Saturday, July 30, 2022

07/30 Links: The Holocaust was not just another genocide; Financial Giant Says Any Company Working in ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ Violates Human Rights

From Ian:

The Holocaust was not just another genocide
It is the ideological diversity of modern antisemitism that makes identifying and countering it exceedingly difficult. Its home in the far left has added to its mainstreaming, making tackling some manifestations politically unfashionable.

Assaults on Jews have come from all directions. In 2018, in the largest attack on the Jewish community in US history, neo-Nazi Robert Bowers killed 11 people in the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, pro-Palestine marches in London saw the Israeli flag burned and dragged behind a car to loud cheers, not to mention the abuse shouted at Jews through megaphones.

And this year, British citizen Malik Faisal Akram held four hostages inside a Texan synagogue for 10 hours demanding the release of Islamist terrorist Aafia Siddiqui, who is suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda and was convicted of trying to kill US officers while in prison in Afghanistan.

Three antisemitic attacks, three differing ideologies.

For me, it was the experience of leading classes in schools about conspiracy theories and, in particular, 9/11, that opened my eyes to how all these strains of antisemitism have infected British education. In 2016, after I had delivered training to sixth-form students, a teacher let me know his concerns about the session. He felt we should be more open to “evidence” that 9/11 was organised by Jews.

I am sure that this school, as with all British schools, teaches the Holocaust. I am equally certain that the teacher who pulled me to one side did not realise that he was engaging in a perspective that underpinned Nazi thinking and drives modern-day antisemitism. Many teachers know what far-right, Nazi-style antisemitism looks like, but when Israel is blamed for nefarious power, corruption and murdering Palestinians, identifying antisemitism and why it is a problem is often lost. Rather than being historic, antisemitism is on a steep and terrifying incline. I recently authored a report into antisemitism in schools, reported in the JC earlier this month. It showed a 173 per cent rise in antisemitic incidences over a five-year period, and a 29 per cent increase between 2020 and 2021 alone.

Our schools have a distinct lack of resources when it comes to modern-day hostility towards Jews. Only 3.4 per cent of schools have a policy in place that specifically handles safeguarding students against antisemitism.

Look at the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust’s website and you see material on several genocides: Rwanda, Srebrenica, the Holocaust. The message is that we are never free from the risk of genocide. But education about the generalities of prejudice will never be enough. We must also teach our children — and those entrusted with protecting them — about the nature and hallmarks of modern antisemitism. Sadly, little is taught about the persistent threat posed to the Jewish community today.

Learning about the Holocaust is invaluable but we must avoid being all revved up with nowhere to go. How would the level of antisemitism in the country be affected if every Holocaust lesson was concluded with an understanding of modern antisemitism and the present threat? Would we see a more concerted effort to tackle antisemitism if we could identify it better, knowing that the threat did not end with Hitler? I am sure we would.
Nothing in history compares to the Holocaust - opinion
Which brings us to the Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This museum was founded by Dr. James Cameron, after visiting Yad Vashem some years ago. In his words, Cameron says he “admired how Jews value their history, teaching their children and other groups about it, which gives Jewish communities strength and hope.” He wanted blacks to similarly learn about their own trials and tribulations, from the 1600s until today. The museum’s galleries examine the roots of slavery, the civil rights movement and the infamous Jim Crow laws, and also features a memorial to the victims of lynching.

America, as we all know, is currently brimming with attention to the black cause. Black Lives Matter and other advocacy groups are widespread; movies and television give special consideration to black actors; many sports figures wear slogans of black pride, and even a new national holiday – Juneteenth, celebrating the final emancipation of American blacks – was recently added officially to the American calendar.

There is absolutely no question that blacks have suffered tremendously in America and other countries. Stolen from their homes, brutalized and stripped of all human rights for centuries, more than 12 million slaves were shipped under the most horrible conditions out of Africa, the vast majority to the Americas. Even when the law theoretically protected them – the 13th Amendment to the Constitution outlawed slavery in 1865 – discrimination, vilification and persecution continued unabated.

It would be difficult to minimize the tragedy the blacks have endured and, in some ways, are still enduring. In the “hierarchy of suffering,” there are surely some similarities between the history of the blacks and that of the Jews during the Shoah. Slave labor, denial of basic necessities, no protection under the law and pervasive prejudice are common to both. But to label the black experience a Holocaust?! That clearly crosses a line. Nothing in human history can be compared to what the Jewish people encountered in the Holocaust.

