Pages

▼

Tuesday, February 01, 2022

02/01 Links Pt2: Ben Shapiro Tears Down Whoopi's Anti-Semitic, Left-Wing Philosophy; What Ukraine can learn from Israel; The ADL’s new Jewish outreach director hates Jews

From Ian:

The EU's basic error
International law expert Dr. Jacques P. Gauthier of Canada wrote his doctoral thesis on the legal status of Jerusalem. His conclusion, after 1,300 pages and 3,200 footnotes is that the world community of nations granted the Jewish People irrevocable legal rights to Jerusalem, and to the entire area west of the Jordan River, in a non-broken series of treaties and resolutions beginning with the Balfour Declaration and the San Remo Conference, as well as affirmations by the League of Nations and the UN.

As such, all claims that the Arabs deserve a state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza are groundless. For, as Dr. Gauthier often repeats, the legal principle of "la chose jugée" (judged issue) means that once the issue was decided, as it was in the above councils, it becomes irreversible and forever binding in a "sacred trust."

After the UN was formed, seven Arab armies invaded the land, seeking not only to wipe out the Jewish presence there, but also to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state, in opposition to the UN's stated intention. "Israel's War of Independence in 1948 was considered lawful and in self-defense," writes Hertz, "as may be reflected in UN resolutions naming Israel a 'peace-loving State' when it applied for membership at the United Nations," by both the UN Security Council and General Assembly.

No changes in the legal status of the land were made by the time, less than 20 years later, that Arab armies tried again to destroy Israel. This became the Six Day War, which finally left Israel in control of, inter alia, Judea and Samaria – and able to implement its aforementioned rights to settle it.

Even if San Remo and the UN are ignored, Prof. Hon. Stephen M. Schwebel, former President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), makes very clear that Israel's military activity during this war was purely defensive, and that "a state acting in lawful exercise of its right of self-defense may seize and occupy foreign territory, as long as such seizure and occupation are necessary to its self-defense."

Judea and Samaria was administered by Jordan (recognized as sovereign there only by Great Britain and possibly Pakistan) between 1948 and 1967, during which period it was populated by Arabs with no recognized national entity [nor could there have been, as their national rights to the area were purposely left unrecognized by Jordan]. In light of all the above, Schwebel and other experts agree: Israel has the best legal title and claim to Judea and Samaria.

Perhaps the European Union would like to consider no longer repeating the canard that Jewish settlement of the Land of Israel is illegal under international law. One hundred years of history say the EU is wrong.
What Ukraine can learn from Israel
During 1948 War of Independence, the Israelis desperately needed arms; the world said no (and indeed doled out lectures on international law). So they went out and illegally bought a load of Czech arms. They refused to take lectures when facing the literal extinction of the nascent Jewish state. I’m not saying Ukraine should start scouting the black market, but the broader principle should be internalised.

And widely. These sentiments are not just confined to Ukraine. When I reported from Greece just before the pandemic, I noticed that Israel, for so long a bogeyman for a country steeped in leftist ideology of the most reductive kind — “Free, Free Palestine!” roar the protestors who march each November in remembrance of the 1973 student uprising against the Greek Junta — had become a friend to be courted. The culmination was an April 2021 defence deal worth around £1.2 billion between the two. And why not? After all, what is Greece if not a small country perpetually menaced by Turkey, a much larger enemy on its border?

As my friend Constantine Lerounis, once an adviser to the former President of Greece, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, told me recently: “Both Greece and Israel are facing states or potential coalitions of states with far greater resources and larger military forces. When Greece looks to Israel now, it sees not a colonial oppressor but a state that has little choice but to maintain a disproportionately large military and a high state of readiness. And it understands why. The Greek-Israeli rapprochement has been in the making for some time now. What was unfathomable a decade ago is now merely common sense.”

