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Wednesday, March 03, 2021

03/03 Links Pt2: Israel has become a wedge issue due to progressive left - David Friedman; Has Ben Rhodes Made the Descent into Antisemitism?; NY Dems’ BDS Debate Shows the Power of the Woke Left

From Ian:

Israel has become a wedge issue due to progressive left - David Friedman
He said that “there was not a place to land this issue in a way that would have great consensus” during the time he served as ambassador – from May 2017 to January 2021.

“Had we reached out to get more buy-in from the Left, we would have lost the support of the Right,” he told the Post, referring to what he considers some of the Trump administration’s greatest accomplishments: recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and changing the State Department’s legal analysis with regards to the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

While there were Democrats who supported the State of Israel, the push against by the so-called progressive Left, had stirred this controversy around support for the Jewish state. Friedman said he wished that more of an effort was undertaken to break that wedge by finding common ground - between both sides of the aisle - for Israel support among all Americans.

The Trump administration announced in November 2019 that it did not view Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal. The announcement by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington marked a historic reversal of US policy.

“Bipartisanship is important,” Friedman said, “but it does not mean that you are looking for the lowest common denominator. If that is the price of bipartisanship then it probably isn't worth it.” He said, “you cannot abandon principles to achieve great consensus” and “it is clear… that uniform support for Israel in the US is being challenged.”

But he said that the United States’ decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is one of the moves the Trump administration made that enjoys greater consensus.
Dexter Van Zile: Has Ben Rhodes Made the Descent into Antisemitism?
Ben Rhodes, the former national security aide to President Obama — who once boasted that he used non-governmental groups and the media to create an “echo chamber” to garner support for the Iran nuclear deal — can’t stand people looking over the government’s shoulder when it formulates policy regarding issues of importance to them.

Rhodes made his contempt for democratic accountability perfectly clear in a recent interview with Peter Beinart, a well-know Israel hater and a fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. During the interview, which allowed Rhodes to promote his forthcoming book, “After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made,” he complained about the interest that American Jews and Christians have exhibited in their concern for foreign policy in the Middle East.

“You have this incredibly organized pro-Israel community that is very accustomed to having access in the White House, in Congress, at the State Department,” Rhodes said. “It’s kind of taken as granted, as given, that that’s going to be the way things are done.”

Rhodes also complained about media oversight of American policy regarding Israel.

“The media interest is dramatically intensified,” he said, complaining of an “aggressive, kind of pro-Likud media in the United States” and of a “mainstream media that delights in Israel controversies.”

The pro-Likud media seems to be anyone who doubts the good intentions of the Iranian government, which is intent on developing nuclear weapons, and declares its desire to attack Israel and the United States on a daily basis. It’s also curious that Rhodes can’t bend the media to his will, since he once said, “The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns. […] They literally know nothing.”


Jonathan S. Tobin: New York Dems’ BDS Debate Shows the Power of the Woke Left
Yang isn’t the only top-tier mayoral contender who is having trouble articulating a position on BDS. City Controller Scott Stringer is a conventional, ultra-liberal Manhattan Jew who also proclaims his opposition to BDS. Yet knowing that he would have to tack to the far-left to win the all-important Democratic primary nomination, he’s been flirting with antisemitic supporters of intersectional ideology that is implacably hostile to the Jewish state, such as members of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Lest anyone think the DSA is some ancient leftist relic of pre-Holocaust socialism, today it’s the political home of party rock stars like New York Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, who knocked off Rep. Eliot Engel in a primary that ended the career of that pro-Israel stalwart. Yang and Stringer may think they can survive the loss of pro-Israel Jewish voters, but not stands that offend the DSA.

It’s impossible to know how all of this will impact the June primary that will likely decide the identity of the next mayor. But this matters because if the increasingly loud ranks of the leftist activist wing of the Democratic Party are going to decide the identity of the next mayor of New York City, it also bodes ill for the future of pro-Israel Democrats candidates.

