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Friday, April 01, 2022

04/01 Links Pt2: Anti-Semitism is alive and well in Britain’s schools; WaPo Publishes Op-Ed by Mariam Barghouti, Who Compared Israel to Nazi Germany

From Ian:

Jake Wallis Simons: Anti-Semitism is alive and well in Britain’s schools
Latest figures reveal that anti-Semitism is soaring in Britain. February’s Community Security Trust (CST) report shows that anti-Jewish hate crime hit an all-time high last year. The total level of incidents rose by 34 per cent to 2,255, the highest ever recorded. Jew-hate incidents were reported to every single police force bar one.

The problem is particularly bad in education. Perhaps it is the dominance of 'woke' ideology, which seems to carry a dim view of Jews. Latest statistics from the CST disclose that anti-Semitism on campus rose by 59 per cent last year, reaching record levels.

Like many Jewish people, at times like these, I find myself daydreaming about moving to Israel (I did it quite a lot before Jeremy Corbyn was dumped by the electorate). In Israel, ironically enough, daily anti-Semitism plays little part in most people’s lives. Synagogues often have no security, even in Judea and Samaria. Yet in the last two weeks, a sudden spate of stabbing, shooting and car ramming attacks has claimed multiple lives in the country.

It is too early to establish whether this is a wave of Isis-inspired violence or if it has been orchestrated by Iran over social media. There is evidence of both, but the trend has yet to become clear. Either way, Jew-hatred in Israel – as in France and other European countries – often turns deadly. In Britain, thank God, we have seen much less of that.

Thinking back, I faced quite a lot of hassle as a kid. I grew up in an Orthodox community, so I was walking around the streets visibly Jewish, which made me a target. I got into the habit of removing my kippah when I went past pubs. I was attacked quite disturbingly once, and taunted and mocked regularly. The school I attended faced frequent bomb threats, meaning that evacuation was a familiar occurrence. On one occasion, the letter bomb was real.

I’d never dreamed that my children – living in Winchester rather than London, in the third decade of the 21st century, without being outwardly Jewish or observant – would face anything remotely similar. It was the Eighties back then, I told myself. Standards were lower. More fool me.

Some things have changed, I suppose. When speaking to my son, I asked him if the kids behaved this way towards other minorities at school. Black children, for example. His eyes widened. 'Of course not,' he said, a note of irony in his voice. 'That would be racist.'
Washington Post Publishes Op-Ed by Mariam Barghouti, Who Compared Israel to Nazi Germany
It would appear that having a documented history that has included comparing Israel to Nazi Germany does not preclude one from offering their opinions on the editorial webpages of The Washington Post, a publication that prides itself on a self-stated commitment to fairness.

Mariam Barghouti, who describes herself as a “writer and researcher based in Palestine,” was recently invited to share her views with Post readers, in a piece titled, “Another group recognized Israel’s Palestinian apartheid. How will the world react?”

Barghouti, who has also previously written for and contributed to outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, and Newsweek, came to HonestReporting’s attention last year after we uncovered a series of now-deleted tweets, such as one in which she asserted that “Israel has been beating Hitler at his own game since 1948,” and another that referred to former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as being “nothing more than a war criminal and a Nazi.”

Such remarks are evidence of anti-Jewish bigotry, and are a breach of the IHRA’s internationally-recognized working definition of antisemitism, specifically making comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis and claiming that Israel’s very existence is in itself a racist endeavor.

The IHRA definition has been either adopted or endorsed by dozens of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Italy, Sweden, Spain, and Germany.

In her latest piece, Barghouti accuses the Jewish state of maintaining a “deep essence of apartheid;” suggests that Jerusalem’s decision to designate six Palestinian NGOs is part of a campaign to “discredit and vilify” critics; and claims that Israel “weaponizes charges of antisemitism to manipulate and gaslight.”

There are a number of points that deserve to be noted in response to such allegations.


Christian Congressman: Funding PA will lead to more terror
With the Passover, Easter and Ramadan holidays fast approaching, Palestinian terrorism is suddenly spiking.

Thousands of Israelis police officers, border guards and military commandos have been deployed to secure the peace.

But an American congressman, who is a leading expert on US-Israeli relations and how to combat Palestinian terrorism, warns that may not be enough.

He said that the Palestinian Authority (PA) financially rewards those who commit terrorist acts against Israelis, and that the Biden administration is turning a blind eye to this policy. Unless these two things change, according to Rep. Doug Lamborn, we’re going to see more terror ahead.

