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Thursday, April 28, 2022

04/28 Links Pt2: Jordan's attitude towards Temple Mount is antisemitic and hypocritical; Gal Gadot shares grandfather's harrowing tale during Holocaust

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: Growing Integration and Prosperity for Israeli Arabs at Risk from Forces that Crave Victory over Jews
Over the past few weeks there has been sustained rioting on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. From the al-Aqsa mosque, Arabs hurled stones, iron bars and petrol bombs on to Jews worshipping below at the Western Wall. This forced the Israeli police to enter the compound to restore order.

Israel's Arab citizens, who number around 1.9 million, 20% of the population, are different from Palestinian Arabs living in the disputed territories of the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, or Gaza. Among Israel's own Arab citizens there has been signs of increasing prosperity and integration in recent years. The Arab Israeli middle class is growing and the share of Arab students at Israeli colleges and universities has nearly doubled over the last 12 years. In 2020, more than 1,000 volunteered to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), more than twice the number of previous years.

Yet in May 2021, when Israeli forces were at war with Hamas in Gaza, Arab Israelis rioted in Jaffa, Lod, Acre, Ramle and Haifa, where they had lived peacefully alongside their Jewish neighbors for decades. The mobs burnt synagogues and schools, stoned Jews in more than 5,000 attacks, and set homes and cars on fire. So among Israel's Arabs, both assimilation and radicalization have been simultaneously accelerating.
Jordan's attitude towards Temple Mount is antisemitic and hypocritical - analysis
Just a couple of weeks after Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh expressed enthusiasm for violence against Jews saying he “praises every Palestinian and Jordanian Islamic Wakf worker... who throws rocks at the pro-Zionists,” Amman submitted a paper to Washington to complain about Israel’s actions on the Temple Mount.

Jordan claimed Israel is violating the “historic status quo,” and seeks to have the Wakf take charge of visits by non-Muslims and have as big of a staff as it wants. It also does not like Israel using the term “freedom of worship” when referring to the site, because they view it as implying Jews may pray there.

It reeks of hypocrisy for Jordan to complain that Israel is violating the “historic status quo,” while at the same time asking to change that very same status quo in order to give the Wakf that it funds more control.

But beyond that very obvious oxymoron, there is the question of what the “historic status quo” means. The Hashemite dynasty has been the custodian of Jerusalem’s holy sites since 1924. The 1994 peace agreement between Israel and Jordan says Israel committed to “respect the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem.” Is the entire Temple Mount a Muslim holy shrine, or just al-Aqsa?

Some reports say Jordan wants to go back to the status quo of the year 2000. Non-Muslims were free to visit the Temple Mount for most of 2000, however. Not many did, but they could. It was only after PLO chairman Yasser Arafat decided to use the Temple Mount visit by then-Likud MKs Ariel Sharon and (little-known fact) Reuven Rivlin as an excuse to launch the pre-planned Intifada in September 2000, that the site was closed to Jews.

Perhaps the most telling part of all when it comes to Jordan’s position is the complaint about Israel using the term “freedom of worship” because – God forbid! – those Jews might get the idea that they can pray. They might even think that they’re in charge of Jerusalem. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?
Israel will not discuss Temple Mount with Jordan after incitement – official
Israel will not hold discussions with Jordan about the status quo on the Temple Mount in the coming weeks in light of Amman’s incitement against Israel, a senior Israeli diplomatic official said on Thursday.

The official referred to Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh’s praise for Palestinians who physically attacked Israelis amid rioting on the Temple Mount, and spoke after Jordan submitted a paper to the US calling for Israel to relinquish control of the holy site.

Though Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Jordanian King Abdullah II ahead of the Muslim month of Ramadan to try to lower tensions, Israel views Jordan as having been obstructive to the aim of bringing calm to Jerusalem in recent weeks, especially in light of Khasawneh’s remarks amid Palestinian rioting when Passover and Ramadan coincided.

As such, Israel does not plan to hold discussions about the Temple Mount with Jordan, the senior diplomatic source said, until a series of potential dates for Palestinian terrorist groups to incite violence in the coming weeks come to an end: the last Friday of Ramadan this week, Independence Day on May 5, Nakba Day on May 15, and Jerusalem Day on May 29.

“We’re not talking about anything other than getting through this time quietly and peacefully,” said the source, adding that Washington did not convey Amman’s demands to Jerusalem, and is trying to reduce tension over the Temple Mount. People gather around the Dome of the Rock, in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City October 28, 2021 (credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD) People gather around the Dome of the Rock, in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City October 28, 2021 (credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)

Jordan told the US it demands that Israel respect the “historic status quo” at the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, on top of which al-Aqsa Mosque was built.

Among Jordan’s demands was that Israel end restrictions on the number of staff members from the Jerusalem Islamic Wakf, and put the Wakf in charge of all visits by non-Muslims.

