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Sunday, December 18, 2022

12/18 Links: Is The New York Times a ‘Strong Supporter’ of Israel?; Bibi must move early on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine plan; Why the BDS campaign is futile

From Ian:

Is The New York Times a ‘Strong Supporter’ of Israel?
However, by focusing solely on Israel’s actions as the determining factor regarding the future of the two-state solution, the New York Times is effectively removing any responsibility from the Palestinian Authority.

Indeed, aside from a passing remark about Palestinian corruption dimming the hopes of a Palestinian state, this opinion piece makes no mention of the Palestinian Authority’s financial support for terrorists and their families, its twice rebuffing American attempts at peace negotiations over the past 10 years or its continued incitement against Israelis and Jews within its official media organs and schools.

The only mention of the word “terror” in the editorial is in reference to past convictions by incoming National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

All of these factors, which directly imperil the chance for a successful two-state solution, existed long before the incoming Israeli government was ever formed.

And yet, in the eyes of The New York Times, these factors do not warrant the same concern or admonishment as do the anticipated actions of Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition partners.

Related Reading: Top Israeli Daily’s Exposé Paints Troubling Picture of New York Times’ Israel Coverage

Lastly, throughout this opinion piece, the editorial board seems to enjoin the current American administration to take an active role in opposing the actions of the incoming Israeli government.

The editorial board calls upon the American government to more vocally oppose Netanyahu’s coalition partners (as opposed to the administration’s current wait-and-see approach) and to also support Israeli civil society organizations in their fight against this new government’s legislation.

Thus, in extolling democratic principles, The New York Times editorial board is essentially calling on the American government to intervene in the political life of a stalwart ally and to actively support domestic organizations in their opposition to that country’s democratically elected government.

While it is common for the American government to comment on individual actions taken by foreign governments, it is quite another thing to endorse the active intervention of the United States in an ally’s domestic politics.

Tom Friedman’s Look at Israel
Two days before The New York Times editorial board published its opinion piece, longtime New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman published an essay entitled “What in the World Is Happening in Israel?”

Even though it is seemingly more balanced and nuanced than the editorial board’s piece (one critic of the New York Times’ Israel coverage referred to it as “more accurate and profound than anything I’ve read in NYT about Israel all year”), there are a number of concerning passages within Friedman’s work.

Similar to the editorial board, Friedman seemingly points his finger at Netanyahu and his allies for what he perceives to be the eventual failure of the two-state solution, discounting the above-mentioned actions taken by the Palestinian Authority that play a major role in the two-state solution’s demise.

Further on in his piece, Friedman is doubtful about a future Israel-Saudi Arabia peace deal under the incoming Israeli government as well as Netanyahu’s proposed role as a bridge-builder between the United States and Saudi Arabia, portraying the presumptive Israeli prime minister as someone who focuses solely on the political right and deeply religious at the expense of centrists and those who hold liberal values.

However, contrary to what Friedman suggests, Netanyahu has proven himself able to work with a wide variety of political actors, including Middle Eastern leaders (with whom he signed the initial Abraham Accords agreements), President Joe Biden and others who do not necessarily share his viewpoints on all Israel-related matters.
"NY Times Editorial Rant: Why Must Israel’s Right Wing Reject 2-State?"
All of the above rejections of the two-state solution are wasted on the NY Times editorial board that insists the Netanyahu “government’s posture could make it militarily and politically impossible for a two-state solution to ever emerge.”

It will also make it close to impossible for human beings to grow wings and fly from flower to flower suckling on nutritious nectar, but, thankfully, the Times board skipped that one rant.

Of course, now comes the part the Times board could have lifted from its affiliate, Ha’aretz, copy and paste fashion: “Ministers in the new government are set to include figures such as Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was convicted in Israel in 2007 for incitement to racism and supporting a Jewish terrorist organization. He will probably be minister of national security. Bezalel Smotrich, who has long supported outright annexation of the West Bank, is expected to be named the next finance minister, with additional authority over the administration of the West Bank. For the deputy in the prime minister’s office in charge of Jewish identity, Mr. Netanyahu is expected to name Avi Maoz, who once described himself as a ‘proud homophobe.’”

It’s the newspaper of record’s right to voice its objections to the decision of a majority of Israeli voters who were easily as familiar with the above accusations and still went with Ben Gvir, Smotrich, and Maoz. They also chose a prime minister who is under three criminal indictments and a former interior minister who has recently been convicted of tax fraud. However, ballot boxes, by and large, don’t read editorials, and newspapers should know better than to attack voters for disagreeing with their world view.

