Sunday, July 04, 2021
Melanie Phillips: The real story about that Gaza death toll
In the recent hostilities between Israel and its attackers in Gaza, a prime Israel-bashing meme was — as ever — the falsehood that the Israeli forces were killing a huge number of Gaza’s civilians.
In vain did defenders of Israel point out that Hamas deliberately sited its missiles and other weaponry in and among apartment buildings, schools and hospitals in order to maximise civilian casualties of Israeli air strikes and thus defame Israel as a wanton aggressor.
In vain was it pointed out that Israel goes to lengths deemed unthinkable by any other armed forces in the world to avoid the loss of enemy civilian life, including issuing residents of targeted buildings with evacuation warnings by text, phone calls or “knock on the roof” harmless missile strikes to tell anyone in there to get out.
None of these facts stopped the relentless flow of claims that the majority of those killed by Israeli missile attacks in May’s Operation Guardian of the Walls were defenceless civilians.
Now, however, the evidence from the updated casualty figures in that operation reveals that, relative to Israel’s massive bombardment of Gaza with some 1500 strikes, the proportion of civilian deaths was astonishingly small.
With two million civilians — 60 percent of whom are children — packed into densely occupied Gaza, and given the Hamas strategy of using them as cannon fodder for air attacks, any Israeli airstrike would be expected inadvertently to kill thousands.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry says in fact that 256 Gazans were killed.
According to Israel’s Meir Amit Terrorism and Information Centre, which puts the figure at 234, nearly half of those were Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad combatants whom it has identified by name. Of the 95 of those killed who had no terrorist affiliation, 52 were children and 38 were women.
By international standards, this roughly one-to-one ratio of civilian to combatant deaths is amazing. In Afghanistan, Iraq or other theatres of war, British, American and other armies’ airstrikes usually achieve a ratio of about three civilians killed for every one combatant.
Seth Frantzman: Does Iran think Israel is vulnerable at sea? - analysis
The reason Iran doesn’t sink the ships, if Iran is indeed behind all this, is because the crews of these ships – and the management, ownership and flags they sail under – are not Israeli. In the case of the Gulf of Oman mining attack in May and June, the crew was not harmed. This is because Iran didn’t want a war on its hands.Anti-Zionist Jews and Antisemitism
It believes in using proxies and pin-pricks to strike at enemies. That is why it sends drones and missiles to Yemen to get Houthis to die for Iran and it is why it delivers weapons to Hezbollah and units in Syria, and aids Hamas, but doesn’t do the fighting itself. And why it encourages Iraqi-based pro-Iran militias to fire 107mm rockets at American forces. Because a 107mm rocket is less likely to inflict severe casualties, but rather to cause damage and send a message.
The question these maritime incidents raise is whether Tehran believes it can carry out retaliatory strikes against Israel after it alleges incidents took place in Iran, and whether it will strike at commercial interests.
Iran has done things like this before. It was likely linked to the attack on the Jewish AMIA center in Argentina in 1994. Hezbollah, and thus Iran, was linked to the Burgas bombing in 2012 in Bulgaria. Iran may have been linked to a New Delhi attack in January this year and attacks in Bangkok in 2014. There were also attacks in India and Georgia in 2012, for which Israel blamed Iran and Hezbollah.
This means that Iran has sought to target Israelis and Jews abroad and that it has possibly set on a new course of action against commercial shipping. Then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran for the February incident at sea: It is unclear if officials will point the finger at Iran again.
This phenomenon of Jewish antisemitism is nothing new.
Throughout the Middle Ages, Jewish apostates spread lurid “inside stories” of Jewish blasphemy and perfidy against Christians, prompted anti-Jewish religious disputations such as the burning of the Talmud, and reinforced anti-Jewish claims of deicide and blood libels.
During the 19th century, Otto Weininger, an Austrian thinker of Jewish descent, wrote an antisemitic screed entitled “Sex and Character” that was later incorporated into Nazi propaganda and praised by Hitler.
A century later, the Jewish wing of the Soviet Communist party known as the Yevsektsiya was tasked with the “destruction of traditional Jewish life, the Zionist movement, and Hebrew culture.” These Jewish antisemites agitated to close down synagogues and Jewish cultural centers throughout the Soviet Union. For them, Zionism was counter-revolutionary and reactionary, harming the assimilation of Jews into the workers’ paradise.
Today’s Jewish anti-Zionists are simply following the long tradition of Jewish antisemitism. Often from assimilated backgrounds at odds with the mainstream Jewish community, they gain “in-crowd” standing by reinforcing widespread anti-Jewish attitudes and repeating falsehoods such as the idea that Israel engages in apartheid, war crimes, and genocide.
