Sunday, September 18, 2022

09/18 Links: Amnesty Int’l’s distortion of humanitarian laws has become an art form; The Islamic Republic’s ‘morality’ murder and US appeasement

From Ian:

Amnesty Int’l’s distortion of humanitarian laws has become an art form - opinion
AMNESTY’S PRONOUNCEMENTS are routinely transcribed directly into media headlines, then cited verbatim in academic publications – without due care for the integrity of the claims they make, never mind the accuracy of their findings. There is something to be said about leading the blind, or blinding to lead.

The issue here is the organization’s propensity to exploit its status in the media and academia to influence not only minds but policies. Rather than hold true to its self-proclaimed impartiality, Amnesty International has systematically taken very political positions, weaponizing human rights law, international humanitarian law, and the laws of armed conflicts to advance a private agenda, untrammeled by oversight.

The problem with the attack on Ukraine’s right to self-defense, protecting the very idea of the state’s sovereignty and independent identity, is the same as with the oversight of Amnesty’s use of imagery on their campaigns. It is set up to rebuke any rebuttal through the apparent, morally elevated self-portrayal of the organization, and our acceptance of their proclamation of infallibility.

Reports are built on anonymous tips and witness reports. None of the “facts” can be independently verified, yet we are called upon to accept them as truths. Truths withstand scrutiny… if indeed they are that!

It is pandering to the abominable to validate Putin’s criminal war narrative against Ukraine, his torment of Russians in the opposition, terror aggressions toward Israel– not to mention crimes committed against Palestinians, whether through indoctrination or physical violence, or the propagation of martyrdom by misguided ideologues the world over.

It is left to us now to admit, once and for all, that the rights organization has stretched the definition of “charity” to be, instead, a party to bloodshed and political radicalism.
Munich Massacre and DW’s Farah Maraqa A German Litmus Test on Safeguarding Israeli Civilians
Are German authorities speaking from both sides of their mouths about their obligations towards protecting the lives of Jewish Israeli civilians?

With this month’s 50th anniversary of the Munich Olympics massacre, widespread publicity focused on belated German acknowledgement of the government’s failure to safeguard the lives of Israeli civilians competing on its soil. Simultaneously, far under the media radar, a German court decision emerged which, it seems, reprehensibly rejected the lives of Israeli civilians as worth protecting.

In the official commemoration of the Sept. 5, 1972 Palestinian Black September terror attack, in which 11 Israeli athletes and a police officer were killed, German President Walter Steinmeier addressed the victims’ families, seeking forgiveness for the “inadequate protection afforded to the Israeli athletes.” He also lamented the German authorities’ decades-long “obstruction, ignorance and injustice.” Notably, a compensation settlement between the bereaved family members and the German government was finally reached the previous week.

Meanwhile, Berlin-based pundit Farah Maraqa deemed Monday as “a day for celebrations” following a local labor court reportedly ruling that the termination of her employment as a journalist at German public media outlet Deutsche Welle was “legally unjustified.”

DW fired Jordanian-Palestinian Maraqa and six other Arab employees earlier this year at the conclusion of a two-month internal antisemitism probe. Last week, she and her lawyers claimed that the Berlin court ordered Germany’s public broadcaster to reinstate her and pay all legal expenses. (The court have not confirmed the information; Deutsche Welle, which only four days before had introduced a new Code of Conduct where it states its support of “the right of Israel to exist,” said it has “taken due notice of the ruling.”)
David Singer: Biden and Blinken silent on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine
The Saudi plan’s author – Ali Shihabi - is a confidante of Saudi Arabia’s next King – Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. Shihabi’s Plan was published in Al Arabiya News – owned 60% by the Saudi Government.

This latest Saudi plan supersedes the 1981 and 2002 Saudi Peace Plans.

The rationale for creating the Saudi-proposed merged state as against the Biden-proposed brand new state was recently explained by Shihabi:

“We have seen from recent experience that state building is a virtually impossible task, particularly in a polarized environment so creating a “Palestinian State” from scratch is a fool’s errand. At the same time Jordan is a decently run country by regional standards and hence its government infrastructure can be used to incorporate 'Palestine' which will instantly have a globally recognized and respected government with all the basics like security, government bureaucracy etc.”

