Friday, October 28, 2022
Jonathan Tobin: The painful truth about media bias: Some journalists lie
It also contributes to a situation in which people on both sides of the political aisle ignore arguments from their opponents, and—as another Times article pointed out—leads to Democrats and Republicans thinking that democracy is in peril. They just disagree about who is at fault.Mark Regev: Israel, the Suez Crisis and accusations of colonialist collusion
There are lots of reasons for this landscape. But to deny the responsibility of the media, and the way so many journalists lie for partisan reasons, is not only to fly in the face of the facts; it exhibits a failure to understand how and why our politics and our society are so broken.
This atmosphere helps explain, at least in part, the rise of anti-Semitism and how it is being tolerated on both ends of the political spectrum. It reflects an over-the-top partisanship in a society in which few are willing to condemn political allies, even when they are guilty of blatant hate-speech.
The same pattern applies to coverage of Israel and the Middle East. Though ignorance of the history of the region might seem to be at the root of the slant—since many editors and reporters simply don’t know, for instance, that peace between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs might have been possible had the latter not consistently rejected any and all compromises throughout the century of the conflict—even relatively recent events are often ignored, buttressing a narrative about oppression of the Palestinians.
Furthermore, many reporters, influenced by Palestinian propaganda and anti-Semitic talking points, deliberately distort the way the conflict is depicted. This helps create fertile ground for prejudice. It also paves the way for developments like the recent U.N. Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry report, which traffics in blatant anti-Semitism and falsely accuses Israel of being an “apartheid state.”
The consequences, both in the United States and abroad, of a broken media that can’t be trusted do not merely affect the world of journalism. When members of the press lie to advance a cause, they are not simply spreading misinformation; they are also creating an environment in which democracy fails and anti-Semitism advances.
Even before the arrival of the new Soviet arms, Egypt had turned Israel’s Red Sea port of Eilat into a white elephant by blockading the Straits of Tiran to shipping to and from Israel. At the same time, the Egyptian military was orchestrating repeated Palestinian Fedayeen terror attacks, all while beefing up its threatening presence in northern Sinai. Israel felt it had to preempt before Soviet weapons dramatically changed the balance of power.David Collier: Twitter silences me (twice) (again) – siding with the antisemites And then there is the Scottish scam
For London and Paris, the Suez War was an unmitigated disaster. The US opposed their attack, viewing it as anachronistic colonial-type gunboat diplomacy, detrimental to western interests in the Cold War. Washington unabashedly compelled France and Britain to withdraw – applying harsh economic pressure that threatened the solvency of its European allies.
The British and French, who earlier in the century had carved up the Middle East into respective spheres of influence, were now exposed as second-rate world powers. Their Suez defeat was the harbinger of the loss of French Algeria and the demise of Britain’s leadership role in the region, which was transferred to the Americans. In the end, it was not Nasser who was forced from office, but Eden and Mollet.
For Israel, the 1956 military victory failed to advance peace, or, in the absence of Arab recognition, any changes to the territorial status-quo: Washington insisted on a full pullback to the 1949 lines.
Nonetheless, the war lifted the blockade of Eilat, and Israeli deterrence was enhanced, inaugurating a decade of relative quiet on the southern frontier.
In addition, Israel’s adept handling of American demands in the months following the crisis led to an improvement in US-Israel ties. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who in 1956 had been critical of Israel’s behavior, in 1960 became the first American leader to host an Israeli prime minister, Ben-Gurion, at the White House.
If there was a downside for Israel, it was foreseen during the cabinet deliberations on the authorization of the offensive. The ministers from the left-wing Ahdut Haavoda (Unity of Labor) party expressed concern about Israel’s “unholy” collaboration with European colonial powers (though they still voted, together with Ben-Gurion’s Mapai ministers, for the attack).
Soviet premier Nikolai Bulganin pressed this theme in an angry letter to Ben-Gurion dated November 5, 1956, charging that Israel had acted “as a tool of foreign imperialist powers.”
Israel was born in a struggle against British colonialism and should have enjoyed a natural affinity from countries that had similarly battled European empires for their freedom. But the Sinai Campaign injured Israel’s standing among the growing number of newly independent African and Asian nations of the Non-Aligned Movement, where Nasser remained a hero.
Regrettably, the 1956 depiction of Israel as a colonialist power has had remarkable longevity. Some seven decades later, this erroneous accusation is still being actively propagated by those seeking to undermine Israel’s legitimacy – just ask Jewish students studying at Western universities.
But it doesn’t end there. I received a second simultaneous suspension. Now this – even more than the first- is patently absurd. I recently exposed a fundraising scam in Scotland – and I wrote a tweet to publish the article. That tweet apparently also broke the rules for ‘hateful conduct’:
Trying my hardest I fail to understand just what could possibly be wrong with this one. An antisemite did create a partnership with a scammer in Gaza who does have family links to both Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They are currently taking £1000s from people in Scotland and their campaigns are getting increasingly absurd. Each of my points is factually accuate and thanks to this expose I believe Police Scotland have now got involved.
But as it stands, I have been no-platformed again – for doing nothing but fighting antisemitism. And again, it is easy to find the malicious intent and coordination behind those reporting me:
Twitter and minority groups
This is undoubtedly malicious. It is also clearly coordinated. And above all it is a blatant attempt from Islamists and the hard left – to have me completely silenced. The question therefore becomes – why does Twitter – who can protect me from this – *CHOOSE* to side with them and silence my voice?