While the bulk of the Democrats who make up their congressional majority are conventional pro-Israel politicians, the wind is clearly at the backs of so-called progressives like AOC and her pals in the expanded “Squad,” who have little patience for politicians who think supporting the Jewish state is good politics.

New York City isn’t representative of America, but the people who are the loudest and most influential Democrats in the city are very much the inspiration for younger and more left-wing members of the party elsewhere. Simply put, the woke activists in the DSA may not tolerate having a mayor who would write an anti-BDS op-ed such as the one that was published under Yang’s name.

Seen from this perspective, Yang’s retreat from calling out BDS supporters for their antisemitism isn’t just a local kerfuffle but a litmus test that may have a lot to say about the future of the Democrats.


Over 400 academics condemn Bristol professor's 'morally reprehensible' comments
More than 400 leading academics from the UK and from across the globe have signed a letter accusing Professor David Miller of making “morally reprehensible” statements that “risk the personal security and wellbeing of Jewish students and, more widely, Jews in the UK.”

The letter, publicised by the Union of Jewish Students on Tuesday, said that the Bristol University sociology lecturer’s recent statements were “purportedly about ‘Zionism’ and the so-called ‘Zionist movement’” but instead some were directed at Jewish students, UK university Jewish Societies (JSocs) and the Union of Jewish Students

Amongst the signatories were academics from Oxford, Cambridge, Kings College, Liverpool and Manchester University’s from the UK, while academics from America, Australia, Israel Germany and Sweden also gave it their support.

Prominent names include Sir Simon Schama, Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University, Lord Triesman, a former academic and higher education minister, Professor Vernon Bogdanor, of Kings College London.

The mathematics professor Sir Bernard Silverman is amongst several from Bristol University itself to sign the letter.

Also amongst the signatories is Professor David Feldman, director of Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, at Birkbeck, the University of London.

Leading campaigners against antisemitism, including Goldsmiths academic David Hirsh and the Community Security Trust’s Dave Rich are also on the list of supporters of the new letter.

The letter was a response to a letter in support of Professor Miller than sparked communal anger after it was circulated online last weekend.


Far-Left Jewish Group IfNotNow Holds Rally Against Biden Course on Antisemitism, Claims It ‘Won’t Keep Us Safe’
The far-left Jewish group IfNotNow held a small protest Tuesday near the US Capitol to call for a “new approach” from the Biden Administration on antisemitism, condemning its embrace of the leading definition of hatred against Jews.

“@JoeBiden has a choice: appoint a Special Envoy who will fight white supremacy to keep our community safe or one who continues the Trump administration’s strategy of using the role to attack progressive activists and Palestinian allies,” the group tweeted.

In a letter to the American Zionist Movement reported on Monday by Jewish Insider, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Administration “enthusiastically embraces” the International Holocaust Remembrance Association working definition of antisemitism. Blinken specified that this included the IHRA’s list of examples, which counts “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination.”

“Its focus on criticism of Israeli policies does not make Jews or our allies any safer,” the group tweeted about the definition. “Unfortunately, this letter from @SecBlinken is the clearest sign yet that the Biden admin is taking the same old approach to fighting antisemitism that failed under Trump.”

Democratic Majority for Israel, an advocacy group that calls itself “the voice of pro-Israel Democrats,” said on Twitter that IfNotNow “hates Biden, embraces antisemitism & has little integrity.”


Bernard-Henri Levy: How Turkey's Erdogan conned ‘The New York Times’ - opinion
In an enormous PR victory for the country that jails more journalists than any other in the world, The New York Times performed a shocking act of journalistic vandalism, crowing “Turkish Forces in Syria Protect 5 Million People” — subsequently re-titled to a still objectionable “In Turkey’s Safe Zone in Syria, Security and Misery Go Hand in Hand.”

