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Sunday, April 10, 2022

04/10 Links: The racism in US Mideast policy; We progress, the Palestinians regress, and so the world turns; NJ Man Charged With Attempted Murder After Antisemitic Stabbing, Hit-and-Runs

From Ian:

The racism in US Mideast policy
Considering how overused the accusation of racism has become in recent years, I hesitate to bring it into a discussion of U.S.-Israel relations. Yet there does seem to be a kind of bigotry underlying a certain attitude among some senior U.S. State Department officials. And that is deeply troubling.

This concerns the State Department’s silence with regard to how the Palestinian Authority responded to the recent deaths of three Arab terrorists. On April 2, three members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad—the terror group that murdered my daughter Alisa, in 1995—set out to massacre more Jews. They were intercepted by Israeli security forces, opened fire on the Israelis and were killed in the shootout.

As we all know, the P.A. signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1993, called the Oslo Accords, which obligates the Palestinian leadership to fight terrorism. If the P.A. was genuinely opposed to terrorism—as the media, the State Department and the Jewish left are constantly telling us—then it would have been delighted that Israel eliminated three terrorists.

Instead, Nail Abu Rudeineh, the official spokesman for P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas, accused Israel of “carrying out this premeditated attack, which led to the killing of three civilians.” He said Israel’s elimination of the terrorists is “a dangerous practice,” “a dangerous escalation,” and “a threat and a flagrant challenge to international law.”

P.A. Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh denounced the action of the Israeli security forces as “a horrific crime” and “extrajudicial murder.” And the P.A. Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded that the Israeli soldiers be handed over to the International Criminal Court for prosecution.

Why didn’t the U.S. State Department challenge the P.A.’s outrageous support for the terrorists? The answer, I’m afraid, involves a kind of racism. Or, to be more precise, the “soft bigotry of low expectations,” a phrase coined by Michael Gerson, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush.
In the 21st century, anti-Zionism means antisemitism
How many deadly terrorist attacks must take place inside of Israel before it starts being called another intifada? Thursday's incident in which a Palestinian gunman killed three and wounded several others in downtown Tel Aviv left Israelis wondering about whether the fourth such atrocity in the last few weeks is merely the beginning of a new security crisis. But what this series of murders is called is less important than whether the world reacts as it always has to violence against Israel with more sympathy for the killers than their victims.

Yet even at times such as these, some American Jews neither empathize with the people of Israel nor support their right to self-determination or self-defense. The publicity given to the decision of a Chicago synagogue to officially declare its house of worship to be dedicated to the cause of anti-Zionism might have made it an outlier to the more than 80% of American Jewry that polls say thinks that "caring about Israel" is essential to being Jewish. But the attention given Tzedek Chicago, as the synagogue is named, is just the latest instance in which the hostility of Jews on the far-left to Israel's existence has been illustrated.

Its members and those who share their views claim that the existence of Israel is an injustice. They subscribe to a version of Judaism that doesn't merely discard some of the religious beliefs and practices that most Jews have long held sacred – as is the case with the majority of American Jews who identify with the liberal denominations. Both Reform and Conservative Judaism officially subscribe to Zionism. But portions of the Reconstructionist movement and other offshoots of non-Orthodoxy Jewry go further and fetishize the Diaspora. Theirs is a Judaism stripped of its particularity and its roots in the Land of Israel and Jewish peoplehood, and which consists solely of universalist beliefs that bizarrely seem to hold that all peoples have basic rights but the Jews.

While Reform's 1885 "Pittsburgh Platform" was officially anti-Zionist, the movement evolved in the 20th century, and the two greatest leaders of American Zionism in the first half of the 20th century were Reform rabbis – Abba Hillel Silver and Stephen Wise (who is unfortunately better remembered for his silence and opposition to efforts to rescue European Jews during the Holocaust).

Anti-Zionism had considerable support until 1948 because many Jews feared that the creation of a Jewish state would undermine their right to equal citizenship. But the Holocaust proved the need for a Jewish state, and rather than undermine Jewish rights, Israel's creation made all Jews stand up taller while also inspiring most Americans to greater respect for their Jewish neighbors.
We progress, the Palestinians regress, and so the world turns
This is essentially the crux of the problem. After all, the terrorist acted alone. But he has parents who quickly praised and boasted of his actions and relatives who have flocked to the family's mourning tent to glorify and laud his deeds. The terrorist hails from a village or neighborhood where children hand out candy to celebrate murders and youths who drive around in organized convoys, honking their horns in solidarity. This, therefore, is the cycle of murder, starting with incitement, even if relatively understated and polished, and continuing with support, even if indirect and tactful, for murderers. To be sure, anyone who calls for carrying on the struggle against Israel knows very well that someone, and likely more than a few people, will interpret his calls as inspiration to commit murder. As for those who label terrorists as shahids (holy martyrs) and pay salaries to their families – they legitimize their actions, even if they occasionally declare they oppose terror.

Is there another way? Of course there is. It is the way of Zionism – which has never sanctified the murder of innocents, and which never made terrorism and armed struggle its entire purpose and reason for existence. Israel's heroes are not shahids; they are people who fought to ensure its existence, and they are those who have advanced science and technology, education, culture and society, and have built the land.