Lamborn is a Republican and a devout Evangelical Christian who represents Colorado Springs, a heavily Evangelical community in central Colorado, south of Denver. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee and is a member of the Israel Allies Caucus in Congress.

He is also the author of the Taylor Force Act.

Signed into law in 2018, the act requires the US government to deduct from any funding of the PA the amount of money that it pays to prisoners who have committed terrorist attacks against Israelis or to their families.

Given that the PA budgets upwards of $200 million towards such payments, this is a significant incentive for Palestinians to attack Israelis.

Lamborn denounces what he calls PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ “pay for slay” policy as “so sick” and “so wrong.”

But in an exclusive interview with ALL ISRAEL NEWS at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, Lamborn said that the Biden administration is ignoring the law and trying to increase funding to the PA.
The Tikvah Podcast: David Friedman on What He Learned as U.S. Ambassador to Israel
When Donald Trump improbably became president in 2016, few knew what his foreign-policy agenda would look like. Having spent little time on such issues during his campaign and having no previous electoral experience, Trump’s inclinations were mysterious. But despite this, it’s clear now, looking back, that some of his administration’s greatest successes were in the Middle East.

This week’s podcast guest, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman, was at the center of it all, a story that he tells in a new memoir. In this conversation with Mosaic editor Jonathan Silver, Friedman brings listeners inside his tenure, which included the Abraham Accords, the move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and America’s recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Friedman also reflects on his Jewish formation, and his assessment of American Jewry today.


Reporter's NotebookSaying goodbye to Dubai Expo, where Israelis could safely ‘enter’ Iran, Syria
A six-month window during which Israelis were able to visit Iran, Syria, Yemen and other nations that normally won’t let them in, ended Thursday with the closure of Expo 2020 in Dubai.

Some 20 million people visited the event in person, with another 150 million touring the country pavilions and other exhibits virtually.

At Iran’s pavilion, voted one of the Expo’s top eight architecturally significant buildings by Architectural Digest, there wasn’t an ayatollah in sight. Rather, the emphasis was on a rich cultural heritage, Persian rugs and saffron.

With great irony, given that Iran has openly dedicated itself to destroying the State of Israel, a special place was given to a replica of the 6th century BC baked clay Cyrus Cylinder.

The cylinder’s text is widely seen as evidence of Cyrus’s decision to allow the Jews to return from exile in Babylon to rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem, a confirmation of the link between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.

The original was discovered in what was once Babylon and is now Iraq. It is held by the British Museum.

In a further paradox, in light of the repressive regime currently installed in Tehran, the exhibition extolled the cylinder as the first declaration of human rights.

Expo 2020 was overwhelmingly large and bursting with weird and wonderful buildings, music, noise, flashing lights and swirling rivers of people. It was immaculately clean, thanks to armies of silent workers constantly sweeping and wiping, and to volunteers stationed everywhere to help direct the never-ending human traffic.

That traffic reflected Dubai’s status as an emerging global hub between the Middle East, western Asia and Europe, and the Indian subcontinent — from which more than a third of the UAE’s residents are drawn — and the Far East beyond. It is a glittering stop on a new Silk Road, and at the world’s fair, as elsewhere in Dubai, it seemed that all the peoples of the world were there.
Jewish-Muslim dialogue must not whitewash the dark side of life under Islam
The French film director Claude Lanzmann, celebrated for his documentary “Shoah”, once remarked that in order to encourage Arab schoolchildren to sympathize with Jews, he would highlight how during the Holocaust the Imam of the Grand Mosque of Paris helped save Jews from Nazi deportations. This modus operandi is quite ubiquitous and is also reflected in Jewish efforts to showcase Muslim righteousness during the Holocaust in predominantly Islamic Albania, Bosnia and Tunisia. Analogous efforts have also sought to highlight how Jewish life in Muslim lands was historically better than Jewish life in Christian lands.

In my opinion, these efforts are necessary in order to dispel the prejudice popular among quite a few Jews that Arabs and Muslims are irremediably vicious anti-Semites. Such efforts, directed toward Muslims do not serve the cause of Jewish-Muslim reconciliation, but actually add to the amount of resentment and hostility in the Muslim camp.