Is it numbers? Jews are always outnumbered. If Twitter by default sides with the majority then Twitter actively helps bully minority groups. For the Jewish people – the quintessential minority group – this is really bad news.
Twitter also refuses to grant me the basic cover it could provide – (by giving my account a blue tick). Twitter is actively paving the way for antisemites to attack Jews who fight antisemitism and refusing to give them protection they can easily give. Haven’t they kind of got this all the wrong way round?
For now – I am appealing the suspensions. If you do not know me already – I will always fight my corner because I am speaking up for Jews everywhere. This refusal to back down so easily means I cannot currently post this on Twitter. If you have an account – please help me share it there.
Freedland’s play fell into the anti-Zionist trap
A couple of weeks ago, I went along to see Jews. In Their Own Words at the Royal Court. I was optimistic. Here was a play promising to skewer the antisemitism — including on the Left — that has spread through so much contemporary discourse. Written by the sophisticated Guardian and JC columnist Jonathan Freedland, it would be a knowing take on a vital topic — Jews — that can easily go wrong. Indeed, it was the Royal Court that staged Caryl Churchill’s Seven Jewish Children: A Play For Gaza, a play that many saw as antisemitic and even, according to the Jeffrey Goldberg in the Atlantic, a blood libel.l cannot forget how Starmer endorsed Corbyn
Yet as Jews. In Their Own Words went on, I found myself welling up with disappointment. As Jew after Jew — real-life Jewish people in media, politics and the arts (played by actors) who had been interviewed by Freedland — said their piece, I realised that this was not Jews in their own words at all, but actually anti-Israel Jews in their own words. Every time a character mentioned Israel, they instantly crowded their statement with caveats, clearly terrified of being seen as actually supporting the state and, of course, the perennially decried Israeli “government”.
Saying you don’t agree with “what the government is doing” has long been mandatory for any non-right winger mentioning Israel in public, however weakly, without trashing its existence.
I had hoped a play pushing back on the double standards facing Jews, which includes socially enforced caveats that only Jews have to obey, like denouncing Israel before being able to discuss it, would have had the guts to sidestep this. It didn’t.
The reason is clear. The play was created by and for the new Left. This is a club to which the author wants (still) to belong, and is rightly aggrieved that being Jewish in the current climate keeps him from doing so. And yes, this is a play about the daunting tide of rubbish — including, in the case of a Charedi man walking in London, traumatising violence — that Jews, imagined broadly, have to put up with. But it seemed to only want to explore this in relation to “good” Jews, namely those who either disavowed any special connection or allegiance to Israel, or Jews who, like Margaret Hodge, one of the testifiers, had come to loathe the Jewish state. I found it ironic that one of the main themes of the play concerned the alleged antisemitism of the assumption that Jews are automatically connected to Israel, even though one could argue that this is one thing that antisemites get right: post-1945, Jews are all connected to Israel, even if they are not responsible for what goes on there.
These days, they’re rarely mentioned. Public references to Labour MPs’ roles in the Corbyn years are few and far between. It seems to be only the right of the Conservative party who occasionally tweet about Starmer et al holding their noses and campaigning for Corbyn. Corbyn’s antisemitism was never personal to the majority, and there are more pressing issues now.US midterms: Will New York get a Republican Jewish governor?
Even within the Jewish community, there are few vocal grudges. Many Labour activists have made amends. While the behaviour of the Labour party under Corbyn was arguably most hurtful and personally painful for them — and their decision at the time to challenge Labour the bravest of the lot — it’s only natural that they want to return to their ideological home. Like Boris’s supporters, they’ll hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest.
Meanwhile, the community leadership has pragmatically decided to mend bridges with the country’s second-largest political party.
What has made all this possible is Keir Starmer’s overt efforts to rid his party of its toxic racist inheritance, kicking out antisemites, delivering training on antisemitism across the party and apologising to the Jewish community for the hurt caused. Most consider him sincere and believe the party is, if not transformed, then on its way.
But for me, the trust has gone. The truth is that no matter how hard Sir Keir tries, I cannot shake off the fact that he was willing to serve in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet. I don’t care if it was a pragmatic decision, I don’t care if he was trying to save his party, I don’t care if he thought he’d moderate from within.
Standing by Corbyn because it was politically expedient — even as he nearly destroyed Anglo-Jewry — showed a cynicism and untrustworthiness which cannot and should not be forgotten simply because the wind is blowing in a different direction now.
Polls show high support for Labour right now, but it’s also shallow. Oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them. Labour would not have soared to such popularity had the Conservatives not fallen into complete disarray.
Still, Labour will likely win the next election. In other circumstances they might have had my vote, but they’ll have to do without it until there is a completely fresh set of faces on its benches, faces entirely untainted by the Corbyn era. For this voter, it’s still too soon.
The Orthodox Jewish community in New York is turning into a significant factor in the upcoming election for the state’s governor.Meet the Anti-Israel, Anti-Police LA City Attorney Candidate
With strong “get out the vote” campaigns and influential endorsements, the Orthodox – who represent a sizable segment of the electorate – have contributed significantly to candidate Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin’s surge in polling numbers, unexpectedly turning the race neck and neck.
With less than two weeks until Election Day on November 8, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul still leads, but with only a slight 50% to her Republican challenger’s 46%, according to a Quinnipac University poll released last week. Zeldin gained on the once heavily favored Democratic front-runner, who replaced former governor Andrew Cuomo after he resigned amid sexual harassment charges in 2021.
If elected, Zeldin would be the state’s first Jewish Republican governor. New York has not had a Republican governor since 2002.
