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Thursday, March 09, 2023

03/09 Links Pt2: Ilan Halimi’s murder and the whitewashing of Muslim antisemitism; America's Tradition in Fighting Boycotts of Israel; El-Kurd Destroys His Own Credibility With ‘Apartheid Israel’ Confession

From Ian:

Ilan Halimi’s murder and the whitewashing of Muslim antisemitism
Seventeen years ago, a Parisian gang calling itself “the Barbarians” lured a twenty-three-year-old cell-phone salesman named Ilan Halimi onto its turf, tortured him for three weeks while reciting Quranic verses, and then left him to die by the roadside. Halimi’s murder is often seen as the beginning of the current era of anti-Semitic violence in France. Eleanor Krasne comments on the repeated failure of the French government, and even of Jewish leaders, to confront the sources of such violence:

The French authorities initially neglected to explore the anti-Semitic nature of the crime, but after a three-week search, they finally caught the gang’s leader, Youssef Fofana. When the case went to trial, Fofana wore a t-shirt that said “Allahu Akbar,” and when asked to state his identity said, “My name is Arab, armed African rebellion Salafist barbarian army, and I was born on February 13, 2006 in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.” In other words, Fofana boasted of his allegiance to Salafism, a political-religious movement within Islam that seeks to establish a global caliphate. . . . Fofana was also saying that he was “born” the moment Ilan Halimi died.

Muslims are not solely responsible for French anti-Semitism, nor is every Muslim an anti-Semite. However, radical Islam’s role in French anti-Semitism must not be overlooked. Yet . . . French and American organizations that . . . advocate for Jews seem to shy away from confronting the radical Islamic theology behind these attacks, particularly when commemorating Ilan Halimi’s murder.

Confronting modern-day anti-Semitism in France means confronting the ideology behind it. France is home to 450,000 Jews and a growing community of over three million Muslims. Simone Rodan Benzaquen, the American Jewish Committee’s director in France, wrote in 2017 that Islamic anti-Semitism in France is a result of a variety of factors, “including manipulation of the Palestinian cause, failure of integration into French society, radical preachers and the funding of mosques, and satellite television stations broadcasting a steady stream of anti-Semitic discourse.”

Unfortunately, Benzaquen is correct, and other organizations must join her in facing the reality of Islamic anti-Semitism in France.
ITP: Another Gaping Hole in the Islamist Antisemitism Con
In its statement promoted by CAIR's national office, CAIR-New York Executive Director Afaf Nasher also noted "the disturbing rise in anti-Asian bigotry nationwide."

"All Americans, regardless of their background," he said, must be able to walk down the street without fear of a racist attack."

This is true. Correspondingly, there has been a disturbing rise in antisemitic bigotry in New York city and nationwide. A Times of Israel analysis of NYPD data found an anti-Jewish attack every 33 hours in New York. Masoud presents a clear example of the danger such blind hate about Jews and the Jewish state can pose.

But CAIR cannot bring itself to acknowledge, let alone condemn him. This is an organization with a decades-long record of antisemitism, including co-founder and Executive Director Nihad Awad's repeated insinuations that Jews are "pushing the United States" to advance policies "at the expense of American interests."

In 2014, as ISIS rampaged and Hamas terrorism instigated war in Gaza, Awad called Israel "the biggest threat to world peace and security." Awad also believes Tel Aviv is "occupied" territory. His San Francisco director Zahra Billoo believes pro-Israel Jews are out to hurt Muslims and should be shunned entirely. CAIR stands behind her.

CAIR claims it merely criticizes Israeli policy, as if the question whether a country should exist is a policy up for debate.

Was Masoud merely criticizing Zionists? His "veil of 'anti-Zionism' is pathetically thin in this case," prosecutors wrote. "As an initial matter, the defendant is not an equal opportunity anti-Zionist. He did not attack 'Evangelical Christians . . . who identify with the State of Israel' ... Instead, he repeatedly attacked Jewish men."

In October, CAIR condemned antisemitic material left outside homes in Wyoming.

"Those targeting the Jewish community with antisemitic hate must be repudiated by all Americans," CAIR national spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said. "The mainstreaming of bigotry in any form must never be tolerated or excused."

But CAIR mainstreams antisemitism when it stands by frothing haters like Billoo, and when it cannot muster the nerve to condemn an ideological ally like Sadaah Masoud. Antisemitism can't be viewed conditionally. If you can't even bring yourself to condemn premeditated beatings of random Jews, you can't expect to be believed when say you oppose antisemitism by condemning leaflets.
America's Tradition in Fighting Boycotts of Israel
In 1975, President Gerald Ford called for regulations prohibiting U.S. companies from "complying in any way with [the Arab] boycott," and declared emphatically that the United States would not "countenance the translation of any foreign prejudice into domestic discrimination against American citizens." Congress quickly heeded the call, passing not one but two pieces of critical bipartisan legislation: the Ribicoff Amendment assessed steep tax penalties against U.S. companies that participate in the Arab Boycott, and the Export Administration Amendments of 1977 directed the president to prohibit American companies from joining the Arab boycott. In signing that law, President Jimmy Carter acknowledged that the Arab Boycott, though nominally focused on Israel, was in fact "aimed at Jewish members of our society." The U.S. Office of Antiboycott Compliance has been enforcing this regime ever since, on the bipartisan understanding that the boycott of Israel constitutes a tool of discrimination, not protected expression.

