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Monday, August 02, 2021

08/02 Links Pt2: Waiting for social media companies to tackle anti-Semitism is utterly pointless; Full saga of Israeli trio held in Nigeria; Protestors in New York cry ‘Globalize the intifada’

From Ian:

Stephen Pollard: Waiting for social media companies to tackle anti-Semitism is utterly pointless
The CCDH reported 714 anti-Semitic posts, such as Nazi, neo-Nazi and white supremacist content, across a six-week period this year. The posts received up to 7.3 million views. Less than a sixth were removed.

My only surprise at today’s finding that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok refused to act on 84% of posts reported to them is that the figure is so low.

It’s not just me, of course. There is not a single ‘out’ Jew on social media who is not deluged with this stuff. It is difficult to overstate its scale and how intrinsic it is to the experience of being a Jew on social media.

It took me a while to realise this, but that’s the point. Racism, along with misogyny, conspiracy theories and the like are not a terrible by-product of Twitter and the other social media sites. They are their purpose. The CCDH’s findings are not a shocking indictment of their lax systems. They are a statement of the obvious.

Let me explain.

All these sites have one thing in common. They make almost all their money from advertising. And the sums are huge. In 2020, for example, Twitter’s revenue was $3.72 billion revenue. That advertising is dependent on users. The more users, the more revenue. What drives traffic to them? Racism. Misogyny. Conspiracies. Etc.

What happens to the sites if they leave such posts up? They get money from the users who view them. What happens if the remove such posts? They don’t get that money.

So while it is legal for them to act like this, earnest entreaties to be decent chaps and not host racists are hilariously pointless. Responding to the report, a Twitter spokesperson said the company condemned anti-Semitism and was working to make the platform a safer place for online engagement: “We recognise that there’s more to do, and we’ll continue to listen and integrate stakeholders’ feedback in these ongoing efforts.” Yeah, right. Does anyone fall for this guff? It’s like an arms manufacturer saying they condemn the use of arms.

The racism is integral to their business model.

Twitter and the other social media sites will not change voluntarily. Why would they? Opprobrium means nothing to them – and, ironically, it would largely manifest itself nowadays via their sites.

There is only one way to change this: legislation. The Online Harms Bill is promising, but seems to be continually – perhaps permanently – delayed. These are now huge vested interests. And they need to be confronted.
Top social media platforms fail to act on reported antisemitism, study finds
Social media platforms are mostly not acting against antisemitic content even when it is flagged by users, according to a new report.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate, a UK and US nonprofit organization, said that over a six-week period earlier this year it used official complaint systems to report hundreds of incidents of anti-Jewish hatred it found on the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok platforms, but 84 percent of the time nothing was done about it.

The findings show a “serious and systematic failure to tackle antisemitism,” the Center for Countering Digital Hate said in a statement accompanying its Failure to Protect report, which was released Friday.

“This is not about algorithms or automation; our research shows that social media companies allow bigots to keep their accounts open and their hate to remain online, even when human moderators are notified,” said Imran Ahmed, CEO of the CCDH, in a statement.

“No one has a fundamental right to have an account on a social media platform to bully Jews or to spread hatred that we know can end in serious offline harm,” he said.

From May 18 to June 29 this year the CCDH flagged 714 posts. However, only in less than one in six cases the accounts were deleted or the content removed.
‘We didn’t know if they’d execute us’: Full saga of Israeli trio held in Nigeria
Rudy and Noam were later transferred to a larger cage, but one that contained two Nigerians held on terrorism and weapons charges.

“We were on edge in every way at all times,” Rochman said. “If they had told us at the beginning that we’d be there for twenty days, that would be much better, since at least we’d be counting down the days.”

“Still, we were not putting our heads down. We were looking for ways to make a weapon, to have something on us in case someone attacked us, to try to undo the lock, to try to find a way to steal a phone.”

Rochman managed to sneak a small pair of scissors from a toiletry bag into the cell for protection.

On the tenth day, the Israelis were on their way to the first floor of the prison to pick up their kosher food. When they passed by the lobby, they began shouting to civilian visitors that they were innocent and being held unlawfully.