Over the years, I’ve listened to people in Moldova and Belarus and in the Baltic States tell me more or less the same thing: Israel is a model for small countries in an increasingly unforgiving world. And it’s not just about an accretion of individual beefs between neighbours, either. Something has changed.
Report: Israel mulls possible airlift of Ukrainian Jews if Russia attacks
Top Israeli government officials and leaders of Jewish organizations held a meeting on Sunday to discuss the possibility of evacuating Jews from Ukraine if Russia invades.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been amassing troops at the two countries' borders since the fall, reportedly including the placement of weapons such as ballistic missiles, with some estimates of an impending crossing or invasion early this year.

According to a report in Israeli media, the meeting was held with members of the National Security Council, the Prime Minister's Office, and the Foreign, Defense, Diaspora Affairs, and Transportation ministries.

It also included representatives from the Jewish Agency and Nativ, which maintains connections with Jews in former Soviet countries.

Jewish organizations estimate that some 75,000 Ukrainians living in the eastern part of the country, many of them elderly, are eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return, which allows immigration to those who have one Jewish grandparent.

A possibly imminent invasion by Russian troops into Ukrainian territory has the world on edge as leaders and experts try to guess Putin's next steps and prevent what could become the largest military action in Europe since World War II. For Israel, the focus and concern lies with Ukraine's Jewish community in its Donbas region, where Jews have lived relatively free and safe. Now, their lives could be in mortal danger as they will be caught in the crossfire if war breaks out between Ukraine and Russia.


Ben Shapiro Tears Down Whoopi's Anti-Semitic, Left-Wing Philosophy
Shapiro then noted that the left’s breakdown of life into those groups was itself a form of bigotry. “And the problem is that, in American society and west more generally Jews are disproportionately successful. According to the left, disproportionately successful groups are beneficiaries of the white supremacist system and are, in fact, either white or white adjacent,” he said.

Tearing up Whoopi’s “insane, insane contention” that since the Nazis and Jews were “two groups of white people” that somehow the Holocaust wasn’t based on race, Shapiro took the thought to it’s ultimate conclusion that “ties into this idea that Jews are white people and, therefore, Jews aren't really the victims of the Holocaust, it's really all of humanity that was the victim of the Holocaust.”

He then proceeded to all out the left and their pals in the liberal media for their manipulation of coverage of anti-Semitic attacks based on the attacker’s race:
And this is why you see from the left when it comes to anti-Semitism they are utterly unwilling on any level to condemn anti-Semitism unless it's an actual white supremacist who’s doing it.

Whether it’s Black Hebrew Israelites who are attempting to murder Jews in New Jersey, or if it’s Jews in Williamsburg who are being beat up by black guys on the streets in New Jersey, or if it’s the latest anti-Semitic attack in Texas which was performed by a radical Muslim. All that disappears from the news immediately, it is not a major anti-Semitic problem.

“It's only anti-Semitism if they can characterize it as a white-on-white attack essentially,” he expertly deduced.

Describing Whoopi as “unbelievably stupid” and what she was saying as “not just insipid, it's insidious” and “insane on every level,” he pointed to the historical fact that Adolf Hitler viewed the Jews as a race and based his horrific polices on it:
Obviously, historically speaking, Hitler thought of Jews as a race. He made this obvious, he made this clear. The Nuremberg Laws are based on the idea that Jews are a race. But none of that matters to Whoopi Goldberg this ties into a broader ugly theory.

The segment closed with Watters jokingly telling Shapiro to pack his bags because they got him booked on the next episode of The View to “straighten those ladies out.”


Whoopsie, Whoopi: Hollywood Star Under Fire for Latest Anti-Jewish Remarks
The Oscar-winning actress has also casually perpetuated negative stereotypes about Jews, such as when she shared a recipe for “Jewish American Princess Roast Chicken” for a charity cookbook in 1993.

When the then-national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham H. Foxman, rebuked her for this clumsy attempt at comedy, she is said to have called him up and berated him.

Goldberg caught flak again in 2012 when she waded into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by retweeting a brazen lie on Twitter that, “men, women & children in Gaza, Palestine [sic] have been getting Massacred for the past week.”