These efforts are often orchestrated by Ashkenazi Jews who conflate Christian antisemitism with Islamic antisemitism. Christian European antisemitism is nevertheless fundamentally different from Arab Islamic antisemitism. Christian antisemitism is ontological: The Jew by virtue of rejecting Christ as his savior is implicitly complicit in the death of God’s son. Islamic antisemitism is hierarchical: As long as the Jew is subordinate and docile toward Islam, the Jew is actually an asset to the prestige and truth of the Prophet’s message.

That is the reason antisemitism in Islamic lands reached historically Christian proportions only once Zionism proved to the world that Jews were better than Muslims at fighting and ruling. Since Islamic pride hinges on Muslim political and military power, defeat at the hands of Jews, the model dhimmis during over one thousand years, provoked an existential crisis in the Ummah: The Jew, in order to defeat Muslims on the battlefield, must have conjured diabolical forces. Hence, the contemporary myth popular in the Islamic world, that Jews are an all-powerful cabal bent on destroying Islam.

For this reason, when Muslims are reminded about the Golden Age of Judeo-Islamic harmony in Andalusia, the hospitality extended by Ottoman rulers to Jews fleeing from the Spanish Inquisition and more recently, Muslim rescue efforts during the Holocaust, they easily read history as follows: “Look at the Jews, after all the kindness we extended to them throughout the centuries, they repaid us Muslims with the Nakba and the occupation of Jerusalem. What a thankless lot!”

To avert this reaction, any Jewish-Muslim attitude must mention the dark sides of Jewish life under Islam: Starting with the massacre of Khaybar and culminating in the Farhud of 1941 which heralded the end of thousands of years of peaceful Jewish life in Iraq. It is only once these tragic chapters are read that Muslims can understand that Zionism was not just legitimized by European Christian antisemitism, but also by the injustices and abuses that the Ummah heaped on its Jewish subjects, including the complicity of Palestine’s supreme leader, Haj Amin al-Husseini, with Hitler’s plans to destroy the Jewish people.
"Americans for Peace Now Fighting Anti-Boycott Legislation"
The H.R.6940 bill, a.k.a. “Israel Anti-Boycott Act,” that was submitted on March 3 for the approval of the 117th Congress is intended “to impose additional prohibitions relating to foreign boycotts under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, and for other purposes.”

On Wednesday, I received an email from Hadar Susskind, President and CEO of Americans for Peace Now (see him in the picture with Ilhan Omar and Keith Ellison – he captioned it, so help me: “With old friends and new. It’s amazing what can happen when we actually get to know each other and work together rather than just believing the worst of what other people say”) urging me to ask my Member of Congress to oppose this effort “to conflate Israel with the occupied territories and to penalize protected speech.”

I’ll explain.

According to the bill, “due to the increased anti-Israel economic activity in international governmental organizations, it is necessary to update Federal authorities to combat anti-Israel boycotts and other discriminatory activity in such fora, including the United Nations Human Rights Council,” and combat “actions to boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel represent a concerted effort to extract concessions from Israel outside of direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.”

The bill also states that “the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014 should be fully implemented through enhanced, governmentwide, coordinated United States-Israel scientific and technological cooperation in civilian areas, such as with respect to energy, water, agriculture, alternative fuel technology, civilian space technology, and security in order to counter the effects of actions to boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel.”

There’s a lot more, and all of it is as pro-Israel as the US Congress can get. It’s also mostly Republican, so who knows if this House will pass it. There’s one more reason to vote Republican come November.

According to the president of Americans for Peace Now, “the anti-boycott laws pushed by right-wing Jewish and evangelical organizations have resulted in a multi-state patchwork of anti-free speech laws that intentionally erase the (green) line between Israel and the occupied territories. While we continue to fight back in the states against these laws, it is vital that we work to prevent similar laws from being enacted at a federal level.”
Audit Shows Increase in Antisemitic Incidents, Especially in Wisconsin Schools
A new audit by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation revealed an increase of 450 percent in reported antisemitic incidents in Wisconsin since 2015.

While the annual audit released last week also showed that the overall number of incidents went down 4 percent from 2020, in the last year there has been an 80 percent increase in antisemitic incidents in middle and high schools, “many of them ranging around Holocaust jokes or direct harassment of Jewish students.”

Other areas that saw an uptick in 2021 were conspiracy theories tying Jews to the coronavirus pandemic (46 percent increase); antisemitic social media activity (30 percent increase); and Holocaust minimization and comparisons (30 percent increase). There were also small increases in antisemitic references to Israel and Zionism, as well as in harassment, threats and assaults.

