Sunday, October 10, 2021

10/10 Links: Why are Jews so quick to defend our enemies?; Amazon, Google Under Fire for Sponsoring Event With Linda Sarsour; Islamic/Arab terrorists bite the hands that feed them

From Ian:

Why are Jews so quick to defend our enemies?
Writing here last month, Sabrina Miller made a plea: Jewish schools should teach Palestinian views. Her argument was that this would help woefully ill-informed young Jews better to argue Zionism’s case once they arrive on campus. Although the plea came with the best of intentions, it risks falling into a trap. The nakba (an Arabic term for the ‘catastrophic’ exodus of 710,000 Palestinian refugees) is the self-inflicted consequence of the Arab decision to go to war in 1948 — a war which their side instigated and lost. To talk of the nakba without balance or context would be to promote a one-sided narrative of Palestinian victimhood.

If we mention the Arab nakba, we are compelled as a matter of law and equity to talk about the Jewish nakba (I use the expression for convenience). As many as 870,000 Jews (persecuted by the Arab League as the “Jewish minority of Palestine”) were driven from, or fled, the Arab world at around the same time as the Palestinian refugees — and as a consequence of the same conflict, merely because Jews in Arab lands shared the same religion and ethnicity as Israelis.

Why should we take only the Palestinian refugee cause seriously, while dismissing the Jewish refugees? Why are Jews so quick to empathise with our enemies, while failing to defend our own rights? Furthermore, no credible and lasting peace settlement could be reached if the grievances of more than half the Jews of Israel — refugees from Muslim lands or their descendants — are ignored.

Recognising the Jewish nakba, the mass displacement and dispossession of ancient Middle Eastern Jewish communities, is central to achieving reconciliation. It would mean acknowledging that an irreversible exchange of refugees took place, similar to exchanges which occurred as a result of other 20th Century nationalist conflicts.

One cannot teach about the Arab nakba without also teaching about its root cause: Arab rejectionism. Today, such rejectionism has religious overtones. The Israel-Palestine conflict cannot be divorced from the eliminationist intentions of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Iranian ayatollahs and Islamist groups generally. These do not even bother to camouflage their genocidal aims in terms acceptable to western ears, such as “occupation”, “settlements” and “Palestinian human rights”.

Diaspora Jews do not make the right counter-arguments because our approach to Israel is frustratingly “Ashkenormative”. The tragedy of the Mizrahi (eastern) communities is not known to the majority of Ashkenazi Jews. Consequently, we don’t adequately make the case for Jews in general.

Israel is the vindication of an aboriginal Middle Eastern people’s aspirations for self-determination. Over half its Jewish population — Mizrahim from the Muslim world — never left the region and pre-dated the Arab conquest by 1,000 years or more. (The long sojourn of Ashkenazim in Europe does not make them any less Middle Eastern in origin, culture and identity.) Why should Arabs have 22 states, while other indigenous victims of Arab imperialism such as the Amazigh (Berbers) or the Kurds — 99 per cent of whom have voted for an independent state — have no political rights? To the latter, Israel is an inspiration.
Melanie Phillips: Far from an act of piety
Campaigners against the proposed Holocaust memorial and “learning centre”, which is to be built in Victoria Tower Gardens next to the Houses of Parliament, have launched an appeal in the High Court which starts next week.

Some may be wondering at this 11th-hour challenge. Isn’t building this centre a done deal? Why are people making all this fuss? Surely such a memorial is a good thing?

To which the answers are: maybe; for very good reason; and no, it is not.

Let’s take these in reverse order.

The site is wholly inappropriate. It’s a much loved, small, green oasis. The proposed centre, with its 23 tall, bronze fins, would be an eyesore. As a tourist attraction, it would be submerged by people and traffic.

Being so close to the Thames, its subterranean levels would be at serious risk of flooding. And as Lord Carlile, the government’s former reviewer of terrorism legislation, told the planning inquiry, its location would turn it into a terrorist target.

So why did this deeply unsuitable site suddenly become the only site? Westminster City Council told the inquiry that it was presented to the Prime Minister as a fait accompli.

“No alternatives were offered,” it said, “nor professional advice sought as to the acceptability in planning terms” of the site. “There has been no public consultation on this less than transparent process”. Why not?
David Collier: What if… it wasn’t Ireland? The awful truth about the antisemitism report
On Thursday I published an indepth study into antisemitism in Ireland – much of it disguised as anti-Zionist activity. This is Ireland’s shame.