Thus we continue on our journey, paying a painful price for every single step and benchmark, yet, nevertheless, assuredly marching from victory to victory, for the past 74 years of our independence. The Palestinians, meanwhile, fall farther and farther behind, their national objective growing ever more distant.

Terrorist attacks against civilians seek to divert us from our path and destroy us by instilling dread and undermining our national resilience. Unity, self-restraint, and steadfastness, through our gritted teeth, were always Zionism's path to victory. This doesn't mean projecting helplessness and haplessness in the face of terror, quite the opposite. But before everything else, we must cultivate our sense of solidarity at home.

We must admit, sadly, that the Israeli media, in what is probably an honest desire to lend a hand, is nevertheless motivated by ratings and actually serves as a detriment by propagating panic and fear. The Israeli people, however, are stronger and tougher than how they are portrayed by the press – which, it seems, isn't likely to change any time soon.


Israel Condemns ‘Shocking’ Vandalism of Joseph’s Tomb as Palestinian Rioters Torch Holy Site
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday condemned the overnight vandalism of the religious holy site of Joseph’s Tomb near the West Bank city of Nablus by Palestinian extremists, vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“Dozens of Palestinian rioters in a frenzy of destruction simply vandalized a holy place for us, the Jews. They shattered the headstone over the tomb and set fire to rooms in the complex; I have seen the shocking pictures,” Bennett said.

“We will not tolerate such an attack on a place that is holy for us, on the eve of Passover, and will reach the rioters,” he warned. “We will see to the rebuilding of what has been destroyed, just as we always do.”

Bennett joined other senior officials in announcing that State of Israel will refurbish and rebuild the site to quickly return it to its original condition.

The incident came on the second night that IDF special forces were engaged in counterterrorism operations in the West Bank, apprehending eight suspects involved in terrorist activities and confiscating illegal weapons. Israel accelerated operations in the Palestinian territories following a string of deadly terrorist attacks over the past month, which together killed 14 people.

Bennett said that the IDF, Israeli Security Agency and Israel Police forces have been operating around the clock to restore security and stop the wave of terrorism.

“We are continuing to arrest those who have been involved in terrorism and are striking at the terrorists,” Bennett asserted. “We will settle accounts with everyone who was linked, either directly or indirectly, to the attacks.”

Defense Minister Benny Gantz described the arson act as a “grave event and a serious violation of freedom of worship in one of the holiest places for every Jew.”


IDF Operations in West Bank to Intensify, Gantz Says
Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Saturday that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operations in the Palestinian territories will increase in the coming days following a string of deadly terrorist attacks.

Gantz made the statement following a situational assessment after a morning raid by the IDF in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, the place of residence of the perpetrator of the deadly Tel Aviv shooting.

“The defense minister expressed his appreciation to the soldiers operating over the weekend, and in particular for the operational activities carried out this morning in Jenin,” Gantz said, emphasizing that “defensive and offensive operations will continue and grow in intensity everywhere.”

Meanwhile Israel imposed new restrictions on Jenin, including closing the key checkpoints of Jalameh and Rihan.

The measure, announced by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), will block local merchants and businesspeople from entering Israel and preventing Jenin residents from visiting family in Israel, effectively revoking 5000 permits Israel issued for Jenin residents for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
Jenin: One gunman killed as Palestinians open fire at IDF

Government mulls benefit cuts for families of terrorists; Meretz minister objects
The government on Sunday approved the establishment of a committee to examine the removal of state benefits such as pensions and other grants from the families of citizens who’ve committed acts of terror.

But Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej spoke out against the move.

“You do not harm the benefits of the children of citizens and residents,” Frej tweeted.

Several right-wing politicians lashed out at Frej, calling him a “terror supporter.”

“Those who are elected by the right cannot stay for even another minute in this weak and dangerous government that depends on supporters of terrorism,” opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said.

A panel consisting of the directors of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Public Security Ministry, the Defense Ministry, the Justice Ministry and the Welfare Ministry, along with other officials, will be convened to formulate a recommendation within 60 days of its establishment.

“We are determined… to change the equation so that it will not be worthwhile to take part in terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens,” said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. “Providing benefits from the state to terrorist families is utterly absurd and it is time to redress the injustice.”

“The State of Israel will hold anyone accountable who has a direct or indirect connection to terrorist attacks,” he added.
IDF issues demolition order for home of terrorist who killed 5 in Bnei Brak
The military on Sunday issued a demolition order for the home of a Palestinian terrorist who committed a deadly attack in Bnei Brak last month.

On March 29, Diaa Hamarsheh, 27, from the West Bank village of Ya’bad near Jenin, killed four civilians in the central ultra-Orthodox city, before he died in a shootout with police officers, one of whom was his fifth victim.

The military initiated the process of demolishing Hamarsheh’s Ya’abad home just one day after the attack.

Overnight Saturday, special forces raided the town and arrested eight Palestinians suspected of terror activity, including some with ties to the attack.

