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Saturday, November 05, 2022

11/05 Links: Dore Gold: UN takes its war on Israel to next level; Doublespeak at Its Worst; ‘Millions’ of Jewish American Dollars Paid to Raise Percent of Arab Vote

From Ian:

Dore Gold: Diplomatic invective: UN takes its war on Israel to next level
One of its commissioners, an Australian named Chris Sidoti, was explicit on this issue. He allowed the UN to quote him, suggesting that states must move from the report that the COI issued to an actual referral to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague. In short, he called for legal proceedings against Israel.

An initial report by the COI made the charge that Israel was “largely to blame for the continuation” of its conflict with the Palestinians. It was no wonder that State Department spokesperson Ned Price concluded that the COI was “unfairly singling out Israel.”

One of the arguments the COI report makes is that the Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria “is now unlawful under international law due to its permanence.” In other words, the report is saying that since 1967 the UN could not use that language, but now it feels at liberty to make that legal argument. What exactly changed?

It has already been noted that while the issue of the COI came up, so did the international response to the annexation of four regions in Ukraine by Russia this past October. However, there is no basis for comparing the two territorial disputes. It must always be recalled that Israel moved into Judea and Samaria in a war of self-defense back in June 1967.

Israel’s neighbors, including Jordan, had massed their armies along its borders during the month of May. True, Jordan had annexed Judea and Samaria back in 1950, but no one recognized that action at the time with the exception of Britain and Pakistan. Russia’s current operations in Ukraine were not in self-defense but rather looked like a war of aggression.

Indeed, the great British authority on international law, Elihu Lauterpacht, has drawn the distinction between unlawful territorial change by an aggressor, and lawful territorial change in response to an aggressor. In short, comparisons between Israel back then and Russia today are simply baseless.

The only explanation for what the UN is doing with the COI is the singling out of Israel. It is a kind of diplomatic invective. It is a nasty misuse of international law and practice by taking its struggle with the Jewish state to a new level.

What can Israel do, given the predicament at the UN? There is no question that the singling out of Israel yet again at the UN requires a response.
Doublespeak at Its Worst
And yet, despite the truth of these facts, the narrative one reads and hears in the mainstream media and from pro-Palestinian propagandists never reveals these critical details. The delegitimization of Israel relies on the spurious mantra that Israel was never legitimate, and that the Jewish nation has no valid claim to a country in the land that was previously “Palestine.”

And, as if this is not enough, the anti-Israel narrative maintains that the Arabs of Palestine were illegally dispossessed and that they remain dispossessed — all of them victims of a colonial enterprise executed by non-indigenous outsiders who stole the land from the Arabs.

But nothing could be further from the truth. While it is true that Arabs settled and dominated Palestine — which in the modern period was an ill-defined province of the Ottoman Empire — it was the Jews who were dispossessed, some 2,000 years ago.

And it was the Jews who were a perpetually persecuted minority in the territory which was theirs for more than 14 centuries, beginning with the conquest of Joshua, and ending with the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 C.E., followed by the rout of Bar Kokhba and his rebels in 135 C.E.

And it was the Jews who were associated, throughout the period of their dispossession, with the province known as Palestine — even by Muslim scholars of the Koran, as pointed out by, among others, the widely respected British imam, Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Al-Husseini.

How is it possible that the truly dispossessed can be accused of dispossessing others when they reclaim territory that is rightfully theirs?

What this means is that anyone who proposes Israel’s illegitimacy is simply guilty of Orwellian doublethink — at its worst. As Winston Smith, the protagonist of George Orwell’s masterpiece “1984” puts it: doublethink is “to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies.”

The truth of the Land of Israel’s association with the Jewish nation cannot possibly be disputed — it is a fact no less true than that the sky is above, and that water is wet.
With far right ascendant in Israel, Blinken tells Abbas US committed to 2 states
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Friday, demanding the Biden administration “compel” Israel to stop various attacks against Palestinians.