The recent wave of anti-Jewish harassment and violence is the latest confirmation that the anti-Zionist movement is inextricably linked to hatred toward Jews. People of good faith must not allow themselves to be misled by those who use their Jewish identity to cover for their antisemitic ideologies.
New government in Jerusalem keeps Israel's enthusiasm for UAE
Instead, Lapid’s public remarks focused on the future of bilateral ties – namely, the opportunities for economic and scientific cooperation between Israel and the UAE – how groundbreaking the relations between the countries are, and how they should serve as a model for more countries in the region.Moroccan plane lands in Israel, reportedly before taking part in IDF drill
“Israel wants peace with all of its neighbors,” Lapid said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi. “We are standing here today because we chose peace over war, cooperation over conflict.... Agreements are signed by leaders, but peace is made by people.”
In that vein, the next day, dedicating the Israeli Consulate in Dubai, Lapid said it will be a place “of dialogue between two talented peoples who can and who want to contribute to one another.... A place that symbolizes our ability to think together, to develop together, to change the world together. We don’t accept reality, we create reality. Our two nations created the incredible.”
And those were the exact same messages that Emirati officials relayed, publicly and behind closed doors. This isn’t the time to talk about problems with other countries; it’s about the potential of Israel and the UAE working together to help their own people, they said.
UAE Culture and Youth Minister Noura Al Kaabi said her country and Israel “have inspired others in the region to prioritize peace and stability on the path to a brighter future... and work toward a region that embraces human dignity for all and inclusiveness and tolerance to prepare our children for a brighter future.”
UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar Al Olama said “ultimately, the warm ties between Israel and the UAE are slated to grow in many areas.... We will usher in a next phase of bilateral cooperation that will be a model to many countries.”
Lapid ended his battery of meetings in the two biggest emirates by giving an impression that the UAE and Israel are perfectly in sync and working together for a better future. He also charmed the local press, which breathlessly noted that he is a “media celebrity” with a famous family, focusing on business and mentioning that trade between the countries has topped NIS 2.2 billion ($675.22m.) since September.
The foreign minister’s trip is the opening salvo in what is expected to be a rapid advancement of the relations, just as the UAE had visualized when diplomatic ties were first made public last year. A long line of Israeli ministers is expected in the Gulf state, each set to sign bilateral agreements in their areas, from agriculture to science to tourism. Bennett is considering a visit to the opening of Expo 2020 in Dubai, where Israel is constructing a pavilion.
When it comes to the Abraham Accords, the concerns about change in Israel seem to be unwarranted, with the new government ready to push them to their maximum potential. Or as Lapid said at the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi this week: “What we are doing here today is not the end of the road; it’s the beginning.”
A Moroccan air force plane touched down in Israel’s Hatzor Air Base on Sunday morning, reportedly to take part in a multinational Israeli Air Force exercise later this month.Israel sends two planes to help Cyprus battle huge forest fires
The highly irregular landing of the Royal Moroccan Air Force C-130 cargo plane at the Hatzor Air Base near Ashdod was visible on public flight-tracking software, where it was quickly spotted by a number of amateur radar watchers, one of whom shared the information with The Times of Israel.
It appeared to be at least the second time the RMAF cargo plane landed in Israel, the first time being in 1996 when it touched down at Ben Gurion International Airport, according to aviation enthusiast David Weinrich, who tracked that flight at the time.
The C-130 cargo plane landed in Israel on Sunday for a military exercise scheduled for later this month, in which several foreign countries are due to take part, according to the Walla news site.
The Israel Defense Forces refused to confirm the report or the visit.
“The IDF cooperates with a variety of foreign nations and militaries, while carrying out exercises, high-level meetings, and joint research and development [projects]. We will not comment on cooperations with a specific country,” the military said in a statement.
After a 20-year lull in diplomatic relations, Israel and Morocco renewed their ties late last year, amid a wave of normalization agreements with other Arab countries.
A joint Israeli Air Force and Fire and Rescue Services delegation has been sent to fight the huge forest fire in Cyprus, the IDF confirmed on Sunday afternoon.US wants Salam Fayyad to replace Mahmoud Abbas in PA - report
The delegation will include a number of Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircrafts, as well as two firefighting Air Tractor aircrafts of the Elad Aerial rescue unit.
The fire, raging north of the cities of Limassol and Larnaca, is forcing the evacuation of some nearby villages. Fanned by strong winds, it affected at least six communities in the foothills of the Troodos mountain range, an area of pine forest and densely vegetated shrubs.