After social media users pointed out that Gaza’s terrorist rulers Hamas had instigated the fighting by indiscriminately firing more than 100 rockets at Israel in the space of 24 hours, Goldberg admitted she was actually completely ignorant about who started the military exchange.

Apparently checking the facts before spreading damaging misinformation to her 1.6 million followers is not a priority for Goldberg.

It is quite right that Goldberg’s latest antisemitic slip-up has sparked a controversy in the media (see here, here and here) – anti-Jewish ignorance and bigotry must always be robustly challenged.

But when the furor has died down — and if Goldberg’s history is anything to go by, it will — then she is liable to walk away from her bigoted comments unscathed and continue with her lucrative day job at The View.

Which begs the question: Why is one antisemitic comment not one too many?
Whoopi Goldberg: 'The Holocaust isn't about race'



You can’t just swap out ‘Maus’ for another Holocaust book - opinion
Like many people, I encountered Maus as a middle schooler. But unlike many people, I can say that it set me on a direct path to my eventual career — as a scholar of religion, especially Judaism, and popular culture.

I was 12 when the second volume of Maus was published, and I read both volumes in one long afternoon. It was the first graphic novel I had read, and like many 12-year-olds I was just starting to think of myself as a person able to have independent ideas and opinions. The very fact of Maus, the fact that I could hold in my hand something so simple and yet complicated, changed the way I thought about how we tell stories.

Art Spiegelman’s nonfiction graphic novel uses the conventions of comic books to tell the story of his parents’ experiences as Polish Jews before, during and after the Holocaust. It is also a second-generation story about the legacy of the Holocaust on Spiegelman, a survivor’s child. Spiegelman took a genre that many could not see as literature and turned it into a medium that could tell stories in a way no other book could. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Maus may as well be Proust, because it contains words in the millions in under 300 pages.

In college I took a class on the Holocaust. I wrote my final paper on Maus. For my PhD comprehensive exams I needed to choose a text to study for one of my exams. I chose Maus. I had to convince people it was a worthy text, but convince them I did.
Daniel Greenfield: The ADL’s new Jewish outreach director hates Jews
On Twitter, Smith endorsed a claim that the “Jewish community press” are out to “maximize outrage and minimize understanding” of the Halimi murder case.

Smith agreed that the “sources on this have been misleading and inflammatory”

The ADL frequently complains abut inappropriate Holocaust analogies, but Smith retweeted an attack on the Holocaust Museum for daring to condemn Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s comparison of llegal alien detention to the Holocaust.

Tema Smith is a wholly inappropriate choice for any organization that still occasionally claims to be pro-Israel and dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism. But the ADL is actually neither. The ADL is far more interested in Black Lives Matter and transgender activism than in Jews.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s new boss, a veteran of the Obama administration who many blame for the organization’s hostility to Israel and Jews, tweeted, “Mazel tov to @temasmith. Kudos for being honored for your vital voice in the movement to empower & include Jews of Color.”

Smith’s leftist politics and her identification as a black woman matter far more to the ADL than her position on any Jewish issues.

The ADL’s hiring of Tema Smith comes after its Never Again Is Now summit last year invited anti-Israel figures who had falsely accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and blamed the Jews massacred in the Mumbai terror attack for their alleged attitude which “gives the sense of an elite club for Jews alone, is part of what provoked the terrorists to target them for the attack.”

I titled my coverage of that abomination of a conference, “The ADL Convenes a Summit of Anti-Semites to Fight Anti-Semitism.”

Now the ADL has hired a Director of Jewish Outreach who hates Jews.
Seth Frantzman: Turkish media published 'Jews, Freemasons' antisemitic conspiracy
Turkish pro-government media published an article Monday alleging that “Jewish influence behind the scenes” was involved in the “Armenian deportation,” an allegation appearing to assert that Jews were linked to the Armenian genocide.

