Thursday, July 22, 2021
Nitsana Darshan Leitner: The world reacts to Israel with arrogance and hypocrisy - opinion
How outrageous is the audacity of US President Joe Biden’s administration that its response equates cold-blooded murder with punitive measures that have been used successfully for years, since the British Mandate, to punish those who perpetrate acts of terror murder and to deter those who might follow in their footsteps. In a landscape where terrorists care little about their own lives and blow up buses, take hostages and murder Jews, the demolition of a terrorist’s house makes those who want to strap an explosive vest on their bodies or shoot up teenagers at a bus stop think twice before carrying out their homicidal actions. There are countless examples of Palestinian fathers bringing their sons to the attention of the Palestinian Authority security services because they feared that their boys were about to perpetrate an attack that would ultimately result in the family home being destroyed. The deterrence power is irrefutable and that deterrence saves lives. The State Department was angry about the loss of a building. Why were they not angry about the loss of life? A building can be repaired and rebuilt. Yehuda Guetta is dead, and Benaya Peretz will be paralyzed for the rest of his life. Their homes are destroyed for good. It needs to be pointed out that the homes of terror suspects are not being demolished on a whim. They are the result of a lengthy legal process that must satisfy the criteria of the court; the decision to blow up a home must pass numerous military and judicial thresholds before the orders are issued. There are appeal processes that make their way through the judiciary. There’s nothing unilateral about it. In the Shalabi case, a petition was filed with a High Court of Justice to stop the combat engineers from wiring the structure with explosives. But it failed and the orders to blow up the house were issued.
The US Embassy went so far as to send representatives to observe the courtroom arguments and to make sure that they were carried out to the letter of the law. The legal effort to stop the demolition was not successful. And this was the doubling down of hypocrisy. The US Embassy in Jerusalem didn’t send representatives to pay their condolences to the Guetta family nor did it send an emissary to the hospital to sit at Benaya’s bedside. There were no public statements of American anger over the shooting attack, and the US State Department never bothered to condemn the senseless murder of an innocent teenager waiting at a bus stop. Why would it? Israeli victims have become too commonplace to warrant any interest from American or other governments who continuously look at Jewish victims as acceptable losses in a larger game of appeasement.
The US should know better. After 9/11, when it declared a global war on terror to prevent further acts of catastrophic destruction, all bets were off. American and allied forces arrested and tortured countless Afghans and Pakistanis and held them at Guantanamo Bay without trial – even to this day – in a clear violation of their human rights. Perhaps the US should preach what it practices.
The only unilateral action taken in this tragic affair was the cold-blooded murder of a teenager and the crippling of another by a Palestinian terrorist. Israel’s actions were responsive and measured, designed to limit the collateral damage and heartache of more innocent men, women, and children, being murdered.
In case you missed it, check out the fascinating discussion we had with the one and only Joseph Cohen, founder of @israel_advocacy and one of the most recognizable faces in Israeli advocacy.
— Im Tirtzu (@IMTIzionism) July 20, 2021
???????? https://t.co/nMVmyZSjUP pic.twitter.com/WboY8bYS33
The “Apartheid” Poll and the Disinformation Discourse
The July 2021 Jewish Electorate Institute poll of American Jewish opinion on Israel has triggered sharp debate both in the United States and Israel. The poll shows that 25 percent of respondents believe that Israel is an apartheid state, while 22 percent consider Israel guilty of genocide against Palestinians. In the under-40 age group, 20 percent agreed that Israel has no right to exist.
A disinformation campaign leveled at Israel’s legitimacy has been percolating through the West since the 1975 UN “Zionism is racism” Resolution and has overtaken American public discourse on Israel since 2000. This campaign has come to normalize the application of delegitimizing terms to Israel such as “genocide,” “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing,” “settler colonialism,” and “racism.”
Disinformation as a political warfare phenomenon has deep historical roots in the former Soviet Union. According to KGB defectors to the U.S., its objective was to release “deliberately distorted information, secretly leaked in the communication process,” in order to “deceive and manipulate” public opinion.
Palestinian leadership has used Soviet-style disinformation to discredit, delegitimize, and demonize Israel beginning in the late 1960s, when PLO officials underwent military and political warfare training in Moscow and other Soviet satellite countries.
Disinformation by BDS-affiliated and Jewish anti-Zionist organizations spread through American college campuses and social media have negatively affected Jewish public opinion on Israel.
American Jewish and Israeli leaders must stand against the disinformation campaign that has become the progressive discourse.
International media headlines this week screamed out that Jewish settlers had stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque this past Sunday. It just so happened that Luke happened to be with the very same group of “settlers” when they “stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque. He also captured the event with photos and videos, which we will share on today’s program.
World headlines don’t always present a clear picture of the truth.
Who controls the Temple Mount? Is it the “heart of hearts” for 2 billion Muslims or is it the farthest place from Mecca and the third holiest site in Islam?
Today’s program is full of myth busting truth.
The Pitfalls of Palestinian Exceptionalism
Is there any convincing reason why the Palestinians should be set apart from Iraqi, Syrian, Yemeni, and Lebanese refugees?Daniel Pipes: Israeli Victory, Palestinian Prosperity
When it comes to democracy and human rights, the Palestinians prove to be no less exceptional. The Western righteousness industry seems to be deeply interested in democracy, freedom of speech, and human rights violations in countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as attested by the obsession over the Khashoggi affair but is disinterested in the same issues within Palestinian society. Hamas will be reported only when it is resisting Israel, but not when it is repressing its people and training their children to become martyrs. The residents of the West Bank will be iconized when they are telling of their encounters with Israeli soldiers at the checkpoints of the occupation, but not when they are oppressed, silenced, jailed, tortured, or murdered by their own governing authority for political dissent, as happened recently to the Palestinian journalist Nizar Banati, whose death sparked large protests against the dictatorship of Mahmoud Abbas.
