Thursday, December 08, 2022

12/08 Links Pt2: Does Europe Support This? Al-Haq Tells the World to Dismantle Israel; BBC faces parliamentary probe over its coverage of Jews and Israel

From Ian:

NGO Monitor: Does Europe Support This? Al-Haq Tells the World to Dismantle Israel
On November 29, 2022, the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq published yet another antisemitic screed dedicated to denying the Jewish people sovereign equality, by defining Zionism and the State of Israel as inherently illegitimate. For 200 pages, the Palestinian NGO – designated as a terrorist entity by Israel in October 2021 over its ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization – extorts the international community to dismantle the Jewish State. To achieve this goal, Al-Haq absurdly distorts Israeli policy and practice beyond recognition, and misrepresents international legal standards.

Central to Al-Haq’s publication is the repetition of the claim that Israel’s existence as a Jewish State represents “apartheid.” This assertion was debunked in NGO Monitor’s 2021 and 2022 analyses: “False Knowledge as Power: Deconstructing Definitions of Apartheid that Delegitimise the Jewish State” and “Neo-Orientalism: Deconstructing claims of apartheid in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

Al-Haq’s publication is intended to influence the UN Human Rights Council’s permanent Commission of Inquiry’s (the “Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel,”) plan to formally declare Israel to be committing “apartheid”; to pressure the International Criminal Court to indict Israeli officials for crimes against humanity; and for third states to apply a wide variety of sanctions against Israel, associated institutions, companies, and individuals.

While broader in scope, this publication echoes the same ideological position expressed by Al-Haq in a formal submission to the COI in May 2022. (For more information, see “Al-Haq’s Antisemitic Submission to the UN’s Permanent COI”)

EU and member states support for Al-Haq
If not for the millions of Euros in support from the EU and its member states Al-Haq has received over several years, the Palestinian NGO would not enjoy nearly the same level of influence and access as it currently does. Despite the organization’s reported ties to the PFLP, and its campaigning to dismantle Israel, Europe has yet to denounce and reject its longtime partner.

While the EU froze financial support to Al-Haq in May 2021 as a result of its links to the PFLP, in June 2022, the organization claimed that this freeze had been lifted – and as yet uncorroborated assertion.

Notably, in May 2022, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra, met with Al-Haq officials in the West Bank – despite the Israeli designation.

Moreover, Al-Haq is listed as an implementing partner on multi-grantee projects funded by the French (€900,000 for the entire project) and Swedish (Al-Haq receives over $2.5 million of the over $8 million project) governments.
John-Paul Pagano: What Is a Conspiracy Theory?
When I began studying Antisemitism two decades ago, one of the first things that occurred to me was its essential nature as a conspiracy theory. While mundane anti-Jewish bigotry is always found, the form of Jew-hatred that is historically salient identifies “the Jews” as a preternaturally powerful, secretive, evil elite which enslaves and exploits humankind. Even a surface examination of conspiracy theories shows that while the identity of the elite changes, this narrative outline is common to all of them. Alternately—and with good reason we will explore later—Antisemitism is sometimes singled out as the ultimate conspiracy theory.

So we can better understand conspiracy theories if we widen our scope to include insights from the much larger literature on Antisemitism. The history of the “Longest Hatred” is an opportunity to examine more than a thousand years of the consistent social practice of a single conspiracy theory. In this vast and detailed record, we will detect patterns and peculiarities that expose the essence of the thing.

The definition I propose hence will leverage scholarship on conspiracy theories and conspiracism, but be situated in the living context of Antisemitism—the up-punching form of racism that is centrally rooted in the cultural heritage of the West and has done so much to shape its social and physical reality. This approach yields a dense definition, but one that is also—after some clarification of terms—comprehensive and empirically legible.

It is, as follows:
A conspiracy theory is a belief that a circumstance or event is a deliberate, connected, and occulted product of the timeless struggle between the forces of Good and Evil, attributable to the malign influence of a secret elite that supernaturally coordinates to enslave and exploit humankind, fabricates false consciousness to hide its activities, and indulges in pleasures and rites of extreme misanthropy.

In upcoming (though not necessarily contiguous) posts, I will clarify the terms I highlighted above and will also discuss three conceptual domains—Manichean, Epistemic, and Magical—in which many of the features and themes of conspiracy theories should be evaluated. I will explain and justify my definition over posts that I will specially mark for this purpose, so they become a series that readers can revisit and reference.

As a variety of racism, the historian Paul Johnson viewed Antisemitism as “so peculiar that it deserves to be placed in a quite different category.” Defining that peculiarity also helps to reveal what is a conspiracy theory—a mode of thought that is in some ways more corrosive than caste-based racism, but against which we’ve mustered no social movement to stigmatize and diminish it.
An open letter to progressives: It’s time to speak out
I wanted to believe perhaps I’d simply missed something. After all, I have always worked in progressive spaces myself. I know how much this movement cares about the safety, dignity, and flourishing of all communities in this country.

But diving into various digital channels and searching through recent public statements yielded nothing. I saw plenty of commendable statements of solidarity aimed at other groups. Perhaps I wasn’t searching hard enough.

It shouldn’t take this much effort to uncover sentiments of support in a time of need.

The progressive movement should be a seamless, natural ally to the Jewish community. But despite the fact that so many Jews in this country find themselves ideologically aligned with the progressive left, for a long time now that movement has behaved as if we are either inevitable supporters – no matter their approach to our oppression – or unimportant ones.

Throughout my tenure in progressive environments, I encountered deafening silence through the violence in Pittsburgh, Poway, and Colleyville. I was told my identity didn’t qualify me to join workgroups focusing on diversity, solidarity, and inclusion. I was called a Zionist (I am one – they meant it as a slur). Assumptions were freely and unapologetically made about my political leanings, my perspectives, and my general pleasantness based on the fact that I was born in Israel and that I am a Jew. Throughout it all, I was expected to continue supporting the causes that have always meant so much to me – and I still do. (h/t jzaik)


BBC faces parliamentary probe over its coverage of Jews and Israel
A cross-party group of MPs and peers is launching an investigation into the BBC’s coverage of Jews and Israel.