Dozens of properties were damaged, but no injuries were reported and there were widespread power cuts in the area. Plumes of smoke were visible in the capital Nicosia, some 75 km. away.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides on Saturday and said that Israel would do everything it could to help Cyprus bring the fire under control.
Based on the mutual cooperation agreement between the two countries, Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev and the Fire Commissioner Dedy Simhi discussed ways they could help Cyprus.
A recent three-day visit to the Gaza Strip by former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has sparked speculation that he is planning to make a comeback and head a new Palestinian unity government.The German Green Party’s Antisemitism Problem
According to the Egyptian Arabi 21 news website, Fayyad was asked by the US administration to “feel the pulse” of Hamas and other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip about the possibility that he would head the next Palestinian government.
The report claimed that the US and the Europeans have realized that the role of PA President Mahmoud Abbas has ended because of the decline in his popularity, especially after the crackdown by the Palestinian security forces on political opponents and social media users in the West Bank.
The crackdown reached its peak on June 24 with the death of anti-corruption activist Nizar Banat while in PA custody. His death has triggered a wave of protests throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with many Palestinians demanding that Abbas step down.
An unnamed source in the Gaza Strip told the website that the Americans, Europeans and Israel believe that Abbas’s days in power are nearing their end.
“That’s why they are working to recruit Fayyad as a substitute for Abbas,” the source said. “Fayyad has previous experience with the US, especially regarding training of the Palestinian security services.”
The source claimed that many members of the ruling Fatah faction are opposed to the return of Fayyad as prime minister, while Abbas reportedly supports the idea.
With German federal elections set for September 26, the center-left German Green Party is polling well, and has a solid chance to be part of the next government.
For many German Jews and Israel, and for all those concerned with the sustainability of democracy in the Federal Republic, the Green Party remains stained by a significant blemish: It has failed to confront the growing antisemitism within its ranks.
Just last month, German author and journalist Carolin Emcke delivered a speech at the Green Party Congress, in which she likened the persecution of “Jews and cosmopolitans” to the treatment of climate researchers.
The co-leaders of the Green Party, Annalena Baerbock, the Green chancellor candidate, and Robert Habeck, sat through the presentation and did not object to the belittling of antisemitism and the Holocaust.
The scandal prompted Daniel Botman, the director of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, to declare that Emcke is not “beyond reproach” and that one should recall her opposition to the non-binding anti-BDS resolution passed by the Bundestag in 2019, which describes BDS as an expression of antisemitism reminiscent of the boycotts against Jews in the Nazi period, and more.
While the German Green Party is not a bottomless pit of antisemitism and Israel-bashing like Canada’s Green Party, where a convicted Holocaust-denier was a two-time candidate for the House of Commons — as J.J. McCullough, the Washington Post Global Opinions contributing columnist, wrote in June, the German Greens have embraced Iranian Holocaust deniers.
Take the example of Claudia Roth, the Green Party’s vice president in the Bundestag, who enthusiastically embraced the then-speaker of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s parliament, Ali Larijani, in 2019. This is the same Larijani who denied the Holocaust at the Munich Security Conference in 2009.
Dr. Kazem Moussavi, an Iranian dissident living in Germany, wrote on Twitter at the time: “Roth presents herself as a feminist but courts representatives of the Islamic regime that represses women in Iran and wants [sic] to destroy Israel.”
A quick background, Ahmad Jamil Abdo al Fahed (???? ???? ???? ?????) from al-Am'ari Refugee Camp was fatally shot in the early hours of 25 May 2021 in Umm Al-Sharait, Al Bireh. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Palestine Medical Complex. pic.twitter.com/t3YAjPqIZ7
— DigFind (@DigFind_) July 4, 2021
End. pic.twitter.com/4eBSNFcegF
— DigFind (@DigFind_) July 4, 2021
Cool. @m7mdkurd retweets a video where Zionists are called “followers of the Satan” and not real Jews, because real Jews are Black Hebrew Israelites, since Jews were African.
— Michael Elgort ?????? ?? (@just_whatever) July 4, 2021
Farrakhan has found in El Kurd a great and equally vile student. https://t.co/Aa58yTLNg3 pic.twitter.com/GhVOzQqjM6
Hezbollah top official involved in smuggling operation - IDF
The IDF believes that Hajj Khalil Harb, a top Hezbollah official, has been operating a drug and weapons smuggling operation over the border between Israel and Lebanon, the IDF confirmed Sunday.Old City woman gets 2.5 years in jail for spying for Hezbollah, IRGC
Harb was Hassan Nasrallah's security advisor, according to the IDF. Nasrallah is the secretary-general of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terror group based in Lebanon.