Visits to the Temple Mount have grown more popular among Jews in recent years, with a record 4,625 Jews ascending the holy site during Passover. Jordan views the increased number of visitors as a violation of the status quo.


UN Watch: GB News: Hillel Neuer on U.N.'s Toxic Alliance of Radical Left NGOs & Dictatorships

"Blinken Tells Congress Israel Wants US Back in UNESCO"
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that Israel supports the Biden administration’s desire to return to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from which both Israel and the US withdrew during the Trump administration.

The Trump administration filed its notice to withdraw in October 2017 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed suit, denouncing the Paris-based UN agency as a hub of anti-Israel bias – criticizing Israel’s annexation of eastern Jerusalem, filing ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites, and granting full membership to the imaginary State of Palestine. Both countries pulled out of UNESCO in 2019, but the US had already stopped paying its dues to the agency under President Obama, after the recognition of “Palestine.”

Blinken told the committee on Wednesday that he understood why previous administrations mistrusted UNESCO, admitting “there was a very understandable concern expressed in the past because of the Palestinians seeking admission and that going forward.” He then noted that “Congress chose to act and make it difficult for us to continue our participation.” But now, apparently, it’s time to kiss and make up with the most brazenly antisemitic arm of the UN, Blinken said, asking Congress to give the administration permission to ignore the laws that forbid the executive branch to fund anyone who unilaterally recognizes a Palestinian state.

“We believe that having the waiver authority would be important and necessary,” Blinken told Congress, reassuring it, “I can say with authority that our partners in Israel feel the same way — they would support our rejoining UNESCO.”

MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism) tweeted an angry response to the notion that the Israeli government favors a US return to UNESCO: “Was there anyone here who claimed that at the political level this government is continuing its predecessors? Israel and the United States have left UNESCO, the organization that claimed the Cave of the Patriarchs is a Palestinian heritage site. And now Israel supports the return of the United States to that organization? We are being sold in a liquidation sale.”
The Israel Guys: This is the Lie They Want You to Believe
According to the Jerusalem Post, Ramadan has seen a 200% increase in violence from 2005-2016. This year was no different. From violent riots on the Temple Mount, to terrorist attacks, the last few months have been unsettling. Thankfully, things are beginning to quiet down in Israel.

On today’s show, we take a look at the UN’s refusal to see actual evidence of who is responsible for the violence in Jerusalem. We also look at a Muslim document from 1924 that proves the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, and how all of the Arab PA leaders have created a fake history in the last 70 years.




'Peace to you': Palestinians, Israeli settlers share kosher Iftar meal in Hebron
Local Palestinian leader Mohammed Nasser of Dura has been called a traitor for speaking with Israelis.

He was not afraid, therefore, to attend a kosher iftar meal in the West Bank city of Hebron with Israeli guests, including settler leaders from the city’s Jewish community.

“If you mention Mohammed Nasser in the West Bank, they will tell you he is the first man for Israel,” Nasser told the several dozen guests who sat on the porch of Hebron businessman Ashraf Jabari on Tuesday night.

A veteran peacemaker, Nasser has spoken with Israeli presidents, prime ministers, parliamentarians, congressmen, writers, and poets. He has also traveled to Washington to advocate for peace.

Nasser said he is in conversation with South Hebron Hills Regional Council Yohai Damri and has spoken with the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Ram Ben-Barak.

“I know each and every president of Israel, even prime ministers,” he said. “Either they were at my home or I met them in their offices,” he told the several dozen guests at the iftar meal, which offered kosher guests meals prepared in the nearby Kiryat Arba settlement.

An electrician by trade, Nasser recalled how in 1982 when he was “chief of the village league,” he called for a conference under the “slogan ‘yes to peace’.”

Even the Israelis were concerned he was a traitor, Nasser recalled.

Nasser explained that these ties have come at a cost. “We are suffering a lot because of our relationship with you,” he said.
Israel Gave Honorary Plaque to Jerusalem Mufti Hours Before He Spoke at an Event with Nasrallah, Haniyeh
Sheikh Ekrima Sa’id Sabri, 83, who was appointed by Yasser Arafat in 1994 to serve as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine (the stint ended in 2006) spoke on Tuesday at a virtual conference alongside senior terrorists from around the world, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh. Islamic Jihad top thugs were also on hand.

So far, not such a big deal – Sabri is not the first and won’t be the last anti-Semitic Jerusalem Mufti who collaborates with Jew-haters. Here’s the thing, though: according to Hakol Ha’Yehudi, only a few hours before the all villains Zoom, this former Mufti was giving a speech at a school in eastern Jerusalem run by the Israeli Ministry of Education and the Jerusalem Municipality’s Education Dept.

Sabri was received as the guest of honor at the Boys’ Elementary School in Isawiya, a neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem, near the Hadassah Mount Scopus Medical Center. The former Mufti even received from the school an honorary plaque for his many good works, all at Israeli taxpayers’ expense. He then proceeded to instruct the students on prayers and religious topics around the Muslim month of Ramadan.

