Saturday, September 05, 2020

09/05 Links: Munich on my mind; The UAE-Israel accord is a win for every Muslim; Sermon suggests Saudi Arabia on its way to normalizing ties with Israel

From Ian:
CAMERA Op-Ed: Black September Remembered
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.”
Munich on my mind
The Aftermath
Following a September 6 memorial that was criticized for sparse reference to the Israeli victims, the remaining Israeli athletes left Germany. Jewish athletes from other counties also left, or were provided extra security.

For decades, families of some victims appealed to the IOC to establish a permanent memorial. For decades, the IOC declined, worried that a memorial to the victims could “alienate other members of the Olympic community,” according to the BBC.

The IOC rejected an international campaign in support of a minute of silence at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics in memory of the Israeli victims on the massacre’s 40th anniversary. Finally, the IOC conceded, honoring the Israeli victims before the 2016 Rio games.

Israel was well accustomed to war and terror. Its response was particularly resolute. Citing justice, and that Israelis would not be safe anywhere, Golda Meir authorized Operation Grapes of Wrath, and the Mossad began to track down and kill those responsible for the Munich massacre.

Munich Today
Years later, one of the masterminds who escaped justice, Abu Daoud, wrote that funding for the Munich attack was provided by Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority president since 2005. Had Israel known about that then, it’s possible that Abbas would also have been eliminated along with the other masterminds. Now, he’s President of an entity next to Israel that still supports terror.

The ghosts of Munich have also haunt US politics. Today, a candidate for Congress, Ammar Campa-Najjar, is the grandson of Muhammad Yusuf al-Najjar, a mastermind of the Munich terrorist attack. While repudiating his grandfather’s actions, other Campa-Najjar statements have raised questions over how true that is.

Remembering the Victims

It’s inappropriate to write of the victims and not mention their names. Each led a full life, and left behind families and legacies that should not be forgotten, even five decades later: David Berger, Zeev Friedman, Yosef Gutfreund, Eliezer Halfin, Yosef Romano, Amitzur Shapira, Kehat Shorr, Mark Slavin, Andre Spitzer, Yakov Springer, and Moshe Weinberger.

In their memory, the Genesis 123 Foundation will be holding a webinar on September 9 with two current Israeli Olympians and the widow of Andre Spitzer.


Black September - The story of the other 9/11
The date 9/11 is seared into our collective memory. That sunny Tuesday morning in 2001, Arab terrorists hijacked four airplanes and wreaked massive death and destruction on the United States.

A full 31 years before, Arab terrorists hijacked four airplanes in Europe and took hundreds of hostages. And although the incident faded in the world’s collective memory, the date 9/11 was seared into David Raab’s memory.

At 2:30 a.m. on September 11, 1970, David, his mother and four younger siblings were sleeping fitfully on a TWA plane. It was the beginning of their fifth day on board, with hijackers from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) demanding freedom for terrorists jailed in Israel and Europe.

The plane was no longer full. On September 7, non-Jewish women and children had been released and six male passengers were taken to an unknown location. About 80 passengers and 10 crew members – including the Raabs – remained trapped in the jet on Dawson’s Field, a dirt strip in Jordan.

The copilot came down the aisle and gently woke the 17-year-old rabbi’s son from Trenton, New Jersey. The hijackers, he said, wanted David at the front of the plane for questioning.

The terrorists often searched the Jewish passengers’ luggage for Israeli goods and badgered them to “admit” to Israeli citizenship or loyalty. But this summons seemed more ominous.




The UAE-Israel accord is a win for every Muslim
For almost twenty years, Muslims across the world have been on the defensive. Muslim identity has been largely under attack. The terrorist incidents of September 11, 2001 on New York and Washington DC cast – in many a popular imagination – every Muslim as suspect in some way. In almost every continent, a dark cloud hung over us. The security checks at airports are only a manifestation of that deep distrust.

Osama bin Laden and a range of extremist organisations hijacked the Palestinian cause: they created nothing but more loss, terrorism and humiliation for the noble Palestinian people. Now, with the visionary accord between the UAE and Israel, three new horizons open: reinstating Muslim dignity, reviving a two-state solution opportunity and creating regional economic prosperity.