Ari Friedman, director of security and community properties at the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, told a local radio station that for the third year now, the Jewish organization has been handing out synagogue security grants across Wisconsin to help protect religious institutions.

The federation has also helped more than 35 Jewish organizations get federal non-profit security grants.
New NUS President who apologised over 'anti-Semitic' social media posts had Muslim Brotherhood slogan 'death for the sake of Allah is our most exalted wish' on her Twitter profile
The new president of the National Union of Students has come under fire for having a slogan used by Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in her Twitter bio.

Shaima Dallali had 'death for the sake of Allah is our most exalted wish' promoted at the top of her page.

The City University activist had the sentence - which experts said is not in the Quran and is associated with the two groups - written in Arabic next to #Tunisia.

Some experts blasted the use of the quote and warned she will discredit every campaign the NUS touches.

But others claimed it is meant to mean 'acts of self-sacrifice for the cause of justice' and was not to be considered controversial.

Meanwhile security sources said the phrase could be seen as 'the Muslim equivalent of being champagne socialists at university'.

It comes after Dallali apologised after a fierce backlash over 'anti-semitic' social media posts including an ancient Islamic battle cry relating to a massacre of Jews.

Jewish students yesterday raised concerns after historic tweets emerged referencing the killing of Jews in the 628 Battle of Khaybar.
Mohammed El-Kurd: Social Media Influencer, Terrorist Sympathizer
In recent months, Mohamed El-Kurd has risen to prominence, becoming the “Palestine” correspondent for The Nation, curating a substantial following on social media, and making frequent appearances on university campuses. El-Kurd often presents himself as a champion for a just cause, but this could not be further from the truth. Beneath a veneer of social justice, altruism, and reporting is a vile agenda—full of antisemitism and hate for the world’s only Jewish state.

El-Kurd has, on numerous occasions, propagated the centuries-old antisemitic blood libel. Just this past May, during a Zoom event, El-Kurd labeled Israelis as “thirsty for blood” moments after justifying bombings of Israeli civilians. On Twitter, El-Kurd has said Israelis have an “unquenchable thirst for Palestinian blood.” In his book, “Rifqah,” El-Kurd outright lies that Israelis “harvest organs of the martyred [Palestinians].” He has also openly compared Israelis to the Nazis.

An avid Twitter user, El-Kurd’s brazen antisemitism is on full display for the world to see. El-Kurd has been dismissive of antisemitism in general, questioning statements condemning antisemitism and arguing that “there is no need to engage with the false accusations [of antisemitism].” El-Kurd posted these comments during an unprecedented surge in antisemitic attacks in cities across the United States.

El-Kurd’s desire to conceal the dangers faced by Jews is not surprising. El-Kurd frequently voices his contempt for Jews. Last May, El-Kurd absurdly accused Jews praying at the Western Wall of an insidious plot to take over the Al-Aqsa mosque.

Given El-Kurd’s contempt for the Jewish people, it shouldn’t be shocking that he has justified acts of terror directed at Israelis, including incessant rocket fire from Hamas into Israeli cities.

Last fall, El-Kurd memorialized the Second Intifada, praising the terror attacks that killed over one thousand innocent Israelis and wounded thousands more, all while falsely claiming Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism, sparked the years-long bloody war.

This is just one example of El-Kurd’s Twitter posts celebrating terror. Still, he regularly posts highly questionable opinions, which include, but are not limited to defending the actions of Hamas, as they fired 150 rockets at Israeli civilians, all while claiming that Israel has no right to self-defense against terror.


Bassem Eid: Ben & Jerry’s unjust desserts in Israel boycott: Unilever must now defend discrimination in court
Setting morality aside, these boycotts are against the law in both the United States and Israel. Zinger’s lawsuit illustrates perfectly how Ben & Jerry’s decision to terminate AQP’s license violates the intent behind the U.S. Export Control Reform Act, which prohibits refusal to conduct business for boycott-related purposes.

By virtue of its wayward subsidiary, Unilever violated a slew of anti-discrimination laws and related tax and trade policies, all in one swift stroke.

It could not be more obvious that Ben & Jerry’s and the radical boycott, divestment and sanctions activists who bullied the company into this decision are showboating on the backs of innocent workers who are caught in the middle of one of the world’s most complex conflicts. That is why I myself previously filed a lawsuit against Unilever on behalf of Arab Israeli workers.

