Saturday, March 19, 2022

03/19 Links: The US ambassador to Israel calls pay-for-slay 'martyr payments'; Biden’s Unconscionable Empowerment of Both Russia and Iran; 10th Anniversary of Terrorist Attack at Toulouse Jewish School

From Ian:

Jonathan Tobin: The US ambassador to Israel calls pay-for-slay 'martyr payments' - for starters
Thomas Nides may not be able to erase everything his predecessor accomplished. But he’s doing his best. That was the upshot of an astonishing webinar conducted by the U.S. ambassador to the State of Israel earlier this week with Americans for Peace Now.

Israelis and American friends of Israel were aware that Nides and his boss, President Joe Biden, have a different point of view about the Jewish state, as well as the conflict with the Palestinian Arabs, than that of former President Donald Trump and his envoy to Israel, David Friedman. But what his conversation laid bare wasn’t just hostility to the views of the overwhelming majority of Israelis, including many in the current government. Nor was it about what Trump tried to do in order to shake the Palestinian Arabs out of their intransigence and to help facilitate normal relations between the Jewish state and much of the Arab world. Like others in the administration these days, he is determined to stick with the foreign-policy establishment’s failed Middle East policies of the past to try to force Israel to do things that voters of that democratic nation have repeatedly rejected.

Nides tossed diplomatic courtesy to the winds in the webinar in which he spoke of there being people in the current government to which he is accredited with whom he would not wish to have dinner. The former Democratic Party operative, banker and U.S. State Department official also vented his spleen about Israelis building homes in Jerusalem or those parts of the 'West Bank' that he knows the Jewish state will never relinquish, even in a theoretical peace deal.

In addition to calling such construction “stupid” and “infuriating,” his devotion to restoring the pre-1967 “Green Line” extends to the point of refusing to not just Jewish communities in the territories but even to visit the tunnels under the Western Wall in Jerusalem, a stand that validates the disingenuous Arab claim that efforts to restore and reaffirm the sacred site’s Jewish history are somehow a provocation.

Instead of working to widen the circle of peace between Israel and the neighboring Arab states or promoting warmer relations with the United States, Nides indicated that his main agenda was helping the Palestinian Arabs. He seemed primarily focused on the idea that granting the brutally tyrannical and corrupt Palestinian Authority formal sovereignty was the only thing that mattered. Anything that might interfere with that, including the P.A.’s notorious “pay for slay” policies (which he tellingly referred to as “martyr payments”) in which it gives salaries and pensions to terrorists based on how much Jewish blood they spill is seen as an obstacle to his goal because it provides Israelis with an excuse not to surrender territory.
Another Palestinian ‘Moderate’ Is Exposed
This past week, Shtayyeh threatened to upset the apple cart that the media had so carefully constructed in order to protect his image. In meetings with members of Congress who were visiting Ramallah, the PA prime minister launched into a series of venomous anti-Israel tirades.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.) asked Shtayyeh about the 4,000-plus Hamas rocket attacks on Israel last May. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) and Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) told Jewish Insider that “Shtayyeh dismissed Hamas rocket attacks against Israel as ‘fireworks.’ ”

That’s right, “fireworks.” Which somehow managed to murder 10 Israelis and severely damage countless Israeli homes, schools and kibbutzim.

Garbarino said that Shtayyeh’s outrageous statement “really annoyed people” in the delegation and indicated that “[the Palestinian Arabs] are not ready to have an adult conversation.”

Jewish Insider reported that Shtayyeh also falsely accused Israel of “apartheid.” Remarkable! The prime minister of the PA, which forbids Jews from living in its territory and forbids Arabs from selling property to Jews under penalty of death, accuses the Jews of apartheid.

According to Jewish Insider, House Democratic Caucus chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) “forcefully pushed back” against Shtayyeh’s “apartheid” lie. To his credit, Jeffries recently wrote that accusations of Israeli apartheid are “demonstrably false, dangerous and designed to isolate Israel in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the world.”

Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) came away from the meeting with Shtayyeh convinced that the PA leaders have “such a victim mentality.” Rep. Valadao said, “I just didn’t get the impression that [Shtayyeh] is someone who is looking for long-term peace with Israelis in the region.” And Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) charged Shtayyeh with engaging in “revisionist history.”

The truth is that Shtayyeh is no different from any of the other Israel-haters, revisionist liars and terror apologists who comprise the leadership of the Palestinian Authority. The only difference was that the media had done a good job of hiding him from serious scrutiny. Still, they can’t hide his own words.
Melanie Phillips: Biden’s Unconscionable Empowerment of Both Russia and Iran
Of course, the immediate target in Iran’s sights is Israel. Bennett is in difficulties over Ukraine because Israel has Iranian militias on its border with Syria. Israel keeps them in check only because Putin, Syria’s patron, allows the Israelis to fly repeated sorties against these Iranian targets.

But Israel now finds itself not just trapped between Russia and Ukraine. It is also caught between, on the one hand, an Iranian enemy actively involved in trying to murder its citizens and annihilate it altogether, and on the other a so-called ally in Washington that is in fact hell-bent on empowering that enemy.

It’s not as if Iran isn’t actively involved in attacks upon America itself. Last Sunday, Iran fired missiles into the vicinity of the American consulate in Erbil in Iraq.