I am a British Muslim. In my teens, I helped raise money in London for Hamas. My peers and I believed suicide bombers were martyrs heading for paradise. We were wrong.

The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, 2,500 years ago taught that there is only one constant in life: change. Life flows ever onwards. After 9/11, I recognised the blunder of my beliefs. I changed. In my twenties, I lived in Damascus next to a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. In my thirties, I lived in New York and Washington where I advised the US government. I saw the suspicion of Muslims in the eyes of American officials. It always boiled down to something unspoken: show us peace in Islam; stop talking about it.

And that is exactly what the Abraham Accord is doing: showing peace between peoples, not only preaching it. The accord represents an important opportunity to further reject “Islamophobic” accusations of terrorism and anti-Semitism. We can say: “We believe in one God. Peace is possible. A new way of co-existence is achievable. We are not pawns for the mullahs of Iran or the Muslim Brotherhood. Look at the UAE.”

More than 70 countries have applauded the agreement with Israel and today, the UAE enjoys unprecedented support on both sides of the US political divide. The Pope’s visit to the Emirates in 2019 won the hearts of 2 billion Christians to the prospect of a pluralist, peaceful Middle East.
Sermon suggests Saudi Arabia on its way to normalizing ties with Israel
Has Saudi Arabia begun preparing its people for normalization with Israel?

A sermon delivered on Friday by Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, has been interpreted by some Arabs and Muslims as a prelude to normalization with Israel.

In his sermon, Sudais said that Islam requires Muslims to respect non-Muslims and treat them well.

He pointed out that Prophet Mohammed “performed ablution from a polytheistic water bottle and died while his shield was mortgaged to a Jew.”

According to Sudais, the prophet was so good to his Jewish neighbor that the latter converted to Islam. Sudais also talked about the need to “correct and purify the Islamic faith from false and suspicious beliefs.”

The imam had previously called for peaceful inter-faith dialogue and preached Islam’s opposition to “explosions and terrorism.”

Saudi Arabia has agreed to allow Israeli flights into its airspace. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan recently said the kingdom was open to establishing relations with Israel on condition that a peace agreement is reached between Israel and the Palestinians.
Ahead of expected influx of Israeli tourists, UAE hotel group offers kosher food
In the wake of the normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and after visiting Israeli journalists were served a kosher banquet, a number of hotels in the UAE will start to offer kosher food, the English-language Khaleej Times reported Thursday.

According to the report, the Habtoor Hospitality group has teamed up with Elli’s Kosher Kitchen to provide food for guests at hotels including the Hilton Dubai, V Hotel, Habtoor Palace Dubai, LXR Hotel and Resorts, Habtoor Grand Resort, Autograph Collection LLC, Metropolitan Hotel and Habtoor Polo Resort.

Elli’s Kosher Kitchen, a Dubai-based catering business owned by Elli Kriel, was responsible for food served to Israeli journalists and some members of a US delegation who visited Abu Dhabi this week. Kriel’s husband Ross is the president of the UAE’s small Jewish community.

“Al Habtoor City, Hotel Collection, along with its UAE sister properties, look forward to working with Elli and her team ensuring each guests visit is a memorable and enjoyable culinary journey,” the company said in a statement.

According to the report, the food in the UAE hotels will be supervised by OU Kosher.

Rabbi Yissachar Krakowski of OU Kosher, the world’s largest kosher certification agency, had flown from Israel to the UAE to facilitate all of the kosher food for the Israeli delegation this week.

Krakowski has experience with kosher catering in the Gulf, having organized kosher meals for the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations when they visited the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Israeli footwear chain Scoop announces plans for 5 stores in the UAE
Israeli shoe chain Scoop has signed a deal with a Bethlehem businessman that will lead to the opening of five stores in the United Arab Emirates, the financial daily Calcalist reported Thursday.

According to the report, Scoop owners, brothers Ronnie and Freddie Insaz, have made an agreement with George Bassus, who has offices in Dubai.