According to State Department spokesman Ned Price, Blinken and Abbas discussed “joint efforts to improve the quality of life for the Palestinian people and enhance their security and freedom.”

Price said Blinken “further reaffirmed our commitment to a two-state solution,” a noteworthy statement as Israel, following this past week’s election, looks set to usher in its most right-wing government ever, including far-right elements.

Blinken “underscored his deep concern over the situation in the West Bank, including heightened tensions, violence, and loss of both Palestinian and Israeli lives, and emphasized the need for all parties to de-escalate the situation urgently,” Price added.

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, Abbas briefed Blinken on “Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people… including the blockades, extrajudicial killings, home demolitions and settlement construction, in addition to settlers’ violence and violations carried out against the ‘occupied’ city of Jerusalem and its Muslim and Christian holy sites.”

The report said Abbas “reiterated his demand for the US administration to compel the Israeli occupation authorities to stop these crimes committed against the Palestinian people, land and holy sites.”


Report: ‘Millions’ of Jewish American Dollars Paid to Raise Percent of Arab Vote
The information was made public by Israeli Arab candidate MK Sami Abu Shehada, chair of the Balad party.

Balad failed to cross the electoral threshold and will not be part of the 25th Knesset as a result.

Biden Administration officials and leaders of the liberal American Jews communities expressed deep concern prior to the election that Israel would be led by right-wing “extremists” in the upcoming government.

Their concerns were focused primarily on the inclusion in the cabinet of Religious Zionism party chair MK Bezalel Smotrich and Otzma Yehudi party chair MK Itamar Ben Gvir.

A fellow journalist on the newscast noted, “This is the second time – the first being in 2015 – that money from the United States and European Union, foreign governments and NGOs, has been used to interfere in Israeli elections” with the goal of preventing Netanyahu from leading the country.

Abu Shehada told Channel 13 anchor Ayala Hasson in an interview, “A lot of American Jewish money went into Arab society to prevent Netanyahu from returning to power.”

The Balad chair said the money “went to Ra’am, and to [Hadash-Ta’al faction leader Ahmad] Tibi and others via all kinds of NGOs in order to increase the vote in [Arab] society.”

Abu Shehada expressed wonder at the phenomenon, asking, “Why would an American Jew, who doesn’t know us at all, and doesn’t know where we live, and in fact we are of no real interest to him, intervene with millions of dollars? What’s his interest?”
Ra’am’s Mansour Abbas Warns Jewish Prayer at Temple Mount Will ‘Lead to War’
Mansour Abbas, chair of the Islamist Ra’am party, warned Thursday in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 News that allowing Jews to pray on the Temple Mount will “lead to war.”

Mansour said he is worried about the incoming right-wing government of Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, comprised mostly of religious Jewish parties.

“Let’s not be naïve,” he said. “When you’re talking about the most sensitive subject, which is the holy sites. . . people’s minds stop working and religious feelings take over.

“We’ve seen how many rounds of escalation were sparked by provocations at Al Aqsa Mosque,” he added.

Abbas neglected to mention, however, that those provocations were the work of Islamist extremists at the Al Aqsa Mosque who attempted to prevent visits by Jews to the Temple Mount compound, site of both Jewish Holy Temples.

Netanyahu has always upheld the historic status quo agreed to by the government following Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six Day War, during which the city of Jerusalem was reunited, and its ancient Jewish sites recaptured from Jordan’s 19-year occupation.

On Monday, prior to the election that he won decisively a day later, Netanyahu said he would “maintain the status quo.”

That status quo maintains the rights of Muslims to pray at the mosques on the Temple Mount but prohibits Jews from doing the same.


Palestinian Authority arrests activists for demanding reforms, elections
The Palestinian Authority on Saturday banned Palestinian activists from participating in a video conference in Ramallah to demand reforms and elections for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

PA security officers arrested two prominent activists, Omar Assaf and Bashar al-Takrouri, and confiscated the mobile phone of another activist, Jamileh Abed. Several journalists who came to cover the event were briefly detained by the officers.

