Saturday, October 16, 2021
A US consulate in Jerusalem will re-divide the city
Significantly, the Jerusalem Embassy Act explained that declaring Jerusalem the united capital of Israel was merely recognizing what was already its authentic status: “Each sovereign nation, under international law and custom, may designate its own capital. Since 1950, the city of Jerusalem has been the capital of the State of Israel... From 1948-1967, Jerusalem was a divided city and Israeli citizens of all faiths, as well as Jewish citizens of all states, were denied access to holy sites in the area controlled by Jordan. In 1967, the city of Jerusalem was reunited... Jerusalem has been a united city administered by Israel, and persons of all religious faiths have been guaranteed full access to holy sites... The United States conducts official meetings and other business in the city of Jerusalem in de facto recognition of its status as the capital of Israel. In 1996, the State of Israel will celebrate the 3,000th anniversary of the Jewish presence in Jerusalem since King David’s entry... Jerusalem should remain an undivided city... Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel.” US law is saying that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was not only to acknowledge its de facto status but also to recognize its Jewish history. In addition, the Embassy Act notes that from 1948 to 1967, part of the city was under Jordanian control, and not Palestinian. By reviewing Jerusalem’s history, the American law is recognizing that Jerusalem has a rich Jewish history when it first became Israel’s capital 3000 years ago, never had Palestinian Arab sovereignty, is currently ruled properly by Israel allowing access to people of all faiths, and therefore should remain Israel’s undivided capital.Yisrael Medad: Jewish prayer should be permitted on the Temple Mount
When the American Embassy was opened in Jerusalem the US Consulate, which was superfluous in unified Jerusalem, was closed. The PA wants the US to reopen the Consulate in Jerusalem because for them it means that Jerusalem is being redivided. Certainly, much of the international community would see the opening of a US consulate as the PA sees it, which would have a detrimental impact on Jerusalem’s status as Israel’s united capital.
It is unclear whether the US Biden administration intends to undermine the goal of American law. However, even if the US does not intend to declare that it is redividing Jerusalem through reopening the US consulate, sometimes actions speak louder than intentions.
It should be clear: No Jew enters a Muslim building on the Temple Mount and surely not in a mosque. The compound is rather large and there is more than enough room for it to be shared. After all, in Hebron, Jews do pray daily in a structure considered a mosque (the Cave of the Patriarchs). So why is there this form of Islamic cancel culture which can be summarized so: The Temple Mount belongs solely to the Muslims and the Western Wall to the Jews.Murder of British MP David Amess being treated as terror attack
First, the facts. Invading Muslim armies conquered Jerusalem in 638 CE and usurped, physically and theologically, Mount Moriah. Although Jews were permitted to enter at times, from the 13th century until the late 19th century, Jewish entry was prohibited. This also was the situation in Hebron. In 1947, a Jew who accidentally entered the compound was killed. Parallel to this, the majority rabbinic opinion was that, despite the compound being larger than the original sacred area, all entry would be prohibited.
On this background, in 1967, the famous status quo was adopted. But if that situation is not static – Muslims have opened three new mosques since then – do they have any right to protest? Are they the only ones who have the right to be “provoked?” The Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty’s Article 9 calls for the promotion of “interfaith relations … with the aim of working toward religious understanding … freedom of religious worship and tolerance.” Should that not be honored?
Can't we attempt to achieve peace through religious unity and compromise? Why do we need to tolerate such degrading language in the Arabic media on this issue as when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Jews “defile the Al-Aqsa Mosque with their filthy feet.” The Waqf, and its financial patron, Jordan’s Ministry of Awqaf Islamic Affairs and Holy Places, have prevented surveillance cameras that could reduce violence and encourage the bullying attitude that presages rock-throwing and worse. They need to be more responsible.
In the spirit of Isaiah 56:7, that “my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations,” can't we accept that all who seek to respect and worship at their holy sites be allowed to do so reasonably without recourse to threats of violence?
British lawmaker David Amess was stabbed to death in an Essex church on Friday by an assailant who lunged at him as he met voters, in what police said was a terrorist attack.Slain British MP remembered as one of ‘most gentle people in politics’
The alleged killer has been identified as Ali Harbi Ali, a 25-year-old British citizen of Somali heritage who is not believed to have been known to UK security, according to Sky News. He was arrested by British police, and a warrant of further detention has been granted. Amess, 69, from Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party, was knifed repeatedly in the attack at about midday in the Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, east of London.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett shared his condolences over Twitter on Saturday night, writing that he sent his "heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of British MP Sir David Amess. He was a true friend of the Jewish community and the State of Israel. His tragic loss will be felt by many."
Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also tweeted, "From Israel, we send our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Sir David Amess. He always stood with the Jewish community and was a true friend of Israel. May his memory be for a blessing."
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "deeply shocked" by the "horrific slaying."
"A true friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish People, he was cut down while serving the constituency which he loved so much," Netanyahu tweeted. "We grieve with the people of Britain over the tragic loss of a great parliamentarian and a great friend."
He also waged a long campaign to erect a statue in honor of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from deportation to Nazi death camps in World War II.
The campaign reached fruition when Queen Elizabeth II unveiled the statue in 1997 outside a synagogue in London.
In January this year, he called the event “one of the proudest moments of my life,” and urged the government to redouble efforts against antisemitism, during a speech to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Amess was the Honorary Secretary of the Conservative Friends of Israel from 1998, and was regarded as a longtime friend of the UK Jewish community.
“Although I myself am not a Jew but a Catholic, there is Jewish blood in each and every one of us. I would certainly have been proud to have been born a Jew, and I stand shoulder to shoulder with our local Jewish community,” he said in the January speech.
Officials from Israel, six Arab countries hold first multilateral meeting of its kind
High-level officials from Israel and the six Arab countries with which it has normalized relations met in the United Arab Emirates for the first-ever multilateral meeting between senior representatives of the seven countries, Jewish Insider has learned.Morocco said set to approve aviation, culture and sport agreements with Israel
The two-day conference that ended on Wednesday, named N7 — N for normalization and 7 for the number of participating countries — was hosted by the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation and the Atlantic Council, the culmination of six months of planning.
Senior officials from the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Israel participated in the conference.
While the organizations said they were not at liberty to reveal who was at the conference, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll and Minister of Regional Cooperation Esawi Frej tweeted pictures of their meetings with Sudanese Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari in Abu Dhabi.
“The event was tremendously successful and productive,” Oren Eisner, president of the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation, told JI. “It is clear to me that this conference will lead to real, tangible results that will help progress and deepen Arab-Israeli normalization and will put in place initiatives that can benefit all people in the region.”
Israel has not been shy about publicizing the meetings between its ministers and the Sudanese justice minister, but the privacy surrounding the conference indicates that other participating countries are not as forthcoming about their engagement with Israel.
The government of Morocco, which last year normalized ties with Israel, announced on Saturday that it was set to discuss and then potentially ratify two new agreements signed with Israel in the fields of aviation, as well as culture and sports.RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan still maintains he does NOT remember the killing but 'accepts responsibility' as governor weighs whether to agree to grant him parole after 50 years in jail
“The [government] meeting will be devoted to the review of two cooperation agreements between the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Government of the State of Israel, signed on August 11, 2021 in Rabat, the first concerning air services with a draft law approving this agreement while the second provides for cooperation in the fields of culture and sports,” the government said in a statement reported by the Agence Marocaine de Presse.
The agreements were originally signed by Foreign Minster Yair Lapid and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita during the former’s trip to the north African nation in August.
Lapid was in Morocco for the first official visit by an Israeli top diplomat since 2003, and the highest-level trip since an agreement was signed by Jerusalem and Rabat last year to reestablish ties after some two decades.
The Trump administration brokered the Israel-Morocco normalization agreement, mending ties that were cut off following the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000. However, the 2020 deal did not establish full diplomatic relations.
Morocco reportedly hesitated to move forward until it was assured that the Trump administration’s recognition of its sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region would be upheld by current United States President Joe Biden.
The lawyer for Robert F. Kennedy's assassin said he maintains the fact that he does not remember all the details of the night of the murder but does accept responsibility as the state of California decides his parole status.Hamas member's son helped write UK Labour motion against Israel
Sirhan Sirhan's attorney, Angela Berry, said the 77-year-old man has trouble remembering that fateful day on June 1968 and has been susceptible to what other people have told him of the event.
'He accepts responsibility for what he remembers he did. He accepts the fact that the law has deemed him the killer of RFK,' Berry told Good Morning America.
A state parole board recommended that Sirhan be released on parole in August. The ruling by the two-person panel at Sirhan's 16th parole hearing is now being reviewed by the California Parole Board.
The final decision is left to the Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will have 30 days to decide whether to grant it, reverse it or modify it.