Bassus has in turn signed a deal with local Dubai businessman Ibrahim Barakat, Calcalist reported.

The first store is to be opened in one of Dubai’s main shopping areas, Jamal Abdul-Nasser Square, with $300,000 budgeted for the renovation of the 150 sq. meter (1,614 sq. foot) store that will sell men’s, women’s and children’s footwear.

The first store will open in March. By the end of 2021, five stores will be opened, also in Abu Dhabi, Ronnie Insaz told the Ynet news site. “We hardly sleep. We wanted to be the first there. We’ve been working on the project since we realized there was going to be peace,” he said.

Insaz said that he was comfortable operating in Dubai because he had traded there as a young man living in Iran.

“I have a connection to Dubai, I have been there and I know people there. I immigrated from Iran at the age of 24. In Iran I was a businessman, importer and marketer of musical instruments. I imported electric organs and musical instruments from Dubai, from the free trade area. Even then I saw the great potential. I had people there who collected the goods I ordered and sent them to me in Iran. To this day I am in touch with them,” Insaz said.






Intel minister: We’ll act against sale of F-35s to UAE, including in US Congress
Israel’s intelligence minister on Friday said Jerusalem would firmly oppose the sale of F-35 fighters and other advanced weaponry to the United Arab Emirates, while continuing to deny Israel had given its approval — tacit or otherwise — to such a deal.

Eli Cohen told Kan TV news: “We oppose [it]. We will not agree to any sale… We will act against the sale of any weaponry that will hurt Israel’s qualitative military edge, including the F-35.”

His comments came as Channel 12 news reported that Israel and the UAE were gearing up for a signing ceremony of their normalization agreement in Washington within the next 10 days.

But the report also said that before such a signing takes place, the UAE is demanding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stop making public comments against the potential arms sale.

The prime minister on Friday denied a New York Times report that again claimed he had given his okay to the weapons deal, which Washington appears keen to carry out.

Cohen backed the premier, telling Kan: “I was at the cabinet meetings. Today I spoke with the prime minister who said unequivocally that there is no agreement and he didn’t give an okay.”

Cohen asserted that such reports were concocted by “people on the left who find it hard to see Israel manage to make an agreement of peace for peace” rather than in exchange for security concessions.




2 members of US far-right group Boogaloo Bois arrested for attempt to aid Hamas
Two members of the Boogaloo Bois, a far-right US anti-government movement, were arrested and charged with conspiring and attempting to give material support to Hamas.

Michael Robert Solomon, 30, and Benjamin Ryan Teeter, 22, were arrested Thursday, according to a Justice Department statement.

According to the Justice Department, the two men were recorded by a purported Hamas member promising to act as mercenaries for the group in exchange for cash. They later gave weapons to the purported Hamas member, who was secretly working with the FBI. The men thought they were working with the purported Hamas member to help overthrow the US government.

“As alleged in the complaint, these defendants sought to use violence against the police, other government officials and government property as part of their desire to overthrow the government,” said John Demers, the assistant attorney general for the department’s National Security Division.

According to the department, Solomon and Teeter are members of the Boogaloo Bois, a loose network of anti-government extremists seeking to attack the police and other public institutions. They are also members of a subgroup of the movement called the “Boojahideen,” a play on the Arabic word “mujahideen,” which means jihadists. According to the statement, a witness saw Solomon openly carrying firearms in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd in May.




Coronavirus death toll surpasses 1,000
As Israel prepares to place severe restrictions on more than 30 “red zones” throughout the country, the Health Ministry reported that as of Saturday, more than a thousand Israelis have died from the novel coronavirus.

Twelve people died on Saturday, bringing the total to 1,007.

The final list of cities to be locked down, out of the list of more than 30 red cities, was expected to be released Sunday, but coronavirus commissioner Prof. Ronni Gamzu said full lockdowns were likely only to be implemented on eight to 10 of the “reddest” communities.

These are expected to include Bnei Brak, Elad, Tira, Kfar Kassem and Umm el-Fahm – haredi (ultra-Orthodox) and Arab cities, where the infection rate tends to be highest.

