Saturday, July 24, 2021

07/24 Links: Germany will skip Durban 20 summit; Avishag Samberg wins bronze in taekwondo; AOC: Agent of chaos; Algerian suspended, sent home for refusing to face Israeli Judoka

From Ian:

AJC Welcomes Germany's Decision to Skip Durban 20 Summit
American Jewish Committee (AJC) applauds Germany for its principled decision to not attend the 20th anniversary summit of the UN's notorious 2001 World Conference Against Racism.

The gathering is set to take place in New York on September 22, during the opening days of the UN General Assembly. With its announcement today, Germany joins the United States, Israel, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Hungary, Austria, Canada, Australia, and the Czech Republic in announcing they will skip the meeting.

"Germany has again asserted leadership in the global fight against antisemitism," said AJC CEO David Harris. "Germany has once again, as it did in 2009 and 2011, laudably recognized the discredited nature of the original conference, held in Durban, South Africa. We hope other nations will follow suit."

The 2001 conference quickly diverted from its original agenda and goals and turned into a hate fest, where Israel and its supporters were consistently attacked, sometimes involving physical intimidation, as racist. At the parallel NGO Forum, many participants openly expressed hatred toward Israel and threatened representatives of Jewish NGOs participating in the event.

"Confronting true racism around the world is a noble cause, but singling out one country, Israel, and one group of people, Jews, for continual censure is grossly unjust, and undermines the global fight against antisemitism and other forms of bigotry and hatred," said Harris.


Olympics: Israeli Avishag Samberg wins bronze in taekwondo
Israeli Olympian Avishag Samberg won a bronze medal in taekwondo in the Olympic Games in Tokyo on Saturday. Stunning fans at her first Olympic Games at only 19 years old, Samberg's win marks Israel's first medal in the Tokyo 2020 games. Samberg competed in the under 49 kg weight class, edging out the Turkish Rokia Yildirim with a score of 27-22 during the battle for the bronze.

Samberg said after her winning fight that she "had a difficult day."

"I lost in the morning, it was a bit difficult," she said, thanking her coach.

"I have an Olympic medal at 19," she said in disbelief. "I worked so hard all the way. I withstood the pressure, I believed it would happen."

"I knew the draw was very difficult," she said, adding that she "looked [Yildirim] in the eyes and did it. I said to myself, 'so what if I'm the youngest?' I will give everything I have. Hope this is not my last medal. It feels like a dream to me."


A New Flavor for Ben & Jerry’s
If the leaders of J Street and the New Israel Fund were in charge of creating new flavors for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, their newest would be Red Herring. Or maybe Fig Leaf.

Such flavors don’t sound too appetizing? Well, those groups’ responses to the Ben & Jerry’s controversy are equally unattractive from the point of view of intellectual integrity.

J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami and New Israel Fund CEO Daniel Sokatch have emerged as the most vocal defenders of the decision by Ben & Jerry’s to refrain from selling its ice cream in what it calls “Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Ben-Ami told interviewers this week that Ben & Jerry’s is merely making a distinction between “the State of Israel and the territory it occupies.” Similarly, Sokatch claimed that Ben & Jerry’s is just “distinguishing between sovereign and non-sovereign Israel.”

That’s a classic example of an argument which sounds reasonable at first glance, but crumbles as soon as you think about it a bit deeper.

The entire city of Jerusalem, after all, is part of the State of Israel, to use Ben-Ami’s formula. It’s certainly “sovereign Israel,” to employ Sokatch’s language.

So does that mean that J Street and the New Israel Fund consider the post-1967 sections of the city to be part of Jerusalem, and are denouncing Ben & Jerry’s for boycotting those areas?

Does that mean J Street and the New Israel Fund are demanding that Ben & Jerry’s be made available in mixed Arab-Jewish neighborhoods in the post-1967 part of the capital, such as Shimon HaTzadik/Sheikh Jarrah or Kfar Shiloah/Silwan?
Israeli NGO trademark Ben & Jerry's knockoff after Israel boycott - report
The ice cream debate surrounding the Ben & Jerry's boycott is still heating up after an Israeli NGO announced plans to launch its own knock-off brand of the popular label after it announced it would stop selling in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

As first exclusively scooped by The New York Post, the Tel Aviv-based Shurat HaDin Law Center applied to sell the popular ice cream under a new brand, dubbed "Judea and Samaria's Ben & Jerry's," referring to the biblical names for the areas in the West Bank. The announcement was reportedly made in a letter to the CEO of Ben & Jerry's parent firm, Unilever, on July 23, where it said it had registered a trademark with the Justice Ministry.

The new brand will look much like the old one, and will include iconic flavors like Cherry Garcia, but with a new Zionist twist. According to The New York Post, new flavors will be included, such as "Frozen Chosen People," and the cover of which will be the same as the typical Ben & Jerry's, barring the notable inclusion of the father of modern Zionism, Theodore Herzl.