And the federal government was not alone in its anti-boycott effort. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, at least 13 states—red and blue—took aggressive legislative steps to prevent U.S. companies from joining the Arab boycott. New York's rule was strikingly similar to the anti-BDS laws of today. In fact, it went further, prohibiting "discrimination," "boycotting," or "blacklisting" based on "national origin" or because a person has done business with Israeli firms. When Gov. Michael Dukakis signed the Massachusetts bill into law, he explained that he wished to send an "unequivocal message" that Massachusetts would "not stand for this type of blatant discrimination" against its Jewish residents.

Today's anti-BDS laws spring from the same pair of political judgments that animate this 50-year tradition of anti-boycott legislation. The first is that the boycott isn't speech, but instead economic conduct that can be freely regulated, consistent with the First Amendment. And the second is that, in the case of Israel, the boycott constitutes discrimination, and not desirable social action.

The tradition of anti-boycott legislation lives on because its historical foundations are fundamentally true. The first boycott against the Jews of Israel took place in the 1890s, and its organizers—the Arab political associations of Mandatory Palestine—could not have been clearer about their anti-Jewish objectives: "Don't buy from the Jews," they declared, "come and bargain with the Arab merchant... We must completely boycott the Jews." And in 1933, as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem grew in political prominence, he called for systematic boycotts against the Jews of Palestine and urged Nazi Germany to do the same.

BDS's appeal to "history and tradition" should ring hollow. For 50 years, state and federal law makers have regulated Israel boycotts, on the understanding that they were conceived in antisemitism and cannot escape its taint. In the court of history, it's the state lawmakers, and not the activists, who enjoy the upper hand.


Mohammed El-Kurd Destroys His Own Credibility With ‘Apartheid Israel’ Confession
If you heard a loud thud on Wednesday, that was the sound of the jaws of HonestReporting staff hitting the floor as we heard a shocking confession from the media’s most beloved Palestinian activist Mohammed El-Kurd: he knows that Israel is not an apartheid state.

In footage of his virtual appearance at Adelaide Writers’ Week that was shared on the Israellycool blog, El-Kurd suggested he uses the loaded term to describe Israel because of the weight it carries in terms of shaping public opinion and admitted he is “less concerned with the accuracy of the word”:
I think what the word itself as a word — I’m not even talking about the legal definition of the word ‘apartheid’; I’m not talking about about the crime against humanity — but the negative word that is ‘apartheid’ and the negative connotation it carries in the psyche of the public. I think it’s capable, and it has been, engineering and establishing a cultural shift in the way people approach and talk about Palestine.

But I’m less concerned with the accuracy of the word. You know, me and my friends have these arguments about like, ‘it’s settler colonialism,’ ‘it’s apartheid,’ ‘it’s police brutality,’ ‘it’s ethnic cleansing, ‘it’s this, it’s that.’ I don’t care. As long as there is a conversation happening in which the villain is portrayed clearly, I think that’s good.”

The admission, which was made in front of a packed audience at the Australian arts festival, confirmed what many of us have long suspected: pro-Palestinian “activists” like El-Kurd do not care one iota about the truth when it comes to Israel — they are happy to spread demonstrable lies if doing so furthers their twisted anti-Israel agenda.

The fact is, El-Kurd has repeatedly accused Israel of maintaining a system of apartheid with regard to Palestinians.

A quick glance at his Twitter account shows he has used the term countless times in an appeal to people to single out the Jewish state for boycott action. In one such tweet, he praises Ben & Jerry’s for its controversial attempt to stop selling its ice cream in the West Bank and encourages more companies to follow suit, while in another post he accuses Israel of being both an apartheid state and a “genocidal regime.”

Indeed, El-Kurd has made a career out of promoting the apartheid libel to western audiences and charges up to $10,000 a pop on the lucrative speaking circuit, including numerous appearances at American colleges.

This is despite the fact that El-Kurd, who is the resident “Palestine correspondent” at The Nation and was featured alongside his twin sister Muna in TIME Magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, has a long history of supporting Palestinian terrorism and spreading antisemitic propaganda.
Sky News Australia: 'Really sad': Anti-Semitism 'apparently now acceptable' amid Adelaide Writers' Week
Racism towards Jews is “apparently now acceptable” and what has happened at the Adelaide Writers’ Week over the past few days is “intolerable”, says Sky News host Sharri Markson.

“People like the Writers' Week director, Louise Adler, say it's perfectly fine to criticise Israel, and of course it is. But this is the veil through which people get away with dangerous anti-Semitism.

“I'm not talking about criticism of the Israeli government and its actions – of course that's fine – I'm talking about inflammatory individuals who call Jews and Israelis human garbage and who want to wipe them off the face of this earth."

Ms Markson said Palestinian-American writer Susan Abulhawa and Palestinian poet Mohammed El-Kurd were "allowed into Australia" and celebrated at the Writer's Week, and she revealed some of their “blatantly offensive and racist remarks”.