Gamzu explained last week that residents of the reddest cities would be restricted from traveling more than 500 meters from their homes. In addition, schools – except special education – would be closed, entry and exit would be limited to only essential workers, and nonessential businesses would be banned from operating.

Putting restrictions on red cities is part of Gamzu’s traffic-light program, which the government voted to support last week. However, both Health Minister Yuli Edelstein and Health Ministry director-general Prof. Chezy Levy have warned that if the program is ineffective, more steps — including a possible nationwide closure – could be necessary.
Israeli hospitals using brand new ventilator to fight coronavirus
Following the recent spike in the number of coronavirus patients in critical condition and in need of respiratory support, three major medical centers in Israel adopted a new type of ventilator, according to mobihealthnews.

Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center in Be'er Ya'akov and Wolfson Medical Center in Holon received the new respiratory device called "AnapoGuard," produced by Hospitech Respiration, an Israeli startup company.

The device has been in use since March at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.

One of the risks of prolonged reliance on respiratory support system in coronavirus patiets is a lung infection, caused by an accumulation of excess fluids in the lungs. AnapoGuard helps remove these excess fluids, which often indicate that a patient is in the early stages of pneumonia.

Medical experts who are on the frontlines of the fight against coronavirus have welcomed this latest addition to their arsenal. One of them, Professor Gil Bolotin, Director of the department of Cardiac Surgery at Rambam, described his experience:

"My department has been using the AnapnoGuard system when treating high-risk ventilated patients. During this time, we have seen a significant reduction in the number of patients who developed lung and pulmonary infections following intubation."
2 armed Palestinians wounded during Israeli raid in Jenin — IDF
Two armed Palestinians were wounded during an Israeli raid overnight in the West Bank city of Jenin, the military said.

A statement from the Israel Defense Forces said the two were hurt when troops blew up the door of the home where they were staying.

Video showed soldiers carrying them on stretchers. There was no word on their condition.

The pair were identified by the Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news agency as brothers Ahmad and Mohammad Jadoun, both in their 20s.

According to the IDF, rioting broke out as troops made the arrests and Palestinians fired shots at the soldiers, and also hurled grenades and explosives at them.

No Israeli soldiers were injured.

The IDF statement did not say what the brothers were suspected of doing.

Israeli forces carry out nightly raids in the West Bank to arrest suspects alleged to be involved in rock throwing, rioting and what it terms as terror activity.
Spike in Coronavirus Cases in Hamas-Ruled Gaza Worries Main UN Aid Group
Hundreds of coronavirus infections have been reported in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip since the first case emerged in the general population last week, and a UN aid group warned that a lack of key medical items including ventilators could make it hard to treat the disease effectively.

The coastal enclave has been on lockdown since authorities confirmed four infections from a single family on Aug. 24. It was the first time the virus was detected outside quarantine zones set up for people returning from abroad.

Since then, 603 new cases have been recorded, nearly all among the general population, with four deaths since Aug. 24, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Gaza is home to two million Palestinians in cities, towns and refugee camps squeezed within an area of 360 square kilometers (139 square miles), with its borders sealed off by neighboring Israel and Egypt.

“Gaza is probably the most densely‐populated place on the face of the earth so measures to contain a virus as violent as COVID-19 are always extremely difficult to put in place,” said Tamara Alrifai, spokeswoman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) devoted to Palestinian refugees.

Israel and Egypt restrict movement over Gaza’s borders, citing security concerns about Hamas.
MEMRI: Department Of Justice Seizes Websites Of Terrorist Group Kata'ib Hizbullah - From The MEMRI TV Archives: Anti-U.S. Clips From Kata'ib Hizbullah's Al-Etejah TV
On August 31, 2020 the United States Department of Justice seized two websites used by Kata'ib Hizbullah, an Iran-backed terrorist group operating in Iraq.[1] The websites, Aletejahtv.com and Aletejahtv.org, had published numerous videos, articles, and photos, and also broadcast a live online television channel, Al-Etejah TV. Kata'ib Hizbullah was declared a Specially Designated National and a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2009, and as such, its use of the domain names Aletejahtv.com and Aletejahtv.org, which were owned and operated by a U.S. company based in Arizona, was deemed unlawful.