The Biden administration insisted this wasn’t an attack against the United States. But as the Jewish Institute for National Security of America observed, the strike was exactly that, marking “a massive escalation that seeks to test whether President Biden is willing to risk the collapse of nuclear negotiations by responding with deterrent force.” The administration’s denials, it said, would only embolden Iran still further.

Earlier this month, the Washington Examiner reported that at least two Iranians belonging to the IRGC’s covert-action Quds Force had been plotting to assassinate former National Security Adviser John Bolton.

According to a Justice Department official with direct knowledge of the investigation, the department possessed indictable evidence against the Iranians, but Biden administration officials were resisting publicly indicting the men for fear that this could derail the nuclear deal.

Earlier this month, Corinne Kitsell, the UK Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: “Iran’s nuclear program has never before been this advanced, and is exposing the international community to unprecedented levels of risk.”

Its’s hard to believe, but through its double-dealing with both Russia and Iran, America is now working with a lethal enemy of the West to empower a lethal enemy of civilization.


An Unlikely Hero Emerges on the Battlefields of Ukraine — And She Made a Mean Chicken Soup
It might have come as a shock to the urbane sages of MSNBC — as it seemed to — but in an interview with the network yesterday an official in Kiev cited none other than Golda Meir as an emerging heroine of the Ukrainian people.

Israelis, however, will not be surprised if on Sunday, when President Zelensky is due to address Knesset members via Zoom, he cites a quote or two from the ever-witty Meir. They know by now that alongside Winston Churchill, the Kiev-born, Milwaukee-raised first female prime minister of Israel is Ukraine’s most admired historical figure.

It turns out that her Zionist writings, quips, and observations about how to conduct life under constant threat of war are passed around and widely quoted in Ukraine.

In the MSNBC interview, Ivanna Klympush, the chairwoman of the parliamentary committee to integrate Ukraine into the European Union, was asked about diplomatic relations between Kiev and Moscow. “It’s pretty difficult to have negotiations with a terrorist country that works exclusively through ultimatums, and wants to destroy you,” she said.

Ms. Klympush then added, “That’s something that Golda Meir at some point said about Israel, that it’s impossible to negotiate on peace with someone who only wants to … kill you. That is something we are going through right now.”

Ms. Klympush was interviewed by MSNBC’s most frequent critic of Israel, Mehdi Hassan. In a tweet that went viral, a researcher for the pro-Israel organization Camera, Gilead Ini, said, “One could almost hear Mehdi Hassan’s blood pressure shoot through the roof.”

In Ukraine, however, citing Golda is common nowadays. Shortly after Russia invaded the country, a veteran Israeli war correspondent, Ron Ben Yishai, interviewed a Ukrainian soldier at Kiev. The soldier gave only his first name, Alex, but volunteered that his combat name is Zion.

When Mr. Ben Yishai asked why, the non-Jewish soldier shot back, “Because I’m a Zionist.” Then, carrying a kalashnikov, several rounds of ammunition, and a large helmet, Alex offered the contents of his combat backpack: “This is a night vision device, this is water, this is headphones, and this is my favorite book.”

Upon which the soldier pulled out a tome titled “Golda” — a Ukrainian translation of a biography written by Elinor Burkett that has become part of his battle gear.


Christians help hundreds of Ukrainian Jews escape the war and immigrate to Israel
She risks her life to get Jewish people out of bombed-out parts of Ukraine’s capital city, but Nataliya Krishanovski doesn’t exactly see her actions as humanitarian work.

Krishanovski, 60, is part of a 20-person team of Christians who for years have been helping Ukrainian Jews immigrate to Israel because they believe doing so helps fulfill biblical prophecies and makes up for antisemitic persecution.

“It’s God’s work, not humanitarian work,” Krishanovski, who works in the Ukraine office of the Christians for Israel movement, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a phone call.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, the Christian Zionist organization has used connections and contingency plans they have spent years building to help hundreds of Ukrainian Jews leave the country — representing a significant portion of the thousands of Ukrainian Jews who have fled during the war so far.

Krishanovski said she has been driving Jewish families in the Kyiv region to rendezvous points from where other drivers take them to neighboring Moldova. She called the work meaningful on multiple levels, not least through “the look I see in the eyes of the families I bring,” she said in the interview, holding back tears. “Their eyes look like they have been delivered.”

Krishanovski believes what is happening in Ukraine is the realization of the prophecy spelled out in Jeremiah 1:14, in which the prophet tells of God’s warning that “from the north shall disaster break loose upon all the inhabitants of the land.”
Is Ukraine the End of the War on Terror?
As a result of all this, the War on Terror now seems almost irrelevant, at least to the powers-that-be. All eyes have turned back to Europe and its fraught geopolitics; secular tyrants like Putin appear even more dangerous than theocratic psychopaths like bin Laden; and Russian imperialism is now seen as more of a threat to the world than Islamic terror. The attacks of September 11 were horrific, but pale in comparison to a potential nuclear war.

The implications of this are, at the moment, unclear. It is certain that the fight against Islamic terrorism will not simply end. No doubt there will still be pinpoint operations against terror groups, but the world will move toward the containment of expansionist states rather than the destruction of terrorist organizations, and military resources will be directed toward the deterrence of large conventional armies instead of lightly-armed but ruthless militants. The new era will look very much like the old era of the Cold War, and indeed much of human history.