The Times board is also unhappy with Israelis’ reproduction choices, stating: “Demographic change in Israel has also shifted the country’s politics. Religious families in Israel tend to have large families and to vote with the right. A recent analysis by the Israel Democracy Institute found that about 60 percent of Jewish Israelis identify as right-wing today; among people ages 18 to 24, the number rises to 70 percent. In the Nov. 1 election, the old Labor Party, once the liberal face of Israel’s founders, won only four seats, and the left-wing Meretz won none.”

Next, the editorial puts on paper the following sentence which is the culmination of the demise of its self-awareness. They actually wrote: “Moderating forces in Israeli politics and civil society are already planning energetic resistance…” See, when it’s right-wingers exercising their democratic rights, they’re called fascists; when they’re from the left, they’re “moderating forces.”

Finally, the editorial reiterates its archaic and tired mantra about 2-state, warning: “Anything that undermines Israel’s democratic ideals — whether outright annexation of Jewish settlements or legalization of illegal settlements and outposts — would undermine the possibility of a two-state solution.”

Amen?
The Times of London’s Undiplomatic Correspondent
The Times of London’s diplomatic correspondent Catherine Philp’s 15-year career at the newspaper has included postings in Israel and the Middle East. During this time, while HonestReporting critiqued Philp on a number of occasions, her reporting rarely matched that of many of her British colleagues who made little effort to hide their disdain for the Jewish state.

Now, the mask has most definitely slipped.

In response to popular British comedian Joe Lycett highlighting soccer World Cup host Qatar’s record on LGBTQ rights with several headline-grabbing stunts, Philp decided to make it all about Israel. She urged Lycett to do something similar “on the truly cynical pinkwashing Israel is undertaking to hide its real time apartheid.”
Dear @joelycett congratulations on what you do re Qatar and sport washing. I would please urge you to similar on the truly cynical pinkwashing Israel is undertaking to hide its real time apartheid..peace and love.

— Catherine Philp (@scribblercat) December 15, 2022
The so-called “pinkwashing” accusation is one that has been leveled at Israel on numerous occasions.

First coined by Sarah Schulman in an article for The New York Times in 2011, the term suggests Israel’s progressive stance on LGBT+ rights is a component of a “deliberate strategy to conceal the continuing violations of Palestinians’ human rights behind an image of modernity signified by Israeli gay life.”

As HonestReporting has noted previously, the pinkwashing claim evokes historical antisemitic libels, specifically that anything Jews do that is good or beneficial must be a part of some nefarious ulterior motive — in Philp’s case, diverting attention from Israel’s “real time apartheid.”
David Singer: Bibi must move early on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine plan
A new solution to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace authored by Ali Shihabi - a close confidant of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister - Mohammed Bin Salman - was published by Al Arabiya news on 8 June 2022 – but has amazingly received virtually no mention or scrutiny in the international media or at the United Nations in the six months since its release.

The plan recognises:
“Israel is a reality firmly implanted on the ground that has to be accepted ...“

The plan calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine with unrestricted citizenship being offered to the Arab populations of Jordan, Gaza, the 'West Bank' and the refugee camps located in Syria and Lebanon.

Netanyahu – significantly –told Al Arabiya viewers:
“I think coming to a solution with the Palestinians will require out of the box thinking, will require new thinking.”

The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution is certainly the most creative plan ever proposed to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – its author declaring:

“The Palestinian problem can only be solved today if it is redefined. The issue in this day and age for people should be not so much the ownership of ancestral land but more the critical need to have a legal identity—a globally respected citizenship that allows a person to operate in the modern world.”

Netanyahu is offering his potential coalition partners a choice: Drop demands Bibi cannot accept and back him in as Prime Minister or miss this best opportunity ever to end the unresolved 100 years-old Jewish-Arab conflict.

21 December is Israel’s Judgement Day.


"Palestine"—Two countervailing hypotheses
According to this alternative explanation, the fuel of the conflict is not the lack of Palestinian Arab self-determination, but the existence of Jewish self-determination and as long as Jewish self-determination continues, so will the conflict. Moreover, according to the alternative explanation, the goal of the Palestinian Arabs is not to establish a state for themselves but to dismantle a state for others –the Jews.

The question which now must be addressed is: Which of these two alternative hypotheses has the greater explanatory power?

The answer seems to be unequivocally in favor of the latter – for it provides eminently plausible explanations for a range of events that the former is totally unable to account for.