Newsome told reporters last month that he has not made a decision but noted that RFK was a personal hero.
'I think that gives you a sense of where I might be leaning right now,' Newsom said.
Berry said the statement does not bold well for Sirhan, but urged the governor to remain unbiased in his decision.
The governor said that he has been received an influx of messages from people expressing their strong opinions on Sirhan's parole.
Most notably, six of RFK's nine surviving children signed a letter publicly pleading with the Parole Board and Newsom not to grant Sirhan's parole.
According to a video released by IAM, Omar Mofeed is the son of Dr Mufid Al-Mukhalalati, who was the health minister in Hamas's Gazan government. Al-Mukhalalati died in 2014.Councillor who spoke up for Louise Ellman called ‘Zionist c***’ by hard-left activist
The Jewish Chronicle contacted Mofeed, who reportedly initially denied that his father was a Hamas member.
“My father died in 2014 when I was still young," Mofeed told the Chronicle. "He was a surgeon who did remarkable work, for which he is widely recognised in Palestine, building health services for the people of Gaza. I am deeply proud of the work that he did in caring for the health of others and his legacy is extremely important to me.”
The video also showcased social media posts by Mofeed in which he expressed support for Hamas, individual terrorists, and terrorist activity. Mofeed has since closed his Twitter and Facebook accounts.
In one 2013 Facebook post, Mofeed called to kidnap Israeli soldiers to ransom them for imprisoned Palestinian combatants. In 2015 he celebrated the anniversary of the death of Hamas chief bomb-maker, Yahya Ayyash.
"When it comes to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, mainstream political parties like Labour are expected to act impartially," Joseph Cohen of the Israel Advocacy Movement told The Jerusalem Post. "This is why we were shocked when an al-Jazeera interview suggested Omar helped draft a Labour motion highly critical of Israel.
"We were shocked because anyone visiting his Facebook would have seen numerous concerning posts. There were also a number of posts about his father. It’s staggering that in the wake of the antisemitism scandal that engulfed the Labour Party, someone with Omar’s public history would not just be active in Labour but contributing to motions about Israel."
A Liverpool councillor ,who has repeatedly spoken in support of Dame Louise Ellman over claims she suffered antisemitic abuse while an MP, has alleged he was threatened by a hard-left activist who labelled him “Zionist c**t” in an unprovoked confrontation.British Actor Targeted With ‘Relentless’ Abuse on Twitter for Playing Jewish Character in New Drama Series
Councillor Nick Small – who has represented the Central Liverpool area for 17 years – claimed he was approached on a bridge by Terry Clarke, who was with a group of other activists who had been taking part in an anti-arms fair demo outside the nearby Liverpool Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
Clarke, who is currently suspended from Liverpool Riverside Labour Party pending an investigation into a tweet he posted referencing former MP Ellman, is alleged to have shouted at the councillor, who was walking home from work, before walking up to him aggressively and confronting him.
Small, who is also a member of Riverside CLP, claimed on Thursday: “He did threaten me. He got right up into my face. I did think he was going to assault me at one stage.
“He’s clearly not a pacifist either. He did call me a ‘Zionist c**t amongst lots of other vile and abusive things. And he said I had ‘blood on my hands’
” He’s a 70 year-old man. I just said to him ‘I’m not going to fight with a drunk old man.’
“But it really was aggressive behaviour.”
Actor Eddie Marsan addressed the “relentless” abuse he has faced on Twitter for playing a Jewish character in the new drama series “Ridley Road,” which airs on Britain’s BBC One.Grandson of Acclaimed Egyptian Actor Omar Sharif Called ‘Traitor’ in Egypt for Joining Cast of Israeli TV Series
Marsan, 53, who is not Jewish, took on the role of Soly Malinovsky, the leader of the anti-fascist underground movement known as the 62 Group. The four-part series, which premiered on Oct. 3, is set in post-World War II Britain and chronicles the rise of fascism in London’s East End.
“F**k me, this is relentless, all I did was play a Jew, I dread to think what would’ve happened if I was actually Jewish,” Marsan wrote Thursday on Twitter about the backlash he has received. He also shared screenshots of several abusive tweets, including one from a user who said “Eddie, you are a crap actor and I’ll never watch shite with your Apartheid loving bake in it.”
The former “Ray Donovan” star confronted some of his critics on Twitter earlier in the week, highlighting a post by one user who called the series “excellent” but criticized Marsan and his co-star, Jewish actress Tracy-Ann Oberman, for being in the show. Both Marsan and Oberman have spoken out against former Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn over allegations of antisemitism in the party.