The probe, organised by a panel including an ex-BBC governor and a former minister in charge of the World Service, comes after a JC petition calling for an inquiry attracted over 10,000 signatures.

The panel of inquiry is to be chaired by Lord Carlile of Berriew KC, an ex-Liberal Democrat MP and the government’s former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation.

The inquiry will gather evidence, publish a report and make recommendations. It will formally present its findings to the BBC next year.

The news comes as the JC reveals that the BBC is reforming its beleaguered Arabic service, employing Output Monitors to enforce standards and instructing editors to drop controversial pundit Abdel Bari Atwan, who has a track record of praising terrorism. The reforms have not been made public (see p6-7).

Former Labour minister Ian Austin, Baron Austin of Dudley, who was parliamentary private secretary to prime minister Gordon Brown, is secretary of the inquiry into the BBC.

The panel includes Tory peer Baroness Eaton, Labour peer Lord Turnberg and Baroness Fox.

Former BBC governor Baroness Deech and Lord Triesman, former Labour minister in charge of the World Service and former chairman of the English Football Association, also join the panel.

Last night, secretary Lord Austin said that the investigation was launched independently by a cross-party group of MPs and peers.

He said: “Our inquiry will be wholly impartial and will aim to offer expert guidance and recommendations for the corporation to address when it comes to antisemitism and Israel, the handling of complaints and the ‘culture of defensiveness’ identified by Ofcom.”
BBC secretly reforms Arabic news output
The BBC has introduced a catalogue of reforms to its Arabic news service — including dropping the controversial terrorist sympathiser Abdel Bari Atwan as a pundit — in the wake of widespread criticism of the corporation’s output, the JC can reveal.

The moves are taking place behind closed doors, even as its Director-General continues to publicly defend Mr Atwan, who has expressed sympathy for Sir Salman Rushdie’s attacker and defended the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli Olympians.

“Team leaders in BBC Arabic have told editors to stop using him [Atwan] because he said some problematic things on BBC English,” a BBC source said.

In response to an open letter demanding the broadcaster drop Atwan, signed by 36 parliamentarians and public figures, BBC Director-General Tim Davie insisted that using the pundit was “in the public interest”.

However, the JC can disclose that behind the scenes, Arabic editors were informally told to drop him. The source added: “We used to have him on a lot, but we have been told not to.”

Separately, the broadcaster is rolling out a package of reforms to the department. Amid job losses across the World Service, 70 positions are being cut in BBC Arabic. But at least four Output Monitors are being newly appointed to clean up Arabic language reporting, the source said.
BBC NEWS COVERAGE OF TERRORISM IN ISRAEL – NOVEMBER 2022
The Israel Security Agency’s report on terror attacks during November 2022 shows that throughout the month a total of 196 incidents took place: 158 in Judea & Samaria, 35 in Jerusalem and inside the ‘green line’ and three in the Gaza Strip sector.

In Judea & Samaria, Jerusalem and inside the ‘green line’ the agency recorded 121 attacks with petrol bombs, 39 attacks using pipe bombs, 21 shooting attacks, six arson attacks, two stabbing attacks and two vehicular attacks. In the Gaza Strip sector one rocket attack, one shooting attack and one incident of anti-aircraft fire were recorded.

Five people were killed and twenty-eight people were wounded in attacks during November.

In the first eleven months of 2022 the BBC News website reported 0.7% of the terror attacks against Israelis which actually took place (not including the rocket fire during Operation Breaking Dawn in August) and 73% of the fatalities resulting from those attacks.
Passengers on flight spotted wearing anti-Semitic Burger King crown saying ‘Ye was right’
Twitter user @ScienceStajner posted a picture of two people sitting in front of her on a Southwest Airlines flight on December 6. “Didn’t realise this behaviour was permitted as part of the @SouthwestAir experience,” the tweet begins.

The woman, called Anya, continues: “These 2 also had sentiments such as ‘6 million wasn’t enough’ and tons of swastikas plastered on their make shift ‘crowns’.”

Approximately six million Jewish people were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust under the Nazi regime.

“Free speech, I get it, but also tell me how this isn’t mildly threatening,” Anya finishes.

Within the tweet is an image which appears to be taken from behind a pair of seated passengers. It shows the two people spoken about wearing Burger King crowns with handwritten anti-Semitic wording scrawled on.

The anti-Semitic and racist words seen include one crown saying “white power”. The other crown reads “Ye is right” in an apparent reference to Kanye West, who has recently made a series of anti-Semitic remarks.

West made an appearance on right-wing talk show, Infowars on Thursday 1 December, where host Alex Jones tried to defend the rapper from recent backlash, saying to him: “You’re not Hitler, you’re not a Nazi, so you don’t deserve to be demonised.”

In response, West replied: “Well, I see good things about Hitler also.” The rapper was also heard saying, “I like Hitler”.
Petition to ban Ye’s music from Apple Music, Spotify garners 65,000 signatures
More than 65,000 people have signed a petition to get Kanye “Ye” West’s music catalog removed from streaming services.

At the time of writing, the Change.org petition launched by Nathan Goergen had 65,480 signatures. The petition was set up on Friday following antisemitic comments expressed by the rapper on several occasions, including while sharing a platform with white supremacist Nick Fuentes and being interviewed by far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

“Our society has no place for people who spread that kind of hate to be making millions off of their work,” Goergen states in the petition while addressing Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. “I call on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and other streaming platforms to immediately remove all of Kanye West’s solo albums and singles from their platforms.”

Goergen went on to say that he hopes this action will limit the rapper’s influence on society by eliminating his ability to make money from platforms streaming his music. Ye’s Holocaust denial and pro-Hitler statements are condemned as “virtually irredeemable.”


