Pages

Sunday, March 07, 2021

03/07 Links: David Collier: BDS network exposed as front for Islamic terror groups; PA: ‘If ICC Indicts Israel, We Can Take US Firms to Court’; Three Gazan fishermen killed in suspected Hamas rocket misfire

From Ian:

David Collier: Exclusive – BDS network exposed as front for Islamic terror groups
BDS is an arm of the terror groups
Given all the evidence, it is clear that the terrorists and their supporters that dominate the GCRP and its events are not hangers-on but rather the driving ideology behind the entire project and its goals.

Take a look at this image:
It is the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (a supporter of the terrorist network) sharing an article from Samidoun (another supporter of the terrorist network) reporting an event in which Ahed Tamimi (a supporter of the terrorist network) was given the floor. The tragedy is that this event took place in the European Parliament in Brussels. It is Iranian Islamist influence spreading anti-Jewish hate throughout Europe and centres of influence in the west.

The GCRP now spew out an endless stream of propaganda via their outlets and their material is shared relentlessly in online anti-Israel groups:
And on campus:


The openly stated goal of this terrorist support network is to use participants in its events as tools to spread the word across the globe. The images above shows both how it works – and more scarily, how well it all succeeds. This is from the closing statement at the launch event:

The evidence is all here. Using solidarity movements as proxies and hiding behind human rights keywords, radical Islamic ideology spreads into our high streets and onto our university campuses. They turn up with catchy slogans such as ‘Apartheid week’ or ‘BDS’ – but the driving force behind all this is a radical Islamic genocidal force that seeks to destroy the Jewish presence in the region – simply because it is Jewish. This has nothing to do with human rights. It is a key element in a radical Islamic holy war.
Khaled Abu Toameh: PLO slams US for ignoring Palestinian misery and pro-Israel, anti-ICC bias
Palestinians have accused the Biden Administration of ignoring their suffering for its bias in opposing the International Criminal Court's war crimes probe into Israeli action in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza.

The US “totally ignored the legitimate rights of the Palestinians to have a viable state, while the Israeli occupation state continues to annex vast areas of the Palestinian territory in an attempt to undermine the so-called two-state solution," said Tayseer Khaled, member of the PLO Executive Committee on Saturday.

Khaled referred specifically to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s speech on foreign policy last week, in which he said Palestinian suffering has been completely ignored.

“Blinken did not even mention a word with regard to the suffering the Palestinian people face under occupation, nor anything about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and its impact on security and stability in the region,” he said.

“This confirms that the new US administration pays no attention to reviewing the destructive policy of the Trump administration," Khaled said. Blinken did not mention the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his major policy speech last week. Similarly, the Biden administration's Interim National Security Strategic Guidance published last week laid out a Middle East strategy that spoke of Israel, but not of the Palestinians. A senior Palestinian official in Ramallah also expressed disappointment with the Biden administration for opposing last week's decision by ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to open a war crimes investigation into the actions of Israelis and Palestinians.
Palestinian Authority: ‘If ICC Indicts Israel, We Can Take US Firms to Court’
In an interview that aired on Palestine T.V. on March 1, Shtayyeh said, “Before we turned to the ICC, there had been tremendous and unparalleled pressure.”

“I was in New York when a delegation from the State Department came. They left Washington, D.C., at six o’clock in the morning so that they could meet [Palestinian Authority] President [Mahmoud] Abbas in New York. The reason was that our membership in the ICC is not only against Israel,” he said.

“If Israel is indicted, all the parties involved in the Israeli actions against the Palestinians will also be indicted. This means that we can also take the American companies and organizations that support Israel to court. Hence, the deputy secretary of state said to President Abu Mazen [Abbas]: ‘If you become members in the ICC, it will be like obtaining nuclear weapons.”

Neither Israel nor the United States is a signatory to the Rome Statute from which the ICC derives its authority.

The Palestinian premier also said that the P.A.’s appeal to the ICC had “shattered” Israel’s claimed “monopoly on pain.”