“[It] just leaves a bitter taste in the mouth knowing their work on Twitter throwing fake antisemitism around to stop a life long anti-racist Jeremy Corbyn & legitimizing Palestine,” the user wrote. Marsan responded to the message by saying, “I was grateful to do ‘Ridley Road’ because it gave me the opportunity to confront people like you, constructively and creatively. You can scream & shout all you want & throw around false accusations about but it just reconfirms your prejudice.”
Others asked the actor why BBC is even airing “Ridley Road.” One Twitter user wrote to Marsan on Thursday and said, “Why does the BBC do so many programs favoring the Zionists’ ‘return’ and so few favoring Palestinian’s Right of Return?”
The grandson of the late legendary Egyptian actor Omar Sharif, famed for his roles in “Doctor Zhivago” and “Lawrence of Arabia,” has been demonized by Egyptians for starring in season three of the popular Israeli television series “Beauty and the Baker,” he told Israel Hayom on Thursday.Israel kills former security prisoner, Syrian intelligence officer sniper attack - report
It was announced last year that actor and LGBTQ activist Omar Sharif Jr. will join the cast of the romantic drama, known in Hebrew as “Lehiyot Itas.” The show’s third season premiered on Israel’s Channel 12 on Thursday.
The series premiered in 2013 and is about the unconventional romance between a Yemenite Sephardic baker (played by Avraham Aviv Alush) and a wealthy, Ashkenazi international superstar (played by Rotem Sela). Sharif Jr. will have a recurring role as a gay Hollywood agent with Palestinian roots who is married to an Israeli travel agent.
The former GLAAD national spokesperson said news of his involvement in the Israeli show was not well received in Egypt.
“They weren’t thrilled, unfortunately. There were negative comments, they called me a ‘traitor,'” he explained to Israel Hayom. He added that his grandfather “was treated the same way when he starred in ‘Funny Girl’ alongside Barbra Streisand.”
The actor continued to say that he “immediately fell in love” with the show after watching one episode, and in particular its multiculturalism, drawing parallels to his own family. His mother, an Ashkenazi Jew, is the daughter of Holocaust survivors from Poland and his father’s family are Egyptian Muslims.
A Syrian man who spent time in an Israeli prison for terrorist activities was killed in Syria at the end of last week, according to Syrian reports on Saturday evening.PA President Abbas trying to block Israel-Hamas prisoner deal - report
The man, identified as Madhat al-Salah, was killed in the town of Ain el-Tineh near the village of Hadar on the Golan Heights along the border with Israel.
While initially his death was thought to have been the result of an Israeli airstrike in Syria over the weekend, a Syrian news agency reported that he was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper. Ain el-Tineh is a few hundred meters from the border.
According to Maj. (res.) Tal Beeri, head of the research department at the Alma Center, Salah, who lived in Jaramana near the capital of Damascus, might have been working for the group and was in the area in order to carry out an order.
“If it’s not an internal event, and he was indeed killed by Israel, then it’s likely that he was involved in an attack against Israel that was at an advanced stage,” Beeri told The Jerusalem Post.
Salah lived in the Mas’ada village in the Golan before he was arrested for trying to kidnap an IDF soldier in 1985 and sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was released in 1998, crossed the border to Syria and was voted into the Syrian Parliament a few years later, where he dealt with Golan affairs and Syrian citizens living in the Golan, according to a report from Walla.
According to N12, Salah spent four years as the representative of the Golan in the Syrian Parliament and then became head of the office that keeps track of Syrian citizens who still live in the Golan.
Beeri told the Post that Salah was considered a Syrian intelligence activist who was involved in recruiting sources in Israel.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is trying to stop a prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas, Egyptian sources claimed on Saturday.Iran's Mullahs and China Empowered Under Biden Administration
The sources, quoted by the Qatari-affiliated media outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, accused Abbas of “playing a destructive role” in obstructing the completion of the deal brokered by Egypt.
According to the unnamed sources, Abbas is seeking to hinder Egypt’s mediation efforts because he opposes the inclusion in the list of jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who Hamas wants released from an Israeli prison.
Abbas believes that Hamas’s decision to include Barghouti and other prominent inmates “aims primarily to embarrass him and to show him as being negligent on the prisoners’ issue and efforts to release them,” the sources added. “Abbas’s fears have increased because he realizes that Barghouti is a strong rival.”