Queen Mary University of London Student Union Votes to Disaffiliate with National Union of Students over Firing of Accused Antisemite
The Student Union of Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) has voted to dissociate from the National Union of Students (NUS).

According to The Tab, a student publication, the move was an act of protest against NUS firing its former president, Shaima Dallali, whom the union dismissed after internal investigators determined that she is guilty of antisemitism and other misconduct.

“Recently the NUS, for the first time in its entire history, removed its democratically elected President,” said a motion brought before the union. “The removal of an elected leader is an affront to the democratic natures that the NUS purports to obtain.”

The motion also charged that NUS has “contributed to the spread of anti-Palestinian racism,” arguing that Dallali’s firing “reflects a political context that has sought to toxify Palestine and is part of a wider pattern of endemic and systematic bigotry and prejudice.”

“Jewish students at QMUL have been clear throughout the debate that these motions would lead to an environment on campus which is hostile for Jewish students, leading to division and preventing the very measures needed for peace,” QMUL Jewish Society (JSoc) said after the motion passed. “They now feel betrayed and let down by their Students’ Union, with many Jewish students now feeling unsafe in their own Students’ Union which shrugs its shoulders at the expense of Jewish students.”

The National Union of Students (NUS), which represents over seven million university students in the UK, removed Shaima Dallali from office in November, ending a tenure that brimmed with controversy ever since Jewish student rights groups discovered tweets in which she called Hamas critics “Dirty Zionists” and quoted the battle cry, “Khaybar, Khaybar o Jews, the army of Muhammad will return,” a reference to the Battle of Khaybar in 628 that resulted in a massacre of Jews.

Dallali has also praised the extremist Islamic preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who supports Palestinian suicide bombers and is banned from visiting four western countries and regarded as a terrorist by several Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.


Canceled: How Facebook, Instagram and Twitter Silence Israel Online
Hillel Neuer, the executive director of Geneva-based NGO UN Watch, which regularly exposes instances of the United Nations’ deep-seated anti-Israel bias, was forced to threaten legal action against Facebook after the firm threatened to delete his account after posting a joke about the Taliban.

Shortly after the Islamist terror group took over the Afghan capital Kabul earlier this year, Hillel referenced ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s controversial decision to boycott parts of Israel by commenting: “Prediction: Ben and Jerry’s will never announce a boycott of the Taliban.”

Bizarrely, Facebook moderators initially claimed the remark went against the platform’s “Community Standards on dangerous individuals and organizations.”

Meanwhile, US-based social media influencer Melissa Chapman has been among the pro-Israel voices to have her Instagram account ‘shadow-banned‘ — the stealthy practice of blocking a social media user’s account so that portions of the platform’s users cannot see the account in a way that is not obvious to the restricted person.

Earlier this year, several posts she wrote on the photo-sharing app about Eli Kay, a 26-year-old Israeli who was brutally murdered by a Hamas terrorist, were removed without warning on the grounds they were violent or dangerous.

She was warned she may lose access to her account altogether.

Despite having more than 100,000 Instagram followers, Melissa was unable to monetize her profile after she was penalized for posting an image of Jews praying in the spot in Jerusalem’s Old City where Kay was killed.

Even HonestReporting has borne the brunt of the pervasive culture of anti-Israel censorship online.

Our work as a media watchdog has resulted in our official Facebook page, which currently has close to 80,000 followers, being suspended without any explanation given on September 18 of this year.

Disturbingly, Facebook’s policies for appealing such decisions clearly stated that if the company did not address the appeal within 30 days, HonestReporting could have been permanently banned from the platform.
Times op-ed airbrushes last year's anti-Jewish riots
Jewish News editor Richard Ferrer published an op-ed in The Times today expressing his dismay over the likely elevation of extremists Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and Avi Moaz into positions of power within Israel’s next government (“Why many British Jews will be horrified by Israel’s new government”, Dec. 7).

Though Ferrer’s concerns are likely shared by a large number of British Jews, his piece including the following grossly misleading claim about events in May, 2021.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s new security minister, is nicknamed the “pyromaniac” for stoking last year’s riots against Israeli Arabs that sparked conflict with Hamas.

First, it’s not clear what episode of violence he’s referring to.

If he’s referring to the Jerusalem violence in May of last year, he’s wrong. The Ramadan riots consisted largely of Palestinian residents (not Arab-Israeli citizens) throwing rocks and incendiary devices at security officers stationed around the Temple Mount compound, who responded with riot dispersal methods. These confrontations spread throughout eastern Jerusalem. Palestinian youth also began randomly assaulting identifiably Jewish individuals in the city – some of which was filmed and ciculated on TikTok by Palestinians.

There’s no question that Ben-Gvir helped stoke some of the violence in Jerusalem. But, to describe what happend in the holy city during that period as “riots against Israeli Arabs” is counter-factual.

Alternatively, if he’s referring to the violence in mixed Israeli cities such as Ramla, Lod and Rahat in May of 2021, he’s also wrong. The violence was primarily Arab on Jewish, rather than the other way around.
As Antisemitism Surges, Mehdi Hasan Guest Blames Jews
The guest even turned towards conspiracy theories when he suggested, without a shred of evidence, that “Netanyahu likes antisemitism” and that Israelis are “turning a blind eye or promoting antisemitism” because “it’s consistent with this idea that Jews are not safe anywhere but Israel.” The conspiracy theory echoes those promoted by antisemites like Noura Erakat, who claim that “Zionism is a bedfellow of Nazism and antisemitism.”

To suggest that Netanyahu and many other Jews want to be hated because it provides evidence for their conclusion that the Jewish state is necessary to protect them from that hatred is a special kind of victim blaming. Certainly, it’s an incredibly irresponsible, and highly offensive, charge to make without clear evidence. Moreover, by these standards, one could argue that Alterman’s answer is “consistent with” the white supremacist David Duke, who also thinks Jews use antisemitism “to generate sympathy for Israel and Zionist Supremacism.”