The IDF accused Harb of being involved in a June 2, 2021, bust in which the IDF seized 15 pistols, 36 kilograms of hashish and dozens of magazines, according to the press release. The items were worth about two million shekels.
Harb was involved in Hezbollah activities in the Palestinian territories. He has also helped move large amounts of money from Hezbollah to its allies in Yemen since 2012. He was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US Treasury Department in August 2013, according to US counterterrorism rewards program Rewards for Justice.
The IDF said they will continue monitoring the Lebanese border as well as Harb's activities in order to protect Israeli sovereignty.
Yasmin Jabar, a resident of Jerusalem’s Old City, was sentenced by the Jerusalem District Court to 30 months in prison on Sunday as part of a plea bargain conviction for spying for Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force.Bennett on Gaza strikes in response to arson balloons: ‘Things have changed’
Until her arrest in August 2020, she had been employed by the National Library at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Her relatively light sentence stemmed from the fact that she cut a deal and that she was caught before she had succeeded in causing significant security damage to Israel.
Since she was arrested on August 4, 2020, she could be released as early as February 2023 or possibly even earlier for good behavior.
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Israel Police and other branches of the security apparatus announced in September 2020 how they uncovered Hezbollah’s recruitment of Jabar.
Hezbollah organizes conventions for young Palestinians in Lebanon, Turkey and other countries as a way of cultivating recruits from Israel and the West Bank, the security organizations said. Hezbollah seeks to form cells to help with intelligence collection and terrorist attacks, they said.
Jabar was identified by Hezbollah operatives when she attended a conference from early to mid-December 2015. She was also given a code name to disguise her identity.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett vowed Sunday that Israel will continue to respond forcefully to any further attacks from Gaza, after the military struck Hamas targets following arson attacks from the enclave that caused fires in southern Israel.Israel Hits Hamas Targets in Gaza in Response to Ongoing Arson Attacks
“I again clarify here: things have changed,” Bennett said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
He added: “Israel is interested in calm and has no interest in harming Gaza residents, but violence… will be met with a strong response.”
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the strikes late Saturday targeted a rocket launcher and weapons factory belonging to Hamas, the Islamist terror group that controls the Gaza Strip. The Hamas-run Health Ministry said there were no casualties.
Israeli warplanes also bombed a Hamas weapons factory in Gaza overnight Thursday-Friday in response to at least four fires in Israel caused by incendiary balloons. The previous wave of arson attacks, more than two weeks previously, also met with an Israeli response.
The retaliatory strikes by the new government indicate a policy shift from that of the previous one led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which did not always respond to arson balloon launches with airstrikes. Bennett had long urged a tougher response to the attacks before replacing Netanyahu as premier last month.
“We are also working on a solution to allow humanitarian assistance to Gaza residents, without suitcases of dollars,” Bennett said Sunday, referring to the money that Qatar has provided the Strip in recent years.
“The suitcases of dollars are something we inherited and need to stop,” he added.
Bennett’s comments came after a Palestinian newspaper on Sunday reported the United Nations had agreed to take responsibility for the disbursement of the Qatari funds in Gaza. Quoting unnamed Palestinian sources, the Al-Quds daily said Israel was on board with the move as long as the flow of the money was monitored to ensure it was not diverted to Hamas.
Israeli warplanes struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip early on Saturday morning in response to the launch of airborne incendiary devices into Israeli territory, the IDF reported.
The strikes targeted a weapons-manufacturing facility and a rocket-launching site, according to the report.
During the Israeli attack, small-arms fire was directed from Gaza at nearby Israeli towns and settlements, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan.
The Israeli strikes came after the third consecutive day of fires in the western Negev sparked by arson attacks from Gaza, according to Hebrew media. The fires were quickly extinguished by firefighters, aided by Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemeth LeYisrael, which maintains its own firefighting services.
The fires were the first since mid-June, when incendiary devices launched from Gaza ignited a total of 26 conflagrations in southern Israel. Hamas claimed it had launched the June attack in response to the Jerusalem Day flag march in Jerusalem on June 15. In response, the Israeli Air Force attacked Hamas targets in Gaza.
Gaza Incendiary Balloons Squad Video: We Are here to Burn You, To Make You Wish You Were Dead #Gaza #terrorists #incendiary_balloons #Israel pic.twitter.com/mi2HScDtPH
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) July 4, 2021
Report: UN Agrees to Disburse Qatari Funds in Gaza
The United Nations has agreed to act as the broker for the distribution of Qatari funds in the Gaza Strip, according to a report published in a Palestinian newspaper on Sunday.PMW: There is no Israel, only “Palestine” – PA cartoon erases the entire State of Israel
Citing unnamed sources, the Al-Quds newspaper claimed that Israel was on board with the move, as long as the money was not diverted to the Hamas terrorist group, which controls the coastal enclave, reported the Times of Israel (TOI).