These are the facts:
The report was based on years of research.
The report contains 760 footnotes that provide concrete evidence to support the findings.
It exposes Irish politicians who have shared blatant fake news stories.
Shows Irish politicians have also like or shared horrific antisemitic comments.
That violence, intimidation and antisemitism are pillars of anti-Zionist activity on campus.
It proves that on the street that there is foul antisemitism from key ‘human rights’ activists – including support for the Protocols and Holocaust denial.
That traditional Christian antisemitism plays a significant role and Christian NGOs facilitate the spread of antisemitism.
And It shows that a lot of antisemitism denial occurs where antisemitism is at its most concentrated.
In response to the report the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland called on ‘all the Irish political parties and both Houses of the Oireachtas‘ to take action.

And the response? Outside of the tiny Irish Jewish population and the small group of vocal allies that they have in Ireland – the response has been a wall of silence with just an occassional abusive comment thrown overhead. But what if… it wasn’t about Ireland…..?
What if a report had just been published in London, showing that an MP had liked a post saying Hitler’ wasn’t wrong’. The 200 pages of the report went on to prove that there were a few Westminster MPs sharing blatant fake news from the accounts of rabid anti-Jewish racists and Holocaust deniers – spreading anti-Jewish hate into the population. That these MPs were found to be obsessed with lying about Israel and openly calling for its destruction. What if the report also showed many of the UK’s well-known ‘anti-racist’ faces believed that the Protocols were real, the Holocaust never happened and evil Jewish bankers were secretly behind all the evil in the world. That antisemitism was a growing problem of the most vile kind.

What if too, the Jewish organisations in the UK expressed their outrage and horror – calling on the UK to take immediate action against the anti-Jewish racism.

And then what if nobody responded? Not a single MP from any political party said a word. And not a single member of the press thought it was worthy of writing about.

What if nobody cared and the cries of the Jewish citizens were just completely ignored? What if antisemitic Corbynism had risen and the response of the UK population was just to shrug its shoulders and call the Jews a bunch of liars?

What would that say about Jewish life in the UK? Or the US – or anywhere that such horrific anti-Jewish racism – at every level – was so easily ignored. This is the awful truth about how bad things are in Ireland.


JPost Editorial: Merkel should be acknowledged for her strong support for Israel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Jerusalem on Sunday for a visit she did not need to make.

Merkel, who formally stepped down from her post in August after serving 16 years, could have decided to stay in Germany and ride out the remaining days of her government and until a new coalition is formed, most likely by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its leader, Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

But instead, Merkel has come to Israel and will meet with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, and participate in a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Merkel and Bennett will visit Yad Vashem and the outgoing chancellor will also be awarded an honorary doctorate from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and join a roundtable at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

Merkel is doing all of this because she is a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people and for that we thank her. There is no pressing diplomatic issue that requires she presence in Israel and there is currently no major international crisis that she - a lame duck chancellor - needs to manage right now.

She has come to Israel on her eighth visit as chancellor to convey a message to Germany, Israel and Europe just how committed her country is to the security and viability of the Jewish state, its future and its success.

Under her tenure, Germany took strides toward Israel that were previously unseen. One clear example was in the subsidy provided for Israel’s procurement of the advanced German-built Dolphin-class submarines, an issue that later, unfortunately, became mired in controversy amid corruption charges brought against top Israeli officials involved in the deal. She helped Israel within the corridors of the European Union, with Germany frequently referred to as Israel’s closest friend on the continent.
UK, Germany to let UN Durban resolution pass after boycotting last month
The UK, Germany and nine other countries that boycotted the Durban IV Conference at the UN General Assembly because of its antisemitic history are set to support a pro-Durban resolution at the UN Human Rights Council on Monday.

The resolution in Geneva, much like the conference in New York less than three weeks ago, is mostly focused on racism against people of African descent. But it reaffirms support for the 2001 Durban Declaration, which singled out Israel as a perpetrator of racism and supports the very conference those 11 countries boycotted.

“Welcoming the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action during the holding of a high-level meeting by the General Assembly... during which the Assembly adopted a political declaration to mobilize political will for the full and effective implementation of the Durban Declaration,” the resolution reads.

The resolution was proposed by Cameroon, Chile, Turkey and Yemen. It also requests the launch of an “outreach and a public information campaign for the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the Durban Declaration,” as well as a two-year program to “raise awareness about and mobilize public support for racial equality... including about the content and contribution of... the Durban Declaration,” which would focus on young people via social media.