The crackdown is seen as part of the PA leadership’s efforts to silence its critics and prevent gatherings organized by opposition groups and figures.

The conference was organized by the Palestinian Popular Conference, a group that describes itself as a voice for 14 million Palestinians around the world, including in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

According to the PPC, the purpose of the gathering was to call for reconstructing the PLO by holding elections for its legislative body, the Palestinian National Council (PNC).

Discontent, criticism of Abbas continues to grow
PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who is also chairman of the PLO, has been facing widespread criticism for refusing to share powers and for appointing a number of his loyalists to key positions in the Palestinian leadership.

Earlier this year, Abbas appointed Hussein al-Sheikh as secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee, a job that boosts his chances of succeeding the PA president. In addition, Rawhi Fattouh, another Abbas confidant, was appointed speaker of the PNC.

Abbas has also been criticized by many Palestinians for calling off the presidential and parliamentary elections that were supposed to be held last year.

The organizers of the controversial conference claim that the PLO has lost its role as a true representative of the Palestinian people since the signing of the Oslo Accords between the Palestinians and Israel in 1993.

“The PLO provided a national framework to lift the Palestinian people from the rubble of the Nakba (catastrophe),” the PPC said in a statement, referring to the establishment of Israel in 1948.


Iranian students, shopkeepers go on strike despite widening crackdown
Iranian students protested and shopkeepers went on strike Saturday despite a widening crackdown, according to reports on social media, as demonstrations that flared over Mahsa Amini’s death entered the eighth week.

The clerical state has been gripped by protests that erupted when Amini, 22, died in custody after her arrest for an alleged breach of Iran’s strict dress code for women.

As the working week got underway, security forces adopted new measures to halt protests at universities in the capital Tehran on Saturday, searching students and forcing them to remove facemasks, activists said.

But students were seen demonstrating and chanting “I am a free woman, you are the pervert” at the Islamic Azad University of Mashhad, in northeast Iran, in a video published by BBC Persian.

“A student dies, but doesn’t accept humiliation,” sang students at Gilan University in the northern city of Rasht, in footage posted online by an activist. AFP was unable to immediately verify the videos.

In the northwestern city of Qazvin, dozens were heard chanting similar slogans at a mourning ceremony 40 days after the death of protester Javad Heydari.
Iran Acknowledges Drone Shipments to Russia Before Ukraine War
Iran acknowledged for the first time on Saturday that it had supplied Moscow with drones but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used drones to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said a “small number” of drones had been supplied to Russia a few months before Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

In Iran’s most detailed response to date on the drones, Amirabdollahian denied Tehran was continuing to supply drones to Moscow.

“This fuss made by some Western countries that Iran has provided missiles and drones to Russia to help the war in Ukraine – the missile part is completely wrong,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

“The drone part is true and we provided Russia a small number of drones months before the Ukraine war,” he said.

In recent weeks Ukraine has reported a surge in drone attacks on civilian infrastructure, notably targeting power stations and dams, using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones. Russia denies its forces have used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine.

Last month, two senior Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told Reuters that Iran had promised to provide Russia with surface-to-surface missiles, in addition to more drones.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launches new satellite-carrying rocket
Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard on Saturday launched a new satellite-carrying rocket, state TV reported, seeking to demonstrate the force’s space prowess even as anti-government protests rage across the country.

State TV said the Guard successfully launched the solid-fueled rocket — what it called a Ghaem-100 satellite carrier.

State TV did not immediately show any footage of the launch. The state-run IRNA news agency reported that the carrier could put a satellite weighing 80 kg (176 pounds) into orbit some 500 kilometers (310 miles) from Earth.

Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Guard’s aerospace division, said he hoped the Guard would soon use the rocket to put a new satellite, named Nahid, into orbit.

Iran says its satellite program, like its nuclear activities, is aimed at scientific research and other civilian applications.