It’s also the exact same kind of conspiratorial logic that thrives in the same circles as those of Richard Spencer. The idea of Netanyahu and other “right-wing” Jews duplicitously promoting antisemitism isn’t that much different than the many antisemitic conspiracy theories of “sinister, string-pulling Jewish cabals.”

The accusation looks even worse when taking into account that Alterman has a very broad description of what is “right-wing.” Later in the show, he declared that the current Israeli government (written while Yair Lapid is still the prime minister) is a “right-wing” government, notwithstanding it includes the left-wing parties Labor and Meretz, as well as the United Arab List, and that the current prime minister is the centrist Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid.

Alterman obviously has disagreements with the “right-wing,” however he chooses to define it, and that’s almost certainly part of why he was invited on to the Mehdi Hasan Show, which has a history of politicizing topics of antisemitism.

However, rather than responding professionally and dealing with the disagreements themselves, Alterman, with Mehdi Hasan’s agreement and prominent platform, instead used the opportunity to distastefully slander large swathes of the Jewish community.
Wall Street Journal Downplays Palestinian Rejectionism
An online headline in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, “As Israel’s Left Suffers Defeat, So Does Two-State Solution,” inverted cause and effect. (December 6, by Dov Lieber.)

Palestinian leadership has rejected the two-state solution multiple times: in 1947 (UN Partition Plan), in 2000 (Camp David), in 2008 (Olmert offer), in 2014 (Obama negotiations), and in 2020 (Trump peace plan). As one of the interviewees in the article explained, this is widely regarded as the reason for the collapse of the Israeli left. The headline, however, makes it sound like the collapse of the Israeli left is the reason for the collapse of the possibility of the two-state solution, and thus is inaccurate.

The subheading, too, is misleading: “The ascendancy of ultranationalist and religious parties in Israel reflects a decline in support for a Jewish and Palestinian state side by side.” Many would argue that the relevant factor that has caused the Israeli political shift is a recognition that a two-state solution is impossible due to Palestinian recalcitrance, rather than lack of support for two states.

The article is not labelled as an opinion piece; such partisanship in the headline and subheadline, therefore, is out of place.

In addition, the article itself suffers from flaws of omission. In the reporter’s own voice, the article states, “In 2000, Labor Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat failed to finalize a deal for a Palestinian state.” But former President Bill Clinton was clear in his autobiography that the blame for the failure lay with Yasser Arafat. This is alluded to only in quotes from interviewees, while the reporter himself apportions blame equally between the parties.


How to change antisemites
Kanye West's recent interview with Alex Jones has fanned the flames around West's recent antisemitic tirades. In the interview, he stated, "The Holocaust is not what happened," denied that six million Jews were murdered there, said that Hitler has many "redeeming qualities" and that he likes him. West also claimed his accounts "have been frozen by Jewish banks," and that the media "likes to single out a person and burn him to the core," and that it is the "Zionist approach." Considering that West plans another bid at the presidency in 2024, it is no surprise that "There is concern in Israel's political system and the leadership of the Jewish community in the US over the degree that antisemitism entered into the mainstream," as Israel Hayom reports.

There is no question that matters are going from bad to worse for Jews in the US. However, antisemitism is rising not only in the US, but the world over, as Jews and the State of Israel are under a constant barrage of lies and slander. The more the world advances, and the more humanity is developing, the more humanity hates Jews.

If you have read any of my books, or even some of my recent posts, you know that as much as I dislike antisemites, I do not blame them for hating us. I do not attribute to them responsibility for their feelings, because I learned from my teachers, and I have seen and studied it for myself, that we determine how the world treats us because humanity treats us the same as we treat each other.

The current trends of excessive liberalism and the woke agenda, as well as their reactionary movement toward religious fanaticism, are symptoms of people's growing alienation from each other. Their intolerance toward others and incessant occupation with themselves are tearing society apart. Nothing can stop the escalating narcissism, and people's insecurity and intolerance will grow until society collapses.

When people get to the point where they begin to search for the culprit for their loneliness and fear, they will point the finger at the Jews. It will not be a rational decision, but a gut feeling that will wash over millions like a tsunami. The wave has already begun to roll, and it is only we who have not noticed.


LA Hate Crimes Highest in 19 Years, Jews Targeted in 74% of Religiously Motivated Crimes: Report
Los Angeles County’s annual hate crime report released Wednesday showed that in 2021 LA experienced the highest level of hate crimes in 19 years, with religious crimes “overwhelmingly” targeting Jews.

The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, a government body that reports to the Board of Supervisors, recorded a 23% increase in reported hate crimes last year, from 641 to 786.

Religiously-motivated offenses spiked 29%, from 86 to 111, with 74% of those incidents targeting the Jewish community. That number does not include crimes motivated by white supremacy, where Jews were once again the most targeted group with 45% of incidents, or “Crimes Related to Terrorism or Conflict in the Middle East,” a category in which every recorded incident in 2021 targeted Jews.

The report notes that that marks a significant shift, as crimes in that category in previous years were largely directed at Muslims or Middle Easterners. The report gives an example of one such attack from last year. “Five Jewish men were dining at an outdoor restaurant. They observed a caravan of vehicles with Palestinian flags. Suddenly, 3 men jumped out of a jeep and ran toward the victims. They shouted, ‘Do you support Palestine?’ and ‘Are you f— Jewish?’ They punched and kicked the five victims and threw glass bottles at them.”

Robin Toma, the commission’s Executive Director, said that while some of the increase in hate crimes may be due to better reporting encouraged by a local LA program, the nationwide spike in hate crimes suggests that what’s happening in LA is not a reporting aberration.
Jewish Londoner Assaulted, Called ‘Dirty Jew’ in Latest Antisemitic Outrage
An Orthodox Jewish woman in the Stamford Hill neighborhood of London was stalked and assaulted by an unknown perpetrator, a Jewish community watch group reported on Wednesday.