At the Zoom conference, Sabri attacked normalization with Israel and said that “most Arab countries are engaged in internal struggles or normalization with Israel but this does not absolve them of responsibility. The nation is obligated to protect the residents of Jerusalem.”

Sabri receiving a certificate of appreciation from MK Mansour Abbas, and senior Ra’am officials Razi Issa and Abu Daabs:

Religious Zionism Chairman MK Bezalel Smotrich insisted “Israel’s security services must arrest Mufti Ekrima Sabri tonight and prosecute him. I do not imagine that [MK Mansour] Abbas’ strong connection with Sabri and the fact that this government is dependent on Abbas will prevent such a critical security move.”

Yes, but will they let him display his honorary plaque in his prison cell?

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas removed Sabri from his post as mufti in July 2006, reportedly for his growing popularity and open expression of antisemitic incitement as well as insidious, dangerous political views.

In a 2000 interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Sabri said, “Six million Jews dead? No way, they were much fewer. Let’s stop with this fairytale exploited by Israel to capture international solidarity. It is not my fault if Hitler hated Jews, indeed they were hated a little everywhere. Instead, it is necessary to denounce the unjust occupation endured by my people. Tomorrow I will ask John Paul II… to support our cause.”


MEMRI: Criticism In Palestinian Social Media And Palestinian Press Of Hamas Flags At Al-Aqsa: Hamas Is Leveraging The Al-Aqsa Issue For Political Gain
Following morning prayers on April 22, 2022, the third Friday and the 21st day of the month of Ramadan, clashes broke out in the Al-Aqsa compound between Muslim rioters and Israeli police. During the incident Hamas flags were waved, fireworks were shot off at police, and calls praising Hamas military wing leader Muhammad Deif and Hamas leader in Gaza Yahyah Al-Sinwar were heard.

Senior Hamas officials and Hamas-affiliated media outlets expressed their pride in Hamas's role in these events, and also in similar clashes there several days previously in which Hamas supporters also played an active role. For example, Hamas leader abroad Khaled Mash'al asserted that "the Islamic Resistance in Gaza" had "forced the enemy to back down from its aspirations at Al-Aqsa," and went on to call for the establishment of an "Army of Al-Aqsa."[1] Hamas political bureau member Khalil Al-Hayya stressed that "steadfast Gaza has managed to establish the Jerusalem-Gaza equation."[2] Additionally, the Hamas mouthpiece Al-Resala wrote that the waving of the Hamas flags at the Al-Aqsa compound expressed the Palestinian people's trust in and support for the movement. The Hamas website, Hamas.ps, also stressed its diplomatic achievements following Hamas's involvement in the Al-Aqsa events.[3]

However, the waving of Hamas flags at the Al-Aqsa compound aroused Palestinian criticism on social media and in the Palestinian press, with some critics affiliated with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) party and with Fatah. The criticism alleged that Hamas was leveraging the religion for political gain. Critics said that the only flag that should be waved at Al-Aqsa is the Palestinian national flag, as a symbol of unity, and that Hamas must not be falsely represented as the only defender of Al-Aqsa, and of the entire Palestinian people.

DFLP member and former prisoner Esmat Mansour asked in a Facebook post: "What is the connection between a [political] party flag and worship [at the mosque]?" He went on to question whether Hamas was trying to gain political points from the affair. His criticism was harshly censured by Hamas supporters but cheered by members of his party, Fatah officials, and members of the Palestinian media.
PMW: Terrorists are “heroic” and “pioneers” and are given jobs in the PA
Speaking at a rally to mark “Palestinian Prisoner’s Day,” the Director of the PA-funded PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Qadri Abu Bakr told the crowd that the “heroic” terrorists - many of whom are murderers and mass murderers - are the “pioneers of the Palestinian people who defend the Palestinian honor and holy sites”:
“Yesterday [April 17, 2022] hundreds of civilians participated in a rally to mark Palestinian Prisoner’s Day at Al-Manara Square in central Ramallah…

Director of [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Qadri Abu Bakr said in his speech during the rally that the heroic prisoners are the pioneers of our people, and that they are defending our honor and our holy sites…”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 18, 2022]

Earlier, Abu Bakr declared that the Israeli prisons “have been and remain schools” for the terrorists and that released terrorists are given and now hold positions in every walk of life, including in PA government ministries:
Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Qadri Abu Bakr: “I say that the prisons have been and remain schools. Many of the commanders and organization members (i.e., convicted terrorists) who left prison are currently fulfilling important roles in the PA. Even abroad, those who went abroad are also university lecturers and managing funds. Among us in the [Fatah] Central Committee there are released prisoners, in the [PA] government ministries there are released prisoners. All fields of life – whether in the private sector or the public sector – are full of [released] prisoners.”