For example:
It explains why every territorial proposal, which would have allowed the Palestinian Arabs to create a state of their own (from the 1947 partition plan, through Ehud Barak's offer at Camp David in 2000, to Ehud Olmert's far-reaching—some might say irresponsible—proposal in 2006), never satisfied them and why all were rejected by them.
It explains why only the total negation of Jewish independence appears acceptable to the Palestinian Arabs, as evidenced not only by their abovementioned rejection of any viable offer of a "two-state solution", but also by much of Palestinian rhetoric and symbolism, which invariably portrays the whole the Land of Israel, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, as constituting part of Arab Palestine.
It explains why the Palestinian Arabs originally eschewed any claims for national sovereignty over the pre-1967 "West Bank" and Gaza—as evidenced by the explicit text of their original National Charter. Formulated in 1964, years before Israel had any presence in the "West Bank", the Charter (in Article 24) explicitly refrains from any aspirations on the part of the Palestinians to "exercise any territorial sovereignty over the 'West Bank' in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, [or] on the Gaza Strip... "—which they now claim as their historic homeland.
It also explains why the millions of Palestinian Arabs, the largest demographic group in Jordan, resign themselves to the non-Palestinian rule by a Hashemite Bedouin monarch, who belongs to the non-Palestinian minority in the land –clearly indicating that Palestinian Arabs are not averse to non-Palestinian rule, only to Jewish rule.
It explains not only why the Palestinian-Arabs rejected the far-reaching generosity of the 2000 Barak proposals, but also the violent manner in which they rejected it. For although these proposals did include a proviso insisting on "end of conflict", they were unprecedented in the concessions offered towards making a Palestinian state a feasible prospect. However, the ferocity of the repudiation by the Palestinian Arabs seems to indicate that even these were far short of their real demands. After all, if they were only marginally inadequate, it would be reasonable to expect that the Palestinians would have preferred to negotiate the details of issues in contention, rather than launch such an extensive wave of fierce and destructive violence. This is a response that seems explicable if, and only if, "end of conflict" is an unacceptable concept for them.
It explains why the Palestinian-Arabs rejected the expansive—some might venture "excessive"—largesse of the 2006 proposal put forward by Ehud Olmert, addressing virtually all the Palestinian-Arabs' demands—see here. Significantly, Olmert's expression of frustration, astonishment, and puzzlement, which he conveyed in a lengthy Washington Post Op-Ed, starkly underlines the inadequacy of the assumption that the Palestinian-Arabs genuinely wish to negotiate the establishment of their own state with Israel. He wrote: "To this day, I cannot understand why the Palestinian leadership did not accept the far-reaching and unprecedented proposal I offered them" and suggested "It would be worth exploring the reasons that the Palestinians rejected my offer…. "

Indeed, it would!!!
It explains why the Palestinian-Arabs stubbornly insist on the "right of return", which would imply placing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arab descendants (and possibly even more), now living in Arab countries, under Israeli jurisdiction. This is a demand that really tears the mask off Palestinian Arabintentions for it is a position hardly consistent with an alleged desire to be free of "oppressive" Israeli control... or with an equitable two-state solution.

By contrast, none of the above phenomena can be reconciled with the explanation propounded by the advocates of the conventional wisdom hypothesis.

Accordingly, one can but wonder on which of these hypotheses it would be prudent for Israel to base its future policies: The hypothesis which can account for all these phenomena; or the hypothesis which accounts for none of them…???


Qatar’s dirty game to undermine the West
The leaders of the terror group Hamas, a branch of the Brotherhood, are regular guests in Qatar, and one of them, Ismail Haniyeh, has established permanent residence in hotels and villas worthy of a multi-millionaire. Millions of Qatari dollars flow into Gaza, no doubt to be diverted towards terrorist purposes. Clearly, Qatar is playing the same game with Hamas as it did with the Taliban, which opened a political office in Doha and used it as a base to take back control of Afghanistan.

The U.S. has also credibly accused the Qataris of harboring members of Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC). Indeed, Qatar’s ties to Iran are legion. In Feb. 2022, 14 bilateral agreements were signed in Doha between Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, touching on everything from trade to energy and tourism. Even worse, when Argentina requested the arrest of Iran’s then-Vice President for Economic Affairs Mohsen Rezaee—a former top terrorist in the IRGC—for his involvement in the terrorist bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people, the Qataris ignored the request.