There have been genocides and massacres and widespread murders of various communities throughout history – the names and numbers, sadly, are simply too many to list. But never before did a regime like the Nazis engage in a worldwide effort to systematically wipe out an entire people wherever they might be found – from Oswiecim to Oslo – in the cruelest fashion imaginable. To use the name “Holocaust” to refer to anything other than the war against the Jews from 1933 to 1945 is to subvert history and insult the memory of the many millions who were murdered.

Thank God, there is a fourth event in our historic journey that brings us full circle. We have repudiated the counsel of the spies and once again entered the Land of Israel, this time never to depart. Let us hope that the term “Holocaust” will never again be used – by Jews or any other people – and that racism of all types will be eradicated.
Melanie Phillips: Critics of this act of communal myopia will not be silenced
What was truly appalling was Dorfman’s spiteful, and what I believe to be utterly groundless, claim about the objectors’ motives, and his implication, from my interpretation of his words, that any Jew opposing the project was a traitor to the Jewish people.

The objectors have in fact raised important issues. Not only would the structure’s 23 tall, bronze fins spoil this small green oasis, but in addition Lord Carlile, the government’s former counter-terrorism reviewer, said siting the memorial there would constitute a security threat.

Even more importantly, objectors noted that the project would equate Holocaust victims with “the victims of subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur”. In other words, it would relativise, and thus diminish, the extermination of the Jews.

Baroness Deech said further that Holocaust memorials were increasingly used to promote “a self-congratulatory and sometimes self-exculpatory image of the country that erects them”.

Like other memorials, this one would fail to record how, during the Holocaust, the British government blocked the entry into Palestine of desperate European Jews in flagrant repudiation of the British Mandate to settle Jews there, thus facilitating their extermination.

Deech said: “The more the national Holocaust Remembrance Day events are packed out, the more the calls for sanctions on Israel that would result in her destruction, and the more the Holocaust is turned against the Jews.”

Deech thus articulated a vital insight into the deep limitations of Holocaust memorialising. For Dorfman to imply that Carlile and Deech were not only talking “nonsense” but that this was particularly reprehensible because they were Jews, was as obtuse as it was pernicious.


Financial Giant Says Any Company Working in ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ Violates Human Rights
Sustainalytics, the research arm, in its guidance documents says its "position is that in occupied territories where human rights are being systematically violated, any business activity in that region is connected to the violations in some direct or indirect way," according to a review of Morningstar's methods conducted by the law firm White & Case. This standard is also applied to other areas immersed in conflict, such as Yemen, the Western Sahara, Tibet, and the South China Sea.

Goldberg, who independently analyzed the White & Case report, said the reliance on this standard for the "occupied Palestinian territories" results in companies being downgraded just for performing work in a disputed area of Israel. He says these standards ultimately promote divestment from Israel, as companies seek to distance themselves to avoid a negative rating from the company. Ratings produced by firms like Morningstar serve as a primary guide for investors and can greatly impact a company's appeal.

Morningstar is already battling charges that Sustainalytics unfairly downgrades companies working with Israel's security and anti-terrorism sectors. Critics like Goldberg say the ratings system unfairly targets Israel's partners and ultimately bolsters the BDS movement, which wages economic warfare on the Jewish state and its allies. White & Case's review of the company's practices found some instances of bias in certain products. It recommended multiple reforms that Morningstar says it is undertaking to make its ratings products fairer to Israel. This includes altering the language in some of its ratings products and canceling others.

Sustainalytics classifies the "occupied Palestinian territories" as the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights—areas that remain disputed.

"We're now getting to the deepest root of the BDS activity inside Morningstar," Goldberg said. "Every downgrade of an Israeli-connected company starts with a BDS campaign assumption that Jews have no right to live in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights. If you're a Jewish business operating near the holiest site for Jews in the world, you're an assumed human rights violator according to Morningstar."

"Just like the BDS campaign," Goldberg said, "Morningstar's premise is that companies that legitimize a Jewish presence in these areas must be investigated and harassed."
BBC silent on UNHRC commission bias
As reported by the Jerusalem Post, the third member of the commission, Miloon Kothari, recently gave an interview to the anti-Israel website ‘Mondoweiss’ which provided much insight into the approach of the supposedly ‘impartial’ commission.

‘“We are very disheartened by the social media that is controlled largely by – whether it is the Jewish lobby or specific NGOs,” said Indian human-rights expert Miloon Kothari.’ […]

“I would go as far as to raise the question of why are they [Israel] even a member of the UN,” Kothari said.’

Kothari’s statements were condemned as antisemitic by, among others, the US Ambassador to the UNHRC, the US Ambassador to the UN, the US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, the UK Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, a Canadian ambassador, an EU commissioner as well as Israel. Nevertheless, the BBC has to date remained silent.

