaz Tayara of Islamic Relief Worldwide was discovered to have posted an antisemitic cartoon on Facebook, along with calling Islamist terrorists “heroes,” The Times reported over the weekend.

The cartoon showed former president Barack Obama wearing a tie with a Star of David on it.

This is the second such scandal in recent months to hit IRW. Tayara himself joined the organization’s board after another trustee, Heshmat Khalifa, was forced out after he called Jews the “grandchildren of monkeys and pigs.” He also described Egypt’s president as a “pimp son of the Jews.”

Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said in a statement, “We are extremely disturbed at reports that yet another director of Islamic Relief Worldwide has been found to have shared antisemitic material online.”

“Once is disgraceful. Twice speaks to a deep-seated problem and it is significant that the whole Board of Trustees has now resigned. We hope the Charity Commission will investigate and that those still associated with the organization will engage in some serious soul-searching,” she added.






Cleveland Doctor Who Threatened to Give ‘Wrong Meds’ to Jews Loses Her Medical Training Certificate
A Cleveland, Ohio doctor who posted antisemitic statements online has been stripped of her medical training certificate.

Local news website Cleveland.com reported Sunday that Lara Kollab agreed to give up her certificate before it was to be permanently revoked by the State Medical Board of Ohio. As a result, she will be unable to practice medicine or surgery in Ohio, and cannot participate in another medical training program.

Kollab made the antisemitic comments on social media between 2011 and 2017, including a threat to “purposely give all the yahood the wrong meds.”

“Yahood” is the Arabic word for Jews, and is often employed in a derogatory fashion.

Other posts said the Holocaust was “exaggerated,” alleged that “zionists are the spawn of hitler,” and expressed support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

In one 2013 tweet, Kollab wrote, “look, Haifa is sweet, but it’s full of Jewish dogs, and it looks like America, meaning, it wasn’t that special to me.”

Kollab apologized last year for her comments, saying, “I wish sincerely and unequivocally to apologize for the offensive and hurtful language contained in those posts.”




Renters’ union rejects membership query from Jewish person with words, ‘no time for Zionists’
The Acorn union has launched an internal investigation and apologised to the Jewish community after a person attempting to join its Manchester branch was sent two Instagram messages saying “no time for Zionists” and “we are a pro-Palestine organisation”.

Acorn bills itself as “a community-based union of working class people — tenants, workers, residents”, which fights to give low-income communities a better life.

The man who attempted to join is Jewish and when he received the rejection messages, told his friend Stephane Savary, the national vice-chair of the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM).

Mr Savary challenged Acorn on Twitter, adding that not only had those who sent the rejection known his friend was Jewish, but that they had gone on to block him on Instagram.

The Jewish applicant to Acorn uses his Hebrew name on Instagram, writes in Hebrew and describes himself in his bio as “full-time” Jew”, and “new immigrant from the diaspora”.

On Monday the union issued a profound apology “for the upset and offence caused” to its Jewish members and the wider Jewish community.

Acorn said it had not yet identified the person who sent the messages, which it described as unequivocally antisemitic.


New York Times Floats Plan To Hire 100 Orthodox Jewish Journalists
The New York Times will try to add about 100 Orthodox Jews to its newsroom staff over the next five years.

At least, it will if its union’s diversity rhetoric is to be taken literally.

The New York Times unit of the NewsGuild of New York, the labor union that represents editorial and news employees at the New York Times as part of the Communications Workers of America, tweeted recently, “Our workforce should reflect our home: The Times should set a goal to have its workforce demographics reflect the makeup of New York City—24% Black and over 50% people of color—by 2025.”

The writer Ben Judah seized on the tweet to draw an implication that the union almost certainly did not intend: “This is amazing! I fully endorse the request for 6% of New York Times employees to be orthodox/Haredi Jews. As a 500k strong community of 8.3m people in New York City the orthodox/Haredi community is ready to serve at all levels of New York Times coverage and opinion,” Judah tweeted.