The United States and other Western countries have long been suspicious of the program because the same technology can be used to develop long-range missiles. Previous launches have drawn rebukes from the US.
$8 billion in Iranian funds said traded on largest crypto exchange despite sanctions
Funds belonging to or intended for Iranians have flowed through the world’s largest cryptocurrency platform, Binance, the company said Friday, risking that it may run afoul of US-imposed sanctions.

“Earlier in the week, we discovered that Binance interacted” with “bad actors” using Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges, said Chagri Poyraz, head of sanctions at Binance.

Some of these users “attempted to move crypto through Binance’s exchange,” he wrote on the blog on the company’s website. “As soon as we discovered this, we moved to freeze transfers (and) block accounts.”

When asked by AFP about the number of these accounts and the amounts involved, Binance declined comment.

According to Reuters, some $7.8 billion has passed through Binance in connection with accounts domiciled on the busiest Iranian platform, Nobitex.

No Iranian cryptocurrency platforms are currently under sanctions. But US-imposed restrictions prohibit a US entity or US national from selling goods and services to Iranian residents, businesses or institutions. The ban includes financial services.

Binance was founded in 2017 by a Chinese-Canadian entrepreneur but following regulations on its activities in China, it moved its operations to Bahrain, Dubai, Paris and the Cayman Islands.

Binance’s United States subsidiary is Binance.US, an entity that has come into regulatory crosshairs.
Why I find Kanye West’s hate speech exhausting
When I read the news about Kanye West, I didn’t know whether to turn off my phone, or throw it.

I knew it would only be a matter of time before the emails and texts began rolling in: What do you think about Kanye? What’s to be done about antisemitism in the Black community? You must agree that Ye is challenging systems of power, not being antisemitic! Have you read this article by Black person X? Have you read this thought-piece by Jewish person Y? You know Heschel and other Jews walked with King at Selma; what would it take to get back to that!?

Here’s the reality: I am Black, I am a rabbi, and I am a theater artist who frequently makes work that probes the intersections of Black and Jewish identity. So yes, I get why any number of people reached out to get my “take.” But to be honest, I find the Kanye saturation of this moment to be more exhausting than instructive, harmful as his incessant flow of antisemitic bile is.

The reason for my exhaustion is that moments like this more often result in stale public rehearsals of facts-and-figures, rhetorical whataboutism and, in my case, private requests for explanations or defenses. In cases where there’s a public apology, we might get a heavily staged meeting between a symbolic Black person and a symbolic Jew, but no one really thinks that such a “coming together” does the real work of forging understanding.

In short, events like these tend to result in panic and punishment, not in introspection.

Lest I be misunderstood, let me state a few points clearly:
1. Kanye is antisemitic, and, like his equally egregious anti-Black and misogynist statements, his statements about Jews are appalling and deeply harmful.
2. Despite the number of books on such topics, Black antisemitism is not a thing, just like Jewish anti-Blackness is not a thing. Rather, antisemitism and anti-Blackness are longstanding structures of social prejudice that all peoples and societies fall prey to.
3. Regarding Black-Jewish civil rights solidarity, while it is worthwhile remembering the intrepid Jewish leaders who walked with Dr. King and other Black civil rights leaders in Selma, that act of righteous resistance from nearly 60 years ago will only take Black and Jewish communities so far into their shared futures.

Inhabiting a Black and Jewish identity in contemporary America can be maddening. It is like navigating a rhetorical funhouse: You know that your lived experience is fully coherent, but the reflections you encounter along the path distort, disfigure and “invisiblize” your reality. More precisely, as a Black Jew you are forced to consider your identities from the perspectives of others, very few of whom have given any thought to your particular existence. If this idea sounds familiar, well, it is. It’s actually quite old.
Fiasco: Anti-Defamation League in Hot Water After Botched Attempt To Partner With Anti-Semite Kyrie Irving
NBA star Kyrie Irving left the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) with egg on its face after the group pledged to partner with Irving and his team, the Brooklyn Nets, to steer a $1 million donation to Jewish organizations following Irving promotion of an anti-Semitic documentary. Then, on Thursday, Irving said that — actually — he had nothing to apologize for.