It should be noted that as of this writing, Kata'ib Hizbullah's YouTube channel remains active.[2] The channel, with hundreds of posted videos, has over 3,000 subscribers and has amassed 185,635 views since its launch on April 28, 2020. The most recent videos were posted September 4, 2020.

Animated Video On Iraqi TV Features American Coffins, Destruction Of U.S. Military Vehicles – July 20, 2020
On July 20, 2020, Etejah TV (Iraq) aired an animated video that depicted a helicopter filled with coffins covered in American flags taking off in the desert. American military vehicles were then shown being destroyed as a clenched fist wrapped in the flags of Iraq and of the pro-Iran Hizbullah Brigades militia came out of the ground. Both depictions were overlaid with the caption: "#expel_the_occupation."

Iranian Political Analyst Emad Abshenas: If The Iraqi Government Fails To Expel Foreign Forces From Iraq, The Iraqi Resistance Front Would Not Hesitate To Target American Soldiers, Diplomats, Businessmen – April 13, 2020

Iranian political analyst Emad Abshenas said in an April 13, 2020 interview on Etejah TV (Iraq) that American diplomats, military personnel, and businessman are scared to set foot on Iraqi soil and to "defile" it, because the Iraqi parliament has passed a law requiring the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq.
JCPA: Egypt Captures Muslim Brotherhood Commander in Cairo
After a years-long manhunt, Egyptian security officials arrested Mahmoud Ezzat, the acting head of the Muslim Brotherhood and commander of the military wing responsible for a series of terrorist attacks.

His capture is a significant operational and intelligence success that will severely damage the movement’s activities. However, this is a temporary blow to the movement since it has already proven its ability to recover quickly.

On August 28, 2020, Egypt’s security forces achieved an important goal in its war against radical Islamic terrorism. After an intense seven-year search, they managed to arrest Mahmoud Ezzat, the interim leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and the head of its military wing responsible for a series of terrorist attacks in Egypt.

In 2013, following the arrest and imprisonment of Mohamed Badie, a previous Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mahmoud Ezzat took over the movement and led it from a Cairo hideout. Mahmoud Ezzat had been convicted in absentia on terrorism-related charges and twice sentenced to death and three times to life sentences.
Intel firm: Strikes on Syrian airfields halted Iran’s ability to transport arms
A private Israeli intelligence firm has released satellite photographs of the aftermath of reported Israeli airstrikes on Iran-linked sites in Syria earlier in the week, saying the photos indicate the attacks targeted Tehran’s ability to bring in and store weapons in the country.

According to the satellite imagery company ImageSat International, a strike on Monday night destroyed a command center and a warehouse at the Damascus International Airport and another two days later targeted an airstrip in the T-4 airbase in eastern Syria. Israel has long maintained that both airfields are used by Iran to bring munitions into Syria.

The firm, which often tracks reported Israeli airstrikes on targets in Syria, said the attacks likely interrupted Iran’s efforts to transport an advanced weapons system into the country.

The Israel Defense Forces has not commented on the strikes, in accordance with a long-standing military policy of ambiguity around its alleged activities in Syria.

According to ImageSat, the strikes “intended to tactically undermine shipments of advanced weapons systems from Iran.”

In addition, the firm said it assessed that the attacks had a secondary goal.

“The bombings send a strategic message to Tehran and the [Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’] Quds Force, warning [against] their continued activity in Syria,” it said.
Seth Frantzman: Iran could become hub of arms trafficking and exports as embargo ends
Iran’s own media has bragged that Tehran will soon become an exporter of weapons as the arms embargo on the country ends.

The arms embargoes on Iran are ending despite US calls for them to be extended. The embargo on Iran exporting arms was supposed to be in force for five years after the Iran Deal, the JCPOA, was adopted in October 2015.

Iran’s Press TV says the country produces 90% of its arms locally and that Iran is one of the leading top 10 countries in the world in terms of indigenous production. Arms embargoes that began in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war led the country to “produce a wide array of hardware over the years, including its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles, radars, boats, submarines, UAVs and fighter planes.”