Turkey’s government and its pro-government media denies the Armenian genocide. Most Turkish media supports the country's far-right AK ruling party and some Turkish media often publish antisemitic articles. For instance last year Turkish media claimed Jews were “overrepresented” in US President Joe Biden’s cabinet. The recent anti-Jewish article seems to contradict claims that the Turkish media has been told to reduce its antisemitism as Ankara seeks reconciliation with Israel.

The latest tirade against Jews in Turkey was headlined “Young Turks, Jews, Freemasons and the Armenian deportation.” It was published at Daily Sabah, which is known for its pro-government line. Most independent and critical Turkish media outlets have been silenced and their editors and journalists imprisoned or forced to flee the country in the last decade. Ankara is one of the world’s largest jailers of journalists. This means that when there is anti-semitism in Turkish media, it tends to represent the government’s official position.

The latest anti-Jewish article was tweeted by the newspaper with the claims of “Jewish influence.” The sub-head of the article claimed “it is a complicated matter of history, the Armenian deportation, involving numerous actors from intertwined sects of Freemasons, Young Turks to Young Armenians, with Jews of all colors sprinkled around.”

In this phrasing, the term “Young Turks” refers to a political group, but when the media in Turkey describes Jews they don’t differentiate between Jewish groups, and every Jew is seen as representing “the Jews.” This is classic antisemitism where Jews are not permitted to be individuals but are seen as acting as part of a worldwide conspiracy. It is similar to the antisemitism found in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion or in the Hamas Covenant.
Hudson Institute Launches New Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Hudson Institute launched its Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East today, which will be dedicated to bolstering American interests in this pivotal region so that the U.S. can prevail in the new era of great power competition.

Under the leadership of Hudson Senior Fellow Dr. Michael Doran, this policy initiative will bring together leading regional experts to focus on: strengthening allies, Israel first and foremost; containing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions; defeating Iranian forces and proxies; and weakening Russian and Chinese efforts to assert influence in the region.

“The U.S. faces a convergence of threats,” Doran said. “Iran, our long-time enemy and the leading state sponsor of terrorism, is being used by Russia and China to undermine U.S. leadership in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is pursuing a ‘realignment’ of our foreign policy toward Iran. This policy is emboldening the regime in Tehran, offering it a clear path to a nuclear weapon, and demoralizing our allies.”

Michael Doran specializes in Middle East security issues and served in senior positions at the State Department and as a senior director at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush.

Joining him at the Center are Hudson Senior Fellow Jonathan Schachter, a specialist in Israeli-American relations and Middle East security and a former adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Adjunct Fellow Ezra Cohen, a former Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and Director for Defense Intelligence at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Visiting Fellow Mohammed Khalid Alyahya, a specialist in Middle Eastern foreign policy and former editor-in-chief of Al Arabiya English; Adjunct Fellow Robert Greenway, President and Executive Director of the Abraham Accords Peace Institute and a former senior director at the National Security Council under President Donald J. Trump; Research Fellow Ahmad Hashemi, a former official in the foreign ministry of Iran; Research Fellow and prominent Middle East expert Rania Kisar; and Research Associate William Lombardo.
Harris Marks Holocaust Remembrance Day by Attending Inauguration of Honduran Anti-Semite
Vice President Kamala Harris pledged last week on Holocaust Remembrance Day to "combat antisemitism and hate wherever it exists." On the same day Harris posted the message, however, she was in Honduras to attend the inauguration of newly elected socialist president Xiomara Castro and her vice president, Salvador Nasralla, who has made anti-Semitic remarks.

Nasralla, who is now the second highest elected official in Honduras, said in 2020 that former president Juan Orlando Hernández's "boss is the government of Israel," according to Fox News. Nasralla also accused Jewish people of controlling the global money supply, an age-old anti-Semitic canard.

Nasralla's wife also came under fire in 2017 for saying that Adolf Hitler "was a great leader." She reportedly apologized after Jewish watchdog groups mounted a pressure campaign.

