Tuesday, March 15, 2022

03/15 Links Pt2: Amnesty International is no longer a human-rights group, it’s just another ‘progressive’ lobby; Lifting Human Rights Sanctions on Iran Would Be a Mistake

From Ian:

NYPost Editorial: Amnesty International is no longer a human-rights group, it’s just another ‘progressive’ lobby
If you had any doubts that Amnesty International opposes the very existence of Israel, its executive director just made it crystal-clear: Addressing the Women’s National Democratic Club, Paul O’Brien announced his “gut” belief that even “Jewish people in this country” think Israel “shouldn’t exist as a Jewish state.”

In reality, as even left-wing Jewish outfit J Street noted, polling shows the vast majority of American Jews “support Israel’s future as a democratic state and homeland for the Jewish people.”

So do most Americans, period. But the AI chief plainly only talks to people who share his prejudices.

O’Brien later tried to cover himself by tweeting that the Jewish people have a “legitimate concern” about their existence and “that needs to be part of the conversation.” But he stands by the new AI report accusing Israel of “apartheid,” when Israeli Arabs are easily the freest Arabs in the Middle East.

As William Daroff of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations noted, “It is now abundantly clear that [Amnesty is] firmly entrenched in the cadre of extremist anti-Israel provocateurs.”

Bottom line: Amnesty’s current leadership (at least) puts left-wing dogma ahead of all other considerations, milking its prestige to push the lockstep “progressive” agenda.


Amnesty USA Director Paul O’Brien’s remarks to the Woman’s National Democratic Club
In response to claims from O'Brien regarding Jewish Insider’s reporting, JI is publishing the audio of his remarks and excerpted transcripts

On Friday, Jewish Insider published a story about an event featuring Amnesty International USA Director Paul O’Brien at the Women’s National Democratic Club in Washington, D.C. In response to O’Brien’s claims that JI attributed to him quotes that he did not say regarding whether Israel should exist as a Jewish state, JI is publishing the full audio of his lecture and his conversation with a JI reporter at the end of his speech. The following excerpts include those portions of his speech and the subsequent exchange that were quoted in the article.

The political question of Israel’s right to survive
I was with a young Palestinian lawyer and she took us to the top of the hill and pointed pretty much towards the west. And you could see, like, some buildings in the very distance, and said, ‘That is Gaza, and if you point north, you can see the beginnings of the West Bank. But my village used to be there.’ And we sort of worked out the geography of it. It was an unrecognized village. And it had been destroyed because the Israeli military were concerned that Palestinian communities from Gaza, through to the West Bank, were increasingly becoming an interconnected community that created a security threat. And so for her, she had lost her village. They had moved into another village in the area for a period. But they couldn’t get any services into the village so that in the case of having to give birth, ambulances would not go into the village. Would not. They were hoping to start a family. They moved into the city so that they could get basic service provision. We went back to visit some of their older relatives that were there. And as we were walking away, she said something like, that one day soon, they won’t be there either.

And what I experienced in listening to her story was the failure of imagination in creating a society that — I personally believe, this is not, Amnesty takes no political views on any question, including the right of the State of Israel to survive. We firmly oppose antisemitism. But if you ask most people who work at Amnesty, do you understand what it means to feel that a state that has provided you sanctuary is now under threat? I don’t know of anybody at Amnesty that would say no, I don’t understand what that means. And I don’t understand why the Jewish people in the United States and in Israel would be concerned about that.

But as a human rights activist, what I do firmly believe is that if we are going to live in dignity with each other in a secure and sustainable way, it cannot be built on a system that racially oppresses another group in order to survive. That is no pathway towards the future. And that is why I believe history is on our side. Our job by talking about it honestly is to hurry up that history. There has to be a future for the Jewish and Palestinian people to live together in peace, to know that they have a home, and to do so on the foundation of human rights.
Rabbis: Amnesty International Is an ‘Anti-Semitic Hate Group’ Promoting ‘Jew-Hatred’
Amnesty International, the human rights group whose leader recently said Israel "shouldn’t exist as a Jewish state," is blatantly promoting "Jew-hatred," according to a group of influential rabbis.

Amnesty International has been facing criticism since releasing a report last month that accused Israel of waging apartheid against Palestinians and demanded that Israeli officials face prosecution in international courts for these alleged crimes. The report was widely condemned by Israel, leading American-Jewish officials, and members of Congress—all of whom labeled the report as anti-Israel propaganda.

Amnesty International faced a wave of renewed criticism this month when the director of its American branch, Paul O'Brien, who is not Jewish, said that Israel "shouldn't exist as a Jewish state" during remarks at an event hosted by the Woman's National Democratic Club.

O'Brien's remarks are anti-Semitic and amount to "Jew-hatred, plain and simple," according to the Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), an advocacy group that represents leading Orthodox rabbis.

