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Thursday, March 11, 2021

03/11 Links Pt2: From Durban to The Hague: 20 Years of NGO Lawfare; UN Women’s Palestinian Youth Leaders Glorify Terrorism; South Park's citizens vaccinated against COVID-19 thanks to Israel

From Ian:

Gerald Steinberg: From Durban to The Hague: 20 Years of NGO Lawfare
It was only after the UN Human Rights Council’s 2009 Goldstone Report on Gaza repeated the NGOs’ accusations and threatened a referral to the ICC that the Israeli government began paying attention to this campaign. Israel’s foreign and defense ministries published rebuttals of the accusations mentioned in the report. In parallel, Goldstone was confronted with the unsubstantiated claims and inconsistencies that characterized it. (He later acknowledged these failures, but the damage was done, and the campaign gained momentum and visibility.)

Supported by the NGO network, Palestinians gained UN General Assembly approval for calling themselves a state in 2014, despite the absence of the necessary criteria (such as a government in total control of a defined territory), and immediately used this dubious achievement to join the ICC and file complaints against Israel. In 2015, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced that she would consider jurisdiction. The Israeli government focused on convincing her to reject the Palestinian claims to statehood and on highlighting the integrity of Israel’s legal system. In theory, this should have prevented ICC involvement according to the Rome Statute, which states that ICC is only authorized to intervene (or “complement”) national courts in situations in which the states involved lack the ability to bring suspected war criminals to trial.

In practice, Israel’s claims were insufficient in the face of the powerful political forces promoting the lawfare strategy. In December 2019, Bensouda claimed jurisdiction and “a reasonable basis” for investigating possible Israeli war crimes, and in February 2021, after two of the three judges who reviewed her claims declared their approval, she moved quickly to open a formal investigation.

Major damage in the form of demonization of Israel has already been done, but if enough counter-pressure can be applied, including by negating the power and resources of the NGOs behind this process, the ICC travesty might be stopped. The current prosecutor is finishing her term, and her successor, Karim Khan, from the United Kingdom, might be persuaded to halt the pseudo-investigations, particularly if the survival of the ICC is at stake.

In parallel, European funders of the campaign must be confronted directly and consistently. Anyone who is concerned about the abuse of the ICC for political campaigns, including Americans and Israelis, should demand to end the demonization under the façade of human rights and international law. Germany, for instance, is one of the main funders of the ICC and the largest single supporter of the NGOs leading the campaigns. The absurdity of German funding for anti-Israel NGOs has not yet received the necessary priority.

September 2021 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the UN’s antisemitic Durban conference and the NGO Forum, where both ICC lawfare and the BDS campaigns against Israel were launched. The best way to mark this date is to ensure that the perpetrators and their allies have nothing to celebrate.


We Went Inside a Palestinian Village (get ready to bust some myths)
This week’s show is different! We went into Palestinian villages, met the people, and captured normal Palestinian life on camera.

Undercover, Joshua and Luke visit Rawabi, a Palestinian western city built for 40,000 people right in the middle of Samaria. How many people actually live there? You’ll be blown away by the answer.

After visiting another abandoned village, the team heads into Turmus Ayya, a place considered the “America of the West Bank”. 12,000 people claim this village as home, but less than 4,000 live here. Filled with villas and mansions, this place looks like it came straight out of Hollywood. Joshua even got to interview the mayor on camera!

This week’s show is truly on the front lines of Israel’s heartland. Get ready for some mythbusting adventure!


UN Watch: UN Women’s Palestinian Youth Leaders Glorify Terrorism
As the world marks International Women’s Day this week, the UN agency for gender equality should explain why they have selected Palestinian youth leaders who glorify women in acts of terrorism.

UN Women’s Palestine branch recently announced its new youth forum for dialogue and advocacy around gender, and “31 young leaders from Palestine were selected for their leadership and demonstrated contribution to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.”

Members of this Youth Gender Innovation Agora, according to UN Women, are “committed to the core values of the United Nations.” Yet a glance at the social media of some of these young leaders suggests that UN Women Palestine chose many young leaders with a demonstrated record of glorifying terrorism, and of opposition to core United Nations values of human rights and peace.

UN Women’s gender equality youth leader Mohamad Abu Samra could be credited with promoting female role models, except that his idea of female empowerment is the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who participated in the 1978 Coast Road Massacre in which 38 Israelis, including 13 children, were murdered.

In Mohamad Abu Samra’s Facebook post, his text accompanying a picture of Mughrabi details with reverence the heroism of Dalal to fulfill “the necessity to carry out a daring and qualitative operation to hit Israel in the heart of its capital.”

Abu Samra isn’t the only one of the GIA’s youth leaders who admires Mughrabi. Samar Saleh Thawabteh also commemorates the anniversary of Mughrabi’s “martyrdom” with her own post celebrating the terrorist attack which, in her words, caused “hundreds of dead and wounded on the Israeli side.” This UN gender equality leader gives Mughrabi further credit for exploding the bus she was in and killing the passengers and Israeli soldiers on board.
Unpacked: Can You Be Zionist and Progressive? | The Israeli-Palestinian Context
From global movements to college campuses, the intersection of progressivism and Zionism is one where nothing is black or white. In the complex political and social climate of the world today, the lines between fact and opinion have become increasingly blurred. One of those “gray zones” lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What does it mean to be a proud Jewish Zionist in today’s liberal spaces?


