Saturday, November 06, 2021

11/06 Links: 83 years after Kristallnacht, antisemitism is again rising; B&J's Parent Company Doing Business In Countries With Questionable Human Rights Records

From Ian:

83 years after Kristallnacht, antisemitism is again rising
All over the Western world, Jews are experiencing a resurgence of antisemitism. Synagogue doors are being reinforced, Jewish businesses are being attacked, Jewish monuments have been defaced. People are careful not to wear anything that can identify them as Jews, and those who do are in danger of verbal or even physical attack. It’s happening all over Europe as well as the US.

Members of Antifa, the supposedly anti-fascist organization, have been known to support the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement. And in Germany, where antisemitism was suppressed after the defeat of the Nazi regime, it is again unashamedly raising its ugly head. In their recent government election, the AfD (Alternative for Germany) Party won 10.3% of the votes. It is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party that stands for opposition to the European Union and immigration. It is on the furthest right political spectrum. At a recent party congress of the AfD, there was consensus of their dislike of Islam. They agreed to include the sentence “Islam does not belong to Germany” in their manifesto. Those sentiments can easily extend to antisemitism.

Quoting from an article in The Atlantic:
“By claiming a share, however small, of Germany’s political real estate, the AfD has forced the country’s mainstream parties to broaden their tents, and in some cases, even normalize far-right positions.

“It has also forced them to consider more cumbersome coalitions that not long ago might have been unthinkable, complicating the math of forming a government in a country where a single party rarely wins an overall majority.”

Only time will tell in which direction a new Social Democrat chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, will lead his country.

This week, Jews all over the world commemorate the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht, “The Night of Broken Glass,” named after the windows of Jewish businesses and homes that were shattered during the overnight of November 9 to 10, 1938. Most synagogues throughout Germany, Austria and the annexed Czechoslovakian Sudetenland were plundered and set alight that night. Thousands of Jewish businesses were damaged, and 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps.
What does Israeli-Palestinian conflict have to do with cognitive neuroscience?
When looking at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we see two sides entrenched, driven by fear and hatred. What we take for granted is that we are the ones doing the looking.

Research in cognitive neuroscience and psychology is increasingly aware of the power of cognitive biases shaping our perception of reality. While politicians and extremists are often responsible for fueling discord, every person is somewhat guilty of falling into narrow patterns of discourse and rigid views.

Being mentally entrenched, people and governments alike feel there is very little that can be done to resolve this century-long conflict - most have given up altogether. But problems can get easier when looked at from a different angle. Before we ask ourselves what we can do about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we should turn our attention to how we think about the conflict.

That leads us to the supposedly-harmless grey blob between our ears.

One of the brain’s functions is to construct a model of the world in order to help the body navigate it. An optimal model must balance (a) sensitivity to differences between objects or situations with (b) generalization across categories and contexts.

In Machine Learning, this is called the bias-variance trade-off. Human cognition routinely faces the similar choice between using simple heuristics (a mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems quickly) or relying on complex models for perception and decision-making.

However, every organ and organism would rather be lazy and conserve energy. So long as it can afford it, the brain will favor the simplest model possible: as Daniel Kahneman suggests, heuristics are usually cognitively “cheap”, while complex models are demanding, thus effortful and energy-consuming.

There are a number of heuristics that allow the brain to produce a simple and economical model out of a complex and dynamic reality. However, ‘simple and economical’ is not always ideal, and sometimes it can be destructive. How do such cognitive biases affect our approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? We will focus on three.
Ben & Jerry's Parent Company Doing Business In Countries With Questionable Human Rights Records
In 2006, Unilever PLC responded to an SEC inquiry regarding its “contacts with countries identified as state sponsors of terrorism by the U.S. State Department,” stating that the Unilever Group’s contacts with Cuba, Iran, Sudan, or Syria weren’t material.

Unilever PLC said that along with providing general products to consumers for the benefit of those countries’ citizens, it was abiding by U.S. laws and regulations and considered its own “sensitive territories” policy.

The letter stated that the Unilever Group’s partners in Iran, Sudan, and Syria aren’t connected to those countries’ governments.

Unilever disclosed to the SEC in 2020 that it had sold products to a hotel owned by an affiliate of the Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which was designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State in 2019. Unilever paid some of the “income, payroll and other taxes, duties and fees” to the Iranian government and the company’s “non-US subsidiary” retained an Iranian bank account, according to the filing.