Now, the ADL is backtracking, with CEO Jonathan Greenblatt pledging not to take any money from Irving but saying he is nonetheless willing to "engage in a process of healing and learning" with the unapologetic anti-Semite.

"Although we will not accept any funds from him, if Kyrie is open to direct dialogue to repair the harm that he has caused and to engage in a process of healing and learning in a sincere manner, [ADL] is open to engaging with him," Greenblatt said. "Time and action will tell."

Irving ignited a media firestorm last week by promoting a book and movie that denies the Holocaust occurred and portrays Jewish people as a nefarious bogeyman. Irving issued a statement admitting responsibility for the "negative impact" of his post but ultimately doubled down this week, saying during a Thursday press conference, "I cannot be anti-Semitic."

The brouhaha over Irving’s anti-Semitic beliefs is a blow to one of America’s oldest and most respected Jewish institutions. The ADL, under the leadership of former Obama administration official Greenblatt, has been plagued by accusations it provides cover to Democrats while only exerting pressure on conservative voices it sees as promoting anti-Semitic views. In recent years, the ADL has charged a litany of conservative groups with promoting anti-Semitism while ignoring similar instances on the left, prompting some in the Jewish community to call it an "echo chamber of left-wing Democratic politics." The ADL also has made overtures to the anti-Semitic Black Lives Matter movement despite its support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, as well as the far-left anti-Israel group J Street.

"This is another unfortunate misstep for an ADL that seems to have placed partisanship and even fundraising ahead of fighting antisemitism," Rabbi Yaakov Menken, managing director of the Coalition for Jewish Values, America’s largest rabbinic public policy group, told the Washington Free Beacon. "After curating a false narrative tying anti-Semitism to white supremacy above all else, it rushed to take a donation from Irving instead of the real consequences that, as ESPN sportscasters have pointed out, the NBA would immediately have levied against someone endorsing bigotry against any other minority group. The ADL bought into a double standard because Irving doesn't fit the narrative they painted. One can only hope they learn from this embarrassment."
Obama pans celebrities who post ‘vile, antisemitic conspiracy theories online’
Former US president Barack Obama on Saturday lashed out at celebrities and people in leadership positions for “creating a dangerous climate” by posting “vile, antisemitic conspiracy theories online” and urged Americans to question things they read online.

“You don’t have to be a student of history to understand how dangerous that is and how unacceptable it is,” the former president told a crowd of Democrats at a Pittsburgh rally in support of John Fetterman, a Democratic candidate for US Senate, ahead of the midterm elections scheduled for next week.

Obama’s remarks came amid several controversies surrounding American celebrities accused of posting and sharing antisemitic content.

Most recently, NBA star Kyrie Irving has faced backlash for posting a since-deleted tweet including a link to a documentary largely condemned as antisemitic, and only apologizing after being suspended from his team, the Brooklyn Nets.

Separately, rapper Kanye West has been embroiled in controversy over a series of antisemitic remarks and tweets. The controversy has since gone deeper, with white supremacists adopting his remarks and displaying the phrase “Kanye is right about the Jews” in sports events and busy intersections.


LeBron James: Kyrie Irving ’caused some harm’ in sharing antisemitic documentary
NBA superstar LeBron James weighed in on the antisemitism furor surrounding Kyrie Irving, saying the Nets star “caused some harm to a lot of people.”

Irving has been suspended at least five games by the Nets and apparel giant Nike said on Friday it had suspended its relationship with him after he used social media to publicize a documentary widely condemned as containing antisemitic views.

“It doesn’t matter what color your skin is, how tall you are, what position you’re in. If you are promoting or soliciting or saying harmful things to any community that harms people, then I don’t respect it,” James said after the Lakers fell to the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

“I don’t condone it. I don’t respect it.”

James said Irving’s belated apology — which did not come until after the Nets suspended him a week after the post — did not undo the damage.

“I don’t stand on the position to harm people when it comes to your voice or your platform or anything,” James said.