This exercise in pro-Ankara propaganda neatly parrots the Turkish military occupation’s script. In so doing, it sidelines the ethnic cleansing of Afrin’s genuine local population, the Kurds, the forced Turkification of cultural heritage, and an unprecedented deterioration in human rights, particularly for women — all of which is being perpetrated in plain sight by a NATO member. A must-read account of the controversy surrounding this article, as well as rebuttal of its surrealistic narrative, is most trenchantly provided by The Jerusalem Post’s Seth Frantzman in his “NYT accused of whitewashing Turkey’s Afrin occupation.”

Justice for Kurds (“JFK”) – the advocacy organization that we established in 2018 – utterly rejects the concept of Western passivity in the face of such tragedy. JFK’s riposte to Turkish aggression, therefore, has been to call it as we see it and, rather than laying down, doubling down.

As perhaps the best exclamation mark to this call to action, on the very same day as the Afrin coverage debacle, another article was published in the outlet ForeignLobby.com under the title “Erdogan-bashing Kurdish advocacy group lobbies Biden for reset with Syrian Kurds.” This piece noted that last year, to commemorate the first anniversary of the Turkish invasion of northern Syria, JFK published a two-page spread in the same New York Times, but in this instance titled “It’s Time to Break with Erdogan.” Against the visual backdrop of a bravely defiant Kurdish female soldier, we evidenced literally dozens of recent headlines from reputable publications calling Turkey to account for its malign behavior not just against the Kurdish people in Syria, Iraq and Turkey itself, but also in the Levant and broader Eastern Mediterranean, as well as North Africa and the Red Sea – not to mention its dubious, two-faced loyalty to NATO.
BBC asks if Jewish success negates their minority status
On Saturday, the Deputy leader of the Labour Party, Angela Rayner, tweeted about new Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who’s of Pakistani descent, hailing him as the first ever ethnic minority party leader, a fact which came as a surprise to those who recalled four Jewish party leaders over the years.

BBC Politics Live aired a segment on the row yesterday, and invited four non-Jews on the programme to share their views on how Judaism should be defined, whilst a a banner at the bottom of the screen read: “Should Jews Count As An Ethnic Minority?”.

After that panel segment, journalist Benjamin Cohen, CEO of Pink News, was interviewed by the BBC presenter, Jo Coburn (who herself is Jewish), and asked him the following question:
“Benjamin, isn’t there a wider point, that actually perhaps the fact that Angela Rayner didn’t immediately recognise previous Jewish political leaders in her tweet underlines the fact that many Jews have succeeded in reaching high political office and therefore don’t need to be seen as a group need recognition [as ethnic minorities] as the same way as others.”
BBC Arabic's under-reporting of fatal violence against Israelis
A post by CAMERA Arabic

In early February the Jewish Chronicle published an investigation into anti-Israel bias and inaccuracies at BBC Arabic. That report includes the following:
“…while the BBC reported in English on 34 fatal terror attacks on Israeli civilians between 2015 and 2020, its Arabic service covered just 25 of these, analysts said, seriously downplaying the extent of Palestinian brutality.”

CAMERA Arabic analysed all incidents since the conclusion of Operation Protective Edge in August 2014 in which Israeli civilians and/or foreign nationals were murdered in Palestinian terror attacks Of the 47 incidents (the JC used data from January 2015 onwards: 42 incidents), BBC English language services failed to report nine, while BBC Arabic failed to cover 18 incidents.

BBC Arabic’s coverage of five additional attacks was also problematic. In three cases, the Arabic service covered the incidents up to the point that there were no Israeli fatalities on record, then opted not to follow-up on the story once the victims succumbed to their wounds a day or more later. In another case, BBC Arabic reported a fatal attack only a week after it happened and an additional incident was mentioned only on Twitter.

In other words, between September 2014 and the present, the BBC Arabic website has only produced timely coverage of civilian deaths resulting from Palestinian terrorism in 51% of the cases. Coverage of the same events by the BBC in the English language stands at 79%.