South Park's citizens vaccinated against COVID-19 thanks to Israel
In the latest episode of the no-holds-barred animated series South Park, titled "Vaccination Special," the citizens of the city are trying, by all means, to get vaccinated, but a new militant group mocking QAnon rioters from the Washington Capitol riots tries to stop them. Israel, recognized worldwide as the leading nation in terms of the number of vaccinations by capita, is even mentioned during the latest episode of the cartoon, bringing the long-waited coronavirus vaccines to South Park's population.

At the begining of the episode, a man waiting in line to get vaccinated shouted at the security guard that Israel is vaccinating every one of its citizens, no matter what their age. The guard replied that he should then travel there, adding that he obviously can't. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the episode on Twitter, adding in a video showing an Israeli plane titled "Air Israel" in the theme and font of ElAl landing in South Park's city with an Israeli man coming out of it and distributing boxes of vaccines to all the citizens of the city.

Netanyahu's tweet reads, "Even in South Park they already know - in Israel they are coming back to life!"


Citing Israel data, Pfizer says vaccine 97% effective against symptomatic COVID
Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine offers more protection than previously thought, with its effectiveness in preventing symptomatic disease reaching 97 percent according to real-world evidence published Thursday by the pharmaceutical companies.

Using data from January 17 to March 6 from Israel’s national vaccination campaign, Pfizer-BioNTech found that prevention against asymptomatic disease reached 94 percent.

An earlier real-world study using data from between December 20, 2020, and February 1, 2021, had showed effectiveness at preventing symptomatic disease at 94 percent and asymptomatic illness at 92 percent.

“This comprehensive real-world evidence… can be of importance to countries around the world as they advance their own vaccination campaigns one year after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic,” the two pharmaceutical companies said in a statement.

Israel’s inoculation campaign is the fastest in the world, with about 40 percent of the population already fully vaccinated against the virus.

Israel, which launched its vaccination campaign in December, has given the recommended two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to just under four million of its roughly nine million people.
Coronavirus: No bad ‘Purim effect,’ numbers continue to decline
Some two weeks after Purim, Israeli authorities are starting to sigh with relief: the dreaded spike in the infection rate that everyone was fearing after the numerous illegal gatherings during the festival appears not to have occurred.

On the contrary, in the past few days the numbers have been steadily improving, to the point that after repeated warnings about new restrictions for the upcoming Pessah (Passover) holiday, health officials are starting to express a cautious optimism.

“I do not think that at the moment there is any need to talk about restrictions on Passover,” Public Health Services head Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis said Tuesday. “If the situation of new daily cases and serious patients remains stable, then there will be no need.”

According to a Thursday morning update by the Health Ministry, the previous 24 hours registered the lowest number of daily cases in almost three months, excluding Saturday and Sundays, when the amount of tests administered is significantly lower than the rest of the week.

Some 99,000 tests were performed on Wednesday, and only 2.9% gave a positive result, identifying 2,802 new infections.
Coronavirus: 5,000 electronic bracelets to enforce quarantine ready next week
Some 5,000 electronic bracelets are going to be available to be handed out to returnees from abroad already next week, Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch told the Knesset Constitution and Law Committee on Thursday.

The committee met to discuss the bill to allow the use of electronic tools to enforce the mandatory quarantine on those who enter the country. “From an operative perspective, we are preparing for a very quick purchase, while the purchase for the full supply will take three months,” Kisch explained. “We have been looking for companies that could provide an immediate answer. The offers will be presented tomorrow and it is of great importance to pass the legislation quickly so that companies can get into the process.”

“Next week we can already consider 5,000 bracelets, and an additional 5,000 every week thereafter,” he added, pointing out that the goal is to reach some 30,000 bracelets available so that the same number of people could use them for ten days and then return them.

Those who will not agree to use the bracelet will be able to quarantine in a hotel.
France eases travel rules for seven countries, including Israel
France on Thursday eased travel restrictions for seven countries outside the European Union, including Israel, saying trips to and from them would no longer need to be justified by essential reasons.

The French government had banned from January 31 all travel outside the EU without a valid excuse, in order to limit the spread of COVID-19 variants in the pandemic.

But due to the changing pandemic situation, “it will no longer be necessary to prove a compelling reason for travel to or from Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The measure had been adopted in large part to limit the spread of the more infectious variant of COVID-19 that first emerged in England.

But that variant is now accounting for well over half of the number of new Covid-19 infections in France.