Radical Islam, of course, will not simply go away, and terror attacks will occur again. Yet it is ironic that the Ukraine war may have neutralized the terrorists’ strongest weapon: the media. With the European peace shattered, great armies once again in the field, and the specter of nuclear war, media attention has been monopolized by the new paradigm. The terrorists’ ability to magnify their horrific acts via non-stop news coverage, which is essential to their strategy, has been crippled. Unless there is another attack on the scale of 9/11, it is difficult to see how this will change.

But the paradigm shift that has superseded the War on Terror presents its own dangers, in particular with regard to Iran. Unlike al-Qaeda, which never exercised state power, the Iranian regime is a state that is a terrorist organization and a terrorist organization that is a state. As such, it fits the new paradigm as well as it did the old one. It would be a grave mistake for the world to assume that the fight against Iranian imperialism and terror is now irrelevant, a relic of an obsolete paradigm. Indeed, if it acquires a nuclear weapon, Iran could threaten the existence of humanity as much as any other nuclear power.

Moreover, we must remember that the process of history never ends. An Iranian nuclear breakout would mark a paradigm shift of its own, and it would be as immense as the one we face today. The previous shift, prompted by 9/11, should teach us this essential lesson. But as the Ukraine invasion proves, humanity never learns its lesson. That a major land war in Europe is changing our worldview is understandable, but we would do well to remember that paradigms shift all the time. The world has changed, but it could easily change again, and we should be ready for it.
Col Kemp: Putin could attack NATO and Britain isn't ready
Putin’s war in Ukraine could easily escalate onto NATO territory and Britain is not ready. Since the end of the Cold War successive governments have savagely cut our armed forces so that today the army, navy and air force are all shadows of their former selves.

The army had insufficient troop numbers and combat equipment to hold its own against jihadists in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in both theatres had to call on US reinforcements to fill the gaps. Fighting Russian tanks, artillery and planes in Europe will be much more demanding than dealing with jihadist gangs in the Middle East and south Asia, even though Putin’s forces in Ukraine have shown themselves to be far less capable than most people thought.

It is too late to rebuild our forces to face an immediate threat. The same goes for all other European countries, which is one reason why NATO has been forced to stand and watch as the Russians tear our neighbours apart. We must hope that the economic damage inflicted on Moscow, plus the Ukrainians’ stiff resistance, are enough to blunt Putin’s plans for future aggression in Europe.

But hope is not a strategy and we should immediately start to build up our forces to deter Putin with military strength and be ready to fight him if that doesn’t work. Last year’s defence review slashed our conventional forces even more, spending instead on cyber, drones, space and artificial intelligence. These are all essential to our defences but so are tanks, artillery, anti-air missiles, armoured infantry and combat planes.
Russia Uses Hypersonic Missiles in Strike on Ukraine Arms Depot
Russia said on Saturday it had used hypersonic Kinzhal (Dagger) missiles to destroy a large weapons depot in Ukraine’s western Ivano-Frankivsk region.

Russia’s Interfax news agency said it was the first time Russia had deployed the hypersonic Kinzhal system since it sent its troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told a briefing that the underground depot hit by the Kinzhal system on Friday housed Ukrainian missiles and aircraft ammunition, according to a recording of the briefing shared by Russian news agencies.

Reuters was not able to independently verify Konashenkov’s statements.

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s air force command confirmed a Russian missile strike on Delyatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region on Friday, without giving further details.

Russia prides itself on its advanced weaponry, and President Vladimir Putin said in December that Russia was the global leader in hypersonic missiles, whose speed, maneuverability and altitude make them difficult to track and intercept.

The Kinzhal missiles are part of an array of weapons unveiled in 2018.
Ricochet Podcast: Churchillian
What’s the Ricochet Podcast to do when the world insists on calamity? We invite one of the leading historians in the English speaking world and a former National Security Advisor, that’s what. Joining the fellas in our opening chat is Andrew Roberts. He reports from Eastern Europe to tell us about his recent trip to Ukraine, and, as the Churchill expert, to give his take on the comparisons between the hero of World War II and President Zelensky.

Next, lieutenant general H.R. McMaster returns to assess the war in Ukraine. The hosts have him try on a couple strategic hats to help us size up the enemies of the free world. (Be sure to check out his new web series Battlegrounds, available on Youtube!)


Zelensky Lego figurine released to raise money for refugees
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky can now add "being a Lego character" to his resume, which was released by custom Lego creators Citizen Brick in order to raise money for Ukrainian refugees.

The Chicago-based custom Lego creators Citizen Brick launched a campaign to help raise money for Ukrainian refugees. In order to do so, they created an original Zelensky Lego figure in order to raise $100,000 for charity. They managed to reach their target in less than 24 hours.

On Thursday morning, Citizen Brick announced that all the small figurines of Zelensky, and the optional extra of a Molotov Cocktail, have now sold out.

All of the money raised from the sales of the figures will go to the charity Direct Relief to help those suffering as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Even with the success of the figure, it seems it'll remain a very limited edition one. “Due to the limited supply of necessary parts, we won’t be able to make more," Citizen Brick wrote. "We hope that you will consider making a direct donation to Direct Relief or another relevant charity instead.⁠ ⁠ We thank you for your generosity and support of this project.”