The Judah tweet was widely shared on the social media platform, drawing more than 1,400 retweets and 7,000 likes. Among those who retweeted it was former New York Times editor and writer Bari Weiss, who quit the newspaper last month complaining of “unlawful discrimination, hostile work environment, and constructive discharge.”

The Times claimed in March 2020 that it “employs 1,700 journalists — a huge number in an industry where total employment nationally has fallen to somewhere between 20,000 and 38,000.” Six percent of 1,700 would be 102. A 2011 study by the UJA-Federation of New York found “nearly half a million” Orthodox Jews in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester.
AFP Reports Without Clarification False Claim That Israel Destroyed All Greenhouses
Agence France Presse, a leading news agency which promises “the highest standards of verification,” calls on its journalists to cross-check and challenge the information its sources provides:
We have a duty to seek the truth and not passively report information as it is presented to us. We must challenge our sources. We can accurately quote a politician, but is he or she giving correct facts or telling the truth?

Yet, in his Aug. 22 article, AFP’s Adel Zaanoun reproduced, without qualification or correction, a blatantly false statement by a Palestinian flower grower in the Gaza Strip who had worked in the hothouses of the Neve Dekalim settlement before Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005. The article, “Gazans speaking Hebrew 15 years after Israel left,” quotes Abdel Rahman al-Najjar, who raises flowers and once worked in a nursery located in the former Israeli settlement of Neve Dekalim:
“I worked in a flower nursery in that settlement, but the (Israeli) army destroyed everything before leaving. . .”

In fact, as had been widely reported, US Jewish philanthropists purchased some 790 acres worth of the hothouses in the Gaza Strip in order for them to be used by Palestinians after the Israelis’ departure. As AFP itself reported on Aug. 18, 2005 (“US Jewish donors give 14 million to preserve Gaza greenhouses”):
Independent Arabia Ends Practice of Calling Gaza Area Israeli Communities “Settlements”
Following a mid-June series of communications (both private and on social media) between CAMERA Arabic and Independent Arabia correspondents and editors, the Saudi-owned, London-headquartered news site agreed to cease its habit of using the term “settlements” to describe Gaza envelope communities, Israeli communities close to the border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

After two months, and with the most recent round of escalation between Israel and the Gaza Strip now on record, it is clear that the Independent’s editorial board has indeed kept its word and accepted CAMERA Arabic’s suggestion for an alternative Arabic phrasing that would signify these as Jewish towns and villages.

For example, ‘Izz ad-Deen Abu ‘Eisheh, Gaza Strip correspondent for the site, referred in a recent report (“Gaza without electricity or fuel, unable to fish,” Aug. 17)” to “the release of incendiary balloons (makeshift balloons which are tied to inflammable and explosive materials) from the strip towards Israeli residential communities adjacent to Gaza.”

This marks a profound shift; just over a year ago the same Abu ‘Eisheh interviewed Gazan “legal expert” Yaser Dirawi about the prospect of the so-called “settlers” of the Gaza envelope suing Hamas in international courts. Dirawi’s answer relied exactly on the premise that all Israelis in the Gaza envelope communities are “settlers” whose residence there is “illegal.”
Merriam-Webster Attacks Israel with Fake Entry on Apartheid
Once again, anti-Semites are working to attack Jews and Israel — this time with the definition of apartheid in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, no less.

The word “apartheid” – translated as “apartness” in the language of Afrikaans – is defined as a system of legislation that upheld segregationist policies against non-white citizens of South Africa, according to the History.com website.

In Britannica.com – an encyclopedia website – the word is defined as a policy that governed relations between South Africa’s white minority and nonwhite majority and sanctioned racial segregation and political and economic discrimination against nonwhites.

But not in the classic online dictionary used by students the world over.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary – often the “final word” when trying to define or explain a word to someone – calls it a “racial segregation” and/or “separation or segregation” and references South Africa.

However, Merriam-Webster then goes on to provide examples of apartheid in a sentence, using “recent examples on the web.”


Has your council adopted it yet? CAA report reveals extent of adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by local authorities across the UK
Today, Campaign Against Antisemitism publishes its report revealing the extent of adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by local authorities across the United Kingdom.