Although BBC audiences have seen no coverage of that controversial commission of inquiry for over a year, at some point the BBC will no doubt get round to reporting its ‘findings’. As is usually the case, that reporting is likely be uncritical and unquestioning and based on the BBC’s past record, it is reasonable to expect that the publicly expressed bias of the commissioners will be ignored, just as the corporation repeatedly and uncritically amplified a statement from Michael Lynk concerning vaccinations against the Coronavirus.

It is past time for the BBC to adopt a critical approach to the UN Human Rights Council and to begin to produce accurate and impartial reporting which actually informs audiences about that body’s long-standing anti-Israel bias rather than merely unquestioningly promoting ‘what the United Nations says’.
UN Watch: UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript
Following is the transcript of the interview with Miloon Kothari, member of the UNHRC commission of inquiry targeting Israel, from the Mondoweiss podcast, July 25, 2022, for which he was denounced by Britain, France, Germany, Canada, the United States, Austria and the Czech Republic, and the U.S. and Canadian special envoys on antisemitism.

David Kattenburg: I was going to ask about that. Your Chairperson Ms. Pillay has been specifically the target of attacks in Canada and the Canadian government has expressed its displeasure with her as chair.

Miloon Kothari: It is very unfortunate to attack individual members of the commission who have been appointed through a long and rigorous process and I think it is just a way to try and discredit the council and it is very counterproductive. First, it gives more attention to our work and also more support. This year we have received overwhelming support from UN member states – the US got 22 to sign but that is 22 out of a lot – not very much. It is not only governments, but we are very disheartened by the social media, whether controlled by The Jewish Lobby, or specific NGOs, a lot of money is being thrown to try and discredit us.

But you know, David, the important thing is that our mandate is based on international human rights and humanitarian standards, and we are all seeking the truth. And we feel that, you know, based on the evidence that we have overwhelming evidence, I think it’s one of the most well documented conflicts in the world. Historically, based on that evidence, based on the international law, if people feel that we are biased, then we are biased, but for us, that’s the job we’ve been given to do. And that’s what we’re doing.

David Kattenburg; In your report, there is a phrase in there about Israel itself, some refer to quaintly as Israel proper, when in fact, when someone goes and travels there, as I have recently, knows that the green line is largely fictitious and has been erased. Israel is really, for all intents and purposes, a single state from the river to the sea. And in your report, you talk about the linkage between what goes on in the occupied territories and in Israel itself. Thoughts on this?

Miloon Kothari: I think you are absolutely right, of course. In terms of the sort of governance issues, the functioning of the state, the national laws in terms of what Israel and the UN recognizes as the State of Israel, there is a distinction to be made.

You are absolutely right that when we look at the kinds of discrimination happening within the green line and when we look at the historical occupation issues, there are many similarities. But we have to read it differently. And the reason we are wanting to make these linkages is because of the point you made: what has transpired in the occupied territories since 1967 is something that has already been happening inside the green line since 1948—the levels of discrimination, the laws, the dispossessions of Palestinians and Israel.

I think it’s important to make the distinction but also to draw the parallels, because that is something that the UN has not successfully been able to do, because the earlier mandates only included the occupied territories, except for the work of the UN treaty parties. You mentioned the committee on human rights – but only limited to looking at inside the green line. So we have the opportunity to make that historical link as see how the entire area has to be treated in terms of addressing the violations there.


Israel has no sovereignty over Western Wall, Abbas religious adviser says
The IDF resumed this week its military operation to fight terrorism in Judea and Samaria after a short break in the wake of US President Joe Biden's visit to Israel.

The move reignited Palestinian criticism over the activities, with Ramallah having threatened to take serious measures, including ending agreements with Israel and putting the security coordination with it on hold.

Nevertheless, senior Palestinian official Mahmoud al-Habbash asserts that "these are not threats, but decisions made to protect the Palestinian national interest."

In an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom, Habbash, who advises PA President Mahmoud Abbas on religious and Islamic affairs, warned against implementing such measures as matters in the region continue to escalate, or when there is no progress in the political process.

But, if "what is happening in Jenin and Nablus, if this situation continues and we see an escalation on the ground, you may wake up one morning and realize that all the decisions have been made. We will not remain prisoners of the mood of Israel," he said. "When and how will it happen? Everything according to the preparations we made," he said. "If Israel continues to turn its back on the political process and behave as a country above the law, we will know what to do. And if we find that the Palestinian interest forces us to implement one or all of the decisions, we will implement them. It can be all at once or gradually. Israel must understand that we cannot continue to accept the occupation indefinitely."