Hamarsheh’s family can appeal the demolition order to Israel’s High Court of Justice, but such attempts rarely succeed. However, in some cases, the court can limit the demolition order to only the parts of the house used by the terrorist.

Israel defends the contentious practice of razing the family homes of attackers as a deterrent against future assaults, and officials have argued that speed is essential, claiming that the deterrent factor degrades over time.
Israeli special forces carry out raid in hometown of Bnei Brak terrorist, arrest 8
Israeli security forces carried out large-scale raids on Sunday morning in Jenin, the nearby Palestinian village of Ya’bad and the Balata refugee camp near Nablus.

Ya’bad was the home of Palestinian terrorist Diaa Hamarsheh, who entered Israel illegally from the village and went on a shooting rampage in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, on March 28, killing five people.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that special forces — including troops from the elite Shayetet 13 navy unit — carried out searches for weapons in the area, and arrested eight Palestinians suspected of terror activity.

The military said forces found ammunition and one or more IDF uniforms at the home of one of the suspects, and an explosive device “to be used to carry out an attack” was seized at another home.

During the raid, Palestinians clashed with troops, including opening fire and hurling explosive devices, according to the IDF. No Israeli soldiers were hurt.

The military said troops also operated in Jenin and Tulkarem overnight, arresting several others suspected of terror activity. In Tulkarem, Israeli forces returned fire after Palestinian gunmen shot at soldiers from a vehicle, the IDF said. No troops were hurt in that incident either.
IDF shoots Tel Aviv terrorist's brothers in altercation in Jenin
The IDF shot two brothers of Tel Aviv terrorist Raad Hazem in Jenin's industrial zone on Sunday, according to Palestinian media. Neither was killed, and a chase in underway.

Hazem shot people on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv on Thursday night, killing three people and injuring a dozen more before escaping. He was found after a manhunt that lasted hours. He fired at security forces, who shot back and killed him.

"You will see the victory soon… God, liberate al-Aqsa Mosque from the occupiers,” his father said on Friday.

"Israeli special forces are chasing after my son and wife and shooting their vehicle in Jenin," he told Palestinian media on Sunday after the clash with the IDF.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, the IDF Spokesperson Unit released more information about Hazem.

According to the post, Hazem got into a conflict with other residents of Jenin over financial issues and was threatened with death before they shot at him.

After the shooting, Hazem bought a gun which he used to murder three men on Thursday.
Palestinian woman stabs Israeli officer in Hebron, is shot dead
A Palestinian woman was shot dead by Israeli officers Sunday after trying to stab them at a checkpoint near the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, police said.

Police said one Border Police officer was lightly hurt in the attack.

A police official told The Times of Israel that the wounded officer managed to shoot back twice, killing the assailant.

Footage from the scene showed the woman lying on the ground near the officers.

She was not immediately identified. The official said she was not carrying any sort of identifying paperwork on her.

The incident comes hours after an unarmed Palestinian woman was shot dead by Israeli soldiers after she ran toward them in the West Bank town of Husan.

Tensions have risen sharply between Israel and the Palestinians in recent weeks against the backdrop of repeated terror attacks in Israeli cities that left 14 dead. The army has stepped up its West Bank activities in an attempt to crack down on the spiraling violence.
‘My anchor, my world’: Victims of Tel Aviv terror attack laid to rest
The three victims of last week’s Tel Aviv terror attack were laid to rest Sunday afternoon in separate funerals.

Tomer Morad and Eytam Magini, two childhood friends aged 27 and originally from Kfar Saba, were put to rest at a cemetery in the city.

Morad’s funeral started at 3:30 p.m. and was attended by hundreds of people who came to pay their final respects.

Morad’s girlfriend, Ariel, struggled to hold back her tears when speaking about him.

“[He] was my heart, my anchor, my world,” she said during his funeral. “You’re everything to me. My body is shaking, it’s weak, and my heart can’t comprehend. We’re not really separating today, we will forever be there for you. We have the greatest, purest love — no one can ever take that,” she said.

Morad’s sister, Tal, described her brother as a “walking beam of sunshine,” adding that he was “full of humor.”

His brother, Omri, had moved to the United States a few years ago. “I’ve been looking for a picture of us and all I can find is so old,” he said. “Pictures from 10 years ago that pour salt on my wound. I missed out on you.”

Morad’s military commander said he always set an example for others.

“Tomer was a professional, always had this inner calm to him. He was a commander who soldiers wanted to follow. I promise you that your family will never be alone. You will always be a part of us,” he said.

“We had so many plans,” said a close friend of Morad. “You were always a cook and always enjoyed having people over… every conversation with you was enlightening. Thank you for a long friendship.”


Victims of Tel Aviv terror attack to be laid to rest

‘Deja vu’: The Tel Aviv bar owners who’ve had two venues targeted in terror attacks
The three owners of the Ilka Bar are trying to process Thursday’s deadly terror attack — six years after another bar they own just a few hundred meters away was also the scene of carnage, when a gunman killed three people on New Year’s Day, 2016.

One of the three owners of the bars, Dean Reichel, told Channel 12 news on Saturday that as soon as he heard about the attack on Thursday, while details were still shaky, he called the manager of the Ilka Bar.