“Israel was basically purporting that the Jews in the world were the only ones who were tormented by the Nazis and so on,” he said.

“Our appeal to the ICC demonstrates and proves that the Palestinian people suffer, their prisoners have been tortured and killed, Palestinians have been martyred and displaced … So we shattered the monopoly on pain that Israel purported to have,” he added.


Less than 3% of serious COVID cases are fully vaccinated, proving effectiveness
Less than three percent of all seriously ill COVID-19 patients in Israel have been fully vaccinated, according to Health Ministry figures released Sunday, in the latest figures proving the success of coronavirus vaccines,

Of the 6,095 coronavirus patients hospitalized in serious or critical condition since the start of Israel’s vaccination campaign, only 175, or 2.87 percent, had received the second vaccination dose, the figures show.

At the same time, 4,589 patients, or 75% of those in serious or critical condition, had not received a first dose.

Almost 5 million Israelis — 4,929,084 — have received at least one vaccine dose, and 3,716,439 have received both shots.

The Health Ministry said Sunday that 1,923 new coronavirus cases were diagnosed on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 800,721.

The rate of positive tests has continued its steep drop and now stands at 4.3%, after surpassing 10% in January.

There were 40,650 active cases, including 724 in serious condition, 262 listed as critical and 210 on ventilators.

The death toll climbed to 5,861.
Half of serious COVID cases are Arab Israelis, as community’s vaccinations lag
Half of Israel’s 710 serious COVID-19 patients are from the Arab Israeli community, where the vaccination rates are the lowest, according to a Saturday report.

Arab Israelis make up around 21 percent of Israel’s population.

Channel 12 reported that 95% of the patients in serious condition haven’t been immunized against the virus, and 25% are under the age of 50. Serious cases among younger people have become more common as new variants spread in recent months.

Arab Israelis and the ultra-Orthodox have fallen behind in immunization rates.

According to Prof. Eran Segal of the Weizmann Institute, some 90% of all Israelis aged 16 and up who aren’t ultra-Orthodox or Arab have either recovered from COVID-19 or received at least one vaccine dose.

The equivalent figure for the ultra-Orthodox community was 70%, while the lowest immunization rate, 67%, was among Arab Israelis.

For Israelis over 50, Segal said Friday that 98% of Israelis who aren’t ultra-Orthodox or Arab are vaccinated or recovered. For the ultra-Orthodox, the figure was 81%, and for Arabs, 84%, or 47,000 people.

Channel 13 reported Friday that most Arab-majority cities are designated as “red” areas with high infection rates. In the Arab city of Umm al Fahm, the weekly infection rate has climbed by 45% and the test positivity rate is 18%, the report said.
Virus czar says masks outdoors largely unnecessary, may not be enforced
The government’s coronavirus czar Nachman Ash on Sunday said the requirement to wear masks outdoors was largely unnecessary and suggested it would not be enforced by police.

He acknowledged in an interview with the Kan public broadcaster that wearing masks outside was “far less important” and “can be given up.” But Ash said that in order to avoid confusion, health guidelines will continue to require mask-wearing, both indoors and outdoors.

Israelis have been required to wear face masks outdoors since last April.

However, “in terms of enforcement, our emphasis to police is not to enforce [mask-wearing] in these places [outdoors], but rather indoors,” he said.

He said the Health Ministry has asked police to focus their attention on enforcing quarantine violations among those who have arrived in Israel from abroad.

The interview came as Israel allowed large parts of the economy to reopen Sunday, prompting a warning from Ash to exercise caution.
Quarantine hotels to close as ministers advance electronic bracelet bill
Ministers are expected to vote next week on advancing legislation requiring those returning to Israel to self-isolate at home with an electronic bracelet, as the law forcing returnees to stay in government-run quarantine hotels expires Sunday.

Due to the uncoordinated schedules, there may be a period of some two weeks where returnees will be sent to home isolation without any additional supervision, Channel 12 reported Thursday.

According to a draft of the bill, those who refuse to wear a bracelet, or are unable to self-isolate at home, will be required to stay at one of the government-run quarantine hotels as an alternative.