The SEC continued to ask Unilever about its business in countries deemed state sponsors of terrorism, and the company continued to defend that its business in those countries weren’t material to its operations.

Greendorfer said that even though Unilever is not a U.S.-based company it should still be required by the SEC to fully disclose to investors the effects of pulling its products from certain countries.

“While Unilever is not a U.S. corporation subject to the requirement that it act in the best interests of shareholders, rather than third parties, because its shares are listed on U.S. markets it is obligated to abide by U.S. reporting requirements,” Greendorfer said.

“As such, the SEC should, at a minimum, require Unilever (and any other company engaging in discriminatory boycotts) to provide investors with full disclosure on the financial impact of engaging in boycotts so investors can make a reasoned decision as to whether the actions are material to their decision whether to buy, hold or sell their Unilever shares.,” he concluded.

Unilever did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Bennett, Lapid in united front: ‘No place for US consulate in Jerusalem’
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid presented a united front Saturday in their opposition to the United States reopening its consulate for the Palestinians in Jerusalem. Speaking to the media after the approval of the state budget for 2021-2022, the prime minister said that “there is no place for an American consulate that serves the Palestinians in Jerusalem.” This had been conveyed to Washington “both by myself and by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid,” he said. “We are expressing our position consistently, quietly and without drama, and I hope it is understood. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel alone.” Lapid backed Bennett up, saying that “If the Americans want to open a consulate in Ramallah we have no problem with that.” But “sovereignty in Jerusalem belongs to one country — Israel.” He rejected the notion that with the government more stable following the budget’s passing, the leaders may be more willing to take on such a politically touchy subject. “It’s not a question of politics. It’s an Israeli objection on principle for opening a consulate in Jerusalem. There’s an American embassy [here].” Late last month, a senior official in the US State Department told senators that Israel’s permission would be required before the US could reopen its consulate in Jerusalem serving Palestinians.


Shalala Rescinds Donation to Anti-Israel Dem House Candidate After Free Beacon Report
Former Clinton health secretary and congresswoman Donna Shalala (D., Fla.) this week rescinded a $2,800 donation to unsuccessful Democratic House candidate Omari Hardy (Fla.) after the Washington Free Beacon reported on Hardy's support for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Shalala's political action committee, Donna Democrats, in May made the contribution to Hardy, the Free Beacon reported Wednesday. Hardy on Tuesday lost the Democratic primary in Florida's 20th Congressional District.

The Donna Democrats PAC asked Hardy to refund the donation after it learned from the article about his anti-Israel positions, Shalala's former deputy chief of staff Raul Martinez Jr. said in an email on Friday.

"After reading the story of Mr. Hardy's position on BDS and Iron Dome, Donna Democrats sent [Hardy] an email asking for the donation to be returned," said Martinez. "In the email I explained that Rep. Shalala and Donna Democrats cannot support candidates with that position."

Martinez said the donation "was promptly returned the following day" and "will be visible on our next report."

Hardy came out in support of BDS during his campaign, calling it "the only option Palestinians have to draw attention to their plight and to change the behavior of Israel's military and political leaders." He also said he would have opposed a bill to provide additional funding for Israel's Iron Dome.


Finnish charity ends ties with Palestinian group after terror designation
A Christian charity organization in Finland has decided to end ties with a Palestinian rights group after it was blacklisted by Israel for alleged terror links.

The executive director of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, or Felm, said Friday the group hasn’t seen evidence that the 30,000 euros ($34,650) it has provided annually since 2015 to Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) was used improperly.

“We have actively monitored the use of the money and it has been used for work advancing children’s rights,” Rolf Steffansson told Reuters.

He said, however, that Felm could no longer work with DCIP after Israel designated it and five other rights groups as terror organizations, citing potential banking sanctions.

“It could have impacted the work we do in 30 countries through banking services for example,” he said.

DCIP, which denies the Israeli allegations, has asked Felm to reconsider the move.

“We have been subject to escalating delegitimization and disinformation campaigns advanced by an international network of extremist groups with the support of Israeli government ministries,” Khaled Quzmarm DCIP’s director-general, told Reuters via a lawyer.
Staunch defender of Corbyn to lead Labour disciplinary committee
A Labour councillor who staunchly defended former leader Jeremy Corbyn and ex-Momentum vice-chair Jackie Walker against charges of antisemitism has been elected as chairwoman of the party’s main disciplinary body, the National Constitutional Committee.