The magical exceptionalism of the Palestinians turns appalling acts of violence by chauvinistic and toxic Palestinian males from terrorism to resistance. It turns common real estate disputes to the struggle of justice, Islam, Arabness, feminism, wokeism, socialism, etc. It turns the cowardice of Islamist terrorists into heroic acts of self-sacrifice. It turns the pagan endeavor of sacrificing the last drop of human blood for the sake of honor, land, justice, and other obscure abstractions of narcissistic power into legitimate struggles of dispossessed and victimized people. And finally, it turns the nauseating toxic antisemitism, which is now proliferating from sea to shining sea, to a banner of self-righteousness and equity.
The reason the star of the Palestinian Cause is waning among Arab nations, while ironically getting brighter in the West, is exactly because we don’t see the Palestinians as exceptional anymore. The story of the Palestinian is an Arab story through and through, and only a delusional and distorted individual will fail to see how it fits with the stories of the people of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, and other Arab countries. It is the story of an Arab society struggling through its transition to modernity against tribalism, factionalism, Arab despotism, chauvinism, and the total lack of a social basis for democracy or modern notions of human rights, of a society whose most important struggles are within itself.
This is not to deny that many, but not all, Palestinians live under a set of unique conditions, yet those conditions do not profoundly alter their problem to the extent of setting them apart from larger questions of stability, democracy, and human rights in the region. Until the holy aura of exceptionalism is lifted, the Palestinians will achieve no solutions to their problems. Such fictitious exceptionalism does nothing but enforces the most regressive, oppressive, antisemitic, and chauvinistic human tendencies among the Palestinians. Ultimately, the biggest losers of Palestinian exceptionalism are none but Palestinians who seek a better future for their people.
Letter to the EditorUnited Church of Christ vs Israel
Who can resist the optimism of Micah Goodman's op-ed "Israel's Surprising Consensus on the Palestinian Issue" (July 15)? Sadly, the fine print reveals that the supposed consensus rests on Mr. Goodman's proposal "to create territorial contiguity between Palestinian autonomous islands in the West Bank, connect this Palestinian autonomy to the wider world, and promote Palestinian economic prosperity and independence."
Haven't we seen this movie before? Mr. Goodman's program closely replicates Shimon Peres's "New Middle East" and the Oslo Accords of 1993, when Israelis made major concessions in the innocent hope that Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas and their henchmen would respond with goodwill. We know now how that turned out.
Handsome apartments and late-model cars will not spur Palestinians to accept Israel.
As a historian, I regret to report that conflicts typically end not with goodwill gestures but with one side giving up on its war goals. Think: 1865, 1945, 1975 and 1991. Handsome apartments and late-model cars will not spur Palestinians to accept Israel; this will happen only after they recognize the futility of their dream to eliminate the Jewish state. Israeli victory, not Palestinian prosperity, leads to peace.
Just as the Germans gained immeasurably by giving up on their aggression, so can the Palestinians. Only when they accept their neighbor can this skilled and dignified people build the polity, economy, society and culture worthy of them.
The Ninth of Av, or Tisha B’av in Hebrew, is the day when Jews around the world fast and mourn to remember the destruction of the Temple in 70AD and the expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem in 132. It was also in 132 when Romans renamed the land Palestine after the Jewish people’s historic rivals, the Philistines. It is also the day the United Church of Christ (UCC) chose to affirm, by significant margin, their latest declaration against the State of Israel.American Jewish Committee Condemns United Church of Christ Resolution on Israel, Palestinians
One of the original “seven sisters” of mainline Protestantism in the United States, the UCC is a once-influential denomination that boasted membership in the millions but is in an uninterrupted decline. Their recent General Synod considered resolutions on issues related to the environment, human sexuality, and even the Kingdom of Hawaii. Yet a General Synod seemingly cannot conclude without passage of a resolution uniquely condemning Israel.
This year’s resolution, “A Declaration of Just Peace Between Palestine and Israel,” claims to be for peace and opposed to antisemitism — and yet singles out Israel for special rebuke and calls on local churches to partner with some of the most radical anti-Israel organizations in the U.S. It also claims to be against supersessionism, and yet urges churches to critically examine the “use and interpretations of Scripture as well as liturgies and hymns that equate ancient Biblical Israel with the modern state…”
This type of antagonism against Israel is unsurprising. But more telling is that this resolution was adopted on the Ninth of Av. In addition to the destruction of the temple and the renaming of the land, there is a long list of anti-Israel and antisemitic acts that historically transpired on this day.
The American Jewish Committee condemned a resolution adopted 462-78 with 18 abstentions at a meeting of the United Church of Christ on Sunday.Biden to Delay Reopening of Jerusalem Consulate to Palestinians at Israel’s Request
The resolution refers to Israel's "apartheid system of laws and legal procedures" and demands an end to U.S. military aid to Israel.
The AJC said the measure "demonizes Israel, fails to offer a credible path to Israeli-Palestinian peace, and undermines advances in Christian-Jewish relations."
"It pretends there aren't two parties to the conflict," said Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC's director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations. "That is not the way to get to peace."
At Israel’s request, US President Joe Biden’s administration will delay reopening the US consulate in Jerusalem as a de facto mission to the Palestinians until the government passes a budget, according to Israel’s Walla news.Israel to join African Union as observer after being kept out for 2 decades
The US decision follows requests from Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry.
The news site also quotes an anonymous high-ranking Israeli source who claimed that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is opposed to the reopening of the consulate, arguing that this contradicts the US recognition of Jerusalem in 2017 as the capital of Israel.
The official clarified that the decision is not supposed to take a position on the borders of Jerusalem, the eastern part of which is claimed by the Palestinians.
Likud MK Nir Barkat earlier this month submitted a bill that would prevent the US from reopening its Jerusalem consulate to the Palestinians, to thwart Washington’s plans to open the office.
“We are talking about the unification of Jerusalem,” Barkat, former mayor of the city, told Israel’s Channel 12 news, arguing that his bill was necessary to prevent the de facto division of the city.
Israel will be joining the African Union as an observer state, the Foreign Ministry announced Thursday.CBC Interviews Individual Condemned for Antisemitism Asking If Antisemitism is a Problem in the Green Party
Israel’s ambassador to Addis Ababa, Aleleign Admasu, submitted Israel’s charter as an observer member to the 55-member continental organization.