Harris's attendance at the inauguration and endorsement of Castro's regime rankled some Republican officials on Capitol Hill, who said the vice president cannot vow to combat anti-Semitism while she supports a regime involved in multiple anti-Jewish rows. The New York Times described Harris's trip to Honduras as "more than a show of support" for the new government, signaling the Biden administration's desire to work closely with Castro and Nasralla.

"Vice President Kamala Harris's hypocrisy knows no bounds," one senior Republican congressional official, speaking only on background, told the Washington Free Beacon. "On the same day she tweeted about never forgetting the atrocities of the Holocaust, she was posing for pictures with a man who has a history of espousing anti-Semitic tropes, which were the foundation of Nazi Germany's anti-Semitic misinformation campaign."
Rabbis decry Canadian church proposals on BDS, Israel 'apartheid'
The United Church of Canada will consider adopting a proposal and a report that could lead to the institution identifying Israel as an apartheid state, refusing to recognize it as a Jewish state, and officially supporting the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement. Canadian rabbinical organizations issued a letter on January 11 condemning it.

"As Canadian rabbis from across the country who span the denominational spectrum, we strongly condemn resolutions on Israel and antisemitism currently under consideration by the United Church of Canada preparatory to the 2022 General Council," reads the statement signed by the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus, Montreal Board of Rabbis, the Ontario Region Rabbinical Assembly, Rabbinical Association of Vancouver, Reform Rabbis of Canada and the Toronto Board of Rabbis.

"There's a long history of the Jewish community and representatives disagreeing with UCC on Israel-Palestinian relations," letter co-author Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl told The Jerusalem Post. "It was important to speak, motivated by the proposal by the Cambrian council, and the more developed resolution that is going before the General Council. Our concerns are theological. We feel that the UCC is ignoring that there is a biblical covenant," that ties the Jewish people to the land of Israel.

Frydman-Kohl said that UCC's direction "contributes to antisemitism because it supports or purports to support all means to achieve Palestinian statehood."

A proposal put forward by the Cambrian Shield Regional Council for the 6 month 44th General Council — the UCC's triannual leadership convention which starts February 13 — could see the UCC declare Israel to be an apartheid state, declare its support for the BDS movement, and begin advising church regions and communities in the process of divesting from companies affiliated with Israeli settlements or Israeli security forces.
Prof. Phyllis Chesler: The other pandemic
But then there’s this. Vanity Fair is a glossy, gossipy magazine. The current issue has a photo of Priyanka on the cover and pieces about Dave Chappelle, Pornhub Palace, Hugh Jackman, and Snoop Dog. And yet, here’s piece by Janine di Giovanni titled Generation Gaza. Photos depict the sea, a modern urban setting (which is headlined: No Exit: Night descends on Gaza City, urban center of the Gaza Strip.) Guess how it begins?

“Gaza’s latest conflagration, back in May, was ruthless, deadly—and somehow inevitable. After Israeli police tried to expel longtime Arab residents from East Jerusalem (is she talking about the three families that refuse to pay rent to the legal Jewish owners in the Shimon Ha-Tzadik/Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood?), Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel itself… when violence spread to the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, one of the holiest sites in Islam (really? I thought it was the third holiest site in Islam and that the mosque took over what once was the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple which preceded it by millennia, on that same spot), Israeli security forces clamped down… there was a global chorus of indignation.”

The article is filled with the usual biased and unchecked propaganda: “deeply traumatized children” (only Palestinian Arab, never Israeli), and even though Di Giovanni notes that it is “dangerous” to speak out against Hamas, a group which carries out “collective punishments” and controls Gaza, she manages to blame Israel-only for the misery of Gazans. Israel—not all the other Arab countries which have refused to grant citizenship to the many generations of descendants of those Palestinian Arabs who fled the Holy Land in 1948.

There are so many lies and a total absence of context in this piece that I could barely bring myself to read every word. I did my best.

One day, in a court of law, I imagine that hundreds of thousands—no, hundreds of millions of just such poisoned but polished pieces of propaganda will be entered into evidence in order to hold the propagandists accountable for the maiming of minds and the shedding of blood. Maybe we’ll have to wait for a heavenly court but until then, we must expose it for the lying filth that it is—and keep on doing so.