Bakeries Across US Join Purim Hamentaschen Campaign to Raise Money for Ukrainian Refugees
Scores of bakeries and shops across the US and worldwide that sold hamantaschen in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Purim have donated proceeds to a fundraising campaign helping Ukrainian refugees at the Polish border.

“It allows me to connect with family and also show solidarity for the people of Ukraine,” Chicago baker Sam Zeitlin — whose late grandfather was born in Kyiv and was forced to flee the country as a child more during the Russian revolution — told local WTKR news this week. Zeitlin donated proceeds for the sales from his store’s hamantaschen to the Hamantaschen for Ukraine campaign.

The global movement that ran until Purim, on Thursday, partnered with the non-profit organization Polish Humanitarian Action: SOS Ukraine, which assists Ukrainian refugees at Poland’s border.

“My family felt like Ukrainians,” Zeitlin said. “They also happened to be Jewish, but they felt like that was their homeland. And then having to leave, drop everything and get out.” Zeitlin added that participating in the fundraising campaign was a way to pay tribute his grandfather and adhere to his Jewish values of “wanting to help people who are oppressed and wanting to help people who don’t have a lot.”

The campaign was founded by Laurel Kratochvila, a Boston native who owns a bagel shop in Berlin.


MEMRI: Fatwa By Muslim Leaders In Russia: 'Military Operation' In Ukraine Is 'Preventive Strike' Russia Was Forced To Carry Out To Defend Its Citizens Against 'Real Threat Of Use Of Nuclear And Biological Weapons By NATO And Western Countries'; Muslims Killed 'In The Operation' Are Martyrs
At a March 16, 2022 conference of leaders of Muslim religious organizations in Russia, held in in the city of Vladikavkaz, a fatwa was published expressing full support for the war against Ukraine and gave full backing to Russian policy. The fatwa stated that Russia's military action in Ukraine was permissible and justified according to Islamic law, as "a preventive defensive measure that Russia has been forced to take" due to "the concrete threat of the use of nuclear and biological weapons by NATO" and the West. It added that Muslims killed in the operation are shahids, i.e. martyrs, and will be rewarded by Allah.

Following is a translation of the Russian Muslim leaders' fatwa:
"Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, peace and Allah's blessings to the most venerated Prophet, our Prophet Muhammad, to his family, his Companions, and those who follow him until the Day of Judgment!

"In Russia's centuries-old history, there have been some tough times, but whatever the difficulties, our multinational people has always successfully overcome them. Undoubtedly, the events of recent days clearly illustrate that our country's might lies precisely in the unity and cohesiveness of the peoples inhabiting it and in their unparalleled love for the homeland. Russia has always been rich insincere, pious, and strong-willed people who valiantly and selflessly defended their homeland, and resisted the enemy with dignity.

"The Quran says: 'So whoever has assaulted you, then assault him in the same way that he has assaulted you'[1] (2:194). We recall the heroism of our forefathers in the years of World War I, the Great Patriotic War [World War II], and the Dagestan militias – ordinary men who, in the 1990s when they encountered a terrorist invasion, stood up for their country without hesitation.[2] [We recall] their heroism, their courage, and their extraordinary efforts in achieving victory over the enemy.

"Today, Muslims from our country's various regions are, as members of the Russian Federation's armed forces, are likewise ensuring peace, security and well-being for the people of Donbas. Today we are giving appropriately deep respect to our heroic compatriots, who when times are hard place their homeland's interest above their own [personal interests]. We wish to express appreciation and esteem to the parents who raised such sons in whom all Russia justifiably takes pride .


Rabbi Kanievsky's funeral: 600,000 Israelis set to attend
At least 600,000 Israelis are expected to attend the funeral of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky in Bnei Brak, Israel Police assessed ahead of the funeral, slated to begin at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held a situational assessment ahead of Sunday's funeral with police chief Kobi Shabtai, Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev and other defense establishment representatives. Reports suggest the police are concerned that the event could take a drastic turn for the worst, with Maariv police sources comparing the event to a potential Meron disaster.

IDF will aid police, specifically in search and rescue efforts, if the funeral escalates into a life-threatening event, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Saturday evening. The Israeli military also told personnel to limit travel to bases in central Israel such as the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Earlier on Saturday, Shabtai presented an operational plan drawn up by Israel Police to Bar Lev in efforts to control the event, which the public security minister referred to as an "event of unprecedented proportions." It was decided that Israel Police will allocate some 3,000 officers to secure the funeral.

Main highways in central Israel, as well as entrance to and exit from Bnei Brak, will be blocked throughout Sunday as hundreds of thousands will flock to attend Kanievsky's funeral in the Ponevezh community cemetery in the city.
Israeli gymnast Artem Dolgopyat takes gold at World Cup in Cairo
Israeli gymnast and Olympic gold-medalist Artem Dolgopyat continued his winning streak Saturday, taking home the gold in the floor routine at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Cairo.

The medal secures Dolgopyat’s place in this year’s World Gymnastics Championships, which start on October 29 in Liverpool.

Dolgopyat arrived at the finals ranked 3rd, but gave a strong performance that earned him 14.5 points and shot him to the top.