Habbash also addressed the ongoing conflict over the Temple Mount, saying that the Al Aqsa compound is under full control of the Islamic waqf, and as such, only Muslims could hold ownership over it.

"The entire area of Al-Aqsa is owned by Muslims only, and non-Muslims have no right to own even an inch of it. Prayer, management and ownership are the exclusive right of Muslims," he said, adding that the Western Wall plaza was also "part of the holy Islamic waqf" and the Al Aqsa compound, and as such, cannot belong to the Jews.

"There is no Muslim in the world who would accept Jewish ownership or sovereignty over the Kotel," he said.
Abu Akleh’s niece: Biden did little to press for justice for Shireen
During a press conference with the family on Thursday, Rep. Andre Carson (D-Indiana) said he was submitting the Justice for Shireen Act to Congress. This, he explained is a standalone bill that would require a report on her death by the State Department and the FBI in consultation with the Department of Defense and the National Director of Intelligence.

“I urge my colleagues to see this as a free press issue. To put aside Israel and Palestine politics and see this for what it is; an attack on independent reporting and the killing of our citizen,” Carson said.

In light of increasing attacks on journalists, he explained, he was separately introducing the Justice for Journalists Act. This, he said, would “require relevant agencies to report on the death of all American Journalists killed in the line of duty. This fight for answers is unacceptable. Everyone deserves Justice, including Shireen.”

He recalled that 81 members of Congress had already signed a letter calling for a US-led criminal investigation.


Saudi Arabia, Israel take baby steps toward normalization by exposing cooperation
Mark Feldman, CEO and founder of Ziontours Jerusalem, said, “Don’t expect many packages to Riyadh or Jeddah in the near future. Whatever peace is achieved between Saudi Arabia and Israel will be akin to the peace with Egypt. Cool and correct will be the cornerstones of relations.”

The warm, peaceful relationships between Israel and the UAE, and between Israel and Morocco, differ greatly from the decades of cold but stable peace between Jerusalem and Cairo. The reasons for the difference are complex, but the root lies in ties that have not graduated from the government level to warm relations between peoples.

Last year, for the first time, an Israeli team participated in the Dakar Rally off-road endurance event in Saudi Arabia using their Israeli passports. Such open participation would have been unthinkable prior to the Abraham Accords.

The opening of the airspace could have major implications for Israel.

“This is a very important step as part of a slow but impressive process of strengthening relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” said Michael Harari, a policy fellow at Mitvim – The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies and a former senior Israeli diplomat.

“The significance is more political than economic,” he added.

Israeli media also reported that direct flights between the countries will soon be available for Muslim pilgrims, saving them a great deal of money. This has not been confirmed by either side.

Muslim Israelis are waiting for direct flights to Mecca. Currently, people who want to participate in the Hajj pilgrimage have to travel through Jordan.

The Saudi announcement has yet to be translated into altered flight paths. There are still no practical agreements in place that pave the way for the change. This could change in the coming weeks.

“This will be a gradual process,” said Ofir. “The Saudis will want something in return, probably in the form of security arrangements.”

“Getting closer to Israel is meant to give the Gulf states more confidence in the region, in terms of security,” said Hariri. “Israel is perceived as having an open door to the White House, which could help countries such as Saudi Arabia.”

The Saudi government has to tread carefully as there are elements within the kingdom resistant to normalization with Israel.

“If the Saudis feel such a step will promote their interest vis-à-vis Israel and the U.S., while not angering certain parts of society, they will promote it,” said Harari.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid responded with enthusiasm to the Saudi decision but added that Jerusalem will work “with necessary caution” going forward. It was an acknowledgment of the complexities attached to the budding relations.

The two countries will likely continue their cooperation and trade ties, mostly behind the scenes. With time, more of these interactions may come to center stage.

“There is no need to go further at this point. It is better not to endanger the process that we are witnessing with steps that are too big,” Hariri said.
Media Rally Around Palestinians
How many readers understand that “resistance” involves shooting attacks and explosives, and the vast majority of those killed by troops were engaged in violent attacks against soldiers? Furthermore, the partisan term “resistance” egregiously editorializes regarding violent attacks on soldiers seeking to arrest terrorists responsible for the murder of Israeli civilians. The Los Angeles Times, for its part, also jumped on the moral equivalency bandwagon, making no distinction between the circumstances in which Palestinian attackers were killed as they carried out attacks versus those in which innocent Israeli civilians and policemen protecting them lost their lives in Palestinian terror attacks. Thus, veteran Times reporter Tracy Wilkinson cited “the West Bank, where dozens of Palestinians have been killed this year, along with a smaller number of Israelis.”