"This is Jew-hatred, plain and simple, of a piece with Amnesty's slur of ‘apartheid' against the only ethnically diverse country, the only one with a substantial Jewish population, in the Middle East," Rabbi Yaakov Menken, CJV's managing director, told the Washington Free Beacon.

"O'Brien's reported remarks should surprise no one, as he merely said the quiet part out loud. There are 23 countries where Islam is the state religion, and 21 formally Christian states, but Amnesty only has a problem with the one identified with Jews," Menken said. "O'Brien openly argued that indigenous Jews, exclusively, should be denied self-determination in their indigenous homeland."


Anne Bayefsky: Senate must block omnibus funding for UN antisemitism
In 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the U.N.’s top human rights body, created an unprecedented permanent Commission of Inquiry designed to target Israel, applying double standards to the Jewish state and questioning its place in the family of nations. The U.N. General Assembly decided to fund this antisemitic fishing expedition at the end of December 2021 over the negative votes of both the United States and Israel.

A week later, starting Jan. 1, the Biden administration rejoined the Human Rights Council as a full member.

The House has now passed an omnibus spending bill that funds this sham. If the Senate fails to block funding, taxpayer money will go toward this venture to label Israel as a racist state, criminalize Israeli self-defense, and boost the boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign directed at Israel.

The development marks a new low in hypocrisy for both the Biden administration and all those members of Congress who purport to stand with Israel in pursuit of American values.

The omnibus bill dedicates money to strengthen normalization agreements with Israel and to counter antisemitism. At exactly the same time, it funds the council’s new multimillion-dollar venture to deny normalization and promote antisemitism.

On one hand, the omnibus bill requires reporting on “the prosecution of citizens or residents of Arab countries for … engaging Israeli citizens in any way.” On the other, it funds a U.N. endeavor to criminalize and ban engaging Israeli citizens and businesses, based on slanderous charges of “systematic discrimination and repression based on racial or religious identity.”

The omnibus bill includes new money to enhance security for the protection of nonprofit groups such as synagogues, yet it simultaneously funds a machine to inflame xenophobic hatred of Jews everywhere under the guise of mere criticism of Israel.

In a holdover from prior years, the omnibus bill says money for the Human Rights Council itself is dependent on the secretary of state determining and reporting that the council is “taking significant steps to remove Israel as a permanent agenda item and ensure integrity in the election of members to such Council.”
Im Tirtzu Challenges ‘BDS Tourists’ in Hebron
Following a long hiatus due to COVID-19, the World Council of Churches’ controversial “ecumenical accompaniers” have returned to Israel, Im Tirtzu reported this week.

The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) which sends operatives to “monitor and report human rights abuses,” is the flagship program of the World Council of Churches that boasts a fellowship of “352 churches from more than 120 countries, representing over 580 million Christians worldwide.”

According to the EAPPI, since its founding in 2002, it has sent more than 1,800 “accompaniers” to Israel to “witness life under occupation” and to be “the first to respond to human rights violations.”

In response to the EAPPI’s return, Im Tirtzu has resumed filming EAPPI’s activities and put up large banners in Hebron informing IDF soldiers about the illegal presence of the accompaniers, urging soldiers to report them to the authorities.

These accompaniers enter the country predominately using tourist visas and then proceed to operate in Judea, Samaria, or Jerusalem for three months. Upon their return home, they share their experiences with their churches and communities.

EAPPI has come under fire from an array of pro-Israel groups that have shed light on its anti-Israel activities, noting that the accompaniers violate the conditions of their tourist visas by harassing IDF soldiers and residents, and upon their return home engage in anti-Israel advocacy including promoting BDS and smearing Israel as an apartheid state.
JCPA: In Response to the Killing of Two IRGC Colonels, Iran Fired Missiles near the U.S. Consulate in Erbil
The IRGC Takes Responsibility for the Ballistic-Missile Fire on Iraq

Twelve short-range ballistic missiles, fired from Iran, landed close to the U.S. consulate in Erbil, which is in the building stage, and to the offices of the Kurdish television network Kurdistan24 in northern Iraq. U.S. security forces and intelligence operatives are stationed in the region. American, Kurdish, and Iraqi security personnel launched an investigation, and initial findings are that the missiles were of the Fateh-110 model (a ballistic missile with a short range of up to 300 km; the different models include the Zulfiqar, which was fired at the United Arab Emirates from Yemen, with a range of up to 700 km).