Israel enjoyed observer status in the predecessor Organization of African Unity until 2002, when the organization dissolved itself and became the African Union.
“This is a day of celebration for Israel-Africa relations,” said Foreign Minister Yair Lapid. “This diplomatic achievement is the result of efforts by the Foreign Ministry, the African Division, and Israeli embassies on the continent.”
“This corrects the anomaly that existed for almost two decades,” Lapid continued, “and is an important part of strengthening of fabric of Israel’s foreign relations. This will help us strengthen our activities in the continent and in the organization’s member states.”
Israel has relations with 46 of the AU member states. Israel reestablished relations with Guinea in 2016 and with Chad in 2019.
In his interview with the CBC’s Adrian Harwood, Lascaris said: “In May, as Israel was intensifying attacks on Palestinians, the party put out a statement which did not reflect our party policy which was adopted in 2016 with over 90% support, calls for an arms embargo on Israel to bring an end to repression on Palestinians and in response to that statement, all of our MP’s in varying ways expressed their disagreement and quite pointedly stated that Israel was the oppressor that needed to be held accountable, I think Jenica was the most vigorous in disagreeing with the party’s statement and this precipitated an attack from the former senior advisor of the leader, Noah Zatzman, it was astonishing the attack, it accused our MP’s of antisemitism. Mr. Zatzman vowed, on his Facebook page, to work towards their defeat and for almost four weeks, the leader took no action publicly to repudiate what Mr. Zatzman said.”Alarming News: China’s State Media Pushing Clear Anti-Israel Narrative
Harwood asked the following in response: “Was there any merit to his charge that antisemitism is a problem with the party?”
Lascaris answered: “Well I think what precipitated the controversy was that this was directed at MP’s, and it was also by the way directed at me personally. There have been, I think, real instances of antisemitism by some members, but a very very small proportion of the members in their public commentary and I want to point out that after Jenica crossed the floor, the leader publicly acknowledged for the very first time that Paul and Jenica of course are not antisemites, and so people simply could not understand why the leader had not risen to her defense, immediately, knowing full well, as she has now acknowledged that the accusation was false.”
At the start of this program, CBC should have disclosed to CBC listeners that Lascaris was previously condemned by all of Canada’s major federal parties for engaging in antisemitism, while mentioning his long history as an anti-Israel activist. This would have helped CBC listeners to form a proper opinion of Mr. Lascaris’ comments, especially as he downplayed antisemitism in the Green Party of Canada.
In light of this information, we asked CBC News to conduct a review of this matter and to take remedial action. We also requested that the online post by The House be amended to reflect Mr. Lascaris’ background of making this bigoted statement and that the audio report also be edited to include this context. As well, we asked that CBC staffers who were involved in the production of this program be sensitized to our concerns on this issue. Finally, we requested that in the next broadcast of CBC The House, that programmers acknowledge this serious omission at the start of the program in the hopes of righting this wrong and setting the record straight.
The article offers little clarification of its later assertions. Recent measures taken by Jerusalem have been aimed not at causing instability in the region, but at defending the Israeli population. The airstrikes alluded to in the China Daily piece have been in response to indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza, and targeted Hamas weapons arsenals — many of which were hidden in densely populated civilian areas. Furthermore, in the last year Israel has normalized ties with four Arab countries — the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan — in a major step toward greater stability in the Middle East.Seth Frantzman: Is Iran behind Lebanon rocket fire and is this the new normal
As such, how can Israel’s foreign policy be construed as one that deliberately worsens the external environment?
The article also makes reference to the Palestinian Authority’s criticism of Israel for withholding taxes and customs duties. As before, a critical component is missing from the China Daily piece. There is no mention as to the reason Israel withholds the money: Ramallah’s refusal to end its “pay-for-slay” policy that provides stipends to terrorists and their families.
Such anti-Israel rhetoric, which descended into outright antisemitism on at least one occasion, has not gone unnoticed. In May, the Israeli embassy in China criticized a segment shown on Beijing-based CTGN, which peddled the antisemitic trope that “wealthy Jews” influence US foreign policy makers so that they will favor Israel.
China’s volte-face on Israel may be attributed up to a number of reasons, but regardless of the motives behind this disinformation campaign, it should sound alarm bells for Israel and friends of the Jewish state around the world.
During the May fighting, groups in the region that are linked to Iran and often call themselves a “resistance axis” said they would join in fighting against Israel based on the situation in Jerusalem, she told The Jerusalem Post. This could include Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and militias in Syria and Iraq, she said, adding: “They are all subordinate to the Iranians, who created this campaign.”
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah met the leader of Hamas in late June, Zehavi said. The symbols at that meeting, such as the Dome of Rock in Jerusalem, indicate their view of the region and their decision to confront Israel, she said. This means the rocket launches from Lebanon may be a “new reality,” she added.
The result of the recent fire appears to illustrate that whereas Hezbollah was deterred from most attacks like this since 2006, the Palestinian factions in Lebanon that are now working with Hezbollah are not constrained.
“We see that the Iranians are keeping their promise regarding what happened on the Temple Mount on Sunday,” Zehavi told the Post, referring to recent clashes during Tisha Be’av and Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice).
It may be that in the coming months and years we will see more rocket fire from Lebanon ascribed to Palestinian groups. This gives Hezbollah and Iran plausible deniability because they can pretend it is just Palestinians “reacting.”
But the reality is that no one fires rockets from Lebanon without Hezbollah’s approval. In the wider context, this may mean approval or orders even came directly from Tehran.
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) July 21, 2021
#OnThisDay (2017), a Palestinian terrorist entered the community of #Halamish in #Israel, where the Salomon family was celebrating Shabbat & in a pure barbaric act of evil, butchered 3 members of the family.