Zeldin, one of only two Jewish Republicans in Congress, is a longtime ally of Israel and a regular at Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) events. But just weeks prior to the midterm election, he has shifted to position himself in alliance with Orthodox voters who are fed up with New York City’s increased hate crimes and ongoing state attempts to regulate yeshiva schools.
“Lee Zeldin, by virtue of being Jewish and a pro-Israel stalwart in Congress, has a head start over your typical Republican candidate,” Michael Fragin, New York State Republican Committee senior advisor to the chairman, told The Jerusalem Post. “He puts the Jewish vote in play more than he would normally, by virtue of his track record.”
Pro-Israel community leaders in Los Angeles are sounding the alarm over a Democratic candidate for the city’s top legal post who has spent several decades working alongside groups accused of supporting terrorism against Israel—and whose far-left views on community policing and crime are so extreme that Democratic representative Karen Bass, who is running to be the city’s mayor, withdrew her endorsement.
Faisal Gill, a libertarian Republican-turned-progressive Democrat, is running to become L.A.’s city attorney, a powerful post that will give him the ability to decide what types of minor crimes are prosecuted. "The city attorney is not elected to defend the police," Gill states on his campaign website. He also says he wants to end cash bail, support safe injection sites, and reduce criminal prosecutions. His views have become a liability for Bass, who pulled her endorsement of Gill as she attempts to distance herself from radical elements in her own party.
Bass withdrew her endorsement after Gill pledged to stop prosecuting certain misdemeanors after 100 days, even as L.A. has experienced a rise in crime and violence in the past couple years. Gill’s campaign advocates the sort of progressive law enforcement policies that have made the upcoming race such a slog for Democrats. Voters have turned on progressive San Francisco district attorney Chesa Boudin, who was recalled, and Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner, who faces impeachment.
Additionally, pro-Israel community leaders who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon said that at a time of rising anti-Semitic violence Gill’s past work with a cadre of Islamist groups tied to terrorism financing is fueling fears.
Gill served as the spokesman for the American Muslim Council, an advocacy group formed with backing from the Muslim Brotherhood, an anti-Israel Islamist organization that promotes Jew hatred. The council’s founder, Abdulrahman Alamoudi, was sentenced to 23 years in jail in 2004 as part of a terrorism financing case. Gill’s campaign also is receiving financial support from leading members of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an anti-Israel group known for peddling falsehoods about Israel and Jews.
"At a time of rising anti-Semitism in L.A., the thought of Faisal Gill taking charge of enforcing our laws is terrifying for the Jewish community," Adeena Bleich, a community activist and nonprofit leader, told the Free Beacon. "My in-laws fled the horrors of anti-Semitism in Syria in the dark of night; Faisal Gill has decades-long track record of cozying up to people who hold that same ideology. I’m the mother of their descendants. I want my children to be safe, respected, and publicly Jewish."
BREAKING: Ali Abunimah makes Ilhan Omar look sane in comparison. pic.twitter.com/qy8WSxvz5o
— Elder of Ziyon 🇮🇱 (@elderofziyon) October 28, 2022
A Texas candidate wants you to know he’s the ‘only Christian’ running. His opponent is Jewish.
Why does the Texas railroad commissioner want voters to know he’s the “only Christian on the ballot”?
Well, for one thing, his name is Wayne Christian, and it’s a handy way for voters headed to the polls on Nov. 8 to remember him. In his appeal to Houston TV viewers on Wednesday, Christian suggested a lot of folks don’t know what he does.
The other thing, though, is that Christian’s opponent, Luke Warford, is Jewish.
“Just remember to vote for the only Christian, by name, on the ballot for railroad commissioner,” the Republican said, wrapping up a minute-long appeal on KPRC, a Houston area TV station, which runs a “Straight Talk from the Candidates” feature ahead of elections.
Warford and his team smelled bigotry.
“The Republican incumbent running against the only Jewish statewide Democratic candidate just told voters to ‘vote for the only Christian’ in the race,” Sam Raskin, a communications consultant to Warford’s campaign, said on Twitter.
“Incumbent Wayne Christian is too focused on spouting lazy, hateful nonsense to actually do his job,” Warford tweeted.
A spokesman for Christian’s campaign said that the commissioner did not realize Warford was Jewish, and that he was apologetic for using the tagline, which he has used since he first ran for office in 1996.
“It’s a joke for people to remember,” Travis McCormick said in a call he made after this story was posted. “It was not meant to be anything more than that. And we definitely would not have said it if we realized our opponent was Jewish.”
Holy crap. This is worse than Farrakhan. https://t.co/7rePrrpfrC
— Elder of Ziyon 🇮🇱 (@elderofziyon) October 28, 2022
Windsor Municipal Candidate Reiterates Anti-Israel Claims In Interview With Windsor Star
On October 23, the day before municipal elections were held across Ontario, HonestReporting Canada released an urgent alert regarding a candidate for city council in Windsor, Ontario.Cleveland Jewish News helps Oberlin whitewash its antisemitism problem
Helmi Charif, who was running for Ward 3 councillor, had repeatedly uttered anti-Israel, and in our view, antisemitic statements on his personal Facebook page, which was not reported in media coverage of his candidacy prior to the election.
His comments ranged from blaming “the Zionist lobby” for the war in Ukraine, to alleging that “Western media is now of course controlled by the Zionists,” to the absurd and outlandish accusation that “Zionist mercenaries” who “consider themselves the masters of the world” are plotting to “eliminate the Islamic and Christian religions.”