Qatar has made it clear that it supports terrorism and is, in fact, proud of doing so. Al Thani said in an interview with CNN in 2014: “I know that in America and some countries look at some movements as terrorist movements. … But we don’t. There are differences.” This played a major role in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt’s decision to cut ties with Qatar.

Of course, Qatar has its excuses. It is good at laundering its cash. The country’s rulers claim that they do not finance terrorism, only private citizens do so. This gives Doha plausible deniability even as billions pour into the European Union. How such a remarkable number of private citizens managed to lay their hands on such fantastical sums and funnel them into Europe and to terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda remains officially unknown.

This cash has ended up in the pockets of various European politicians and lobbyists. There was, for example, the thousands of dollars discovered in the home of former socialist MP Antonio Panzeri, head of the NGO Fight Impunity—NGOs being a favorite tool of the West’s enemies. Then there is E.U. Parliament Vice President Eva Kalili, who was found in possession of some 750,000 euros. There are also suspicions regarding MEPs Andrea Cozzolino of Italy and Marc Tarabella of Belgium, along with others.

This money, of course, had a specific purpose: to buy political support for Qatar. In particular, to induce European politicians to defend the emirate in the public square and help whitewash its involvement in terrorism and widespread human rights violations, which might offend European voters.

Thus far, Qatar has largely enjoyed impunity, promoting terror and bribing European politicians without consequence. This is strategy, part of a “cold war” waged by a state that supports extremism and violence. It is time for the Qataris to be held accountable.


Paris calls eastern Jerusalem ‘occupied’ after Israel deports Palestinian-French terrorist
France on Sunday denounced as “against the law” Israel’s deportation of a former Palestinian security prisoner with French citizenship and claimed that eastern Jerusalem, where the convicted terrorist resided, is “occupied.”

Israel’s Interior Ministry announced earlier in the day that Salah Hamouri, currently a lawyer and field researcher for the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, a group linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist organization, had been deported from the country.

“We condemn today the Israeli authorities’ decision, against the law, to expel Salah Hamouri to France,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement in response.

It added that Paris had “fully mobilized, including at the highest level of the state, to ensure Salah Hamouri’s rights are respected, that he benefits from all possible assistance and that he can lead a normal life in Jerusalem, where he was born, resides and wishes to live.

“France also took several steps to communicate to the Israeli authorities in the clearest way its opposition to this expulsion of a Palestinian resident of [eastern] Jerusalem, an occupied territory under the Fourth Geneva Convention,” the statement continued.

Hamouri was previously sentenced by an Israeli court to seven years in prison, as part of a plea bargain in exchange for admitting to plotting to murder the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Hamouri was released by Israel as part of the 2011 Gilad Schalit prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.


Israel deports convicted terrorist to France
To Palestinians, Salah Hamouri is a human rights lawyer. But in Israel, he is a convicted terrorist who plotted to kill leading Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, among other terror activities for the PFLP.

On Sunday he was deported from Israel to France, after his Jerusalem residency expired.




Israeli forces arrest terror shooting suspects in The Nablus
Israel Defense Forces arrested two Palestinian men in Nablus overnight on Sunday on suspicion of carrying out a drive-by shooting attack on an Israeli vehicle near the Havat Gilad outpost, north of Ariel in Samaria, on Friday.

The IDF said it acted on Shin Bet intelligence agency information to arrest Nasser Naqib, 47, a resident of the Askar camp in Nablus. Naqib served time as a security prisoner in the past and was a member of Fatah’s Tanzim terror militia, the IDF said.

Naqib’s son Mohammad, 21, was also arrested on suspicion of taking part in Friday’s attack, which did not result in injuries but did cause bullet damage to the vehicle targeted in the shooting.

Nasser Naqib is also suspected of trading in weapons, the IDF said.

“During the operation, a violent riot unfolded that included shots fired from the rioters at [Israeli] forces, who responded with riot dispersal means. When the forces exited [the area], large rocks were thrown at them and the forces responded with fire. A hit was identified,” the army stated.


Palestinian man gets life plus 32 years in prison for role in deadly 2016 attack
An Israeli military court on Sunday sentenced a Palestinian man to life in prison plus an additional 32 years over his involvement in a 2016 shooting attack in Jerusalem that killed a border policewoman.

Bilal Abu Zeid was convicted of supplying a gun and driving three Palestinian men from the West Bank into Israel, where they killed Cpl. Hadar Cohen, 19.

He was also ordered to pay NIS 1.5 million ($430,000) to Cohen’s family, and an additional NIS 250,000 ($72,000) to another policewoman wounded in the attack.