The UNHRC resolution against racism, including support for the Durban process, is set to be approved by the committee on Monday morning by consensus because no country has called for a vote. The resolution is passed every two years; when the US was on the committee, it called for a roll-call vote, but it is not currently a member of the panel, nor is Israel.


Pompeo: Israel is not an apartheid country
Israel is not an apartheid country and it does not occupy the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday during a special visit to the Psagot winery in the West Bank.

"This is the rightful homeland for the people of Israel here in Judea and Samaria," Pompeo said.

"We recognized that this is not an occupied nation, this is not an apartheid country. It is a democracy where faiths can be practiced from all of the Abrahamic traditions," Pompeo said.

Here on at the hilltop winery outside of Jerusalem just eleven months earlier Pompeo had announced a historic change in US policy, that allowed for Israeli products produced in the West Bank to be labeled made in Israel.

He was the first Secretary of State and the most high-level US official to visit an Israeli-held entity in the West Bank, in this case, the Sha'ar Binyamin Industrial Zone where the winery is located.

It followed an announcement Pompeo had already made in Washington. He said that the Trump administration recognized Israel's historic, religious and legal rights to the West Bank and believed that Israeli settlements were not inconsistent with International law.

Pompeo was most associated with those policy changes which have been loosely referred to as the Pompeo doctrine.


Ex-ambassador Friedman wants to show the Arab world a tolerant Israel
If the Muslim world sees how tolerant and welcoming Israel is, new opportunities for peace and cooperation will open up, former US ambassador to Israel David Friedman said Sunday, ahead of the kickoff event of his Friedman Center for Peace through Strength on Monday.

Like many other former US officials involved in the Abraham Accords, Friedman looked for a way to continue the efforts toward Israel-Arab peace outside of government. Rather than doing what Jared Kushner’s Abraham Accords Peace Institute and other organizations are doing, Friedman found a different niche.

“I want to build trust through religious tolerance, to show how Israel respects the religious rights of all people and, in particular, of the Islamic world,” he said.

Friedman pointed to rumors and libels that Israel or Jews want to destroy al-Aksa Mosque, which have sparked violence since the 1929 Hebron massacre to the 2015 stabbing Intifada.

“Of two billion Muslims in the world, only a tiny fraction have ever been to al-Aksa,” he said. “They have limited information. Often the media in the Arab world has not been fair about this issue.”

In reality, “while not perfect, Israel does a really outstanding job of facilitating Muslim prayer at al-Aksa and other holy sites,” he added. “I want the Muslim world to see that.”
The latest target of anti-Israel academics? The Negev
The speakers at the upcoming CUNY-NYU event have made it clear in many statements to the media over the years that denouncing Israel is their goal. One of the featured speakers is an Israeli radical named Yeela Raanan. She is a leader of a group called the “Regional Council for the Unrecognized Villages.” In other words, she won’t be offering an objective academic analysis at the Oct. 27 event; while enjoying the prestige of an academic platform, she will be approaching the problem as a strident advocate of a partisan cause.

In an interview with The Electronic Intifada, an extremist anti-Israel website, Raanan described the Negev as the Bedouins’ “ancestral land.” So the nomadic sheep herders who wander back and forth from Saudi Arabia to Jordan to the Negev are awarded the desert as their “ancestral” possession, while the Jews, whose ancestors lived there for centuries before being expelled by the Romans, are somehow interlopers?

In her interview, Raanan favorably cited the ravings of an Israeli-Arab Knesset member who called the removal of illegal squatters in the Negev “a crime.” Raanan accused Israel of issuing “a declaration of war by the state against its Bedouin citizens.”

So, an academic center that studies “crimes against humanity” has set aside its mission of studying actual crimes against humanity, and instead will be hosting a program featuring a speaker who falsely accuses Israel of waging “war” against the Bedouins.

Jewish donors contribute generously to the CUNY Graduate Center and the NYU Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies. Jewish parents pay enormous tuitions so their children can study at these two institutions.

Should the Jewish community’s donations and tuition dollars be used to sponsor vicious anti-Israel programs? Do the donors and parents realize what their money is being used for?
Needed: A Gaza Protectorate to Replace Hamas
The horrible history of terror committed by Hamas brings into focus the tragic lack of accountable leadership that has befallen the people of Gaza. Since taking control of the enclave in 2007, the US State Department-designated Foreign Terror Organization (FTO) has proven wholly incapable of serving as a positive governing body for Gazans.

The dream and determination of then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, when he led Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in 2005, has been destroyed, but it can be and must be rebuilt. However, this cannot be accomplished with Hamas, which uses terror and control as its methodologies for governance and diplomacy, remaining in control of Gaza and the innocent residents there who deserve a better life.