The day following Charif’s loss in the election, the Windsor Jewish Federation released a statement citing our alert which called him out for his “racist and antisemitic” statements, recognizing the very real danger that “spreading antisemitic lies online often turns into real-world violence against Jews.”
Subsequently, on October 26, The Windsor Star published an article covering Charif’s comments and the surrounding controversy, and rather than apologize, Charif doubled down on his deeply problematic statements.
According to Windsor Star Reporter Dave Waddell, Charif “didn’t deny writing any” of the Facebook comments reported by HonestReporting Canada, but attempted to justify his disinformation by claiming he merely was targeting “Zionists.”
“Zionism is not a religion or a race. It’s an ideology to occupy land and kill people,” he told the Postmedia newspaper.
An article in the Cleveland Jewish News, bearing the byline of reporter Becky Raspe, reads as though it was written by Oberlin College’s public relations department, and whitewashes the long-standing antisemitism problem at Oberlin that has been documented, among other places, on CAMERA’s In Focus blog.Jordan Peterson slams critics who say he ‘stormed’ Temple Mount
College President Carmen Twillie Ambar has long sought to hide the school’s problem behind its Jewish Studies program and kosher dining facilities, and the CJN article promotes that talking point. (“Oberlin College celebrates 50 years of Jewish studies program,” October 19, 2022.) But at Oberlin, the Jewish Studies department appears to be part of the problem, not part of the solution.
In May of last year, Oberlin Jewish Studies Chair Shari Rabin signed onto a letter that accused Israel of “Jewish supremacy,” a slur that professor Gil Troy has called “straight out of the Nazi handbook.” The letter describes modern-day Israel as featuring “unjust, enduring, and unsustainable systems of Jewish supremacy, ethnonational segregation, discrimination, and violence against Palestinians that have been forcefully condemned, including by Jews, Israeli citizens, and Israeli human rights groups such as B’Tselem.” What B’Tselem and the signatories of this letter attempt to cast as “Jewish supremacy” is in fact simply Jewish national self-determination, a national right to which Jews are no less entitled than any other group. Troy wrote in Newsweek,
Jew-haters’ obsession about Jewish “power,” as Jews endured centuries of powerlessness and persecution, proves that Jew-hatred, the world’s oldest hatred, is also the most plastic hatred—artificial, fungible and sometimes lethal. Jews have been persecuted for being rich and poor, Marxist and capitalist, fitting in too much and standing out too much. Nazis justified their mass murder of Jews by escalating the canard about Jews controlling the world into a struggle against “Jewish supremacy.”
And as CAMERA has pointed out before, the language of “Jewish supremacy” also recalls the title of KKK leader David Duke’s 2002 book entitled, “Jewish Supremacism: My Awakening on the Jewish Question.”
Canadian professor and psychologist Jordan Peterson, who has gained a large following in the last several years and become the subject of controversy for his views on cultural and political issues, slammed critics who accused him of ‘storming’ the Al Aqsa Temple Mount on October 11th, claiming he was actually invited to tour the site for an upcoming documentary.Report: Ye wanted to name album after Hitler
“There was nothing particularly political about our activities. We traveled there as part of... An upcoming documentary about the Holy City.”
Peterson, 60, was captured on camera by a passersby who claimed that Peterson and the documentary crew were storming the Temple Mount with a gang of aggressive Israeli settlers.
“All of those who are claiming that… the Daily Wire crew and I were violating rules… that I stormed the ground with recalcitrant Israeli settlers, are either ignorant of the facts… or purposely misrepresenting what occurred and stirring up unnecessary and unwarranted trouble.”
Peterson, who visited the site with Daily Wire editor-in-chief and founder Ben Shapiro—who is himself a frequent subject of controversy for his political views—also called out the restriction of prayer by non-Muslims at the Temple Mount.
The anti-Semitism of Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) predates the current controversy surrounding the rapper, as he wanted to name his 2018 album after Adolf Hitler, CNN reported Thursday.
CNN cited several anonymous sources close to the artist, including a business executive who said Ye “would praise Hitler by saying how incredible it was that he was able to accumulate so much power and would talk about all the great things he and the Nazi Party achieved for the German people.”
The executive left his role with Ye over workplace complaints (including harassment) and reached a settlement with the musician, according to CNN.
Rather than “Hitler,” the 2018 album was eventually released as “Ye.”
On Tuesday, the film and television studio MRC announced that it will halt plans to distribute its recently completed Kanye West-themed documentary.
Professional athletes Jaylen Brown and Aaron Donald have also left Donda Sports, Ye’s agency, over the anti-Semitic remarks.
Forbes reported that Ye’s net worth dropped from $2 billion to $400 million after the German sporting goods giant Adidas ended its “Yeezy” brand partnership with the rapper.
Kayne West obsessed with #Jews pic.twitter.com/95VV4d30Hp
— Eye On Antisemitism (@AntisemitismEye) October 27, 2022
Kanye West is ‘Disgraceful’ Despite Being ‘Greatest Artist of Our Generation,’ Says Nick Cave
Australian rock star Nick Cave expressed disappointment at the contrast between the music of hip hop luminary Kanye “Ye” West and the antisemitic outbursts that have resulted in Adidas, Balenciaga, JP Morgan Chase and a host of other companies severing ties with him.
Speaking at a panel discussion at the London Literature Festival this week, Cave acknowledged West as “the greatest artist of our generation.”
“I love his music,” Cave said. “‘Yeezus’ and those gospel records, those gospel records are like nothing I’ve ever heard before.”