Boycotts like this couldn’t be more destructive to Palestinian communities. They upend the lives of our people at a time when we need stability and economic opportunity. If Ben & Jerry’s wants to help us, the company should invest and engage more, not less. Open more factories and create more jobs here.

The privileged Americans who made this decision will likely move on and forget about it in a few more months, as is typically the case. The Palestinians who lost their livelihoods will not forget so easily, but nobody will be here to listen to them. Sadly, this is another example of the anti-Israel crowd promoting its agenda on the backs of suffering Palestinians.

I am proud to see Avi Zinger bring this important lawsuit. Companies that discriminate based on race, religion, or national origin should be held fully accountable under the law, in every country in which they do business. Unilever could have avoided this situation at any time by overruling Ben & Jerry’s illegal and immoral boycott. It still could.
Ben & Jerry's new Passover flavor is anything but plain vanilla
The Israeli licensee of ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's has launched a new flavor that caters to the kosher-for-Passover palate: matzah with chocolate.

Although a similar holiday-themed flavor was introduced in 2008, but this is on an entirely different level, the company claims. The flavor is called Matzah Crunch, and Israel Hayom's editors have already tasted it and gave it a thumbs up.

It appears to be particularly tailored to fans of vanilla but it's definitely not plain vanilla when it comes to its effect. It is rich with flavor but not too strong, providing a pleasant reprieve for those who might find Passover desserts less appealing.

What's more, it actually does have pieces of matzah without compromising its texture in any meaningful way.

The bad news is that it will not be widely available at a grocery store near you, only at the factory stores, which are located in Yavne and Be'er Tuvia.

"Since we are limited in the variety of ice cream we offer during Passover [because of religious dietary laws], we always challenge our workers to come up with new flavors that would meet the holiday spirit," Ben & Jerry's Israel CEO Avi Zinger said.

Zinger has locked horns with the global Ben & Jerry's company after it announced that it would no longer allow its products to be distributed beyond the Green Line starting in 2023, likely in response to pressure from anti-Israel activists. Zinger said he would not agree to this and will not renew the contract under these conditions.


Twitter Must Act on Pro-Putin Accounts’ Antisemitism
As the violence resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, Twitter accounts supporting Russian dictator Vladimir Putin have proliferated, spewing disinformation about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the country’s army to undermine their reputation. These accounts often tweet antisemitic text, images, and videos, which Twitter has been ineffective at mitigating. Given these users’ abusive behavior, the platform should be acting swiftly to suspend their accounts.

But Twitter has once again shown a lax attitude when it comes to mitigating violations of its own rules of conduct. Its poor record of deleting antisemitic tweets has been well documented. And now, with more and more pro-Putin accounts sowing discord, the site’s support team seems to be overwhelmed by the amount of invective.

Many Russia-promoting accounts tweet unfounded content relating to the Ukraine government’s purported links to Nazis, as justification for Putin’s atrocities. These same accounts frequently attack Zelensky’s Jewish heritage, too.

As white supremacists have adopted Putin’s cause, they disseminate Jew-hatred focusing on the Ukrainian president, with suggestions ranging from claims that he’s a Zionist stooge to messages blaming him and other Jews for the war. Many white supremacists also lionize Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad, a Putin ally, who is lauded for his resistance to Israel, which these individuals want to see destroyed.

The danger of such offensive, absurd invective is clear. Putin’s disinformation campaign, as ludicrous as it may seem to many, is capable of influencing thought, like all propaganda.

Misleading information also can cause panic, and elicit hasty decisions and confused messaging on social media. All of this can have disastrous effects on morale and public perception. Add antisemitism to the mix, and you have a clear and present danger to the Jewish people, especially considering the spate of terrorist attacks against Jews as of late.
Youtube whistleblower: My warnings over terror videos were ignored
Former moderator Khaled Hassan, 31, who was employed to identify extremism in Arabic language videos until two months ago, accuses YouTube of “shirking its legal and moral responsibilities”.

In shocking testimony, the whistleblower reveals:
- YouTube ignored warnings that specific videos would incite violence against Jews, just weeks before British terrorist Malik Faisal Akram watched the same clips and took four hostages at Beth Israel synagogue in Texas.
- YouTube ignored requests to remove videos by Wagdy Ghoneim, a leading Egyptian jihadist who is banned in the UK, on the grounds that he was not on an internal watchlist of just 29 names.
- Mr Hassan was told that when he wished to “flag” any video about the Middle East conflict, he should seek approval from a Palestinian colleague.
- The whistleblower was moved to a more menial job because, he claimed, he highlighted videos that YouTube did not want to remove.
- The social media giant refused to delete clips celebrating the November murder of Jerusalem tour guide Eli Kay because they did not display the logo of a terrorist organisation.