Shihabi’s two-state solution – if implemented – would consign Biden’s two-state solution – “a fool’s errand” says Shihabi - to the diplomatic graveyard.

Significantly - Palestinian Authority President Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah and Hamas leaders have not voiced any objection to the Saudi proposal since its June publication. Rejection by any of them would have stopped the Saudi plan in its tracks.

I sought State Department clarification on 6 September:
“I refer to the Peace Plan emanating from Saudi Arabia published in the Al Arabiya Times on 8 June 2022 proposing the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine (Saudi Plan):

Could you please advise in relation to Secretary of State Blinken:
1. When he first became aware of the Saudi plan?
2. Has he commented on the Saudi plan since its release on 8 June 2022?
3. If so – when and where were such comments published?
4. If he has made no comment – would he like to make any comment on the Saudi plan that I can publish verbatim and attribute to him in an article I am writing on the Saudi Plan?

I would appreciate a reply within the next 72 hours.”

The State Department has yet to reply.

Biden and Blinken’s silence is baffling.


Itamar Marcus: Israel must never again withdraw from Judea and Samaria
This past week marked the 29th anniversary of the signing of the first in a series of agreements between Israel and the PLO commonly known as the Oslo Accords.

Article 1 of the first agreement, the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, states twice that the goal is not to supersede or replace UN Security Council Resolution 242 that was agreed upon following the 1967 Six Day War, but to implement it: “The aim of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations... [is] to establish a Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority (i.e., Palestinian Authority)... leading to a permanent settlement based on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338...”

UN Resolution 338 likewise calls for “the implementation of Security Council Resolution 242.” Significantly, the Palestinian Authority is “interim” and implementation of 242 was and remains the permanent goal of the political process with the Palestinians.

One of the most misrepresented components of Resolution 242 is that it obligated Israel to withdraw from all territories that came under Israeli administration during the war. Rather, Israel was obligated to withdraw from unspecified territories but with a critical qualification: Israel had to be assured “secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.”

By signing the Oslo Accords in 1993, Israel’s leaders had decided to “take a chance for peace,” agreeing to withdraw, cautiously and slowly, from some of the territories of Judea and Samaria, to what they hoped would be more “secure boundaries,” that would be “free from threats or acts of force.” Certainly, Israeli political leaders at the time were proud Zionists and cared about Israel and Israelis. They never would have agreed to knowingly withdraw to “insecure borders” that would endanger Israeli lives.

Tragically, the Oslo gamble backfired. Already in 1994, five suicide bombers attacked Israeli civilian targets, one murdering 22 civilians on a bus in Tel Aviv, merely months after Israel started withdrawing. And the terror has never ended. The land Israel gave away was used as a terror base in 2000 to launch a five-year terror campaign.

Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian terror organizations launched more than 300 suicide terror attacks as well as hundreds of shooting attacks, which murdered 1,100 Israelis, and which the PA until this very day calls the “glorious” al-Aqsa Intifada. Since Israel started withdrawals, Palestinian terrorists have murdered more than 2,000 Israelis, mostly civilians.

The Israeli withdrawals to boundaries that are lethally insecure were caused by mistakes in judgment by the political and military leaders. Had Israel’s leaders known or suspected that giving the PLO land would bring about the murder of 2,000 Israelis and ongoing terror, there never would have been any Oslo Accords.
PA not interested in military showdown with IDF - ex-PA intel commander
Will there be a Palestinian civil war?
Shabaneh, however, said that he did not expect a civil war to erupt among the Palestinians if and when Abbas is gone.

“There won’t be a civil war,” he emphasized. “But there will be armed clashes between groups belonging to [rival] Fatah leaders, each one of whom considers himself a natural successor to Abbas. We will see violence because there will be no elections. We don’t have democracy.”