The report — the first of its kind — shows that the campaign for widespread adoption of the Definition is well underway.

Ever since Campaign Against Antisemitism led the effort for adoption of the Definition by the British Government — which became the first in the world to do so — two Secretaries of State for Local Government have joined our push for local authorities to follow suit. As this report shows, that campaign is yielding results, with much success owed to the work of grassroots local activists right across the country. We applaud them and the local authorities that have listened, but there remains much to do.

The current Secretary of State for Local Government, the Rt. Hon. Robert Jenrick MP, recently warned local authorities that those refusing to adopt the Definition would risk losing public funding. This report examines where pressure is needed by naming and shaming for the first time those local authorities that have failed to adopt the full Definition in line with Government policy.

The report — which finds that 119 of the 422 local authorities in the UK (28%) have adopted the Definition in full — gives a fuller picture of the fight against antisemitism at the local level, exposing which local authorities take this issue seriously and which do not, and enabling local activists and voters to make informed choices.

But the report also shows that there is still a long way to go. While the number of local authorities adopting the full Definition is rising every year, in total fewer than a third of local authorities have adopted the full Definition so far. With some exceptions, which the report analyses, this failure is national and cross-party.

The purpose of adoption of the full Definition is not only to send a message of where local councillors stand on antisemitism but also to ensure that the Definition is applied in disciplinary cases involving councillors or staff. As this report shows, the number of local authorities that have actually incorporated the Definition into their codes of conduct for councillors and staff is negligible.
‘He Is Filled With Hatred of Israel, Jews, Gays, Lesbians and Prostitutes’: Austrian Police Arrest Suspected Islamist for Assault on Jewish Leader
Austria’s interior minister confirmed on Monday that police in the southern city of Graz had arrested a man suspected of assaulting the president of the local Jewish community over the weekend.

Speaking at a news conference in the capital, Vienna, Karl Nehammer said the suspect — who was arrested on Sunday night — had “confessed in full.”

In an earlier series of tweets on Sunday night, Neehammer identified the alleged perpetrator as a “31-year-old Syrian citizen who has been living in Austria since 2013.”

Added Neehammer: “We are assuming an Islamist motive.”

The unnamed man is alleged to have attacked the Graz Jewish community’s president, Elie Rosen, with a wooden club outside the synagogue in the city on Saturday. Rosen took shelter in his car and was unhurt. The attacker, who fled, was later identified by police through security camera footage.

The man is also being held for six additional crimes in Graz — including the defacing of the Graz synagogue last week with the slogan “Free Palestine,” an outrage that caused Rosen to issue a public statement decrying the rise in “left-wing and anti-Israel antisemitism” in the city.

According to Austrian media outlets, the same man was also responsible for damaging property at a Catholic church, a club serving the LGBT+ community and a bar in Graz’s red-light district.
Berlin: Israel Bar Owner Speaks Out After Neo-Nazi Arson Attack


Hatred on the Field: Antisemitism in Sports
Can hatred be ejected from sports?

At a 2019 conference on antisemitism in sports, several experts agreed that hate speech is mainstreamed primarily through the Internet. The advent of social media, in particular, has been a game-changer. Recently, several reports have shed light on how conspiracy theories, racism, bigotry and antisemitism have manifested on online platforms. In some instances, tens of millions of people can be reached by one tweet, for example.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, there has been a significant increase in antisemitic social media posts over the last few months. That is why there is a growing chorus demanding that tech giants adopt a clear definition of what constitutes antisemitism and prevent such content from being disseminated.

Tibi Galis, executive director at the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, has warned that mass atrocities begin with very simple things, like hate speech at sporting matches.

“Sports is often one of the very first spaces we hear the manifestation of dangerous speech,” he said. “The question is, ‘How we can make the sports environment the better one?’” Fortunately, star athletes have spoken out against prejudice. However, antisemitism – in sports and elsewhere – can only be combated effectively if social media giants adopt a more robust definition of antisemitism and vigorously uphold their hate speech policies.