[Official PA TV, From Cairo, March 30, 2022]




MEMRI: Senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad Official Muhammad Shalah: Allah Brought The Jews To Palestine So We Can Finish Them Off; Iran Gave Us Weapons While The Arabs Gave Us School Supplies
Senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) official Muhammad Shalah said in an April 24, 2022 show on Al-Quds Al-Youm TV (Islamic Jihad – Gaza) that Palestine is unquestionably Palestinian land, and that the Jews have no historical claim to it. He also said that Allah brought the Jews to Palestine for the Palestinians to "finish them off. In addition, he said that the PIJ is part of the Iran-backed "resistance axis" and that while Iran supplied the Palestinians with rockets and weapons, the Arabs only gave them school supplies. Muhammad Shalah is the brother of the former leader of the Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Abdullah Shalah who died in 2020.

We Will Fight For Jerusalem "To The Last Palestinian Soldier, Last Lion Cub, And Last Child... From Both The National And Religious Perspective, The Jews Have Nothing Here"

Muhammad Shalah: "We will protect the sacred city [of Jerusalem] to which the Prophet Muhammad made his night journey, and from which he ascended to heaven, with everything we have. We will fight to the last Palestinian soldier, last lion cub, and last child. We will never raise the white flag [of surrender]. Even if the Arabs, the Muslims, and the entire world desert us, we will fight for that city, because in this battle, we have a profitable transaction with Allah.

"As soon as the Prophet Muhammad placed his foot on the Foundation Stone, here in Palestine, this has become the greatest deed of sale in the history of humanity, and it proves our right to Palestine. End of story.

"We are dealing with this from an Islamic perspective. All the talks about ancient history, the Canaanites, Abraham, the Abrahamic faith, and the accords... All of this is unacceptable.

"Abraham was not Palestinian. He came from Iraq. From both the national and religious perspectives, the [Jews] have nothing here. They should leave our land. This is the land of the Palestinian people, and it constitutes an Islamic endowment until Judgement Day. They should go back to where they came from, and that's it.


Palestinian Authority Curriculum Ramps Up Incitement
Despite calls for reform, the Palestinian Authority curriculum has ramped up its incitement in recent years, with learning materials filled with anti-Semitism and rejection of reconciliation with Israel. On April 20, Marcus Sheff, CEO of the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), told the European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control about the PA's new "study cards," released in August. They were "in some cases more violent and more inciteful than the curriculum that we've seen before."

The cards teach that Jews control the world, glorify suicide bombers and that those who kill infidels will go to paradise. "Newton's laws of physics are still taught through a young girl using a slingshot. Eight-year-olds are taught math by counting martyrs. Girls are taught that to be equal with boys, they need to become martyrs," he said, adding that a teachers' guide "instructs educators to punish students for not connecting the Jewish religion with murder."

Arik Agassi, chief operating officer of IMPACT-se, said, "We expected pushback. It was quite the opposite. They've had enough." Sheff said the EU Commission also said it wasn't going to hand over 200 million euros annually until the PA made "significant changes to the textbooks."


4,500-year-old sculpture of ancient goddess unearthed in Gaza
A Palestinian farmer found a rare 4,500-year-old stone sculpture while working his land in the southern Gaza Strip, ruling Hamas authorities announced Monday.

Hamas' Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said the 22-centimeter (6.7-inch) tall limestone head is believed to represent the Canaanite goddess Anat and is estimated to be dated to around 2,500 BCE.

"Anat was the goodness of love, beauty, and war in the Canaanite mythology," said Jamal Abu Rida, the ministry's director, in a statement.

Gaza, a narrow enclave on the Mediterranean Sea, boasts a trove of antiquities and archaeological sites as it was a major land route connecting ancient civilizations in Egypt, the Levant and Mesopotamia.

But discovered antiquities frequently disappear and development projects are given priority over the preservation of archaeological sites beneath the urban sprawl needed to accommodate 2.3 million people packed into the densely populated territory.

In 2017, the Hamas terrorist group, which seized control of the Gaza Strip a decade earlier in a military coup, destroyed large parts of a rare Canaanite settlement to make way for a housing development for its own employees.

A life-size statue of the Greek god Apollo that had surfaced in 2013 and then disappeared has yet to be found.
BBC’s Yolande Knell politicises archaeology story
Knell of course refrained from clarifying that those “devastating flare-ups” were the result of terrorism perpetrated by Hamas and other terrorist organisations based in the Gaza Strip.

Knell even thought it appropriate to amplify Hamas promotion of a previously used narrative intended to erase Jewish history.

“Unveiling the artefact at a press conference on Tuesday, Jamal Abu Rida of the Hamas-run Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said the statue was “resistant against time” and had been carefully examined by experts.

He said that it made a political point.