'Jews kill blacks,' and 'Jews enslave Black lives' found graffitied in Georgia
"Jews kill blacks," and "Jews enslave Black lives," were found spray painted publicly in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday.

StopAntisemitism posted on Twitter two pictures of the graffiti. "THIS is what you are fueling Kyrie Irving," they wrote. "THIS is what Jews have to endure when notable figures like yourself use their platform to spread falsities and hatred of others. THIS is on YOU, Kyrie Irving."

StopAntisemitism continued its tweet with a Twitter thread, linking to an article at Sports Illustrated and wrote, "By not addressing and punishing Irving's promotion of antisemitism, the NBA and Adam Silver have essentially green-lighted it. We stand with Charles Barkley - Irving needs to be suspended. This situation is unacceptable."

A day after StopAntisemitism's tweet, the NBA released a statement announcing that it have suspended Irving for five games with no pay.
Nike SUSPENDS its partnership with Kyrie Irving after his anti-Semitism scandal and cancel the release of his Kyrie 8 shoe
Nike has suspended its relationship with Kyrie Irving after a week where the Brooklyn Nets star was embroiled in an anti-Semitism row.

It also said it will not launch the Kyrie 8s later this month - the shoe designed by the player and company.

A Nike statement said: 'We believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism.

'To that end, we've made the decision to suspend out relationship with Kyrie Irving and will no longer launch the Kyrie 8.

'We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.'

Irving was suspended by the team Thursday night 'until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct,' as he refused to answer whether he held any anti-Semitic beliefs following the sharing of an anti-Semitic film on his Twitter account.

Irving posted a link to the Amazon page for the 2018 film 'Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America' last week and quickly found himself in hot water due to the film's anti-Semitic tropes.

Among other damaging ideas, it claims 'many famous high-ranking Jews have admitted to worshipping Satan or Lucifer.'

The film was based on a 2015 book by the same name.

Irving initially resisted the idea that he could be sharing anti-Semitic ideas, saying Thursday he could not be anti-Semitic 'because he knows where he comes from.'


The Washington Post Misleads About the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism is used by numerous entities, including local, state, federal and foreign governments, and institutions. On Nov. 1, 2022, it was adopted by the Montgomery County Council, which governs many of the suburbs in Washington D.C. Yet, Post reporting on the council’s unanimous decision to adopt the IHRA definition was often misleading.

A Nov. 1, 2022, dispatch by correspondent Katie Shepherd was short on details and long on vague accusations. Shepherd commendably noted that there has been “an increase in antisemitic incidents in the county and nationally” and pointed out that this was a key motivating factor in the resolution’s introduction.

Shepherd also pointed out that the IHRA definition has been “widely accepted by national, state and local governments.” Unfortunately, the Post uncritically repeated misleading claims about the definition, asserting that it has been “criticized as potentially inhibiting free speech and encroaching on academic freedom.” The newspaper added that the “definition includes an example of antisemitism that some believe conflates criticism of the Israeli government with bigotry.” But it does no such thing.

The IHRA definition of antisemitism was adopted to provide a “comprehensive tool to monitor, measure and ultimately combat contemporary manifestations of this age-old societal scourge.” In short: it seeks to provide a benchmark for a virus that not only mutates, but which has murdered millions in living memory.

As of March 2022, more than 865 entities have adopted the working definition—more than 200 in 2021 alone. 37 countries have adopted the definition, including most Western democracies. The United States, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Switzerland, Albania, Poland, and South Korea, among others, have formally adopted the definition. Importantly, prior to the U.S. government adopting IHRA under President Donald Trump, the Obama-era U.S. State Department accepted the definition.

In short: IHRA has been widely adopted, across both the globe and the political spectrum. And in an age of growing political polarization, one would be hard pressed to think of an issue that has found such widespread acceptance.

Unfortunately, the Washington Post omitted these relevant facts, choosing instead to give print to misleading claims.