A Sisyphean task if there ever was one.
Zachor Legal Writes Letter to USC Demanding Action after Antisemitic Incident
Zachor Legal Institute wrote a letter to the USC administration reminding them that their recent publicly stated commitment to combat antisemitism is only of value if it actually leads to an improvement in their actions to protect Jewish students, rather than simply serving as a resolution meant to curry favor with the media and alumni while changing nothing on the ground.

USC’s commitment follows an egregious case of antisemitic messaging by a student senator, and the university administration’s lukewarm initial response. Only have a torrent of pressure from Jewish organizations and alumni did USC make a stronger statement.

We have recently seen multiple instances that after antisemitic events, universities make promises to improve, and then seem to forget these commitments before the ink is dry.

Jewish students at San Francisco State University (SFSU) settled a discrimination lawsuit with the university relating to antisemitic campus events. Among other things, the university agreed to allocate resources to support “educational efforts to promote viewpoint diversity (including but not limited to pro-Israel and Zionist viewpoints).” Yet little more than a year later, SFSU was hosting an event featuring Palestinian hijacker Leila Khaled.


The Washington Post Presents Israel with a False Choice
“To see what is in front of one’s nose,” the British essayist George Orwell famously observed, “needs a constant struggle.” This is particularly true if you’re counting on the Washington Post’s opinion page to provide you with the truth about Israel.

In one of its latest broadsides against the Jewish state, the Post published an op-ed by Mairav Zonszein entitled “Israel must choose: withdraw from the occupied territories or grant Palestinians under its control full rights.” Zonszein, a longtime critic of the Jewish state, is currently an analyst for International Crisis Group (ICG).

In her Jan. 7, 2022 Post op-ed, Zonszein asserted that Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, “offered yet another insulting reminder of Israel’s brutal occupation.” What did Herzog do that Zonszein found so offensive? He gave a speech in Hebron where he talked about the need to denounce “all forms of hatred and violence.” This, the ICG analyst claimed, was “insulting” as it occurred in a place “where systemic violence against Palestinians is blatant.”

Few things could be less true.

While there have been instances of Israelis attacking Palestinians, they are almost always punished by the Israeli government. Indeed, they are illegal. By contrast, instances of Palestinians attacking Israelis do not merit punishment but reward. Indeed, incentives for Palestinians to commit acts of anti-Jewish violence are enshrined in the law of the Palestinian Authority, the entity that rules over the majority of Palestinians, including those in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).

As Thane Rosenbaum, an essayist and distinguished fellow at the New York University School of Law, noted in an April 28, 2017 Washington Post commentary: Palestinian laws passed in 2004 and amended in 2013 stipulate that convicted terrorists receive monthly “salaries.” Further, cash grants and priority civil-service job placements are offered to those who carry out terror attacks. The 2004 law even specifies that the financial support is for the “fighting sector,” an “integral part of the fabric of Arab Palestinian society.” Further, payments and benefits are predicated, in part, on the length of sentence. So: the greater the crime, the greater the payoff.
Czech Republic announces national strategy to combat antisemitism
Jan Lipavský, the Czech Foreign Minister and member of the progressive Czech Pirate Party, has announced that the Czech Republic will adopt a national strategy to combat antisemitism.

The Czech Foreign Affairs Ministry is reportedly preparing the strategy in tandem with the Czech Interior Ministry, other ministries and Jewish organisations.

Mr Lipavský noted that the Czech Republic could be proud of the fact that the country has a relatively low number of antisemitic incidents, but added that “even here the amount of speech and other forms of racial intolerance on the Internet is rising. This also applies to the Romani minority.”

The move comes after the Federation of the Jewish Communities of the Czech Republic reported a rise in antisemitism, though still believed that antisemitism was at a relatively low level compared with other European countries and remained safe for Jews.
Chicago Synagogues, Jewish School, Kosher Shops Targeted in Weekend String of Vandalism
Chicago police are investigating after a Jewish school and synagogue were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti on Sunday, a day after several other attacks on Jewish targets in the city.