Emine Ibrahim, a London Labour Momentum board member and Haringey councillor, posted in a Facebook chat in 2016: “Does anyone on here or in the party think Jeremy is an antisemite? If they don’t then associating him with antisemitism is a slur on his character and his policies.”

In 2016, Ms Ibrahim defended Ms Walker after she was readmitted to the party following suspension for claiming that “many Jews were the chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade,” on a Facebook group forum. Asked how she could defend Ms Walker’s views, Ms Ibrahim said: “Because I have met her and spoken to her and so I believe her when she says she is not an antisemite.”

Later the same year, Ms Walker was suspended again for comments made during antisemitism training and was eventually expelled by the NCC in 2019. Speaking to the JC, Ms Ibrahim said her comments pre-dated her time on the NCC.

She said: “With regard to Jackie Walker, I commented after she had been cleared by the party process of the time. As I had no role in party disciplinary processes at the time and as an ordinary party member, I took at face value that the decision was made based on a thorough investigation and party process.”
Lebanese envoy hosts event for French Jewish expats, urges them to return home
Lebanon’s ambassador to France hosted an unprecedented gathering for dozens of French Jews of Lebanese descent this week, asking for their support amid his country’s economic collapse and even encouraging the long-targeted community to return home.

Four generations of Lebanese Jews who left the country in separate waves over the past century were in attendance for Monday night’s event at the Lebanese Embassy in Paris, which even served kosher food, according to the An-Nahar Lebanese daily.

During the event, one of the Jewish attendees asked Ambassador Rami Adwan why he chose to host the event now after decades in which there had been no outreach from the Lebanese government to its Jewish diaspora.

“The Lebanese state has sometimes breached its duties, but now it is in danger, so [it needs] all of its citizens belonging to different sects must unite to save it,” An-Nahar quoted Adwan as having responded.

Among those in attendance was Nagi Gergi Zeidan, a historian specializing in Lebanon’s Jewish community. He told An-Nahar that in hosting the reunion, Adwan was doing what “all Lebanese officials [had previously] failed to do.”

“At this event, I saw the Lebanon that should be, and this… was expressed by Ambassador Adwan in his speech when he stressed the necessity for Lebanese Jews to return to their homeland,” he said.

Others in attendance were Lebanese Jews, some of whom travel back regularly, as well as those who have not gone back for decades.
In 1st interview with Israeli TV, exiled Lebanese reporter slams Hezbollah, Iran
A prominent Lebanese journalist and Hezbollah critic pushed back against a common narrative in her home country where Israel is viewed as a source of tumult in the region, insisting Thursday that the Iran-backed terror group “is the bigger satan.”

“What Israel did in Lebanon is a drop in the bucket compared to what Iran does today to Lebanese civilians since 1982,” Maria Maalouf told the Kan public broadcaster during a first-ever interview with an Israeli outlet.

After thanking the Kan reporter for hosting her, Maalouf began with a disclaimer asserting that the interview should not be considered cooperation with the Israeli government, rather “openness.”

Israel and Lebanon are still technically in a state of war, extending back to Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 to put an end to Palestinian terror attacks being launched over the border and ended up occupying a security zone in southern Lebanon until 2000.

Israel also fought a bitter month-long war with the Hezbollah terror group in 2006.

Maalouf, 47, said she began her career in journalism working for a pro-Hezbollah news outlet, but after seeing the steep price Lebanese civilians paid in the 2006 war, she realized that the Iranian-backed group was not really about “resistance.”
Clashes continue at Jerusalem's Damascus Gate
On Sunday morning, everything looked quiet at the Damascus Gate, with a small group of women in hijabs standing and talking. Above the stairs leading inside the Old City’s Muslim Quarter, shops were open and a few clients hung around. But within a few minutes, the atmosphere changed dramatically, as a group of four teenagers arrived and started to take photos of the policemen standing up above with their smartphones.

The four seemed to encourage each other to get closer and closer to the position of the police located above the stairs of the gate. Amin, the owner of a shop on the other side of Sultan Suleiman Street along the gate, who accompanied me there, told me to gaze carefully at the group of youth. “Look at them, soon they will start to throw stones or get closer to the policemen, to provoke them and try to make them leave the position, and the riot will start again.”

Fortunately, that morning nothing happened, as the four finally left and went back inside the Old City. But for Amin, and those in the neighboring shops, it was just a short break from what has become their daily unpleasant life.