Reacting to the JC’s investigation, Culture and Media Secretary Nadine Dories condemned YouTube’s failure to combat hate speech, and pledged that her Online Safety Bill would compel it to in future.

“If platforms like YouTube fail to act, Ofcom will have robust powers to take enforcement action against them,” she said.


Ukrainian Jewish Leader Stabbed in Antisemitic Attack in City of Ivano-Frankivsk
A leader of the Ukrainian Jewish community in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk was stabbed by an antisemitic assailant on Thursday afternoon while walking in the downtown area.

A statement from the United Jewish Community of Ukraine (UJCU) said that Igor Perelman, the director of the Jewish community in Ivano-Frankivsk, was stabbed three times in front of several eyewitnesses. The assailant reportedly shouted antisemitic invective while carrying out the attack.

Perelman was treated at a local hospital for injuries to the chest and neck before being discharged. Police quickly apprehended the assailant, a 49-year-old local man, after taking statements from witnesses.

The attack took place on Belvederskaya Street, where Perelman had been assisting at a food bank assisting refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Around 6.5 million Ukrainians have been displaced internally, with many heading for the relative safety of cities in the west of the country like Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk.

However, an initial police investigation into the reason for the attack on Perelman suggested it was not connected to the war, but to a neighborly dispute. The assailant was reportedly enraged after his wife argued with Perelman over a parking space outside their home.

Police said that the assailant would be prosecuted for “hooliganism” under Ukraine’s criminal code.
Jewish Teens Sue Two Airlines for Discrimination After Being Banned From Flights
A group of Orthodox Jewish girls from New York has filed a complaint against Delta Air Lines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for the discrimination they say they faced on flights last summer, reported Insider.

The 19 plaintiffs were part of a 54-person tour group of Jewish teenagers and their chaperones who were returning from a visit to historical sites in Europe, including Auschwitz, when the issues occurred with the airlines.

The Jewish teens said during their first KLM return flight from Kyiv to Amsterdam on Aug. 6, flight attendants disciplined them for removing their masks to eat homemade kosher food outside of the plane’s designated mealtimes. Other passengers who ate food at the same time were not disciplined, according to the complaint filed on Tuesday.

The Jewish teens were given a “final warning” for not complying with COVID-19 protocols regarding their masks and were threatened with arrest, said the complaint. They believe KLM staff targeted them with warnings “solely for the purpose of unlawfully harassing plaintiffs because of their Jewish race, ethnicity and/or religion.”
Kentucky Man Charged With Attempted Murder for Firing at Jewish Mayoral Candidate
A Kentucky resident has been indicted on one count of attempted murder and four counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for firing multiple rounds at Jewish mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg, reported the Associated Press.

A grand jury in Louisville indicted Quintez Brown, 21, on Monday for the shooting on Feb. 14. He will be arraigned on April 4.

Greenberg was not hit in the shooting that took place at the Democratic mayoral candidate’s campaign headquarters, though a bullet grazed his sweater.

Four of Greenberg’s staffers were also nearby when Brown appeared at the campaign office and began firing off a handgun. After a staffer managed to shut the office door, which they then barricaded using tables and desks, the suspect fled the scene but was arrested about a half-mile from the office, the AP noted.

Brown, who was running for Louisville Metro Council at the time of the shooting, was later released on bond, placed on home incarceration and given an ankle monitor. The suspect’s lawyer said at a hearing in February that Brown has “serious mental issues.”
Austrian neo-Nazi rapper with songs tied to Halle synagogue attack jailed
An Austrian far-right activist accused of posting neo-Nazi songs online, one of which was used by the perpetrator of an antisemitic attack in Germany in 2019, was on Thursday jailed for 10 years.

Prosecuted for glorifying Nazi ideology, “the defendant was found guilty,” Vienna court vice-president Christina Salzborn told AFP.

The court ruled that the 37-year-old man was “particularly dangerous.”

His younger brother, the administrator of an antisemitic website, was sentenced to four years in prison.

Both men can appeal.