AP’s whitewashing of the circumstances behind the Palestinian fatalities is particularly striking because it represents a retreat from earlier, more informative coverage. Thus, earlier AP stories had responsibly reported:
Most of the dead were alleged to have opened fire on Israeli forces or hurled stones or firebombs at them. The dead also include at least two apparent passersby (See for example, July 6, July 3, June 30).

Why AP’s stories have become progressively less informative, as opposed to more informative, with the passage of time, is unclear. The Palestinian terror-minimizing AP and The Los Angeles Times items had additional company. Agence France Presse chipped in with its omission of mass-casualty Palestinian terror attacks while recapping recent violence. Thus, about Israeli Vyacheslav Golev, murdered April 29 by a Palestinian terrorist, AFP reported (“Israeli army razes homes of suspects in killing of settlement guard“):
Golev was killed during a period of surging tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including regular clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound at the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

That period also included deadly Palestinian terror attacks including in Beersheba (March 22, four murdered); Bnei Brak (March 29, five killed); and Tel Aviv (April 7, 3 murdered). The killing spree extended to May 5, when a Palestinian terrorist murdered three innocent civilians in Bnei Brak.

Given that these Palestinian terror attacks were the most deadly incidents — and the only attacks deliberately targeting innocents — during this period of “surging tension,” what journalistic justification is there for omitting them?

While there is no justification, explanation may be found another another definition for rally: “to muster for a common purpose.” In whitewashing Palestinian violence, journalists don’t report on Palestinians; they rally around them. The two distinct acts are as similar as sweltering July versus blistering December.


Hamas urges PA police officers to carry out terrorist attacks
Hamas has called on members of Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank to carry out terrorist attacks against settlers and IDF soldiers.

The call came after a Palestinian security officer was shot last week by soldiers as he opened fire at a military position near Nablus.

The IDF said that several armed Palestinians arrived by car at the military post between Nablus and Huwara. One gunman got out of the vehicle and opened fire.

The soldiers returned fire and wounded the assailant, who was taken to an Israeli hospital.

The gunman was identified as Mahmoud Hajeer, 23, an officer with the Palestinian Police from Balata refugee camp near Nablus.

The involvement of the police officer in the shooting attack came amid growing fear that the PA and its security forces are losing control of the situation in the northern West Bank, especially in the areas of Nablus and Jenin.

Palestinian sources said over the weekend that there were signs of increased cooperation between gunmen belonging to Fatah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in these areas.


Iran says Swede who previously visited Israel arrested as alleged spy
Iran said on Saturday it had arrested a Swedish national on allegations of espionage, without providing details on the suspect’s identity nor the date of their detention.

The statement said the suspect was in touch with several other figures in Iran, and has visited Israel, Iran’s foe. The statement accused Sweden of proxy spying for Israel.

There was no immediate response from Sweden.

The announcement came amid diplomatic tensions between Tehran and Stockholm, after a Swedish court sentenced a former Iranian prison official to life for war crimes during mass executions in the Islamic republic in 1988.

On Saturday, Iran’s intelligence ministry said it had “identified and arrested a national of the Kingdom of Sweden suspected of espionage.”

In early May, the Swedish foreign ministry said a Swede in his 30s had been arrested in Iran.

It was not immediately clear if the announcement on Saturday referred to that man or another Swede.

“In all the previous trips, the suspect… communicated with a number of European and non-European suspects who were under surveillance in Iran,” the statement read.
BDS: Divided in strategy, united in hate - opinion
WHAT THE BNC truly “opposes” about the Mapping Project is that it unintentionally reveals to the public that the terminology exploited by BDS for years to maintain the guise of progressivism is merely a facade to woo young Americans. By using this laser-focused messaging, BDS was able to package its antisemitism in a palatable way to this influential sector of society. Yet, the BNC realized that the Mapping Project, which uses the same jargon but targets Jews in an uncommonly blunt manner, exposes this clever manipulation.

Contrary to the BNC’s more strategic-minded approach, 21 BDS-supporting organizations have lauded the Mapping Project, including the Palestinian Youth Movement, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Samidoun (an alleged proxy of the PFLP), all of which are active throughout the US and college campuses. Many online BDS activists have likewise voiced dismay at the BNC’s cowardly and compromising statement, while others slammed it as morally disgraceful and for siding with Zionist organizations.