A senior Palestinian official in Ramallah denied the report, dubbing it “lies spread by the enemies of the Palestinians.”
Barghouti, 62, was arrested by the IDF in 2002 because of his role in terrorism activities during the Second Intifada.
In 2004, he was convicted of five accounts of murder and one account of attempted murder. He was sentenced to five cumulative life sentences and an additional 40 years.
In another blow to the US, after many years of Iran trying to be a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), SCO members finally agreed in September to elevate Iran's status from "observer" to "full member," even though the global financial watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force, had placed the Islamic Republic on its terrorism financing blacklist.Iranian Supertanker Departing from Venezuela to Transport Heavy Oil
The SCO is a political, military, economic and security alliance that currently includes China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, India, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. This alliance will likely... assist the mullahs of Iran to defy the West.
In the face of these critical developments, the Biden administration has remained silent
The Chinese regime is profiting as well. This [25-year deal with Iran], which appears similar to a colonial agreement, grants Communist China significant rights over the nation's resources. Leaked information reveals that one of its terms is that China will be investing nearly $400 billion in Iran's oil, gas and petrochemicals industries. In return, China will get priority to bid on any new project in Iran that is linked to these sectors. China will also receive a 12% discount and it can delay payments by up to two years. China will also be able to pay in any currency it chooses. It is also estimated that, in total, China will receive discounts of nearly 32%. Another secret element of the agreement has a military dimension: China will deploy 5,000 members of its security forces on the ground in Iran.
Such a strategic and economic deal is a clear win for the Chinese Communist Party.... China will have full authority over Iran's islands, gain access to Iran's oil at a highly deeply rate and increase its influence and presence in almost every sector of Iranian industry, including telecommunications, banking, energy, railways and ports.
For the ruling clerics of Iran, appeasement means only more weakness.
An Iran-flagged supertanker on Saturday was about to set sail from Venezuelan waters carrying 2 million barrels of heavy crude provided by state-run oil firm PDVSA, Reuters reported citing vessel tracking services and official documents.Teen Vogue Uses Sally Rooney to Promote BDS Talking Points
The shipment is part of a deal agreed by PDVSA and its counterpart National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) that exchanges Iranian condensate for Venezuela’s Merey crude. The swaps aim to ease an acute shortage of diluents that has cut Venezuela’s oil output and exports.
Dino I, a very large crude carrier (VLCC) owned and operated by NIOC’s National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), finished loading the Venezuelan oil at PDVSA’s Jose port late Friday.
The bilateral oil trade likely represents a breach of US sanctions on both nations.
The vessel arrived in Venezuela in September with its transponder turned off while carrying 2.1 million barrels of Iranian condensate.
Teen Vogue, the youth-oriented fashion magazine that has recently styled itself as an authority on news and politics as well, is once again promoting anti-Israel propaganda on its pages.
Now under the auspices of a new Editor-in-Chief, Versha Sharma, the magazine has reported on author Sally Rooney’s decision to decline translation of her most recent work by an Israeli publishing house in a biased and one-sided article. (“Sally Rooney Boycotts Israeli ‘Apartheid,’ Refuses Work With Publishers,” by Lexi McMenamin, October 12, 2021.)
Teen Vogue focused on Sally Rooney’s statement about why she chose not to work with Israeli publishers. The article subheading tells readers that the author “was inaccurately accused of boycotting the Hebrew language,” asserting that she would be happy to have her work translated into Hebrew – just not by an Israeli publishing house. Where Rooney might find a publisher to translate her work into Hebrew, outside of the only Hebrew-speaking nation, and to whom that publishing house might sell Hebrew language copies, outside of the only Hebrew-speaking country, is a question that does not appear to have occurred either to Rooney or to Teen Vogue.
Teen Vogue also hides the goal of the BDS movement and ignores the movement’s inherent antisemitism, writing only that it “calls for global supporters of Palestinian rights to refuse to financially support institutions based in Israel or connected to the Israeli government.”
In fact, as BDS founder Omar Barghouti and other BDS leaders have made clear, the movement’s goal is to turn the world’s only Jewish-majority state into the world’s 57th Muslim-majority state. Moreover, BDS singles out Israel alone for boycott, ignoring actual, grave human rights abuses in countries such as China, where Rooney has no problem having her book translated.
Echoing the racist Lowkey, the NEU President Daniel Kebede wants to "globalise the intifada". "Allahu akbar!"