Additionally, ministers will vote on lowering the age for those who will be required to be under electronic supervision, from 18 down to 14.

Around 100 people participated in an electronic bracelet pilot program last week. The bracelets monitored their location to ensure they adhered to Health Ministry guidelines through their two-week quarantine period.

If the program is approved for wider use, all arrivals will be tested for coronavirus at Ben Gurion Airport, and if the tests come back negative, they will be able to receive the bracelet. The bracelet can be worn on either the wrist or ankle.

Currently, the key issue with the program is the limited number of bracelets, and the Health Ministry is looking into other alternatives, such as an app that will require self-isolators to report their location at random times, Channel 12 reported.

The ministry said in a statement when launching the pilot that the idea was “to provide more efficient alternatives to arrivals in the country, and out of a desire to limit harm to personal freedoms.”
Seth Frantzman: Iraqi government prevents Jews from participating in Pope’s historic visit
The Iraqi government ignored the history of Iraqi Jews during the visit of Pope Francis last week, marring an otherwise unprecedented visit, and wasting an opportunity to highlight the Jewish part of Iraq’s history.

The Vatican hoped that Jews would be part of the events attended by Pope Francis in Iraq, with Vatican News even noting that the pope met “representatives of the three Abrahamic religions at Ur of the Chaldeans in Iraq an urges Christians, Muslims and Jews to journey along a path of peace under the stars of the promise God made to Abraham.” However, a public delegation of Jews was not able to attend the event.

Iraqi-born Edwin Shuker, who visits Baghdad regularly, expressed disappointment that the Iraqi government “wasted a historic opportunity to reconcile with its Jews by inviting them to attend the ceremony at Ur and use the occasion to recognize and correct the injustice committed against them by successive governments.”

The Pope’s message was in contrast to the Iraqi government. “As the children of Abraham, Jews, Christians and Muslims, together with other believers and all persons of good will, we thank you for having given us Abraham,” the pope prayed on Saturday.

However, the Iraqi government officials ignored the history of the Iraqi Jewish community. This was the case at Ur and also during the pope’s subsequent trip to Mosul, where a Jewish community once thrived. At least half a dozen ancient synagogues have been uncovered in Mosul.
Woman who sparked national drama by crossing into Syria is charged in court
An Israeli woman who walked across the border into Syria in early February and was returned later that month after a flurry of international negotiations was indicted for her actions Sunday at the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court.

The contents of the indictment were partially barred from publication, but the charges include illegally exiting the country.

The woman, whose identity is barred from publication, has reportedly suffered from mental ill-health in the past.

She is reported to be a 25-year-old from Modiin Illit who left the ultra-Orthodox community. It is unclear why she entered Syria. She apparently crossed at a less-monitored part of the border fence, on foot and on her own.

The Axios news site, citing Israeli officials, has said the woman studied Arabic and in the past had been prevented from crossing the southern border into the Gaza Strip.

The woman was returned to Israel via Russia on February 19, in a deal brokered by Moscow. As part of the deal, Israel released several Syrian nationals in its custody and reportedly financed the purchase of $1.2 million worth of Russian-made COVID-19 vaccines for Syrian use.
2 years jail for Palestinian who failed to report terror plot which killed teen
A member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist group was sentenced to two years in prison Sunday for failure to prevent a 2019 terror attack in which an Israeli teenager was killed.

On August 23, 2019, an IED that had been planted next to the Bubin natural spring in the central West Bank, near the Dolev settlement, was triggered by terrorists as the Shnerb family from the central Israeli town of Lod visited the site. Rina Shnerb, 17, was declared dead at the scene and her father Eitan and brother Dvir, 19, were taken to a hospital in Jerusalem after being wounded by the blast.

Khaled Koed was sentenced by the IDF military court as part of a plea deal in which he admitted to having been told about the attack ahead of time by two members of the cell that carried it out.

The Shnerb family slammed the “lenient” sentence, saying in a statement that it would harm Israel’s deterrence.