Several senior Fatah officials and many Palestinians were upset with Abbas’s decision to promote some of his loyalists to key positions in the Palestinian leadership, Shabaneh said.

He was referring to the 61-year-old Hussein al-Sheikh, who was recently appointed secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee and is widely seen as a leading candidate to succeed Abbas.

“President Abbas and those around him are behaving as if there’s no Palestinian people,” Shabaneh complained. “What’s important for the Palestinian leadership is to obtain Israeli and American approval for the appointment of the next president. They don’t care about their own people and are more interested in appeasing the Israelis and Americans. That’s why the Palestinian people are very angry.”

Shabaneh accused Abbas and his senior aides of working to silence their critics within Fatah.

“They have something called the Anti-Corruption Commission,” he said. “They use this commission whenever someone speaks out against President Abbas. They go after that person and try to silence him by accusing him of involvement in corruption. But of course we know that they are all corrupt. The corrupt officials are afraid of losing the money they accumulated over the years. If any one of them speaks out, he will be threatened by the Anti-Corruption Commission. That’s why most of them remain silent.”
Ken Burns’ Holocaust documentary may be hard on America, but not hard enough
Seventy-eight years ago this week, David Ben-Gurion rose before the Asefat Hanivcharim, Palestine Jewry’s elected assembly, and delivered an explosive “j’accuse” against the Allies for abandoning Europe’s Jews during the Holocaust.

The words of the man who would soon be Israel’s first prime minister take on added significance in view of the upcoming release of Ken Burns’ three-part, six-hour PBS documentary “The U.S. and the Holocaust.” Its official website says the film “dispels” the “myth” that America “looked on with callous indifference” during the Holocaust.

By contrast, Ben-Gurion told the gathering of Jewish community leaders in Jerusalem on Sept. 12, 1944: “As millions of Jews were taken to the slaughter — young and old, infant and newborn, mother and daughter — the world leaders, those who shout slogans about democracy and socialism, looked away from the bloodshed and did not undertake rescue action — they did not even try to rescue them.”

Two months earlier, Ben-Gurion had spoken in similar terms at a ceremony on the 40th anniversary of the death of Theodor Herzl. Addressing himself to the Allies, he thundered: “What have you allowed to be perpetrated against a defenseless people while you stood aside and let them bleed to death, never lifting a finger to help?….Why do you profane our pain and wrath with empty expressions of sympathy which ring like mockery in the ears of millions who are being daily burnt and buried alive in the hell centers of Europe?”

These words were not uttered after the fact. The Holocaust still raged as Ben-Gurion spoke. Trainloads of Jewish deportees were being sent to Auschwitz every day. On the day of the Herzl speech, July 10, three trainloads of Hungarian Jewish deportees arrived in Auschwitz. Over the course of four days that week, more than 30,000 Jews were gassed.

For a few weeks earlier that summer, Ben-Gurion and his colleagues in the leadership of Palestine’s Jewish Agency had mistakenly believed that Auschwitz was a labor camp. But when they learned in late June that it was in fact a death camp, they lobbied Allied diplomats in Europe, the Middle East and the United States to bomb the railways and bridges leading to Auschwitz, or the gas chambers, or both.
How Israel became a role model for Arab states
The beauty of the Abraham Accords is that they are marked by warm friendships, backed by a discourse of genuine tolerance and ideological moderation. This is even more important than the burgeoning trade and defense relationships with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco.

During repeated visits to the Gulf, my Arab interlocutors have emphasized that they seek nothing less than to redefine the identity and global image of Arab Muslims. They see Israel’s blending of tradition with enlightenment as a model.

Imagine that: Israel as a role model for modernizing moderate Arab societies. This is immensely encouraging—indeed empowering—for me as a Jew and an Israeli. It gives new meaning to the biblical prophecy that “From Zion, Torah shall go forth, and the word of G-d from Jerusalem.”

The basis for this relationship is the similarity between our societies. Israeli society and the societies of the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco cherish their strong ethnic, cultural and religious identities while appreciating modernity. They uphold both proud nationalist sentiment and a broad-minded approach to advanced education, international brotherhood and regional cooperation.