Portugal closer to embracing IHRA definition of anti-Semitism after incident
Portuguese legislators were set to meet Wednesday to discuss the possible adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working definition of anti-Semitism after Rodrigo Sousa Castro, one of the leaders of the 1974 Portuguese Revolution, sparked a nationwide controversy with a grossly anti-Semitic tweet.

"The Jews, as they dominate global finance, they bought and have the vaccines they wanted. It's a kind of historical revenge. And I won't say more until the Zionist bulldogs jump," the tweet said.

Castro's post drew criticism from Jewish communities and organizations, as well as Portuguese parliamentarians.

Telmo Correia, a member of Portugal's CDS People's Party, condemned Castro and called on the parliament to take action against "the worrisome rise in anti-Semitism," noting that social media was being used "to incite hatred against the Jewish people."

Catarina Ferreira, a member of Portugal's Social Democratic Party, called on the government to adopt the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism.

"The country's current definition is very broad, and we are interested in refining it," Ferreira told Israel Hayom. "As soon as we came across Castro's post, we knew we had to take action. We will certainly not tolerate hate speech in any form."

The IHRA definition says: "Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities."

The socialist party condemned Castro's remarks but did not call for immediate action against him.
Australian Island State of Tasmania to Build New Holocaust Commemoration Center
Australia’s island state of Tasmania announced the construction of a forthcoming Holocaust commemoration center on Tuesday.

Tasmania’s Attorney-General Elise Archer said the state government would work with the local Jewish community to develop and progress plans for the center. A date for the center’s opening has not been set.

News that the center had been approved was announced at the synagogue in Hobart, Tasmania’s capital, at a special ceremony on Tuesday night.

An emotional Josh Frydenberg, Australia’s Federal Treasurer, told the audience: “Ladies and gentleman, this is a very solemn occasion but this means so much to me.”

Felix Goldschmied — a Holocaust survivor who lives in Tasmania — separately recalled his experiences as a child living under Nazi occupation.

“My time during the Holocaust was not very nice, my relatives were all murdered, went to Auschwitz concentration camp, and my father was interned in a concentration camp,” he said.

Goldschmied explained that the purpose of the new Holocaust center was “to stop hatred, inhuman behavior, discrimination.”
The President of Tunisia Slanders the Jews
Video of Saied’s speech circulated quickly in the Tunisian media. Many are saying the slur about Jews was a mere slip of the tongue, though the word “Jews” can clearly be heard in the video. Government officials are claiming that Saied did not say “Jews” but rather a similar-sounding word in Arabic.

Saied’s office issued a statement on the matter that contained several parts:
1. A total denial that the president had defamed any religion;
2. A claim that the president draws a distinction between the Jewish religion and Zionism;
3. A reminder that Saied recently visited a Tunisian synagogue (where he offended his hosts by refusing to wear a skullcap, though this was not mentioned);
4. A claim that the whole story was a conspiracy against the Tunisian people; and
5. A verse from the Koran.

Tunisia is unique in that it contains thousands of Jews, and hardly any of them have been harmed. Three Jewish ministers have served in the government, including Rene Trabelsi, who served as minister of tourism in the administration that preceded that of Saied.

That is not to say that the Tunisian people are uniformly fond of the Jews. Saied was elected two years ago on campaign promises that he would maintain no ties with Israel, that normalization with Israel constitutes treason, and that he would bar Israelis from visiting the country.

With that said, Saied has not issued any criticism of the four Arab states that signed peace agreements with Israel in recent months.
StandWithUs Calls on Congressman to Apologize for Speaking at Conference Hosted by White Supremacist
StandWithUs calls on Congressman Paul Gosar of Arizona to apologize for appearing as the keynote speaker at the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC), which is led by white supremacist Nick Fuentes. While Rep. Gosar seemed to distance himself from Fuentes and his white supremacism, he did not apologize for normalizing this hatred.

“This is how normalization of hate occurs and grows. The appearance of a sitting U.S. Member of Congress at a white supremacist conference legitimizes racism and antisemitism. It seems that some people are unable to learn the lessons of history,” said Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs and the daughter of two Holocaust survivors.