The Palestinian attackers who carried out the February 3, 2016, attack were armed with rifles, knives and two pipe bombs. They were killed by police at the scene.

Cohen, the border guard, died hours after being shot in the head and stabbed in the neck while guarding Damascus Gate at Jerusalem’s Old City. She had been drafted into the Border Police only two months earlier, and was still in training at the time of the attack.

During his testimony, Abu Zeid confessed to aiding the attackers but said he had declined to join them in carrying out the attack. “I refused and told them that I wanted to stay alive and kill Jews,” he was quoted by military prosecutors as saying.

He had been convicted of intentionally causing the death of Cohen, as well as a series of security offenses. The main charge is equivalent to murder in the West Bank military court.


PA Arrests Hamas Terrorists in Area C without Coordination with Israel
On Thursday, the Palestinian Authority carried out an extensive arrest operation of Hamas terrorists all over Judea and Samaria, some in Area C, which is under full Israeli military and civilian control, Kan 11 reported Saturday night.

According to the 1995 Oslo 2 agreement, Area C constitutes close to 61% of the Judea and Samaria territory, to be “gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction.” But as long as the transfer of territory has not taken place––and it hasn’t––all PA activity, from construction to chasing after terrorists, must be coordinated with Israel.

Nevertheless, PA security forces on Thursday entered Area C without coordination with Israel and without giving any advance notice, contrary to the agreements signed between Israel and the PA, under Israel’s nose, using civilian vehicles and wearing civilian clothes, kidnapped the Hamas members and returned with them to Area A, which is under full PA control.

Earlier last week, the PA security forces launched an operation to prevent Hamas rallies in Judea and Samaria, ahead of the terrorist group’s anniversary last Wednesday. Activists were detained for questioning and warned that holding rallies or waving Hamas flags would lead to their immediate arrest. Although planned support demonstrations were canceled, rallies in support of Hamas were held on PA Arab campuses, as well as in some villages.

Hamas, an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, was founded in 1987, soon after the start of the first Intifada. Its co-founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin said in 1987, and the Hamas Charter affirmed in 1988, that Hamas was founded to “liberate Palestine, including modern-day Israel, from Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.” The group has stated that it would accept a truce if Israel withdrew to the 1967 borders, paid reparations, allowed free elections in the territories, and gave Arab refugees the right of return.

Several national religious ministers who will take office this week have announced their intent to curb the presence and activities of the Palestinian Authority in Area C.
PMW: Israeli PM Yair Lapid has “mentality of satanic ideas” - Fatah spokesman in Gaza
Official Fatah Spokesperson in the Gaza Strip Mundhir Al-Hayek: “We’re talking about Talmudic (i.e., Jewish) satanic ideas in the mentality of Lapid and Gantz, which is why they are bombing the Gaza Strip (i.e., following rocket fire against Israel) and bombing the children, the elderly, the youths… This Talmudic mentality draws inspiration from the Bible, draws inspiration originally from the Torah, which the Israelis or the Jews or the Jewish rabbis believe that the Torah was written by our prophet Moses, and that’s a lie. All of these Zionist lies and stories that they want to pass on to their young Israelis that this land is theirs, the holy city [Jerusalem] is theirs, and this bombing needs to continue until breaking the Palestinian willpower.” [Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Aug. 6, 2022]

This interview was part of a special broadcast on Israel’s Operation Breaking Dawn:

Operation Breaking Dawn - Following the arrest of Islamic Jihad's West Bank commander Bassam Al-Sa'adi on Aug. 1, 2022, the terror organization planned to attack Israeli civilians living near the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli military intelligence. Israel was forced to put those civilians in total lockdown, closing all roads and cancelling buses and trains. After three days of lockdown, on Aug. 5 Israel began attacking the terror organization's infrastructure and killed two of its top leaders, northern Gaza commander Tayseer Jabari and southern Gaza commander Khaled Mansour. Islamic Jihad fired over 1,100 rockets and missiles at Israeli residential areas, with approximately 200 rockets falling short inside Gaza, killing at least 16 Palestinian residents including children. Hamas reported a total of 44 Palestinians killed during the operation, at least 15 of whom were members of terror organizations. Operation Breaking Dawn ended with a ceasefire under Egyptian mediation on Aug. 7, 2022.