But blending tradition with enlightenment is a complex task, and Israel has done it relatively well. So, of course, the parties to the Abraham Accords want to learn from Israel. To me, this is the peace bonanza, an ideological breakthrough of near-biblical magnitude.

Moreover, the accords are a joyous revolution that overturns generations of Arab and Islamic ideological delegitimization of Israel. They are a stinging repudiation of the ongoing Palestinian campaign to deny Jewish history and criminalize Israel in international institutions.
UAE’s first rabbi: Jewish life can and is flourishing here
Rabbi Levi Duchman gave his heart to the United Arab Emirates at age 20, when Jewish life in that Arab land still seemed like a pipe dream.

At a time when many of his peers were still living at home or focused solely on their studies, he was busy building the Jewish infrastructure that years later would help the Abraham Accords flourish.

His personal religious journey that brought him to the Emirates had little to do with the geopolitics that allowed Israel to formally establish ties with the UAE in 2020.

If anything it was an event he could hardly have imagined on his first trip, to lead a Passover seder for Jewish students at New York University’s Abu Dhabi campus in 2014.

“Ever since then I fell in love with the UAE,” told The Jerusalem Post. Within months he was back in the country as a Chabad emissary, working to establish a mechanism that would allow a Jewish community to put down roots in the country’s sandy dusty landscape.

“You have the feeling that the impossible does not exist, a young person can come and make a difference,” Duchman said.

Over eight years after his first trip, the tall gregarious rabbinical leader, now age 29, sat and spoke with the Post on the second floor of the Mini Miracles Kosher Multilingual Nursery and Preschool-Dubai, which he founded.

He also put in place a mikveh, a Jewish community center, Emirates Agency for Kosher Certification, a synagogue and an overall umbrella group called Jewish UAE.

“This is where my community is and this is where I will stay for the rest of my life,” he said.

Duchman, referred to by almost everyone as simply “Rabbi Levi,” made headlines last week when he turned his union to Lea Hadad of Belgium into the largest public wedding in the history of the Gulf, let alone in the Emirates.
What Israelis think about the Arabs and the conflict with the Palestinians and the Abraham accords?

Chile to accept Israeli envoy’s credentials after ‘reprimand’ for violation of protocol
The Chilean Foreign Ministry has scheduled the acceptance of the new Israeli ambassador’s credentials for September 30, following a diplomatic dispute between Israel and the South American country.

On Thursday, Chilean Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola told newly appointed Ambassador Gil Artzyeli that President Gabriel Boric had decided to postpone a meeting to accept his credentials until October.

In response, Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Chilean ambassador to Israel, Jorge Carvajal, on Friday for a “reprimand.” During the meeting, the Foreign Ministry said that Israel’s response “would be made clear.”

In a statement issued early Saturday, the Chilean ministry said the postponement should be seen “within the framework of the political sensitivity” caused by the death of a Palestinian teenager during clashes with Israeli security forces in the Jenin area on Sept. 15.

The Israel Defense Forces said soldiers came under live fire around Jenin during an operation to map out the homes for possible demolition of two Palestinian gunmen who killed an Israeli officer near the Gilboa (Jalame) Crossing, north of Jenin, on Wednesday.

Chile described its postponement of the diplomatic credentials meeting as “exceptional” but reaffirmed what it described as its permanent desire to maintain “a fraternal and constructive relationship” with Israel.

In a video circulated on social networks in October 2021, Boric said that “Israel is a genocidal and murderous state.”
Relatives of soldier whose body is held in Gaza Strip impede Gazans entering Israel
The family of an IDF soldier whose remains are being held by the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip impeded workers from the Palestinian enclave from entering Israel on Sunday by blocking an access road.

Members of missing soldier Hadar Goldin’s family were joined by activists campaigning for his return, as well as the return of the remains of soldier Oron Shaul and two living Israeli civilians believed held in Gaza.