The restrictions were eased “due to the very wide spread of the British variant in France and the particular health situation of those countries,” the ministry said.
The BBC’s ‘damned if you do’ reporting on vaccinations for Palestinian workers
As readers may recall, two days prior to the appearance of that report, the BBC had published a clarification indicating that it is well aware of the fact that not only “Israel says” that under the terms of the Oslo Accords healthcare for Palestinians is the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority: Article 17 of the agreement signed by the PLO in 1995 states:

“Powers and responsibilities in the sphere of Health in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will be transferred to the Palestinian side, including the health insurance system.”

That report by Bateman was one of many which, since the beginning of the year, have promoted an anti-Israel political campaign initiated by political NGOs portrayed by the BBC as “human rights groups” which we documented here.

Since that report was published developments that went unreported by the BBC have taken place. On February 28th the Israeli government approved the plan to vaccinate some 120,000 legally employed Palestinians who are not Israeli citizens. On March 4th a pilot programme was set up and a further 700 Palestinian workers were vaccinated. After funding had been allocated by the Israeli government, the operation to vaccinate the rest of the authorised workers began on March 8th.

At that point the BBC Jerusalem bureau took up the story once again. On the afternoon of March 8th a report by Tom Bateman appeared on the BBC News website’s ‘Live’ and ‘Middle East’ pages under the headline ‘Israel starts vaccinating Palestinians with Israeli work permits’. Bateman’s ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’ take on a story about a country providing free vaccinations for tens of thousands of people who are not its own citizens was as follows:
AP Clarifies Israeli Work Permits for Palestinians Not Dependent on COVID-19 Vaccine
In response to communication from CAMERA, AP updated the article, adding the following paragraph:
According to COGAT, the Israeli defense agency that orchestrated the vaccine campaign, the workers are not required to be vaccinated in order to keep their entry permits at the current time. But many laborers said their Israeli employers have pressured them to be vaccinated, and there were widespread concerns they could lose their jobs if they do not get inoculated.

Moreover, AP commendably added the following note alerting readers to the change:
This story was first published on March 8, 2021. It was updated on March 9, 2021, to make clear that Israel does not require Palestinian laborers to be vaccinated, though many workers say their employers want them to do so.

It should be noted that if employers are threatening unvaccinated workers with their jobs, they are doing so against COGAT directives.Haaretz reported:
According to the plan announced on Wednesday, the Palestinian workers are to be vaccinated on a voluntary basis, and COGAT said they had explained to employers they are not allowed to force employees to vaccinate.
Sturgeon’s secret link to anti-gay Iran cleric
Nicola Sturgeon gave a speech alongside an Iranian cleric who compared gay marriage to bestiality, the JC reveals today.

Scotland’s First Minister appeared with Dr Mohammad Shomali – who has served as an official representative of Ayatollah Khameni, the supreme leader of Iran – at the annual Peace and Unity conference in Glasgow in 2017 and 2018.

In an essay published the previous year, based in turn on lectures he gave in 2007, Dr Shomali wrote: “A hundred years ago, it would have been unthinkable for gay marriages to be sanctioned… Perhaps a day will come where some will desire marriage with animals.”

In 2019, when the conference came around again, Ms Sturgeon chose to shun the evening event that featured the cleric after criticism from a former MEP.

But Ms Sturgeon nevertheless attended other parts of the 2019 conference. There she gave a speech alongside another controversial Muslim leader, Azzam Mohamad, whom she described in glowing terms as “a dear, dear friend of mine”.

Mr Mohamad had recently returned from a pro-Palestinian conference in Beirut that featured speeches by the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and the deputy secretary general of Hezbollah, who insisted on “resistance by weapons”.

The influential Scottish Muslim figure has twice signed a letter lobbying the Mayor of London to allow the Quds Day rally – which traditionally involves the burning of US and Israeli flags and chants like “death to America” – to go ahead.
Mandelson launches attack on 'corrupt far-left' and urges Starmer to remove remaining antisemites
Lord Mandelson has launched an outspoken attack on the "corrupt far-left" and said there should be no let up by Sir Keir Starmer in his efforts to remove the "antisemites who are still in our party in large numbers."

In a speech to over 200 Labour activists, the former European trade commissioner called for Sir Keir to show "courage and determination".

He claimed his leadership credentials were being "tested again and again" by both Jeremy Corbyn and the Unite union leader Len McCluskey.

Lord Mandelson also warned those in attendance at the online event: "People will need to see more until they can place their trust in Labour again."

It emerged last month that Tony Blair's former strategist had been called in to offer advice to Sir Keir, his shadow cabinet and other senior figures in Labour on how to channel New Labour’s "winning mentality" and on the need to shift the party away from the toxic Corbyn years.

Speaking an event organised by the Labour To Win group last week, Lord Mandelson used the famous SAS motto "Who Dares Wins" as he assessed the direction he believes Sir Keir should take at the helm of the party.

Pointing to the removal, in January, of the pro-Corbyn Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard as a step in the right direction, Lord Mandelson added: "Keir will be tested like that again and again, by Corbyn, McCluskey, and the corrupt far left.
‘I love Hamas founder’, says Labour activist who is suing party for employing Israeli
The Labour activist suing the party for employing an Israeli has posted a picture of Hamas founder Sheikh Yassin with the caption “I love this man”, the JC can disclose.