Until then, the antisemites will continue to run up the score.
UAE and Israeli health ministries to cooperate on the coronavirus
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein and UAE Health Minister Abdul Rahman Ben Muhammad al-Avis agreed on Monday on the first act of health cooperation between the countries.

Each ministry will appoint a coordinator responsible for communicating with the other country, with an emphasis on the common struggle against the coronavirus. This is the beginning of the collaboration Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said would follow when he signed a peace deal with the UAE earlier this month.

According to Worldometers, the UAE has 67,282 cases of the virus and 362 deaths. It has a population of 9.6 million.

The health ministers said the cooperation was “excellent news for our countries.”

In addition, the two are already setting up delegations of businesspeople from both countries to start a joint business. Once the coronavirus crisis ends, the countries will also work toward creating student exchanges.

Edelstein said, “Peace with the United Arab Emirates provides an excellent opportunity for the citizens of Israel and the United Arab Emirates to forge a close bond that will bear fruit for both sides. The Emirati health minister is a true partner of Israel. Israel has a friend in the Emirates!”
Israeli and UAE Techstars leaders excited by opportunities new deal offers
Even for an organization that is global at its core like the Techstars seed accelerator, and even for its veteran entrepreneurs leading their respective programs in Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi, the news that Israel and the UAE are set to establish full diplomatic ties was nothing short of exhilarating. Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Techstars Hub71, Vijay Tirathrai, and the Managing Director of the Tel Aviv hub, Hilla Ovil-Brenner, were brimming with excitement when CTech caught up with them to get their thoughts on the announcement and its significance for both countries, Techstars, innovation, and the investment world as a whole.

"It took a lot of people by surprise. But for those who are in the know and those who have been in tune with what happened in the geopolitical scene, they didn't find this as much of a surprise and knew it was a matter of time until it happened," Tirathrai told CTech. "Personally, I think it is a smart strategic move. It is very forward-thinking as opposed to a regressive outlook. This paves the way for investment flows across the two states and allows for deeper relations and friendship and it allows for stability and peace in the longer term. In the near term, people in the UAE are still trying to wrap their heads around it and what it means to them and how it is going to impact them. I'm optimistic about the future."

Techstars was founded in Boulder, Colorado in 2006 and has since branched out across the world. The 3-month accelerator program is aimed at helping budding entrepreneurs gain funding, mentorship and access to the Techstars network. "Techstars is the biggest accelerator in the world. There are over 50 accelerators like us. Today we are actually the biggest seed investor in the world," Ovil-Brenner told CTech. "We've invested in over 2,500 companies to date. We work with companies like Comcast, MetLife and Amazon and typically what we do is run the innovation for them. We scout for companies for them and have them in our program for three months. We typically invest around $120,000 in each company, also providing an extensive range of non-cash benefits, including having access to a global network, and we also have a follow on fund for future investments."

Tirathrai is the former CEO and Chairman of the Entrepreneurs' Organization and as a business owner led numerous multinational ventures, ranging from manufacturing, distribution and retailing of fashion, to events and association management. He joined Techstars in 2017 and is excited regarding the new opportunities created by the agreement between Israel and the UAE.
Hadassah chief to Health Ministry: Approve plasma as COVID-19 treatment
The American Food & Drug Administration approved the authorization of a coronavirus treatment that uses blood plasma from recovered patients. Now, Hadassah Medical Center chief Zeev Rotstein said he is anxiously waiting for the Israeli Health Ministry to do the same.

“From the first moment [that COVID-19 struck Israel] we realized plasma was an important tool for treating sick patients,” Rotstein told The Jerusalem Post. “The Health Ministry was reluctant even to see us collect the plasma. But at the end, the fruits are very delicious.”

Hadassah is currently running a clinical trial, testing the first-ever commercially produced plasma-derived immunoglobulin (IgG) serum for COVID-19, which Rotstein’s hospital created with Kamada Ltd., a local biopharmaceutical company. The trial is being run under the auspices of the Health Ministry.

So far, six patients have been treated, Rotstein said. All of them have left the hospital virus free within 48 to 72 hours. Another 12 patients were recently enrolled in the program.