Cave, however, denounced West’s antisemitic remarks, which included a tweet threatening violence against Jews. On Thursday, a CNN report, citing anonymous sources, claimed that West had an “obsession” with Adolf Hitler and wanted to name his 2018 album “Hitler” before settling on “Ye” as its title. One business executive who had worked with West said that the rapper had spoken about “how incredible it was that [Hitler] was able to accumulate so much power and would talk about all the great things he and the Nazi Party achieved for the German people.”
Cave argued that for West “to pull out these antisemitic tropes, I think it’s, personally, disgraceful.”
The disparity between West’s music and his crudely antisemitic views was “deeply disappointing,” he said.
“Does this person need to descend from such great heights down to such tedious s**t we’ve heard so much so often? It’s deeply disappointing to me, and for some time it might be difficult for me personally to listen to a Kanye record, but at the same time I value the output more, on some level,” Cave reflected.
Or Mehdi, maybe just maybe, hear me out here … when folks like you, focus only on #antisemitism on the right, while proudly calling yourself ‘anti-Zionist’ and excusing Jew hatred on the left, perhaps it is YOU, who is the one politicizing this? Just a thought … pic.twitter.com/F8KtLfLkvj
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) October 28, 2022
*Jim looks at camera* https://t.co/JCmAwcUlLS
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) October 27, 2022
I guess @KarenAttiah believes we should excuse #KanyeWest’s Jew hatred, just because he’s black? How about we just called out bigotry wherever we see it and by whomever? https://t.co/vdKoMfNyGg
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) October 27, 2022
Kyrie Irving Boosts Antisemitic Movie Peddling ‘Jewish Slave Ships’
HOURS BEFORE ANOTHER Brooklyn Nets loss on Thursday, noted “free-thinker” and basketball player Kyrie Irving took to Twitter to boost a movie and book, Hebrews to Negroes, stuffed with antisemitic tropes.
The 2018 film was directed by Ronald Dalton, Jr., and based upon his 2015 book of the same name. A description for the film states that it “uncovers the true identity of the Children of Israel,” while a similar one for the book reads, “Since the European and Arab slave traders stepped foot into Africa, blacks have been told lies about their heritage.” Both suggest Hebrews to Negroes espouse ideas in line with more extreme factions of the Black Hebrew Israelites, which have a long history of misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and especially antisemitism.
The Black Hebrew Israelite movement is fairly broad, comprising organizations that (per the Anti-Defamation League) “operate semi-independently.” The movement generally coalesces around the notion that Black people are the real descendants of the ancient Israelites, with more extreme factions claiming that Black people have been “robbed of their identity as being ‘God’s chosen people'” (via the Southern Poverty Law Center).
It’s those extremist sects that have often parroted “classic” antisemitic tropes, like claiming European Jews (often referred to as the “synagogue of Satan”) wield outsized control over society, especially in industries like banking and the media. They’ve also pushed antisemitic claims that Jews are responsible for slavery and the “effeminizing of Black men.”
At one point in the purported documentary Irving shared, Dalton (who also narrates the film) brings up the “real truth about the slave trades.” He claims that, when teaching slavery, schools don’t mention the involvement of the Catholic Church, Arab, East African, or Islamic slave traders, or “the Jewish slave ships that brought our West African negro or Bantu ancestors to slave ports owned by [Jews].”
Yes, this is a real tweet. pic.twitter.com/KmyZBrVrIn
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 27, 2022
BBC Radio 4 news uncritically amplifies Palestinian propaganda
Once again BBC audiences were not told that Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades put out a statement claiming that its men, along with members of the Palestinian Authority security forces, were involved in that exchange of fire. Neither were they informed that this is by no means the first time this year that PA security forces personnel (some of whom also belong to terror groups) have taken part in terror attacks or gunfights – a topic which the BBC has to date repeatedly avoided.Guardian correction notes Disraeli as first ethnic minority British PM
Bateman continued with a ‘chicken and egg’ portrayal of the background to this story, once again failing to clarify that Israel’s operations come in response to rising terrorism:
Bateman: “Israel’s search and arrest raids this year have led to mounting Palestinian deaths, amid a deadly wave of violence by Palestinians against Israelis. The Palestinian leadership called for international help, describing the raids as a war crime. Israel’s prime minister said they’d intended to strike hard and that he wouldn’t allow cities to become a refuge for terrorism.”
That false portrayal of operations against armed terrorists responsible for attacks against civilians and security personnel as “a war crime” was made by the Palestinian Authority president’s spokesman:
“Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was establishing “urgent contacts in order to stop this aggression against our people,” his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah said as fighting appeared to rage in Nablus.
In a later statement, Abu Rudeinah said the deaths are “a war crime and the Israeli government bears full responsibility for its consequences.””
The PA later put out a statement detailing the kind of “international help” it seeks.
The glib and uncritical amplification of specious claims of “war crimes” by both Tom Bateman and the newsreader clearly did nothing to help BBC audiences understand this specific story or the wider issues that are serially under-reported by the BBC such as the Palestinian Authority’s policy of rewarding terrorists, its loss of control over parts of the area it governs and its failure to meet its obligations to combat terrorism, even when perpetrated by members of its own security forces.