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) took responsibility for the missile fire and claimed that the target was a Mossad facility — “a strategic center that spreads the Zionist evil.” The announcement claimed that “In light of the recent crimes [the killing of the IRGC colonels in Syria] and Iran’s declaration that it would respond to them, the Zionist center was attacked with powerful and precise missiles of the Revolutionary Guard of Iran.” The IRGC warned the “Zionist regime” that “new crimes will be answered with a harsh and destructive response…. The security of the Iranian homeland constitutes a red line, and we will not allow anyone to violate it.”2

U.S. officials assessed that the missile fire was carried out by Iran in response to the death of the two IRGC colonels last week.3 Various Iranian spokespeople and editorials called to avenge the deaths and “teach Israel a lesson.”

Later, “informed intelligence sources” close to Iran and some of Iran’s Shiite proxies maintained that the attack was in retaliation for an Israeli attack on the Mahidasht UAV base (in Iran’s Kermanshah province) in which hundreds of UAVs were damaged. Iranian media quoted officials who said the targets were the new U.S. consulate building and two advanced instruction facilities operated by the Mossad along with “secret Israeli bases in Kurdistan.”
Report: Iraq site targeted by Iran also served as 'Israeli training facility'
The building in Iraq which was struck by Iranian missiles on Sunday also served as an Israeli training facility, a top US official has disclosed to The New York Times.

A dozen ballistic missiles from Iran hit the city of Erbil before dawn, according to Kurdish and US sources. At least two people were injured.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps later said it targeted "a strategic center for conspiracy and mischiefs of the Zionists."

The city is the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, which contrasts greatly with Baghdad on Israel.

Beyond openly purchasing oil from Iraqi Kurdistan and voicing support for Kurdish independence, Israel also allegedly maintains security ties with the region's leaders.

A US consulate was reportedly near the strike, although US officials said there was no damage or casualties in any US building. The nearby Erbil airport, which houses a US military base, was not affected in the attack.


Cyberattack against Israeli sites follows reports of failed Mossad op against Iran
The Mossad allegedly attempted to attack the Islamic Republic of Iran's key Fordow nuclear enrichment site, Iranian media claimed on Monday night.

There was no way to independently confirm the report. Tehran frequently claims to have busted Mossad cells when actually it is merely arresting local opposition elements.

According to Iranian media, a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence unit said a Mossad team that was seeking to carry out an act of sabotage at Fordow was arrested.

Further, reports said that an employee had been given cash and a laptop to sabotage the site, but that he was caught and arrested by the IRGC.

Fordow is the second most important site in terms of volume of centrifuges for enriching uranium, after the Natanz facility.
PA slams Biden administration over ‘unfulfilled promises’
The US administration has not yet fulfilled any of the promises made by President Joe Biden to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, PA presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh said on Tuesday.

His remarks came one day after he and other senior PA officials, including PLO Executive Committee member Hussein al-Sheikh, held talks in Ramallah with US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr.

Abu Rudaineh said the “unfulfilled promises” included a pledge to reopen the US Consulate in Jerusalem, maintain the status quo in the city, and oppose unilateral Israeli measures such as the “seizure” of Palestinian money, a reference to tax revenues withheld by Israel in response to payments made by the PA to families of prisoners and “martyrs.”

The PA official called on the Biden administration to revise its policies toward the ongoing Israeli measures against the Palestinians. He also called for exerting pressure on Israel to halt its “aggression and crimes,” which don’t create a suitable atmosphere for any peace process.

The world “is still committed to the two-state solution, international law and international legitimacy,” Abu Rudaineh said. As long as there is no solution to the Palestinian issue, the region will not live in peace, and as long as Jerusalem burns, the whole region will remain in a state of instability and tension.”

Abu Rudaineh also condemned the killing of two Palestinians earlier in the day during clashes with the IDF in the refugee camps of Balata, near Nablus, and Kalandiya, near Ramallah. Describing the killings as “extrajudicial executions,” he warned that “this escalation could lead to an explosion.”
PMW: Pay the doctors, not the terrorists!
The Palestinian Authority narrowly avoided a strike of the Palestinian doctors. The doctors were set to strike because the PA has failed to implement promises it made to the doctors to improve their pay.

Explaining why it could not fulfill its promises to the doctors, the PA Ministry of Health blamed the “stoppage of external aid” and the effects of Israel’s Anti “Pay-for-Slay” law - the Israeli law designed to combat the PA’s huge payments to terrorists – what the PA Ministry of Health referred to as the “theft of tax money… as a result of the national position that adheres to principles”:
“The [PA] Ministry of Health called on the Doctor’s Union not to implement the measures of escalation that were announced in a statement it issued on Feb. 25 [2022], and not to turn to a strike in the [PA] governmental health sector at this difficult and sensitive time…

The ministry said that the [PA] government and the ministry are in a difficult situation in light of the lack of financial resources, the stoppage of external aid, and the theft of tax money by the occupation and it taking a large part of our money as a result of the national position that adheres to the principles. The ministry also noted that the political pressures that the Israeli occupation authorities are exerting on the leadership have caused a suffocating financial crisis that still exists.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 4, 2022]

Indeed, since Palestinian Media Watch exposed the PA’s payments to terrorists, foreign aid to the PA has dropped by 90%. A substantial part of the foreign aid was lost when the US passed the Taylor Force Act, which conditions the bulk of US aid to the PA on its abolition of its payments to terrorists.