“Instead of sending them to be hooked up to a ventilator, we sent them home,” Rotstein said.

He noted, however, that the hospital has learned from the trial the importance of administering the plasma the moment the patient shows signs of developing an acute case of the disease, such as pneumonia, strong coughing or high fever. Otherwise, he noted, that while the plasma may eradicate the virus, the patient may continue to suffer from its effects.
Israeli 'biohack' drink could replace coffee as a pick-me-up
A new science-based botanical beverage from an Israeli startup designed to help people overcome the common afternoon productivity slump is now available for purchase in the US.

Inno-Bev has developed BioLift, a drink that helps people overcome the afternoon "blahs," otherwise known in the science of chronology as the Post Lunch Dip (PLD), which reportedly costs the US economy $134.6 billion per year in lost productivity.

According to Inno-Bev founder Eli Faraggi, three clinical trials of BioLift, which is formulated with plant extracts such as ginkgo biloba, elderberry, and guarana, have shown the beverage to "increase productivity, reduce brain fog, and maintain clarity for higher performance."

What about the old office stand-by, coffee?

"Unlike its [more] caffeinated competitors, BioLift does not increase pulse or blood pressure," Faraggi said.

In addition to containing only 10 mg. of caffeine per serving, BioLift – available in orange, melon-lime, and berry flavors – is the first beverage in the US sweetened using a low glycemic carob extract designed to reduce sugar fluctuation.

Faraggi noted that in a time of global uncertainty, which is seeing employees working from home in unprecedented numbers, "the workforces is facing new challenges."
‘Mama’ drone saves life of endangered Israeli vulture chick
An endangered vulture chick stranded on a cliff ledge in the Judean desert became the unlikely poster child for the Israeli drone industry.

Griffon vultures are monogamous and increasingly rare. Hundreds of pairs could be found in the skies over Israel until the 1950s. Today, fewer than 60 pairs remain.

So, when a chick was born in February to the happy pair K74 (female) andT49 (male), conservationists were overjoyed.

Mother, father and baby were monitored by Israel Raptor Nest Cam in a project coordinated by the Israeli Nature Parks Authority and the Israel Ornithological Center of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.

All seemed to be going well, with both parents bringing food to the chick until it was able to hunt by itself.

Then disaster struck.

In June, K74 flew into a power line and was electrocuted. The suddenly single dad, T49, was not able to care for his offspring alone.

At first, conservationists thought about sending a human climber to take the chick into captivity – not an ideal situation, but at least it would be fed properly and have a chance to survive.

Then another option was suggested. What if carrion could be sent to the chick – by drone? That would allow the chick to continue to live in the wild until it was old enough to fly.

But the chick’s location on an isolated cliff was difficult to reach. Standard drones, flown by joystick, would most likely crash before delivering their payload.

Israeli startup Xtend came to the rescue. (h/t Zvi)
Hundreds of 1,100-year-old solid gold coins found in central Israel
Some 424 solid gold coins dating from 1,100 years ago were found during an archaeological dig in central Israel.

The coins were found after two National Service members noticed a sparkling in the ground and uncovered the buried treasure. The youth were taking part in a dig being conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority ahead of the establishment of a new neighborhood in central Israel.

"It was surprising," said Oz Cohen, a member of the Tenuat Tarbut/Cultural Movement in Holon. "I was digging in the ground and when I scooped it out, I saw what looked like very thin leaves. When I looked again, I saw that these were gold coins. It was really exciting, to find such a special and ancient buried treasure."

"The cache, deliberately buried in the ground inside a clay jug, held 424 gold coins, with most dated to the early Islamic period and the Abbasid dynasty," explained Liat Nadav-Ziv and Dr. Eli Hadad, the administrators of the dig. "The person who buried his treasure 1,100 years ago definitely expected to come back to take them, and even fixed the vessel with a nail so that it would not move."

It's unknown why the person who buried the coins didn't return to get them. "We can only guess," said the two administrators, adding that the find was rare as gold is valuable and passed on from generation to generation and not found in archaeological digs.


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