They were dragged back to the cages by guards.

The trios feared for their lives during their captivity. “We didn’t know if they would execute us,” Rochman recalled. “We didn’t know if they would poison our food.”

Nigerian authorities released the trio from prison last Tuesday evening and handed them over to US custody. American embassy staff then took them to the local Chabad center to spend the night.

They were given their passports and phones just before their flight took off for Istanbul the next night.

“They wanted to try us with treason and missionary work,” said Rochman. “They were clearly trying to silence this project and send a message that no one should be documenting the Igbos.”

“We came out there to tell a story, and unfortunately we became the story,” Rochman said ruefully. “This is just a fraction and a taste of what Igbos go through daily.”
Lapid, Michaeli vow to enable gold medal winner to marry
Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Labor leader Merav Michaeli both promised on Monday to take steps to enable Olympic gold medalist Artem Dolgopyat to get married in the State of Israel.

Dolgopyat is not Jewish according to Jewish law, because his mother, Angela, is not Jewish and her children are not Jewish according to Orthodox law. Artem’s father, Oleg, is Jewish. Israel has no provision for civil marriage, and citizens can only marry through established religious institutions, such as the Chief Rabbinate, which will only marry members of the same religion.

“I’ll fight with all my might for civil unions for couples,” Lapid told The Jerusalem Post. “It’s intolerable that someone can fight on our behalf in the Olympics, represent us and win a gold medal and not be able to get married in Israel.”

Michaeli said it is unacceptable that Israel does not let Dolgopyat marry in the country. She said Labor would take action to help him immediately after the state budget is passed in November.

“Just like we broke the kosher certification monopoly, the time has come to end the monopoly of marriage in Israel,” she said. “We will work in this Knesset to cancel that monopoly in Israel.”

But Shas leader Arye Deri told the Post that the steps Lapid and Michaeli vowed to take would make Israel no longer be a Jewish state.

“Even he doesn’t claim for himself that he is Jewish,” Deri said. “Winning a medal doesn’t make him Jewish. There is no discrimination against him. Our laws are consistent: For 73 years, marriage in this country has been run by Jewish law.”

Dolgopyat, whose girlfriend is from Belarus, told reporters in Tokyo that he did not want to address the subject.


How anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism intersect
In the wake of this latest wave of anti-Semitic violence across the United States, government, businesses and civil society must prioritize the adoption and application of the IHRA definition with its helpful and comprehensive examples. Schools and universities should use it in their diversity and inclusion trainings to help students recognize bias; and administrators should use the definition as a tool in determining whether an incident is anti-Semitic. Social media companies should use it to assess what constitutes hateful speech on their platforms. Law enforcement should apply its guidance to determine whether a hate crime has been committed. Governments should consult it when considering instances of discrimination against Jews.

And, to be perfectly clear, while I have focused principally on anti-Zionist anti-Semitism coming from the left, the violence and anti-Semitism in the United States does not just come from one source.

We must call out and call on people to call out anti-Semitism that occurs on their own sides of the partisan and ideological aisle. It is easy to paint one’s opponents as being haters — but far more important and effective to call out ones’ own allies for spewing hate.

We certainly have challenges ahead, but they are not all new. Nearly 50 years ago, the great Israeli diplomat Abba Eban said: “Classical anti-Semitism denies the rights of Jews as citizens within society. Anti-Zionism denies the equal rights of the Jewish people to their lawful sovereignty within the community of nations. All that has happened is that the discriminating principle has been transferred from the realm of individual rights to the domain of collective identity.”

The fight against anti-Semitism must be above organizational rivalries and communal politics. We face a difficult road ahead, and the work of fighting anti-Semitism may never be completed, but it is our obligation as Jewish leaders to work together to safeguard the wellbeing of communities worldwide.
More Worried Than Ever About the Threat of American Antisemitism
On July 29, 2014, at the height of a conflict between Hamas terrorists and Israel, while rockets from Gaza were intentionally launched at Israeli civilians, three men of Palestinian descent threw Molotov cocktails at the Bergisch Synagogue in Wuppertal, Germany. The attack occurred at the end of Ramadan as anti-Israel protests flared in Western Europe.