According to the report, the organization has already started talks with ice cream manufacturers.

The legal nonprofit is prepared to take this to court if necessary, arguing that the ice cream giant essentially forfeited its trademark by melting under pressure and announcing it would stop selling in the settlements, according to The New York Post.

The announcement by the ice cream company that it would stop selling its famous frozen deserts to what it perceived as the occupied territories sparked a hot debate throughout the world, with many Israeli politicians outraged at the move. The perceived link the move has with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel has also sparked further controversy, especially as many bodies have labeled the movement as inherently antisemitic.
NY State Comptroller Warns Unilever That Pension Fund Investments at Risk Over Ben & Jerry’s West Bank Boycott
The New York state comptroller’s office has warned Unilever that Ben & Jerry’s’ West Bank sales boycott could threaten state pension fund investments in the UK-based multinational, according to a letter seen by The Algemeiner.

The letter — sent Friday to Unilever CEO Alan Jope, by the office’s executive director of corporate governance — said that State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is “troubled and concerned” over reports that Ben & Jerry’s, a subsidiary of Unilever, is involved in “BDS activities,” referring to efforts to boycott Israel.

New York’s Common Retirement Fund is the third-largest public pension fund in the US, serving over a million members, retirees, and beneficiaries. The letter warned Unilever that the state office views BDS activity as a “potential threat to Israel, its economy, and, as a result, the Fund’s relevant investments,” and noted that companies boycotting Israel are exposed to legal, reputational and financial risks.

“If the company fails to respond or fails to demonstrate that it has not engaged in BDS activities, the Fund’s investment in Unilever will be subject to a detailed review and staff recommendation, which may include investment restrictions,” it said.

On Monday, Unilever subsidiary Ben & Jerry’s announced it would not renew its license agreement with its current Israeli partner, saying that it was “inconsistent” with its values to sell products in “the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Friday’s letter came as officials in several US states have sought to pressure both Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever, whose US operations are based in New Jersey, to reverse the decision.

Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday asked the state’s Board of Administration to add the companies to a list of companies engaged in Israel boycotts.
Five states considering sanctions on Ben & Jerry’s after West Bank pullout
It has been a question insiders have posed all week: Could Ben & Jerry’s decision to stop selling its ice cream in the West Bank trigger many or all of the laws that US states have passed in recent years to hurt the Israel boycott movement?

Well, five states are already looking into it.

Officials in Florida, Texas, New York, New Jersey and Illinois are reviewing whether the move will require divestment from Ben & Jerry’s parent company Unilever under their various state laws.

There are 34 states in total that require their governments to stop doing business with companies that boycott Israel — and 21 of those explicitly include West Bank settlement boycotts in their definitions.

Of those states, 12 are required to remove companies that engage in boycotts from state employee retirement investment funds — an action that experts say is far more damaging than simply ending contracts with a company for its goods and services.

Here’s a look at the five states that have launched actions so far:
Ben & Jerry’s Contractor Resigns from Company Following Their “Statement on Israel”
Levin told the Journal in an interview that even though she’s a contractor, she had been working exclusively with Ben & Jerry’s “for years.” “My art touched every part of the business,” Levin said, which included murals, sides of trucks and coupons.

She first learned about the Ben & Jerry’s decision because there had been a pressure campaign against them since the Israel-Hamas conflict in May to issue a statement against Israel, and people noticed that Ben & Jerry’s had been silent on social media since then. Prior to the July 19 announcement, the last tweet from the Ben & Jerry’s Twitter account was on May 18.

Levin started asking people in the company what was going on, and she eventually saw a recording of an all-company meeting where it was made clear that Ben & Jerry’s “was going to have do something” but they weren’t sure what exactly they were going to do. Levin noticed that none of the employees at the meeting gave any indication they were opposed to action, prompting Levin to reach out to the higher-ups to give her input.

“I wanted to teach them about the nature of a BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] campaign and what it’s really like in Israel, and how there’s so much nuance they’re missing if perhaps they’re only looking at the kind of information that’s being presented to them,” Levin said. She added that she knew whatever action Ben & Jerry’s took could be “a really, really big deal.”

“Israel can survive without Ben & Jerry’s and Ben & Jerry’s can survive without Israel, but when Ben & Jerry’s makes a message, they make it big,” Levin said. “They generally do not just make a single message, they have a website and a whole social media blast and an event with ice cream and posters and a letter writing campaign, and the more I thought about it, the sicker I got thinking that … they might assign me to the job or one of my media co-workers to essentially do the task of spreading BDS propaganda. And I just knew I had to stop it because there’s so many impressionable people that follow Ben & Jerry’s and really love their product and trust them.”

Levin said she did talk to two people “at the highest level” in the company who were “gracious” in giving her time to share her views. She says that she had two separate meetings with one of them who was “pretty convinced of BDS being truthful and my view as merely an opinion.”