Iran also boasts cruise missiles it says can go more than 1,000km.

According to their Defense Ministry, Iran is already a defense superpower, producing some 38,000 military-grade parts.

“Sanctions have so far had minimal negative effects on countries and groups allied with Iran as part of the so-called ‘resistance axis’ formed against foreign and Zionist intervention,” Press TV says.
Iran: "American Soil is Now Within the Range of Iranian Bombs"
One day after the United Nations Security Council voted in favor of lifting the arms embargo on Iran, for instance, the ruling mullahs unveiled a ballistic missile that reportedly can reach the United States.

The report [by Iran's state-controlled Afkar News] boasted about the damage that the Iranian regime could inflict on the US: "By sending a military satellite into space, Iran now has shown that it can target all American territory; the Iranian parliament had previously warned [the US] that an electromagnetic nuclear attack on the United States would likely kill 90 percent of Americans."

The report also threatened the EU, which voted in favor of lifting the arms embargo against Iran: "The same type of ballistic missile technology used to launch the satellite could carry nuclear, chemical or even biological weapons to wipe Israel off the map, hit US bases and allies in the region and US facilities, and target NATO even in the far west of Europe."

For Iran's ruling mullahs, compromises and appeasement means weakness. The more the international community gives the mullahs, the more the regime apparently feels empowered to pursue its malign behavior.
SFSU to host PLFP hijacker Leila Khaled as part of 'resistance' event
San Francisco State University (SFSU) will be hosting Leila Khaled, a prominent member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP) and hijacker of the Tel Aviv-bound flight TWA Flight 840 hijacking in 1969 and Dawson Field hijackings in 1970.

Khaled will be participating in a 'resistance' event organized by the Department of Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies, according to an Algemeiner report Thursday.

Khaled was later released as part of a prisoner exchange, and is expected to speak at the event titled, “Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice and Resistance: A Conversation with Leila Khaled,” on September 23, hosted by Prof. Rabab Abdulhadi. The latter has been accused by some, according to Algemeiner, of fostering a climate of hate on campus towards pro-Israel students.

Others expected to speak at the event include Ronnie Kasrils, a Jewish member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign who has also been accused to promoting conspiracy theories.

Khaled, who is currently 76 years old and lives in the Jordanian capital of Amman, continues to have ties to the PLFP. The Palestinian organization is classified as a terrorist group by Israel, the US, Canada and the EU.

The PLFP was heavily involved in terrorist attacks and suicide bombings during the Second Intifada from 2000-2005.
Spanish PM urged to cancel antisemitic course at Public U. of Navarre
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre addressed a letter to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday asking that he intervene and cancel an antisemitic course offered at the Spanish Public University of Navarre.

The controversial course that prompted the letter is called "Apartheid in Palestine and the Criminalization of Solidarity" and is planned to be held as an online course offered to students at the Public University of Navarre and its satellite campuses between September 9 and October 7.

“Mr. Prime Minister, incitement to hatred and violence is not a human right - even and especially on campus!,” the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations Dr. Shimon Samuels, wrote.

Samuels opened the letter by commending the Spanish government for adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition of antisemitism on July 22, but added that “sadly, this endorsement is now to be betrayed by the Public University of Navarre."

Samuels claims that the course was coordinated by the Spanish organization Sodepaz, which Samuels says is reportedly in contact with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) organization.

The PFLP, as well as several Palestinian organizations, including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, are listed as terrorist groups or entities on the EU's sanctions list.
US professor says she lied about being Black, and is really a Kansas City Jew
A college professor in the United States admitted to lying about being black and said she is in fact a Jewish woman from Kansas City.

Jessica Krug, an associate professor at George Washington University, made the admission in an article published Thursday on Medium, writing that her career was based on a “toxic soil of lies.”

“To an escalating degree over my adult life, I have eschewed my lived experience as a white Jewish child in suburban Kansas City under various assumed identities within a Blackness that I had no right to claim: first North African Blackness, then US rooted Blackness, then Caribbean rooted Bronx Blackness,” she said.