This is the 24-year-old’s second gold medal this month, after winning another one on March 4 during an earlier stage of the World Cup in Doha, Qatar.

Last year Dolgopyat won Israel’s second-ever Olympic gold medal, beating out tough Spanish and Chinese competition in the artistic gymnastics floor exercise competition to take the top spot on the Tokyo 2020 podium.

The athlete immigrated to Israel from Ukraine at the age of 12, was considered Israel’s best hope for a gold medal at the games.
Israeli jogger lightly hurt in Jerusalem stabbing attack, assailant shot
A 35-year-old Israeli man was lightly hurt when out jogging on Saturday morning in a stabbing attack on Jerusalem’s Hebron Road, near the Cinematheque and the First Station restaurant and shopping area, police and medics said.

According to Israel Police, the assailant stabbed the jogger at the intersection of David Remez Street and Hebron Road, south of the Old City. The jogger struggled with his attacker and fought him off, sustaining light injuries.

The 28-year-old Palestinian assailant, from the adjacent neighborhood of Abu Tor, was shot by police officers. According to the Magen David Adom emergency service, the suspect was in serious condition.

Magen David Adom medics said they found the Israeli man sitting on the sidewalk, fully conscious.

Both the stabbing victim and the suspect were taken by medics to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

The attack and the moment the assailant was shot were filmed from several angles. The assailant is seen pulling out a knife and attacking a man who is running across the street. They tussle, and the jogger manages to repeatedly fend off his attacker, who continues the attack until a passerby arrives. At one point the victim manages to throw the knife away, which a passerby then picks up, as the victim flees.


Seth Frantzman: US CENTCOM head concerned over Iran-Israel tensions, praises Abraham Accords
Israel was incorporated into CENTCOM when McKenzie was in charge. He praised this new format. “CENTCOM is focused on operationalizing the Abraham Accords, as we brought Israel into our area of operations, and missile defense is one area of cooperation that all our partners understand. They all understand it’s particularly important when you consider the threat that Iranian missiles pose,” he said.

“While it continues to be nascent at this time, we have seen a willingness of traditional regional partners to work together in exercises with the Israeli Defense Force. Air defense is an excellent opportunity for cooperation because improving regional missile defense can begin with a sharing of information, which doesn't require any nation to approve the stationing of foreign forces on their territory. My hope is that this cooperation will continue to advance in the years to come,” the general said.

The CENTCOM head was asked several key questions about Iran. When asked about an Iran nuclear agreement, he noted that “the number one objective of the United States with regard to Iran is that Iran not possess a nuclear weapon. So I think any solution that closes that path to them contributes to regional security because we'd all like to work with an Iran that is not a nuclear-armed Iran.

"The best way to get there is probably through a negotiated agreement. Now, that does not solve Iranian proxies. It doesn't solve the compelling problem of Iranian ballistic missiles, land-attack cruise missiles and small unmanned aerial vehicles, and we need to recognize that. That's a separate problem.”

He discussed Iraq’s attempt to defeat ISIS but noted Iran’s role in Iraq. “Despite the many roadblocks that are being thrown up by Iranian-based proxy groups, they're proceeding, you know, maybe not the way we would do it, maybe slower than the way we would do it, but nonetheless, they're moving forward.”

On Syria, the general said the US would remain and back the Syrian Democratic Forces, the key partner for that defeated ISIS in eastern Syria. Rooted in the Kurdish resistance to ISIS that developed in 2013 and 2014, the group includes many fighters from across eastern Syria.

“In Syria, again, our principal task is to complete the defeat of ISIS. You know, we are in support of our SDF partners as they continue that operation and also as they sit on top of the many displaced persons camps and the prison camps that are there. So there's still work to be done in Syria. I don't know how long we're going to remain in Syria. That's just not known to me. Ultimately, that'll be a policy decision that'll be made by, you know, the national leadership of the United States as we go forward, based on the situation on the ground,” McKenzie said.


Seth Frantzman: Assad in the UAE: A new era for Syria and a shift in Mideast complexity - analysis
The Assad visit could also have implications for Assad’s hosting of Iranian forces which threaten Israel from Syria and destabilize Iraq and Lebanon.

If Assad feels he has more backing from Abu Dhabi he could be persuaded to reduce Iran’s presence. Iran won’t like that and will likely say “no.”

Nevertheless, it could give Assad breathing space and room to maneuver. In the early 2000s there were hints that Assad might move away from Iran and even seek closer ties not just with the West but to solve issues with Israel. That was a long time ago. However, the UAE now has ties with Israel. This means the region is facing a new world order.

The visit is clearly important for Syria-UAE ties and might lead to state visits by Assad across the region, Egypt being the next. Syria already has good ties with Iraq and Iran.

It’s entirely possible that Turkey could one day try to rekindle ties with Damascus as well. That would probably mean Turkey’s withdrawal from Syria. Turkey has brutally occupied the Afrin region of Syria for four years, ethnically cleansing it of its Kurdish population, persecuting religious minorities such as Yazidis and resettling extremists in the area.

Turkey has enabled many extremists, including ISIS, to set up shop in areas near the border in Afrin and Idlib. That policy would likely need to end for the Syrian regime and Turkey to reconcile.

For now, the UAE invitation and hosting of Assad is a major statement to the region and the West. The West is involved now in opposing Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia honed its attacks on civilians in Ukraine by learning from the Syrian war.