Adnan Hmidan, whose legal challenge is backed by former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, has also posted selfies with Islamist figures and heaped praise on Jeremy Corbyn.

The JC’s revelations will raise serious questions about the controversial legal letter issued to the Labour Party leadership on behalf of Mr Hmidan.

Law firm Bindmans LLP wrote to the Labour Party in March on behalf of the Labour member, seeking further details about its new social media manager, who was employed in January.

The identity of the former Israeli army officer has been published on anti-Israel blogs — the JC is not disclosing it — and he has been branded a “spy” for his time in Unit 8200, the signals branch of the IDF.

Mr Hmidan works as a presenter for Alhiwar TV, a London-based Arabic language channel, the JC has learnt. Its Editor-in-Chief is Azzam Tamimi, who has been dubbed Hamas’ “special envoy” to Britain. He has said that sacrificing oneself for Palestine is a “noble cause”.

On his Facebook account, Mr Hmidan posted a series of tributes to the wheelchair-bound Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated in 2004. One of the tributes, written in Arabic, declared: “I love this man.”
Christian Pastor and Friends Double Down on Anti-Jewish Bigotry
Somebody needs to tell Rev. Frank Chikane and his friends that the first step to getting out of a hole is to stop digging. Yet, in their efforts to absolve the pastor of inciting hostility toward Israel and Jews, Chikane and his friends are adding sin upon sin.

Chikane, as readers of The Algemeiner will know, is the South African pastor and politico who serves as “moderator” of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC). He portrayed Israelis as “demons,” and declared that the world will seek “blood” from people who support Israel during an online event on February 6. He also declared that “the sins of the past which were committed against the Jews must not be used as a way to and reason to allow more sins to be committed against the Palestinians.”

After Christians and Jews in South Africa responded forcefully to Chikane’s abusive rhetoric in an February 18, 2021, article in the “South African Jewish Report” (SAJR), the reverend and his friends doubled down with more ugly polemics in the following weeks.

Chikane spoke in conciliatory tones while speaking with the SAJR, but the overall message he and his supporters offered in interviews with a Muslim radio station was that Chikane’s comments were taken out of context; that Christian Zionists are evil; that Jews abuse others because they themselves have been abused; and that the Palestinians, who have done no wrong, are entitled to a state of their own without any preconditions (even as they deny Jews the right to self-determination).

During his attempt to prove that he is not “anti-Jews,” Chikane declared that he supports the two-state solution and the right of Palestinians to return to their “homes.” Ironically enough, Chikane missed the contradiction when he denied the right of Jews to return to their homes.
StandWithUs Deeply Disappointed in Normalization of Anti-Jewish Hate at 2021 Grammy Awards
The 2021 Grammy Awards is featuring two people, Tamika Mallory and Jay Electronica, who are both known for their enthusiastic support for Nation of Islam’s antisemitic and homophobic leader Louis Farrakhan. Mallory remains unapologetic in her support for Farrakhan. In her Twitter and Instagram accounts she has promoted Farrakhan’s annual Saviour’s Day events (where he has regularly attacked Jews), called him the “GOAT” (Greatest Of All Time) and praised him for telling the “hard truths.” Mallory has refused to distance herself from Farrakhan and repeatedly declined to condemn his antisemitism. Her social media posts in praise of Farrakhan remain on her Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Rapper Jay Electronica is a nominee for Best Rap Album at this year’s GRAMMYs for his album “A Written Testimony.” The album’s opening track begins with a speech by Louis Farrakhan, who is heard declaring, “I don’t want to waste any time. I ask the question: Who are the real children of Israel? And I’d like to answer it right away… the black people of America are the real children of Israel and they—we—are the choice of God.” Another track on the album, "The Ghost of Soulja Slim," opens with a speech by Farrakhan and contains the antisemitic lyrics, “From a hard place and a rock to the Roc Nation of Islam… And I bet you a Rothschild I get a bang for my dollar/The synagogue of Satan want me to hang by my collar.”

“It is shocking, shameful, and hurtful that an album, so filled with hate, would be nominated for a major award by the GRAMMYs. At a time in 2021 when we, as a society, are working to build a culture with greater sensitivity to hate and racism, so as to heal the scars that have been created from this kind of vitriol, we must ask why the Academy is normalizing this hatred against one group, Jews, in such an ugly, and irresponsible way," said Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs and herself a daughter of Holocaust Survivors.

“The insensitivity shown by the Academy to the Jewish community by including Mallory as a featured "performer," (https://www.grammy.com/grammys/2021-grammy-performers-host) and by nominating Jay Electronica’s album for Best Rap Album, shows a disturbing tolerance for anti-Jewish racism, a dangerous insensitivity to millions of Jews, including Holocaust Survivors who are still alive, and an utter lack of moral judgment," continued Rothstein.
PreOccupiedTerritory: Groups Unable To Criticize Israel Without Nazi Analogies Very Concerned About IHRA Antisemitism Definition (satire)
Progressive activists whose default rhetoric involving the world’s only Jewish state involves overwrought comparisons to death camps, yellow stars of David, and Nuremburg Laws expressed their misgivings again this week at the Biden administration’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism today, in particular the provision that antisemitism includes comparisons of the Jewish State’s policies to those of the Third Reich.