At around 4:40 pm local time Sunday, a swastika was spray-painted on the F.R.E.E. Synagogue, after which the suspect attacked a man before fleeing the scene, ABC affiliate Channel 7 reported. A second incident took place at Yeshivas Meor Hatorah of Chicago, where a window was broken.

According to local Jewish communal group the Concerned Citizens League, two Jewish businesses — Kol Tuv and Tel Aviv Bakery — had their windows broken on early Saturday morning, as did another synagogue nearby.

The CCL said the man attacked on Sunday was a yeshiva student, and described his assailant as a “Middle Eastern man.”

Police have said they have taken in one person of interest for questioning.

Rabbi Levi Notik of the F.R.E.E. Synagogue told CBS2 news that he was packing meals for local Holocaust survivors when they discovered the graffiti.

“It’s difficult, but we’ll overcome this,” Notik said. “We’ll get through it as a community. The way that we’ll overcome this darkness, this hate, is through love and kindness and positivity.”

Alderman Debra Silverstein issued a statement saying it was unclear whether the weekend’s incidents were connected or carried out by the same person, but said they “have all the hallmarks of hate-based crimes.”
NJ Snow Plow Operator Suspended After Intentionally Spraying Orthodox Jews With Snow
A New Jersey snowplow operator has been suspended for intentionally blasting two Orthodox Jews with snow as he drove past them on Saturday in Lakewood, a local outlet reported.

On Sunday, Waste Management (WM), one of the largest sanitation companies in the US, said employee Donny Larmann was off duty when the incident was filmed and posted to his Facebook page, along with the comment, “This one’s for you JC.”

“The hateful conduct depicted in this video is unacceptable and does not reflect the values of inclusion and diversity we hold as a company,” WM said on Twitter. “The employee is suspended while we investigate the incident, but we can confirm that this behavior will not be tolerated from any WM employee and we will not employ those who act in this way.”

In the footage shared on social media, Larmann is shown spotting the two men and powering on his plow’s blades as he approached them, brimming with laughter as it covered them with snow.

Lakewood Mayor Ray Coles told The Lakewood Scoop, which first reported the story, that the footage left him “appalled and shaken.”

“Not only was it cruel but it was also incredibly stupid and dangerous,” Coles said, noting that the plow could have propelled ice chunks that would have seriously injured or killed the victims. “I am glad to know our police department is taking this as the serious incident it is.”

The outlet noted that the clip was also posted on Facebook, and then deleted, by Brandon Ebbs, the plow’s passenger who filmed the video.


Metropolitan Police apologise after watchdog investigation found officers joking about Auschwitz
The Metropolitan Police has apologised after an investigation from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) discovered that officers had been sharing jokes about Auschwitz concentration camp.

It was also reported that there was an antisemitic joke made with reference to “killing flies”.

The investigation also uncovered evidence of bullying, misogyny and racist abuse amongst the officers. Police were also found to have made homophobic jokes, islamophobic jokes, and jokes about rape.

Fourteen officers were investigated with two being dismissed on grounds of gross misconduct.

A statement from the Met said: “The conduct of a team of officers at Charing Cross police station in central London does not represent the values of the Metropolitan Police Service.

“We are deeply sorry to Londoners and everyone they have failed with their appalling conduct and acknowledge how this will damage the trust and confidence of many in the Met.”
Borough High Street defaced with swastika graffiti
Graffiti of a swastika was found scrawled on the glass casing surrounding a Borough High Street billboard today.

The words “No to”, followed by a Star of David, were written in pink marker on the glass. A swastika was scrawled directly below.

Images of the graffiti were reported to Campaign Against Antisemitism by a concerned member of the public, who told one of our members that they spotted the graffiti at 9:15 this morning.

Campaign Against Antisemitism is now in contact with the individual.


Israeli Navy Joins US-Led International Maritime Exercise for First Time
The Israeli Navy joined the US Navy-led international maritime exercise for the first time, Israel’s Channel 22 reported on Monday.