CAMERA on Campus UK fellow Saul Levene prompted a correction to a Guardian article, clarifying that Benjamin Disraeli, and not Rishi Sunak, was the first minority ethnic British prime minister.Two Jewish youths attacked in NYC in separate incidents
Levene complained to editors about the following quote in the piece (“Rishi Sunak to become first British PM of colour and also first Hindu at No 10”, Oct. 24), written the outlet’s former Jerusalem correspondent Harriet Sherwood:
But Tariq Modood, professor of sociology, politics and public policy at the University of Bristol, said: “Whatever his political views, Sunak becoming prime minister is a historic moment for multiculturalism and racial equality. It has happened much sooner than anyone would have predicted even a few years ago – and nor would anyone have predicted that the first ethnic minority prime minister would be a Tory.”
Levene wrote to editors, explaining that, though he converted to Christianity, Benjamin Disraeli (who was was prime minister for a short time in 1868, and then from 1874-80) nonetheless identified as a Jew by ethnic heritage, citing his response to antisemitic heckling in the House of Commons where he referred to his ancestors serving in the Temple of Solomon.
A group of youths attacked a 15-year-old Jewish boy in Brooklyn, New York on Monday, according to a tweet by the New York Police Department.Swastikas painted on signs at Buchenwald concentration camp memorial siteAccording to the tweet, the suspects made "anti-Jewish statements" and threw eggs at the boy, who was dressed in "traditional Jewish garb."🚨WANTED FOR AGGRAVATED HARASSMENT: On 10/24 at 1:05 PM, in front of 1301 E. 18 St in Brooklyn, the suspects approached a 15-year-old male dressed in traditional Jewish garb, made anti-Jewish statements & threw multiple eggs at him. Any info? DM @NYPDTips or call 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/EevIiF0vad
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) October 28, 2022
The NYPD added that anyone with information on the suspects should contact it.
Separately, antisemitism watchdog group StopAntisemitism tweeted on Wednesday that the NYPD is seeking a suspect who punched an Orthodox Jewish teenager in the back of the head, adding that "The ongoing assault on identifiable Jews in NYC is alarming."
Swastikas and other far-right symbols were daubed on signs at the national memorial complex that stands at the site of the former Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, authorities said Friday.
Police said two traffic signs and a sign with a map of the memorial were daubed with the symbols on Thursday evening. The signs were removed swiftly.
The foundation that runs the memorial said on Twitter that it was “an abhorrent attack on the dignity of the Nazis’ victims and on our work.”
There was no immediate word on who was responsible; police were investigating.
The incident comes after seven trees dedicated to the memory of victims of the Nazi camp were chopped down in July.
The Buchenwald concentration camp was established in 1937. More than 56,000 of the 280,000 inmates held at Buchenwald and its satellite camps were killed by the Nazis or died as a result of hunger, illness, or medical experiments before the camp’s liberation on April 11, 1945.Last night swastikas and other Nazi symbols have been spray-painted on boards and signs at the #Buchenwald concentration camp memorial. We are appelled by this despicable attack on the dignity of Nazi victims. Police are investigating. pic.twitter.com/xsfkCNR2DO
— Stiftg. Gedenkstätten Buchenwald u. Mittelbau-Dora (@Buchenwald_Dora) October 28, 2022
Holocaust-denying bishop holds hate services in London library
The notorious Holocaust-denier Bishop Richard Williamson has been conducting rabidly antisemitic “services” in a London library, the JC has discovered.Jewish man forced to join neo-Nazi gang tells harrowing story of survival
The cleric, who is a founding member of a fringe Catholic movement called the Society of St Pius X Resistance, also has a YouTube channel with thousands of subscribers.
Although he was excommunicated by the Vatican in 2009 and convicted of Holocaust denial in Germany, the hate cleric has been freely hosting masses and delivering sermons in Earlsfield, South London, for several years.
In a recent gathering at the Earlsfield Library, the JC heard Bishop Williamson launch 40-minute diatribe accusing Jews of crucifying Jesus and conspiring to undermine the Catholic Church.
He suggested that Jews were behind the Covid pandemic, creating a lethal vaccine to reduce the planet’s population and enslave the survivors.
"They want to be slave owners, and it’s much easier to enslave a reduced population,” he said. “So they want to bring the world population down from seven billion to 500 million… A very large number of people have to be gotten out the way, and they are starting with Covid.”
The service attracted around 35 people, many of them young men –– and a few young women –– who stayed after the service to eat biscuits and chat about Patriotic Alternative, a white nationalist organisation.
The bishop gives additional services from his home in Broadstairs, Kent. There are other chapters of his society in Southport, Merseyside and Newbury, Berkshire where devotees of the bishop minister on his behalf, although their congregations are believed to be smaller than the London church, and made up of older worshippers.
Earlsfield Library, where Williamson held his services for almost a decade, is owned by GLL, a charitable social enterprise. After being contacted by the JC, a spokesperson said the bishop’s comments were “disgraceful and unacceptable”. They added: “We have terminated all the group’s bookings with immediate effect.”
John Daly, a Jewish man who was forced into joining a neo-Nazi gang in Florida, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where he recounted the terrifying ordeal of his time in the gang and the devastating repercussions of what happened once his fellow gang-members discovered his Jewish identity.Taliban approves conservation work on historic Afghan synagogue
Mr Daly, the subject of the documentary Escape from Room 18 which tells the fascinating story of his time in the gang, was part of an anti-racist skinhead gang in his youth. However, the Aryan Youth Force, a close-by neo-Nazi gang, took over and absorbed the non-racist members into their own, quickly letting them know that any attempt to leave would end in violence, or worse.
“One day there was a knock on my door, and there were three neo-Nazi skinheads standing outside,” Mr Daly said. “I thought, being Jewish, that initially, it was an attack.”