“The court’s decision to approve the lenient sentence that the military prosecution sought to impose on the terrorist shames the soldiers who worked days and nights to arrest the terrorists and significantly harms the deterrence of the State of Israel,” the family said.

According to the Shin Bet security service, the explosive was planted at the site and triggered remotely by a cell belonging to the PLFP, led by Samer Mina Salim Arbid, who was arrested shortly after the attack.
Three Gazan fishermen killed in suspected Hamas rocket misfire
Three Palestinian fishermen were killed in an explosion off the coast of the Gaza Strip in what appeared to be a misfired rocket launched by the Hamas terror group.

The explosion occurred close to the coast of Khan Younis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip. The three deceased fishermen, Yahya Mustafa al-Laham, Hamdi al-Laham and Zakaria al-Laham, were two brothers and their cousin, Gaza fishermens’ union head Nizar Ayyah told local media.

“They were the martyrs of their daily bread,” the al-Laham family said in a statement on their official Facebook page. The three had died, the family said, after “a local mortar struck their boat.”

Hamas regularly fires experimental rockets toward the sea, both to test their military capacities and as a show of force.

Hamas’s military wing said it mourned the death of the three fishermen “with great sorrow.”

In its statement, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades did not take responsibility for the deaths of the three fishermen.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Former PA premier Fayyad to head ‘independent list’ in elections
Former Palestinian Authority prime minister Salam Fayyad is planning to run in the Palestinian general elections at the head of a list of independent personalities, he said Sunday.

Fayyad, 69, served as prime minister from 2007 through 2013.

Between 2002 and 2005, he served as PA finance minister. He resigned from the PA cabinet in November 2005 to run as founder and head of the new Third Way list for the parliamentary election, which took place in 2006. The list won two seats in the 132-member Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).

Fayyad’s No. 2 was Hanan Ashrawi, who was a member of the PLO Executive Committee. She recently resigned from the PLO.

Fayyad is expected to announce his decision to run in the elections in an interview with the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds that will be published on Tuesday.

On the eve of the publication of the interview, some Palestinians said Fayyad was being backed by the United Arab Emirates, where deposed Fatah official Mohammad Dahlan, an archrival of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, is based.

Others said he was closely associated with Dahlan.
PMW: Fatah vows “our souls are presents for Palestine” - in video collage of men carrying assault rifles
Abbas’ Fatah Movement regularly reminds Palestinians that it has not put down its weapons, reveres the rifle, and is committed to destroying Israel. In numerous statements, Fatah officials have expressed their pride in terror attacks and murders of Israelis, as exposed by Palestinian Media Watch.

Three videos posted recently by Fatah on different Facebook pages are examples of such promotion of violence. Photos of youth and adults marching with assault rifles are mixed with images of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas while speakers refer to all of Israel as “Palestine” and promise Martyrdom for “Palestine”:

Fatah vows Martyrdom for “Palestine”: “Our souls are presents for Palestine”

Fatah narrator: “Oh Fatah! Your children have gathered today, embrace them firmly…
Be a solid arm for Palestine emitting a revolutionary fire!
Fatah’s victories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will not be finite victories. For the sake of Yasser [Arafat], we all belong to Fatah, and our souls are presents for Palestine.”
Posted text on Facebook page: “Fatah will triumph, Allah willing”
[Facebook page of the Fatah Movement – Hebron Branch, Feb. 15, 2021]


Fatah is “leading the national battle of liberation” - with kids bearing rifles and man firing RPG



Ballistic missiles target north Syria oil facilities in rare attack
An unusual attack on oil facilities in Turkish-occupied northern Syria occurred on Friday evening. Locals reported large explosions near Al-Bab and Jarablus. Turkey invaded this area in the fall of 2016 in Operation Euphrates Shield. The use of ballistic missiles points to a sophisticated state-backed operation against the oil facilities. Many alleged Russia and the Syrian regime were behind the attack which appears aimed at denying Turkish-backed Syrian groups from trading oil.