Fuentes has denied the Holocaust, accused Jews of killing Jesus, made racist statements about African-Americans, accused Jews of spreading COVID-19, and said, “You know what? You know what our problem is? The fertility rates. We need to be making more beautiful white Christian babies.”

“This is what Rep. Gosar normalizes when he speaks at an event organized by the likes of Nick Fuentes. We urge the leadership of the Republican Party to distance itself from Rep. Gosar and to take the same action it took against former Congressman Steve King for his racist comments, which was to remove him from all his committee appointments,” said Rothstein.

Gosar’s own comments earned him the disdain of his own family, which publicly supported his opponent in the 2018 midterm elections. In a series of ads, six of his brothers and sisters condemned his positions as “racist” and “antisemitic.” His sister, Grace Gosar, said, “It would be difficult to see my brother as anything but a racist.”
Abraham Accords sees sweet results in form of D’vash business cooperation
The U.S.-brokered normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in the fall of last year has already helped foster many new business relationships between Jews and Muslims who live in those respective countries.

At the same time, the agreement has afforded Israelis and Emirates who have been quietly working together for years the opportunity to openly partner with each other in order to expand their relationships like never before.

One of the companies that has been doing business in the UAE for several years and is now reaping the benefits of the deal is D’vash Organics, which produces a line of date honey or date syrup (silan) products.

While D’vash Organics is technically based in Los Angeles, its co-founder and CEO Brian Finkel lives with his family in Yakir, an Israeli community in Judea and Samaria, more commonly known as the West Bank.

Finkel, who immigrated to Israel in 2013 from the Chicago area, told JNS that he was unfamiliar with date syrup until he saw “how ubiquitous it was in Israel.”

He added, “I would find it up and down the aisles of Israeli supermarkets.”

In 2017, Finkel went into business with David Czinn—a friend he made as a student during his gap year in Israel who was already in the food business in California—with the hopes of introducing products made from date syrup into American markets. The pair succeeded to entice investors to join their venture, including many Israelis.
In Wake of Covid-19 Windfall, Israeli Founded Online Gig Marketplace Fiverr to Raise $700 Million At $10 Billion Valuation
Nasdaq-traded and Israeli-founded online gig marketplace Fiverr is in the process of raising $700 million dollars in a follow-on offering after its stock price spiked nearly tenfold over the past year. Shares of the online platform that connects freelancers and solopreneurs of all sorts to employers are currently being traded at roughly $280, reflecting an enterprise value of $10 billion.

J.P. Morgan Securities, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, Wall Street’s biggest investment banks, are acting as book-running managers for the proposed offering. The offering comes on the heels of the 460 million senior convertible notes offering last October, leaving it with more than $700 million in its coffers.

Fiverr was one of the standout Israeli companies that not only wasn’t hurt by the Covid-19 pandemic, but was given a major boost by it. With businesses everywhere being forced to downsize their workforce and transition to remote work, the freelancer ecosystem thrived and Fiverr’s platform was there to provide solutions for the organizations as well as the individuals who needed to take on new projects.

The company finished out the year with 77% growth in revenues, amounting to $189.5 million and for the first time becoming cash flow positive. The company’s adjusted EBITDA in 2020 improved to $9.1 million, compared to $18 million in 2019.
Elbit Wins $300 Million Contract in Asia for Hermes Drone
Israel’s Elbit Systems announced on Monday that it has been awarded a contract worth about $300 million to supply Hermes 900 Unmanned Aircraft Systems to an unnamed country in Asia. The contract will be fulfilled over five years.

In a press release, Elbit said it will supply its Asian client with Hermes 900 UAS and associated systems, and will also provide maintenance and support services.

The Hermes 900 UAS has so far been sold to 12 countries—a testament to its competitive edge and technological sophistication, the defense contractor said.