Representatives of Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now, Students for Justice in Palestine, and other organizations gathered in the nation’s capital today to rally against the adoption of the IHRA standard, and to argue that defining as antisemitic analogies between Israel and Nazi Germany in effect silences legitimate criticism of Israeli policy.

“How the hell else are we supposed to give voice to our objections?” wondered Ali Latdam of Students for Justice in Palestine. “When you have a nation engaging in literal genocide, mass dispossession, and starving out the native population – if you want the statistics I can pull them out of my backside for you – morality demands that we make such analogies! Jews are the new Nazis. That’s all there is to it, and there is no other way to talk about Palestinian rights.”

“Talk about stifling free speech,” added J Street U member Klu Liss. “This will have a chilling effect on free expression. In fact it smacks of fascism – or am I not allowed to say that, either?”
Haaretz Op-Ed Misleads to Defend SNL “Joke”
If Dr. Shanes suggests superseding the PA’s authority to grant Palestinians Israeli citizenship, is he also implying that Israel should apply its sovereignty to the West Bank? Would the Palestinians even support such a move? The PA itself certainly doesn’t: Just nine months ago, its officials were encouraging resistance to the prospect of Israeli sovereignty in parts of the territory.

The piece ends with yet more unquantifiable and unsubstantiated statements: Israel is becoming “a more repressive place, particularly for those languishing under military occupation,” its “actions [deepen] its occupation of the West Bank,” a shadowy cabal looking to silence criticism of Israel is “growing,” and Israel is on an “ever spiraling move towards Jewish supremacism and anti-Palestinian oppression”. These sorts of platitudes, are completely devoid of intellectual rigor, but are common tropes among activists who regard Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians not as a clash between two national movements, but between powerful Jews who mercilessly subjugate the “other” to maintain ethno-religious “supremacy.” Such narratives brush off as insignificant the long history of Palestinian anti-Jewish violence, total rejection of Jewish self-determination, and brutal terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians orchestrated by antisemitic organizations that necessitate a strong defense. In reality, what these activists are calling “supremacy” is simply the Israelis’ refusal to allow Jewish self-determination to be destroyed by endless violence.

Organizations that steadfastly defend the Jewish people, such as the AJC, are perceptive enough to recognize that this sort of banter, based entirely on a malicious and defamatory premise, is more likely to be interpreted by the audience as a manifestation of Israeli racism rather than as satirical silliness.

Given the reaction by many in the Twittersphere, this concern was not unwarranted. Dr. Shanes may insist that the joke targeted “a sovereign state openly [discriminating] against non-Jews” and not Jews as “a minority community blamed for deliberately spreading disease among non-Jews,” but antisemites hardly make such distinctions when it comes to the presumption of the evil nature of the Jewish people and their disease-spreading ways. Just ask David Duke, who has bizarrely speculated that “Jewish Zionists, radical Zionists, radical Jewish elites” purposely tried to kill former president Donald Trump with the coronavirus.

It is not a crime to ensure that the public understands the real story. The truth matters, because untruths provide fodder to those who defame Israel and its supporters and distort the reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If we can’t distinguish between facts and satire, and if attempts to correct widely-believed lies are painted as malicious, then our society is in need of serious soul-searching.
BBC’s Bateman continues to amplify NGO political campaign
Once again – despite the BBC’s February 9th clarification concerning PA responsibility for Palestinian healthcare – Bateman presented Article 17 of the 1995 Oslo Accords as something that Israel “says it believes” is the case. And as in his previous day’s reporting, Bateman avoided the issue of domestic criticism of the PA’s priorities in vaccine distribution, which have included sending 200 doses to Jordan.

It is abundantly clear that the story of Israel’s roll-out of vaccinations for Palestinian workers who are not Israeli citizens is of secondary priority in Tom Bateman’s reporting. The BBC Jerusalem bureau correspondent’s reporting has not evolved since January 3rd except for the fact that whereas then it was ‘controversial’ that Israel was not vaccinating Palestinians (apart from hospital workers and those resident in Jerusalem), now it is ‘controversial’ that Israel is vaccinating tens of thousands of people whose healthcare is actually the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority.

For over two months Bateman – like his colleagues – has unquestioningly amplified the PR messaging of political NGO’s he largely failed to identify without once explaining their agendas to BBC audiences. For over two months he has presented Article 17 of the Oslo Accords as something that ‘Israel says’ or ‘Israel believes’ is the case without once providing a proper factual explanation of Israel’s legal obligations.

And for over two months that self-conscripted activism has been passed off to BBC audiences as ‘journalism’.
5 Pillars corrects elements of editorial warning of Jewish threat to Al-Aqsa
They also originally described the family’s visit as an “incursion“.
But the blatant incursion of this family (which is just one of many) says otherwise.