For the past few months, the Damascus Gate has become the arena of a violent ritual – which has, more than once, caused changes in bus routes for fear of passenger safety. Palestinian youth arrive in groups, instantly creating confrontation with the police stationed there. NGOs and reporters present their complaints that in too many cases, the policemen respond with excessive brutality, leading to additional rounds of violence from these youth. There is no organization behind these bursts of violence, as no Palestinian organizations have taken responsibility for them; the Old City merchants think that it is bad for business, but thus far there are no signs of calm being restored.
Marwan Barghouti must remain in prison
This would be disastrous on several counts. First, setting Barghouti free would be a huge blow to the sacred principle of law and order. We have courts, and we have a system of justice; if you violate the law – particularly at the cost of another’s life – you must pay the price. If the perpetrators who were judged to be guilty and incarcerated are summarily let off the hook, a chilling message is sent to the public at large: you, too, can get away with crime. Why would anyone hesitate to break the law – from shoplifting to felony – if they know there is a fair chance there will be no penalty? This gross perversion of justice would return our society to the law of the jungle, where individuals, rather than the courts, would be driven to take the law into their own hands in order to punish the criminals.

At the same time, such a move would be a vicious stab in the back to the families of those killed by terrorists, our own family included. During his court appearance, Barghouti made a point of mocking the parents of fallen soldiers and pledging that he would ultimately be victorious in his efforts to eradicate the Jewish state. Freeing this monster would cause immense grief to the bereaved of Israel.

You see, as long as we believe that our children did not die in vain, we have something valuable, something noble to hold on to, and we can bear their sacrifice. But when the killers walk, unashamedly boasting of their success as they are feted by their adoring public, we are doubly, mortally wounded.

There is another dynamic at work here as well. We, as a moral, civilized nation, must impress upon the Palestinians that there will never be peace with them so long as their primary heroes are villains and murderers. The more they celebrate and idolize the perpetrators of terrorism and judge their role models primarily by the body count of dead Jews, the more determined we will be to prevent them from having their own state. It is only when they reject violence as a virtue and instead inculcate in their people a goal of coexistence rather than a cult of death that there is any chance for a lasting peace between us.

Whenever the headlines arise hinting at a prisoner exchange, I cringe. I hope and I believe that our current prime minister, Naftali Bennett, will stay strong and do the right thing, but I can’t be sure about the next prime minister, Yair Lapid. Will he hold the fort, or will he cave in to the pressure and capitulate like former prime minister Netanyahu, who freed more than 1,000 terrorists in the Schalit debacle, many of whom have gone on to murder dozens of Jews in a sin “that keeps on giving.”

Barghouti is the litmus test of Israel’s commitment to remain firm and do the right thing. Ultimately, either we stand for something, or we fall for everything.
Moscow visit could pave way for Abbas-Dahlan reconciliation
A visit to Moscow last week by exiled Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan has revived talk among Palestinians about a possible reconciliation between him and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

During the visit, Dahlan and two officials from his Democratic Reform Movement, a dissident Fatah group, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his deputy, Michael Bogdanov. The two officials who accompanied Dahlan are Samir Mashharawi and Ja’far Hdeib.

Earlier this year, Dahlan led another delegation from his group to Moscow, where they met with Bogdanov. The delegation discussed preparations for holding the Palestinian parliamentary elections, which were supposed to take place on May 22.

The discussions also focused on the need to end the rivalry between Fatah and Hamas and Abbas and Dahlan.

In late April, Abbas called off the elections on the pretext that Israel did not reply to his request to hold the elections in east Jerusalem. Dahlan’s recent visit to Moscow came amid unconfirmed reports of tensions between him and the United Arab Emirates, where he has been living for the past decade.

The visit came as Fatah prepares to hold its eighth general assembly in March 2022. It also came on the eve of Abbas’s planned visit to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting is expected to take place on November 23, Palestinian officials said on Saturday. Abbas is hoping that Russia would endorse his plan to activate the Quartet, which consists of the US, Russia, United Nations and European Union – as a main broker in future peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.


Baby handed to US soldiers in chaos of Afghanistan airlift still missing
It was a split-second decision. Mirza Ali Ahmadi and his wife Suraya found themselves and their five children on Aug. 19 in a chaotic crowd outside the gates of the Kabul airport in Afghanistan when a US soldier, from over the tall fence, asked if they needed help. Fearing their two-month-old baby Sohail would get crushed in the melee, they handed him to the soldier, thinking they would soon get to the entrance, which was only about 16 feet (5 meters) away.