In a particularly noteworthy attack, a California-based group called JISR Collective, which has glorified the PFLP and the Iranian regime, published an 8,000-word viral blog post condemning the BNC, replete with graphics and breakdowns of its supposed repression against BDS activists.

This type of ideological infighting, wherein institutionalized groups like the BNC act as gatekeepers for a broader movement, often leads to widespread fractures like the one playing out before our eyes. Clearly, the BDS leadership – sitting thousands of miles away – is out of touch with its activist class on the ground, at least on a tactical level.

While some may rejoice at the apparent cracks in the BDS movement, it speaks to a broader trend wherein activists unabashedly embrace the prospect of violence.

Violent escalation has indeed been the trend over the last few years. Just last month, federal prosecutors charged a BDS activist from Within Our Lifetime with a hate crime for assaulting a Jewish man in Manhattan at an April 2022 protest, while an SJP activist at the University of Illinois faces up to five years imprisonment for throwing rocks at Jewish students on campus.

BDS’s increasingly violent actions, brazen endorsement of antisemitism, and terror links of its leadership leave no room to doubt the movement’s intentions. Though the tactics may differ among the leaders and activists on the ground, their overall strategy of targeting Jews is identical – a strategy that is getting progressively more violent and must be confronted.
ADL condemns New York progressive group JFREG as ‘out of touch’
A brand-new Jewish entrant to a crowded New York congressional race got a big amplification this week when the leader of the Anti-Defamation League, a national non-partisan civil rights advocacy group, shared his Twitter thread condemning a local progressive Jewish activist group.

Brian Robinson, a Jewish businessman who is one of 17 Democrats vying to represent New York’s newly drawn District 10, put up a 16-post-long Twitter thread that called Jews For Racial and Economic Justice and its political arm, The Jewish Vote, a “far-left scam.”

“We need to have an honest conversation about JFREJ,” Robinson began, with a tweet that reached his 4,500 followers.

“We have allowed this pro-dystopian organization to LARP on behalf of the mainstream Jewish community for far too long,” Robinson went on, using a term referring to role-playing. “During primary time, JFREJ suddenly pretends to be liberal and pro-Jewish when they are consistently against both mainstream Jewish values and interests.”

The following day, the ADL’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt — who has close to 350,000 followers on Twitter — retweeted Robinson’s thread, leading many who saw it to wonder whether Greenblatt was endorsing what Robinson had said.

The answer was yes — but not every word.

Greenblatt’s retweet, which was of the first message only, reflected “agreement with the larger view that a group calling itself The Jewish Vote isn’t representative in any way of the majority of the Jewish community,” an ADL spokesperson confirmed to The New York Jewish Week on Friday.

“We need to have an honest conversation about JFREJ, their support for BDS, and how out of touch they are with the majority of the Jewish community,” the spokesperson said.


Adolf Hitler’s purported watch sells for $1.1 million at US auction house
A watch purported to have belonged to Adolf Hitler sold for $1.1 million at a US auction house this week, among other items said to have belonged to the Nazi dictator and his wife, Eva Braun.

The Huber watch — adorned with a swastika, the German Imperial Eagle and the initials AH — was sold to an anonymous buyer by the Alexander Auction House in Chesapeake City, Maryland during the two-day sell-off held between July 28-29.

The auction house claimed the timepiece was presented to Hitler on his 44th birthday in 1933, then taken as loot by a French soldier in 1945 from the Nazi leader’s vacation retreat at Berchtesgaden, in the Bavarian Alps.

Bidders also fought for possession of an item listed as Hitler’s candy dish, which sold for $2,750; a dog collar for Eva Braun’s Scottish Terrier, which sold for $4,500; Hitler’s beer serving tray, which sold for $750; his personal stationery, which sold for $650; his champagne glass, which sold for $900, as well as several other objects used by him and his wife.

The European Jewish Association, a Brussels-based lobby group, condemned the sale in a letter. The items only give “succor to those who idealize what the Nazi party stood for” or offer “buyers the chance to titillate a guest or loved one with an item belonging to a genocidal murderer and his supporters,” wrote the group’s chairman, Rabbi Menachem Margolin.

“The sale of these items is an abhorrence. There is little to no intrinsic historical value to the vast bulk of the lots on display,” Margolin wrote to the auction house in a letter that was co-signed by 34 members and leaders of European Jewish communities.

Bill Panagopulos, the president of Alexander Historical Auctions, which has faced similar rebukes for previous sales — including one that featured the personal diaries of Josef Mengele, a notorious Nazi war criminal — dismissed the criticism as “nonsense and sensationalism” in an email to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.