“I just think this is all really sad – it's one thing to criticise the Israeli government, the settlements.

“It's quite another to engage in hate speech, in anti-Semitism – not in the dark corners of the dark web, but on stage where people have bought tickets to hear you speak, where your remarks are cheered and applauded.”


The Palestinian Refugees: 1948 to Today
The Eternal Refugees: The Political Manipulation of the Palestinian Refugees

The creation of the Palestinian refugees was not a unique chapter in world history, with the mid-to-late 1940s witness to the flight and expulsion of millions of people in India / Pakistan, eastern Europe and China.

What separates the Palestinian refugees from these other refugee populations is that, until today, the Palestinians retain their refugee status and have never been allowed to fully integrate into the neighboring countries to which they fled.

During the Palestinian exodus, 2/3 of the refugees fled to the nearby West Bank (under Jordanian control) and Gaza Strip (under Egyptian control) while the rest fled to the neighboring countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Having just been defeated in their attempt to destroy Israel, these Arab states viewed the Palestinian refugees as a powerful political tool in their fight against the nascent Jewish state.

Related Reading: Debunked: Those Maps of ‘Palestinian Land Loss’ Are Misleading. Here’s Why.

For these states, by refusing to integrate the Palestinian refugees into their societies, they hoped to apply pressure and have the international community force Israel to accept the return of the refugees, effectively creating a fifth column within the Jewish state’s borders.

Therefore, many of the Palestinian refugees were forced to live in squalid refugee camps (as opposed to already-established towns and cities) and were not granted equal rights.

Today, almost eight decades later, many of these refugees’ descendants live in the same refugee camps, continuing to serve as political tools for those who seek Israel’s destruction.

As well, even today, Palestinians in Syria are not granted citizenship or voting rights while those in Lebanon are barred from many professions, cannot access health services and public schools and are forbidden from owning property.

The only country to grant its Palestinian population citizenship was Jordan, after it took control of the West Bank in 1949.

At the same time as the Palestinian exodus, a Jewish refugee crisis also developed in the British Mandate / State of Israel. Thousands of Jews (estimates range from 10,000 to 70,000) fled and were expelled by Arab forces from Jewish communities like the Etzion Bloc, Old City of Jerusalem and Beit Ha’Arava as hundreds of thousands of Jews fled to the nascent Jewish state following persecution in a variety of North African and Middle Eastern states.

However, these Jewish refugees were quickly resettled by the Israeli government and became fully integrated citizens.

Thus, while two refugee problems developed alongside the end of the British Mandate and the creation of the State of Israel, the Jewish refugee problem was quickly solved by the newly-formed Israel government while the Palestinian refugees have been condemned by their political leadership and the leadership of neighboring Arab countries to remain as eternal refugees, serving as political tools in a quixotic struggle against the Jewish state.
The ‘Apartheid’ Myth: The Improper Use of False and Misleading Claims Regarding Israel
The claim that Israel is an “apartheid state” is intensifying worldwide, even though it is demonstrably false and misleading and the improper use of such a serious moniker poses a danger to Israel, Palestinians and democracies in general.

PA Foreign Minister Riyad Malki recently queried diplomats at the UN Security Council: “Will you accept [Israeli] apartheid in the 21st century?” PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Israel risked perpetuating “apartheid.” Their remarks were parroted by many news outlets.

It is legitimate for media to share news that an official or NGO issued a statement, even if false. It is, however, improper to blindly echo it without proper research or rebuttal, which is precisely what media have done in this case.

B’Tselem published a report calling Israel an “apartheid regime” devoted to cementing the supremacy of Jews over Palestinians. Media portrayed B’Tselem, which supports the annihilationist Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, as a leading proponent of human rights — thereby facilitating the hijacking of the word “apartheid” by an anti-Israeli group.

In 2021, Human Rights Watch published a report accusing Israel of implementing apartheid. The New York Times and other news organizations produced extensive coverage of the “explosive” charge, notwithstanding its lack of validity.

Aside from misconstruing well-established facts, HRW declared Israel an “apartheid state” through a particularly devious method: Changing the definition of the word to make it so broad that if applied fairly and rigorously, almost every nation would be guilty.

Related Reading: Human Rights Watch Peddles ‘War Crimes’ Accusations in Biased Anti-Israel Report

The claims are not mere rhetoric, but are part of a bigger picture in which reports and speeches escalate to legal actions.
How South Africa’s Anti-Israel PR Stunt Failed Spectacularly
However, it would appear that the resolution did not have the desired effect for those who wish to demonize and ostracize the world’s only Jewish state.

Rather than prompt a flurry of media activity by outlets both reporting the decision and speculating on whether other countries could soon follow suit, the move appeared to amount to a damp squib (anticlimactic event) as far as international (and domestic) interest is concerned.

Instead, it came across as a failed PR stunt by hypocritical politicians in South Africa who would prefer grinding their anti-Israel axes than addressing more pressing concerns.

Criticizing the resolution, the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) noted that while the ANC government “obsesses over Israel, it is also hosting navy drills with Russia, which is responsible for terrible war crimes and the deaths of thousands of innocent Ukrainian civilians over the past year.”