Krug said lying about her identity was “the very epitome of violence, of thievery and appropriation, of the myriad ways in which non-Black people continue to use and abuse Black identities and cultures.” She also linked it to mental health issues from when she was young.

“The mental health professionals from whom I have been so belatedly seeking help assure me that this is a common response to some of the severe trauma that marked my early childhood and teen years,” she said.

In the Medium post, Krug also referred to herself as a “culture leech” and a “coward” for not coming forward sooner.

“I have built my life on a violent anti-Black lie, and I have lied in every breath I have taken,” she said. “There are no words in any language to express the depth of my remorse, but then again: there shouldn’t be. Words are never the point.”

According to her bio on the George Washington University website, among Krug’s areas of expertise are Africa, Latin America and African American History. She has written two books, including “Fugitive Modernities.”

“My ancestors, unknown, unnamed, who bled life into a future they had no reason to believe could or should exist. My brother, the fastest, the smartest, the most charming of us all. Those whose names I cannot say for their own safety, whether in my barrio, in Angola, or in Brazil,” she wrote in the introduction.

Krug also reportedly used the name Jess La Bombalera in activist circles.



IfNotNow hires Jessica Krug (satire)
In stunning news, an academic of Jewish descent named Rachel Bat Dolezal Jessica Krug was revealed to be masquerading as an Afro-Latina woman. Doctor Krug, originally from Kansas City, went to great lengths to hone her Woke credentials, including adopting a “street” New York accent so absurd that anyone who grew up in the Tri-State area was reduced to giggling uncontrollably (Bonus points: when she inevitably trashed the IDF, she did it with that accent!) The story is amazing, including such delicious tidbits as people getting suspicious because she was horrible at salsa dancing.

While this was seen by many as a career-ending scandal, others within the Woke As-A-Jewish Community sensed an opportunity. That’s right, Jessica Krug is now working for the beating heart of Progressive As-A-Jewdaism, IfNotNow. The Daily Freier spoke with IfNotNow co-founder, Progressive Christian Activist Seth Woody about this Revelation of Good News.

“A talent like Doctor Krug doesn’t come around every day.” explained Seth as he got ready to teach his next Communion class. “So we knew we had to act quickly. We signed her to a 5-year contract with an option to extend.“

The Daily Freier asked Mr. Woody about the qualities in Doctor Krug that caught IFNotNow’s attention. Seth thought for a moment and replied: “Well, she’s Woke to the point of being Performative, has a hostile relationship with her Jewish heritage, and tends to make things up. Plus, she’s batshit crazy. She’s a perfect fit for our organization.“
Man with knife attempts to enter NYC Jewish school bus
A man wielding a knife attempted to enter a bus used by a Jewish preschool in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Crown Heights in Brooklyn, New York City, on Friday, according to a report by Collive news.

The perpetrator allegedly fled as the New York Police Department was called to the scene.

The report noted that the bus driver, while speaking to a parent in the borough, noticed a man exit his vehicle. A teacher accompanying the children saw him reach into his car and grab a small knife. The teacher also said he was speaking a language unfamiliar to her.

"When I saw the knife, I began shouting to the bus driver to keep moving. The man began hamming the knife at the door of the bus, banging on the doors and trying to open them. Thank G-d the doors were closed."

The teacher then proceeded to call 911, prompting the attacker to flee the scene. Volunteers from the Shomrim also arrived at the scene quickly, while police allegedly took 30 minutes to arrive.

Police responded to the teacher's criticism by saying that the neighborhood is suffering from a crime epidemic.

"They told me that there is a huge amount of crime happening in the neighborhood now, and they don't have enough officers," the teacher said.

"People need to know that there is terrible chaos right now,"
Matt Le Tissier is right to apologise for comparing rules on mask-wearing during COVID-19 pandemic to the Holocaust
Matt Le Tissier has apologised for comparing rules on mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic to the Holocaust in a highly controversial and ill-considered social media post.