Sources with knowledge of Hamas’ response said that the terrorist group was similarly sanguine about using the UN, and did not mind as long as the funds were distributed.
The UN’s Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland held recent meetings in both Qatar and Israel during which he announced the global body would give out the money.
The funds will be routed through the Palestinian Monetary Authority in Ramallah, the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority’s seat of government, and not through banks or post offices controlled by Hamas, according to the Palestinian sources, reports TOI.
A cartoon published by the official PA daily shows the PA map of “Palestine” erasing the entire State of Israel, thereby visually expressing the PA ideology that does not recognize Israel’s right to exist in any borders. [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 21, 2021]
The cartoon shows planet Earth seen from space, prominently featuring the map always used by the PA that presents all of Israel together with the PA areas as “Palestine.” The map has a massive Palestinian flag planted in it, signaling Palestinian sovereignty over the entire area, including all of the State of Israel.
It also exemplifies another of the PA’s messages: That Israel will come to an end. Palestinian Media Watch has exposed numerous statements to that effect made by PA and Fatah officials. Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki said earlier this year that both America and Israel “will disappear”:
Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki: “Regardless of how great the power of Israel, America, and the world may be, in the end they will disappear, while we are remaining.”
[Official Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, April 29, 2021]
Official PA TV has broadcast a music video hundreds of times since 2012 that visualizes this ideology, portraying the Palestinians as a woman dressed in white who experiences different foreign rulers. Israel is presented as the last “foreign ruler” that will be defeated by a Muslim ruler:
Child at Islamic Jihad Gaza Summer Camp: Hitler Left Some of You Alive to Show Us How Wicked You Are; We Will Tear Your Bodies Apart with Our Rockets; PIJ Official: The Children of Palestine Will Sacrifice Their Blood and Body Parts #Gaza #terrorists #antisemitism pic.twitter.com/vRm8hqleG0
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) July 4, 2021
Children from one the military summer camps (likely Hamas) demonstrate their military skills in front of an audience. In one scene, they capture an IDF base via a tunnel, and successfully abduct an Israeli soldier. One child wears a GoPro mimicking the gear militants wear. #Gaza pic.twitter.com/4R8z6LGAr3
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) July 4, 2021
The second half of Hamas' military camp for children and teenagers started in the #Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/fp9TJLOwoe
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) July 4, 2021
Arizona Senate Approves Resolution That Says Questioning Israel’s Right to Exist Is Antisemitic
Legislation approved on Tuesday by the Arizona Senate requires local schools to teach that any claim about Israel not having the right to exist is antisemitic, KAWC News reported.War And Pieces: The shape of US teachers’ anti-Israel drive
The 16-14 vote came after every Democratic lawmaker in the Senate reportedly objected Resolution HB 2282, arguing that it would hinder discussions about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. However, Sen. Paul Boyer (R-Glendale) said there’s nothing in the measure that prevents criticizing the policies of the Israeli government.
“If you’ve spent any time in Israel, you know that criticizing the State of Israel and the government is really an Israeli pastime,” he said, explaining that the legislation is aimed at addressing the issue of blood libels, such as holding all Jews responsible for the decisions of the Israeli government.
The resolution addressed Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, saying the area was granted to Israel “through the oldest recorded deed, as recorded in the Old Testament,” and explained that the “claim and presence” of the Jewish people in Israel, including the West Bank, has “remained constant throughout the past 4,000 years of history.”
It stated that Israel is not an “occupier of the lands of others,” and peace in the region can be accomplished “only through a whole and united Israel.”
The resolution also included the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. Boyer said that if the IHRA definition is not implemented in schools, Holocaust education in Arizona “could be corrupted in ways that could ironically boost contemporary antisemitism rather than combat it.”
So much for “the peaceful solution” and “this very peaceful way.”StandWithUs Applauds Overwhelming Defeat of Motion Slandering Israel at the NEA Assembly
Amani Barakat must be joking when she twice touts the “peaceful” tactics of an anti-Israel drive among West Coast teachers’ unions. Simultaneously, Barakat continues in a leading role in an organization that seeks the right of return for Palestinians to Israel, a mission that could only lead to war.
Such a contradiction stands out with news that the leadership of the Los Angeles teachers’ union will vote in September on a resolution to “express our solidarity” with the Palestinian Arabs.
This move is revealing in generating multiple concerns not only about this pending vote but also the hypocrisy of this supposed pro-Palestinian movement. This campaign run by members of United Teachers Los Angeles campaign signals not just a willingness to go to war but also distresses Jewish students and employees, mocks the very idea of seeking social justice, lies about opposing anti-Semitism, singles out Israel and distracts from their fundamental role to educate the school district’s 465,000 students.