PreOccupiedTerritory: Gaza Man In Trouble For Not Suffering Enough To Make Israel Look Bad (satire)
Hamas authorities in this autonomous coastal territory have begun harassing a local resident, witnesses report, because he fails to showcase the requisite level of misery the Islamist movement demands as part of its strategy to leverage Palestinian suffering to turn global opinion against the Jewish State and thus to undermine its perceived legitimacy and thereby facilitate its demise.

Aziz Abdelrahman, 57, has received several visits from police and government functionaries over the last several months, the witnesses observed, following a prolonged period of good spirits, joie de vivre, and conscious refusal to allow misfortune to spoil his optimism. The representatives of Hamas in its various governing capacities – law enforcement, public health, and propaganda, among others – sought to impress upon Mr. Abdelrahman the importance of maintaining a miserable, if not outright squalid, existence, in keeping with every Palestinian’s solemn duty to contribute to the struggle against Zionism and Jewish supremacy. Excess satisfaction with life, they explained, plays into Zionist hands by allowing people to entertain the sacrilegious notion that one might accept, even provisionally, the current reality, a world in which Jews are not under the Islamist boot. Only by letting suffering dominate the physical and psychological landscape can the sacred mission approach fulfillment.

“I think he earned his first visit because one Friday he was sitting in front of our apartment building greeting every passerby warmly and cheerfully,” recalled a neighbor from the same floor of the building who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He was just uncommonly happy, and wanted to share it. I admit it was infectious. I caught myself still smiling like a minute after the encounter. It’s a good thing no one snitched on me to the Ministry of Depression, or whatever they are, because I don’t need that hassle.”
Lifting Human Rights Sanctions on Iran Would Be a Mistake
The Biden administration is reportedly poised to lift all sanctions on many of Iran’s worst human rights abusers and terrorism sponsors in exchange for remarkably weak nuclear concessions from Iran. History has shown that sacrificing human rights concerns to achieve arms control objectives is both unnecessary and counterproductive.

Both Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, due in part to the insistence of Congress, maintained strong human rights pressure on the Soviet Union while successfully negotiating major arms control agreements. The current Congress should step in to ensure that the administration’s eagerness for a deal with Iran does not undermine accountability for Iran’s egregious human rights abuses and sponsorship of terrorism.

The Iranians who will reportedly be freed from all sanctions under the nuclear deal include Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi, Vice President Mohsen Rezaei, and Hossein Dehghan, a former brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Each has a horrific record of personal responsibility for human rights abuses and terrorism.

Khamenei was Iran's president from 1981 until 1989 and has been its supreme leader since then. As such, Khamenei is ultimately responsible for four decades of Iranian human rights abuses and support for terrorism. A U.S. federal court held Khamenei personally responsible for the deaths of nineteen U.S. servicemembers in the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. Federal courts have also held Khamenei personally responsible for the deaths of U.S. civilians in three terrorist bombings in Israel—two on public buses and one at an outdoor market in Jerusalem.

Raisi is responsible for the execution of thousands of political prisoners and the unlawful torture and execution of hundreds of peaceful protesters. All sanctions will likewise reportedly be lifted on Rezaei, a former IRGC commander in chief who is wanted by Argentina for organizing a 1994 attack on a Jewish community center that killed eighty-five people. Dehghan is responsible for mass executions as commander of the IRGC’s Tehran branch. He also commanded the IRGC in Lebanon when Iran ordered the Beirut barracks bombing, which killed 241 U.S. Marines.

The nuclear deal is reportedly also poised to lift all sanctions on the IRGC, which is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans and has carried out terrorist activities that have violated human rights around the world for decades. This sends a particularly counterproductive message in the wake of recent reports that the IRGC is actively working to assassinate former U.S. government officials, including former U.S. national security advisor John Bolton.


Israel, UAE Push for US Security Guarantees in Any New Iran Deal: Report
Israel and the United Arab Emirates are pressing the United States to provide security guarantees as part of any new nuclear agreement with Iran, amid concerns that an accord will increase Tehran’s belligerence, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Due to a disruption in global fuel supplies because of the Ukrainian conflict and ensuing Western sanctions on Russia, the UAE believes it has significant leverage to pressure Washington to formulate a new Middle East security strategy that will account for its concerns.

Such a strategy would need to include missile defense capabilities and intelligence sharing, several anonymous sources told Bloomberg.