Rowan Polovin, national chairman of the SAZF, also commented on how little coverage in South Africa the decision generated:
There has been surprisingly little local coverage of the issue in the print and digital media. A handful of articles which mostly published parts of our statement. Some radio and TV coverage, a bit of hostility but nothing too dramatic.”

Additionally, a spokesperson for the South African Jewish Board of Deputies pointed out that where the issue has received some media coverage, the reportage has been based on press releases giving both sides of the argument.

South Africa’s confirmation of its 2019 move to downgrade diplomatic ties with Israel is disappointing.

However, it is heartening to see how little impact it is having in the international arena.
‘Obsessive’: Republican Senators Urge Department of Education to Examine Anti-Zionism in College Programs
A group of Republican US Senators issued a letter Wednesday asking US Department of Education (DOE) Secretary Miguel Cardona to determine whether taxpayer funded federal grants have supported college programs that foster anti-Zionism and antisemitism.

A lack of viewpoint diversity in higher education is a major source of the problem, the letter said, explaining that Near East and Middle East studies program often fail to present the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and dedicate “a disproportionate amount of their curriculum on criticizing Israel.” Much of the criticism, it added, which includes comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, imposing double standards on its government, and denying its right to exist may be considered antisemitic according to the International Holocaust Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

“Some universities may have even violated anti-terrorism laws by hosting convicted terrorists as speakers,” it continued, citing New York University’s hosting Leila Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who twice hijacked planes brimming with Israeli passengers, at a webinar held in 2020. “A core reason college campuses are plagued by antisemitism is because professors who teach the curriculum indoctrinate students with anti-Israel bias and viewpoints.”

Citing another professor who said “Holocaust denial is a form of protest,” the letter described anti-Zionist ideology in higher education as “obsessive” and “negative” and said “many Jewish and pro-Israel students no longer feel safe” because of it. They argued that many colleges are possibly non-compliant with Title VI of the Higher Education Act (HEA), a provision requiring college programs to “reflect diverse perspectives and a wide range of views,” and that DOE has failed to address it.

The letter, signed by Sens. James E. Risch (R-ID), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), among others, urged the DOE to create a plan for addressing anti-Israel bias in academic programs and to propose ways that the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) can help Jewish students feel welcome on campus.

The Louis D. Brandeis Center, a Jewish rights group, praised the letter as a significant step in bringing attention to anti-Zionism on college campuses.
Bill de Blasio presses the ‘progressive case for Israel’ at Harvard
Bill de Blasio, the former mayor of New York City, wasn’t sure what to expect when, a week ago, he met with a diverse group of students at Harvard Law School to defend his long-held belief that progressive values are compatible with, if not contingent upon, maintaining support for Israel.

The topic of the event was sure to be met with at least some resistance, particularly on a campus like that of Harvard University, where instances of anti-Israel activism have drawn national scrutiny in recent months.

But de Blasio said he was largely encouraged by the response to his talk, billed as “The Progressive Case for Israel” and held in a classroom at Harvard’s Wasserstein Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 28. “We had a real dialogue, and folks were struck by that,” de Blasio told Jewish Insider in a recent interview. “There was actually a sustained discussion.”

Even as the tenor of the discussion “was at times heated” and “at times a little tense,” he acknowledged, “it was still civil in the scheme of things.”

“I heard views I would call left-wing, views I would call right-wing, views I would call pro-Israel and views I would call pro-Palestine,” de Blasio recounted. “I heard a range in the course of an hour, and no one left the room, no one walked out. People stuck with it. I actually saw some hope in that.”

De Blasio, who recently concluded a semester-long fellowship at Harvard, was asked to speak at the university by the Alliance for Israel at Harvard and the Harvard Jewish Law Students Association, which co-hosted the event.

“Bill de Blasio served for two terms as mayor of New York City, which has the highest Jewish population of any city across the globe,” Marc Heinrich and Ari Spitzer, co-presidents of the Harvard Jewish Law Students Association, wrote in a joint email to JI. “We were honored to co-host Mayor de Blasio and hear him speak to the greater Harvard Law School community about how New York’s Jewish community impacted his core values as a public servant.” (h/t Jewess)
Rashida Tlaib and Biden Official Were Featured Speakers at Conference So Controversial It Lost Its Corporate Sponsor
Democratic representative Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and a Biden State Department appointee spoke at Harvard University's annual Arab conference, even after the conference lost its top corporate sponsor due to the participation of anti-Semitic activist Linda Sarsour.

Tlaib and State Department special adviser Sara Minkara participated in the event, which saw speakers call to "end U.S. support for Israel." The pair appeared as others abandoned the conference—McKinsey & Company, the white-shoe consulting firm, pulled its sponsorship of the conference after discovering Sarsour "had a history of anti-Semitic comments," it said in a statement. The company was also scheduled to hold a recruiting session, and some of its employees were slated to speak.

The annual Harvard gathering is the "largest pan-Arab conference in North America" and draws over 1,000 attendees to "discuss key issues with the region's most prominent politicians, business people, and civil society leaders," according to its website.

Panelists at the conference over the weekend expressed support for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Jewish Insider reported. One speaker, American Muslims for Palestine director of development Mohamad Habehh, reportedly denounced Zionism as a "very stupid ideology" and called to "end U.S. support for Israel."