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) July 22, 2021
May the memories of Yosef, Elad and Chaya Salomon always be blessed! ??? pic.twitter.com/sh1onPe6B2
MEMRI: Former Iraqi MP Mithal Al-Alusi: Palestinian Rights Should Not Come At The Expense Of The Iraqi People; The Streets Of Gaza Are More Beautiful Than Those Of Baghdad; Hamas Leaders Live A Life of Luxury, While We Are Being Slaughtered
Former Iraqi MP Mithal Al-Alusi said that the Palestinian rights should not come at the expense of the Iraqi people and that the "the Palestinians live a life of luxury, while we in Iraq are slaughtered." He made his remarks in an interview that aired on Sharqiya TV (Iraq) on July 13, 2021. Al-Alusi said that the Iraqi budget is paid to the "resistance" and their leaders live like princes, just like Hamas leaders live like princes. He added that there is no difference between the Islamists in Iraq and the Islamists in Gaza. Al-Alusi was asked by the interviewer whether normalization with Israel would solve the crises in Iraq, to which he replied that Iraqis care about their country and their people. He said that not all of the Iraqi people agree with him, although all of the Iraqi politicians agree with this "under the table."PMW: PA exposes banking technology companies to potential criminal and civil liability
"I Do Not Want To See Iraq's Budget... Paid To The [Palestinian] Resistance, Which Is All A Lie"; The Leaders Of Hamas Live Like Princes
Mithal Al-Alusi: "We, Iraqis, do not talk about the [Islamic] nation, the world, and humanity. We care about our citizens, our daughters, our sons, and our families. We care about providing bread, quality education, and employment, and ensuring the safety of the Iraqi citizens in their own homes.
"I am not interested in seeing on your TV channel how the streets of Gaza are more developed and more beautiful than the streets of Baghdad. This is unacceptable. I am not interested in seeing that the illiteracy rate in the West Bank and Gaza is at 4%, while in our country, unfortunately, it reaches 40%.
"I do not want to see Iraq's budget, the money of my sons, of my daughters, and of the good families of Iraq, paid to the resistance, which is all a lie. They are all 'princes' there. Did you know that the leaders of Hamas are princes and live like princes?
"No One Denies The Rights Of The Palestinian People, But Do I Have To Pay The Price Of This Alleged Right And The Great Peddling Of It?"
"What is the difference between the Islamists here and the Islamists there? There is no difference. It is the same corruption, the same institutions, and even the same executive authority. Iraqis, Europeans, South Americans – everybody wants freedom and rights for the people.
As Palestinian Media Watch exposed, the Palestinian Authority is now providing terrorists and their families with specifically designated ATM cards, as a means to implement its “Pay-for-Slay” policy. In doing so, the PA has now dragged at least two multinational companies - BPC Banking Technologies and VISA/VISA PLUS - into its pugnacious program and potentially exposed them to both criminal and civil liability.PMW: Following PMW’s warning letter, BPC demands answers of PA Monetary Authority
Since Palestinian Media Watch assumes that neither of these companies are even aware of the fact that their technology is being used to fund, incentivize and reward terror and terrorists, PMW has written to both companies urging them to take action in order to avert the potential damage.
Worldwide, ATM (Automated Teller Machine) technology is provided by a number of companies. In the PA, two such technology providers are BPC Banking Technologies (a Russian owned company, registered in Switzerland, with US branches) and VISA/VISA PLUS.
Announcing the launch of the “National Switch” – the system that supports the use, inter alia, of ATM cards - a financial news website noted:
“The collaboration of BPC Banking Technologies with PMA resulted in a record breaking time of the launch – 18 months – building the whole national switch system from scratch.”
[Finextra Website - 23 July 2015]
The report further quoted the then Head of the Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA), Jihad Al-Wazir, who said:
“Palestine Monetary Authority highly appreciates to partner with BPC Banking Technologies. The path from the idea of National Switch in the country to its implementation was straight and short due to our partner’s expertise and dedication to the project.”
[Finextra Website - 23 July 2015]
A promotional video posted on the Facebook page of the Tubas post office showed not only the ease of using the new ATM cards but also the fact that the cards use VISA/VISA PLUS technology and ATM.
On Tuesday PMW wrote to VISA/VISA PLUS and BPC Banking Technologies, alerting them that the Palestinian Authority may be using their technology to facilitate its “Pay-for-Slay” terror reward program, which PMW has been exposing and fighting for years.1 dead, 10 hurt in Gaza explosion; IDF says not involved
PMW is pleased to report that the BPC Group responded immediately that “BPC Group has zero tolerance against terror,” and that they immediately sent PMW’s report to the Palestine Monetary Authority demanding an answer. BPC gave them one week to respond.
PMW welcomes the response from BPC and hopes to receive a similar response from VISA/VISA PLUS.
The following is the full response from BPC:
“Thank you for your email.
BPC Group has zero tolerance against terror.
BPC Legal unit already contacted our client, Palestine Monetary Authority, and requested to officially clarify information provided by your reputable organization.
We will inform you at the soonest once we have a substantial feedback from the client after July 26th.
Sincerely yours,
BPC Group”
One person was killed and 10 were injured Thursday when an explosion tore through a house in a popular marketplace in Gaza City, the Hamas-run interior ministry said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.
The blast in the Al-Zawiya area collapsed large parts of the house and damaged dozens of buildings and shops nearby, according to the statement.
Police explosives and engineering teams continue to investigate the causes of the explosion. Civil defense teams and the police were able to control the resulting fire.
The blast shook the neighborhood on the third day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
The Israeli army signaled it wasn’t involved, calling the explosion an “internal matter” in Gaza.
One of the Palestinians who was killed in the explosion. A Fatah flag draped over his body. pic.twitter.com/REM353n53H
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) July 22, 2021
UCLA Faculty Group Decries ‘Hateful and Offensive’ Asian American Studies Dept. Statement Slamming Israel
Nine UCLA faculty members issued a letter on Monday denouncing a statement by the Asian American Studies department that condemned Israeli “settler colonialism” and accused the Jewish state of supporting Asians and Asian Americans to “yellow-wash” its reputation.Dozens Quit CUNY Faculty Union over Anti-Semitic, Anti-Israel Resolution
On May 21, the school’s Asian American studies program posted the “statement of solidarity with Palestine” on its department website, condemning the recent hostilities between Israel and Hamas as “the latest manifestation of seventy-three years of settler colonialism, racial apartheid, and occupation.”