Israel is also pushing the US on the matter, in coordination with the UAE. The countries, which established formal relations in 2020, are both concerned that Iran could see its profits from oil sales rise, allowing it to boost support to regional proxies and clients like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

State Department and White House officials were cited as saying that discussions are ongoing and the US remains committed to its allies in the Middle East.

Israel’s foreign and defense ministries did not comment, nor did the UAE’s foreign ministry.
New Iran Nuclear Deal Will Create ‘Sanctions Evasion Hub for Putin,’ Experts Say
With a nuclear deal likely to be announced in the coming days, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a think tank critical of the agreement, says a new deal will allow Putin to circumvent tough Western sanctions that have been put in place since Russia invaded Ukraine.

"Policymakers should understand why this deal will establish a sanctions evasion hub for Vladimir Putin based in Iran—dramatically undermining international attempts to halt Russia's invasion of Ukraine and deter further aggression," according to the document, which FDD has furnished to lawmakers in the House and Senate. "In addition to looking for a sanctions-free channel for trade, Russia might use this opportunity to learn from Iran’s decades of sanctions circumvention expertise and better prepare to offset future financial pressure from the West."

The policy brief could help derail an agreement before it even goes into effect. Republicans in the House and Senate have already threatened to dismantle the deal and ensure that Iran does not get massive sanctions relief promised by the Biden administration. A majority of Republican leaders in both chambers warn that any deal reached without congressional approval will be dead on arrival. The information about how Russia will be able to use Iran as a hub for its sanctions-busting activities is likely to strengthen Republican opposition, particularly as Moscow wages an unprovoked war in Ukraine that has isolated its economy from the international banking system.

Russia has emerged as one of the major interlocutors in agreement negotiations, along with China, and there are concerns on Capitol Hill that both countries are using the deal to strengthen their nuclear and military trade ties with Iran.

While U.S. and European sanctions have targeted Russia's financial sector, there are still major gaps in these measures. Countries that have not yet leveled sanctions on Russia, such as China and India, can still do business with Moscow. As the Biden administration mulls the imposition of further sanctions that could restrict this activity, Russia is eyeing Iran as a base to conduct sanctions-busting operations, according to the document.
Russia Says It Received Guarantees From US on Iran Nuclear Deal
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday after negotiations regarding a nuclear deal stalled as Russia presented new demands.

Lavrov said that Moscow received guarantees from the United States on its ability to trade with Tehran as part of ongoing talks to salvage the Iran nuclear deal.

“We received written guarantees. They are included in the text of the agreement itself on the resumption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program,” Lavrov told reporters during a press conference.

On March 5, Russia demanded guarantees that sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine would not damage trade with Iran. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed the demands as “irrelevant,” saying that they “just are not in any way linked together.”

Amir-Abdollahian noted after the meeting that there was no connection between the events in Ukraine and talks in Vienna, according to Haaretz.
Report: Israel Destroyed Hundreds of Drones in Attack on Western Iran
In recent months we’ve seen a lethal attack on an oil tanker by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) loaded with explosives, UAVs that were launched from the Gaza Strip and hit Israeli neighborhoods, and UAV attacks on refineries and oil pipelines in Saudi Arabia and on US military bases in Iraq. The United States, Europe, and Israel blame Iran for these attacks, suggesting the Islamic Republic is rapidly raising its capability to build and operate attack drones, changing the security equation in the region.

Now, according to the Hezbollah-affiliated, Lebanese TV channel Al-Miyadin, a massive drone airstrike in Iran in mid-February caused heavy damage to the UAV force operated by the Iranians. According to some estimates, the air raid destroyed hundreds of drones of various sizes. Tehran attributes the attack to Israel, which has not claimed responsibility. The city of Kermanshah in western Iran where Israel reportedly attacked and destroyed hundreds of drones in mid-February 2022. / Google Maps

According to the Lebanese channel, this was the context for the Iranian missile attack on the city of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan overnight Sunday this week. The attack was reportedly an Iranian retaliation for the bombing of the UAV base in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah, in mid-February. Al-Miyadin said six Israeli UAVs were involved in the attack. Iran claimed responsibility for the counterattack this week and announced its missiles had hit an Israeli military base in the Kurdish region. The Kurdistan government has since denied the Iranian statement, claiming that the missiles hit a civilian facility.

It should be noted that the attack in Kurdistan came four days after Iran had vowed revenge against Israel for an IAF airstrike in Syria that killed four, including at least two members of the Revolutionary Guards. The Revolutionary Guards Corps warned Israel “once again that the repeating of its evil actions will be met with a firm and destructive response,” and “We also assure the Iranian people that the country’s security and stability is a red line for the Iranian armed force.”