“When I spoke to her, she answered me with extraordinary composure, she said to me: ‘Dean, it was here. We had a terror attack. There was shooting, there are dead people, there is blood on the floor. Come quickly,'” he recalled.

Three people were killed and at least 10 wounded when a gunman opened fire at the Ilka Bar on Thursday evening as it was packed with revelers marking the end of the working week.

Tomer Morad and Eytam Magini, two childhood friends, both aged 27, were killed immediately.

Barak Lufan, a 35-year-old father of three was critically wounded in the attack and died a day later.
PM visits victims of Tel Aviv terror attack, vows to pursue terrorists ‘everywhere’
Following a visit Saturday evening to speak with hospitalized victims of Thursday’s deadly terror shooting in Tel Aviv and their families, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said security forces will continue to “pursue the terrorists everywhere, day and night.”

“I have just finished visiting the wounded at Ichilov hospital, they are lively and with a very strong spirit,” Bennett said.

The terror attack Thursday on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv killed three people and wounded at least 10 others, breaking a tense calm that had set in since March 28, when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak, killing five people.

The terrorist who carried out the shooting attack Thursday was shot dead after being discovered by security forces early Friday following a massive manhunt overnight.

Bennett said Saturday that Israel was “moving from defense to offense, and attacking the sources of terrorism, at any time, anywhere, at night, during the day, in the morning, in the evening, and wherever they are.”

“As I said, there will be no restrictions on the security forces, on the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Israel Police. We will continue to pursue the terrorists everywhere,” he said.
Reuters Improves Headline After Casting Terrorist As Victim
In contrast to Reuters’ obscuring headline, the Associated Press ran this straightforward, commendable headline: “Palestinian kills 2, wounds several in Tel Aviv shooting.” CAMERA sent Reuters a suggested headline which makes clear that the assailant murdered innocent victims, and also that he was killed by security forces: “Palestinian kills two Israelis in Tel Aviv bar attack, is shot dead.” Agence France Presse, another leading wire agency, ran a headline along these appropriate lines: “Israeli police kill gunman who who shot dead two in Tel Aviv.”

Following CAMERA’s correspondence to Reuters, editors subsequently improved the headline. The amended headline is: “Israeli forces kill Palestinian gunman after Tel Aviv bar attack.” The improved headline now acknowledges that the slain Palestinian was gunman. But the inadequate headline nevertheless still fails to note that he murdered three innocent civilians. Why is his death headline worthy, while his victims’ are not?

Headlines which depict Palestinian assailants as victims and which cover up their heinous crimes conform with the demands of journalists against journalism mandating that reporting of all Palestinian-Israeli affairs be filtered through the false prism of “Israel’s military occupation and its system of apartheid,” a predetermined mold in which Palestinians have zero culpability for their actions.

A striking June 2021 report by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism revealed that out of 46 surveyed countries, the United States ranks dead last (29 percent) in terms of public trust in news media. Editors at Reuters should take note of the alarming nadir in the relationship between the media and its readers. With headlines like Reuters’ on the Tel Aviv terror attack, is it any wonder that the American pubic trust in the media has bottomed out?
Guardian revises headline that erased Israeli terror victims
The Board of Deputies of British Jews (BOD) took the rare step of submitting a formal complaint to the Guardian Readers’ Editor regarding the headline accompanying their report on Thursday night’s deadly Palestinian terror attack in Tel Aviv, while blasting the publication on Twitter for its “disgraceful” coverage. Though the BOD complained about the second version of the headline, to show how their headilne evolved, we’ll show all of its iterations.

Here’s the original Guardian headline, published at 10:20pm (Israeli time) on Thursday (attributed to ‘Staff and Agencies’), on the shooting attack, by a Palestinian from Jenin, at a pub on the crowded Dizengoff Street which ultimately killed three Israeli civilians.


Despite the strap line’s claim that a motive was not “immediately clear”, it was, in fact, already quite clear to most serious observers at that point, by reports in the Israeli media and tweets by journalists, that it was a terror attack. However, as you’ll see, this first iteration is actually better than the second version of the headline (which the BOD and others complained about) published after the article was revised around 7:00am ( Israeli time) on Friday morning.


Whilst in the first headline, the identities of the perpetrator and victims are unclear, it’s telling that the second version, written after their respective identities were made clear, leads with “Israeli forces” killing the Palestinian perpetrator, instead of – as you’d expect when reading about terror incidents – by highlighting the actions of the instigator of the violence. Further, the wording, particularly the words “after Tel Aviv shooting”, even leaves doubt as to whether the Palestinian who was killed by “Israeli forces” was the same person responsible for “the shooting”.

In contrast to the Guardian, the headline by Associated Press (AP) on Friday was “Palestinian kills 2, wounds several in Tel Aviv shooting”, which makes clear that the Palestinian was the perpetrator – ands leads with his deadly act.
BBC's Dizengoff attack report tiptoes around Palestinian terrorism and incitement
Readers are not informed that much of Abbas’ statement in fact related to supposed “incursions” at Temple Mount. That omission is significant because, as explained by Khaled Abu Toameh, like those from Hamas and the PIJ, Abbas’ statement:
“…sought to establish a direct link between the terror attacks and visits by Jews to the Temple Mount and Israeli security measures in Jerusalem during Ramadan.”