Russia largely enjoyed impunity in Syria for its war crimes, as did the Syrian regime. The question is whether western countries will be outraged to see Assad in the UAE, since Assad is a key ally of Russia; or will they see the UAE as a reconciler across the region.
At Least 280 People Executed in Iran in 2021, UN Expert Says
Iran executed at least 280 people last year, according to figures published on Thursday by the UN special rapporteur on Iran.

Presenting a report to the UN Human Rights Council, Javaid Rehman said the number of executions for charges related to narcotics laws rose.

“In 2021, at least 280 individuals, including at least 10 women, were executed,” he said.

Rehman said he was also informed that three “child offenders” — the term the United Nations uses for a person convicted of a crime committed when they were under the age of 18 — were executed in 2021.

The number of women executed also rose, according to the independent expert.

More than 80 of the executions, including that of a woman and at least four Afghans, were for drugs offenses, compared to 25 in 2020, the report added.

Rehman observed that last year saw an increase in executions of people from minority communities, with more than 40 Baluch and over 50 Kurds put to death.

In his report, the special rapporteur indicated that he continued to receive consistent information on the use of confessions obtained by torture as evidence to carry out the death penalty.


Students for Justice in Palestine Assaults Academic Freedom
Last month, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Chicago (SJP UChicago) took to social media to launch an aggressive anti-Israel campaign that targeted academic freedom at the university.

SJP’s divisive statement read, “DON’T TAKE SH*TTY ZIONIST CLASSES,” and urged students to boycott courses about Israel, arguing that they “legitimize” the Jewish state through propaganda.

Now, SJP is expanding its initial boycott to include academics associated with the Israel Institute, an off-campus nonprofit organization that encourages bilateral academic engagement between scholars in the US and Israel.

The three courses SJP cites — “Multiculturalism in Israel,” “Narrating Israel and Palestine Through Literature and Film,” and “Gender Relations in Israel” — do not center geopolitics in the slightest. Nonetheless, SJP resorts to attacking academic freedom and suppressing meaningful discourse to maintain a monopoly on the conversation surrounding Israel.

We must stand against this fundamentally dangerous and anti-intellectual tactic, which attacks the very foundation of academic inquiry and the pursuit of truth.

In their statement, SJP resorts to demonizing Israel and makes several unsubstantiated claims about the Jewish state and Jewish history. SJP goes as far as to claim that “Jewish national identity” is “a recent invention of the settler-colonial Zionist project.”

By doing so, SJP is effectively telling the Jewish people that their shared history and connection to their indigenous ancestral homeland is a figment of their imagination. There is extensive archaeological evidence of deep-rooted Jewish communities in the land. Forced into diaspora and persecution, Jews have sought to return to their homeland for thousands of years, and there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the land.
University of Virginia’s Jewish Students Defeat Anti-Israel Campaign
The University of Virginia Student Council this week abandoned an effort to condemn Israel and block pro-Israeli speakers from appearing at the school following resistance from the school’s Jewish community.

On Tuesday, the governing body was scheduled to vote on a resolution condemning Virginia’s "Continued Normalization and Legitimization of the Israeli Apartheid State’s Occupation of Palestine." The resolution, written in response to a 10-day residency of a Jewish artist, would have called on the university to sever ties with speakers and groups associated with or supportive of Israel. The resolution’s authors retracted the measure on Monday after more than a dozen Jewish students campaigned against it.

It was a rare victory for Jewish groups on college campuses, which have grown increasingly hostile to Israel. Following Hamas attacks on Israel in May, student governments at a number of schools, including the University of Michigan and University of Chicago, condemned Israel and endorsed the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to punish Israel through economic measures.

A trio of student council members introduced the resolution after the university’s religious studies department invited French artist Frédéric Brenner to host a series of conversations on the Jewish diaspora. Student council representatives Christian Ephriam, Tyler Busch, and Nina Santana claimed Brenner’s residency would "normalize and legitimize" the "Israeli apartheid state." In the resolution, the trio claimed the BDS movement’s mantle.

"As the Palestinian-led Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign asks for educational and arts institutions to withdraw all support for entities, groups, institutions, and programs that normalize or legitimize the Israeli apartheid state," the resolution says, "the Israeli apartheid state needs to be culturally and financially isolated and the University of Virginia bears a responsibility in this anti-colonial struggle."
Antisemitic cop killer to speak at NYS University at Brocktport
The State University of New York at Brockport has invited a convicted domestic terrorist and co-founder of an antisemitic organization to be its featured speaker at an April 6 event.

Anthony Bottom, also known as Jalil Muntaqim, was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA), a domestic terror group that was responsible for a series of bombings and murders during the 1970s and 80s. A 1991 Maryland State Police report said that killing police officers was among the BLA's stated goals. Group members killed at least 15 police officers.

Bottom was involved in three of those murders. He was convicted in the cold-blooded 1971 shooting deaths in of two New York Police Department officers, Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones. Piagentini's widow Diane urged the parole board to keep Bottom in prison in 2019, saying he "assassinated my husband and Waverly Jones because they wore the blue uniform."

Bottom wouldn't dispute that. He knew nothing about his victims and wasn't even a New York resident. He simply was out to ambush police. "It could have been any officers," he admitted years later.