Sarsour's participation comes nearly a year after the insurance company Geico dropped the liberal activist as a diversity speaker due to her inflammatory comments. Sarsour, who has claimed Israel was "built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everybody else" and praised Palestinian supermarket bomber Rasmea Odeh, in 2019 stepped down as a leader with the Women's March following controversy over her statements. But Sarsour maintained ties with some anti-Israel left-wingers, working on Muslim outreach for Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I., Vt.) presidential campaign and attending events with Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.).
PreOccupiedTerritory: Palestine Is *The* Issue Of Gravest Concern For Michigan By Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) (satire)
This does not mean that other issues get neglected. Far from it! It does mean that other issues matter only insofar as they can serve or advance the Palestine issue. Are your children failing academically because of COVID-related school closures? By itself, that fails to register on the scale of Important Things, because Palestine. But frame it as an appreciation for the plight of Palestinian children facing Israeli restrictions, and boom! – again, so to speak – you’ve got yourself a salient Palestine-congruent issue we can work with.

You don’t even have to look for a factual connection between your area of concern and Palestine. Flint’s drinking water, for example – while technically not this district, certainly an illustrative example of the recommended process – all you have to do do give that problem traction is the right Congressional circles (mine) is to tie it to Palestinian water issues, regardless of the fact that those problems have little to do, in a real-world sense, with any Israeli policies and everything to do with Palestinian Authority incompetence, corruption, and cynical exploitation of Palestinian suffering to depict Israel as evil. We can do that, too!

Anyone can oppose funding for the Iron Dome missile system with an argument that American taxpayer funds should be spent in America; that kind of doesn’t work with the obviously correct policy of providing funding for Palestinian government and cronyism. no, what you must do is argue that funding a defensive system somehow harms Palestinians who can no longer kill as many Israeli with indiscriminate rocket fire, and boom! – not so much a so to speak in this case – I’m all the way with you.

I speak for all residents of District Twelve who matter when I declare Free Palestine!
Cori Bush's Bodyguard Says He Can't Be Anti-Semitic Because He's a Jewish High Priest
Rep. Cori Bush’s (D., Mo,) bodyguard claims a host of supernatural abilities, including the power to summon tornadoes and read minds. During a Tuesday evening interview with the Washington Free Beacon, he added another line to his résumé: his status as a Jewish "high priest."

Davis, who claims he is a 109 trillion-year-old spiritual guru named Aha Sen Piankhy, demanded the Free Beacon retract a report on his relationship with Bush and history of advancing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Davis, a former member of the vehemently anti-Semitic New Black Panther Party, said it’s impossible for him to be anti-Semitic because he himself is a member of the Tribe of Issachar, one of the lost tribes of Israel.

"That makes me Hebrew. How can I be anti-Semitic?" Davis asked the Free Beacon, adding "You’re literally dealing with the priesthood, literally."

Davis’s claims to supernatural abilities and anti-Semitic leanings made him a perfect fit for Bush, who once worked as a faith healer for a religious sect that claims the power to resurrect the dead through prayer. The congresswoman also has a history of associating with anti-Semites, including the activist Neveen Ayesh, who said she wanted to burn Jews alive. She’s also a vocal supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

Davis denied ever propagating anti-Semitic tropes, including the claim that the Rothschild family secretly rules the world. He claims he merely accused one specific member of the Rothschild family of controlling the Western Hemisphere in a July 23, 2020, Facebook post.

But Davis’s Facebook page is replete with other posts spreading conspiracies about the Rothschild family as a whole. In one post, he claimed the family "is the reason Armageddon will happen," as part of "a business ploy for the one world government."
Labour MP held Commons meeting with activist who made ‘plotting Zionists’
Labour MP Nadia Whittome held a meeting in Parliament with an activist who said that “plotting” Zionists would be “removed” from the Middle East and praised a rabidly antisemitic cleric, the JC can reveal.

Saleem Nusseibeh, who was part of a delegation from campaign group Palestinian Forum in Britain that met Whittome in December last year, can be seen in a video clip recorded two months earlier praising Yusuf Al-Qaradawi’s “commitment to the causes for the liberation of the ummah [the Muslim world]”.

Qaradawi, who died in September 2022, was known for his extreme antisemitic statements, including a call for the “annihilation” of Jews and his claim that the Holocaust “put Jews in their place”.

Nusseibeh, who headed University College London’s Justice in Palestine Society, also told a recent anti-Israel demonstration outside UCL that the “third intifada will bring the Zionist entity to its knees”.

At another rally in January 2022, the activist told protesters that “plotting” Zionists would be “removed (from the Middle East), their presence will be gone” as students chanted the Hamas rallying cry “From the river to the sea”.

When contacted by the JC, Whittome, the MP for Nottingham East, failed to explain why she had agreed to a parliamentary meeting that included an activist with such an inflammatory record.
NEU schools strike boss pictured at Fatah founder Arafat's tomb
The leader of a teachers’ union shutting schools across Britain next week posed by Yasser Arafat’s grave during a trip to the West Bank, the JC can reveal.