Turkish media and reports did not speculate on who fired the missiles.

Anadolu, a state-backed channel in Turkey, said that three people were killed and dozens were wounded. It said that “ballistic missiles were fired at the Tarhin region of al-Bab district and Al-Hamran region of Jarablus district on the border with Turkey.

In the past, Russia has targeted oil facilities in Syria used by ISIS. In 2015, Russia accused Turkey of shooting down a Russian plane out of a desire to protect “oil supply lines to Turkish territory” that come from ISIS-held areas. In December 2015, Russia carried out airstrikes on areas where ISIS was conducting oil trade.

The missile strikes on March 5 were large and included video that showed explosions. Those videos appeared online on Friday night. Ballistic missiles have been used increasingly in the region. Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen often fire ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia. Iran has also been testing improved and more precise missiles.
Iranian Dissidents Slam Nominee for Top Defense Post
President Joe Biden’s nominee for a top Pentagon post, Colin Kahl, is coming under fire from Iranian dissidents for his close ties with advocates for the Iranian regime.

Kahl, nominated to be the undersecretary of defense for policy, is a White House and State Department veteran who spoke at multiple events for the National Iranian American Council, an organization that helped arrange meetings between U.S. and Iranian government officials.

In 2012, NIAC lost a defamation suit against Iranian-American activist Hassan Dai, who had called the organization a lobbying group for the Iranian regime. During the case, records emerged that showed NIAC working with Iranian officials and engaging in other lobbying activities, and a federal judge ruled that NIAC leader Trita Parsi’s work was "not inconsistent with the idea that he was first and foremost an advocate for the regime."

Kahl also hosted meetings at the White House with NIAC founder Trita Parsi, who actively discouraged the Obama administration from supporting opposition protests against Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009. He has promoted the work of a pollster at the University of Tehran Center for Public Opinion Research, which is run by one of the Iranian regime’s most vocal public advocates.

Senate Republicans have raised concerns about Kahl’s policy views and temperament in the wake of a Washington Free Beacon reported on his history of heated partisan Twitter posts taking aim at the Republican Party. Sens. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) and Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) said they will oppose Kahl’s nomination due to serious policy disagreements—including Kahl’s opposition to Iran sanctions and criticism of the U.S. military strike on Iranian terror chief Qassem Soleimani.

The criticism from Iranian dissidents is likely to draw further scrutiny of his nomination.
Rouhani says Europe should avoid ‘threats or pressure’ in talks with Iran
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani Sunday urged Europe to avoid “threats or pressure” in any negotiations with Tehran, as he received Ireland’s foreign minister amid diplomatic efforts to revive a landmark nuclear deal.

Ireland is currently “facilitator” for the United Nations Security Council resolution that enshrined the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and six major powers, according to the Irish foreign ministry.

The deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has been hanging by a thread since former US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018 and reimposed punishing sanctions on Tehran.

Following Joe Biden’s US presidential election victory in November, the US and the European parties to the deal — France, Germany and Britain — have been trying to salvage the accord, as Iran continues to step up violations of the deal.

“The best way to solve problems with European partners at various bilateral, regional and international levels, is negotiations based on mutual respect and avoiding any threats or pressure,” Rouhani told Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney at Sunday’s meeting, according to a statement by the Iranian presidency.

Ireland is not party to the nuclear deal, but currently sits on the UN Security Council.
If Israel attacks, we’ll raze Tel Aviv and Haifa, warns Iranian defense minister
Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami on Sunday threatened that his country will give a devastating response to any Israeli attack, and that the Jewish state is aware of the peril, according to Iranian media reports.

“Sometimes, the Zionist regime [Israel] out of desperation makes big claims against the Islamic Republic of Iran to allegedly threaten it,” Hatami said at a ceremony for soldiers, according to English-language reports of his remarks. “It must know that if it does a damn thing, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground.”

He went on to say that Iran has all the power it needs to “maintain the stability of the country” and boasted of its regional power via “resistance groups.”