Bottom was also held responsible in the shooting death of SFPD Sergeant John Young in August of that same year.

Bottom was sentenced to life in prison for the killings. On Sept. 11, 2020 a New York State Parole Board, appointed under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, granted Bottom's release from prison.
Is Antifa bad for Israel?
Antifa, short for anti-facist, is an ideological movement with many strains of thought. In 2020, the movement caught public attention for the involvement of some local cells in violent riots in the United States.

Andy Ngo, a journalist who documents far left violence and radicalism, told the Magazine that Antifa is no friend of Israel.

“Most Jewish people would be sympathetic to any cause that claims to be antifascist, given history” said Ngo. “[Antifa] call themselves antifascists, but who they describe as fascist is anyone who dares to oppose them. It’s a strategy popularized by communists a century ago. And many Antifa adherents view the state of Israel as a fascist state, adopting the language of the far-left and calling them colonizing genocidaires. Antifa have also been involved in targeting people who have dared to show up to show support for Israel at demonstrations in the US.”

“Antifa ideology isn’t in itself antisemitic, but they claim to be fighting antisemitism while often trafficking in antisemitic tropes. For example, calling Israelis Nazis, fascists and white supremacists,” Ngo continued.

Ngo warns that Antifa’s goal is to abolish states.

This would include the State of Israel.

He also noted that the violence that they use to achieve this objective is familiar to Israelis. “Israelis will understand much better than anybody what Hamas and other violent extremists in the Palestinian territories do,” Ngo explained. “They intentionally embed themselves around innocent people who get killed or injured in the course of warfare and then use those casualties as propaganda against Israel. Advocacy groups and journalists often do not independently verify or contextualize those claims before repeating it to a global audience.”


Jews could be 'segregated' for own protection at NUS Lowkey concert
The National Union of Students has been accused of “segregating” Jews after it reportedly said that Jewish students uncomfortable with anti-Israel rapper Lowkey headlining the union’s conference could always go to another room during his performance.

The rapper, a key figure in the Palestine Action collective, which is planning a nationwide wave of attacks on properties owned by Israeli-linked firms, had set to appear at the NUS Liberation Conference this March - but has now pulled out.

Tracks put out by Lowkey - whose real name is Kareem Dennis - include 'Long Live Palestine', which features the lyrics: "You say you know about the Zionist lobby. But you put money in their pocket when you're buying their coffee. Talking about revolution, sitting in Starbucks."

Union of Jewish Students President Nina Freedman told the JC NUS leaders met her but refused to reconsider Lowkey’s performance despite concerns from Jewish students.

Instead, she said, officials offered “insufficient and frankly offensive mitigations.”

She added: “It was suggested that Jewish students go into an existing safe space designated for students who are sensitive to loud noise for the duration of Lowkey’s performance.

“In doing so, NUS have brushed Jewish students aside and have shown a complete disregard for their needs and experiences.”

Binyomin Gilbert, Programme Manager at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: "NUS knows exactly what it is doing by headlining Lowkey...

“Headlining such a person is bad enough, but telling appalled Jews to go and stand in the corner whilst everyone else dances is segregationist and disgusting. Instead of showing solidarity with Jews, NUS is literally casting Jews aside.
Hoover Institution: Bari Weiss on Post-Mainstream Media Life and Her Battles in the Culture Wars
Bari Weiss began her career as a mainstream media prodigy, landing coveted positions at the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times in her early twenties. In 2020, she famously resigned from the Times when conditions there became intolerable for her, famously writing in a public resignation letter that “Twitter is not on the masthead of The New York Times. But Twitter has become its ultimate editor.” Now Weiss is the publisher of Common Sense, her wildly popular Substack newsletter, and the host of the Honestly with Bari Weiss podcast. Her ambition is nothing short of becoming a 21st-century one-woman media company, and based on what she reveals in this interview, she is well on her way to achieving that goal. Recorded on February 15, 2022


Not just hatred: Antisemitism is a legal phenomenon, too
Given the legal ramifications, it would make sense if law schools were teaching about the issues at the intersection of the law and antisemitism. But they are not. Remarkably, only a handful of legal scholars in America research this topic. Although law school curricula address discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and other protected characteristics, they largely ignore discrimination against Jews. Although Jewish Studies departments, including the Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana University, study antisemitism from a wide range of perspectives — social, historical, cultural, religious and political — nothing comparable exists in the law school setting.

To remedy the legal academy’s failure to address the legal aspects of antisemitism, my colleague Diane Klein, visiting professor of law at Southern University Law Center, and I founded the Law vs. Antisemitism Project. Its mission is to promote legal research and education on how law perpetuates antisemitism and can be used to combat it.

This project includes creating a law school textbook titled “Jews, Antisemitism, and the Law” that we hope will be adopted in law schools nationwide for the teaching of this subject. We have also organized the inaugural Law vs. Antisemitism Conference to be held at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and virtually March 14-15.

Law schools have played a crucial role in training civil rights lawyers of all kinds, from Thurgood Marshall, Howard University School of Law ‘33, to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Columbia University Law School ‘59. Law schools and legal educators must do no less in training the next generation of lawyers to fight antisemitism.