Following our complaint, they removed the word “incursion”, and revised the sentence thusly:
But the behaviour of this family (which is just one example of many) suggests otherwise.

The second complaint concerned their characterisation of the 1969 Temple Mount fire, started by a mentally ill Christian man from Australia, where they peddled the libel that Israelis tried to prevent Palestinians from putting out the fire – a claim, we showed in our original post, that’s the opposite of the truth.

Here’s the original wording:
Fire brigades were called but the occupying Israeli army refused to let the fire engines from across the West Bank enter.

Though they refused to remove the claim, they revised the wording to note that this is merely a “Palestinian account”.
According to Palestinian accounts, fire brigades were called but the occupying Israeli army refused to let the fire engines from across the West Bank enter.

Finally, editors also removed the photo of the “Zionist family” from the editorial.

Though we welcome these modest improvements, the editorial, portraying four small Jewish children visiting a Jewish holy site in Jerusalem with their father on Purim, as somehow representing “a threat to Muslims worldwide”, as they worded it in their conclusion, is still an act of journalistic malice and outright incitement.
AFP Captions Whitewash Convicted Murderer Marwan Barghouti As ‘Fighter’
In 2017, The New York Times was slammed when it ran an Op-Ed by Barghouti and similarly omitted the same key biographical information. Barghouti’s Op-Ed alleged “an Israeli court sentenced me to five life sentences and 40 years in prison in a political show trial that he is in Israeli prison that was denounced by international observers,” and the accompanying biographical information identified him only as a “Palestinian leader and parliamentarian.” The Times did not disclose his murder and other terror-related convictions.

Following the uproar about the gross whitewash of Barghouti, The Times commendably published this Editor’s Note:
This article explained the writer’s prison sentence but neglected to provide sufficient context by stating the offenses of which he was convicted. They were five counts of murder and membership in a terrorist organization. Mr. Barghouti declined to offer a defense at his trial and refused to recognize the Israeli court’s jurisdiction and legitimacy.

CAMERA calls on the AFP to follow The Times’ example and add information about Barghouti’s convictions. Stay tuned for news about corrections.


StandWithUs to NBA and NBPA: Adopt IHRA in Wake of Meyers Leonard Antisemitic Slur
In the wake of Meyers Leonard's recent antisemitic slur during an online gaming session, StandWithUs and its Center for Combating Antisemitism (CCA) sent the attached letter calling upon the NBA and the NBPA to use this opportunity to take the positive step of formally adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. The consensus definition of antisemitism, embraced by numerous governments, universities, and organizations, includes a growing list of professional athletic franchises. The IHRA Definition is a crucial educational tool that helps to clarify some of the confusion that leads to a lack of understanding about this ever-mutating societal disease.

"StandWithUs commends Meyers Leonard for his apology following his recent antisemitic slur, and the Miami Heat for taking immediate action," stated Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO StandWithUs.

"StandWithUs is hopeful that the NBA will choose to become the first professional athletic league in the U.S. to adopt the IHRA Definition in its latest anti-hate efforts," stated Carly Gammill, director of the StandWithUs Center for Combating Antisemitism. "We are grateful to the professional athletes who have spoken publicly against anti-Jewish hatred and look forward to the NBA and its players embracing the definition. We look forward to increasing numbers of professional athletes using their powerful voices to champion this tool and make clear that antisemitism deserves the same level of condemnation as other forms of racism and bigotry."
Miami Heat NBA Player Meyers Leonard Fined $50K, Must Participate in Cultural Diversity Program After Spewing Antisemitic Slur
Miami Heat player Meyers Leonard has been fined $50,000 and suspended from all team facilities and activities for one week for making an antisemitic slur during a livestream video game session, the NBA announced on Thursday.

On Monday, the 29-year-old told an opponent while playing “Call of Duty: Warzone” on the platform Twitch, “F–ing coward. Don’t f–ing snipe me, you f–ing k–e b—h.”

“Meyers Leonard’s comment was inexcusable and hurtful and such an offensive term has no place in the NBA or in our society,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “Yesterday, he spoke to representatives of the Anti-Defamation League to better understand the impact of his words and we accept that he is genuinely remorseful. We have further communicated to Meyers that derogatory comments like this will not be tolerated and that he will be expected to uphold the core values of our league — equality, tolerance, inclusion and respect — at all times moving forward.”

The Anti-Defamation League confirmed to The Algemeiner on Thursday that they had a meeting with Leonard in the aftermath of his antisemitic behavior. The athlete has been in contact with multiple Jewish organizations and Jewish leaders, “from rabbis to Holocaust survivors,” to better educate himself, according to TMZ.

The Miami Heat, which is owned by Israeli-American billionaire Micky Arison, suspended Leonard “indefinitely” following the incident and said it will work with the NBA to investigate the matter. Leonard, who was acquired by the Heat in 2019, issued an apology on Monday and claimed that he “didn’t know what the word meant at the time.”

“My ignorance about its history and how offensive it is to the Jewish community is absolutely not an excuse and I was just wrong,” he said. “I am now more aware of its meaning and I am committed to properly seeking out people who can help educate me about this type of hate and how we can fight it.”