The neo-Nazi rapper, who used the pseudonym “Mr. Bond,” was identified by investigators through his PayPal account.

He hijacked rap hits, giving them new lyrics glorifying the Nazi ideology and anti-Semitic or racist in nature.

He has been in detention since his arrest in January 2021,

One of his songs was used by the perpetrator of an attack outside a synagogue in the eastern German city of Halle in October 2019, which left two people dead.
Israeli Robotic Beehive Maker Raises $80 Million in Private Funds
Beewise, an Israeli maker of robotic beehives aimed at saving bees from climate changes, said on Wednesday it raised $80 million in a private funding round led by private equity firm Insight Partners.

The round brings total funds to date to $120 million, it said, adding the new financing will go towards meeting rising demand for its robotic beehives.

Beewise said its agricultural technology has saved more than 160 million bees in the past year. Climate controlled and using automated harvesting, the robotic beehives — sheds that are populated by bees and used by farmers — are powered by solar panels.

The artificial technologies (AI) can detect threats, such as pests and pesticides, to a honeybee colony.

It noted that pollination is crucial to life on the planet since 30% of the global food supply and more than 70% of vegetables, fruit, seeds and nuts are pollinated by bees.
UK Acquires Israeli-Made Body Armor for Women Soldiers
Introduction Announced on International Women’s Day

The UK’s defence ministry will, in April, begin issuing body armour specially designed for women.

The Virtus Scalable Tactical Vest (STV) has been adapted following its introduction for men in close-combat roles. According to an MoD release, “extensive trials with serving female soldiers” have led to the creation of a version of the vest more tailored to women, though no details have been given about what modifications have been made. The Virtus STV is manufactured by Israeli company Source Tactical Gear and has been in use by men in the British military since 2020.

The UK is also introducing a new range of clothing for women. “The range is an improvement on the current offering, with more sizes and changes to the cut of the garments for a more ergonomic and high-performance fit for all personnel,” according to MoD. There will be “around 25” sizes of shirt available, for example, while most high-street clothing shops would usually provide around 10 sizes.
What is the role that aliyah plays in the State of Israel?
We are living at an incredible time of opportunity and responsibility. Standing on the shoulders of Zionist visionaries and realizers, we are the links in a chain of the founding generation. As such, we have a unique role to play in leading and implementing change that can inspire tangible transformation, in perception and reality. Engaging challenges of olim from a holistic perspective rather than a sectorial one will enable us to identify and remove hurdles for current and prospective new immigrants, stimulating the economic and social growth engine of aliyah, relevant more than ever in the face of a global pandemic.

Furthermore, it will generate deepened understanding and appreciation among the general Israeli public, empowering olim to take their rightful and necessary places in public leadership positions and around decision-making tables, enhancing their vital contribution to the development of Israel in all areas of life itself – from engaging with, defining and balancing “Jewish” with “democratic.” to good governance and transparency, to mental health and education, for the sake of Israel’s entire public – Arabs and Jews, religious and secular, young and old. It will propel olim to take their role as the critical live bridge that they are, securing the continued development of the State of Israel and the Jewish people, renewing the covenant, altering and deepening the relationship between Jews in Israel and their sisters and brothers around the world.

At this historic intersection of global and local challenges and opportunities, from within and without, it is imperative to individually and collectively identify our abilities and responsibilities, and to lean in in order to maximize influence. This is the challenge and opportunity of our generation. It is our call to action. As this historic period of remembrance and reflection draws to a close, with renewed commitment to the past, present and future of our state, our people and the world, we must resolve to continue leading this process – together.
Not just for wineries: Brewery produces Golan Heights beer
A team of entrepreneurs in the Golan Heights are challenging a region known best for its wineries by leveraging the area's high-quality springs to produce beers at the Golan Brewery.

"This brewery was opened in 2006 by three entrepreneurs who wanted to add another high-quality product to the ones already existing in the Golan Heights – like good wine, water, and olive oil," Motti Barr, a Golan Brewery production manager, told i24NEWS.

The founders of the business were also looking to offer Israelis a new kind of brew – before the Golan Brewery was opened, "there was no local fresh, unfiltered, and non-pasteurized beer," Barr said.

He explained that one reason why the team picked the Golan Heights is due to the area's historic connection to beer-making – ancient Egyptians and Sumerians produced the drink there thousands of years ago.

The beer produced at the Golan Brewery is named "Bazelet," the Hebrew word for basalt – a type of volcanic rock found throughout the area's springs.