— habibi (@habibi_uk) October 15, 2021
This anti-Israel rally in Newcastle featured loud rounds of "Khaybar, oh Jews" chanting, the call to murderous religious hatred.
If you're in the NEU, please leave. https://t.co/MVKvs167IP pic.twitter.com/nDE1tcMAaN
Why Ben & Jerry think they aren’t anti-Semites
As if history hasn’t proved that some of the greatest anti-Semites of all were in fact Jews. Jews who hated their identity so much that they had to transfer their self-hatred unto other Jews.Jewish skeptics of critical race theory say Texas Holocaust education incident does not deter them
It was the father of modern psychology, Sigmund Freud, who shared this remarkable insight.
When Freud was twelve and out walking with his father Jacob in the streets of Vienna, his father wanted to show his son how much better things had become for Jews since the days when he was a poor peddler wearing a beaver hat and a kaftan in the shtetls of Galicia. So he told his son about the time in Tysmenitz when a gentile had crossed his path on the pavement and had knocked his hat into the gutter jeering after him, “Jew, get off the pavement.”
“What did you do?” the indignant Sigmund asked his father. Jacob replied, “I stepped into the gutter and picked up my cap.”
From this bitter little memory, the adult Freud dated his disillusion with his father, and the birth of one of his most persistent fantasies, his identification with Hannibal, the warrior.
It is a tragic irony that some of the most zealous anti-Semites on the American white supremacist scene have turned out to have direct family links to the Jewish religion as well as the people they have devoted their lives to hating.
The truth is that Ben and Jerry chose Israel as the object of their boycott precisely because they are Jews. Jews who detest that part of their identity. Jews who cannot find peace in their own minds for their failure to exemplify the ethical beauty of the people into which they were born. Jews who bring shame to their biblical roots – and think they can find their redemption by ostracizing their fellow Jews and then denying the profound psychological truth of their deep-rooted self-hatred.
Holocaust educators are also speaking out about what the Texas incident could portend. The Holocaust and Humanity Center in Cincinnati said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned” about reports of the administrator’s remarks.Faculty Panel Says SFSU Violated Professor’s Academic Freedom When Event With Palestinian Terrorist Was Denied Platform
“With hate crimes in the United States soaring to record highs, it is imperative that teachers are encouraged to devote instructional time to teaching the Holocaust, a seminal event in human history, freely,” the statement said, adding that teachers may feel inhibited from “providing necessary historical context and discussing the practices and ideologies that contributed to the Holocaust, such as stereotyping and antisemitism.”
Bethany Mandel, another signatory of the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values letter, says she doubts Holocaust education in Texas will be hindered. She said she felt that the administrator in the recording sounded like she opposed the restrictions — the administrator tells the teachers, “I think you are terrified, and I wish I could take that away” — and that the teachers appeared to find her remark on the Holocaust ridiculous.
Mandel, who homeschools her own children, said she opposes the Texas law because she believes states should strive not to dictate what teachers teach. She feels that the Texas law mirrors the recently passed California legislation, favored by liberals, requiring that schools teach ethnic studies. The fight over ethnic studies has divided Jews in the state and has animated opponents of critical race theory, who argue that the state’s sample curriculum exemplifies what they’re fighting against.
“I don’t think that government should come in from on high and have these diktats in the classroom, both with ethnic studies and with the Texas law,” Mandel said. “It really hampers teachers’ ability to recognize what their kids need and how to best serve those needs.”
A three-member faculty panel at San Francisco State University has upheld a grievance filed by Professor Rabab Abdulhadi, ruling that the school violated the scholar’s academic freedom when a 2020 seminar she organized was cut off because it featured an affiliate of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).Anti-Israel Article Published by Canadian Armed Forces News Outlet
The online seminar, which briefly streamed live on YouTube in Sept. 2020 before the service provider cut its feed, had been denied a platform by both Zoom and Facebook over the participation of Leila Khaled.
Khaled — who as a member of the PFLP terror group took part in the hijacking of a Tel Aviv-bound commercial flight in 1969 — was a guest at the event, titled, “Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice and Resistance: A Conversation with Leila Khaled.”
The Faculty Hearing Committee at SFSU said Thursday that school officials violated the academic freedom of Abdulhadi by “not providing adequate support” to the organizers of the event, and that they had caused “mental health stress.”
The panel cited an email from school administrator warning Abdulhadi and co-instructor Tomomi Kinukawa of the possible risks of engaging in criminal activity. In denying a platform to the event with Khaled, Zoom at the time noted the possible violation of its terms of service because of the speaker’s reported affiliation with the PFLP, a US-designated foreign terrorist organization.