Leonard will also be required to participate in a cultural diversity program, the NBA statement said.
Julian Edelman invites Meyers Leonard for Shabbat after antisemitic remark
This led to Edelman writing his letter to Leonard, which explained that he got the sense that he "didn't use that word out of hate, more out of ignorance."

He said, "Hate is like a virus. Even accidentally, it can rapidly spread."



After writing about the risk of "casual ignorance" on the subject of antisemitism, Edelman invited Leonard over in Miami for "Shabbat dinner" to show him "a fun time."

Last year, in the wake of the George Floyd racial justice protest movement, Leonard was criticized for being one of only two players throughout the league to stand rather than kneel during the playing of the national anthem before games. He told his Black teammates that he supports the Black Lives Matter movement and that he was standing to honor his brother, who served as a Marine.

In a sign of solidarity with him, a Black teammate always put an arm around Leonard’s leg during the anthem.

Leonard, is 7-foot-1 center and was a former first-round draft pick of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Justice Department Reaches Agreement With New Jersey Town After Accusations of Religious Zoning Bias
The US Department of Justice reached an agreement on Tuesday with the Township of Toms River, NJ, stemming from allegations that the town’s zoning laws had unfairly targeted Jewish houses of worship and violated the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).

The Justice Department had put Toms River officials on notice back in September that they had completed an investigation into allegations that the town’s zoning rules placed unreasonable burdens on the growing Orthodox Jewish population in the township. Particularly problematic was a 2017 change to the zoning requirements that houses of worship needed to be built on properties of at least 10 acres.

“Federal law protects religious communities against unequal treatment and unwarranted burdens,” said Rachael A. Honig, acting US attorney for the District of New Jersey. “Zoning regulations that impose unreasonable restrictions or prevent religious faiths from having a place to worship violate RLUIPA. Through the resolution entered today, this office takes another step to put an end to unlawful zoning practices and vindicate the civil rights of minority religious communities in … New Jersey.”

Orthodox Jews from the heavily populated town of Lakewood, NJ, have been migrating to neighborhoods in Toms River in recent years. However, they have been largely unable to build Jewish institutions in the township because of the existing zoning requirements.

As part of the agreement, which needs to be approved by the US District Court, Toms River will modify its zoning code to reduce the “minimum acreage” required for a house of worship from 10 acres to two acres; treat houses of worship comparable to other non-religious places of assembly, including funeral homes and private clubs; and train township officials and employees about RLUIPA requirements and how to respond to RLUIPA complaints.

Attorney Marci Hamilton, who is an expert in RLUIPA litigation and had been retained by Toms River to deal with the Justice Department’s complaint, addressed the Township Council on Tuesday night prior to their vote on entering into an agreement with the DOJ.
Antisemitic Incidents in Wisconsin Leap by 36 Percent Amid Rise in Conspiracy Theories and Hate Group Activity
Wisconsin’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) recorded a troubling uptick in antisemitic incidents during 2020, according to a new report published this week.

The report observed a 36 percent leap in antisemitic incidents during the 2019-20 period, including expressions of hatred directed against Jews, the spread of conspiracy theories and a rise in hate group activity.

There was was a significant spike in expressions of antisemitism in comparison to years prior. “Part of this spike may be attributed to COVID-19 pushing some hateful expression online instead of in person, further illustrated by the spike in social media incidents,” the report commented.

Among the examples cited was an email sent to one Wisconsin mayor following an antisemitic incident that stated, “Lol, the man was right, his neighbor is a dirty Jew and Jews are responsible for organizing violent protests all over the country. This man should have never taken his neighbor’s sign, but these hate crime enhancements are a f***ing joke and makes me hate Jews even more.”

Nearly 40 percent of the incidents recorded by the JCRC “included reference to conspiracy theories involving Jewish power; Jewish control of the banks, government, or media; Jews being behind the COVID pandemic; and Jews at the helm of global control.”

Of the 12 incidents involving hate groups, ten were concerned with white supremacists. The report mentioned several cases of far-right groups targeting Jews, among them a flyer from the White Aryan Resistance that was distributed on dozens of front lawns. The flyer declared: “Jews Will Not Replace Us! The destruction of the White Race is engendered in Judaic world control. We defy their attempt to replace us with other races.”
Notorious Bay Area anti-Semite is selling Hitler T-shirts online
Jon Minadeo Jr., a 38-year-old man infamous within the Bay Area Jewish community, has launched an online merchandise store selling virulently anti-Semitic and homophobic T-shirts and apparel in an effort to fund propaganda tours across California and beyond — what he calls his “activism.”

Dubbed Goyim Gear, some of the T-shirts bear the “Happy Merchant” anti-Jewish cartoon. One calls the Holocaust a “hoax” using the Hulu video streaming website font and another mimics “Godfather” movie art with the words “The Jew Namer.” Others show portraits of Hitler, one celebrates the Waffen SS and one features an anti-gay slur.