The suspect followed the woman, shouting “Dirty Jew,” and then snatched her shopping bag, “spilling her shopping onto the pavement whilst laughing,” according to Shomrim Stamford Hill, which provides security and support to London’s Orthodox Jewish community.

Antisemitic hate crimes have been an ongoing problem in London all year. In October, shortly before Halloween, what Shomrim has described as a “hate crimes pandemic” began in the area, leading to over a dozen attacks targeting Orthodox Jews. Recently, a 16-year-old, believed to be responsible for six of them was arrested.

Last Thursday, a cab driver shouted “This is the last time I am taking Jews as you kill Muslims in Israel” at a “heavily pregnant” Jewish woman after picking her up from Homerton University Hospital. In previous, separate incidents, a known local assaulted a Jewish resident of Stamford Hill while yelling, “You Jews, you think you run the world” and a man broke into a synagogue’s school, stealing $340 worth of salmon and, Shomrim said, “leaving the children without a proper lunch.”

The Metropolitan Police Service has so far recorded 534 antisemitic hate crimes this year. There were 45 in the month of November, according to the department’s latest data.
NYPD Arrests 17-Year-Old Antisemitic Assault Suspect
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has arrested a man suspected of assaulting members of Williamsburg’s Jewish community in two separate attacks, the department’s Hate Crimes Division announced on Wednesday.

On October 23 and 24, a 17-year-old resident of Crown Heights, whose identity remains undisclosed, struck two young, Orthodox Jewish men before taking off on an electric Citi Bike.

The attacks took place during a month when antisemitic hate crimes in New York City increased 11 percent compared to the previous year. The trend followed into November, the NYPD reported on Monday, announcing a 125 percent rise in antisemitic hate crimes across the Five Boroughs. According to their data, Jewish New Yorkers were the most targeted group, accounting for 60 percent of all hate crimes that occurred.

“The scariest part of reviewing these numbers is the lack of a concrete plan or solutions on how to combat the hate crimes against the most discriminated ethnic minority in New York City,” New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov told The Algemeiner on Monday.
The White House met with Jewish leaders to discuss antisemitism. Now what?
Elana Broitman, Jewish Federations of North America’s senior vice president for public affairs, told JNS that the White House made no firm commitments going forward, “But there was a sense that this administration was really hearing us. There was a lot of note-taking.” She said that the congressional letter to Biden, which her organization worked to support, combined with Wednesday’s White House discussion, “are building blocks we can work off of.”

According to Broitman, the Jewish organizational representatives in attendance were “all fairly united in our concerns and our wish lists.” That included a broad feeling of distress about the rise in antisemitism on college campuses.

Julia Jassey, CEO of Jewish on Campus, was the only college student invited to the discussion. She told JNS that she had relayed that “many Jewish students are faced with the decision of whether to hide parts of their identity that they’re proud of. Or do they accept antisemitism in their college experience?”

She said she emphasized the importance of uplifting student voices and increasing access to education “in order to prevent a future rise of antisemitism by educating not just on antisemitism, but on Jewish identity and the importance of who the Jewish people are.”

Broitman said her wish list for the White House included stronger Department of Education oversight not just on college campuses, but in high schools and below, where antisemitism is increasingly fomenting.

She said a range of other groups also pointed to increasing government funding for nonprofit security, increasing implementation of the IHRA definition of antisemitism and addressing Jew hatred and bias against Israel at the United Nations.

While both Democrats and Republicans have often been slow to criticize antisemitic actions on their respective sides of the aisle, Jassey indicated Wednesday’s conversation avoided finger-pointing.

“My impression from the administration today is that they take antisemitism seriously, bar none. I think this went beyond a partisan issue. It didn’t enter the conversation,” Jassey said.

As to what comes next, Broitman told JNS that officials “weren’t specific. They’re publicly reflecting that this is not the end of the conversation. And we know that this doesn’t go away. So I didn’t leave with the feeling like it was one and done.”

Keyak said Wednesday’s roundtable was merely a first step by the Biden administration, and that “you’ll see we’re going to work together based off the recommendations of the various Jewish leaders, and then figure out what’s the best path forward.”
Dutch Glory: A smiling Anne Frank on tableware with tulips and chocolate sprinkles
It apparently took a slew of criticism for the owners of Blond Amsterdam, artists Femque van Geffen and Janneke Dröge, to recognize that they had made a faux pas. However, perhaps the word ‘recognize’ is not appropriate here because I am not sure they understand the problem.

They realized it was a problem, a business problem if not an ethical one (for them) when Twitter lit up complaining about their cynical misuse of the image of Anne Frank on their new line of crockery. There she was, smiling out from a cereal bowl, with her famous red diary in hand and matching rosy red cheeks. In case the diary was not enough to identify the girl, her name was written in large letters above her.

And there Anne Frank sat, among windmills, clogs, skates, tulips, the chocolate sprinkles the Dutch put on their toast, pancakes, and cheese. Anne Frank -- sold as a symbol of Holland. Ironic, noted Maartje Jansma in a Tweet, given that the Franks applied for Dutch citizenship in 1939 and were rejected.

While the bowl with her image was deleted from the Blond Amsterdam website, it has a permanent life on social media. This documentation means that Femque and Janneke will never be able to deny that they thought Anne Frank is a legitimate commercially exploitable symbol.


Tribunal finds the Revd Dr Stephen Sizer guilty of conduct unbecoming and anti-Semitic activity
A TRIBUNAL has ruled that the conduct of the Revd Dr Stephen Sizer was unbecoming to the office and work of a clerk in Holy Orders.

The Bishop’s Disciplinary Tribunal for the diocese of Winchester, which heard the case in May (News, 27 May), also concluded that he had “engaged in anti-Semitic activity” when, in January 2015, he posted an article that was “virulently anti-Semitic” on Facebook (News, 13 February 2015).