First personThey fled persecution in Nazi Germany. Then the British put them behind barbed wire
It was May 1940, and British citizens were gripped by a wave of panic that Germany would invade their shores at any moment.

Terrified of an imminent attack, the British government authorized the arrest and detention of all German citizens residing in the United Kingdom. Ultimately, around 30,000 Germans were rounded up and sent to internment camps – the vast majority of whom were Jewish refugees who had fled the Nazis, many with British assistance.

Among them were my grandfather, my great-grandfather and my great-uncle. Those three men were among the approximately 2,000 people held in Hutchinson Camp on the Isle of Man during World War II.

My great-grandfather, Rabbi Dr. Paul Holzer, and my grandfather, Otto Levy, both died before I was born. Relatives say that neither of them – nor my great uncle, Marcus Horovitz – spoke at any length about their experiences in the camp.

A new book from British journalist Simon Parkin, “The Island of Extraordinary Captives,” illuminates the lives of those men held in Hutchinson Camp after fleeing Germany, where they suffered the trauma of being “imprisoned by one’s liberator.”

Deemed “enemy aliens,” the refugees held in Hutchinson Camp were rounded up in mass arrests in 1940 after most had earlier been granted exemptions from internment. Some had arrived as teenagers on the Kindertransport; others – like my great-grandfather – had been imprisoned in concentration camps and managed to escape to the UK. Once there, they were placed behind barbed wire.
Film based on book banned by Hitler hits number one on Netflix
Although All Quiet on the Western Front was first published almost a century ago, it remains one of the best-selling books in German history. Written by Erich Maria Remarque, it tells the story of a young German soldier and patriot Paul Baumer fighting on the Western Front during World War I.

The book has sold over 50 million copies since its publication in 1929, has been translated into over 20 languages, and was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. It is one of the most well-known anti-war books.

All Quiet on the Western Front was first adapted to film in 1930 by Moldovan-American film director Lewis Milestone and won the Academy Awards for both Outstanding Production and Best Director. In 1979, another film adaptation was made in English starring actors Richard Thomas and Ernest Borgnine.

Most recently, Spanish-German actor and filmmaker Daniel Brühl ("Inglorious Basterds," "Captain America: Civil War") produced the first-ever original-language film adaptation of the book, which hit number one on Netflix shortly after release.

The story begins with the protagonist, 17-year-old Paul – portrayed by Austrian actor Felix Kammerer – forging his parents' signature to be allowed to volunteer in the army. But the feelings of patriotism and even innocence that prompted him and his friends to join the war quickly turn into despair at the horrific sights of the fighting. Another soldier Paul joins in the trenches is Stanislaus "Kat" Katczinsky portrayed by German actor Albrecht Schuch.

Speaking with Israel Hayom at the Zurich Film Festival, where the film's European premiere was held, Brühl said, "As any German child, I read the book growing up. I re-read it later in life again, and on both occasions, I was deeply impressed by the writing and the way Remarque describes the experiences of the soldiers on the front. It all feels very real. I thought it would be very interesting to do a version in German. In fact, I didn't understand how it hadn't been done yet in almost 100 years" since the publication of the book.


'Jews may be demanding and blacks believe suffering is inevitable': U.S. Nursing manual  is slammed as racist over its teaching on 'cultural differences in response to pain'
A social media user named Aubry shared a snap of the page, which came from the textbook Nursing: A Concept-Based Approach to Learning

It quickly went viral on the internet, leaving many users horrified and offended over it's description of how different races react to affliction

The book, which was created by Pearson Publishing eight years ago, wrote that 'a clients' culture influences their response to and beliefs about pain'

The nursing manual stated that black people 'often report higher pain intensity than other cultures,' and that they 'believe suffering and pain are inevitable'

As for those who are Jewish, the textbook wrote that they will be 'vocal and demanding of assistance' since they 'believe pain must be validated by others'

The book also stated that Hispanic people 'believe pain is a form of punishment and that suffering must be endured if they are to enter Heaven'
Pelosi Cites Israeli Poem in 1st Public Appearance Since Attack on Husband
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday a violent attack on her husband highlighted the “fear” felt by poll workers and other Americans in the heated political climate ahead of next week’s midterm elections.