What is needed is the establishment of a Gaza protectorate to replace Hamas.

Hamas, the Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, has spent donated aid on the missiles and incendiary devices it has been launching for decades into Israel, as well as on building terror tunnels. It has ripped sewer pipes out of the ground to create rocket- engine bodies, and repurposed fiberglass for rockets, although the materials had been sent to repair and upgrade fishing boats.

Moreover, when Israel has in the past sent trucks with humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, the convoy was often greeted by a barrage of Hamas mortar shells at the Erez border-crossing terminal. As a new form of terror during the past few years, Hamas has launched incendiary balloons over the Gaza border fence to torch Israeli forests, recreation areas, schools, and communities.

Hamas puts terror, not people, first. This behavior has not only deprived Gazans of much-needed food, clean water and air, electricity, quality education, a wholesome life, and hope; its misfired rockets and use of human shields against Israeli counterstrikes has led to the death of Gazan children and the destruction of their homes.
Hamas Celebrates Israeli District Court’s Ruling to ‘Cut Silent Prayers Before They Even Began’
The Jerusalem District Court Judge Aryeh Romanov last Friday evening accepted the police’s appeal of the Magistrate’s Court’s decision which effectively allowed Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount. Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Judge Bilha Yahalom on Wednesday revoked a restraining order that was handed to a Jewish rabbi who prayed on the Temple Mount, and confirmed that it is permissible for Jews to pray silently in the holiest Jewish site (Bombshell: Jerusalem Court Approves Jewish Prayer on Temple Mount).

On Friday, however, Israel Police appealed the decision of the Magistrate’s Court, and Minister of Internal Security Omar Bar-Lev (Labor), warned of a regional flare-up should the court’s decision be allowed to stand: “A change in the existing status quo would endanger public peace and may cause a flare-up,” the minister said, adding, “The State of Israel advocates freedom of worship and prayer for all, but at the same time, in view of the security implications, the status quo which states that the prayer of Jews on the Temple Mount will take place next to the Western Wall and that the prayer of Muslims will take place in al-Haram a-Sharif (Arabic for the Temple Mount compound, yes he actually used the enemy’s phrase – DI) – must be maintained.

Abdul Rahman Younes, a columnist for the Hamas publication Felesteen News (poor chaps can’t pronounce the P sound in the Roman empire’s second century’s name for Eretz Israel), on Saturday published a glowing response to the Jewish district court’s nullification of Jewish freedom of religion, under the headline: هكذا قُطعت “الصلوات الصامتة” قبل أن تبدأ (roughly translated as “This is how the ‘silent prayers’ were cut before they even began.”
Islamic/Arab terrorists bite the hands that feed them
The extension of US gestures and concessions to Islamic terrorists, and the waiving of a US military option while negotiating with Iran's regime of terror, are perceived as weakness by terrorists, adversaries and allies of the US.

Such a policy ignores, or takes lightly, the objective and well-documented 1,400 year old past track record of Islamic terrorism, while emphasizing the subjective and speculative future track record of terrorists.

Such a policy erodes the US posture of deterrence, which is a prerequisite to the minimization of global turbulence, undermining US interests in the international arena, while bringing the threat of Islamic terrorism closer to the US mainland.

Such a policy is based on the assumption that Islamic terrorism is driven by despair, and the need to dwell on the despair (diplomatically and economically) rather than dealing with terrorism (militarily).

However, Islamic terrorism has been driven – since the 7th century – by the imperialistic religious vision to establish a universal Islamic society, dominating the world and subordinating the "infidel" to Islam, peacefully or militarily.

Such a policy is based on the assumption that Islamic terrorism is driven by US policy. However, Islamic terrorism has haunted the US since the late 18th century, during Democratic and Republican Administrations (e.g., the Obama and Trump Administrations).
PMW: A mother’s pride: "I congratulate my son ... he died as a Martyr"
Israeli security forces raided a Hamas terror cell in the West Bank to thwart imminent terror attacks in the West Bank and in Israel, they had planned. During the raid, 5 terrorist were killed after opening fire against the Israeli forces, and another 20 cell members were arrested.