Israel's El Al to offer direct flights to Tokyo and Melbourne
El Al Airlines CEO Dina Ben-Tal Ganancia announced yesterday that the airline intends to launch direct flights from Israel to Melbourne and Tokyo.

Speaking at the Google tourism conference in Tel Aviv, she said this move follows the recent Saudi decision to open its airspace to all aircraft flying to and from Israel, with no exceptions. This has, in turn, opened a window of opportunity for Israeli airlines traveling to eastern destinations.

Flights from Tel Aviv to Melbourne could take only 15 hours, according to Ben-Tal Ganancia, more than two fewer hours than it takes now.

Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, El Al had also planned to open direct flights to Japan, which have until now been shelved. The re-establishment of these routes could mean a significant uptick in Japanese-Israeli tourism.

Digitization of El Al
If these flight routes take effect, El Al would be the only airline to operate them. Following the news of the airspace opening, other Israeli airlines Arkia and Israir submitted requests to operate over Saudi airspace as well, though there has been little news regarding these carriers’ plans for new or altered routes.

Ganancia went on to elaborate her belief that digitization will soon reinvent the airline’s business. According to Globes, today roughly 35% of tickets are sold via the Internet and El Al’s app, with another 15% of digital bookings being made by travel agents. El Al’s expectation is that within the next five years, 80% of ticket sales will be processed via digital channels.
A surgical headset born on a fighter jet
Modern air force pilots wear sophisticated goggles to control their planes with gestures and augmented reality projections.

An Israeli startup wants to bring those types of sky-high “heads-up displays” down to earth – to the hospital operating room.

Head-mounted displays have been part of military aviation for close to 50 years. So, it won’t come as a surprise that the heads-up operating room system being developed by the Haifa-headquartered startup Beyeonics began its life at Israeli defense contractor Elbit.

“Pilots and physicians have a lot of similarity in their working environments,” Ron Schneider, Beyeonics cofounder and CEO, tells ISRAEL21c. “They both need superior control of their systems and improved visualization.”

Schneider worked as an engineer and manager at Elbit for more than 13 years. “Elbit is a company where ideas grow from the engineers, not only on the level of management,” Schneider says.

“This idea came from the ground level, from me and other colleagues at the company. When there’s a good idea, this is a company that knows how to support it.”
Yoske Yariv: The Israeli James Bond
He led an operation to assassinate an especially cruel Nazi, smuggled deal-breaking ammunition for the fledgling State of Israel during the War of Independence and sent enemies envelopes containing explosives.

Yosef “Yoske” Yariv, who headed Mossad’s special operations division known as “Caesarea”, is ranked among Israeli intelligence’s brightest minds.

HOT8’s new documentary film, “Know Thine Enemy”, investigates this complex character who could both conduct global ,undercover operations and joke around with the Israeli comedy troupe “HaGashash HaHiver”. Director, Yarin Kimor: “He was made of all the things needed for security leadership.”

Herberts Cukurs arrived in Brazil with a record of the most horrific acts. In his Latvian homeland, he was greatly admired as a gifted aviator; however, during the Second World War he turned into a particularly sadistic murderer. He acquired the moniker “The Hangman of Riga” following atrocities he committed against the Jews of that city, including setting fire to a synagogue with 20 Jews locked in the basement. Fleeing to South America, Cukurs believed he could start a new life without being held accountable for his crimes. For 20 years, he led a tranquil life running a business renting out tourist leisure boats. All this changed when he met Yosef (Yoske) Yariv.

Yariv headed “Caesarea”, Mossad’s special operations division. In the 1950s, Mossad decided to bring Nazi criminals to account. Yariv compiled a list of war criminals who he particularly wanted to bring to justice. Cukurs was on the list.

Although Yariv was a commander, he was adamant regarding personally executing Nazis on behalf of the Jewish People. Yariv initiated, organized and managed the worldwide operation to assassinate Cukurs. This complex operation involved German-speaking human bait, cover stories, front organizations and forged identity documents. The operation culminated in Cukurs being met by Mossad agents including Yariv upon his arrival at an apartment in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo specially rented for the assassination. Although Cukurs’ understood his predicament he tried to resist, biting, almost severing, Yariv’s finger. Two bullets to Cukurs’ head ended the life of this horrific mass murderer.

The body of 64-year-old Cukurs was found in a wooden trunk. A note listing his crimes had been placed next to the body. The note was signed by “those who can never forget”. Uruguay police immediately assumed an Israeli revenge operation, with media outlets publishing the names of suspects. It was soon understood that these were names on forged passports of individuals who since fled the country. Yariv and his colleagues made it back home to Israel without being captured.
First archaeological dig begins at site believed to be Joshua's tomb
Archaeologists have begun digging at Khirbet Tibnah in the West Bank, a site where humans have settled for about 4,000 years and which is believed to be where the biblical Joshua lived and was buried, the excavation project at the site announced on Monday.