His remarks came after last week Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz said during an interview with Fox News that if the world doesn’t do something about Iran’s nuclear program then Israel may go it alone. He said that Israel is updating its plans for a prospective military strike.

“If the world stops them [Iran] before, it’s much the better. But if not, we must stand independently and we must defend ourselves by ourselves,” said the defense minister.

Israel has twice conducted military strikes against the nuclear programs of its enemies — Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007 — under what’s become known as the Begin Doctrine, which maintains that Jerusalem will not allow an enemy country to obtain an atomic weapon.

Gantz has previously warned Israel would carry out a military strike against Iran, if necessary.
After 5 years, Iran frees UK-Iranian woman accused of spying, but sets new trial
A British-Iranian woman held in an Iranian prison for five years on widely refuted spying charges ended her sentence on Sunday, her lawyer said, although she faces a new trial and cannot yet return home.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was able to remove her ankle bracelet for the first time since she was released from prison on furlough last March because of the surging coronavirus pandemic, the lawyer said. She has been under house arrest at her parent’s home in the capital of Tehran since.

Iranian state-run media on Sunday that she has been summoned to court again on March 13 over murky new charges, including “spreading propaganda,” which were first announced last fall.

Her long-running case, playing out against the backdrop of a decades-old debt dispute between Britain and Iran, has strained diplomatic ties between the countries and sparked international outrage.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Sunday welcomed the removal of Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s ankle tag but called for her to be allowed to return home.

“Iran’s continued treatment of her is intolerable,” he said on Twitter. “She must be allowed to return to the UK as soon as possible to be reunited with her family.”
Johnathan Tobin: Courage was the reason campus anti-Semites were beaten
It was a familiar story but with an unfamiliar conclusion. A Jewish student objected to the anti-Semitic slanders promoted by a student organization dedicated to Israel's destruction. For his pains, he was targeted for harassment and then scheduled to be hauled before a disciplinary meeting at which he was likely to be impeached from his post in student government for his pro-Israel views.

The outcome – in which, for a change, the Israel-haters backed down – is not only a victory for the student. It also provides a template for others in similar situations to follow. That's why, though dismissed by some as a tempest in an academic teacup, the drama that recently unfolded at Tufts University outside Boston is deserving of attention on the part of all those who worry about the future of American Jewry.

For those who follow the battles being fought on North American college campuses in recent years as pro-BDS groups have worked to delegitimize Israel and its supporters, what happened to Tufts student Max Price was nothing new, even if the abuse hurled at him was pretty severe.

The Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Tufts promoted a student referendum aimed at rebuking the university's former police chief for participating in a 2017 exchange program in which American law enforcement and first responders receive training in Israel. The exchange programs involve information-sharing and are useful because the Americans learn from the Israelis' time-tested experience in dealing with emergencies.

These programs are, however, the centerpiece of a propaganda campaign called "Deadly Exchange" launched by the group Jewish Voice for Peace. According to them, they are a diabolical plot in which Americans are taught how to abuse and kill minorities by Israelis. In this way, groups like JVP and SJP not only attack Israel, but also delegitimize the American Jews who sponsor the trips as somehow responsible for American police shootings of African-Americans. As such, it is not merely a false and defamatory argument, but a 21st-century blood libel in which Jews are blamed for crimes committed by others.

At Tufts, that took the form of a referendum promoted by SJP in which a resolution filled with misleading and false information about the exchanges was voted on by the students.
UCLA Student Govt. Passes Antisemitic BDS Resolution in Middle of the Night to Avoid Any Opposition
UPDATE March 5th: The UCLA student government sent an apology to Hillel at UCLA over the resolution being “inadvertently hidden from the Jewish community and the public at large” and that the student government will make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“Going forward we hope to work with student leaders in Hillel and in all spaces on campus to ensure that USAC [UCLA Students Association Council] is a safe space for debate and dialogue on important issues on our agendas,” they wrote.
*** *** ***
The UCLA student government passed a resolution on March 3rd alleging that the Israeli government is committing “ethnic cleansing” against the Palestinians.