If this inciting incident does not seem eerily familiar, the reader has not been paying enough attention (or their news sources have not deemed the recent surge in antisemitism worthy of coverage).

Over the past few weeks, as Hamas rockets again targeted Israeli civilians and the IDF responded, Jewish communities across the United States reported acts of violence, intimidation, and abuse, both physical and verbal. In Skokie, Illinois, a vandal smashed a synagogue window and left a Palestinian flag at the door. In midtown Manhattan, a roving mob of anti-Israel thugs marched through the heavily Jewish Diamond District, harassing and beating passersby and diners and using fireworks as weapons to cause damage and intimidate Jews. In Brooklyn, men drove around the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Borough Park, harassing and assaulting Jews, and yelling antisemitic slurs and “Free Palestine.” The men also kicked a synagogue’s doors and broke a car mirror. In Los Angeles, Jews eating at a kosher restaurant were beaten, intimidated, and chased by people and cars waving Palestinian flags.

This type of violent reaction toward Jews in response to events in the Middle East used to be limited to Europe. Unfortunately, these events and many more compiled by the Anti-Defamation League demonstrate that the pattern of violent targeting of Jews has crossed the Atlantic.

The most frightening element of the 2014 incident in Germany was not the attack itself, however, but the aftermath. After several years, a German high court ruled that the attack was an expression of anti-Israel protest, and did not qualify as an act of antisemitism. Recently, we have seen the same equivocating in the reporting on this latest spike in antisemitism, while also facing the deafening silence from organizations that usually champion the causes of minorities facing violence.

This structural blind spot to blatant antisemitism in organizations committed to social justice and in media reporting leaves Jews vulnerable. Fortunately, lessons learned after the verdict in Germany are readily applicable in the United States.
The Media Abandons Facts to Talk About ‘Angelic’ Palestinian Activists
If the Palestinians in the Times’ tale are saintly, the opposite can be said of their depiction of the Jewish “settlers,” many of whom we’re told (again without evidence) “are Kahanists, supporters of American-born Meir Kahane, who believe in the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip by Israel and the forcible removal of non-Jews.”

Further into the piece, we’re told the following about the arrest mentioned earlier:
The officer asked if she had a problem with the police. And then whether she had a problem with Jews. “I told her, no, I don’t. I said, ‘The police have a problem with me, and those Jews [the settlers] have a problem with me.’ ”

However, as we noted in our previous post on Mohammed el-Kurd, his claim that he has no problem with Jews seems inconsistent with his own social media record.

During an interview with MSNBC that he retweeted, he said that “all Israelis are terrorists.”

On Twitter, he also praised a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist, compared Israeli actions to that of the Nazis, characterized Zionism as inherently genocidal, and, most disturbingly, retweeted (and praised as ‘eloquent’) the following video of the late Kwame Ture (aka, Stokely Carmichael) literally referring to Zionism as a “Satanic movement.”

So, to sum up: The Palestinian activist says he has no problem with Jews, yet believes that the fundamental belief held by the overwhelming majority of actual Jews, that — the Jewish state has a right to exist — is “Satanic.”

Mohammed’s sister Muna has posted this:


It’s a photo of notorious Palestinian terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who took part in the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre, where she, along with other Fatah terrorists, hijacked a bus and killed 38 civilians, 13 of them children.

Her own message above the photo (translated to English by a CAMERA Arabic researcher) reads:
“I brightened the room! I want to be alongside you day and night”.

Here’s a brief thought experiment: Imagine the kind of profile Edwardes would have written if she interviewed Jewish settler twins who said “all Palestinians are terrorists,” lionized a Jewish terrorist, and suggested that the overwhelming majority of Muslims were “Satanic.”

Is there really any question she would (correctly) frame such Israelis as racist, far-right extremists?