In finding for Abdulhadi, the panel called on SFSU to issue a public apology to the professor, issue a “public letter of support of faculty with regards to academic freedom,” and provide a site for rescheduling the event.
In an October 8 article in the Maple Leaf, the news outlet of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the Department of National Defence, (DND) Lieutenant Colonel Len Matiowsky, a Canadian soldier stationed in Israel, painted a myopic picture of the conflict between Palestinian-Arabs and Israelis.‘Holocaust was a scam’ projected on Swedish synagogue during antisemitism summit
Matiowsky’s article is entitled an “Artistic initiative that made a difference in Palestine,” even though official Canadian policy does not recognize “Palestine” as a state as the Palestinians haven’t met the requirements for statehood.
He writes:
Members of Op PROTEUS work from one end of the West Bank to the other engaging with members of the PASF but also meeting people from all walks of life: vendors, artists, politicians, restaurateurs, and even the displaced and less fortunate. Palestinian refugees and their descendants, for example, are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 in the region of Palestine under the terms of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine. They fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine War and the Six-Day War. Most Palestinian refugees live in or near 68 Palestinian refugee camps across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.”
Contrary to Maitowsky’s article, Palestinians are citizens of the Palestinian Authority, furthermore, Mandatory Palestine was a geopolitical entity that began in 1920 under the League of Nations mandate and ceased in 1948 following the Partition Plan that led to the creation of the State of Israel. It was in 1948 that the displacement of Palestinian-Arab refugees occurred due to a war of annihilation waged by pan-Arab armies seeking to wipe the nascent state of Israel off the map. This same type of displacement occurred again in 1967 in the Six Day War, which was another failed attempt by several Arab countries to purge the Jewish state from the Middle East.
Lieutenant-Colonel Maitowsky trained Palestinian Authority Security Forces under Operation Proteus. His article notes how Canada’s Embassy in Israel, Canada House in Tel Aviv, was converted into an art studio for a silent auction fundraiser for The Not-to-Forget Women Society which describes itself as “first established by educated and social activist refuges women, after the events of April 2002 in Jenin camp to response on the tragic situation caused by Israeli occupation in Jenin camp in that period.” According to this article, $14,000 CDN was raised for this organization.
Maitowsky observed the following that we take great umbrage with: The “Jenin Camp was also severely affected by the second intifada, when the Israeli Defense Forces occupied the camp in 2002 after the Battle of Jenin. 400 homes or more were destroyed, with hundreds more being severely damaged. More than a quarter of the population was rendered homeless. The United Nations Relief and Works (UNRWA) Agency was established to provide direct relief and works programs for 750,000 Palestinian refugees. Now, there are 5.6 million.”
Swedish police are investigating how the words “the Holocaust was a scam” were projected onto the main synagogue in Malmö while the city was holding an international forum on combating antisemitism.American Girl Doll Company Sells Hanukkah Outfit, Part of Its Cultural Collection
The projection was seen on the Synagogue of Malmö and on other buildings in cities across southern Sweden on Wednesday night, the day of the Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism.
Police are handling the case as a hate crime, the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported.
The Nordic Resistance Movement, a neo-Nazi group, claimed responsibility for the incident, according to Dagens Nyheter.
The conference had brought together heads of state and other prominent government officials from dozens of countries in a city known for its high rates of antisemitism.
Israel’s strikes in Gaza in 2009 triggered a wave of antisemitic assaults in Malmö, which had then over 1,000 Jews. Then-mayor Ilmar Reepalu reacted by instructing the local Jewish community to distance itself from Israel, giving many the impression that he was blaming the victims.
The Jewish community in Sweden’s third-largest city has since dwindled down to around 500.
American Girl released a new set of doll outfits for various cultural holidays, and it includes a Hanukkah ensemble with a Star of David necklace.Israel TravelsDiscover an unsung hero’s many imprints on the holy city of Jerusalem
Each “Hanukkah celebration outfit” that is purchased for $36 comes with a navy velvet dress, matching headband and silver shoes; a silver Star of David charm on a silver chain necklace; and a booklet that highlights the five different cultural celebrations that the company is honoring.
The American Girl website also has a section where the company describes the eight-day Jewish holiday.
The company debuted its line of specialty holiday doll outfits last week; they include outfits for Eid Al-Fitr, Diwali, Christmas, the Lunar New Year and Kwanzaa.