The football pundit, who was until recently a fixture on Sky Sports and continues to serve as an ambassador for Southampton Football Club, shared an image on Twitter that had been posted by another user in response to a police officer challenging a train passenger for not wearing a protective face mask.

The image showed the famous child victim of the Holocaust, Anna Frank, with the caption: “The people who hid Anne Frank were breaking the law. The people who killed her were following it.”

After a social media backlash, Mr Le Tissier apologised, saying: “Apologies for the recent tweet. Obviously taken out of context so I’ve deleted it so there’s no confusion.” It is not, however, clear what the “context” was other than a comparison between a law requiring people to wear masks to reduce the spread of a pandemic and the systematic genocide of the Jewish people.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Matt Le Tissier is right to apologise for a grossly ill-considered tweet. Everyone is free to express an opinion on the pandemic and lockdown within the bounds of the law, but their opinions should also be expressed within the bounds of taste. Comparing the need to wear a protective mask to protect oneself and others during a worldwide pandemic is in no sense comparable to the systematic murder of over six million Jews because of who they were. Hopefully Mr Le Tissier has now grasped that elementary distinction.”
French anti-Semitic far-right leader Pierre Sidos dies
Far-right French nationalist Pierre Sidos, who headed an openly anti-Semitic movement that later merged with the anti-immigration National Front party, has died aged 93, a close associate said on Saturday.

He died at the hospital in Normandy surrounded by his loved ones, said Yvan Benedetti, who succeeded him as the head of the Oeuvre Francaise movement.

“France has lost one of its best children and nationalism has lost one of its best soldiers,” Bendetti tweeted.

Sidos was an admirer of France’s wartime leader Philippe Petain, who was later imprisoned for treason.

Sidos’s father was executed in 1946 for collaborating with the Nazis.

In an interview, Sidos famously said: “For me, Adolf Hitler was the German Napoleon and Benito Mussolini, the last of the Caesars.”
Urban Aeronautics CEO has designed a made-in-Israel flying car
Urban Aeronautics CEO Rafi Yoeli says he believes a flying car could hit the market soon and it will likely be marketed by his company. He recently fulfilled what he called his life-long dream by building a prototype of a flying car that he envisions being used for both military and civilian purposes one day.

“Some people make a plane with folding wings and say: ‘Look! A flying car!’” Yoeli said. “But, in my mind, it has to look like a car and carry four to five people to be worthy of its name.”

In industry speak, he said it has to have electrical Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) to be a flying car. According to the Deloitte website, eVTOL vehicles have the potential to improve the future of elevated mobility by moving people and cargo more quickly, quietly, and cost-effectively than traditional helicopters. A separate journal described eVTOL as a new means of transport that can fly like an aircraft and take off and land vertically like a helicopter, “sometimes called personal aerial vehicle.”

Yoeli’s company has two models: the CityHawk and the Falcon XP, both of which weigh more than a ton, not including the passengers.

So how did he get these cars to fly?

His solution was to use fuel cells and hydrogen.


Huge pre-state photo collection gets new life with third-generation owner
A deep appreciation for a photographic collection recounting Israel’s early years pushed Ben Peter to try to restore The Photo House, his grandparents’ Tel Aviv storefront with an archive of some one million photos taken in pre-state Israel.

Now a costly relocation back to its original 1936 site, coupled with the coronavirus pandemic, have pushed this historic business to the edge, and Peter is looking for financial help to restore the family business.

“When I look at my grandfather’s collection, I think of a man who left his family in Europe and came to a place because of an idea and documented all things that interested him,” said Peter.

Photographer Rudy Weissenstein, Peter’s grandfather, captured thousands of personal moments with his camera — including a famous photo of his wife, Miriam Weissenstein, descending through the air in what resembles a seated yoga pose — and major events, such as the signing of the Israeli declaration of independence.

“It’s amazing for me to… see all these people in their small moments, and not to erase this but to protect it as is,” said Peter.

Peter didn’t always think of his grandparents’ business that way.

His love and need for stronger ties with his maternal grandmother first brought Peter to the shop when he was 26 and emerging from the painful depths of a familial tragedy.

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