BBC audiences were also not informed that a spokesman from Abbas’ Fatah party justified the attack while that faction’s Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades put out an unverified claim of responsibility for it.

The BBC’s report does not state that among others praising the attack were Hizballah and the PRC.

As was the case in BBC reporting on the three previous recent attacks, no mention is made of public celebrations on the streets in PA controlled areas and the Gaza Strip.

The BBC’s article closes with messaging also found in reports on previous recent attacks:
“It marks the deadliest period of attacks in Israel since 2006, with fears of further incidents in the lead-up to the rare convergence next week of the Muslim festival of Ramadan, the Jewish festival of Passover and the Christian festival of Easter.”

The BBC’s euphemistic portrayal fails to clarify that such “fears of further incidents” are in fact entirely related to the fact that Palestinian factions including Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Authority seek to deny entry to Temple Mount to Jews and Christians by raising tensions in Jerusalem.


PMW: The PA/Fatah initiated and fueled terror wave
There should be no misunderstanding. The current terror wave in which 4 terrorists have murdered 14 people in terror attacks in Israel – the latest of which took place in the heart of Tel Aviv on Thursday - was initiated and is being fueled by the PA and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party. In order to ignite and perpetuate the terror wave the PA and Fatah are using all their usual methods: Implicit and direct calls for violence; demonization of Israel and Israelis; invoking the false claim that Israel/Israelis are planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque; attacking Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid for walking in Jerusalem; and repeating other sundry libels.

As Palestinian Media Watch has already exposed, in the run up to the Muslim month of Ramadan, the PA intensified its false rhetoric that Israel was seeking to escalate violence and destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Those calls were then used as a means to create hatred and recruit the Palestinians to conduct terror attacks.

Speaking on the first day of Ramadan, PA Supreme Shari’ah Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash, made the PA expectations of the Palestinians perfectly clear: In the same way as Muslim Prophet Muhammad engaged in war during Ramadan, so too the Palestinians should engage in “Jihad.” Explaining how Muhammad embarked on the Battle of Badr and conquered Mecca during Ramadan, Al-Habbash clarified that Ramadan is “is not a month of laziness but rather … a month of Jihad, conquest, and victory.”

“How was this month [of Ramadan] in the life of Prophet [Muhammad]? … Did the Prophet spend Ramadan in calmness, serenity, laziness, and sleepiness? Far be it from him… The Prophet entered the great Battle of Badr (in 624 CE) during Ramadan... Martyrs fell from among the companions of the Prophet - 14 Martyrs … The companions did not say: “O Prophet of Allah, now is a time of fasting and it is hot” ... On the 17th of Ramadan he set out to Badr, and the great Battle of Badr took place… Also in the month of Ramadan, in the 8th year of the Hijra (i.e., 629-630 CE), the Prophet and the Muslims conquered Mecca... The Prophet did not say and did not think when he decided to set out to liberate Mecca and to conquer Mecca that “Now it’s Ramadan, people are fasting, let’s delay it to after Ramadan” … How can we build [our] lives and lay foundations for Islam if we are lazy, Heaven forbid? Ramadan is not a month of laziness but rather a month of activity, of effort, and of hard work, and as it also was in the life of the Prophet, a month of Jihad, conquest, and victory.”

[Official PA TV, Allah’s Messenger Muhammad, April 3, 2022]
Abbas’ advisor: Ramadan is time for “Jihad, conquest, and victory”

Fatah spokesman glorifies murderer of 5 and other terrorists

PA ignores Palestinian stabbing attack, repeats libel that Israeli law permits “summary execution”

Terrorist in farewell video



Jenin governor says Tel Aviv shooter not a terrorist, deems him ‘Fatah fighter’
Jenin governor Akram Rajoub called a Jenin resident who committed a deadly terror attack Thursday in Tel Aviv that killed three people a “Fatah fighter,” telling The Times of Israel and other outlets that he did not consider him to be a terrorist.

The governor was later spotted at a mourners’ tent set up by the family of the terrorist, 29-year-old Ra’ad Hazem, who was killed Friday morning during a gunfight with police in Jaffa. The event was also set up to mourn Islamic Jihad member Ahmad al-Sa’adi, who was killed in a gunfight with Israeli troops in Jenin on Saturday.

Rajoub, a longtime Palestinian Authority security official and member of the ruling Fatah party, serves as PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s representative in Jenin.

In a speech at the mourner’s tent, Rajoub called Hazem “a Fatah warrior, for whom the occupation’s bullets did not distinguish between him and his comrade Ahmad al-Sa’adi.”

Israeli authorities slapped sanctions on the Jenin governorate on Saturday night. Most significantly, Arab Israelis will not be allowed into the area through the Jalameh and Rihan checkpoints, a significant economic blow to the city.

Speaking with The Times of Israel, Rajoub slammed the Israeli decision to sanction the West Bank area. “When you punish all of Jenin, prevent commerce and workers, you push people into a corner. Expect them to do anything,” Rajoub told The Times of Israel.