“There is regrettably a pattern of behaviour which falls short of the standard to which the Respondent should have aspired as an ordained minister,” the ruling concludes.

Dr Sizer was Vicar of Christ Church, Virginia Water, in Surrey, for 20 years, until his retirement in 2017. The complaint against him was brought by the President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Marie van der Zyl, and focused on Dr Sizer’s conduct between 2005 and 2018.

The Tribunal considered 11 allegations against him. These were:
(a) participating in a conference run by the Islamic Human Rights Commission in 2005 entitled “Towards a New Liberation Theology”;
(b) meeting Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, a senior commander of Hezbollah forces in about summer 2006;
(c) speaking at a conference in Indonesia in May 2008 alongside Fred Tobin, a Holocaust-denier;
(d) in June 2008, promoting Michael Hoffman, a Holocaust-denier and anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist;
(e) citing Holocaust-deniers and far-Right figures, in particular Dale Crowley, in about January 2009;
(f) in September 2010, posting a link to an article “The Mother of All Coincidences”; (g) accompanying and defending an Islamic Movement leader, Raed Salah, in June 2011;
(h) promoting the idea that Israel was behind the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 by posting a link in January 2015 to the article “9-11/Israel did it” that blamed Israel;
(I) attending an event in October 2016 chaired by Baroness Tonge in breach of an agreement with the Bishop of Guildford which required him to refrain from writing or speaking on any theme that related, directly or indirectly, to the current situation in the Middle East or its historical backdrop;
(j) in an interview on 30 March 2018 on Australian radio, defending the link that he had posted to the article blaming Israel for the 11 September 2011 attacks;
(k) posting an item on his Facebook page in August 2018 in relation to Jeremy Corbyn’s being a victim of the hidden hands of Zionists.

The Tribunal rejected the allegations (a), (c), (d), (e), (g), (i) and (k). It was satisfied, however, that the other allegations were examples of conduct unbecoming and inappropriate and, in one instance, anti-Semitic.


Antisemitic BB gun attack child victim says left severely traumatized
It’s been over 48 hours since the antisemitic attack in New York that targeted a father and his son outside a local grocery store. But, according to the parent, 7-year-old Haim Klein is still unable to get over the ordeal that left his severely traumatized. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "Each time he shuts his eyes for a minute, he jumps up in panic," his father says. "My son is traumatized and refuses to be left alone, I begged him to come out, I promised to buy him ice-cream, but he refused to even step out of the car."

On Monday, the father, who wanted to spend some quality time with his young son, decided to take him along to the local grocery store and buy some candy. When the shopping was done, they walked hand in hand to return the shopping cart. There, they were both shot by a BB gun. Haim was scraped by a bullet on his ear, and the father was shot in the chest.

"He talks about the shooting all the time and asks questions that I cannot answer," the father says, adding the son fails to understand why it happened to them.

"He cannot understand what makes him different and I really don't know what to tell him. I don't want him to doubt God over this, but he asks difficult questions.

"We've consulted a couple of psychologists and they told us to highlight the positive, and tell him that because he did a mitzvah, he survived the attack. I try to teach him to be kind and loving of people. I don't want him to know that there are people out there who hate him. I will get over this but for him, this is a life changing event," the father says.
Former Cop Tasked With Jewish Security Arrested by German Authorities in Far Right Coup Sting
A former police inspector who was responsible for enhancing security in the Jewish community was among the 25 far right and neo-Nazi agitators arrested by the German authorities on Wednesday accused of plotting the overthrow of the government.

The revelation presents serious security concerns for Germany’s Jewish community, according to reports in the German media.

The man, named as Michael F., is a former chief inspector in the police department in the city of Hanover, according to a report in the Welt news outlet. He was released from the force in 2020 after he delivered a speech at a rally opposing COVID-19 public health measures in which he compared rules concerning masks and social distancing to Nazi persecution.

In 2019, F. was in charge of developing security measures for the Jewish community in Lower Saxony. “We are very concerned that Michael F. is one of the suspects in a terror network,” Rebecca Seidler — executive director of the Liberal Jewish Community in Hanover — told Welt.”As early as 2020, we noticed that he was becoming radicalized and maintaining contacts with right-wing extremist groups.”

Seidler added that because F. had “created security concepts for the Jewish communities and therefore has detailed knowledge of the security situation of Jewish communities, there is a security risk that must now be taken seriously.”
Man who allegedly yelled anti-Semitic slurs at Jewish daycare moons judge
A Michigan man exposed his buttocks to a judge during a virtual court appearance on Monday.

Hassan Chokr, 35, was in court for a virtual emergency bond motion hearing regarding a charge of resisting arrest in Wayne County when he mooned Judge Regina Thomas, and the court has now revoked his bond, according to FOX 2.

Chokr was out on bond when he also allegedly yelled anti-Semitic comments outside a West Bloomfield temple daycare on Friday.

The prosecutor said during the hearing that Chokr had “posted videos and statements on Instagram where he talks about buying guns and in one of his Instagram posts the defendant says ‘Your Jew tactics will only backfire on you, you have no place on this earth, Jew [expletive], Jew mother [expletives]. A storm is coming to wipe you all out of our lives.'”

Then Chokr, who had said he pleaded the Fifth, became frustrated. He began yelling and pointing at the camera during the hearing. Thomas said the court had muted Chokr’s microphone amid his outburst.

“I want the record to reflect that while the court has muted the defendant’s microphone, he appears to be yelling and pointing at the camera at the Oakland County Jail,” Thomas said. “And now he has removed his pants to show the court his backside.”
Manhattan Judge Frees Accused NY Synagogue Attack Planner
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Neil Ross allowed 22-year-old Matthew Mahrer to walk free on Wednesday, denying a request by prosecutors to extend his remand after he and 21-year-old Christopher Brown of Aquebogue in Suffolk County were arrested in connection with a plot to attack a synagogue.