She said that she linked to the Sacks video in her Facebook post because “Rabbi Sacks really had his finger on the pulse of it.” “A lot of people say it’s not antisemitism to criticize government policies, but when the so-called government policies that you’re criticizing are not actually policies at all, that’s blood libel. And it’s no different than the blood libel of the 1930s or the blood libel of the Middle Ages. It’s the same thing. It’s impugning Jews for crimes that they have not committed.


AOC: Agent of chaos - opinion
AOC’S TACTICS of delegitimization strip meaning from terms, create an absence of standards, and promote toxic narratives. Should it be surprising that antisemitism is on the rise?

The primitive and misleading methods were intended to galvanize support for the House resolution introduced by AOC on May 19. She sought to leverage US relations with Israel to achieve a cessation in violence by preventing the sale of American-made weapons to Israel. The resolution is policy derived from incoherence, not rational thinking. The resolution thwarts prospects for peace, and increases insecurity and the likelihood of violence.

First, former president Barack Obama employed a similar policy. It failed. Relations with Israel deteriorated. The Palestinians did not negotiate. Violence continued.

Second, the resolution incentivizes Hamas to continue attacking Israel. AOC fails to recognize that Hamas retains the ability to initiate conflict. The resolution punishes Israel for defending itself. Through the use of violence, Hamas can drive a larger wedge between Israel and the United States.

Third, it is unclear how leveraging Israel at this moment creates conditions for a two-state solution. Who exactly is the Israeli negotiating partner? Palestinian leadership remains deeply divided between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

Lastly, AOC cannot comprehend US-Israeli relations outside the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is a myopic and destructive mentality. Israel is a critical strategic partner in the maintenance and implementation of US regional policy. Her undermining of US-Israeli relations ultimately weakens and threatens US national security. Has the congresswoman considered who will assist the US in counterterrorism in the Middle East if US-Israeli relations are undone?

The rhetoric and policy of delegitimizing Israel and US-Israeli relations is not unique to the representative of New York’s 14th district. It is metastasizing. Bernie Sanders, his handmaidens (e.g., Reps. Tlaib, Omar, and Ayanna Pressley), and his valets (e.g., Reps. Ro Khanna and Mark Pocan) indulge in it.

Ironically, the New York congresswoman who professes to speak truth to power, is abusing her power as a legislator by creating and disseminating half-truths and advancing destructive policy. Her methods are the antithesis of a peacemaker. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (aka AOC) is an agent of chaos.
Pakistan PM in row after rival says his children are raised ‘in the lap of Jews’
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan became embroiled in a public row this week with a political rival who said the premier’s two children were “raised in the lap of the Jews.”

Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former premier Nawaz Sharif and vice president of the Pakistani Muslim League, made the comments after Khan accused her family of corruption and privilege and attacked her son, Junaid Safdar, for playing polo at Cambridge University.

In an election speech last Saturday, Khan referenced recent pictures of Sharif — a former Pakistani PM ousted in 2017 and later convicted of corruption and jailed for two years — watching his grandson’s polo match.

Sharif left Pakistan on bail in 2019 to seek medical treatment in London, where he had remained since.

“The poor go to jail and the powerful [Nawaz Sharif] get NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance] [deal] to go abroad and watch his grandson’s polo match,” Khan said in the speech, according to Sky News.

“The common man cannot play polo — a kings’ sport. You need a lot of money to keep a horse and play polo. So tell us where this dear grandson got this money from. It’s the people’s money,” he went on.

Nawaz then responded to the remarks, saying: “My son [Junaid] is the polo team captain [for Cambridge University] and is bringing honor to Pakistan.”

“He is Nawaz Sharif’s grandson, not Goldsmith’s, and he is not being raised in the lap of Jews,” she added, according to Sky News.
What the UAE embassy in Israel means for both countries
A few years ago, the mere mention of an Emirati embassy in Israel was pie in the sky. Today, with the opening of the UAE embassy in Israel, relations between the two countries are institutionalized.

The steps at this level are proceeding at an accelerated pace. This is proof of the common desire of both countries to take advantage of the valuable opportunity created by the signing of the peace agreement.

The most important message at the opening of the UAE embassy in Israel lies in its location. It is housed in the new Tel Aviv Stock Exchange building, in the heart of Israel’s financial district. That underscores the position of economics, business and investment in the cooperative relationship between the two countries.

The common bet of both sides is on creativity and innovation in the technical field as a locomotive to build a more prosperous future not only for the two peoples but also in the entire region. Security, stability and peace are all necessary conditions for development, which in turn needs the right environment to grow and prosper.

Cooperation between the UAE and Israel continues as planned, despite claims by some that normalization of relations has gone out the window, whether with the outbreak of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza in May, or former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s move into opposition after failing to form a governing coalition.