The early morning protesters held up a large banner across a road leading from a border crossing out of Gaza and into Israel. In a video shared on social media, dozens of cars and vans could be seen delayed by the roadblock.

The banner declared “Stop giving gifts and bringing in workers until the soldiers are returned.”

Goldin and Shaul were killed during the 2014 Gaza War and their bodies were taken by Hamas fighters. The demonstrators also called for the release of Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, two civilians with special needs who crossed into Gaza of their own volition later in 2014 and in 2015, respectively, and have been held by Hamas ever since.

Goldin’s father Simcha said the action was directed at Defense Minister Benny Gantz “who left two soldiers on the battlefield, Hadar and Oron, eight years ago.”

Gantz was IDF chief of staff during the 2014 conflict dubbed Operation Protective Edge.

“We came to explain to him that it’s inconceivable for Arab workers to enter Israel from Gaza before the soldiers and citizens are brought back,” he said in a video statement from the border.


PMW: Why is the PA not paying its employees their full wages?
The Palestinian Authority is once again complaining about its alleged financial crisis. As a consequence of the alleged crisis, for months the PA has only paid its employees 70% - 80% of the salaries due to them. As usual, the PA is deflecting any responsibility for its situation and is merely blaming Israel.

This approach was summed up in a statement of PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh following the July 31, 2022 decision of Israel’s Security Cabinet to implement Israel’s Anti-Pay-for-Slay Law that withholds tax money from the PA by the amount the PA pays in salaries to terrorists.

“The Israeli government’s decision to deduct a sum of 600 million [Israeli] shekels from the Palestinian tax money is arbitrary and illegal. He noted that this is tantamount to piracy that will add another dimension to our financial crisis, but said that this will not dissuade us from standing by our commitments towards the families of the prisoners and the Martyrs.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 2, 2022]

For the purpose of analysis, Shtayyeh’s statement should be broken into three parts.

Part I: Israel’s decision was neither “arbitrary” nor “illegal”
In the decision, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved a report of Israel’s Minister of Defense, which stipulated that in 2021 the PA had spent approximately 600 million shekels paying salaries to terrorist prisoners and released terrorists and allowances to wounded terrorists and the families of dead terrorists. These payments are often referred to as the PA’s Pay-for-Slay policy. According to Israel's Anti-Pay-for-Slay Law, the figure stipulated is now being deducted in twelve equal parts from the taxes Israel collects and transfers to the PA.

The decision was neither arbitrary nor illegal. Israel gathers taxes and transfers them to the PA as part of the Oslo peace agreements. These are not PA taxes, as the Palestinians often claim, but rather Israeli taxes waived in favor of the PA. The taxes are not given as a free gift. Rather, the expectation is that in the same manner as Israel collects and transfers the taxes pursuant to the Oslo Accords, the PA will meet its commitments pursuant to the Oslo Accords, inter alia, to combat terror.

But instead of using the money as intended, the PA uses the money to incentivize, promote, and reward terror through the terror salaries. The PA’s refusal to abandon its Pay-for-Slay policy has therefore forced Israel to legislate a law that penalizes the PA for these payments.


Terrorist murderer is PA Security Forces officer by day and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades member by night

Fatah brags of two terror fronts: PA security services and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades

Ruthie Blum: The Islamic Republic’s ‘morality’ murder and US appeasement
Given the current circumstances, with Obama’s political and literal successors following the same old blueprint with Tehran, it’s unlikely that Amini’s death will have any more of an impact than Neda’s, however.

If there was any hope to the contrary, U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley put it to rest on Friday through a pathetic post.

“Mahsa Amini’s death after injuries sustained in custody for an ‘improper’ hijab is appalling,” he tweeted. “Our thoughts are with her family. Iran must end its violence against women for exercising their fundamental rights. Those responsible for her death should be held accountable.”

No, he wasn’t joking; and he’s still bent on filling their coffers. He doesn’t have to worry about Khamenei being out of commission, though, since the ayatollah-in-chief gave Raisi the authority to make decisions on the nuclear pact in his absence.