The resolution would call for ending all American aid to Israel and urges UTLA to “express our solidarity with the Palestinian people and call for Israel to end bombardment of Gaza and stop displacement at Sheikh Jarrah,” a reference to property where Palestinian residents face forced removal (from Jewish-owned property for which they refuse to pay rent, ed.), The Los Angeles Times reports. The resolution also asks members to endorse “the international campaign for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against apartheid in Israel.”
Teachers in San Francisco adopted a similar position in May. The National Education Association had planned to vote on a pro-Palestinian measure on Wednesday, June 30, which is under protest from the Zionist Organization of America. UTLA is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers.
StandWithUs congratulates National Education Association (NEA) members who overwhelmingly defeated a motion attacking Israel at their 2021 Representative Assembly. New Business Item 29 (NBI 29) failed with 23% of the RA voting in favor, and 77% voting against.
"We applaud the NEA Jewish Affairs Caucus and all members who spoke out and persuaded their union representatives to defeat this harmful motion by such a large margin," said Kate Chavez, National Associate Director of High School Affairs at StandWithUs. "NBI 29 promoted dehumanizing smears against Israel, while ignoring the crimes Hamas has committed against Israelis and Palestinians alike. We applaud the NEA for rejecting an approach that only fuels more division and hate, instead of justice and peace."
The NEA is the largest labor union in the United States, representing over 3 million education professionals across the country. Every year, 8,000 NEA representatives come together to vote on various "New Business Items" at the NEA Representative Assembly (RA). NBI 29 was one of two anti-Israel motions submitted for the 2021 RA. The RA ended before the other motion, NBI 51, could be voted on, meaning that it will now be referred to committee.
Local NEA affiliates in San Francisco, and Seattle have passed anti-Israel resolutions in recent weeks. The one passed by the Seattle Education Association (SEA) is especially egregious and has sparked backlash for promoting a vicious antisemitic conspiracy theory. Meanwhile, hundreds of members of the NEA affiliate United Teachers of Los Angeles have signed a letter strongly opposing a similar resolution that is scheduled for a vote in September, 2021.
“The academic boycott of Israel is actually meant to isolate and stigmatise Jewish academics in America. It serves the aim of pushing Jewish academics out of shrinking disciplines, where Jews are believed to be ‘over-represented.’”@Martin_Kramer: https://t.co/x5HvuczGrw pic.twitter.com/grDYFWXsCm
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) July 4, 2021
This deranged antisemite managed to get a black Jewish woman sacked from her diversity position, because she made a statement on standing against antisemitism. What a disgrace @scbwi are. #Antisemitism pic.twitter.com/ZzGf2P0feV
— (((GnasherJew®?????))) (@GnasherJew) July 4, 2021
Scottish paper retracts claim 'thousands' were evicted from Sheikh Jarrah
Last month, we complained to editors at the Scottish newspaper The Press and Journal about an op-ed (“Catherine Deveney: Young women in Gaza still dream of peace against all odds – but they need our help”) that included the following:Not Off the Hook CAMERA Seeks Los Angeles Times Corrections on Gaza Fishing Zone
Thousands of ordinary Palestinian families were brutally displaced as Israelis seized homes in Sheikh Jarrah, and clashes there continue.
Though the wording was a bit ambiguous, it appeared as if the author was claiming that “thousands” of Palestinians had been “brutally displaced” in Sheikh Jarrah. As we argued in our complaint, during the May conflict, no Palestinian homes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood were “seized”. It was only a dozen families who even faced the possibility of future eviction, depending on an upcoming Israeli Supreme Court decision.
After a few email exchanges with the editor, it became clear the the author conflated the situation in Sheikh Jarrah with Gaza, and that it was the latter she was referring to.
So, the sentence was revised thusly:
Thousands of ordinary Palestinian families have been brutally displaced in Gaza, and clashes there continue.
In his page-one July 2 article “A day at sea with Gazan fishermen,” The Los Angeles Times’ Nabih Bulos incorrectly stated that the farthest that Israel has permitted Gaza fishermen to venture is 12 nautical miles. The article errs: “Although the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians in the early 1990s obligated Israel to allow boats to go as far as 20 nautical miles from Gaza’s shore, the maximum it has ever permitted is 12.”Fugitive and neo-Nazi party leader found after months of hiding
In fact, for much of the last year, as recently late April, Israel permitted Gaza fishermen to travel up to 15 nautical miles from the coast in search of their catch. On several occasions, following Palestinian attacks from the Gaza Strip against the Jewish state, Israel reduced the 15 nautical mile zone in response to attacks from the Gaza Strips. For instance, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported in its “Protection of Civilians Report April 13-26, 2021“: “On 25 April, the Israeli authorities reduced the permissible fishing zone off the southern Gaza coast from 15 to nine nautical miles . . .”