To be sure, the bilateral relationship is based on areas of common interest, a well thought-out foundation and a long-term strategic vision that is not driven by a temporary perspective or a desire for political and media showboating.
Algerian Olympian suspended, sent home for refusing to face Israeli Judoka
The International Judo Federation suspended on Saturday an Algerian judoka and his coach for withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics before his event started, after the draw set him on course for a match against an Israeli.

Fethi Nourine and his coach Amar Benikhlef gave individual statements to the media announcing their withdrawal from the competition to avoid meeting an Israeli athlete during the event, the IJF said in a statement.

Nourine's withdrawal was "in total opposition to the philosophy of the International Judo Federation," it said.

"The IJF has a strict non-discrimination policy, promoting solidarity as a key principle, reinforced by the values of judo," it said. The IJF launched an investigation into the case, leading to a temporary suspension of Nourine and Benikhlef.

The Algerian Olympic Committee withdrew the accreditation for both the athlete and coach and would send them home, applying sanctions accordingly, the IJF said, without further elaboration on the type of sanctions.

Attempts to reach Nourine for comment were not successful.

On Friday, Nourine told Algerian media that his political support for the Palestinian cause made it impossible for him to compete against Israeli Tohar Butbul.

The 30-year-old was due to face Sudan's Mohamed Abdalrasool on Monday for his first match in the men's 73 kg class. A victory would have paired him with Butbul - who has a first-round bye - in the next round.
Global fund agrees to compensate Israel for tar pollution by Syrian oil tanker
The London-based International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund on Thursday approved Israel’s request to receive damages for the massive tar pollution that covered its beaches in February, following an oil leak by a Syrian-owned ship, the Emerald, in the Mediterranean Sea.

The decision was reached unanimously at the fund’s half-yearly executive committee meeting.

The sum has not yet been determined. The next step will be to determine who gets the compensation, how much, and what the timetable will be.

“Israel will be compensated for the tar disaster, according to the principle of ‘the polluter pays,'” said Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg,

She added that the significant damage wreaked on the environment and marine life underscored the ministry’s position that the world should move as quickly as possible to replace fossil fuels such as oil with renewable energy sources.

Israel was taken by surprise on February 18, when tar began washing onto its Mediterranean coastline following stormy weather, along with the corpse of a fin whale some 17 meters (55 feet) long.

Over the following days, it became clear that beaches, from Rosh Hanikra in the far north to Nitzanim in the south, had been contaminated and that wildlife had paid a heavy price.
How A Secret War Between the USSR and Israel Almost Caused World War 3 | Unpacked
Could a secret war between the USSR and Israel have started a third world war? Although the USSR supported the founding of Israel, their relationship started to sour as the Cold War progressed. Following the Six-Day War, Egypt started the War of Attrition, and requested support from the Soviets to support the weakened Egyptian air force. Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula soon spotted Soviet planes and missiles positioned along the Suez Canal. In response, the Israeli Air Force was deployed to stop them, resulting in a dogfight dubbed “Operation Rimon 20”.


PA accuses Israel of ‘war crimes’ after killing of teenager near Ramallah
The Palestinian Authority said on Saturday that it was still hoping that the international Criminal Court (ICC) would launch an investigation into Israeli “violations and war crimes” against the Palestinians.

In response to clashes over the weekend between Palestinians and IDF troops in the West Bank – during which soldiers reportedly shot dead 17-year-old Mohammed Munir al-Tamimi in the village of Nabi Saleh, northwest of Ramallah – the PA said that such an investigation would “put an end to dealing with Israel as a state above the law that escapes any punishment.”

Palestinian sources said that Tamimi was shot in the stomach on Friday night during clashes with IDF soldiers who entered the village. He was rushed to the Yasser Arafat Hospital in the town of Salfit, where he was pronounced dead.

The IDF said that dozens of Palestinians threw rocks as part of the demonstration, and in response the IDF used crowd dispersal tactics. After a suspect threw rocks in a manner that endangered the life of one of the soldiers, the soldier responded with live fire as part of a procedure, the IDF said, adding that the incident will be investigated.
Palestinians accuse Hamas of storing weapons in residential areas
Palestinian factions and human rights organizations have called on Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups to stop storing weapons in residential areas following another explosion, which killed one person and injured 14 others on Thursday.

They also demanded a thorough investigation into the explosion in order to hold those responsible accountable.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip said that the explosion took place in a warehouse used by Hamas for storing weapons.

Hamas said it has launched an investigation, but has not provided any details.

Thursday’s explosion occurred shortly after 8 a.m. in a house located in the Al-Zawiya market area in the center of Gaza City. Palestinian sources said that 69-year-old Atta Ahmed Saqallah died and 14 civilians were injured, including six children.

Medical sources at Shifa Hospital described the wounds of one of them as critical, according to the Palestinian Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights. The three-story house was partially destroyed, while neighboring houses and shops were partially damaged, the center said in a statement. According to eyewitnesses, a fire had broken out in the house before the explosion.

“Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza views the explosion incident with grave seriousness, as there have been repeated incidents of internal explosions in houses in overcrowded residential neighborhoods for various reasons in the past, which resulted in the killing of a number of civilians and the destruction of homes and public and private properties,” the statement read.


Hamas, Islamic Jihad condemn Israel’s African Union observer status
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Saturday strongly condemned the decision to grant Israel observer status at the African Union after a two-decade absence.

On Thursday, the Foreign Ministry announced that Israel is returning to the union as a member with an observer status. Israel’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Aleligne Adamsu, submitted Israel’s charter to the 55-nation pan-African body, according to a ministry statement.

“This is a day of celebration for Israeli-African relations,” Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said, adding that the move would help Israel strengthen its activities vis-à-vis the continent and the member states of the organization.

Hamas described the move as being “shocking and reprehensible.” It said that the decision “enhances the legitimacy of the occupation on our land, and gives it more opportunities to continue its plans to erase Palestinian rights and continue its brutal crimes.”

Hamas expressed regret over the decision, saying it was issued by countries that “have suffered for centuries, and still are, from the yoke of colonialism and racism, and have made every effort to get rid of them.”
MEMRI: Video From Al-Qaeda's Al-Sahab Media Wing Asserts U.S. Is Headed For Civil War As A Result Of COVID-19, Collapsing Economy, January 6 Riot, Black Lives Matter Protests And Civil Unrest; Encourages Trump Supporters To Read Al-Qaeda's 'Inspire' Magazine, Suggests Biden May Be Assassinated: 'The Drumbeats Of Impending Civil War Can Clearly Be Heard'
On July 20, 2021, Al-Qaeda's central media wing, Al-Sahab, released a 14-minute video titled "America Burns."[1] The narration in the video is mostly word-for-word excerpts from the editorial in Issue Five of Al-Qaeda's Arabic-language Ummah Wahidah ("One Ummah") magazine, which was released in April 2021. That editorial is itself largely based on the editorial from Issue Two of the English-language One Ummah magazine, which was published in June 2020.[2] Two versions of the video were released, one narrated in Arabic and subtitled in English and another without subtitles.

The video lists the "Five Cornerstones Of America's Coffin" which it defines as "Corona, divisions, racism, a declining economy, and strikes by the mujahideen." It describes the effects of COVID-19 in the U.S., the "decline not just of the American economy but the entire capitalist economy," which it describes as "a usury-based economy, an inflated balloon waiting to implode." It mocks the response of the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to the January 6 riot at the Capitol, and anticipates civil war in the U.S., saying: "The drumbeats of impending civil war can clearly be heard. In fact, it was a civil war that brought the mother of all evils into existence, and it shall be a civil war that marks its ultimate doom." The video describes the impact of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests and "the spread of the ideology of white supremacy," suggests that U.S. President Joe Biden may be assassinated, and encourages supporters of former president Donald Trump to read Al-Qaeda's "Inspire" magazine.

This video is essentially a re-packaging of material Al-Sahab has released in the past. The events mentioned in the video occurred no later than several months ago. Another video released by Al-Sahab on July 15, 2021, which discussed Al-Qaeda's response to France's perceived insults to Islam, such as the Charlie Hebdo cartoons mocking Islam's founder Muhammad, similarly discussed events that took place months earlier.[3] The failure of Al-Qaeda's central media to comment on events in a timely fashion, as well as its refraining from denying or confirming rumors of Al-Zawahiri's death, which have circulated since November 2020,[4] reduces the relevance of its message to the organization's supporters and other Muslims who may be receptive to its call. It is difficult to speculate on the reasons for this delay in publishing material, but it may be related to the killing of Al-Qaeda spokesman and second-in-command Husam 'Abd Al-Ra'ouf aka Abu Muhsin Al-Masri in Afghanistan in October 2020.[5] It is possible that the circumstances surrounding his death have led to disruptions in Al-Qaeda's central media.
Iranian Regime Empowered: Violating US Sovereignty, Kidnapping on American Soil
Why is the Biden administration continuing to negotiate with the mullahs of Iran to revive the nuclear deal and lift sanctions placed against them -- an act that would hugely strengthen their regime -- after the country, during nuclear talks, was caught plotting to kidnap a US citizen in Brooklyn, New York?

The message for the Biden administration, which has frequently proclaimed its intention to defend pro-democracy dissidents, is that a diet of US groveling and appeasement evidently will not deter Iran and other foreign dictatorships from launching increasingly hostile acts.

The Americans, it seems, want to reward the mullahs for taking over Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq, the Gaza Strip and soon possibly Jordan -- so, what incentive is there for the mullahs to stop?

Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Tehran appears to have been attempting to become the dominant hegemon not only in the Middle East.... but around the world. At the same time, it is sending a warning to its population that any opposition to the political establishment will be dealt with harshly.

Will the Biden administration ever see that, to bring peace to the region and, by expansion, to the rest of the world, negotiations, concessions and offering incentive packages to the mullahs simply will not work?