Nor is it true, as a senior Israeli official told reporters last Monday, that the administration in Washington has “sidelined” Malley, a key architect of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) from which then-U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018. A “conflict resolution” expert and advocate of engagement with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, Malley has been so eager to appease Tehran that his second-in-command, Richard Nephew, quit his team, and others followed suit.

“Rob [Malley] … is still very much in charge of … our efforts,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price in his press briefing on Tuesday. “[He] is deeply engaged day-to-day on the substance of this. He is leading a team here at the [State] Department. He is regularly engaging with our counterparts at the White House, the Treasury Department, the intelligence community and elsewhere regarding our efforts to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA and our contingency planning, as well.”

Asked during his briefing on Friday about what’s holding up the deal, Price replied, “What I can offer is our assessment, and there is only one reason that we have not yet reached an understanding on a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA, and that is because Tehran has not yet accepted the reasonable basis presented by the E.U. as coordinator of the JCPOA talks.”

He went on, “As we’ve said repeatedly, gaps remain between the United States and Iran, or between Iran and the rest of the P5+1 … And it’s clear from Iran’s response that these gaps still remain. Iran’s response did not put us in a position to close a deal, but we continue to contend that it’s not too late to conclude [one].”

In other words, the ball is in Raisi’s court. And Amini’s murder—for the crime of exposing too much of her face—is as meaningless as Malley’s mealy-mouthed criticism of it.


"Brandeis Center: Vermont U President’s Response to Feds’ Antisemitism Probe ‘Offensive’"
On Wednesday, after news broke that the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating antisemitism at the University of Vermont (University of Vermont Investigated for Antisemitism), President Suresh Garimella sent his university community an astonishingly inadequate and offensive response to the Title VI anti-Semitism complaint that the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish on Campus had filed.

According to the Brandeis Center, President Garimella’s statement “shows neither reflection, nor understanding, nor remorse. Instead, Garimella demonstrates only the dismissive attitude that has left Jewish students vulnerable to harassment and discrimination, blaming the victims who blew the whistle on UVM anti-Semitism rather than pledging to respond to the problems that federal investigators will now examine.”

Suresh Garimella is an Indian-American mechanical engineer and academic administrator. He has been at the helm at UVM Since July 1, 2019. Nothing about his formal education or career suggests Garimella should have what it takes to handle any sensitive issues, never mind blatant hate attacks on Jews. Before coming to Vermont U, he was the Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships and the Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Purdue University College of Engineering.

It’s clear what qualifications brought Garimella to UVM: as Purdue’s executive vice president, he led a $660 million per year research enterprise and oversaw Discovery Park, a unique set of facilities and institutes, where disciplines converge to solve global challenges related to health and life sciences. The man is a rainmaker, which may color his approach to complaints about Jew-hatred in his university: to him, it may only be an annoying diversion.

Brandeis says describes UVM’s response as “bungled” in reacting to antisemitic conduct by a UVM teaching assistant who had publicly taunted Jewish students by asking, on social media, whether she should lower the grades of Zionist students. The UVM administration investigated only whether the grades had actually been lowered, rather than considering whether the instructor’s taunting had created a campus-wide hostile environment, chilled the expression of Jewish speech, and encouraged UVM students to shun their Jewish classmates.


IMPACT: Fox News’ Howard Kurtz Mentions HonestReporting NYT Exposé on #MediaBuzz
HonestReporting’s investigative reports exposing the violent and antisemitic social media histories of several New York Times freelancers continue to make waves. In the September 16 episode of #MediaBuzz, Fox News anchor Howard Kurtz highlighted our work on Soliman Hijjy and Hosam Salem, who praised Hitler and Palestinian terror attacks.


Indy contributor 'forgets' to tell readers he's a convicted terrorist
A Sept. 8 op-ed titled “I’m a French-Palestinian detained in an Israeli jail – here’s what’s really happening“, by Salah Hammouri, lies throughout the piece.

First, he writes:
On 18 August, Israeli occupation forces raided and closed the offices of seven Palestinian civil society organisations (CSOs) in the West Bank, including the offices of Addameer, the prisoner’s rights organisation I used to serve as a lawyer.