NGO Monitor: Anti-Israel NGO officials exploit EU mechanism for BDS
On February 20, 2022, over 100 European and international NGOs, self-proclaimed grassroots movements, and politicized trade unions launched another BDS campaign headlined “#StopTradeWithSettlements” calling “for an EU law that will end trade with illegal settlements once and for all.”1

The activists are using an EU mechanism, “European Citizens’ Initiative” (ECI), which “allows EU citizens to participate directly in the development of EU policies by calling on the European Commission to make a legislative proposal.” According to the Commission, in order to qualify for consideration, “an initiative must gather the support of at least one million EU citizens from at least seven member states” – after which point the Commission “must decide whether or not to make a legislative proposal, and explain the reasons for that choice.” (For more information, read European Citizens’ Initiative – “How it works.”)

Organizers have attempted to frame their campaign as not specifically targeting Israel, after a previous iteration was rejected by the Commission.2 An advocacy officer for The Platform of French NGOs for Palestine (PFP), one of the campaign leaders, and a group devoted entirely to an anti-Israel agenda, asserted that “the initiative had nothing to do with the BDS movement.”

However, such claims are inconsistent with the evidence, to understate the case. The campaign initiators are all BDS activists, including current and former senior officials of intensely anti-Israel NGOs (see below). As noted by Human Rights Watch (HRW), which has been a leader of BDS campaigns and other forms of singling out Israel and double standards, the ECI “applies in a clear-cut fashion to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.” The campaign website mentions only one specific situation, “the Occupied Palestine Territory and Israel’s illegal settlements there”; refers to the “current atrocities such as Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestine”; all the background images used on the website are from the Israeli-Palestinian context; and the associated social media materials all revolve around Israel. The website originally featured a top menu item on “Illegal Israeli Settlements,” but this section was removed shortly after the initiative was formally launched (before and after). Finally, in December 2021, PFP described the project as a “European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) concerning the banning of products from Israeli settlements.”
Israel welcomes France’s decision to outlaw two pro-Palestinian groups
Israel welcomed France’s decision to outlaw two pro-Palestinian groups – Collectif Palestine Vaincra and Comité Action Palestine – over their calls for hatred, discrimination and violence against Israel.

“Antisemitism has no place today in Western democracies, even when it acts under the guise of hatred of Israel,” Israel’s Embassy in France tweeted, adding that it was grateful to France for taking such as a “firm and courageous decision.”

Left-wing NGOs have protested France’s decision, with the Campagne Unitaire pour la libération de Georges Abdallah group planning a pro-Palestinian rally in Paris on Friday in support of the two NGOs.

The planned rally follows a number of grassroots protests by pro-Palestinian NGOs in France that have taken place since February 24, when French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin spoke of banning the groups on the request of French President Emanuel Macron. He then formally dissolved the two NGOs on March 9.

Both banned NGOs have said that they plan to appeal the decision to France’s judicial administrative appeals body, the Conseil d’Etat. The Comité Action Palestine also hopes to appeal to the European Court.

France’s decision, the Collectif said, is part of the “criminalization of the solidarity movement with the Palestinian people.” This move targets “anti-colonialist and anti-racist organizations,” and that more than ever, people must stand up against “this attack on the most basic rights of freedom of expression.”

The Collectif Palestine Vaincra is affiliated with the international nongovernmental group Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.
Ben & Jerry’s Israel distributor seeks injunction to keep selling during lawsuit
The Israeli manufacturer and distributor of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream has filed for an immediate court-ordered injunction to keep its license agreement with the ice cream maker and its parent company, Unilever, during an ongoing court case.

Avi Zinger and his company, American Quality Products (AQP), filed the formal motion with the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, his lawyers said on Monday.

Zinger and AQP sued Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever in the court earlier this month, claiming the companies unlawfully terminated their business relationship, after boycotting sales in the West Bank last year. The agreement is set to expire at the end of 2022.

The new injunction seeks to prevent Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s from terminating their license agreement with AQP before the plaintiff’s claims are resolved. It would allow AQP to continue manufacturing and distributing Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel and Israeli-controlled areas.

Unilever’s response to the injunction is due on April 4, and the court will hear oral arguments on April 18.

The motion argues that Unilever will cause AQP “irreparable injury” without an injunction, will possibly harm others, and go against the public interest, all legal requirements for injunctive relief.

The plaintiffs say the boycott announcement has severely harmed AQP’s sales, caused upheaval in its business, and threatens it with “total destruction.”


Environmental Group Sierra Club Scolded for ‘Caving’ to Anti-Zionist Pressure, Cancelling Israel Trips
A leading US Jewish organization condemned the Sierra Club on Monday for cancelling member trips to Israel after facing pressure from anti-Zionist groups.

The conservation group had previously organized trips to Israel to survey archaeological sites and learn about its biodiversity and environmental policies. According to a mass email obtained by the Jewish News of Northern California (J.), which first reported the story, Sierra Club official Mary Owens ascribed the group’s decision to an ultimatum issued by several anti-Zionist groups and “one Jewish American activist” to cancel the trips by March 7.