Joe Truzman: The U.S. Should Sanction Gaza’s Popular Resistance Committees
Hindering the PRC’s access to funds might curtail its rocket attacks against the Israeli population. In 2008, the group announced it had fired rockets at Israelis living in the Negev in response to a Danish newspaper’s publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. The PRC later claimed to have killed civilians during the 2014 Gaza-Israel war by launching rockets at Israeli cities. In 2019 and 2021, the group used rockets to target civilians living in Tel Aviv and its environs.

After the conflict in Gaza last May, the PRC gave the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen news channel access to one of its manufacturing facilities. A spokesperson dressed in military fatigues demonstrated how the group produced mortars and rockets were produced, including how it positioned projectiles to launch near what appeared to be civilian infrastructure.

Designating the PRC as a terrorist organization could limit its access to web-hosting services and social media platforms. The PRC uses two websites as well as several Telegram channels and Facebook pages to spread propaganda, including videos of attacks from the conflict last way. The organization also used these media to promote videos and statements made by the “Joint Operations Room,” a coordinating body comprising the PRC and numerous Palestinian factions, many of them under U.S. terror sanctions.

Finally, an FTO designation could help the U.S. government partner with social media sites to eliminate the PRC’s access to their platforms, replicating the U.S. government’s previous work against ISIS, Hamas, Al Qaeda, and many other terror groups.

Of course, a U.S. designation won’t completely cut off the group from its funding sources. The PRC receives support from Iran and its terrorist proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has consistently provided the PRC with weapons and the know-how to manufacture rockets. Last November, a PRC spokesman credited Tehran for every “missile, shell or tool of the Resistance” delivered to the group. He also thanked Hezbollah for having “spared no effort in developing our capabilities and arming us.” This kind of activity will only increase if the Biden administration removes the IRGC from the FTO list as part of the revised nuclear deal it is currently negotiating with Tehran.

It’s long past time to label the PRC as the terror group that it is. Doing so could save lives, both American and Israeli.


Iran Threatens: We Won’t Hesitate to Fire Missiles at Bahrain
Since Bahrain’s announcement on forging ties with Israel, demands within Iran to restore Bahrain to Iranian rule have returned with greater intensity. Iran has repeatedly warned recently that it sees Israeli activity in Bahrain as endangering its own security interests and declares that it will not hesitate to attack targets in the kingdom, whether by itself or through its proxies.

Bahrain is of particular historical, religious, and political importance to Iran. Bahrain was once under Persian rule (1602‒1783), and as Iranian’s “14th province,” it sent representatives to the Iranian Majlis (parliament). A recent documentary film, The 14th Province, has won prizes in Iranian film festivals organized by revolutionary elements.

A Sunni minority rules Bahrain’s Shiite majority, and part of the population is Persian in origin. Increased Iranian subversion in the kingdom through local Shiite terrorist groups and Shiite opposition parties operated by Iran is highly likely. Leading Iranian media, such as Kayhan, which reflects the opinions of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, are already inciting Bahrainis to pick up arms.

Terrorist cells in Bahrain operate with Iranian supervision and funding. Although most of these cells have been thwarted by Bahrain, those still active are capable of destabilizing the country if Iran turns up the flames.

Another question is whether Iran will try to invade Bahrain in a manner reminiscent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Tehran supports. Bahrain is susceptible to an Iranian strike involving ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones on strategic targets in the kingdom, despite the fact that it hosts the U.S. Navy’s main naval base for the Fifth Fleet in the Gulf region.
Iran MPs Set Conditions for Reviving 2015 Nuclear Deal Amid Stalled Talks
Iranian lawmakers have set conditions for the revival of a 2015 nuclear pact, including legal guarantees approved by the US Congress that Washington would not quit it, Iranian state media reported on Sunday.

Iran and the United States have engaged in indirect talks in Vienna over the past year to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers which then-US President Donald Trump left in 2018 and Iran subsequently violated by ramping up its nuclear program.

Negotiations have now stalled as Tehran and Washington blame each other for failing to take the necessary political decisions to settle remaining issues.

Imposing such conditions at a crucial time could endanger a final agreement by restricting negotiators’ room for maneuver in the talks.

“The United States should give legal guarantees, approved by its … Congress, that it will not exit the pact again,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted a statement signed by 250 lawmakers out of a total of 290.


Western Islamists Angry at Turkish Outreach to Israel
The Islamist-run Turkish government is often heralded, within Islamist circles in both the West and across the globe, as a leading voice for the Muslim world. In the U.S, Kyle Shideler has noted, Islamist groups in particular have certainly been quick to accept the regime's patronage and directives. And indeed, Turkey's efforts to advance its influence through Islamist proxies and front groups in the West have been extensively documented.

However, there are signs among Western Islamists that such admiration is beginning to fade, with some turning against its would-be caliph, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The most recent appearance of dissent has accompanied the decision the Turkish president to pursue détente with Israel, with Isaac Herzog being the first Israeli President to visit Turkey since 2007.