It also condemned the “exchange of military tactics and financial support” between Israel and the US, and alleged that Israel “has too often upheld its support of Asian and Asian American individuals as proof of multicultural democracy, over and against the ethnic cleansing of Palestine via a process of ‘yellow-washing.'”
Monday’s letter, signed by nine professors calling themselves the Faculty Committee for Academic Integrity, said the Asian American Studies statement was both “hateful and offensive” as well as a breach of the duties of an academic department.
“Individual University faculty members are, of course, free to take public stands on political controversies,” the letter said. “But for an academic department to do so is certainly ethically wrong, and almost certainly a violation of university policy and California law.”
It was addressed to University of California President Michael Drake, and signed by computer scientist Judea Pearl, chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Yoram Cohen, and law school professor Neil Netanel, among others.
A spokeswoman for the Professional Staff Congress, the faculty union at the City University of New York, told Inside Higher Ed that “dozens” of faculty members have quit the union after last month’s resolution that strongly criticizing Israel’s role in Operation Guardian of the Walls in May (Division in CUNY Faculty Union).Fashion podcaster accused of antisemitism apologizes to Jewish community
Among other fairly despicable and terribly biased things, the resolution declared: “Whereas Israel’s pattern and practice of dispossession and expansion of settlements, dating back to its establishment as a settler-colonial state in 1948, has been found to be illegal under international law, international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem have designated these practices of Israel as ‘apartheid’ and a regime of legalized racial discrimination perpetrated against the Palestinian people…”
Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Distinguished Professor of Physics at Lehman College and the Graduate School of CUNY, told IHE he took offense at calling Israel “a settler-colonial state.”
“Many CUNY faculty and students – including those, Jewish and non-Jewish, who criticize both sides – see the assertion that Jews are not the indigenous people of the land of Israel as anti-Semitic, an assault on Jewish heritage,” Chudnovsky said.
The resolution said that the Professional Staff Congress “condemns the massacre of Palestinians by the Israeli state” and calls on other union chapters to “facilitate discussions at the chapter level of the content of this resolution and consider PSC support of the 2005 call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) – a movement launched by 170 Palestinian unions, refugee networks, women’s organizations, professional associations, and other Palestinian civil society organizations.”
Ilya Bratman, executive director of Hillel at Baruch, City and John Jay Colleges, pointed out that the union never condemned the pervasive human rights violations in China or Syria. “This is about anti-Semites pushing an agenda,” he told IHE.
Bratman posted a counter-statement online (CUNY Community Statement Encouraging Mutual Respect and Engagement Towards a Just Middle East Peace and a CUNY Free of Harassment), signed by more than 2,500 individuals, saying the one-sided union resolution “seeks to shut down discussion by condemning Israel for defending itself.”
Recho Omondi, a fashion podcaster who was accused of antisemitism for comments in a recent interview she conducted with a Jewish writer, has posted a lengthy apology to her listeners.Middlesex University refuses to disclose what, if anything, it has done about course leader who sent antisemitic messages but remains in post
“I owe the Jewish community and anyone else who’s offended by my words an apology,” Omondi said in a six-minute segment uploaded Tuesday morning to her podcast channel, The Cutting Room Floor. “I said some really crass and reductive things about Jewish people, painting them with one big, broad stroke, and it really stereotyped and insulted a lot of my friends, and fans of the show, and strangers.”
Omondi has faced accusations of antisemitism following the interview with fashion blogger Leandra Medine Cohen nearly two weeks ago. Medine Cohen had stepped down last year from the publication she founded, Man Repeller, after facing blowback for firing one of her few Black employees a few months before the summer’s racial justice protests.
In the introduction to her interview with Medine Cohen, Omondi, who is Black, claimed that “many” of the country’s racist white founders, including slave owners, were Jews. That false claim echoes a stereotype promoted by some prominent American antisemites.
At the end of the podcast, Omondi referred to Medine Cohen as a “Jewish American Princess” and added, “At the end of the day you guys are going to get your nose jobs and your keratin treatments and change your last name from Ralph Lifshitz to Ralph Lauren and you will be fine.”
Middlesex University has refused to disclose what, if anything, it has done to discipline a course leader who sent antisemitic messages. The lecturer, Raza Kazim, remains in post.
Earlier this year, Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to the Vice-Chancellor of the University raising concerns about Mr Kazim, and the University confirmed that it was investigating.
Following a complaint from a member of the public, Campaign Against Antisemitism was able to confirm that on his WhatsApp profile, Mr Kazim likened Zionism to Nazism. According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.
Middlesex University has adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism.
Mr Kazim is also a spokesman for the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), an organisation known in the past for its pro-Hizballah “Al-Quds Day” parades. The IHRC has also previously been accused by a Holocaust education campaigner of “using false equivocations of the Holocaust and deliberately conflating, downgrading and revising the Holocaust.”
Additionally, Mr Kazim has appeared on Press TV, an Iranian state-owned news network whose British broadcasting licence was revoked by Ofcom in 2012. The network has a history of giving platforms to notorious antisemites and Holocaust deniers. In one appearance, Mr Kazim can be seen speaking on the ban of Hizballah in Britain and the impact that this will have on future Al-Quds Day parades. He states that “there’ll be surprises for the authorities and for the Zionists as there have been every year”. Mr Kazim can also be seen talking about the influence of Al-Quds Day parades whilst images of people burning an Israeli flag play in the background.
Dr Tallha Abdulrazaq @DrTalAbdulrazaq from @UniofExeter also thinks that:
— (((GnasherJew®?????))) (@GnasherJew) July 22, 2021
* "Zionism is encouraging the killing of gentiles, even if they are babies"
* "Zionism uses the Holocaust as a tool"
This is pretty revolting stuff from a so called academic (cc @UniASMap) 2/ pic.twitter.com/N17RFLM2xK
Chabad of Poway Synagogue Shooter Pleads Guilty, Gets Life Without Parole
A nursing student pleaded guilty on Tuesday to murder and other charges after shooting a gun inside the Chabad of Poway synagogue in California in April 2019.MEMRI: Daughter Of Canadian Jihadi Islamist Imam Younus Kathrada, Who Has Been Investigated By Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Complains About MEMRI's Exposure Of Her Father's Sermons
By pleading guilty, John Earnest avoided the death penalty in San Diego Superior Court, reported the AP.