“Such discoveries prove that Palestine has civilisation and history, and no-one can deny or falsify this history,” he said. “This is the Palestinian people and their ancient Canaanite civilisation.””

Moreover, she unnecessarily qualified Hamas’ previous disregard for Canaanite archaeology:
“Hamas – an Islamist, militant organisation – has previously been accused of destroying the remains of a large, fortified Canaanite town, Tell [sic] al-Sakan, to make way for housing and military bases south of highly populated Gaza City.”
Hamas Delegation Arrives in Tehran for Meeting With Iranian Officials
A Hamas delegation arrived in Tehran on Wednesday morning ahead of planned meetings with Iranian officials, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

The delegation is led by Khalil al-Hayya and will meet on Thursday with Iranian officials to discuss the “latest status of the Palestinian nation’s resistance” with the “Permanent Secretariat of the International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada affiliated to Iran’s Parliament.”

The Hamas representative in Lebanon, Osamah Hamdan, and its representative in Iran, Khalid Qaddoumi, will also participate alongside the delegation.

Hamas called last week for “mobilization” at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, praising protesters.

The militant group that controls the Gaza Strip said they “repelled the incursions of the occupation and its settlers with courage and pride, assuring everyone far and wide that Al-Aqsa has men who protect it and defend its purity, despite the ugliness of aggression and terrorism of the occupiers.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has accused Hamas of sending hundreds of rioters to the Temple Mount and spreading “fake news” to “create an outbreak of violence.”
Jonathan Tobin: Don't believe the spin: Biden will make a deal with Iran
Discerning the truth about the diplomatic activity is often a matter of sifting out what's real from amid the surrounding noise of governmental spin. That means that at the moment, an accurate assessment of the possibility of a new American nuclear deal with Iran, as well as the state of US-Israel relations may require one to ignore most of the headlines. If so, the optimism currently prevailing in Jerusalem about the prospects of the Biden administration betraying the security interests of Israel, the Arab states as well as the West could prove to be sadly deluded.

At the moment, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid are feeling good about their strategy for dealing with President Joe Biden and his foreign-policy team, composed of Obama administration alumni and bent on another round of appeasement of Iran.

When they entered office last June, Bennett and Lapid were faced with what appeared to be a certainty that Biden's desperation would ensure Iran's eventual agreement to revive Obama's 2015 nuclear pact, albeit on terms far weaker than the already anemic ones in the original deal. Their response was not to sound the alarm about the impending betrayal of the security concerns of Israel, the Arab states and the West. Knowing that they had zero chance of persuading the Americans of the folly of their intentions, Bennett and Lapid reasoned that there was no point in starting a fight with Biden that they couldn't win. By keeping criticism of the administration largely muted, they avoided trouble with the White House.

At the worst, the Israeli leaders thought this relative silence would give them some credit with Biden, which they might cash in at a later date in the form of heightened security assistance. They might also have hoped that giving Biden a break on an issue of existential importance to Israel might make him less willing to challenge their government to make pointless concessions to the Palestinians that wouldn't advance peace, but might endanger the stability of their precarious coalition. And if Iran really seemed close to a bomb, Bennett and Lapid knew they could always resort to the use of force. Not burning their bridges with Biden could give them a slightly better chance of getting American support or acquiescence for a strike with no certain chance of success.

While sensible in some respects, it was shortsighted in other ways.
US House of Representatives passes the Stop Iranian Drones Act
The US House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to pass the Stop Iranian Drones Act.

“It shall be the policy of the United States to prevent Iran and Iranian-aligned terrorist and militia groups from acquiring unmanned aerial vehicles, including commercially available component parts, that can be used in attacks against United States persons and partner nations,” the bill says.

The bipartisan legislation was sponsored by Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Gregory Meeks (D-New York), Ted Deutch (D-Florida) and Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina).

It clarifies that US sanctions on Iran’s conventional-weapons program under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act include the supply, sale or transfer to or from Iran of unmanned combat UAVs.

While there are various laws that deal with arms transfers to or from Iran, they do not explicitly mention drones. This bill would cover both drone sales to Iran and Iranian transfers of drones to the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah.


Hitler was 'smart' for 'expelling' Jews from Germany - Iranian paper The article called Jews "a people who are known for their stubbornness, objections and excuses."
An article on the front page of the Iranian Kayhan newspaper, affiliated with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on Thursday stated that Hitler was "smarter and more courageous" than current European leaders because he "expelled" the Jews from Germany.

The article was published as Israel marked Holocaust Remembrance Day. Iranian officials largely deny the history of the Holocaust. On Friday, Iran and its proxies mark Quds Day.

"The logic that Hitler showed by expelling them from Germany is that he is smarter and more courageous than all current European leaders," read the article. "Hitler expelled [the Jews] and European countries live by ransom and confirm the myth of the Holocaust, they look for an excuse for their cowardice and humiliation, otherwise if they knew the Jews as the Ukrainian blue-eyed immigrants, even in words and slogans, they would keep them among themselves and free them from this misery and anxiety."