Fearing for the safety of his family inside, Mr Daly chose to go with the gang members.
Recalling his first encounter with the gang members, he said: “I got in the car and we drove off, and each [gang member] told me a story of someone who used to be involved and quit hanging out and was mysteriously shot, or mysteriously run over, or mysteriously caught on fire.
“I understood what they were saying without saying it. The driver reached over the back [of the seat], put his hand towards mine and said ‘welcome aboard’.
“I said thanks, and I didn’t know I was shaking the hands of the guy that later on was going to try and murder me.”
Though the Jews of Herat in western Afghanistan haven’t lived there in decades, the city’s historic synagogue, thought to have been built around the turn of the 20th century, is set to undergo a conservation project with the backing of the Taliban government, according to the Art Newspaper.Israeli UFC fighter gives Jewish teens self-defense class
The 16-month project, set to start in November, is aimed at preventing the collapse of the Yu Aw synagogue’s structure. It is being planned by the Herat municipality and other local organizations, and it is being funded with nearly $500,000 from the Aliph Foundation, a Swiss group aimed at protecting cultural heritage sites in conflict areas. The community mikvah, known as the Hammam-e Mosaie, will also be repaired as part of the project.
The synagogue last underwent a two-year restoration project that was completed in 2009, with funding from another Swiss organization. For a few years, it served as an educational center for women and children, but it was shut down again in 2014 due to seepage from a “poorly constructed, UN-funded municipal drainage channel in the adjoining road,” the Art Newspaper reported. It is also not explicitly a Jewish heritage project.
“This is a cultural and historic site, which is not used as a place of worship, and the local government will support its preservation,” Zalmay Safa, the head of Herat’s monuments department, told the Art Newspaper. “Despite the change in government our historic sites remain protected and they are not in any way connected to religious matters.”
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight star Natan Levy gave Jewish teenagers in Las Vegas lessons on how to defend themselves with the Israeli American Council's (IAC) Teen Ambassador program in Las Vegas on Monday. Levy, a French born Israeli Jew currently living in Las Vegas, along with Denis Sharad of the local Center for Israeli Martial Arts, gave the program participants pointers in hand-to-hand combat at a time that antisemitism is rising in the US.Jerusalem hotel ranked among the best in the world
2021 ended with the highest rate of recorded annual antisemitic incidents in the last decade.
The self defense class kicked off IAC's ACT Teen Ambassador program, which will meet monthly to help teens develop their skills in combating antisemitism and advocating for Israel. Their goal is to empower young Jews to engage in activism within their local communities and schools.
IAC is an organization dedicated to the development and promotion of robust Jewish and Israeli American communities an identity within the US. UFC MMA Fighter Natan Levy (center, in tan shirt) meets local teens from the Israeli- American and Jewish communities at the Israeli-American Council (IAC) Las Vegas Teens Ambassador Program yesterday at the IAC Las Vegas Center. (credit: Israeli-American Council of Las Vegas) UFC MMA Fighter Natan Levy (center, in tan shirt) meets local teens from the Israeli- American and Jewish communities at the Israeli-American Council (IAC) Las Vegas Teens Ambassador Program yesterday at the IAC Las Vegas Center. (credit: Israeli-American Council of Las Vegas)
Who is Natan Levy?
Levy, currently holding a record of 7 wins, 1 loss, and no draws, is set to fight in one of the preliminary bouts of the UFC championship on December 3rd.
Growing up in Israel as an oleh, he felt a pull towards martial arts in response to being bullied for his French accent.
Jerusalem's own Hotel Yehuda has landed on the list of 2022 World Luxury Hotel Award winners. The hotel, which has won numerous awards in the past, has reclaimed the titles of best spa hotel in the Middle East as well as best luxury hotel for families in the world.UK chief rabbi to spend coronation eve with King Charles to avoid breaking Shabbat
Hotel Yehuda is located just west of the Malha neighborhood, atop the "gorgeous Massuah Hills," per the hotel website.
The hotel offers guests six different types of rooms to choose from, the most luxurious being the "Canadian Suite" which includes two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a large balcony and a private Jacuzzi.
Guest amenities
Guests can also use the hotel's facilities -a variety of conference rooms and banquet halls- for practically any occasion, from business meetings to bar mitzvahs. There is even a synagogue that seats up to 150.
The award-winning hotel spa has an extensive menu of treatments to choose from - massage, hot stones, crystals and more. There is also a relaxation room as well as wet and dry saunas.
Should guests want to grab a snack or get a workout in, the hotel also has a restaurant and gym on the premises.
Britain’s chief rabbi will stay overnight at the residence of King Charles III the night before the monarch’s coronation in London, to allow the rabbi to attend without violating Shabbat.Meet Yusuf Za’arur, one of Iraq’s greatest musicians
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and his wife, Valerie, are scheduled to attend the coronation in London on Saturday, May 6, 2023, in a ceremony that will also see the Queen Consort, Camilla, crowned.
But with the ceremony being held on the Sabbath, Mirvis is unable to drive or travel by car to the location according to Jewish law. Instead, the chief rabbi and his wife will spend the night at Clarence House, the residence of King Charles and Camilla.
According to the UK-based Jewish Chronicle, Mirvis will spend Friday evening celebrating Shabbat with local Jewish communities, before retiring to Clarence House for the night, which is less than a mile from Westminster Abbey, where the coronation is set to take place.
By attending the ceremony, even on a Saturday, the chief rabbi is continuing a 120-year-old tradition set by former chief rabbi Hermann Adler, who attended the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902, an event that also took place on Shabbat.