National Education Union (NEU) president Louise Atkinson and other members of a UK delegation were photographed standing alongside a monument to the late PLO chairman.

Posing with the British representatives are two Palestinian men in military fatigues.

Arafat established the Fatah paramilitary group in 1959, and became a figurehead of the fight against Israel until his death in 2004.

Black September, a militant faction created by Fatah in 1971, killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

Posting about her West Bank trip on Facebook in 2020, Atkinson shared a string of images with the caption “solidarity”.

One picture showed a wall emblazoned with a map of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank — all covered by the Palestinian flag and, under the title “We Will Return”, a list of cities including Beershebah and Jerusalem. Another photo shows Atkinson posing in front of another Palestinian flag, her fist raised in the air.

The revelation comes as her union gears up to suspend teaching on March 15 and 16 across England and Wales.
Soas student Palestine society shares Hezbollah terror message
Soas Palestine Society has posted a quote from Hezbollah’s terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah predicting the end of Israel — hours after promoting a video that declared, “Jews are hateful”.

The quote from the notorious Hezbollah chief, which the London university society shared on Monday, read: “The law of executing Palestinian prisoners will increase the faith, courage and willingness of the Palestinian youth to carry out operations, and this measure is a foolish one.

“Everything that is happening now indicates the end of the Zionist entity.” Hours earlier, Soas Pal Soc had posted a shocking clip from a 2002 interview with a Palestinian girl to its Instagram page.

The subtitles translated the girl’s remarks as: “Fighting the enemy, this doesn’t mean that I am cruel. I defend my motherland, I defend my camp. We will never make peace with them.

“Even if our president does so. I will never make peace with them. It’s true that I’m a good person but Jews are hateful. They invaded us, we are defending our land.”

The radical student group has previously backed anti-Zionist rapper Lowkey, disgraced former National Union of Students president Shaima Dallali, and academic Shahd Abusalama, who has praised terrorist hijacker Leila Khaled as a “beautiful fighter”.


NYC legal aid group forced to apologize, pay $170K over anti-Semitism claim
A New York City taxpayer-funded legal aid group condemned for a 2014 “kill the NYPD” rap video and a 2021 director’s email blasting Israel and cops now been forced to issue an apology and a $170,000 settlement for alleged discrimination against a Jewish staffer, The Post has learned.

“You may remember that I was called a racist, a colonizer and a karen [slang for entitled white person], and I was told that I was worse than the dirt under your feet and that my children were murderers,” former Bronx Defenders staffer Debbie Jonas said in an email Wednesday to the politically charged legal assistance group’s employees informing them about the settlement.

Jonas, a Zionist Jew, has children with dual citizenship in Israel and the U.S. who have served in Israel’s Defense Forces.

“I was cursed and badgered until I could no longer stand the hostility,” said Jonas, who worked at Bronx Defenders for eight years.

While Bronx Defenders admitted to no lawful wrongdoing in the confidential settlement, its executive director, Justine Olderman, issued a heartfelt apology and the firm has agreed to provide anti-Semitism training to all employees provided by the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.

Jonas claimed she was called a “racist, a colonizer and a Karen” for being a Zionist Jew with children in the Israel Defense Force. Jonas praised Olderman’s “courage” and “humility” for issuing the “since” apology.

She said after subtracting legal expenses, she will donate a total of $40,000 to charities in Israel: Shurst Hadin, Tobeka, Yad L’isha, Technoda and Bet Izzy Shapiro.

“Of course, this represents a great victory in the effort to combat Jew-hatred,” said Dov Hikind, founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, who took up Jonas’ cause.

The Bronx Defenders legal aid group paid $170,000 in a settlement for a discrimination lawsuit from former staffer Debbie Jonas. “But this saga also serves as a vital example of just how pervasive anti-Semitism is in every sector of society and as a lesson on the necessity for Jewish victims to fight for justice if there are ever to be meaningful consequences.”


New York State Senator Salazar Punctures New York Times Hype on Corporal Punishment in Yeshivas
The New York Times crusade against yeshivas has gone too far even for Julia Salazar, a New York state senator so “progressive” she boasts of “actively working to dismantle capitalist rule.”

Salazar’s relations with Jewish causes and Judaism over time have been convoluted and have been the topic of extensive previous reporting elsewhere. On the yeshiva story, though, she was at pains to distance herself from one of the Times reporters who has been investigating the Jewish schools.

“New York is poised to ban corporal punishment in private schools, following a New York Times investigation on Hasidic boys schools,” tweeted Times reporter Eliza Shapiro.

Salazar responded online to try to set the record straight. “To be clear: We introduced this bill because the law should *explicitly* ban corporal punishment in all schools. The use of physical or violent methods to ostensibly discipline students has happened in many schools. I haven’t seen any evidence of it being a pattern in yeshivas,” she said.

The hype that the legislation was a response to the Times investigation came not only in the social media post but in a Times subheadline: “The proposals from state legislators come in response to a New York Times investigation that reported the use of slaps and kicks to keep order in some Hasidic Jewish schools.”
BBC News again fails to tell all in report on counter-terror op
Seeing as there is video documentation of the terrorists’ use of an ambulance, it is unclear why the BBC chose to unnecessarily qualify the IDF’s statement.