The article started out by referencing how the Quran refers to the Jews in the Exodus story, saying that the verses about the Jews are "about a people who are known for their stubbornness, objections and excuses, who consider others as their property, and themselves as superior to others and God's permanent chosen people."

"They corrupt the earth; Their scholars are involved in distortion, usury, fornication, killing the prophet and murder; They have also laid the foundation for the murder of Shiite Imams," added the article.


Iran imprisons two award-winning science students for 16 years
The Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced two elite science students – Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi from Sharif University of Technology – to sixteen-year prison sentences for their alleged opposition to the theocratic state.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency first reported on the sentence on Monday and said the two award-winning science students were charged with ”spreading corruption on earth, assembly and collusion against the regime, and propaganda against the regime.”

In April 2020, Iranian regime security forces arrested Younesi and Moradi and imposed violence on the students during their seizure, according to HRANA. The authorities did not issue warrants and the students were incarcerated in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.

The news agency said that on May 5, 2020, the spokesman of the judiciary accused Younesi and Moradi of collaboration with "The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (the Mujahedin-e-Khalq or MEK).”

HRANA added that, “However, in a video record circulating on social media, Ayda Younesi, Ali Younesi’s sister, denied such an accusation. In September of 2020, she revealed that her brother had been under pressure to make a TV confession. In November of that year, Ali Younsei contracted COVID-19 in prison.”


UMass Student Newspaper Spreads Lies About Israel and Defends Terrorism
Anti-Israel activists often draw unreasonable and overly simplistic comparisons between the Arab-Israeli conflict and other causes, from police brutality to climate justice. Such conflations are often misleading and intellectually dishonest.

A recent column in UMass Amherst’s The Daily Collegian — titled “Palestinian Perspectives: The double standards of war,” by Ruya Hazeyen — proved no exception.

In her screed, Hazeyen argues that the West’s condemnation of Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and the imposition of sanctions, is evidence of a double standard because boycott and divestment measures have not been employed against the State of Israel.

Hazeyen hopes that readers will accept her attempt to synonymize Russia, an autocratic state leading an aggressive war against a peaceful neighbor, with the State of Israel, a democratic state that has sought peace with its Arab neighbors and defends its citizens from genocidal terrorist organizations.

Ukrainians do not deny Russia’s right to exist, nor are they targeting Russian civilians in terrorist attacks. There are no Ukrainian-led bombings of train stations in Moscow, or rocket attacks on kindergartens in St. Petersburg.

Palestinian “resistance,” as defined by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and many others, is hunting down Israeli civilians in bars, at bus stops, and in night clubs and targeting them for death.
Anti-Israel Protester Assaults New York Man at Palestinian ‘Resistance’ Rally
When he heard that anti-Israel protesters were going to be rallying outside Israel’s consulate and Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Midtown Manhattan on April 20, Matthew Greenman from nearby Westchester County in New York decided to do something to show his support for the Jewish state.

For his efforts, Greenman was called a “terrorist,” assaulted and injured in a case currently being investigated by the New York City Police Department’s Hate Crimes Unit.

The rally was organized by the anti-Israel groups Within Our Lifetime, Palestinian Youth Movement and Samidoun, among others. It was billed as a rally “to support Palestinian resistance and liberation by any means necessary.”

According to Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntisemitism.org, one of the rally’s organizers, Nerdeen Kiswani, was named “Antisemite of the Year” in 2020 by Rez’s organization. Last month, Kiswani’s organization Within Our Lifetime was banned from Instagram for inciteful hate speech.

“We are not surprised that this rally was stained by violence, given that it was coordinated by Kiswani,” said Rez. “By skewing the facts about rioting erupting at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem following a series of terrorist attacks against Israeli Jews over the last few weeks, these groups are complicit in a misinformation smear campaign that has the potential to further exacerbate the increase in antisemitic acts in New York.”
Rutgers Jewish Fraternity Egged During Yom HaShoah Ceremony for Second Straight Year, After House Targeted by Anti-Israel Protesters
A Jewish fraternity house at Rutgers University was egged during an annual ceremony held to recite the names of Holocaust victims, days after it was targeted for antisemitic harassment by anti-Zionist protesters.

The series of incidents began Friday, when a caravan of participants from a Students for Justice in Palestine rally drove up to the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) house, shouting antisemitic insults and spitting in their direction, fraternity members reported.

Separately, on Tuesday morning, the house was discovered to have been egged during a 24-hour reading of the names of Holocaust victims ahead of Yom HaShoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, according to Rutgers Hillel and Rutgers University Police. It is the second year in a row that the AEPi house was egged during the ceremony.

Rutgers police said it was investigating the Friday episode, where “miscellaneous items” were also thrown at fraternity members, and had notified local prosecutors.