PMW: Palestinians are the “true owners of the land,” “Zionist narrative is false” - Fatah spokesman in Gaza
Official Fatah Spokesperson in the Gaza Strip Mundhir Al-Hayek: “No flag will be waved other than the flag of Palestine… We are remaining on this land because it is our land, our land of Palestine. We are its true owners. The clear true narrative is the Palestinian people’s narrative that we are the owners of this land. The Zionist narrative is false. It has no basis in history, in religion, in the entire Bible, and in anything that the occupation forces can impose on our Palestinian people.” [Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Aug. 6, 2022]

This interview was part of a special broadcast on Israel’s Operation Breaking Dawn:

Operation Breaking Dawn - Following the arrest of Islamic Jihad's West Bank commander Bassam Al-Sa'adi on Aug. 1, 2022, the terror organization planned to attack Israeli civilians living near the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli military intelligence. Israel was forced to put those civilians in total lockdown, closing all roads and cancelling buses and trains. After three days of lockdown, on Aug. 5 Israel began attacking the terror organization's infrastructure and killed two of its top leaders, northern Gaza commander Tayseer Jabari and southern Gaza commander Khaled Mansour. Islamic Jihad fired over 1,100 rockets and missiles at Israeli residential areas, with approximately 200 rockets falling short inside Gaza, killing at least 16 Palestinian residents including children. Hamas reported a total of 44 Palestinians killed during the operation, at least 15 of whom were members of terror organizations. Operation Breaking Dawn ended with a ceasefire under Egyptian mediation on Aug. 7, 2022.

An abundance of evidence proves Jewish history in Israel that is attested to by the Bible.


Hamas, Fatah calling Palestinians to Temple Mount to 'defend al-Aqsa'
Hamas and Fatah called on Palestinians to go to the Temple Mount on Saturday and to stay there overnight in order to "defend" the Islamic holy places, Palestinian media reported.

Because of Hanukkah which starts on Sunday evening, more Jewish visitors than usual are expected to arrive on the Temple Mount.


Celebrities, rights groups urge Iran to free top actor who backed protests
Celebrities and rights groups called on Iran on Sunday to free the actor Taraneh Alidoosti, one of the most prominent figures yet arrested in its three-month crackdown on protests.

Alidoosti, 38, was arrested on Saturday, official media said, after a string of social media posts supporting the protest movement including removing her headscarf and condemning the execution of protesters.

The unrest was sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, whom the morality police accused of violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.

Iran blames the United States and other “enemies” for trying to destabilize the country by fueling the demonstrations.

Other Iranian actors and prominent figures including soccer players have been detained in connection with the protests, but Alidoosti has considerable international renown. She performed in award-winning films by director Asghar Farhadi, including the Oscar-winning 2016 film “The Salesman.”

She attended this year’s Cannes Film Festival to promote the movie “Leila’s Brothers” in which she starred.
Famous Iranian actress arrested after vocally supporting protests
Famous Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti was detained for 'publishing false and distorted content and inciting chaos,' after her outspoken support for anti-government protests.




Why the BDS campaign is futile - opinion
The popularity of the BDS (Boycott and Divestment and Sanctions) movement in recent years, especially in universities and colleges across the US, can be understood and even coveted from the ingenuous and naive perspective. After all, what could be more justified and worthier than alleviating the misfortune and suffering of innocent people?

But this is precisely where the double-edged sword of this initiative lies: boycotting Israel cannot and will not assuage the genuine ongoing misery of the Palestinians. Sanctions and divestment will only serve to augment their anguish rather than lessen it.

There are several reasons why the BDS effort is futile and counter-productive. First, the old and recurrent psychological pattern of rally-around-the-flag and circle-the-bandwagon is acutely reawakened: the more one is attacked and vilified, the more defensive modes of operation take over. Instead of admitting culpability, the blamed side invests its resources in trying to vindicate itself or charge back. Israel is not different in these natural instincts that any other nation or culture. On the contrary, its long historical experience of persecution renders it more trained and more capable of staving off such assaults.

Secondly, Palestinian well-being is intertwined with the Israeli economy. A Rand Corporation Report on the “Costs of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” published last week stated among other things that “A two-state solution provides, by far, the best economic outcomes for both Israelis and Palestinians. Israelis would gain over three times more than the Palestinians in absolute terms – $123 billion (NIS 421 b.) versus $50 billion (NIS 171 b.) over 10 years. But the Palestinians would gain more proportionately, with an average per capita income increasing by approximately 36% over what it would have been in 2024, versus 5% for the average Israeli.”