Over a third of the wordcount of Knell and Berg’s report relates to a different story: the February 26th rampage by vigilante Israelis in the town of Huwara. As readers may recall, the BBC News website did not produce any stand-alone reporting on the terror attack in which Hillel and Yagel Yaniv were murdered but did publish three reports (two of which are repromoted as the only links appearing in this report) about the later attacks in Huwara.

Knell and Berg’s report closes with the bizarre claim that “a surge of violence” that can be traced back to 2021 began “this year”.

“There has been a surge of violence between Israel and the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem this year.

At least 70 Palestinians – militants and civilians – have been killed by Israeli forces, and on the Israeli side, 13 people have been killed in attacks, all civilians, except for a paramilitary police officer.”

As is now standard practice in BBC reporting, Berg and Knell once again avoid informing readers exactly how many of those “70 Palestinians” killed in 2023 were uninvolved civilians and fail to clarify that the overwhelming majority were terrorists and/or males engaged in violence at the time, despite the fact that that information is available in the public domain.
Guardian peddles false claim that IDF fired on civilians in Jenin
However, on the same evening the Guardian article was published, the IDF tweeted the following, noting that terror suspects tried to use the ambulance to escape – which, per international law, made the vehicle a legitimate target.

English translation of the tweet:
During the operation, the forces fired shoulder-fired rockets and used additional measures against a building where the wanted man was barricaded. The forces also fired at militants who fired massive fire at them, hits were detected. Among other things, armed men were identified who shot at the fighters from an ambulance, and used it as cover

Here’s a video recorded by an IDF UAV, in which terrorist suspects during the clashes are see using an ambulance to move in the area and flee the scene.

Further into the article, McKernan writes this:
At least 70 Palestinians, about half of them combatants, have been killed by Israeli fire so far this year, according to tallies by human rights groups and news organisations. Palestinian “lone wolf” attacks have killed 14 Israelis, all but one of them civilians.

The words “about half of them combatants” suggests that the other half were uninvolved civilians, which, as research by CAMERA UK has demonstrated, is untrue. In fact, the overwhelming majority of Palestinian fatalities were terrorists or males engaged in violence at the time.

We’ve complained to Guardian editors about McKernan’s omission of the fact that all six Palestinians killed were terrorists, as well as the false claim that the IDF fired on civilians in an ambulance.
‘New Palestinian Militants Emerge’ A New AP Falsehood
"Sadly, in today’s media environment, when reporters say something is ‘new,’ it’s often merely new to them,” wrote Jonathan Schanzer and Joe Truzman of Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, explaining in the Washington Examiner “Why the West Bank is in chaos.” “Especially when Israel is involved, such narratives are reinforced by completely unrelated actions taken by the government that reporters find objectionable (judicial reform or settlement expansion, for example).”

Except for the fact that Isabel DeBre’s Associated Press article, “With West Bank in turmoil, new Palestinian militants emerge,” was published exactly one week after the Schanzer-Truman piece, one could reasonably conclude that they wrote those words specifically about her story.

Thus, her March 3 tale starring supposedly fresh recruits in a purportedly new militant group begins:
The stuttering blasts of M-16s shattered the quiet in a West Bank village, surrounded by barley fields and olive groves. Young Palestinian men in Jaba once wanted to farm, residents say, but now, more and more want to fight.

Last week, dozens of them, wearing balaclavas and brandishing rifles with photos of their dead comrades plastered on the clips, burst into a school playground — showcasing Jaba’s new militant group and paying tribute to its founder and another gunman who were killed in an Israeli military raid last month.

“I’d hate to make my parents cry,” said 28-year-old Yousef Hosni Hammour, a close friend of Ezzeddin Hamamrah, the group’s late founder. “But I’m ready to die a martyr.”

Similar scenes are playing out across the West Bank. From the northern Jenin refugee camp to the southern city of Hebron, small groups of disillusioned young Palestinians are taking up guns against Israel’s open-ended occupation, defying Palestinian political leaders whom they scorn as collaborators with Israel.

But, as Truzman tweeted in response to DeBre’s article, the Jaba terrorists are not “new militants” just now “taking up guns.” In fact, they are veteran fighters of designated terror organizations including Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.
Canadian Media Fail To Label 6 Dead Palestinians As Terrorists
On March 7th, Israeli forces carried out an anti-terrorism raid in the west bank city of Jenin by targeting and killing a Hamas terrorist, Abdel Fattah Hussein Kharousha, who Israel says was responsible for killing two Israeli brothers, Hallel and Yagel Yaniv, who were gunned down on February 26th.

In conducting the raid, Israeli soldiers say they entered a house searching for Khrousheh, but encountered a group of armed Palestinian terrorists who began to fire heavily at the soldiers. In response, the soldiers returned fire killing 6 terrorists; Palestinian armed groups later confirmed that the dead were members of either Hamas, Islamic Jihad or the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.

However, that did not stop Canadian media outlets like CTV News, CBC Radio-Canada, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, CP24, and La Presse from releasing headlines and corresponding coverage that not only failed to mention that the 6 Palestinians who were killed were all confirmed members of terrorist organizations, but also misled their readers by portraying this counter-terror raid as an act of aggression by Israel against innocent Palestinian civilians, when nothing was farther from the truth.