Antisemitism is a legal phenomenon, and legal scholars should use all the tools at their disposal to research and teach it as such. By doing so, they can not only help to understand the legal dimensions of antisemitism, but use the law to fight it.
Jonathan Tobin: True Crime Trashes the Holocaust
Books, movies, and television shows about actual murder cases have been a staple of popular culture ever since Truman Capote turned the story of a gruesome Kansas family slaying into his mammoth 1966 bestseller, In Cold Blood. Capote launched a genre, now commonly known as “true crime.” As the available fare on 2022 cable and streaming services demonstrates, the public’s appetite here is insatiable.

It was therefore inevitable that sooner or later an author or a team of would-be detectives would take up the case of who was responsible for betraying the teenage girl whom Dara Horn aptly described in her book People Love Dead Jews as “everyone’s (second) favorite Jew”: Anne Frank.

Among the most frequently asked questions by tourists who visit the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam is who was responsible for the raid on the secret annex behind the false bookcase at Prinsengracht 263 on August 4, 1944. For more than two years, eight Jews (Otto, Edith, Margot, and Anne Frank; Herman, Augusta, and Peter van Pels; and Fritz Pfeffer) had hidden in the annex above the warehouse where Otto Frank had run his business. All were arrested. Only Otto survived their imprisonment in the Westerbork Camp and then their subsequent transport to Auschwitz. The other seven, including Anne, perished in the death camps. Her diary, found later, would immortalize all of them.

Dutch authorities conducted two investigations into the betrayal, one in the immediate postwar era and another in 1963, but no culprit was discovered. Over the years, suspicion has fallen on several figures. Willem van Maarten, a warehouse employee who had asked a lot of questions of those who were helping the hidden Jews, was long considered the most likely betrayer. Other suspects included Lena Hartog, the wife of the assistant manager of the warehouse; Anton Ahlers, a notorious criminal; Nelly Voskujil, the sister of one of the helpers; and Anna van Dijk, a Jewish woman later convicted of helping the Nazis find hidden Jews and the sole Dutch woman executed for the crime of collaboration.

But conclusive proof or anything close to it has always been lacking. The only real clue was the fact that the Nazi SD officer who led the raid on the annex, Otto Silbernauer, claimed it was prompted by a phone call from a source with information about hidden Jews. Silberbauer survived the war and even the subsequent infamy of being discovered as the man who arrested Anne Frank and went on to live a long and uneventful life back home in Austria.
European Rights Watchdog Passes Holocaust Education Measure After Russian Exit
The Council of Europe, a human rights organization formed after World War II, passed a long-awaited measure advancing education about the Holocaust on Thursday, days after Russia’s exit from the body over its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The Council’s recommendation calls on its 46 member states to “promote teaching and learning about the history of the Holocaust and to pass on remembrance of the Holocaust and crimes committed by the Nazis, their accomplices and collaborators, as an integral part of education and public policies,” the organizations Committee of Ministers said. “The text emphasizes the exceptional nature of the destruction of the European Jewish community, while also recognizing the other victims of Nazism and other mass crimes of the 20th century.”

Because there are “fewer and fewer” survivors of the Holocaust to give eyewitness accounts of the tragedy, the ministers said, an interdisciplinary approach to teaching it should include engaging students with tours to important historical sites, historical documents, media, art, and literature.

“Learning and teaching about the Holocaust is vital to prevent future crimes against humanity,” Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić of Croatia said. “At a time when antisemitism is on the rise, we must spare no effort to remember the victims and to ensure that remembrance will continue in the future. This is an essential part of our collective responsibility to protect Jews and Jewish life in Europe.”

The Council of Europe is international human rights organization founded in 1949 and headquartered in the French city of Strasbourg. Moscow quit the body on Tuesday, hours before the Council was expected to vote to expel Russia over its “aggression” in Ukraine.
French Presidential Candidate Valérie Pécresse Denounces Antisemitism on 10th Anniversary of Deadly Attack at Toulouse Jewish School
French presidential candidate Valérie Pécresse on Friday visited the Jewish school in southern city of Toulouse that 10 years ago was site of a deadly Islamist terror attack that took the lives of a teacher and three small children.

On a visit to the Ohr Torah school — known as the Ozar Hatorah school when the attack occurred on May 19, 2012 — Pécresse said that the terrorist behind “this barbaric attack wanted to attack the Jews of France and, through them, France itself, because when you kill a Jew from France, a Jewish child, you are attacking France.”

The attack at the school in Toulouse was part of a days-long terror spree by Mohamed Merah, an Islamist gunman, that claimed the lives of seven people.

Merah had already killed French paratroopers Imad Ibn-Ziaten, on March 11, and Abel Chennouf and Mohamed Legouad, on March 15, when he arrived at the Ozar Hatorah school. There, he murdered Rabbi Jonathan Sandler and his two sons, six-year-old Arieh and three-year-old Gabriel, as well as another child, eight-year-old Miriam Monsonégo. After a manhunt, he was shot dead by police following a 30-hour siege at his Toulouse apartment building on March 22.

“France is fraternity, humanity, France will always stand tall and will never let antisemitism pass,” Pécresse said on her visit to the school.

“Out of this tragedy came love,” she added.

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron and his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog, accompanied by their wives, will attend a special commemoration ceremony in Toulouse in honor of Merah’s victims.






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