The email threatened “that if we did not cancel the upcoming trips within a week, they would go public that the organization violating the organizational values it recently rolled out,” Owens wrote, adding that the National Outings team did not want to accede to the demand.

According to J., groups behind the effort included the Adalah Justice Project, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Sunrise Movement, among others. Ultimately, an ad hoc group convened by Sierra Club recommended that the trips be discontinued. A webpage with details of an upcoming Israel trip was later taken down, and references to past trips removed.

The American Jewish Committee’s Bay Area regional director, Rabbi Serene Eisenberg, said Monday that the national environmental group had “squandered an opportunity to experience a country with a rich legacy of environmental innovation and water conservation.”

“It’s regrettable that the Sierra Club would cave into pressure based on biased and inaccurate reports that unfortunately foment the demonization of Israel,” Eisenberg said in a statement. “Israel has pioneered environmental stewardship methods and exported these technologies to benefit populations all over the world.”

“It speaks volumes that the Sierra Club is canceling a trip to the only democracy in the Middle East while moving forward with trips to nations with a well-documented record of human rights abuses,” she added. Programs still advertised on Sierra Club’s website include several hundred trips, with many in the US and destinations abroad including China and Malaysia.
Tall Tale Gaza Source Powers Media Falsehood About Mountain of Batteries
History shows it doesn’t take much for Gaza sources to override the essential journalistic dose of skepticism.

In 2015, Agence France Presse and Al Jazeera were compelled to correct after relying on a Gaza resident’s fabrication that Israel’s release of southern dams caused major flooding in the coastal Hamas-run territory. Journalists’ failure to check with Israeli authorities before publication opened up the proverbial floodgates and enabled the so-called “flood libel.” In reality, there are no dams in southern Israel.

In 2018, The New Yorker, an esteemed publication which takes pride in its purportedly high standards of fact-checking, parroted the falsehood that there are no MRI machines in the Gaza Strip. The most perfunctory Google scan would have exposed the Gaza cancer patient’s claim as unfounded.

Last week, false tales about daily life and conditions in Gaza reached a new height. According to a Gaza source initially quoted in Agence France Presse, a toxic and polluting mountain of discarded batteries reaches up to 50 meters high.
Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi liberal, except on antisemitism?
The headline of an op-ed by Guardian columnist, and feminist activist, Arwa Mahdawi (“Nothing makes liberals abandon their values, or their courage, like mentioning Palestine”, March 12) is oddly placed on the writer’s ‘The Week In Patriarchy‘ page:

The headline is culled from the op-ed’s opening paragraph:
What starts with “P” ends with “E” and is too terrifying a word for many people to so much as mention? “Palestine”, of course! Simply uttering the P-word in a vaguely sympathetic way can be enough to elicit bad faith accusations of antisemitism. The topic has become so loaded that some people seemingly prefer to pretend Palestine and Palestinians don’t exist and just ignore the issue altogether. Nothing makes liberals abandon their progressive values, or their courage, like someone mentioning Palestine.

First, the suggestion that Jews use the word “antisemitism” in bad faith whenever anyone expresses sympathy for the Palestinians is a smear straight out of the Corbynista playbook. In fact, page 28 of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report on antisemitism in the Labour Party denounced as racist that very tactic – used by former London Mayor Ken Livingstone and others – of discrediting Jewish complaints of antisemitism by alleging they are merely cynical attempts to stifle criticism of Israel.

Also, it’s absurd for Mahdawi to claim – on the pages of the Guardian no less, the global English-language home of pro-Palestinian journalism – that the issue of Palestinian rights is ignored. The issue of Palestine in fact garners a disproportionate amount of attention in the media, at international bodies like the UN, and “human rights” NGOs.

The final sentence of the paragraph rests upon the lie that support for the Jewish state – the most progressive state in the Middle East by far – is somehow inconsistent with liberal values. In fact, however one views the nature of the conflict, it is the Palestinians who embrace illiberalism. This is the case by virtue of their leadership’s undemocratic, authoritarian rule in both Gaza and the West Bank, as well as public opinion polls on the attitudes of ordinary Palestinians.


SAGGER: New game allows users to lead Israel through the Yom Kippur War
Imagine being the one to make all the decisions and command the Israeli army and lead the political echelon through the Yom Kippur War. All the consequences - good or bad - rest on your shoulders.

The opportunity to be supreme commander can be yours as you play Sagger – an interactive strategy simulator.

The name of the simulator, Sagger, comes from the weapon that was used en masse by the Egyptian and Syrian armies to fight Israel, said Sagger CEO and co-founder Channa Larson.

The Sagger anti-tank missiles used by those militaries in 1973 gave the world just a glimpse of future wars, as anti-tank missiles like the Javelin and NLOS are being used by Ukrainians to destroy numerous Russian tanks and armored vehicles.