The San Diego County district attorney’s office said he agreed to a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Earnest fired bullets at congregants on a Saturday morning during the last day of Passover, killing 60-year-old Lori Gilber-Kaye and wounding three others, including a child and the senior rabbi at the time, Yisroel Goldstein.
Earnest, 19 at the time, called 911 afterwards and said he committed the act because Jews were trying to “destroy all white people.”
The district attorney’s office said: “While we reserved the option of trying this as a death-penalty case, life in prison without the possibility of parole for the defendant is an appropriate resolution to this violent hate crime, and we hope it brings a measure of justice and closure to the victims, their families, friends and the wider community.”
In an article titled "Palestine And The Millennial Muslim Consciousness,"[1] published May 22, 2021 on Muslimmatters.org, Canadian Muslim writer Zainab bint Younus reflected on the May 2021 fighting in Gaza, how millenial Muslims in the West have dealt with the Israel-Palestinian conflict since birth, and how their influence in the conflict has increased. Zainab presents the sermons of her father, South Africa-born Van Couver-based jihadi Islamist imam Younus Kathrada, whose sermons have been published by MEMRI and who has been under investigation by the Canadian police and intelligence services since 2005,[2] as if they were dedicated to Palestine exclusively, which she describes as "a religious issue – not just a secular one," when in reality his sermons encompass the Salafi-jihadi approach to the West in general and to the Jews around the world, as well as to events in Palestine.Olympic opening ceremony director fired over Holocaust joke in 1998 comedy act
According to Muslimmatters, Zainab bint Younus "writes on Muslim women's issues, gender related injustice in the Muslim community, and Muslim women in Islamic history. She holds a diploma in Islamic Studies from Arees University, a diploma in History of Female Scholarship from Cambridge Islamic College, and has spent the last fifteen years involved in grassroots da'wah [Muslim outreach]. She was also an original founder of MuslimMatters.org."[3]
About the impact of MEMRI's exposing of her father's sermons, Zainab wrote: "I grew up hearing my father bellow powerful words from his minbar [pulpit] on Jumu'ahs [Fridays], reminding the Muslims of the situation in Palestine and the horrific evils of the Israeli colonizers, invoking Allah's Curse upon them. He did not mince his words, ever; as a result, I witnessed the consequences: his videos posted on MEMRI TV, media immediately harassing us, hate calls and nasty voicemails left on our answering machine at home, and worse – the censure of other Muslims, embarrassed by his words, throwing him under the bus publicly to the media and the Muslim community alike. After all, speaking out too harshly meant compromising their popularity and their public image and potential funding and their comfortable relationships with the same federal security apparatuses that spied on our community anyway."
Though Zainab describes her father's sermons and subsequent media attention as though it resulted from criticism of Israeli policy, his sermons are far less measured. For example, in one sermon, Younus said that French teacher Samuel Paty, beheaded on October 16, 2020, after showing Charlie Hebdo cartoons to his students as part of a lesson about free speech, was a "cursed individual," "evil-spirited man," and a "filthy excuse for a human being."[4] Kathrada went on to pray for Allah to "destroy the enemies of Islam, and annihilate the heretics and the atheists." He said in another sermon that "the enmity of the believers towards the Jews is just and sensible."
The show director for the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony has been fired on the eve of the event over a decades-old skit referencing the Holocaust, in the latest blow for organizers of the pandemic-delayed Games.Team USA wrestling chiropractor sorry for likening COVID policies to Nazis
Kentaro Kobayashi’s comments in a video of a comedy sketch from 1998 emerged online overnight and sparked shock from some in Japan.
“It came to light that during a past performance, (he) used language that mocked a tragic fact of history,” Tokyo 2020 chief Seiko Hashimoto told reporters.
“The organizing committee has decided to relieve Kobayashi of his post,” she added.
In the sketch, Kobayashi and a comedy partner pretend to be a pair of famous children’s TV entertainers.
As they brainstorm an activity involving paper, Kobayashi refers to some paper doll cutouts, describing them as “the ones from that time you said ‘let’s play the Holocaust,” sparking laughter from the audience.
The pair then joke about how a television producer was angered by the suggestion of a Holocaust activity.
The chiropractor for the American women’s wrestling team has apologized after comparing Olympic COVID-19 protocols to Nazi Germany in a social media post.Austrian Activists Publish Map of Jewish Vienna Institutions With Stars of David in ‘Pitiful’ Protest Attempt`
Rosie Gallegos-Main, a chiropractor for women’s wrestling since 2009, said in a letter to the USA Wrestling Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee on Wednesday she was sorry “for my poor judgment and my choice to share this message.”
The post, sent to her Instagram and Facebook accounts last week, was flagged by both social media platforms for spreading misinformation.
“We went from ‘Flattening the curve in 14 days’ to ‘Going door-to-door to see your papers’ … Gotta admit, I did N-A-Z-I that one coming,” the post said.
Gallegos-Main deleted her post hours after The Associated Press brought it to the attention of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee on Tuesday.
She will be allowed to finish her planned stay at USA Wrestling’s pre-Olympic camp in Nakatsugawa, Japan. This is her third Olympics with women’s wrestling, although she is not a part of the accredited US delegation in Tokyo. She will also be required to undergo diversity, equity and inclusion training.
Drawing the outrage of the Austrian Jewish community, an anonymous activist group published an online map of Vienna featuring Jewish institutions marked with yellow Stars of David, as part of an apparent attempt to protest a controversial map of mosques issued by the government.
The group calling itself the League of Ordinary People Austria, which is otherwise unknown, dubbed their map a “Judenkarte,” Austria’s Der Standard newspaper reported Monday. It was created in response to a map of national Muslim sites — or “Islamkarte” — issued by the Austrian government that has been an object of controversy since May.