In 2009, the company debuted its first Jewish doll, named Rebecca Rubin. That doll is no longer for sale but still available for purchase is her Hanukkah set, which consists of a metal menorah with pretend candles, a wooden dreidel and fake medal coins, also known as gelt.
Rebecca’s Shabbat set is also being sold.
Mezuzahs are tiny pieces of parchment containing verses from the Torah. They sit inside decoratives cases and are fixed onto doorways outside, and often inside, Jewish homes and businesses around the world.Spain wants to find descendants of 5,200 Jews saved by the ‘Spanish Schindler’
Traditionally, mezuzah scrolls are placed on a slant. Yet in 1902, after putting the finishing touches on the Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yaakov Mann attached the institution’s mezuzahs vertically to the doorways.
Hospital director Dr. Moshe Wallach, an Orthodox Jew, was furious and consulted one of the city’s most prominent rabbinical authorities. That eminence replied that if the person involved was the learned Rabbi Yaakov Mann, there was absolutely nothing to worry about. When Mann heard about Wallach’s anger, he joked: “Not everything has to be crooked! It is better to have at least something that is straight.”
The first time I heard Mann’s name was at the municipal citizens’ advice bureau where I volunteer. During a discussion with two colleagues — brothers-in-law — about an art exhibit at the old Shaare Zedek building on Jaffa Road (the hospital moved to its current campus in the Bayit VeGan neighborhood in 1980), they mentioned that their wives were direct descendants of Mann, who was responsible for the hospital’s construction.
Research into the rabbi and his endeavors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries revealed that he had helped build nearly a dozen neighborhoods and institutions in Jerusalem. Indeed, this unsung hero was so prolific that some contemporary sources described him as the “Builder of Jerusalem.” Others called him the “Jerusalem Expander.” And just about everyone considered him the “Father of Manual Labor.”
Mann was born in 1849 in Rzeczyca, Belarus, at the beginning of a worldwide cholera pandemic that killed over a million Russians. While Mann was still a baby, the family moved to the village of Kamenka. Since the family planned to immigrate to the Holy Land in the future, Mann’s grandfather traveled around with his three sons trying to earn money for their passage.
In an unprecedented effort to find their relatives and raise awareness about their stories, Spanish authorities are releasing a list of the Hungarian Jews protected from the Nazis by a diplomat nicknamed the “Spanish Schindler.”
Ángel Sanz Briz was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial and museum, in 1966 for using an ingenious legal maneuver to save more than 5,200 Jews from being deported to Auschwitz in 1944.
But even though his efforts saved five times as many Jews as those of Oskar Schindler, his story is far less well known — in part because the staunchly anti-Israel Franco regime, which ruled Spain from 1939 to 1975, barred him from accepting Yad Vashem’s honor.
Now, the Centro Sefarad-Israel — a Sephardic cultural institution that is part of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs — is working to change that. With the support of the Spanish government’s archives, the group is publishing the names of the people he protected, along with details about them, with the goal of tracing their descendants and making their stories known.
Between June and December 1944, Sanz Briz, then a 32-year-old Spanish diplomat stationed in Hungary, took the law into his own hands by creating fake Spanish passports for thousands of Jews. Despite the fact that Hungary’s Jewish community was predominantly Ashkenazi, Sanz Briz and his assistants granted Spanish citizenship to Hungarian Jews based on a long-expired 1924 Spanish law that extended citizenship to the descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492.
Sanz Briz went to extreme lengths to ensure hundreds of Hungarian families were put under Spain’s protection. As the Nazis closed in on the city’s Jews, the Spanish diplomat rented 11 apartment buildings to house approximately 5,000 people. He placed the Spanish flag on the buildings, passing them off as official properties of the Spanish Legation, ensuring that the authorities would not seize them. He also hid some families in the Spanish embassy in Buda.
On this day in 1941, over 1,000 Jewish civilians in Lubny, Ukraine were rounded up and massacred by the Nazis. Executions of the women and children were grotesquely documented by photographer Johannes Hähle. The children in this photo and their descendants would be alive today. pic.twitter.com/T4oIfjDRQN
— Avi Kaner ??????? ??? (@AviKaner) October 16, 2021
David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, was born today in 1886. (Pictured when PM in 1949.) He was a private in the British Army (39th Royal Fusiliers) in the First World War (also pictured.) pic.twitter.com/luiY4RKiFx
— R?????? K??? ? (@COLRICHARDKEMP) October 16, 2021