The loudest and most consistent voice of anger has been the "central media office" of Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), a global Islamist network with branches in over 40 countries.

Publishing on its websites and on Facebook, on March 21, an HT statement attacked "Erdogan's slippery words and duplicitous game" and asked "how can we seek Victory, if we are loyal and intimate to the kuffar, making alliances with them, negotiating with them over our opinions rather than referring to the Quran and Sunnah, extending them pacts and alliances as well as sharing military secrets, despite their enmity and disbelief?"
Palestinian Feminist Profs Call for Love, Preach Hate and Socialism
Rutgers University assistant professor of Africana Studies Noura Erakat imagined this Palestinian utopia within a global struggle for socialism. The terrorist Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) "saw itself as a vanguard against imperialism on behalf of all peoples of the world," she said. The insistence of the PLO and other Palestinians on destroying Zionism "makes Palestinians and Palestine a destructive force," she boasted, with no acknowledgment of the horrors unleashed by PLO oppression and murder.

Palestinians, therefore, align "with other disruptive forces," Erakat proclaimed, depicting an irredeemably racist America. The Black Lives Matter movement has accordingly "insisted on the bankruptcy of citizenship" — a recipe for tyranny — and the "bankruptcy of an equality framework within an enduring colony." Her radical vision ignored the violence committed against LGBT communities among Palestinians and other Muslim communities, for in her mind, women "as well as queer and trans siblings" are prominent among Palestinians.

"What does it mean to decolonize?" Erakat asked, answering with incoherent platitudes, such as that land should no longer be "alienated properties rather than a source of life." Collectivism "means the dismantlement of racial capitalism. There is no solution that includes a capitalist economy" in the "rehabilitation of our social fabric," she declared. Somehow, consistently disastrous socialist economics would allow people "to slow down" and "be able to stop, to rest, to help one another, to dance, to share." Poverty's upside, one supposes.

Fidel Castro–style rhetoric appeals to Erakat and her fellow panelists, whose fashion tastes drew more on Vogue magazine than on the rustic garb of happy peasants laboring in an imaginary pastoral society. Affecting radical chic while enjoying the fruits of advanced capitalist societies evinces the intellectual and moral decadence of academe. Taxpayers and tuition-paying students who understand the costs and benefits of free societies should stop wasting resources on these spoiled ingrates.
Dozens of academic leaders to attend NY antisemitism summit
College and university leaders from more than 40 schools around the United States have signed on to attend a two-day summit addressing antisemitism and the current climate for Jewish students on campus.

The summit will take place from April 11-12 at the Center for Jewish History in New York City and will be hosted by New York University President Andrew Hamilton. It is being sponsored by Hillel International and American Jewish Committee, in collaboration with American Council on Education.

It will open with a dinner featuring a dialogue with three members of the US House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism: Reps. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Lee Zeldin (R-NY), and Grace Meng (D-NY).

College and university leaders from more than 40 schools around the United States have signed on to attend a two-day summit addressing antisemitism and the current climate for Jewish students on campus.

The summit will take place from April 11-12 at the Center for Jewish History in New York City and will be hosted by New York University President Andrew Hamilton. It is being sponsored by Hillel International and American Jewish Committee, in collaboration with American Council on Education.

It will open with a dinner on Monday night featuring a dialogue with three members of the US House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism: Reps. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Lee Zeldin (R-NY), and Grace Meng (D-NY).

It will also include presentations from university and Jewish community leaders, and private sessions for university administrators to confidentially discuss issues with one another. Campus leaders will have the opportunity to share practices and resources, and explore approaches to responding to antisemitism at their schools.


Antisemitic hate crimes in New York up 92% in March - NYPD
Antisemitic hate crimes in New York City were up a startling 92% in March 2022 compared to the same month in 2021, according to new data released by the New York City Police Department.

A total of 23 hate crimes against Jews were reported in the city during the month, 11 more than were reported in March 2021.

This follows an increasing trend in antisemitic incidents in New York in previous months.

In February 2022, there was a 400% increase in antisemitic incidents when compared to February 2021, with 56 reported this year compared to 11 last year.

The data for January were similar, with January 2022 showing nearly 300% more antisemitic hate crimes compared to January 2021.

Overall, the NYPD data for March showed that antisemitic hate crimes were not the only ones to rise in March. Islamophobic incidents doubled from one to two, hate crimes related to ethnicity tripled from one to three and hate crimes related to sexual orientation more than tripled from three to ten. By contrast, no hate crimes related to disabilities were reported at all in March, and the number of hate crimes against Asians and Hispanics actually went down – the former by almost half (32 to 17) and the latter altogether, from two to zero.
NJ Man Charged With Attempted Murder After Antisemitic Stabbing, Hit-and-Runs
A New Jersey man was charged with attempted murder and bias intimidation on Saturday after a violently antisemitic crime spree that left four Jewish victims injured, including two critically.

27-year-old Dion Marsh was charged Friday after a string of incidents around Lakewood, NJ, that began at about 1 p.m., when he assaulted a driver and stole his car, the Lakewood Police Department said. At around 6 p.m., Marsh hit another man with the vehicle, who was left in stable condition.