But at that moment, Mirza Ali said, the Taliban - which had swiftly taken over the country as US troops withdrew - began pushing back hundreds of hopeful evacuees. It took the rest of the family more than a half-hour to get to the other side of the airport fence.

Once they were inside, Sohail was nowhere to be found.

Mirza Ali, who said he worked as a security guard at the US embassy for 10 years, began desperately asking every official he encountered about his baby's whereabouts. He said a military commander told him the airport was too dangerous for a baby and that he might have been taken to a special area for children. But when they got there it was empty.
JPost Editorial: Iran acts with impunity ahead of nuclear talks
There needs to be a show of unity against Iran: That was the message Prime Minister Naftali Bennett transmitted this week during talks at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

As the Post’s Lahav Harkov reported, Bennett stressed – during meetings with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bahrain’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, French President Emmanuel Macron, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez – the idea that countries having bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic need to take a stronger stance to pressure its new government.

Likewise, Iran must not become a wedge issue between the US and Israel. Recent talks Bennett had with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, as well as talks between Defense Minister Benny Gantz and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin, are crucial in keeping the two countries on the same page regarding Iran.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has signaled that it will listen to Gulf partners regarding concerns about the Islamic Republic. This is in contrast to the Obama administration, which appeared to sideline Israel and other Middle East partners and allies during the lead-up to the 2015 deal.

That’s an encouraging development, as talks with Iran appear to be on track to resumption. Israel can’t derail them – but it can do its utmost to ensure that the countries involved are well aware of the dangers.
Baghdad Clashes Hurt 30 as Iran-Aligned Parties Dispute Iraq Vote Results
Clashes in Baghdad between Iraqi security forces and supporters of parties that are disputing the results of an October general election injured more than two dozen people on Friday, police sources and health workers said.

It was the first significant violent clash between government forces and supporters of the political parties, most of which have armed wings and are aligned with Iran, since those groups lost dozens of parliament seats after the Oct. 10 vote.

Police fired tear gas and live ammunition into the air as scores of the protesters threw stones and tried to advance towards Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies, the security sources said.

More than 21 protesters were hurt mostly from smoke inhalation and another nine policeman injured from being pelted by stones, the hospital sources said.

The parties that made the biggest gains in Iraq’s October election include that of populist Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who publicly opposes Iranian interference in Iraqi politics and has called for all remaining Western troops to withdraw from the country.

The Iran-backed groups disputing the election result are also Shi’ite but follow an Iranian model of theocratic governance which the nationalist Sadr and many ordinary Iraqi Shi’ites reject.


Major Israeli Bookstores Pull Works by Irish Author Sally Rooney After She Boycotts Publishers in Israel
Two major bookstore chains in Israel announced on Thursday that they will no longer sell works written by acclaimed Irish author Sally Rooney, after she said last month that she would not let an Israeli publisher translate her latest novel into Hebrew.

Bookstores Steimatzky and Tzomet Sefarim have removed Rooney’s books from their shops and online sites. The bookstores together have more than 200 locations across Israel.

In September, Rooney turned down a bid by the Israeli publishing house Modan for the translation rights of her latest book, “Beautiful World, Where Are You.” Modan translated Rooney’s two previous novels into Hebrew, but the writer explained in October that she would not allow her new book to be published by an Israeli publisher because she supports a boycott of Israel, in protest of its policies towards Palestinians.

The award-winning author of “Normal People” and “Conversations With Friends” said she was “very proud” her first two books were translated into Hebrew but, “for the moment, I have chosen not to sell these translation rights to an Israeli-based publishing house.” She claimed that she could not “accept a new contract with an Israeli company that does not publicly distance itself from apartheid and support the UN-stipulated rights of the Palestinian people.”

She added, “The Hebrew-language translation rights to my new novel are still available, and if I can find a way to sell these rights that is compliant with the [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] movement’s institutional boycott guidelines, I will be very pleased and proud to do so.”


Antisemitic, Homophobic Graffiti in San Diego Public Schools Prompts Call for ‘Civility’
Local leaders in Chula Vista, California, denounced hate on Thursday, following the discovery of antisemitic and homophobic graffiti in two public schools.