Elbit Systems President and CEO Bezhalel Machlis said, “There is a continuous demand for integrating unmanned systems to cope with a growing variety of operational needs. Our operational portfolio of autonomous capabilities, in all domains of operation, positions us competitively to address these needs.”
Israel’s Sheba named among top 10 hospitals in the world
Israel’s largest hospital has been ranked No. 10 on the “World’s Best Hospitals 2021” list published by Newsweek magazine.

The listing, which was revealed on Wednesday, is determined by the magazine in collaboration with market and consumer data company Statista.

This is the third year that Sheba Medical Center made the list – last year, it was No. 9.

“As the events of 2020 made clear, our lives and those of our loved ones may rest on the kind of healthcare we have access to,” Newsweek’s global editor-in-chief Nancy Cooper wrote in the introduction to the list.

“The 2,000 hospitals named in this list – which covers 25 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Canada – stand out for their consistent excellence, including distinguished physicians, top-notch nursing care and state-of-the-art technology.”

A release by Sheba said the hospital believes it was included in the list because of its superior healthcare, its drive toward medical innovation and cutting-edge research.
Wix buys Miami’s SpeedETab to boost offering of online presence for restaurants
Wix, an Israeli firm that helps small businesses build and operate websites, said Tuesday it is acquiring Miami-based ordering technology provider SpeedETab to improve its offering for restaurant owners seeking an online presence. Financial details were not disclosed.

The acquisition will complement the Israeli firm’s Wix Restaurants solution, which enables restaurant owners to create an online and mobile presence, provide menus, take online orders and reservations, and receive payments.

SpeedETab, an ordering and payment technology provider for the restaurant industry, provides users with an end-to-end online and mobile ordering solution. Founded in 2013, SpeedETab partners with multiple providers in the restaurant ecosystem to improve the experience for diners and drive revenue growth for restaurant owners. SpeedETab employees will now become Wix team members, Wix said in a statement.

Over the past year, Wix Restaurants’ global user base grew significantly as restaurants needed to quickly move their services online and provide ordering, delivery, and pickup options, the statement said. The Wix Restaurants vertical has continued to evolve to meet these new and increasing demands, the statement added.

In the last two years, Wix Restaurants’ monthly new signups grew from hundreds to tens of thousands. Overall, the number of restaurants selling online grew by 143%, the number of online orders grew by 378% and the gross payments volume grew by 449%.
85-year-old Israeli testifies to Nazi-inspired pogrom that massacred Iraqi Jewry
Holocaust narratives of European Jewry are well-documented, but far less is published about how Germany’s influence decimated Jewish communities in the Middle East during and after World War II.

Born Riad Izzat Al-Sassoon Mualem in Diwaniya, Iraq, Daniel Sasson says, “there is a need for this story to be known, with an emphasis on the connection between Nazi ghettos in Europe and the ghetto in Iraq.” The 85-year-old Sasson spoke to The Times of Israel from his home in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan with the desire to shine light on the fading history of what he and countless other Iraqi Jews endured.

Sasson also recently documented his experiences in a book titled “The Untold Story: The First and Last Ghetto in Iraq,” available in Hebrew. In it, he describes his childhood in Iraq and how an alliance between Hitler and Iraqi prime minister Rashid Ali al-Gaylani temporarily shifted the balance of power in the country.

Due to this alliance, Iraq subjected its roughly 150,000 Jews to German-imported anti-Semitism. The Jews were forced to live in a ghetto and eventually massacred in a Nazi-inspired pogrom called the Farhud.

While Iraq’s royal family supported the British, who earlier had maintained a mandate in Iraq, the ardently nationalist al-Gaylani instead aligned himself with the Axis powers, seeking to minimize British influence in his country even as the United Kingdom levied harsh economic sanctions in retaliation.

The relationship between al-Gaylani and Hitler produced a ripple-effect of anti-Semitism which led to a 1941 pogrom called the Farhud, and the eventual exodus of the 2,500-year-old community — including Sasson’s own family, who fled to Israel.



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