The dig is being led by Dr. Dvir Raviv and students from Bar-Ilan's Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, alongside volunteers from Israel and abroad.

Khirbet Tibnah is located on a hill in the southwest of the Samaria region, east of Shoham near Halamish. The site was populated from the Bronze Age until the beginning of the Ottoman period, according to Bar-Ilan.

The site is also identified as Timnath-heres or Timnath-serah, a town which, according to the Book of Joshua, was given by the Israelites to the prophet and was where he lived and was buried. The tomb of Caleb is also believed to be at the site.

The site was surveyed in the 1800's and is mentioned in a number of historical documents. Remnants from the biblical period, the Hasmonean period, the Roman period and the Ottoman period were found at the site throughout the 1900's.

A detailed mapping of the site was conducted by Raviv in 2015, sketching the tombs, collecting fragments of pottery and documenting various remains and burial caves, showing proof of the existence of a Jewish settlement in the area in the past.
LA’s ‘Scripted Israel’ to Introduce US Entertainment Execs to Top Israeli Talent
An upcoming Los Angeles initiative with give entertainment executives in the United States an opportunity to meet and work with creative minds from Israel, Deadline reported.

Scripted Israel will take place September 19-22 and is being hosted by the Consulates General of Israel in Los Angeles and New York.

Organizers have revealed the participating talent and companies, set to include 17 prominent Israeli producers and screenwriters, such as Nir Berger (“Dead End”), Omri Van Essen (“Tehran”) and Tehila Peter-Dansker (“Cold Water”), according to Deadline.

Among the companies slated to take part are MoviePlus Productions, the co-producer of the HBO drama “Our Boys;” Dori Media, which produced the Apple TV+ series “Losing Alice;” Spiro Films, the production company behind the “When Heroes Fly” series that was picked up by Netflix; and Koda Communications, which created the scripted series that was the basis for HBO’s “Your Honor.”

Scripted Israel has also revealed partnerships with the Sam Spiegel Series Lab, an Israeli program that supports promising scripted television shows, and The Israeli TV and Film Producers Association (IPAC), which helped introduce a $13 million tax rebate for film and television productions that passed in Israel last month.

IPAC will also announce at the event in September a new project, American Friends of the Israeli Producers Association, which will promote partnerships between the US and Israeli entertainment industries, Deadline reported.
English Soccer Club Tottenham Hotspur Surprise Israeli, Palestinian Kids at Tel Aviv Training Session
Ahead of their match in Haifa over the weekend, four players on the English Premier League soccer club Tottenham Hotspur paid a surprise visit on Friday to Israeli and Palestinian children participating in a soccer program hosted by an Israeli nonprofit.

Hugo Lloris, Eric Dier, Matt Doherty, and Ryan Sessegnon met with 45 kids taking part in a Tel Aviv training session organized by The Equalizer, which uses sports as a tool for education and social change to bring together children from different backgrounds.

The charity runs weekly soccer training sessions and educational classes “with the aim of giving children a significant framework for personal development and values such as tolerance, mutual respect, preventing violence and eradicating racism, while creating a bridge between different populations in Israeli society,” according to its website.

The children, ages 9-12, had a Friday session hosted by Tottenham Spurs’ Global Football Development coaches, running a series of drills and learning tactics with help from the team’s players and its ambassador, Ledley King.

The children also took pictures with the Spurs’ players and received signed autographs, along with tickets to the club’s Saturday night match against Italy’s A.S. Roma, at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa.
Soccer players Messi and Neymar arrived to Israel for upcoming match
Soccer players Lionel Messi and Neymar arrived in Israel on Friday evening with their team Paris Saint-Germain for their upcoming match against fellow French team FC Nantes on Sunday night, Hebrew media reported.

The game, referred to as the French Super Cup (French: Trophée des Champions), will be held in Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv. The Cup was also held at the same venue last year, marking Israel's second time hosting the event. There will reportedly be 30,000 fans attending the game.

The players are reportedly staying at the Tel Aviv Hilton, according to multiple sources.

Messi and Neymar previously played together in FC Barcelona from 2013 to 2017 before Neymar moved to the French team. Messi followed suit in 2021.

The last time Messi came to Israel was when he represented the Argentinian national team in a friendly match against Uruguay in 2019, which also took place in Bloomfield. He also visited in August 2013 with his former team FC Barcelona.




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