“The direct targeting of members of our Jewish community goes against everything our campus community stands for and is unacceptable, especially during a program remembering the horrific impact anti-Jewish hate can gave,” Rutgers Hillel said in a statement Wednesday. “We continue to support our AEPi students, as well as all members of our campus community, as we reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the Rutgers Jewish community feels safe, respected, and welcome on campus.”


Terrorists No More: How AFP Gave Palestinian Islamic Jihad An Extreme Makeover
The article accompanying the video reads like a trailer for a Hollywood movie:
In a ‘tunnel city’ under the sandy soils of southern Gaza, Palestinian militants are preparing for the next conflict with Israel, as tensions in Jerusalem threaten to escalate.

The underground passageways leave no trace on the surface.”

Except this is no big-budget blockbuster — it’s a description of the terror tunnels used by the Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), by global wire service Agence France-Presse (AFP).

People reading AFP’s vivid account of masked militants roaming sophisticated subterranean passages — described as kitted out with “electric lights, a ventilation system and telecoms cables”– would never guess they were in fact reading about a group that is responsible for some of the worst terrorist atrocities in Israel’s history.

Indeed, the group, which is proscribed by the entire Western world, has carried out numerous horrific attacks on innocent Israeli citizens, including the Maxim restaurant suicide bombing which killed 22; the June 2002 Meggido junction suicide attack which killed 17; and the 2006 Tel Aviv shawarma restaurant bombing which left 11 dead.

Despite this, the words “terror” or “terrorist” do not crop up once in the entire article.

The piece reads as though the journalist was being taken on an exciting underground jaunt through the shafts that are being used by PIJ to launch attacks against the Jewish state. The writer even describes the scene as a “media tour”:
An Islamic Jihad official told AFP during a media tour that the movement has both defensive and offensive tunnel systems.

The latter ‘is used for taking Israeli soldiers captive, repelling Israeli ground offensives and carrying out various field operations’, said the commander.”

One can only speculate as to whether the journalist would refer to being shown around ISIS’ former Syrian stronghold of Raqqa in such a bizarre way.
Jewish children attacked in Markfield Park in Stamford Hill
A gang of three teenagers allegedly attacked Jewish children playing in Markfield Park in Stamford Hill.

An eleven-year-old boy had his side-locks pulled in one of several incidents in the park. The alleged assailants were a mix of men and women and the women appeared to be dressed in religious Muslim attire.

The incidents were reported by Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.

If you have any more information, please contact the police on 101 or Stamford Hill Shomrim on 0300 999 0123, quoting reference number: CAD2810015/22.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than four times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.
E-commerce site restricts ‘Schindler’s List’ design after leggings go viral
The online design marketplace Redbubble said it had “restricted” sales of a “Schindler’s List”-inspired design on its site after a pair of leggings featuring characters from the movie that lit up the Internet this week.

“The artwork referenced in this article has been restricted and we are adding additional monitoring measures as a result,” Redbubble spokesperson Marissa Hermo told JTA in a statement.

The leggings in question, which were first spotted at a Los Angeles thrift store, sported illustrations of characters from Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Holocaust drama, along with an image of a train leading into Auschwitz. They were first posted to a popular Instagram page.

Prior to Redbubble imposing restrictions, the design was for sale on a wide variety of products, including skirts, shower curtains and iPhone cases; the spokesperson said that such items “can be seen as trivializing the subject matter.”

Redbubble allows independent designers to upload and sell their creations on its platform, which can then be printed onto a variety of products.
In First, International Judo Competition Comes to Israel
For the first time, the Judo Masters tournament will be held in Israel, scheduled to take place in December this year.

It is one of the most significant judo competitions in the world after the Olympic Games and World Championships. Hundreds of participants are expected to join the competition, including 36 of the best international judokas, Israel Hayom reported.

Judo is one of Israel’s premiere sports, with Israeli athletes having won many accolades; including one of the country’s best judokas Sagi Muki, the winner of the 2019 World Championship.

Two years ago, Israel’s mixed judo team won the bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the second bronze medal for Israeli athletes in the competition.
Comedy Series About Life of Hasidic Rapper Nissim Black Coming to HBO
HBO Max is developing a comedy series about the life of Nissim Black and his spiritual journey to becoming the world’s first African American Hasidic hip-hop artist, the streaming service said Monday.

“Motherland Bounce,” named after Black’s song of the same name, is being created and written by Moshe Kasher and directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield from “The Gilded Age.”

Born in Seattle, Washington, Black was selling drugs by the time he turned 12 and joined a gang shortly after. He was raised as a Muslim and converted to Christianity when he was young, but after a confrontation with a rival rapper, turned to Orthodox Judaism. He and his wife converted in 2012 and in 2016 they moved to Jerusalem.