The group threatened to expand the map to include all of Austria unless the “Islamkarte” is taken down, but following a storm of social media attention, the “Judenkarte” was deleted and replaced with links to Jewish institutions.
Benjamin Nägele, Secretary General of the Jewish Community Vienna, called the map “pitiful activism at the expense of the Jewish community.”
“Legal steps against the authors are being examined,” he said.
The group apparently adheres to a left-wing ideology, Der Standard said, and previously sought to publish similar maps to politicians’ residences, Catholic institutions, and far-right groups.
Nothing further is known of the group beyond an email address and name that appear to be false. Their site is hosted by a British provider that offers almost complete anonymity to customers.
And a screen record of her account before she goes private, changes her user name and claims the (((Zionists))) made it all up. pic.twitter.com/cLzanULP0E
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) July 21, 2021
Neo-Nazi Andrew Dymock jailed for seven years for terror and hate crimes
Neo-Nazi Andrew Dymock has been jailed for seven years, with a further three years on extended licence, for terror and hate crimes.A Simple Pill to Treat COVID-19? An Israeli Pharma Company May Have Potent Formula as Variant Fears Grow
Andrew Dymock, a 24-year-old politics graduate from Aberystwyth University who was accused of creating and running the website of the neo-Nazi System Resistance Network group, was found guilty of fifteen terrorism and hate charges last month.
During the trial at the Old Bailey, the court heard that Mr Dymock wrote and shared several antisemitic and hate-motivated articles through the website. He was being prosecuted for fifteen offences including encouraging terrorism through the use of propaganda.
One article was allegedly titled “Join your local Nazis”, while another, “The Truth about the Holocaust”, said that “the only guilt felt by the Germanic race in regard to the Holocaust should be that we did not finish the job.” The article reportedly went on to say that Jews were a “cancer on this earth…that must be eradicated in its entirety”. Numerous antisemitic stereotypes and tropes were also said to have been included, such as conspiracy theories about Jewish control of the banks and the Government.
Another article reportedly written by Mr Dymock read that white people needed to “wake up and bring slaughter to Europa, cleansing it of the unclean filth that pollutes her lands”.
System Resistance Network is the successor to National Action, which the government proscribed as a terrorist organisation in 2016 following a long campaign by Campaign Against Antisemitism and others.
Mr Dymock was convicted of a total of fifteen offences, which include five counts of encouraging terrorism, four of disseminating terrorist publications, two of terrorist fundraising, one of possessing material useful to a terrorist, one of possessing racially inflammatory material, one of stirring up racial hatred, and one of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.
As concern over fast-spreading coronavirus variants continue among even highly-vaccinated populations, an Israel-based pharmaceutical company is hoping that its oral drug candidate will help get COVID-19 patients off oxygen support more quickly.If you can make it there: Mobileye self-driving car plies New York City streets
RedHill Biopharma says it is only weeks away from a make or break point to show the effectiveness of its drug candidate, opaganib, in treating patients with severe breathing-related symptoms caused by the coronavirus.
“Delta variants are scaring everyone, rightfully so, and more and more people are nervous about what’s going to happen. Vaccines are being less and less effective than we thought as the rate of infection is becoming higher and higher,” Guy Goldberg, Chief Business Officer at RedHill Biopharma told The Algemeiner during an interview.
“It is not just the question of people who are unvaccinated. This is an emerging story, and one that threatens to bring the whole world back to square one,” he said. “The need for therapeutics is as strong now as it ever has been during the pandemic, and there is not enough innovation out there.”
A chemical entity, opaganib is an inhibitor which acts on both the cause and effect of COVID-19. It has a dual mechanism of action as it is anti-inflammatory and antiviral, which the company hails as a big differentiator with other treatments.
“A lot of the drugs out there only work on the inflammation or they only work on the virus. Both aspects of it need to be addressed because you can have a virus spiraling out of control if you only notice the symptoms, the virus will continue to do damage,” Goldberg explained. “On the other hand, if you only address the virus the inflammation cascade can get out of control and you can still have a very sick patient get worse even though you really have the virus under control.”
If New Yorkers keep their eyes open while they drive in the Big Apple, they may just spot a driver in the adjacent lane with no hands on the steering wheel, just enjoying the ride.Israel’s MediWound says key trial shows pineapple gel effective for kids’ burns
Mobileye, a Jerusalem-based firm that has developed self-driving technologies, has added New York City to its global autonomous vehicle program. The company was acquired by United States giant Intel Corp. in 2017 for $15.3 billion.
Mobileye’s entry into NYC – the largest city in North America and one of the world’s most challenging driving environments – shows how advanced the company’s technology is, the Israel-based firm said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Driving in complex urban areas such as New York City is a crucial step in vetting the capabilities of an autonomous system and moving the industry closer to commercial readiness,” Amnon Shashua, senior vice president of Intel and president and CEO of Mobileye, said in the statement.
A video presented by the firm shows a Mobileye car, a white Ford equipped with the firm’s computer vision technologies along with radar and LIDAR systems, driving through the city on highly congested streets peppered with pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers, double-parked vehicles, construction zones, emergency vehicles, tunnels and bridge.
Israel’s MediWound Ltd., a maker of a pineapple-based gel to treat burn victims, said Tuesday that it got positive results of a key Phase 3 clinical trial of its treatment on children with severe thermal burns.Houda Nonoo: At home in the Arabian Gulf, I’ve never felt unsafe as a Jew
The study, which evaluated the efficacy of the firm’s gel compared with the standard of care alternative, met its three key targets, or endpoints, “with a high degree of statistical significance,” the Nasdaq-traded company said in a statement.
“NexoBrid demonstrated a significant reduction” in the time to achieve the complete removal of eschar, or dead tissue caused by a burn, and also a “significant reduction” in wound area that required surgery, while demonstrating it is not inferior to the standard of care regarding the quality of scars, the statement said.