Iranians blast Olympics for praising IRGC ‘terrorist’ who won gold medal
The Iranian human rights athletic organization United for Navid and Iranians on social media on Saturday slammed the International Olympics Committee for posting a tweet in praise of an Iranian marksman Javad Foroughi who won a gold medal at the Tokyo games because he is a member of a US sanctioned terrorist organization.

In a statement sent to The Jerusalem Post, United For Navid wrote that it "considers the awarding of an Olympic Gold Medal to Iran marksman Javad Foroughi not only a catastrophe for Iranian sports but also for the international community, and especially the reputation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The 41-year old Foroughi is a current and longtime member of a terrorist organization [IRGC].”

The Olympics sent a congratulatory tweet to its over six million followers with a picture of Foroughi, writing “Golden debut! First place medal.Javad Foroughi wins gold in the air pistol men's final, breaking the Olympic Record on his first Olympic appearance. Well done! @ISSF_Shooting #Shooting.”

United for Navid is named after the executed champion Greco-Roman wrestler Navid Afkari, who was imprisoned and tortured by the Islamic Republic of Iran for his participation against the theocratic regime in 2018. The regime executed Navid in September, 2020. Masih Alinejad ,the Iranian-American journalist and women's rights activist, along with the Iranian-American former Greco-Roman wrestler Sardar Pashaei ,spearhead the United for Navid campaign. Pashaei coached Iran’s Greco-Roman national team and was a decorated international wrestler.


University of Cape Town, UC Berkeley Hailed for ‘Ignoring’ BDS Campaign to Cancel Israeli Academics at Conference
A student group working with the Boycott, Sanctions, Divestment–South African Coalition (SABDS) failed to cancel presentations by two Israeli professors at an academic conference co-hosted by the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Cape Town (UCT), drawing praise from South Africa’s main pro-Israel organization.

Calling itself the Palestine Solidarity Forum (UCT PSF), the group endorsed a SABDS petition demanding that the organizers of a virtual conference require Yofi Tirosh, of Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law, and Postdoctoral Fellow Nausica Palazzo of Hebrew University to “issue statements distancing themselves” from the state of Israel or “withdraw the participation of Israeli academics.”

The conference of legal scholars, “Inequality in a Time of Global Crisis,” was held on July 14-16, and organized by the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the PSF said it also sent UCT and the Berkeley Center an ultimatum calling for the professors to “clarify … their position on Palestine,” or otherwise for the conference to rescind the scholars’ invitations to the conference and to invite Palestinian academics.

In a response seen by The Algemeiner, the Berkeley Center told the group and conference presenters that, “the Dean at Berkeley Law and the Dean of Law at the University of Cape Town are in agreement that we will not exclude a speaker or participant from the conference based on their nationality or affiliation with a university, nor because of the policies of their government.”

“We remain firm on this position, and do not intend to single out for prejudicial treatment, or to call on any of our participants to request that they distance themselves from the actions of their government,” the Center said.
BBC continues to avoid the whole story in BDS reports
The claim from Jonathan Josephs that those who support boycotts do so because they believe they are “an effective way to get Israel to change policy towards the territories” clearly misleads BBC audiences with regard to the real agenda of the BDS campaign and whitewashes its antisemitic nature.

Also notable is the absence of BBC reporting on the likely effects of the decision of the ‘progressive’ American ice cream company owned by the British multinational on Palestinian and Israeli workers.

Josephs’ statement that “without a new licence agreement Ben & Jerry’s will only be sold there until the end of next year” does not clarify that Unilever has already stated that the Israeli company in Kiryat Malakhi which has held the licence to manufacture Ben & Jerry’s ice cream since 1987 will not have it renewed at the end of next year because it refused the demand to comply with the boycott.

The BBC News website’s second report states that:
“Ben & Jerry’s said its partnership with its Israeli franchisee would expire next year and that it would “stay in Israel through a different arrangement”. […]

The Israeli franchisee said it was unwilling to refuse to sell ice cream to Israelis in settlements and was legally prevented from doing so.”

Readers are told nothing of the potential effects on the 160 workers at that factory in a disadvantaged region of Israel.

BBC audiences have also not been informed that the transport company that until now has distributed two tons of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream a week to communities in Judea & Samaria and Jerusalem now fears that the ten Palestinians from PA controlled areas that it employs will now have to be made redundant.

For years the BBC has avoided informing its audiences what the anti-Israel BDS campaign is really about. As we see, that editorial policy continues in all the corporation’s reporting on this latest story.
The church apologizes for expulsion 800 years later - repenting for sins
Next year marks the 800th anniversary of the Synod of Oxford, which issued a set of antisemitic decrees that forced Jews to wear badges of shame, limited them to certain occupations, prohibited new synagogues from being built, and saw the invention of the blood libel, which led to killings and massacres.

More discriminating laws hit the Jewish community in the years that followed, and hostility toward them grew. The year 1290 saw the nationwide expulsion of Jews from England.