The armed duo were arrested at Penn Station on the morning of November 19.

Police Foil Attack on NY Jewish Community with Arrests at Penn Station
Prosecutors had asked the court during the Dec. 7 arraignment to deny bail and keep Mahrer locked up.

A resident of the Upper West Side who lives with his parents, Mahrer’s family paid $150,000 in bail on November 21 to set him free, the New York Post reported.

In his defense, Attorney Brandon Lamour Freycinet said the court already knew that Mahrer was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and autism when bail was set on November 20.

But Mahrer and Brown were carrying weapons and a Nazi armband when they were taken into custody, and he had also purchased a bulletproof vest prior to the arrest, Assistant District Attorney Edward Burns argued in court – to no avail.


Top 100 ‘positively influencing Jewish life’
Australian oleh Arsen Ostrovsky has been named by US Jewish media outlet Algemeiner as one of the “Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life”.

Sydney-raised Ostrovsky, who made aliyah in 2012, is the CEO of the International Legal Forum, a not-for-profit group bringing lawyers and activists together to “promote justice, peace and equality in Israel and the Middle East”.

“As one of the most prominent voices in the pro-Israel community and experts on international law, Arsen regularly addresses the UN Human Rights Council, and speaks before parliaments across Europe and audiences in North America,” Algemeiner said. “He also has a digital media reach in the millions of users on Twitter alone.”

Ostrovsky said he was “deeply and profoundly honoured and humbled” by the recognition.

“I have always considered making the case for Israel not only a privilege, but the highest of duties. Likewise, our obligation to combat antisemitism,” he said.

“[I’m] incredibly thankful to our team at the International Legal Forum, for providing such a meaningful platform to make a difference and couldn’t be prouder to have my name mentioned alongside some incredible leaders, like Sebastian Kurz and Enes Kantor, heads of Israel’s security services, and many of my colleagues who are in this fight every day without fail.”
Holocaust survivor who translated during Eichmann trial dies at 94
Aliza Goldman, a Holocaust survivor and translator who assisted in the translation of the historic trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, died on Dec. 6 at age 94.

She did translation work on other major events, such as the trial of Nazi collaborator John Demjanjuk, the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, and the state inquiry into the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Born and raised in Serbia, she immigrated to Israel in 1950. In 1958, Goldman and her husband Yochanan founded Hever Translations — the first translation agency in Israel, which grew into the Jewish state’s leading transcription and translation company.

The Goldmans were hired by the Agranat Commission in 1973 to record and translate the investigation of failures in Israeli leadership leading up to the Yom Kippur War. Their translation agency was also chosen to accompany Pope Benedict XVI on his visit to Israel in 2009, as well as the visit by then-U.S. President Barack Obama in 2013.

Aliza’s grandson Uri Goldman was quoted in Ynet recalling how the Eichmann trial was emotional for his grandmother, herself a Holocaust survivor, yet she was able to maintain her professionalism and help translate the testimony into several languages.
Plight of Jews from Arab lands
Leading academic Racheline Barda was honoured last Sunday by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) and the Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM) for her research work on the expulsion of Jews from Arab countries.

Barda was a guest speaker at the annual commemoration of Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews, held at the SJM. Since 2014, November 30 has been recognised as the official date designated by Israel to commemorate the plight of Jews displaced from Arab countries and Iran in the 20th century.

Barda and her husband Joe were born in Egypt, but married in Rome in 1957 before later emigrating to Australia.

“The SJM is like my second home – I’ve been involved there for over 25 years as a volunteer guide,” Barda told The AJN.

“So it meant a lot to me to be honoured in this way. It’s not the first time I’ve spoken about my origins and my community and it was very special to have the day that’s been assigned by Israel as the beginning of the expulsion of Jews from Arab lands. I was born in Egypt and members of my family were affected.”

This year’s event focused on the plight of Jews from Morocco.

“In 1948 there were 260,000 Jews living in Morocco, forming the largest Jewish community in any Arab-Muslim country,” said NSW JBD vice-president Richard Glass.

“Today, only 3000 Moroccan Jews remain in Morocco. The silent exodus of the Jews from Morocco conceals a painful rift for Jews and Muslims alike.”
The Story of North African Jewry Doesn’t Fit into Academic Narratives about Colonialism
For many years, conventional wisdom held that North African Jews were beneficiaries of European colonialism, given a favored status by French rulers over their Arab compatriots. Lyn Julius notes that this version of events, which draws on the work of Arab nationalist historians, leads to the claim that, in her words, “Jews are responsible for their own plight.” More recently, a new generation of historians have argued that Maghrebi Jews were victims of colonialism. To Julius, neither approach comes close to capturing the truth:

Arab nationalist historiography says Jews were colonists or collaborators with colonists, but how then does one explain ambivalence to European citizenship in certain sections of the community? Take the case of Algeria, part of metropolitan France since 1830. It took until 1870 for [Algerian] Jews to attain French citizenship. The Jewish religious establishment resisted it for 40 years, fearing it would lead to secularization and assimilation. Then the Décret Crémieux imposed French citizenship on the entire community, [thus putting them in a different legal category than Algerian Muslims]. Incidentally, Muslims were also offered French citizenship [in] 1865. However, they overwhelmingly rejected it, as it would have meant compromising their personal status, which was governed by Muslim law.

More importantly, the “Jews-as-colonists” narrative cannot account for the fact that Jews were victims of European colonial anti-Semitism. Equal rights did not mitigate anti-Jewish abuse. Indeed, paradoxically, as Western influence increased, the tropes of European anti-Semitism were spread by local Christians. . . . The pieds noirs [French settlers] in Algeria, led by the notorious anti-Dreyfusard Edouard Drumont, parliamentary representative for Algiers, were a repository of European anti-Semitism. They resented the Jews for acquiring an equal status—French citizenship—they did not deserve. The pieds noirs even incited anti-Jewish riots.