To say that the fawning profile of the Kurds by The Times’ Charlotte Edwardes doesn’t abide by the most basic principles of journalism is an understatement. Her obsequiousness in response to every word uttered by the “Gen-Z” Palestinian “activist” twins would make Guardian and other editors blush.
Protestors in New York cry ‘Globalize the intifada’ at demonstration
Several hundred protesters took part in a pro-Palestinian rally on Saturday in Brooklyn, using inflammatory rhetoric and messaging against Israel. They lauded “intifada” uprisings and called for taking control of Israeli territory, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

During the protest, organized by an organization called “Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine,” demonstrators marched behind three large banners: “Globalize the intifada,” “Zionism is terrorism,” and “We will free Palestine within our lifetime.”

Intifada is an Arabic word meaning uprising or rebellion. During the Second Intifada from 2000-2005, Palestinian terrorist groups, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and some affiliated with Fatah, carried out hundreds of terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and security personnel, killing more than 1,000.

During Saturday’s rally, marchers chanted, “We don’t want no two states, we want all of it,” referring to the two-state solution that has formed the basis of peace proposals.

A Twitter account was deleted on Sunday afternoon after it posted video footage of demonstrators chanting, “We don’t want no two states, we want all of it.”

Among the demonstrators’ other slogans were: “If we don’t get no justice, then they don’t get no peace,” “Intifada, intifada,” “There is only one solution, intifada revolution,” “Mobilize the intifada,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Demonstrators held aloft Palestinian flags, fired red, green and black flares, the colors of the flag, and held up pictures of Palestinians who they said were killed by Israeli security personnel. A pickup truck bearing activists flying the Palestinian flag led the rally.

Some demonstrators blocked traffic in the area and shouted vulgar expressions at commuters and pedestrians.
MEMRI: Pro-Palestinian Protesters in San Diego Chant: Settlers, Go Back Home, Palestine Is Ours Alone!
Protesters at a pro-Palestinian rally held in San Diego chanted: “Settlers, go back home, Palestine is ours alone!” The protest was organized to counter a “We Are Israel” rally attended by former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on July 25, 2021. Video of the protest was uploaded to the Facebook page of one of the organizations sponsoring the rally, Unión del Barrio. Protesters also chanted: “From the Water [of the Mediterranean Sea] to the Water [of the Jordan River], Palestine is Arab!” and “Oh Zionists, get out!” Some of the chants in the protest promoted unity between Palestinians, Syrians, and Iraqis. The protest was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, and it was endorsed by American Muslims for Palestine.




ADL, Hillel ‘Join Forces’ to Fight Campus Antisemitism With Tracking Tools, Curriculum
As more university students prepare to return to in-person learning this fall, an initiative announced Monday will bring the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) together with the world’s largest Jewish university organization to combat rising antisemitism on campus.

The partnership between ADL and Hillel, which serves over 400,000 students in the US, will include curricula about the history of antisemitism, and a fast-track system for responding to antisemitic incidents as they occur, tracking them in a centralized database.

On November 7-9, Hillel will also co-sponsor ADL’s Never is Now Summit, to take place virtually.

The ADL said Monday that during the 2020-2021 academic year — amid a year of virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic — it had counted 84 antisemitic incidents on college and university campuses, including one assault; 39 incidents of vandalism; and 44 incidents of harassment.

The year prior, when most classes were still taking place in person, the group recorded 172 incidents.

ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt said Jewish college students need better tools to respond to incident sof bias and harassment.

“Antisemitism remains a serious problem on campus, and many Jewish students are not fully equipped to respond when they encounter hate in the university environment,” he said.

“Hillel International and ADL are both committed to ensuring all Jewish students feel safe on campus and are able to live and study in environments free of harassment and antisemitism.”

Said Adam Lehman, President and CEO of Hillel International, “Jewish college students are increasingly subjected to antisemitism today, both on campus and on social media, and are urgently seeking support and tools to effectively respond.”
COVID-19 Pandemic Exposes Depth of Antisemitic Feeling in Argentina, University Survey Shows
Argentines are far more antisemitic than they acknowledge, one of country’s leading journalists has charged, in the wake of an academic survey revealing that nearly 40 percent of the population believes that “Jewish businessmen” are benefiting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In Argentina, we have a very distorted vision of ourselves, in all areas,” the award-winning columnist and broadcaster Jorge Lanata asserted on his radio show last Thursday. “We are the best, we think that we are not racist. Argentina in many ways is a racist country.”