Eight centuries on, not only is the oldest hatred not eradicated, antisemitism is alive and on the rise. UK Jews are physically and verbally abused, synagogues are vandalized, and a Jewish man is reported to have faced two separate antisemitic incidents on London transport within one hour. An Essex rabbi was assaulted and hospitalized, a convoy of cars drove down London’s Finchley Road with a man shouting “F*** the Jews…rape their daughters” through a megaphone, pro-Palestinian protests featured anti-Israeli hatred, teachers left a union in protest of an anti-Zionist narrative, and more.

According to the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), nearly half of Britain’s Jews now hide any Jewish symbols in public. But perhaps worst of all is the fact that antisemitism has gone mainstream, becoming an ever-present constant within British life.

In a bid to address the alarming rise, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has announced that the Church of England will next year offer its repentance, to coincide with the 800th anniversary of the Synod of Oxford in 1222. Through the symbolic, historic gesture, the church will apologize for the 1290 expulsion of England’s Jews, and its part in fueling the hatred that preceded it.
New Jersey Township Officials Reject Court Claim of Discrimination Against Orthodox Jews
Officials in the New Jersey township of Jackson have pushed back against claims made in court that Orthodox Jews were discriminated against over land use measures.

The case dates back to last April, when New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal filed a discrimination complaint against the township. The named defendants, who include Jackson Mayor Michael Reina, are alleged to have usedzoning powers to prevent an influx of Orthodox Jews from establishing residency in the township and to make it more difficult to practice their religion, violating New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination.

Jackson is located next to Lakewood, New Jersey, which is home to 50,000 Orthodox Jews and the second-largest yeshiva in the world. Beginning in 2015, the complaint alleged, township residents began expressing opposition to Jewish residence to local officials. They also engaged in antisemitic rhetoric on social media, saying things such as “we need to get rid of them like Hitler did” and referring to Jews as “filthy f***ing cockroaches.”

At the time, Grewal declared: “We’ve filed this lawsuit because bias and hate have no home in New Jersey, and we will not allow some vocal residents’ intolerance to drive local government decisions.”

On Tuesday, the website Law360 reported that the township’s zoning board of adjustment and planning board urged the court to dismiss three counts of the four-count complaint from the state attorney general’s office, including claims that municipal officials acted unlawfully in conducting surveillance of homes suspected of hosting prayer gatherings and prohibiting religious schools in residential areas.

The three counts are “nothing more than vehicles for plaintiffs to set forth inflammatory factual allegations designed to ignite plaintiffs’ own narrative that defendants, as well as all 57,731 Jackson Township residents, are anti-Semitic hate-mongers,” according to the boards’ brief.
London Police Arrest 17-Year-Old in Connection With Antisemitic Abuse Against Jewish Man on Public Transport
British police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in connection with an antisemitic incident at an underground station in central London that targeted a Jewish man who had been subjected to racist invective while traveling on a bus only minutes earlier.

British Transport Police said the teenager had been charged with a religiously aggravated public order offense.

He will appear at Highbury Magistrates’ Court in North London early next month.

The Metropolitan Police said that on the day of the attack, July 4, the victim was subjected to antisemitic abuse while walking down an escalator at Oxford Circus tube station. In a separate incident that is also being investigated by the police, the victim, named as “Yosef,” was sitting on a bus towards the station when he was subject to a “torrent of antisemitic abuse” and “threats” by another passenger.

After the attacks, the victim’s brother, Shlomie Liberow, divulged further details on Twitter.

“My brother [who is visibly Jewish] was attacked on the 113 bus, heading in direction of Oxford Circus, London at 11:33 p.m. and threatened to ‘slit his throat for Palestine,'” he posted. “Will anything be done about this rampant antisemitism?”

He added that “identifiably Jewish people face extreme racism as a daily occurrence.”
New report claims lay magistrate in Scotland shared antisemitic video
A lay magistrate in Scotland is alleged to have promoted an antisemitic video.

According to the JC, a video from 2016 remains visible on the Facebook profile of Amjid Bashir, a broadcaster and Justice of the Peace, which contains a link to a five minute video that claims that the Rothschild family – common protagonists in antisemitic conspiracy theories – “maintains its control through the US Federal Reserve”.

The video’s accompanying caption read: “Not really one for conspiracies but this is interesting on how 5 ultra wealthy families have some [sic] much power.”

A Judician Communications spokesperson reportedly said that “this matter is now under consideration by the Judicial Office for Scotland,” adding: “All judicial office holders receive training about, and are bound by, the Statement of Principles of Judicial Ethics, and must uphold high standards of professional conduct.”

Mr Bashir reportedly wrote on social media last week that he stood “against all hate and discrimination #islamophobia #racism #antisemitism #hate”.


FC Barcelona President Honored With Tree-Planting Ahead of Tel Aviv Match
The president of FC Barcelona participated in a tree-planting ceremony in Israel ahead of the El Classico match in Tel Aviv between the soccer club’s legendary players and Real Madrid.