Likewise, on Sept. 1, 2020 Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported (“Israel reopens key border crossing with Gaza following ceasefire”): “In addition, the fishing zone in the Gaza Strip was expanded to 15 nautical miles (around 28 kilometres) after Israel closed it two weeks ago in response to attacks from Gaza.”
Agence France Presse reported on Aug. 12, 2020 (“Israel cuts Gaza fishing limits over incendiary attacks”): “The Israel defence ministry said in a statement that the zone was cut from 15 nautical miles to eight ‘immediately and until further notice.'”
The deputy leader of Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn has been detained in Athens after months of evading police since his conviction in October, multiple media sources have confirmed.Polish figures condemn allocation of state funds to far-right groups
Christos Pappas was sentenced to 13 years in prison in October, following the end of a five-year trial, but refused to hand himself in and was marked as a fugitive – until Thursday when he was found and arrested by anti-terrorist police, according to The Guardian.
The 60-year-old is one of the leaders and ideologues behind Golden Dawn, a Neo-Nazi party in Greece, which rose to prominence with Greece's financial crisis of 2009, becoming the third most popular party in the parliament by 2012.
According to BBC News, Pappas was known for his obsession with Nazism, with police finding swastika flags in his home; he has even been filmed teaching his children the Nazi salute.
Multiple sources reported that Pappas was being hidden by a 52-year-old woman at a home in Athens' district Zografou. The unnamed woman was sentenced on Friday to 30 months in prison for aiding the fugitive, but will only serve three months because most of her sentence has been suspended, Greek media reported.
A group of prominent Poles has condemned the funding of far-right, racist organizations in Poland, including groups that have embraced antisemitism in the past.
The government recently allocated three million zloty, some €660,000, to the Patriotic Fund, which is overseen by the minister of culture and national heritage, who will distribute money to three highly problematic groups.
One of them is the association that oversees the annual Independence March, which has frequently displayed antisemitic sentiments.
Two other groups that will receive funding are the All-Polish Youth and the National Guard Association.
One of the senior organizers behind the Independence March is far-right activist Robert Bakiewicz of the fascist National-Radical Camp, which seeks an “ethnically homogeneous” Poland. Bakiewicz has referred to Jews as “a fifth column.”
The National-Radical Camp could legally be described as fascist, the Polish Supreme Court ruled earlier this year.
During the 2017 Independence March, organized by Bakiewicz and the National-Radical Camp, demonstrators called for “a Jew-free Poland” and “Jews out of Poland.” The Israeli Foreign Ministry filed a complaint with the Polish authorities.
Dylan Hignite, @olivetcollege (Michigan) basketball player, calls @MichaelRapaport a "fake Ju".
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) July 3, 2021
He then horrifically makes a Holocaust gas reference, telling Michael he should have been the last one put into a "shower".
Player profile: https://t.co/79Hj4qYOF8 pic.twitter.com/0rcWdEU5ib
Operation Entebbe: The Rescue Mission that Thrilled the World
The daring raid to save a planeload of hostages from Entebbe, Uganda, has gone down as one of the most stunning successes in Israeli military history. Formally known as Operation Thunderbolt, it has become synonymous with Jonathan Netanyahu, brother of Benjamin, the man who would later become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. The story epitomizes the dilemmas with which all Israeli leaders have had to grapple, the Israeli spirit, and the very real price paid for defending Jews around the world.Yoni Netanyahu: A hero's story 45 years after Entebbe
The 1970s were an era notorious for international terrorism, with numerous gangs, militias and illegal underground movements led by infamous individuals such as Carlos the Jackal dominating global headlines.
Perhaps the most well-known terror attack came in 1972, when the entire world watched as Palestinian terrorists took 11 Israeli athletes and coaches hostage at the Munich Olympics. Tragically, the episode ended with the massacre of all of the hostages.
Over the course of that decade, terrorists from around the world focused on Western targets, with Palestinian extremists attacking Israelis and Jews being joined by radicals from organizations based in Japan, Germany, and elsewhere.
One such attack could well have ended as tragically as the massacre in Munich: the hijacking of an Air France plane in June 1976.