The study also met certain secondary endpoints of the study, showing statistically significant reduction in the incidence of surgical excision and reduction in need for autograft in deep partial burns, as well as a favorable trend in reduction of blood loss during the eschar removal process. In addition, the study showed that NexoBrid was safe and well-tolerated, the statement said
“We are thrilled to see such robust results across all primary endpoints, which corroborate the positive results of our pivotal Phase 3 clinical studies in adult patients, and clearly demonstrate the significant beneficial impact NexoBrid has on the lives of pediatric burn patients,” said Sharon Malka, chief executive officer of MediWound. “It is gratifying to know that NexoBrid, with these highly compelling top-line results, is one step closer to becoming available as a treatment option for pediatric patients with severe burns.”
If we look more broadly at the GCC as a whole, we are seeing more Jews visit and move to the region for a variety of reasons – one of which, is that it is a much safer place to raise a Jewish family. As a result, in February, we created the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities, the people-to-people network of Jewish communities from the GCC countries that are developing Jewish life in the region, with the aim of providing programs and services for our growing community. In less than six months, thousands have attended our virtual and in-person programs. Our events include interfaith elements, and we invite local Muslims to participate in the programs. One point they share often in these conversations is how excited they are to see Jewish life growing here. It’s because they are also dedicated to creating a society and environment built on interfaith respect and co-existence.ANU, a New Museum of the Jewish People, Opens in Tel Aviv
At our recent Yom HaShoah program, we heard from two Bahraini Muslims and two Emirati Muslims who shared their experience visiting Yad Vashem for the first time last December. As I listened to them share their experience and perspective on why co-existence is so important to them, it drove home a very poignant point to me – having our Muslim friends show their support on a day where Jewish communities around the world remember one of our darkest periods gives us hope that something like that won’t happen again because we live in a more tolerant society where our Muslim friends will stand up for us, and in turn, we would do the same for them.
Nearly one month after that event, we started reading and watching the news reports of the violent antisemitic attacks taking place in Europe and the United States. It was all the more shocking and foreign for us to watch the video clips making their way around social media because it is a foreign concept for us.
As a Jew living in the Muslim world, I am often asked if it is safe to be Jewish in Bahrain. The answer is a wholehearted yes. I have never once been in a situation where I was nervous to be identified as a Jew. I am horrified to hear stories of Jews in Europe and the United States who don’t feel the same in their home country. Hearing that someone is scared to wear their Kippah in New York City is frightening. Yet, one can walk through the streets of Bahrain and not receive a single negative comment. Government leaders in the West must put a greater emphasis on making sure that interfaith dialogue and co-existence permeate all levels of society, it’s the only way to stymie the growth of antisemitism.
“Anu” means “we” in Hebrew. At a moment when the Jewish world seems more divided than ever, ANU proposes a vision of “us” that is fresh, bold, inclusive—and much needed. Divisive, angry tweets are no match for 72,000 square feet of galleries testifying to our shared Jewish cultural, historical, and spiritual heritage. Seen through ANU’s lens, even the Israel-diaspora division, which features so prominently in American discourse, begins to lose significance. What comes into focus instead is anu—a unique, complex, and vibrant people whose members have made indelible contributions to humanity.As an Israeli First Responder, I Went to Surfside
The journey begins on the third floor, which is named “The Mosaic—Modern Jewish Identity and Culture.” Digitally greeting visitors here are 21 individuals from all walks of Jewish life who take 60 seconds to tell their stories. Here’s Ruchie Freier, the trailblazing first Hasidic female judge from New York, who credits her Hasidism for her professional success. On a nearby screen, a secular kibbutznik from the Negev explains that he grounds his Jewish identity in living and creating in Israel. A teacher from Brazil taps into every immigrant’s identity story by asking herself whether she is a Brazilian Jew or a Brazilian Israeli. A lesbian Reform rabbi from Tel Aviv, who describes how queer theory has informed her Judaism, stands next to a be-shtreimeled Hasid expounding on the meaning of joy.
The museum’s radical inclusivity can feel expansive to some and challenging to others—and probably a bit of both to most. Irina Nevzlin, the visionary and driving force behind the new museum, who serves as its chair, acknowledges this. When a Haredi rabbi told her recently that he felt uncomfortable next to an exhibit featuring Rabbi Angela Buchdahl from New York’s Central Synagogue, she advised him to wait until the next picture: “There will be a thousand Haredi men in it, and I will not be represented there, and then I will feel uncomfortable.” The point of the museum, she says, is to help all members of the extended Jewish family to get to know one another.
Representation was the curatorial team’s first priority. “Walking into the museum, people want to make sure they are represented,” ANU’s CEO Dan Tadmor told me. Only once the visitors confirm that they—their specific tribe and their particular identity—are part of the museum’s story will they be willing to take the conversation to the next level: to the discussion of shared history, values, culture, and sense of togetherness. Whether from the perspective of gender, race, ethnicity, denomination, or geography, ANU’s team made sure that everyone is present in its galleries.
On Thursday afternoon, June 24, Israel received the tragic news coming from Surfside, Florida, regarding the collapse of the Champlain Towers. The building housed a number of Jewish families, causing the news to travel at light speed in Israel.
And Israel, being too familiar with large-scale tragedies, responded almost instantly.
After only brief preparations, Israel began sending delegations and special units to Miami. One unit was fully equipped with technology and tools developed by the IDF to locate survivors in the rubble. Another team that made its way to Surfside on Saturday night on the same plane was United Hatzalah’s Psychotrauma and Crisis Unit (PCRU).
In partnership with El Al, the six-member team from the PCRU went to Surfside to help provide psychological and emotional stabilization and counseling in the wake of the tragedy. We also brought Lucy, one of the PCRUs therapy dogs.
In cooperation with local organizations, the psychotrauma unit was led to a hotel, where survivors and family members gathered. Immediately, we were approached by distraught family members whose loved ones were missing. One young woman with red eyes came up to me explaining that if anyone was alive underneath the rubble, it would have to be her fiancee. With tears in her eyes, she explained how strong he always was — and how he would find his way back to her.
Another woman, who had come to talk to me already, returned after she remembered another detail about the apartment where her younger sister was located — a purple shoe she may have worn the next day to pre-school.