The exercise will see the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, lead vessels from 60 countries and incorporate more than 9,000 people in an extensive exercise in the Red Sea.

“The exercise will strengthen regional security and promote regional cooperation,” the report quoted the Israel Defense Forces as stating.

The U.S. Naval Institute said the exercise began on Jan. 30 and will end on Feb. 17.

The Israeli Navy and the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet held a joint exercise in September for the first time in the Red Sea in an event the IDF Spokesperson described as “historic.”

“During the exercise, the two navies practiced a variety of scenarios, including defense and rescue operations,” the IDF said at the time.
Golda Meir’s Teenage Home in Colorado Rededicated as Center for Jewish Learning
The home where Israel’s first female prime minister, the late Golda Meir, lived as a teenager in Denver, Colorado, was rededicated this month to serve as a Jewish center for learning and engagement for local students.

The new Golda Meir House Museum, Meir’s only known residence in the United States, will feature Jewish learning classes, social gatherings, and activities hosted by the Chabad of Auraria Campus, according to Chabad.org. The house was relocated from its original location in northwest Denver to the 150-acre Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC), which provides shared services, resources, and facilities for the University of Colorado, Denver; the Metropolitan State University of Denver; and the Community College of Denver.

“We hope to strengthen the relationship with AHEC and the Golda Meir House leadership to do amazing things for our students in the upcoming semesters and years,” said Rabbi Yisrael Moshe Ort, who is a co-director of Chabad of Auraria Campus along with his wife Aura.

She added, “We hope that all past and future Chabad events, activities and classes will be an aliyas ha’neshama (‘ascent of the soul’) for Golda Meir, and that we continue to grow in her merit.”
Israel’s global coronavirus diplomacy efforts are bearing fruit
Two years into the pandemic, nations across the globe are still struggling to cope with the profound challenges that coronavirus poses. Israel is proud to be one of the countries on the front lines of responding to this unprecedented public health crisis.

Israel’s unique ability to deal with emergencies, improvise, and respond quickly and flexibly have all factored into its success in coping with the pandemic. With its rapid vaccine rollout last year, Israel was widely praised for delivering the world’s fastest vaccination campaign in the first half of 2021 and as the first country to give booster shots to the public, Israel has important lessons to share. Therefore, it makes sense that the world looks to Israel as a go-to expert on how to manage the pandemic. Moreover, a core Jewish value teaches we must help the needy during difficult times, as well as those in need of medical care. Consequently, it is natural that Israel has gone to great lengths to support its friends in the international community.

Israel has been heavily involved on the international coronavirus diplomacy scene, collaborating and exchanging information with countries around the world in order to save lives and help its partners cope with the public health crisis. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been at the forefront of this effort, leading the push to donate masks, respirators, and other essential medical equipment to countless countries. When India was being ravaged by a severe wave of coronavirus in April of last year, Israel sent entire planeloads filled with respirators and medical aid. When Romania was grappling with a crisis in November, we sent a team of five of our top medical experts to share Israel’s experience in coping with similar such crises it had experienced in its hospitals. In Ghana, the Israeli embassy mobilized to produce and distribute masks to local medical teams. At the initiative of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Israel has also committed to donate over a million vaccine doses to African nations.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry Agency for International Cooperation (MASHAV) has several aid and cooperation campaigns currently active around the world. It is in the midst of its Better Together initiative, which has seen assistance packages containing hundreds of kilos worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) gear, syringes, medications, and more sent to medical staff in 52 countries across the globe, including Kenya, Peru and Bulgaria. MASHAV has brought medical staff and administrators from Tanzania, Rwanda, Guatemala, and many others to Israel for world-class seminars and lectures. Israel’s not-for-profit sector has similarly mobilized to assist the international community. IsraAID, one of Israel’s leading NGOs, just finished a six-month project in Eswatini, where an Israeli team set up and managed an operations center for distributing vaccines, training medical staff and more.







at