The mother of one of the dead terrorist “Martyrs” celebrated his “Martyrdom,” stressing her satisfaction that he fought Israel and was not a “spy, land seller, collaborator, drug addict, or gambler.” She also repeated the PA teaching that the Jews are the enemies of Allah and Muslims:
Mother of terrorist Ahmed Zahran: “[The Jews] have been our enemies since the days of the Prophet, May Allah take revenge on them in this world and in the Afterlife... I congratulate my son on this happy day on which he died as a Martyr... I am proud of my children. I am proud of them. They are not spies, not land sellers, not collaborators, not drug addicts, and not gamblers. My children are going on the path of truth.”

[Facebook page of Al-Quds, Sept. 26, 2021]

Following established PA policy - which is to idolize martyrdom-death for “Palestine” - the PA’s highest religious authority, the Grand Mufti, reinforced the status of “Martyrs,” implicitly urging Palestinians to seek death:


PA Mufti urges dying in conflict

Israel is responsible for “opening the gates of confrontation,” threatens Fatah official

Fatah official implies use of terror, movement will carry out “resistance in all its forms”



Iran Has 120 Kg of 20% Enriched Uranium: Atomic Agency
Iran has enriched more than 120 kilograms of 20% enriched uranium, the head of the country’s atomic energy agency said on state television Saturday evening.

“We have passed 120 kilograms. We have more than that figure,” said Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.

“Our people know well that they (Western powers) were meant to give us the enriched fuel at 20% to use in the Tehran reactor, but they haven’t done so,” he added

“If our colleagues do not do it, we would naturally have problems with the lack of fuel for the Tehran reactor.”

In September, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran had boosted its stocks enriched above the percentage allowed in the 2015 deal with world powers.

It estimated that Iran had 84.3 kilos of uranium enriched to 20% (up from 62.8 kilos when the IAEA last reported in May).

Under the deal, Iran was not meant to enrich uranium above 3.67%, well below the 90% threshold needed for use in a nuclear weapon.
Coming Weeks Are Decisive for Iran Nuclear Deal, Merkel Says
The coming weeks are decisive for the future of the nuclear deal with Iran, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday, adding that every day that passes without Tehran responding to US overtures will result in Iran enriching more uranium.

Speaking during a visit to Israel at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the outgoing chancellor said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping also had a responsibility to help push Iran back to the negotiating table.

“I also see a responsibility for Russia and China here, since if the JCPOA (nuclear deal) is no longer doing what it’s meant to do then that’s very difficult, so we are now in very decisive weeks for this deal.”
Iran: When Preconditions Disappear
The blood-curdling outburst may be caused by the fact that the usual chorus of verbal revolutionaries hasn't yet realized that their regime is in rather poor shape and can no longer afford the luxury of pseudo-revolutionary logorrhea. On the other hand, the soothing tune may be a lullaby to send real or imaginary foes into a slumber.

Taken as it is, this represents a huge climb-down by the Islamic Republic.

Biden might seize the opportunity provided by Tehran's claimed "pragmatism" to tackle the real source of tension with the Islamic Republic in the past four decades: its efforts to "export" the Islamic revolution and carve out an ideological empire in the name of its brand of Islam.

Some of us have always believed that the "nuclear issue" was a side show designed to divert attention from the fact that, even without a putative nuclear arsenal, the Khomeinist regime has been and remains a threat to regional peace and stability. It has always said it does not intend to make a nuclear bomb but uses the promise not to do what it says it doesn't want to do as a license for doing what it shouldn't be doing in other domains.

Our guess is that Tehran's new show of pragmatism does not represent a genuine change of nature by the regime.... Trust is useful only if it is coupled with stringent verification.
Pakistan's 'father of nuclear program' dies of cancer
Abdul Qadeer Khan, a Pakistani nuclear physicist and engineer who is known to have spearheaded the country's nuclear program has died on Sunday, Pakistani media reported.

Khan, who acknowledged being part of a nuclear proliferation ring, died of cancer, aged 85.

Khan was admitted to Khan Research Laboratories Hospital on Aug. 26 after testing positive for COVID-19 and was later moved to a military hospital in Rawalpindi, said the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.

"He was loved by our nation bec(ause) of his critical contribution in making us a nuclear weapon state," Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Twitter. "For the people of Pakistan, he was a national icon."

He was at the center of a global nuclear proliferation scandal in 2004 that involved sales of nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya. After a confession on national television, Khan was pardoned by then-president Pervez Musharraf but he remained under house arrest for years in his palatial Islamabad home.

In his confession, Khan said he acted alone without the knowledge of the state officials. However, he later said he had been scapegoated.


Amazon, Google Under Fire for Sponsoring Event With Anti-Israel Activist Linda Sarsour
Ascheduled speaking appearance by Muslim political activist Linda Sarsour at the upcoming Web Summit has some Jewish human rights groups calling for event sponsors like Google and Amazon to pull out.