Causing $2,600 dollars in damage, San Diego-area Bona Vista Middle School and Bona Vista High School were vandalized late Halloween evening, according to the local NBC affiliate, with both acts committed using teal, yellow, and black paint.

At Bona Vista High school, a window was broken, and the messages “Jews” (crossed out with an “X”) and “Mr. Hitler” were daubed on the door of a physics classroom, said the Chula Vista Police Department, which believes both incidents are related and is investigating them as hate crimes.

“The content, the ideation, the messaging, the hate speech directed at people of the Jewish faith and heritage and culture and those in the LGBTQ community is very, very, very disturbing,” commented Chula Vista Councilmember Steve Padilla yesterday. He is an alumnus of both Bona Vista Middle School and Bona Vista High School.

“The damage that was done is to the heart, to the soul. It’s to the cohesiveness of a community, because anytime and anywhere there is hate speech and anytime there is the expression of the idea that a class of people based on who they are or who they love is less than that is a very poisonous and dangerous thing in the world and in any community,” he said.


Nazi hunter meets German commissioner against antisemitism
The Simon Wiesenthal Center's chief Nazi hunter, Dr. Efraim Zuroff, met with German Commissioner for the Fight Against Antisemitism Dr. Felix Klein, to honor Holocaust survivor Emil Farkash who was set to testify in the trial of an alleged Nazi SS guard last week.

Zuroff had made the German prosecution aware of Farkash's status as a survivor of Sachsenhausen, the concentration camp where the alleged Nazi guard is accused of serving. He was then appointed as an escort for Farkash's trip to Germany and testimony.

The two officials discussed the prosecution of members of the Eizensatzgruppen mobile killing squads, with Zuroff saying that there has been a failure to prosecute any member of this group and Klein expressing willingness to take the matter up with German legal authorities, the Weisenthal Center said.

Zurhoff said he was pleased to meet with Klein, whose efforts to combat antisemitism in Germany he found noteworthy.

"It is also very good that he acknowledged the role of the prosecution of Nazi war criminals as an important component in the fight against contemporary antisemitism," Zurhoff said.
3 House Democrats ask why 9 former Nazis weren’t deported, died naturally in US
In 1992, the Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations learned that before moving to the United States, a Brooklyn potato chip salesman had participated in the liquidation of Jewish ghettos in Poland, including those in Warsaw, Lublin and Czestochowa. And there was evidence that he helped other SS men execute 50 to 60 Jews in a ravine near Trawniki.

Jack Reimer was tried in 1998 and denaturalized, or stripped of his US citizenship, in 2002. An appeals court upheld the decision in 2004, and the following year the US sought to deport him. He agreed to leave for Germany but died in August 2005 before that could happen. He was living in Fort Lee, New Jersey, at the time and died surrounded by his family.

Sixteen years later, three New York House Democrats are asking the State Department to conduct a review of their records to learn why Reimer and eight other Nazi war criminals who were found living in the US after the war were prosecuted, convicted and ordered deported but then allowed to die “comfortably in the United States.”

“Some of these men were stationed at Nazi concentration camps,” they wrote. “Others participated in the horrific liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto. The Department of Justice established beyond a reasonable doubt that each of them contributed to the atrocities of the Holocaust.…

“We recognize that other countries may simply have been unwilling to take custody of these criminals upon deportation from the US, but we welcome a clear picture of the diplomatic engagement around these cases that nevertheless failed to secure their deportation. It is important that the State Department provide the public with a complete accounting of that profound injustice.”
Man arrested at Stansted Airport over West Ham fans’ aircraft chants
A man has been arrested after footage emerged of West Ham United fans chanting an antisemitic song at an Orthodox Jewish passenger on board a Ryanair aircraft.

Essex Police confirmed the 55-year-old was detained on suspicion of a hate crime at Stansted Airport on Friday, as he stepped off a flight from Belgium.

The suspect has been taken to a police station in the county for questioning.

Footage of the chanting, which went viral online, is understood to have been filmed while the aircraft was still at the stand and passengers were taking their seats.

In the clip some fans can be heard singing about arch-rivals Tottenham, referencing genitalia and circumcision, while an Orthodox Jewish man walks down the aisle.

They were travelling to watch West Ham United play Belgian side Genk in the Europa League.

The footage was condemned by the club, which said it would issue an indefinite ban to any fan identified.

Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl said it had been “a particularly horrible example of a Jewish man being subjected to abuse and humiliation.”
Texas Jews are targeted with anti-Semitic letters mailed in plastic bags filled with stones that blame them for COVID as Austin synagogue is set ablaze by man carrying five-gallon fuel can
Several Jewish Hays County residents say they received hateful letters sealed in plastic bags and packed with rocks
The incident was just one of at least 17 anti-Semitic incidents reported in Texas in the last 10 days alone
Judge Ruben Becerra shared a photo of one of the letters folded up inside a zip lock bag with pebbles inside on Twitter
One of the letters appears to ask why certain Jewish people control 96 percent of the media when Jewish people make up only 2 percent of the population
Becerra also shared a picture of a letter claiming that the 'Covid agenda' is Jewish, listing the name of DCD and HHS heads who happen to be Jewish
Since October 22 four anti-Semitic incidents have been reported in Austin alone, including someone setting fire to the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue
Couple Who Helped Jewish Families Flee Nazi Germany Honored Outside Their Former Berlin Home
A couple who helped Jewish families and others escape Nazi Germany was honored in Berlin on Thursday with a commemorative plaque installed outside their former apartment and the home of their covert operation, according to the Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

Max and Malwine Schindler lived at Pariser Strasse 54 in the Wilmersdorf district. After Max, a member of the Social Democratic party, lost his job in 1933, he set up a clandestine network from his home to help those facing Nazi persecution flee Germany — but disguised it as an English-language tutoring service. Their son’s friend, Evelyn Parker, was recruited as a conversation coach and helped with the operation, The Guardian reported.

Under the guise of a language-learning service, the Schindlers connected their students with people and groups in the United Kingdom, including Max’s contacts in the Labour Party, who could help them with boarding or lodging. When the Gestapo began removing Jewish citizens from Berlin in 1941, the Schindlers illegally hid families in their apartment and provided them with food.

“Your attitude towards the Nazi system and your convictions led you to courageously demonstrate willingness to help us when most other ‘friends’ failed to do so,” Jewish dentist Ernst Lachmann wrote in a condolence letter to Malwine after Max died in 1948. “Your apartment was a refuge for us; we were able to flee there and be saved. Malicious neighbors and housemates didn’t deter you from appearing with us in your air raid cellar.”

The Schindlers’ efforts during World War II was rediscovered two years ago when Parker’s daughter, Frances Newell, found in her garden shed in Victoria, Australia, letters and photographs that revealed information about the couple’s work. Newell said, “The Schindler story is about friendship, indomitable courage and ingenuity in the face of oppression. It provides a window into the past and affirms the possibility of ordinary people making a difference.”

It is unknown how many people the Schindlers saved but at least seven people testified after the end of World War II that they were helped by the couple, The Guardian reported.
Keeping a vow to tell her tale, Auschwitz survivor becomes TikTok sensation
Lily Ebert spent Yom Kippur 1944 in Auschwitz and made herself a promise.

“If I ever came out of that place, I was determined to do something that would change everything,” she writes in her newly published autobiography. “I had to make sure that nothing like this could ever happen again to anybody. So I promised myself I would tell the world what had happened. Not just to me, but to all the people who could not tell their stories.”

Nearly eight decades on, few could dispute that 97-year-old Ebert has fulfilled that promise — many times over.

She has done so not just by telling her remarkable story in “Lily’s Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz and Found the Strength to Live,” but also through years of Holocaust education work. Thanks to her great-grandson, Dov Forman, that work has gained a huge new social media audience during the pandemic. The pair have 1.4 million TikTok followers, and their social media output has an average of about 1 million views a day.

“You can see I am not a youngster anymore. I learn from young people and I am so happy,” Ebert told The Times of Israel during an interview together with 17-year-old Forman. “I was afraid that [this work] would finish with our generation but luckily I see it won’t finish. The youngsters will take over and they will, I hope, learn from it.”

Despite her impish good humor and self-evident joy at the close bond she has formed with her great-grandson through their work together, Ebert talks about her family’s tragic story with painful honesty and openness.

And indeed the trauma, which led to a long period of silence after her liberation, where she could not speak of her ordeal, made her question whether she would ever be able to keep the promise she made that September day amid the darkness of Auschwitz.

As she describes in her autobiography — co-authored by Forman and to which Prince Charles provided a foreword — Ebert’s childhood in Hungary was in many regards idyllic with barely a hint of the horror to come.









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