The Journal obtained a copy of the resolution, titled “A Resolution Calling for the UC to Divest from War.” The resolution called for the University of California system to divest from “the war industry” and for “the university to sever itself from companies that engage or aid in the oppression of any people.”

But what Jewish groups and students have taken issue with is that the resolution states that divestment is a legitimate tool to fight against injustice, citing “South African apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing in Palestine by the Israeli government.” The resolution also promotes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolution passed by the UCLA student government in 2014.

“We had no idea this resolution was coming up, and were not alerted by anyone ahead of time,” Aaron Ahdoot, president of Bruins for Israel Public Affairs Committee at UCLA, told the Journal. “The language of the resolution was not released ahead of the council meeting, making it impossible for any of the students to speak out on it.”


Haaretz Corrects Israel Didn’t Revoke Citizenship of Gaza Woman Living in Israel
Khitam, the protagonist from Mara’ana’s documentary, did not have Israeli citizenship when she was married to her Israeli husband and thus could not have lost it due to the divorce. In the documentary, Khitam says she does not have an Israeli ID.

About Khitam’s story, The Economist wrote:
Khitam is Palestinian, so her marriage has won her only a visitor’s permit in Israel, not residency or citizenship. She cannot turn to the state for legal aid or asylum in a women’s shelter. “She has no status in this country,” a social worker explains.

The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, which has been renewed on a yearly basis, “lets the government withhold legal status in Israel to Palestinians married to Israelis or who have first-degree relatives in the country.”

In response to communication from CAMERA, Haaretz commendably amended the passage. The updated digital edition now states:
She bears him six children, but after experiencing domestic violence and abuse, she wants to leave, only to discover that since her husband never secured an Israeli I.D. for her, she has no official standing or citizenship recognized by the Israeli government or police.

Contrary to common journalistic practice, Haaretz did not append a note to the article alerting readers to the change. As of this writing, the correction has yet to appear in the print edition.
Muslim Instagrammer harasses Jewish clients in Michigan kosher shop
Abdullah aka Dulla Mulla, a Yemeni content creator on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok known for skits and pranks, went to a Jewish-owned kosher store in Detroit, Michigan and harassed Jewish patrons by showing them a picture on his phone of a Palestinian flag and the words "Free Palestine" written on it and recording their reactions for his newest video.

In the video that was shared on Twitter by the account @BDSreport, Dulla Mulla can be seen walking throughout and in front of the shop, harassing the clients, asking them to read the sentence on his phone.

Later on, he received thousands of responses on his direct messages (DM) on the social media platform, sharing it into his "story," writing "DM filled with Jews, Anti-Semitic my a**."

He has amassed a sizeable following on his various social media profiles, boasting around 291.5K TikTok followers, 290K Instagram followers and 26.9K YouTube subscribers.

Jewish organizations such as Stop Antisemitism reacted on Twitter, calling this behavior harassment.


Bon appétit! Tel Aviv ranks among world's top 6 culinary destinations
Prestigious American travel magazine Food and Travel has chosen Tel Aviv among six of its most recommended culinary destinations across the globe. Other cities on the list are Palermo, Sicily; Chania, Crete; Vienna, Austria, San Sebastian, Spain; and Marseille, France.

Foreign tourists still can't enter Israel, but the magazine's recommendation will certainly encourage quite a few to visit once the country reopens its skies.

Israeli food culture, reliant on local produce, is so tasty that even the "Italians are envious of Israeli tomatoes," the magazine said. "The difference between Tel Aviv and the other cities is the seriousness and depth with which the chefs treat the dishes and the richness of the local flavors."

Specifically, the magazine recommends chef Eyal Shani's restaurant North Abraxas and also highlights Haim Cohen as one chef "who still serves simple dishes that are so good it hurts." The magazine also mentions the restaurants Taizu, Claro, Alena, Saluf and Sons; and the original Yemenite foods one can find on Nahalat Binyamin Street.

"Tel Aviv is full of confusing cultural richness … and is a wonderful place to wander and eat," the magazine said.