Billed as the largest tech event in the world, the Web Summit, where Sarsour is set to speak along with about 500 others, will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, from November 1 to 4. Topics to be addressed at the four-day conference run the gamut, from emerging technologies, sustainability and venture capitalism to news, advertising and investing. Besides Google and Amazon, partnering sponsors include Siemens, Cisco Systems, the European Commission and the WebOps platform Pantheon.

Sarsour, a Palestinian-American activist who has allegedly promoted anti-Israel policies and been accused of making anti-Semitic statements, rose to prominence in 2017 as co-chair of the national Women's March before a controversial departure. She is known for her support of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which promotes boycotts, divestment and economic sanctions against Israel.

Currently, she is the co-founder of Until Freedom, described as "a social justice organization with diverse people of color addressing systemic and racial injustice."
Guardian op-ed suggests Jews cry antisemitism to silence criticism of Israel
The “defenders of Israel ‘right or wrong’ is of course a straw man, as next to nobody who is pro-Israel believes such a thing.

But, even more problematic is the second part of the sentence, which egregiously conflates two separate ideas: 1.) The antisemitic trope that holds Jews worldwide collectively responsible for the actions of the state of Israel; 2.) the undeniable fact that Zionism is intrinsically linked to Judaism, and that the overwhelming majority of Jews believe Israel plays a part of their Jewish identity.

Alder also ignores the the fact that widely accepted IHRA Working Definition elucidates on the question of where criticism of Israel crosses the line to anti-Jewish racism – an extremely carefully worded document which makes clear that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic”. Moreover, her claim that the occupation is “ignored”, and Palestinian voices silenced, is the opposite of the truth, as media outlets’ coverage of Israel and the Palestinians is obsessive, a dynamic drowns out coverage of far more bloodier conflicts in the region and the world.

Indeed, for Adler to complain of insufficient press attention devoted to the Palestinians, on the pages of the Guardian, the media home of pro-Palestinian coverage and commentary, demonstrates how blind she is to reality.

Ultimately, Adler’s thesis rests on two ideas: That there’s a dearth of Israel coverage in the media, and that the ‘Israel lobby’, through an orchestrated campaign to silence journalists, is largely to blame for this dynamic. Whilst the former is risible, the latter is far more sinister, presenting as ‘brave’, and as ‘speaking truth to power’, well-worn, toxic tropes about Jewish power that have incited antisemitism for ages.
Update: Al-Dameer’s Ties to the PFLP Group and New Funding
Established in 1993 in cooperation with the PFLP-affiliated Addameer, Al-Dameer is a Gaza-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that claims to work on “development, upholding, protecting, publicizing and strengthening human rights in Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip, strengthening the importance of Palestinian civil rights, including the rights of detainees and children and the right of freedom of association…” Al-Dameer is a member of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO). As detailed below, it has received significant funding from the European Commission and has also received government funds from countries such as Switzerland and the US.

Since NGO Monitor published its previous report in January 2020, Al-Dameer has introduced new executives and members of its Board of Directors. As detailed below, many of these individuals have links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel. In addition, the NGO itself has partnered with other PFLP members. For example, according to the website of a program under the title of “Contributing to the respect, protection and promotion of the right to association in the Gaza Strip”, on December 30, 2019, Al-Dameer held a conference on “The reality of the right to association in accordance with international obligations of Palestine”; among the participants was Mariam Abu Daqqa, a member of the PFLP Central Committee.

For more information on Al-Dameer’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s previous report, “Al-Dameer’s Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”

Funding
According to the Central Elections Commission – Palestine (CEC), Al-Dameer is CEC’s implementing partner in the EU-funded “2020-2021 partnership with civil society organizations (CSOs),” specifically in the program “It’s my right to elect,” in which Palestinian university students receive training and initiate activities regarding the election process. According to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), in December 2019, the European Commission (EC) provided the CEC with €769,5921 for “Support to the Central Elections Commission (CEC) in strengthening the civic engagement and electoral participation of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.” In correspondence between EC officials and NGO Monitor, the former noted that Al-Dameer received €13,600 to implement its program with the CEC (see Appendix).2
- In 2017-2019, the EC granted Al-Dameer €401,833 for “Contributing to the respect, protection and promotion of the right to association in the Gaza Strip.” According to the EC, Al-Dameer and PNGO are co-grantees, (total funding is €446,482).
- In 2018, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) granted Al CHF 180,000 under the project “Core Contribution to Al Dameer – HR/IHL Organization” (contract number 81054995, on file with NGO Monitor).
- In 2016, Al-Dameer received $36,000 from the National Endowment for Democracy (United States) for “Promoting Human Rights in Gaza” and an additional $90,000 in 2017-2019 for “Promoting Rights-focused Leadership in Gaza.”
The Independent Baselessly Insinuates Changes to Nike’s Israel Operations Boycott-related
Some anti-Israel advocates have been quick to attribute the recent announcement that Nike will cease various operations in the Jewish state beginning May of next year to the Oregon-based corporation’s support for the boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) movement.