The report adds that “A return to violence would have profoundly negative economic consequences for both Palestinians and Israelis; per capita gross domestic product would fall by 46% in the West Bank and Gaza and by 10% in Israel by 2024.” Economic sanctions against Israel are bad for the Palestinians and the BDS logic here is as sound and as reassuring to the Palestinian cause as the Iranian promise a few years ago to “end the occupation of Palestine by throwing an atom bomb on Israel.”

Third is conflict resolution and in its wake, mutual recognition, reconciliation and collaboration to sustain a bearable future for all parties is feasible only through constructive communication and open channels of interaction. Boycott, divestment and sanctions are the antitheses of the peacebuilding mindset. These are belligerent and confrontational techniques, which might cause one side to feel morally superior and comfortably just but have nothing to do with cutting a protracted conflict shorter or with mitigating afflictions.


It’s the conspiracy theories that make hatred of Jews unique, says Deborah Lipstadt
The U.S. State Department’s point woman on Jew-hatred says there’s a key element to antisemitism differing it from other types of hate. It’s the conspiracy theory.

“You can’t really grasp what antisemitism is, even if you care tremendously about it,” unless you understand the element that makes Jew-hatred unique, Deborah Lipstadt, the State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, said in a pre-Shabbat briefing on Friday.

“If it’s someone you loathe, you just want to keep them down and keep them out of your life and keep them in their box. But if it’s someone who is controlling things, you have to stop them by any means necessary, because they’re harming your own welfare,” she said in a conversation with Shelley Greenspan, White House liaison to the Jewish community.

“Whether it’s ‘death con 3’ or ‘any means necessary,’ stop them for my own survival. And that’s what we’re seeing in a lot of the antisemitic rhetoric that we’re seeing, with antisemitic attacks and efforts,” Lipstadt continued.

Death con 3 was a reference to one of a number of threats made against the Jewish community by rapper Kanye “Ye” West.

Lipstadt, a noted and often referenced scholar and historian, told those listening on Zoom that the key to fighting antisemitism goes beyond her own expertise.

“This is going to sound a little strange as someone who has made her whole life” as an educator, she said. “Education is crucially important, but education can only go so far. You can be well educated and still be an antisemite.”
Has your local authority adopted it CAA releases first-of-its-kind study surveying adoption of International Definition of Antisemitism by local authorities
Campaign Against Antisemitism has published a first-of-its-kind study surveying in real-time the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by local authorities across the UK.

The study can be accessed at antisemitism.org/councils.

The study shows that the campaign for widespread adoption of the Definition has been very successful, but that there is still much more to do.

Ever since Campaign Against Antisemitism led the effort for adoption of the Definition by the British Government — which became the first in the world to do so — multiple Secretaries of State for Local Government have joined the Jewish community’s push for local authorities to follow suit.

As this research shows, that campaign has yielded results, with much success owed to the work of grassroots local activists and organisations right across the country. We applaud them and the local authorities that have listened, but there remains much to do.

Currently, there are over 200 local authorities that have adopted the Definition, with around 70 where the status of adoption is unclear, often because it is not clear whether the council has adopted the Definition in full with the eleven integral examples or not. Over one hundred local authorities do not appear to have adopted the Definition at all, as of now.

The study gives a fuller picture of the fight against antisemitism at the local level, exposing which local authorities take this issue seriously and which do not, and enabling local activists and voters to make informed choices.
Attacker yelled ‘Kanye 2024’ after alleged antisemitic assault in NY, police say
Police in New York said Saturday they were investigating an alleged antisemitic attack this week where the perpetrator assaulted a 63-year-old man in Central Park, yelled a number of antisemitic comments at him and finished with “Kanye 2024,” in reference to rapper Kanye West, before fleeing on a bicycle.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that the incident took place Wednesday evening when the victim was walking in Central Park and the attacker, a man in his 40s, hit him from behind, causing him to fall to the ground. The victim, who has not been identified, broke his hand and chipped a tooth in the alleged attack.

He was hospitalized in stable condition, the Post reported, citing the New York Police Department.

Police said the attacker made “numerous” antisemitic comments, including the reference to West, known as Ye, whose antisemitic tirades in recent weeks reached new heights during an interview early this month with right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in which the disgraced rapper praised Hitler and said the Nazis “did good things.”

This came weeks after West was locked out of several social media accounts for posting antisemitic threats that included vowing to go “death con 3 on Jewish people,” claiming that he was the target of a “Jewish underground media mafia,” and that “Jewish people have owned the Black voice.”