The targeted CSOs include some of the most important human rights groups and popular organisations in Palestine, such as Al-Haq..and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees.

These developments are the latest stage of a long-term Israeli policy to sabotage the development of Palestinian democracy and civil society, in order to prevent resistance to their settler colonial policies.

Hammouri’s claim that Israel is ‘sabotaging’ Palestinian democracy, as opposed to the kleptocracy known as the Palestinian Authority, which hasn’t held an election in 16 years, and arrests, tortures, and sometimes even murders, dissidents, protesters, and journalists, represents the kind of unserious propaganda routinely peddled at sites like Electronic Intifada.

Naturally, he also fails to clarify that the “Palestinian civil society organisations” in question were closed becuase they were found to have been fronts for the Iranian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terror group which has carried out scores of deadly attacks on Israeli civilians over the years – including suicide bombings and the murder of an Israeli minister .
BBC ARABIC CORRECTS REPORTS FALSELY CITING ‘SETTLEMENTS’
A post by CAMERA Arabic

Following a series of communications with CAMERA Arabic, three media outlets – including BBC Arabic – have corrected false references misidentifying Jewish communities inside Israel’s internationally recognised territory as “settlements.” Applying this inaccurate terminology to Jewish communities inside the pre-1967 Green Line reflects rejection of Jewish sovereignty within any borders as a form of illegitimate “settler colonialism.”

On August 5th Deutsche Welle Arabic wrote: “It has been four days since the Israeli military announced it is mobilising forces to the ‘Gaza front’ and raised the level of alert all across the border and near the adjacent settlements as a precaution against attack that the [Islamic] Jihad movement may carry out.”

On August 9th Deutsche Welle corrected, replacing “settlements” with “areas.” On the other hand, the publicly-funded German media outlet failed to correct a second erroneous reference to “settlements” which had appeared the same day.

I24 News corrected an August 4th reference to “Israeli settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip” on August 18th, changing the erroneous characterisation to “towns.”

On September 2nd BBC Arabic corrected three separate references. The most recent report, from August 3rd, had erroneously reported that: “Israel announced a situation of high alert and took several measures on its southern border with the Strip, including road closures in what is known as the Gaza envelope settlements.” Editors deleted the inaccurate reference to the “Gaza envelope settlements.”

Previously, on July 19th, BBC Arabic had referred to “Firing a bombshell on an Israeli settlement … the settlement of Netiv Ha’asara.” The corrected copy now refers to a town, as opposed to settlement.
JPost Editorial: Lufthansa adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism
On Thursday, German airline Lufthansa officially adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism. The announcement took place at a special event that Lufthansa hosted in Washington.

The decision to adopt the Working Definition of Antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance – an intergovernmental organization founded in 1998 – was made after accusations of discrimination and antisemitism were leveled four months ago against the airline.

The accusations were made after a large group of Orthodox Jewish passengers were barred from boarding a flight in May from Frankfurt to Budapest because some of them had not worn masks and committed other flight violations, such as gathering in the aisles.

The incident outraged Jews in the United States and Europe, some of whom alleged that the crew had discriminated against all visibly Jewish passengers, even those who had complied with the rules. An independent investigation commissioned by the airline said there was no evidence of institutional antisemitism behind the incident, which the company’s CEO nevertheless called “categorically inappropriate.”

What got them to make the decision?
Lufthansa’s decision to adopt IHRA’s definition of antisemitism is a welcome and important milestone for the airline and for the global battle against Jewish hate. We applaud it for being the first in the world to do so.

Lufthansa could have decided to simply apologize for the May incident but it decided to do much more. It appointed an antisemitism manager within the company’s executive leadership, adopted IHRA and it signed an agreement with the American Jewish Committee to train employees to identify and respond to antisemitism.