Before 7.p.m, Marsh then stabbed a third man in the chest, and at about 9 p.m. struck another pedestrian with his car. Both victims were in critical but stable condition on Saturday.

All four of the victims were Orthodox Jews, according to reports in the local Lakewood Alerts and Lakewood Scoop news sites.

“Our investigation reveals that these criminal acts were committed throughout the day yesterday into the early evening and that Marsh was acting alone and not in concert with anyone else,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a statement Saturday.

Marsh was charged with three counts of attempted murder and bias intimidation, and with carjacking and weapons charges.

The Anti-Defamation League said it was “saddened and outraged” by the series of attacks, emphasizing that Marsh made antisemitic remarks upon his arrest.

“I am personally horrified at the cruelty with which the suspect allegedly conducted himself,” said Scott Richman, ADL NY/NJ Regional Director. “More needs to be done proactively to prevent violence against the Jewish community, and in particular visibly identifiable Jews in Ocean County and across our region.”

“Jews should not be afraid to freely go about their business without living in fear that they will be targeted for violence,” Richman continued.
Moody's upgrades Israel's outlook to positive, affirms A1 rating
Global ratings agency Moody's on Friday upgraded the Israeli government's outlook to "positive" from "stable" and affirmed its sovereign credit rating at "A1"

Moody's said the key drivers for the change in outlook included the government's reform agenda that aimed to address longer-term challenges and the agency's expectation of a further reduction in the government's debt ratio.

Israel's economy grew 8.2% in 2021, above forecasts by the country's central bank, after a 20.2% contraction in 2020. Israel's annual inflation rate hit 3.5% in February, the highest since 2011.

The Bank of Israel is expected to hike its interest rates next week, the first tightening in over a decade, to combat rising inflation from strong economic growth and the labor market.
Jewish museum in Krakow turned into daycare center for Jewish refugees
Realizing that mothers of refugee families from Ukraine were busy looking after their children all day long, the organization JRoots partnered with the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow to turn it into a day-care center. Director Jakub Nowakowski makes sure teachers and psychologists are supervising, which gives mothers quiet time to figure out their next steps.

The day-care center in Krakow has organized outdoor trips for the children, including taking a group to a local restaurant for a workshop decorating biscuits. There was lots of blue and yellow icing – the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

Valentyna Merzhyievska, coordinator of the JRoots & Galicia Jewish Museum Day Care for Ukrainian Children from Kyiv, shared her insights with The Jerusalem Post.

“Each child from Ukraine is different,” she said. “They come from various places: Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, Kyiv, the suburbs of Kyiv, villages from the area of Zhytomyr or Volhynia. They have different interests and levels of knowledge. They also have different memories of their prewar life. All of them were expelled from their places. Probably they would never meet if it wasn’t for war.”

Merzhyievska spoke about the different children she is taking care of.
Repaired Texas synagogue reopens months after hostage crisis
In the three months since Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and three of his congregants were held at gunpoint in their Texas synagogue, new carpet has been laid in the sanctuary, the walls have been repainted, the entry retiled and new doors installed. He said it has been healing to watch.

"Each time I came back in, I got to see us moving forward," Cytron-Walker said.

Congregation Beth Israel in the Fort Worth suburb of Colleyville will be rededicated on Friday, and members will celebrate Shabbat in their own building for the first time since the attack.

After the 10-hour standoff on Jan. 15 ended with the escape of the remaining hostages and an FBI tactical team rushing in and killing the gunman, the synagogue was left with broken doors and windows, bullet holes and shattered glass.

Anna Salton Eisen, a founder of the synagogue, said the scene reminded her of abandoned synagogues in Poland still marked with bullets from World War II that she saw while visiting that country in 1998 with her parents – both Holocaust survivors.

"I was standing in my synagogue this time and it was just empty and silent and it showed the marks of the violence that had occurred," Eisen said.

Eisen said the return will help the healing process.

"We are not defeated and we are not going to live in fear," she said.
President Herzog Presented With 19-Foot-Long Matzah, ‘Biggest in Israel’
An Israeli bakery showed off the largest piece of matzah in the country to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday, as the Jewish state preps for the Passover holiday beginning next week.

The “record-breaking” matzah stretches over 19 feet, weighs more than 13 pounds, and has some 119,000 perforations, the president’s office said. It took 2o workers over three hours to bake, using more than 15 pounds of flour and three liters of water.

David Wolf, a fifth-generation matzah baker, presented the traditional unleavened flatbread alongside his three children to Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog.

“We are very happy to see the longest matzah in Israel and maybe even the world, as you at your factory celebrate 138 years of matzah-baking,” the president said. “I want to wish the People of Israel a wonderful Seder night, matzah-eating, and a kosher and happy Passover!”

The Guinness World Record for the longest matzah is held by the Manischewitz company, which unveiled a 23-foot-long sheet in Newark, New Jersey in June 2011. The largest matzah ball ever — a 267-pound orb made of 1,000 eggs and 200 pounds of matzo meal — was shaped in 2009 by Noah’s Ark Original Deli in New York, according to Guinness.




 

 

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