"The name of the beer is the name of the stone from which the water comes," Barr told i24NEWS.
Mideast Eats | Golan heights beer



‘Being Here Is Part of Our DNA’: Israelis Treat Refugees at Ukraine Field Hospital as War Enters Fifth Week
A few days ago, doctors at Israel’s field hospital in western Ukraine and medical staff at a hospital thousands of miles away near Tel Aviv faced a tough decision about treating a young patient suffering from severe anemia.

“The seven-month-old infant, who came to the field hospital with his mom, was very pale, very weak, could barely cry and couldn’t even breastfeed,” said Dr. Yoel Har-Even, who runs the Israeli medical center that opened last week in Mostyska, a town close to Ukraine’s border with Poland. “Initially, we thought that we will do a direct blood transfusion from one of our delegates but then we discussed it with our colleagues in Israel and we understood that it’s very difficult to do it under current conditions, especially when the donor is an adult and the one who needs to accept it is a seven-month-old baby.”

After careful consultation, it was decided to move the infant to Poland — where “he arrived safely at a hospital with the best medication, and where they will give him blood but in a very controlled environment,” Har-Even explained.

It was just one example of the plight of the 1,500 locals and refugees who have flocked to the Israeli hospital for treatment in recent days, Har-Even told a forum of journalists on Wednesday as he spoke about the challenges and operations of the medical staff’s first shift there, which ends on Sunday.

“We have seen patients with heart problems. This area is also endemic to hypothyroidism due to a lack of iodine in the water,” said Har-Even. “We treated refugees who ran away from Mariupol, and we had a family who came especially to see us from the Donetsk area, whose daughter was operated in Israel for a kidney issue a few years ago. When her parents heard about the Israeli field hospital they drove 48 hours to come and see us and have her checked.”

Most of the patients seen at the hospital have been elderly, children or pregnant women, since men aged 20-60 have been drafted into the army to defend against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is now in its fifth week.


Taking Holocaust Education to TikTok
It’s not every day that a Holocaust survivor becomes a TikTok sensation. But Israeli Gidon Lev, who just turned 87, is a rapidly rising star of the video-focused social networking service, with almost 400,000 followers and 5.7 million likes. That is a lot of people—particularly young people, whose lack of knowledge about the Holocaust has made headlines lately—watching and liking his sometimes playful and other times serious and educational 30-second videos.

Lev, born in 1935 in the former Czechoslovakia, was imprisoned at age 6 in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where he remained until he was 10. Almost all of the 150,000 children sent there were murdered at Auschwitz, Treblinka, and elsewhere; only 92, including Lev, survived. After losing 26 of his family members in the Holocaust, he came to Israel in 1959, fought in the Six-Day War, and married twice. He has six children and 14 grandchildren. In addition to the hardships imposed on him as a child by the Nazis—hunger, cold, insecurity, fear, unimaginable suffering and loss—Lev is also a two-time cancer survivor. But none of his life’s adversities have made him less spirited or optimistic. To the contrary: He loves to dance, is curious and feisty, and his resilient attitude is contagious, as is evident by how his enormous TikTok audience responds to his positivity, giving him the online nickname #tiktokgrandpa. “I always clung to life,” he said. “The thirst to hold on and to survive is part of my character.”

His rise to TikTok fame began with a different project. Julie Gray—a journalist, editor, and film industry veteran from LA who made aliyah in 2012—was originally approached by Lev, a widower, to edit his memoir. During their collaboration, a romantic relationship developed and they now call themselves “loving life buddies.” In 2020, they published a co-authored book titled The True Adventures of Gidon Lev: Rascal. Holocaust Survivor. Optimist. When they first launched their TikTok account—called @thetrueadventures—it was meant to promote the book. “What if I could totally subvert expectations—put an old man on a new platform?” Gray said in an interview with Haaretz.

Although the content created by Lev and Gray was first limited to snippets of information about Lev’s story as reflected in the biography, it soon became clear to them that they had a unique opportunity to educate. “The business of selling the book has become secondary for us,” said Lev, because as their following grew and they discovered how much misinformation, antisemitism, Holocaust-denying, and hatred fills the TikTok universe, they felt the need to engage. “The thing that vaulted us was the Holocaust comparisons to [COVID] vaccines,” said Gray. “We were tagged by a couple of big creators, and overnight it became our raison d’être.”




 

 

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