“All proceeds go to the next N.T.N.T.,” a message at the top of the webpage says, referring to what Minadeo calls the “Name the Nose Tour,” outings on which he and others drive around California shouting anti-Semitic slurs and conspiracy theories through a megaphone.

Minadeo, with a group known as the Goyim Defense League, went on a Name the Nose tour last summer in Southern California, driving in a white van scrawled with anti-Semitic messages such as “Jews killed Jesus” and “BLM is funded by Jews.”

They hung banners reading “Honk if you know the Jews want a race war” on a Los Angeles highway overpass, shouted conspiracy theories about COVID-19 to mask wearers and stood outside a Chabad center claiming that “these Jewish terrorists” were behind 9/11.

The T-shirts are advertised as “some fresh GoyGear.”

Minadeo monetizes his video-sharing website in part via “donations” to his Bitcoin wallet, a Zelle account and a CashApp account, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, a terrorism watchdog organization.
Cannabis can prevent major chemotherapy side effect, Israeli study suggests
Cannabis can counter some of the worst side effects of chemotherapy, Israeli doctors believe.

They monitored 500 chemotherapy patients, and found that nerve damage, a common side effect, manifests itself far less among those who take cannabis.

Their peer-reviewed study involved patients treated with the common cancer drug oxaliplatin, which is used to treat advanced cancer of the colon and rectum. But the researchers believe their finding will prove relevant for various other chemotherapies that trigger nerve damage.

Around 70 percent of patients treated with oxaliplatin have neurological side effects, which range from tingling in hands and feet to loss of sensation and an inability to feel fingers and toes. “This can be very challenging for patients, and take months to subside,” said Dr. Ravit Geva of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

Among patients taking cannabis, only 40% had side effects.

The cannabis users started taking the drug at different points, but those among them who were taking it before chemotherapy had a particularly low incidence of neurological side effects: just 25%.

“This is a very significant reduction, and indicates that cannabis may address a major issue faced by cancer patients who receive chemotherapy,” Geva, who conducted the study along with medical resident Barliz Waissengrin, told The Times of Israel.
IAI and UAE-based EDGE join forces to develop anti-drone tech
EDGE, a UAE-based advanced defense technology group, has signed an accord with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the nation’s largest aerospace and defense company, to jointly develop an advanced system to intercept drones and other threats tailored for the UAE market.

The parties have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop an advanced Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (C-UAS) solution, making use of IAI’s existing products to detect, identify, classify, and intercept a broad range of UAV threats.

A subsidiary of EDGE, SIGN4L, a provider of electronic warfare services and solutions for national security, will be working with IAI to develop the tailored anti-drone solution. EDGE, an Abu Dhabi-based conglomerate of private firms and government owned bodies, has 25 subsidiaries and employs 13,000 workers across five main sectors: defense platforms and systems; missiles and weapons; cyber defense; electronic warfare and intelligence; and mission support.

This is the first official defense collaboration between IAI and a UAE-based firm since the Abraham Accords were signed in September normalizing the relations between the nations. In July, IAI said it entered into a historic collaboration agreement with Group 42, an Abu-Dhabi based firm, on COVID-19 research, marking its first official civilian collaboration with a UAE-based firm.
Israeli Doctors Restore Sight for Azeri Soldiers Hurt in War with Armenia
A humanitarian delegation of Israeli specialists in the field of oculoplasty (plastic surgery for the eyes) recently carried out procedures on 150 wounded Azeri soldiers, such as eye socket restoration, eyelid surgery, prosthetic eyes and more.

The doctors worked tirelessly to help restore sight to the wounded soldiers or, when restoring sight was impossible, to repair their facial deformities and enable them to return to normal routine.

Dr. Yishay Falick, CEO of Jerusalem's Misgav Ladach Hospital, who led the delegation, said, "I'm proud of all the members of the delegation who came here to help these young people with serious injuries to recover. This is a very beautiful expression of the Israeli volunteer spirit."


Hundreds of Ethiopian Immigrants Land in Israel on Final Rock of Israel Rescue Flight
Ben Gurion International Airport witnessed scenes of joy Thursday as approximately 300 new Ethiopian immigrants arrived on the ninth and final “Rock of Israel” rescue flight.

The first flight landed in December, following the Israeli government’s approval for the Aliyah of 2,000 Jewish Ethiopians — many of whom had waited years to be reunited with family members who had managed to make the journey previously.

“The final Operation Zur Israel [“Rock of Israel”] flight arrived today, reuniting countless families after far too many years apart. This is a moment that tugs at the heartstrings, reminding us that our mission to bring the remaining members of the community waiting to make Aliyah is far from over,” said Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog.

Aliyah and Integration Minister MK Pnina Tamano-Shata, who is Israel’s first Ethiopian-born lawmaker, was instrumental in partnering with the Jewish Agency to bring up to 2,000 members of Ethiopia’s Jewish community to Israel.

“This is a journey that is well underway, but far from complete. I am grateful for the honor of successfully leading Operation Zur Israel, which resulted in the Aliyah of 2,000 sons and daughters to parents who have waited patiently in Israel for this reunion for many years,” said Tamano-Shata.



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