On that occasion 12 decades ago, Adler attended synagogue prayers at the local Western Synagogue, before he was escorted by police in his rabbinic robes to Westminster Abbey.
The musical director of the Baghdad Radio Orchestra, Yusuf Za’arur rwas a talented qanun player. He rebuilt his career in Israel, playing at private celebrations as well as in Israel’s Arabic Orchestra. The Librarians has a profile by Rachel Goldberg:Kurt Gerron - Successful Jewish Actor and Director in Germany between the World Wars
Yusuf Za’arur was born in 1902 to a wealthy family in Baghdad. He displayed musical talent from a young age, and at 18 bought himself his first qanun. He also played the violin and cello. In 1932, he participated with other Iraqi musicians (all Jews) in the First International Congress of Arab Music in Cairo. A rare recording from this event can be found in the collections of the National Library of Israel. On track five, one can hear Za’arur’s virtuoso playing on the qanun. His talent earned him a medal and first place in the Congress.
Za’arur joined Radio Baghdad in 1936 and by 1941, he was appointed the station’s musical director. He held this position until his immigration to Israel in 1951. While working at Radio Baghdad, he promoted many Jewish musicians, among them the singer Salim Shuwat, Albert Elias, Avraham Daoud, Avraham Salman, Daoud Akram, Haki Ovadia, Shuweh Yehezkel, Elias Zebida, Sasson Abdu, Yosef Yaakov Shem Tov and the young singer Saleh Alshabli.
Za’arur did not just promote Jewish singers. When the Iraqi singer Nazem Al-Ghazali came to audition for him, he sang a song in an Egyptian style. Za’arur then asked him to sing an Iraqi song and told him that the Iraqi maqam was better suited to his style of singing. After the audition, Za’arur told Ghazali that he was very talented and he predicted a great future for him, which indeed turned out to be true.
During the years he worked at Radio Baghdad, Za’arur composed many popular tunes and worked with the great Arab singers of the time, from the respected composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab to the great singer of the Arab world Umm Kulthum.
Although he was a much sought-after musician, as a civil servant he gave private performances only to a limited number of personalities, among them King Faisal of Iraq and Prime Minister Nuri Al-Said.
Born Kurt Gerson in 1897 in Berlin, Kurt Gerron was the only child of Max and Toni née Riese. His father managed a thriving clothing business, and his mother was a housewife who took care of her son's education. Gerron enlisted in the German Army in World War I, was badly injured twice, and was released from active service at the front. He started studying medicine, and after two years, re-enlisted as a doctor. After the war he completed his studies, but a year later, decided to devote himself to acting. His first performance was in the cast of the cabaret, "Kuka" in Berlin. In 1921, he joined the Wilden Buhne ("Wild Stage") cabaret troupe, the first of several cabaret troupes that he worked with, and in 1924 he married Olga-Olly née Meyer. Gerron performed in Max Reinhardt's theater in Berlin, at the same time starring in silent movies. He also successfully transitioned to talking films. In 1928, he appeared in the role of "Tiger" Brown at the premiere of the musical drama, "The Threepenny Opera" by Berthold Brecht and Kurt Weill in Berlin. The show was a huge success, and the song, "Mack the Knife", sung by Gerron, became a big hit. In 1930, Gerron appeared alongside Marlene Dietrich in the film, "Blue Angel" in the role of Kiepert the magician. By 1933, he had appeared in dozens of movies and directed many more, and was one of Germany's most successful artists.
In January 1933, the Nazis rose to power in Germany. Shortly afterwards, thousands of Jews were ousted from the movie, entertainment, theater and music businesses, among them Kurt Gerron. At the time, Gerron was in the middle of directing the film, "Kind Ich Freu Mich Auf Dein Kommen" at UFA Studios in Berlin, and was also one of the scriptwriters. On 1 April 1933, the day of the national boycott on German Jewry, Gerron and his Jewish colleagues were thrown out of the studio. Actress Magda Schneider, present at the time, later recalled: "Every time Gerron's name is mentioned, I remember this scene… We were about to start filming when the production manager said that he wanted to say a few words about the boycott, and then he said: "All Jews, leave the studio." I only saw Gerron's shaking back as he left. He was crying." (Felsmann und Prümm, Kurt Gerron - Gefeiert und Gejagt, p. 63). The same month, Gerron left Germany and moved to Paris with his wife and parents, and some two years later, he moved to Vienna. In September 1935, he moved again, to the Netherlands, because of the rising antisemitism in Austria. He settled in Amsterdam, and continued to direct movies. In 1937, approximately four years after Gerron had left Germany, Gestapo headquarters in Lüneburg issued an order forbidding truck drivers from displaying pictures on their vehicles of Ernest Röhm and Jewish actors Kurt Gerron and Fritz Greenbaum, who were presumably still popular with the public.
In May 1940, the Germans occupied the Netherlands. Gerron continued to work in his field under the Nazi regime in the Netherlands. In September 1943, he was arrested, and sent with his wife Olga to the concentration and transit camp, Westerbork in the northeastern part of the Netherlands, where he continued his cabaret activities. His parents were arrested even earlier, and on 4 May 1943, they were deported from Westerbork to their deaths in Sobibor. There were no survivors from that transport. On 25 February 1944, a deportation train left Westerbork for the Terezin ghetto. Kurt and Olga were among the deportees. In Terezin, Gerron established a cabaret troupe in German, and produced the review, "Karussell", with the participation of the "Ghetto Swingers".
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