Black said on Twitter that he hopes the HBO Max series “brings Joy, and dispels a lot of the misinformation going on out there, with G-d’s help.” (h/t MtTB)
Hallelujah! Israel headed to Eurovision after cancellation threat
Israel's delegation will take part in Eurovision 2022 in Turin on May 10 after security concerns caused by a strike by the Foreign Ministry were resolved, the Israel Broadcasting Company Kan announced on Thursday. Why would Israel not attend Eurovision 2022?

Earlier this month, KAN announced that due to the strike's effects on security protocols, Israel’s Eurovision contestant, Michael Ben-David, would not be able to attend Eurovision 2022.

"The company thanks the Shin Bet for its efforts to work for a solution for the security issues despite the difficulty, and we are confident that Michael Ben-David will represent Israel with dignity on the world stage," said KAN.

The Foreign Ministry workers' union stated on Thursday that "the state of affairs in terms of sanctions in the Foreign Ministry remains the same," according to Maariv.

"The operation of the Shin Bet as a substitute for the coordination activities of security officers at the embassy, ​​with a risk that may be posed to Israeli interests abroad in the long run, is a certificate of poverty for decision-makers who failed to end the foreign service crisis, threatening Israel's ability to cope successfully with challenges in the international arena," added the union.
Eli Cohen Trail takes Israelis on tour of sites traversed by country's greatest spy
A special project is now coming together to commemorate Israel's greatest spy, Eli Cohen.

The Eli Cohen trail in the Golan Heights stretches several kilometers from Quneitra, Syria to the Hamat Gader hot springs in Israel's Yarmouk Valley. Its eight landmarks are situated at spots Cohen visited with the Syrian military.

The legendary spy known as "our man in Damascus" spied on the Syrian military establishment for four years after befriending top-level Syrian officials and celebrities under the alias Kamel Amin Thaabet. After being discovered, he was tortured by the Syrians before being executed in Damascus on May 18, 1965. His body was never returned to Israel.

In Israel, his name has become synonymous with self-sacrifice and heroism as the information he provided was fundamental to Israel's decisive victory in the 1967 Six-Day War. The great achievements of the Six Day War - control of the strategic plateau, control of water resources, and control of a large area for settlement - are attributed in part to the information Cohen obtained.
White House to screen HBO’s ‘Survivor’ to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were set to host their first official film screening at the White House on Thursday.

The Bidens will show HBO’s “The Survivor,” in honor of Yom HaShoah and Holocaust Remembrance Week, in the White House movie theater on the ground floor of the East Wing.

The film tells the story of boxer Harry Haft, who put the lives of fellow concentration camp prisoners at risk to save his own. The movie dramatizes Haft’s experience in Auschwitz, a central part of the Nazi death camp system.

An estimated 1.3 million people were deported to Auschwitz in German-occupied Poland and at least 1.1 million died, according to its museum and memorial website.

Director Barry Levinson, actor Ben Foster, who plays Haft, the film’s producers and representatives of the American Jewish Community were expected to attend, the White House said.

HBO debuted “The Survivor” on Wednesday to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day. The film honors the 6 million Jews who died as part of Nazi Germany’s mass murder of European Jews.
Gal Gadot shares grandfather's harrowing tale during Holocaust
Like many Israelis on Holocaust Remembrance Day, actress Gal Gadot took to Instagram on Wednesday to share her own experience as a granddaughter to a Holocaust survivor.

Gadot, in a lengthy post on the social network, noted how her grandfather Abraham Weiss – born as Adolf Weiss, in what was then Czechoslovakia – miraculously survived the brutality of the war and the Nazis even after losing his family and being sent to a death camp.

"His father was drafted into the army and never returned, and so his mother was left with two young boys, Abraham, my grandpa, and Benjamin," Gadot wrote. "After a long journey on the train to Auschwitz, being squeezed together with an inhuman amount of people in a railroad car, he was separated for the last time from his mother and younger brother. In what is called 'the selection'. He never saw them again."

She explained that at 13, he literally had to fight each day to avoid death. "The sights he saw, the horrors he went through are unimaginable," she wrote. "For years he didn't talk about it, only after my grandma passed he realized how short life is and how important it is to tell the story so history will never repeat itself. " She then concluded her post with: "NO ONE, should ever be oppressed or persecuted for their race, religion or for any reason. That's my take on life. My grandpa's legacy lives deep in my heart."
Golda Meir: The Girl from Milwaukee who Became Prime Minister | Great Jewish Heroes | Unpacked
Best known for being Israel’s first (and only to date) female prime minister, Golda Meir, started life in Kiev before moving with her family to Milwaukee in 1906. After a quick stint in Denver, she immigrated to Israel in 1921.

One of only two women who signed Israel’s Declaration of Independence, Meir served as a labor minister and as foreign minister, and in 1969 became prime minister.

Though some of her five years as prime minister were controversial, her commitment to helping the Jewish people and the State of Israel remain her legacy, earning her a spot as an integral part of Israeli history.




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