However, if Jews were as anti-colonialist as [the newer group of historians] wants us to believe, why did they nevertheless work with the Europeans, seek European citizenship, or emigrate? If Jews resisted European encroachment, why did they actively seek Western consular protection? The answer is pretty clear: to offset their insecure dhimmi predicament.
Hundreds of Tunisian Jews get Holocaust survivor status due to late testimony
Jewish women and children who arrived in Israel after 1953 from Tunisia will be recognized his Holocaust survivors by the state, Israel Hayom as learned. The policy until now has excluded this group from being treated as Holocaust survivors to the full extent, denying them various stipends and entitlements. This, despite the forced labor that they had to endure under the Nazi occupation.

The nonprofit Aviv for Holocaust Survivors has in recent months filed on behalf of the claimants new applications, with resounding success, essentially making their status equivalent to other Holocaust survivors. This means that several thousands of shekels will likely now be added to their monthly stipends and they would qualify for various other benefits from the government.

The success affects an initial 400 women who had to work in forced labor conditions, along with 300 children who joined them. They had been denied this status because they immigrated to Israel after October 1953, which was the cutoff date, effectively making them eligible only for reduced benefits. Now, instead of getting just several thousands of shekels once a year, they would get a monthly allowance, which could be "life-changing" for some. The government stressed that future applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, although it is likely that they will be approved as well if they meet the new criteria.

In 2015, the government decided to grant full Holocaust survivor status to Romanian immigrants who were subject to forced labor conditions because of a Nazi law that was issued at the time. The government decided to apply this to Jewish men from Tunisia who were 18 to 50 at the time, but not to women and children. But in recent years women and children from Tunisia who had also been subject to the same condition began sharing their testimony, only to be rejected by the Israeli officials, who said that there was no official law under Nazi occupation that made them carry out forced labor. But the testimony proved that in practice, they had to do the same job as others who were subject to such laws, in effect, because they were subject to abuse and whims of the Nazis who acted on their own without an official law.

Ravit Lieberman, who is the head of the relevant department at the Finance Ministry said, "Those who write to us that they were subject to forced labor or had to join their mother who carried out such activity, will get our benefit of the doubt. We will not try to verify every detail of their account.' She noted that while it won't be an automatic process, because some of the funds have to match criteria set by the German government, the goal is to "make the lives easier for all Holocaust survivors." ,


Jerusalem's History in Vintage Pictures: Hanukkah Eve and a Maccabean Deliverance - December 11, 1917
Excerpted from the forthcoming book, Secrets of World War I in the Holy Land

In late January 1915, the German-led Ottoman army attacked British army positions in an attempt to capture the Suez Canal. They were beaten back, and over the next two years of fighting, the British Imperial forces pushed the Turkish army out of the Sinai and Gaza. After the capture of the Turkish base in Beersheba, the British moved toward Jerusalem. After a hard-fought battle at Nebi Samuel, the Turks evacuated Jerusalem, and Arab dignitaries surrendered the city on December 9, 1917. General Edmund Allenby had fulfilled the British Prime Minister’s demand that “Jerusalem is captured by Christmas.”

Two days later, on December 11, 1917, General Edmund Allenby walked through the Jaffa Gate into Jerusalem’s Old City to read a proclamation of martial law.
Allenby’s appearance in Jerusalem lasted 15 minutes.

Jewish Suffering
The Jews of Palestine suffered terribly during the war from starvation, disease, and the Turkish army’s looting, forced conscription, imprisonment, and execution.

Ḥemdah Ben-Yehudah, a journalist and the wife of the pioneering Hebrew scholar Eliezer Ben-Yehudah, provided details of the Jews’ travails in a chapter of the book Jerusalem: Its Redemption and Future, a 1918 volume of eyewitness essays.

Jewish women, children, and elderly men were huddled underground, all too despairingly aware that soon it would be Hanukkah: “the Feast of Deliverance in former days, and now approaching as the day of destruction!”

The women, weeping, prepared the oil for the sacred lights, and even the men wept, saying that this would be the last time they should keep the feast in Jerusalem! They strained their ears to hear the horses’ hoofs and the tread of the [Turkish] soldiers coming to arrest them and drive them forth. The women pressed their children to their breasts, crying: “They are coming to take us!”

Then, suddenly, other women came rushing from outside down into the depths, crying: “Hosanna! Hosanna! The English! The English have arrived!”
Israeli archaeologists say 2,200-year-old sling bullet possibly linked to Hanukkah story
Israeli researchers recently discovered a lead projectile dating from the Hellenistic period in the ancient palace at Yavne, an archaeological site in central Israel.

The 4.4 centimeter (1.7 inch) long projectile was designed to be launched from a sling. It is estimated to be 2,200 years old, placing it at the time of the battles between the Hasmoneans and the Seleucid Empire.

The story of Hanukkah, celebrated this year between Dec. 18-26, commemorates the recapture of Jerusalem from the Seleucids in the second century B.C.E.

“It seems that we will not be able to know for sure if the projectile belonged to a Greek soldier,” said Pablo Bezer and Daniel Varga, managers of the Yavne archaeological site for the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“But it is not impossible that it is related to the conflict between the Greeks and the Hasmoneans. In the second century B.C.E., Yavne was pagan—an ally of the Seleucids [the Greeks who ruled Israel], and was subject to attacks by the Hasmonean armies,” they added. Subscribe to The JNS Daily Syndicate by email and never miss our top stories

The projectile bears a Greek inscription: “Victory for Heracles and Hauron.”

Yulia Ustinova of Ben-Gurion University, who decoded the inscription, explained, “The pair of gods Hauron and Heracles were considered divine patrons of Yavne during the Hellenistic period. The inscription on a projectile is the first archaeological evidence of the two protectors of Yavne that was discovered inside Yavne itself. Until today, the pair was only known from one inscription on the Greek island of Delos.”




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