In a letter circulated last week, the sportswear giant announced to Israeli retailers that “the continuation of the business relationship between you and the company does no longer match the company’s policy and goals.”

Nike representatives have not commented publicly since the announcement and HonestReporting has not been able to ascertain whether the multi-national’s restructuring is also being implemented in other countries.

That said, no clear evidence has thus far emerged suggesting Nike’s decision is anything but a business one.

But that did not stop British online newspaper The Independent from lending credence to the BDS claim in an article titled “Nike to End Sales in Israeli Stores.” The story, written by Olivia Petter, states that Nike has declared its intention “to terminate sales in Israel as of next year.”

Untrue.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the sporting goods behemoth is committed to directing Israeli “customers to buy its shoes, clothing, and gear on its website and in company-owned stores.”

According to the Nike website, the company operates 15 retail locations across Israel. None of these are expected to close as the company pivots to a more direct sales model.

Nevertheless, The Independent’s report implies that the initiative is somehow related to the BDS campaign.
Jewish Advocacy Group Criticizes California Governor Signing Bill Requiring Ethnic Studies in High School
A Jewish advocacy group on Friday strongly condemned California Governor Gavin Newsom’s signing of a law making the state the first to require an ethnic studies course for high school students.

Assembly Bill 101 (AB 101) had been opposed by some Jewish groups, who argued that it would allow schools to adopt previously proposed curricula that included antisemitic and anti-Israel material.

After its September passage in the state’s legislature, the bill was welcomed by the California Legislative Jewish Caucus for “guardrail” amendments that would prevent those materials from being taught.

AMCHA Initiative Director Tammi Rossman-Benjamin argued Friday that those changes were insufficient.

“To say we are deeply concerned is an understatement,” she said. “While certainly not all in the ethnic studies field fall into this category, there is a vocal and active faction of extremists who have long been seeking to inject their antisemitic and anti-Zionist agenda into our nation’s classrooms, and today that faction succeeded.”

Rossman-Benjamin asserted, “The fact that no less than seven ‘guardrails’ were deemed necessary for preventing AB 101 from facilitating the widespread promotion of antisemitism is itself a stunning indictment of the bill and the dangers it poses for Jewish students and the Jewish community.”

“This is a dark day for Jewish students in California and the dozens of other states that historically follow California’s lead,” she said.


New York Times Guest Essayist Refaat Alareer Compared Israel to Nazi Germany Over 100 Times
In the last six months, two widely-covered HonestReporting investigations brought to light shocking antisemitism espoused by journalists working for mainstream publications. After our May 23 article on Tala Halawa, who tweeted that “#HitlerWasRight,” the reporter was promptly fired by the BBC. In August, our work on Mariam Barghouti, who contended that “Israel has been beating Hitler at his own game since 1948,” led to her effectively being blacklisted by the outlets that had previously disseminated her anti-Israel talking points.

Today, we expose a pundit whose sheer volume of vile Judeophobic tweets towers over Halawa’s and Barghouti’s.

On May 13, at the height of the 11-day Hamas-initiated conflict against the Jewish state, The New York Times published a guest essay by Refaat Alareer titled, “My Child Asks, ‘Can Israel Destroy Our Building if the Power Is Out?’” The article falsely alleged that the Israel Defence Forces hit targets in the Gaza Strip with “no strategic value,” while implying that Israelis “draw straws” or “roll a dice” to decide “which block to annihilate” — essentially promoting a modern-day blood libel.

Related Reading: NYT Collaborates With Terror-linked Palestinian NGO to Push Antisemitic Blood Libel About Children

Nevertheless, Alareer’s malicious propaganda piece was included in a lesson plan for high schools by the NYT’s Learning Network. The writer and literature professor has also been cited or interviewed by The Washington Post, The Guardian, NBC News, NPR, PBS, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Qatar’s Al Jazeera (see here, here, here, here and here).