In 1973, the Saggers were part of the Arab armies’ arsenal that had been provided by the Soviet Union, including state-of-the-art tanks, jets and missiles. Now, Sagger is also an innovative tool to help young people understand and navigate one of Israel’s most devastating wars.

The Sagger simulator re-creates the events of the Yom Kippur War from the point of view of decision-makers and policy leaders and not from the point of view of the fighters on the ground.


New Jersey Exhibit Examines Lives of Holocaust Survivors After World War II, UN Response
A new traveling exhibit opening this month at Stockton University in New Jersey highlights the lasting impact of the Holocaust in the years immediately following World War II and the multinational relief response by the United Nations.

Titled “After the End of the World: Displaced Persons and Displaced Persons Camps,” the display features artifacts from the archives of the UN and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (YIVO), including official documentation, photos, reports, and correspondence between Holocaust survivors and family members who were trying to reunite after the war.

YIVO also provided posters created by Holocaust survivors in displaced persons camps that provide insight into their daily lives, such as wall newspapers, lectures at the camps, and announcements for sporting events and political rallies.

The exhibit — created by the UN Department of Global Communications, UN Archives, and YIVO — “reminds us of the importance of a multinational response that is sensitive and responsive to the agency of the survivors and works to support them as they reconstitute their lives,” said Tracey Petersen, manager of the Holocaust and the UN Outreach Programme.

YIVO CEO Jonathan Brent added, “The exhibition illustrates how the displaced persons did not shrink from the task of rebuilding both their own lives and Jewish communal life.”
Holocaust survivor Inge Deutschkron, who hid in Berlin during WWII, dies at 99
Inge Deutschkron, a Holocaust survivor who hid in Berlin during the Nazi era and went on to become a prominent voice for remembrance, died on March 9 at the age of 99.

In her 1978 autobiography, “I Wore the Yellow Star,” Deutschkron — who moved back to Berlin in 2002 after living in London and later Tel Aviv — described how she hid in and around the city as a young woman. Her story, which she later shared in many classrooms around Germany, became an inspiration and a warning.

“Despite everything that was done to her by Germans, Inge Deutschkron did not turn her back on Germany. She worked tirelessly to ensure that we learn the right lessons from the crimes committed during National Socialism,” German President Walter Steinmeier said in a statement. “As a contemporary witness, she helped keep the memory of those persecuted and murdered alive and helped form a generation of witnesses of the witnesses.”

Born in 1922 in Finsterwalde, a town south of Berlin, Deutschkron was five years old when her family moved to the capital. They felt more German than Jewish until the Nazis came to power in 1933.

Speaking at the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in Germany’s parliament in 2013, Deutschkron recalled how her mother told her: “You’re part of a minority now. You have to show the other kids in your class that you’re no less than they are.”

“And she knew, of course, that I would do exactly that,” she added.

Her father, Martin Deutschkron, a schoolteacher, was fired and fled to England in 1939. But Inge and her mother, Ella, were not able to get out. In 1941, she got a job in Otto Weidt’s brush workshop for the blind in 1941. Weidt employed — and also helped save — workers who were deaf and blind, including many Jews. The site of the workshop is now a satellite exhibit of the Jewish Museum Berlin.
National Library unveils largest collection of Esther scrolls in the world
Among the millions of items in the National Library’s collections are also hundreds of Esther scrolls - the largest in the world. Some of which are particularly ancient and rare, that tell the story of Jewish communities throughout Europe and Eastern Jewry. As the nation marks Purim, the National Library provides a rare glimpse into part of the collection.

One of the world’s oldest known Esther scrolls (also known as a “megillah“) has recently been gifted to the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem, home to the world’s largest collection of textual Judaica.

Esther scrolls contain the story of the Book of Esther in Hebrew and are traditionally read in Jewish communities across the globe on the festival of Purim, which will take place on February 25-28 this year.

Scholars have determined that the newly received Esther scroll was written by a scribe on the Iberian Peninsula around 1465, prior to the Spanish and Portuguese Expulsions at the end of the fifteenth century. These conclusions are based on both stylistic and scientific evidence, including Carbon-14 dating.

The megillah is written in brown ink on leather in an elegant, characteristic Sephardic script, which resembles that of a Torah scroll. The first panel, before the text of the Book of Esther, includes the traditional blessings recited before and after the reading of the megillah, and attests to the ritual use of this scroll in a pre-Expulsion Iberian Jewish community.

According to experts, there are very few extant Esther scrolls from the medieval period in general, and from the fifteenth century, in particular. Torah scrolls and Esther scrolls from pre-Expulsion Spain and Portugal are even rarer, with only a small handful known to exist.

Prior to the donation, this scroll was the only complete fifteenth century megillah in private hands.






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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 19 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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