Jonathan Tobin: Hanukkah irony: The holiday’s real message is alien to most American Jews
According to the most recent authoritative study of American Jewry, conducted in 2020 by the Pew Research Institute, approximately 80% of respondents said they owned a menorah or, as it is properly known in Hebrew, a Chanukiah. They weren’t asked, however, whether they lit it on the holiday.

An answer to this question was provided by a different survey, conducted for a book by Shmuel Rosner and Camil Fuchs. It found that a whopping 68% of American Jews think the Festival of Lights, a minor observance in the traditional religious calendar, is “one of the three most important” Jewish holidays. Even so, the research showed, less than 60% actually light candles, as opposed to just having a menorah on display in their homes as a totemic gesture toward their origins.

Still, Hanukkah plays an important role in the Jewish effort to carve a niche in American popular culture. The 2019 debut of the first Hallmark Channel Hanukkah movies was a milestone for some.

The new such Jewish-holiday romance, among the 40 that the company produced for the 2022 holiday season, is an indication that, for all of its problems, American Jewry is still given a place at the communal cultural table, even if it’s a marginal one.

Observant Jews—and those more concerned with the serious problems of surging antisemitism and the ongoing demonization of Israel—may sneer at this “achievement.” But this sort of representation has enormous meaning to the secular majority, especially members of the not-inconsiderable group dubbed by demographers as “Jews of no religion,” the fastest-growing segment of U.S. Jewry.

For many American Jews, the issue of whether a menorah is displayed next to the Christmas tree in their town square’s holiday celebration—or if assemblies in their children’s schools include Hanukkah songs along with the carols—is a very big deal. It’s even been the source of endless debates and controversies.
Jews of Ukraine will spread the light of Hanukkah despite the war with Russia
A huge public Hanukkiah is lit every year in Maidan Square, the central square in the heart of Kyiv. Some thought that the ritual wouldn’t take place this Hanukkah because of the war with Russia. But despite the Russian bombings of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko decided that he would continue the tradition. The first lighting took place on Sunday, at nightfall.

“In light of the upheaval prevailing in the Ukrainian capital following the Russian bombings of strategic infrastructure facilities, the lighting of the menorah will stand out even more and symbolize more than anything that light overcomes darkness,” Rabbi Meir Stambler, Chabad emissary and chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine, told The Jerusalem Post.

In addition to Kyiv’s mayor, senior participants included the Israeli Ambassador Michael Brodsky and his colleagues from the US, Greece, the UK and Germany.

The Post has learned that the mayor insisted on continuing the tradition. He said he would not let the Russians disturb the annual tradition, noting that Hanukkah is the holiday that symbolizes “the victory of light over darkness.”

Rabbi Raphael Rothman, vice chairman of the Federation responsible for government relations, said, “We applaud Mr. Klitschko for his great assistance and support, as well as the ambassadors of the countries that will take part in this exciting lighting. We are sure that both then, during the Second Temple, and today, a miracle will occur to us, as in the Hanukkah story. The few will defeat the many and the powerful. Hanukkah is proof that our spirit cannot be broken.”
Menorah from iconic photo with Nazi flag to be lit at Berlin Hanukkah ceremony
A Hanukkah menorah captured in a famous 1931 photograph symbolizing the defiance of German Jews against rising Nazi powers will be lit in Berlin on Monday, almost 90 years after its owners fled Germany for British Mandatory Palestine.

The picture, taken by Rachel Posner, wife of Rabbi Akiva Posner, shows the candelabra sitting on a window ledge of their home in Kiel overlooking a building across the street adorned with Nazi flags.

The menorah, borrowed by the couple’s descendants from its permanent home at Yad Vashem memorial museum in Jerusalem, will be lit at sundown in Berlin on the second night of Hanukkah, in the presence of the Posners’ grandchildren and Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Before its journey to Berlin, the menorah was displayed for three days in an exhibit at Kiel’s municipal museum delving into the history of Jewish life in the city, with the Posners’ story taking center stage.

The original photo and the camera that took the image are also on display at the exhibit.

On the back of the iconic photo, Rachel wrote in German: “Hanukkah 5692, ‘Death to Judah,’ So the flag says, ‘Judah will live forever,’ So the light answers.’”

Rabbi Posner, who served as Kiel’s rabbi from 1924 to 1933, was an outspoken critic of the surge of antisemitic sentiment in the city and urged Jews to flee Germany.

The Posners ultimately escaped with their three children in 1933 and arrived in Palestine in 1934.

The photo first gained attention after Rachel answered a request broadcast by the Kiel museum in 1974, calling for artifacts telling the story of everyday Jewish life in the city.




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