The New York Times simply identified Alareer as “the editor of ‘Gaza Writes Back,’ a collection of short stories.” However, a modicum of research reveals that he’s also a raging antisemite.


In France “justice” serves Islamism
Mohamed Tatai is the imam of the Great Mosque of Toulouse. One day he is filmed while giving a sermon in which he invokes the destruction of the Jews by quoting from the Koran. And we are not talking about an extremist imam off the radar.

In an investigation in the weekly Marianne we read that at the opening of the Great Mosque with Tatai they were all there, the mayor of Toulouse, the president of the Occitan region, the prefect and the president of the Islamic Council of Algeria, which financed the mosque with six million euros.

Well, the Toulouse court has just cleared the imam of "incitement to hatred".

We are in the city where an Islamic terrorist killed Jonathan Sandler, his two sons Arieh and Gabriel and 7-year-old Myriam Monsonego.

The same judges who tried the historian Georges Bensoussan for four years for daring to denounce Islamic anti-Semitism.

This is a strange concept of "hate speech".

A journalist under guard and threatened with death, Eric Zemmour, explains in a conference that the Islamization of France is underway and is condemned.
Latvia grants $46m in Holocaust restitution, but says state wasn’t at fault
Latvia’s parliament has voted to pay $46 million to the country’s Jewish community for property that was stolen from it during the Holocaust from individuals with no surviving legal heirs.

The Holocaust restitution law passed on September 30 by the Saeima, Latvia’s parliament, in Riga states that the country is not to blame for the Holocaust or the theft, which the law states was conducted by the Nazis and later by the communists who replaced them as rulers of Latvia.

Rather than reparations, the law refers to the payment as a form of “goodwill compensation,” according to the LETA news agency. The compensation voted on last week will be paid in annual increments of $4.6 million from the state budget to the Jewish community until 2032.

Jewish groups have been lobbying for the compensation of communal-owned assets in Latvia since 1992. Claims for restitution of private-owned property have been largely denied in Latvia, according to the World Jewish Restitution Organization, an organization dedicated to the restitution of Jewish property in Europe.

Of the 70,000 Jews who were living inside modern-day Latvia when the Germans invaded in 1941, only 200 survived, according to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum. Locals, including Latvian police, played a key role in the genocide, according to the museum, forming armed groups to attack local Jews, whom they believed were collaborating with communists.
Aliyah to Israel Up by 31% So Far in 2021 Compared to Last Year
Aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel) increased by 31% so far this year compared to last year, with 20,360 olim (new immigrants) landing at Ben Gurion Airport to make a new life in the Jewish state, data shows.

The Ministry of Aliyah and Integration and the Jewish Agency for Israel released the report on Sunday ahead of Yom HaAliyah, or Aliyah Day, on October 13 — a national holiday celebrating the contribution of Jewish immigration to Israeli society.

“Israel has continued seeing a dramatic rise in Aliyah despite the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration and the Jewish Agency ensuring that immigration continues despite the difficulty and limitations on international travel,” the statement on the report said.

However, compared to the pre-Covid numbers of 2019, this year is on track for lower numbers. In 2019, there were some 33,500 olim who arrived in Israel.

According to the data, the largest source of Aliyah so far this year is from Russia (5,075), despite a 5% decrease from 2020. The second largest source is the United States (3,104), up 41% compared to the first nine months of 2020.

Immigration from France increased by 55%, with 2,819 French olim; 2,123 from Ukraine (4% increase); 780 from Belarus (69% increase); 633 from Argentina (46% increase); 490 from the United Kingdom (20% increase); 438 from Brazil (4% increase); and 373 from South Africa (56% increase).
Laying a wreath at Yad Vashem, Merkel says museum is a ‘reminder’ and ‘warning’
Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday laid a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, where she urged a constant stand against antisemitism.

“Every visit to Yad Vashem touches me at the core,” Merkel said, according to a translation provided by the museum.

“The crimes against the Jewish people that are documented here are a perpetual reminder of the responsibility we Germans bear — and a warning,” she added, saying it was Germany’s responsibility to stand up against antisemitism.

“That Jewish life has again found a home in Germany after the crimes against humanity that were the Shoah, is an immense expression of trust, for which we are grateful,” said Merkel. “This trust compels us to stand up with determination against antisemitism, hatred, every day anew.”

“This is an obligation for every federal government,” she said, referring to the ruling cabinet of her home country.

The German chancellor’s visit to the museum — her sixth since taking office — was part of her farewell trip to the Jewish state near the end of her 16-year term in office.









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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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