“Fundamental to standing against antisemitism is understanding what it is and how it manifests, both in overt forms and through unconscious bias. The IHRA definition recognizes all of this – that is its distinct strength,” said Lufthansa Group Executive Board Member Christina Foerster, who was in Washington, meeting with Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, US special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism; Felix Klein, federal government commissioner for Jewish life in Germany and the fight against antisemitism; Emily Haber, German ambassador to the US; and Michael Herzog, Ambassador to the US.

Klein applauded the decision and said that he hoped other companies would follow suit.
Texas man pleads guilty to threatening to ‘execute’ rabbis - report
A man from Amarillo, Texas on Wednesday pleaded guilty to threatening to murder three rabbis, according to local network KFDA News.

The man, Christopher Stephen Brown, was charged in a criminal complaint last December and later indicted.

The report cited plea documents as saying that Brown admitted to making threatening calls to Chabad Lubavitch.

In the calls, Brown said his name was “Madrikh Obadiah” and that he was going to “execute” multiple rabbis.

He also reportedly threatened to tear out the eyes and tongues of every rabbi he could find and said he would blow their heads off. The sun sets behind power lines above the plains north of Amarillo, Texas, US, March 14, 2017. (credit: REUTERS/LUCAS JACKSON)The sun sets behind power lines above the plains north of Amarillo, Texas, US, March 14, 2017. (credit: REUTERS/LUCAS JACKSON)

A threat to the Jewish community
The KFDA report cited court documents as saying that Brown also sent messages to Chabad on its website calling for "death to all Jews."

Brown wanted to commit violent acts against Jews, the report cited an FBI Dallas Special Agent as saying.

“In addition to expressing disgusting antisemitic views, Mr. Brown made specific threats of violence against multiple individuals, which is prohibited under federal law,” said US Attorney Chad Meacham, according to KFDA. “We will not allow our citizens to be subjected to this sort of menacing conduct.”


Jewish rapper Nissim Black teams up with American singer Dustin Paul
A relatively unknown American Jewish singer/songwriter has collaborated with Jewish rapper and hip-hop sensation Nissim Black on an inspirational song, which is starting to gather steam online.

Brooklyn-based Dustin Paul reached out to the popular rapper to collaborate on his song “Human Greatness 2.0.”

Born in Seattle, Black converted to Judaism and began to write his songs from a religious standpoint. Since making aliyah in 2016, Black continues to perform globally to mixed audiences and fans.

One of them, Paul, an aspiring songwriter, thought Black would sound great on the verses and decided to send the acoustic demo to Black and his manager.

“They loved it,” Paul said.


Frozen in time: 3,300-year-old burial cave from Ramses II era found at popular beach
A team of archaeologists was essentially transported back in time when it entered an untouched 3,300-year-old cave at the Palmachim National Park, just south of Tel Aviv, last week. The vast array of discovered items date to the Late Bronze Age, close to or during the rein of the biblically notorious Ramses II.

The cave was spotted when a rock shifted during the course of construction work and light was literally shed on an intact burial assembly about 2.5 meters (eight feet) below. Israel Antiquities Authority inspectors were called to the scene and their excitement is felt in a Hebrew-language video recording an initial inspection of a place no person has walked for more than three millennia.

“Simply amazing,” said IAA’s Uzi Rothschild repeatedly as “Wow, wow,” is heard in the background. “There are jars inside the jars! Wow!” said another voice. “Unbelievable!” said Rothschild.

The excitement peaks even as the video ends with the discovery of potentially multiple skeletons in the corner of the square-shaped cave.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime find! It’s not every day that you walk onto an Indiana Jones set — a cave with tools on the floor that haven’t been touched in 3,300 years,” IAA Bronze Age expert Eli Yannai said in a press release.

Yannai believes the vessels were imported from Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus, which he said was common for burial assemblages of the era. Dozens of pottery vessels of different sizes and shapes were found, including deep and shallow bowls, some of which are painted red, some holding bones; cooking pots; jugs and clay oil lamps that still held their burnt wicks.

Other organic materials may have disintegrated over the millennia, including a likely quiver that held an array of bronze arrowheads or spearheads that were found in the cave.




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