Carrying 246 mainly Jewish and Israeli passengers and a crew of 12 from Tel Aviv, the flight was scheduled to land in Paris, via a stopover in Greece. But after arriving in Athens, Greece, an additional 58 passengers, including four hijackers, boarded the plane. Just after takeoff, the flight was hijacked by two Palestinians from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and by two German accomplices, Wilfried Böse and Brigitte Kuhlmann, from the German Revolutionary Cells.
The hijackers had the flight diverted to Benghazi, Libya, where it re-fueled, and then flew it from there to Entebbe in Uganda. The same day, a spokesman for the PFLP in Damascus contacted the Reuters news agency to announce the organization’s responsibility for the hijacking.
Although Israel tried to develop a dialogue with Uganda’s president, Idi Amin, he actually collaborated with the terrorists. It later emerged that the Ugandan government supported the hijackers, and dictator Amin, who had been informed of the hijacking from the beginning, personally welcomed them.
With the painful memory of the events in Munich still fresh, the Israeli government instructed the military to prepare plans immediately for a covert rescue operation, even as the government attempted to negotiate.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s older brother was named Jonathan (Yonatan) and is usually remembered as Yoni. He died fighting anti-Israel terrorists on July 4, 1976 just as the world’s oldest democracy celebrated its Bicentennial.IDF Soldier Who Was First Into Entebbe Airport in Legendary July 4, 1976 Operation Speaks
Yoni died in a heroic effort which successfully freed over a hundred hijacked Jewish hostages in Entebbe, Uganda. America’s commemoration of liberty shared the world’s headlines with Israel’s celebration of the liberation of the hostages.
The daring of Israel's commandos captured the world's imagination like no other anti-terrorism action in history. Books and movies recall the Entebbe rescue but there's more to the story. Much more.
It is not widely known that Yoni Netanyahu was a hero long before he commanded the Entebbe operation. He played a key role in many other crucial Israeli security operations exhibiting courage and valor in the most dangerous of circumstances. He was a living example to the world’s statesman that terrorism can be beaten – if the nations of the world have the will to fight back.
Yoni was born in New York into a family of dedicated Jabotinsky Zionists who greeted the news of the establishment of Israel by packing up and moving there in 1948. He returned to the U.S. in 1963 where his father, a distinguished Jewish Studies scholar, Benzion Netanyahu, (1910-2012), accepted a professorship in Philadelphia.
After graduating high school in a suburb Philadelphia in 1964, Yoni returned to Israel to join the army and it was not long before he had worked his way up to the leadership of an elite paratrooper unit.
The mid-1960s was a time of growing danger for Israel. The Palestine Liberation Organization, established in 1964 for the purpose of “liberating” all of “Palestine” from the Israelis had begun mounting terrorist attacks across Israel’s borders—and those precarious borders indeed. In those days, before the 1967 war, Israel was just 9 miles wide at its strategic midsection, and all of Israeli’s major cities were within striking distance of Yasser Arafat’s terrorists.
Yoni did not fear the possibility of losing his life in the war to protect Israel from its enemies.
An Israeli special forces veteran who was first into the Entebbe airport terminal during the IDF’s now-legendary 1976 hostage rescue operation spoke about his experience on Thursday and reflected on the death of Yonatan Netanyahu — the operation’s commander and brother of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Entebbe operation took place on July 4, 1976 after Palestinian and German terrorists hijacked an Air France jet and held 105 Israelis hostage at the Ugandan airport terminal.
Rather than give in to the terrorists’ demands, Israel’s elite Sayeret Matkal unit quickly planned and executed a daring operation that would see Israeli soldiers fly several large transport planes into hostile airspace, land at Entebbe, storm the terminal, kill the terrorists, and free the hostages.
Only one Israeli soldier — Yonatan Netanyahu — died in the operation, though several others were severely wounded. In addition, three hostages were killed. Following the operation, “Yoni” became a national hero.
As the anniversary of the operation approached, Walla reported that Amir Ofer, a former soldier in Sayeret Matkal, recounted how he was the first to burst into the terminal where the hostages were being held.
“I found myself inside,” he said. “I was 22 years old. Let’s say that during the flight (to Entebbe) there was a lot of time to think, to be tense, and perhaps even to be afraid.”
In the battle, however, “you start to run; you’re not thinking any more, you’re not afraid anymore.”
Today 1976 at Entebbe, @IDF rescued 102 of 106 hostages, killed all 7 terrorists & 45 Ugandan soldiers & destroyed a quarter of the Ugandan Air Force. One of the greatest special forces raids in history. My article on the Entebbe operation from 2018. https://t.co/krCNjdq2HF pic.twitter.com/gR0XqglSfh
— R?????? K??? ? (@COLRICHARDKEMP) July 4, 2021
Remembering Operation Entebbe 45 Years Later
IDF Entebbe Rescue Mission
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