Joan Laporta took part in a prayer session before planting a cypress tree on one of the hills surrounding Jerusalem on Tuesday. The event was organized by Keren Kayemet LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, which works to promote environmental protection and counter desertification by repopulating forests in Israel.

“Such a modest gesture is full of meaning because it helps a land like this to prosper and ensure a better quality of life for the people who live here. It also makes Israel sustainable for future generations,” said Laporta. “We Catalans are open to the world, and so our club is open to the world, too. We have always promoted togetherness, fraternity, equality, freedom and peace. And we are creating a fraternity with a people who work for their customs and to be enterprising.”

Laporta also attended the opening of Israel’s “Barça the Exhibition” on Monday prior to Tuesday’s match between Real Madrid and the Barça Legends, which is a “result of an FC Barcelona program to showcase the great players that have worn its famous colors over the years,” according to the soccer club’s official website. Members of the exhibition joined the July 20 tree-planting ceremony by each planting a carob tree.

The Barça Legends lost Tuesday’s game against Real Madrid 2-3.

At the same time, Beitar Jerusalem soccer-club owner Moshe Hogeg canceled a friendly match with Barcelona after it refused to play in Jerusalem.
Yad Vashem Marks Olympics With Online Exhibitions of Jewish, Non-Jewish Athletes
Gymnast Estella Agsteribbe was one of five Jewish women to participate in the Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928. She was a trailblazer not only as a Jewish athlete, but as one of the first women permitted to compete in gymnastics at the global sports event. In September 1943, Estella and her two children were murdered shortly after arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau simply because they were Jewish.

In the spirit of the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo, Yad Vashem — the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem — is promoting two online exhibitions to commemorate both Jewish and non-Jewish athletes during World War II.

The first, “Jews and Sports Before the Holocaust: A Visual Retrospective,” uses photos and artifacts to portray sporting events and competitions in which Jews participated. This exhibition features the personal stories and images of Jewish athletes before the Holocaust, including champion boxer Victor Perez, the Hapoel Football team from Poland and the Hakoach Vienna Hockey team competing at the Bar-Kochba International Sports Games in 1937.

“For generations, Jewish athletes, both men and women, competed in different sporting events — some of them participating and even winning medals in the Olympics,” said Dana Porath, director of the digital department in the communications division at Yad Vashem. “The Jewish athletes making their way to Tokyo to participate in the Olympic Games, which were delayed from summer 2020 due to the global health pandemic, are only the latest in a long-standing tradition.”

Included in the exhibition is the story of cousins Gustav and Alfred Flatow, who represented Germany at two Olympic Games. “Despite their status as world-class athletes, their Jewish identity condemned them to an all-too-familiar fate; they, too, were murdered during the Holocaust,” said Porath.

Sports often served as a bridge between the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds. During the Holocaust, some of these bonds would prove beneficial in helping save Jewish athletes, when their non-Jewish counterparts risked their own lives to rescue their Jewish compatriots from Nazi persecution.

The second online exhibition, “The Game of Their Lives,” tells the stories of those valiant individuals — non-Jewish athletes recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.
Jewish National Fund-USA launches ‘What Zionism Looks Like’ campaign
Decades after the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 3379, which declared Zionism was a form of racism, Zionists continue to be maligned on college campuses, social media and city streets.

Confronting the ongoing hostility toward Zionism in a positive, multifaceted way, Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF-USA) launched “This is What Zionism Looks Like,” a campaign that features a website, social media strategy, online events, boot camps, and educational courses designed with the aim of celebrating Zionism and reclaiming what Zionism really means.

“The word ‘Zionism’ has been hijacked from us,” JNF-USA CEO Russell F. Robinson said in a phone interview. “We can no longer allow others to define it for us; we need to own our own narrative. At Jewish National Fund-USA, we decided to tackle this head on, not to attack the attackers—that is what other people do—rather to talk about the beauty, the substance, the building, the commonality that Zionism brings. Zionism is a reclaiming of our ancestral soil and a building of our people together. It is a beautiful thing, and we shouldn’t be ashamed of it.”

The first phase of the JNF-USA campaign allows people to visit a website and post a photo of themselves or beautiful places and things with the words, “This is What Zionism Looks Like,” in the frame. They can then share the picture on Facebook, Twitter, or WhatsApp.

As of press time, nearly 5,500 images had been posted at share.jnf.org.

The campaign also invites people from across the globe to join in the conversation about the many facets of Zionists during biweekly one-on-one conversations and moderated panels. Guests participating in these discussions will include Zionist historian and activist Gil Troy, human rights attorney Arsen Ostrovsky, and Zionist activist and author of the Almost Jewish blog, Virag Gulyas. Panels will explore topics including, “Can You be Progressive and be a Zionist?” and the Textures of the Jewish World.









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