Lanata continued: “We also think that we are not antisemitic. In many ways, this is an antisemitic country.” He went on to argue that “myths about the Jews are part of our popular culture — we do not say so openly because it looks bad.”

The survey that sparked Lanata’s remarks was published at the end of June by the Laboratory of Studies on Democracy and Authoritarianism at the University of San Martín. Interviewed by Lanata on his show, the study’s main author, Ezequiel Ipar, confessed that he had been “surprised” by the “magnitude” of antisemitic sentiment, particularly among younger people.
SUMMARY OF BBC NEWS WEBSITE PORTRAYAL OF ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS – JULY 2021
Throughout the month of July 2021, twenty-seven written or filmed reports relating to Israel and/or the Palestinians appeared on the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page, some of which were also published on other pages or other BBC platforms and eight of which were carried over from the previous month.

One item related to diplomatic relations:
Israeli minister’s landmark visit to UAE signals deepening ties Sameer Hashmi (29/6/21 to 5/7/21)

Two reports concerned security issues:
Israel investigating shooting of Palestinian boy in West Bank (29/7/21 to present)
Israel accuses Iran over deadly oil tanker attack (31/7/21 to 1/8/21)


Three items – one of which was carried over from the previous month – related to ‘Operation Guardian of the Walls’ in May and its aftermath:
The precarious life of a Gaza fisherman Tom Bateman (29/6/21 to 13/7/21) discussed here
Israel-Gaza conflict: Apparent war crimes committed, says rights group (27/7/21 to 1/8/21)
Gaza photographer hopes digital art boom can help raise aid money Sebastian Usher (29/7/21 to present)
European protesters compare vaccine passes to Holocaust, apartheid
Shouts of “Liberty!” have echoed through the streets and squares of Italy and France as thousands show their opposition to plans to require vaccination cards for normal social activities, such as dining indoors at restaurants, visiting museums or cheering in sports stadiums, with many comparing restrictions to the oppression of the Jews under Nazi Germany.

Leaders in both countries see the cards, dubbed the “Green Pass” in Italy and the “health pass” in France, as necessary to boost vaccination rates and persuade the undecided.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi likened the anti-vaccination message from some political leaders to “an appeal to die.”

The looming requirement is working, with vaccination requests booming in both countries.

Still, there are pockets of resistance by those who see it as a violation of civil liberties or have concerns about vaccine safety. About 80,000 people protested in cities across Italy last weekend, while thousands have marched in Paris for the past three weekends, at times clashing with police. More than 200,000 marched across France on Saturday, 14,000 of them in Paris, in the biggest show yet.

European nations in general have made strides in their vaccination rates in recent months, with or without incentives. No country has made the shots mandatory, and campaigns to persuade the undecided are a patchwork.
Jerusalem Film Festival to open with Ari Folman’s Where Is Anne Frank
The 38th Jerusalem Film Festival just announced that its opening-night film on August 24 will be Ari Folman’s Where Is Anne Frank, a much-anticipated animated film about the life of the legendary teenage diarist who died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen.

The festive screening will be held at the Sultan’s Pool amphitheater in Jerusalem, where the opening ceremony traditionally takes place, before a crowd of about 5,000. The ceremony will be hosted by television personality Shifra Kornfeld.

While the 2020 festival was postponed from last summer to December and then was held online due to the pandemic, the 2021 edition is planned to go forward as usual, in accordance with Health Ministry regulations.

The festival will be held at the Jerusalem Cinematheque and other venues around the city and will feature about 150 films from over 45 countries.

Folman is best known for his 2008 film, the acclaimed animated documentary about the first Lebanon War, Waltz with Bashir, which won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar.

Where Is Anne Frank recently had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival out of competition and received mainly rave reviews.
Israeli Philanthropist Combats BDS Through Sports Diplomacy






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