Pelosi made the comments in a video posted to her Facebook page, one day after her husband, Paul, was released from hospital following an attack in which a man broke into the couple’s California home and hit him on the head with a hammer.

She recited an excerpt from a poem by Israeli poet Ehud Manor that she read on several dramatic occasions, including in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection and the Supreme Court decision to overturn a landmark ruling decriminalizing abortion nationwide.

“I have no other country. Although my land is burning, my veins, my soul, with an aching body and with a hungry heart, here is my home,” she read. “I will not be silent. For my country has changed her face. I will not give up on her.”

The man accused of the attack, David DePape, 42, allegedly intended to tie up Pelosi and break her kneecaps, but found only her 82-year-old husband.

DePape has a long history of amplifying and propounding anti-Jewish and other conspiracy theories.

“That has driven home to me the fear that some people have about what’s out there, coming at poll workers and the rest,” Pelosi said.

“The message is clear, there is reason to be concerned. But we can’t be fearful, we have to be courageous.”
‘Medicine and peace’ conference in Morocco features Israeli docs and Shabbat songs
A landmark medical conference in Morocco in recent days brought together local cancer specialists and experts from Israel, and all in a Jewish museum.

The three-day event, which concluded on Sunday, was titled “Tomorrow’s Medicine as a Bridge for Peace.” Discussions among the 60 participants focused on hopes that the 2020 normalization between Israel and Morocco will spur greater medical cooperation.

It took place in the western port city of Essaouira, known for its rich Jewish history and for the Bayt Dakira (House of Memory) Jewish museum, where the gathering took place. The museum, which opened in 2020, is dedicated to the historic coexistence of the city’s Jewish and Muslim communities.

The event was organized by the Peace Medical Association, a nonprofit that brings together medical professionals from Israel and Morocco, as well as French counterparts who also attended the event.

One of the Israeli participants, Bar Ilan University immunologist Prof. Cyrille Cohen, found the event particularly emotional due to his Moroccan-Jewish descent.

“I was very moved to speak about cancer in the land where my father and forefathers were born,” he told The Times of Israel. “Normalization has made a big difference, and is making it much easier to bring together Israelis and Moroccans to talk about how we can help each other in medicine.”

The event was opened by Andre Azoulay, adviser to Morocco’s king, Mohammed VI, and one of the country’s best-known Jewish figures. On Friday night, all participants sat down for a kosher Shabbat meal, together with guests from the local Jewish community.

“We sang in Hebrew, we sang in Arabic, and everyone experienced Shabbat, about 100 people — it was amazing,” said Cohen.
Morocco makes history with Arab world’s 1st university synagogue
The fruits of the rapprochement between Israel and swathes of the Arab world continued to ripen this week, with Morocco becoming the first-ever Muslim country to inaugurate a synagogue at one of its universities. For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org

The thaw in relations between the Jewish state and countries in the region resumed two years ago with the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel and Bahrain and the UAE – the first treaty of its kind since Israel and Jordan signed a peace deal in 1994.

Israel and Morocco agreed to establish diplomatic relations in December 2020, two months after the Abraham Accords were signed. The new synagogue at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) symbolizes the ongoing embrace of the Jewish world by the North African country.

The inauguration of the synagogue comes in no small part thanks to the efforts of Mimouna Association, a Muslim-founded Moroccan nonprofit organization that aims to promote the country’s Jewish heritage, and the American Sephardi Federation, which has offices in the kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.

The event was attended by Rabbi Elie Abadie, the senior rabbi of the Jewish Council of the Emirates in the UAE; Magda Haroun, the president of the Egyptian Jewish Community; and Jacky Kadoch, the president of the Jewish community of Marrakech-Essaouira. Guests also included representatives from Mimouna Association and other Moroccan Jewish and non-Jewish leaders.




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