For Canadian broadcasters, CTV News aired the following segment on March 7th at 12:20 PM, with a headline stating only that “6 killed in Jenin raid” and with the full report saying:
“And at least six Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. The Israeli military says it killed the suspect in the fatal shooting of two Israeli brothers in the West Bank town of Huwara last week.”
Texan who posed as Hasidic Jew and adopted 9 boys charged with sexually abusing kids
Authorities in Texas have charged a man with a slew of sex crimes after he apparently fabricated his Jewish identity, adopted nine boys, paraded his “unique family” on social media to hundreds of thousands of followers and allegedly abused a number of children.

The case has revealed a lack of oversight by state authorities and a private company that placed exchange students in the suspect’s home, critics said, and has stoked antisemitism and perturbed the local Houston Jewish community.

Hayim Nissim Cohen, 38, was charged last week with eight offenses including injury to a child under 15, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault of a child, and continuous sexual abuse of a child, adding to several charges against him from earlier last month, and a separate abuse case in 2019.

Cohen, who was born Jeffrey Lujan Vejil, has been charged with 11 felonies by seven complainants in total and is being held in a Houston jail. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

The latest charges came after one of Cohen’s adopted sons made an anonymous call to an advice podcast in early February seeking help. He told the BlindSkinnedBeauty podcast that he had been abused and raped by his father since the age of 11, shortly after he was adopted.

“I became concerned immediately and just like I had to do something. That was my immediate feeling,” said one of the podcasters, Twaiyah Paynes. “I said, ‘We’ve got to keep this kid talking, we’ve got to keep him on the phone.'”

The podcast hosts implored the boy to contact police, and brought a former law enforcement officer onto the live call, but the boy expressed fear about reporting his father and skepticism about the legal system.


Chief Rabbi leads service honouring German Jewish footballer killed in the Holocaust
Although a crucial Champions League match for both teams was a mere hour away, last night the leadership of both Chelsea FC and Borussia Dortmund FC joined the Chief Rabbi for a service commemorating the life of a German-Jewish footballer who fought for his country in World War I but was then murdered by the Nazis in World War II.

Joined by Jonathan Goldstein, a director and co-owner of Chelsea, and Carsten Cramer, a director of Borussia Dortmund, Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis led a service remembering the life of Julius Hirsch, a highly accomplished German footballer whose life was taken simply because he was Jewish.

The Chief Rabbi said a prayer in memory of Mr Hirsch, and the leadership of both clubs paid tribute to him and re-dedicated themselves to combatting antisemitism and racism in all its forms.

Opening the service was Jonathan Goldstein, a Jewish solicitor and entrepreneur who leads Chelsea football club. He told gathered dignitaries: “March 2023 marks 80 years since the death of Julius Hirsch. Julius was a renowned footballer in Germany, played for multiple clubs and the German national team, and even once here at Stamford Bridge. Despite these accolades, Julius’ position as a Jewish man in Nazi Germany meant he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where he died on 1st of March 1943.

“Today's ceremony is to honour Julius’ life, and to celebrate Chelsea and Dortmund's shared commitment to combating antisemitism and memorialising Jewish athletes who lost their lives in the Holocaust.”

Carsten Cramer, a director at Borussia Dortmund also paid tribute to Hirsch, saying: “Julius Hirsch is a person who is really recommended as someone who's deeply connected to our club, we feel highly committed to what he has done."
Revealed: The Middle East's Secret Army of Nazis
Chilling details of a secret army of Nazis emigrating to the Middle East after the Second World War to become the nucleus of an Arab-led force to crush Israel have been revealed in Germany. Intelligence officers, SS generals, propaganda specialists, and even Holocaust functionaries went to Egypt after the collapse of the Third Reich to continue to persecute Jews. Geraldine Schwarz, who has made a film on the subject called "Exile Nazi: The Promise of the Orient," said the covert recruitment drive was the brainchild of Egypt's King Farouk I. She told Die Welt that the king's confidant, Adel Sabit, was entrusted to build the anti-Israel force along with former Afrika Korps Lt.-Gen. Artur Schmitt.

Mahmout Sabit, the cousin of Adel Sabit, said Schmitt had been living after the war in a Cairo hotel under the name of Goldstein. His orders were to recruit his countrymen with the aim of building a million-strong army.

Syria also hired 50 Nazis between 1948-9, including many former SS soldiers, to help mold its army and intelligence service. One was Walter Rauff, at the war's end the SS security chief for northern Italy, a wanted war criminal who helped develop mobile gas-wagons to kill Jews and other enemies of the regime. Rauff was tasked with rebuilding Syrian intelligence services "along Gestapo lines."
Unpacked: Why did the Mossad hire a Nazi Assassin?
In the 1960s, Israel faced a major threat from Egypt, which was developing a missile program with the help of former Nazi scientists. To stop this threat, Israel turned Yosef Raanan, an expert in psychological warfare. Raanan supervised an operation to recruit former SS Lieutenant Colonel Otto Skorzeny, due to his connection to German scientists working on Egypt's missile program. Although Israel was hesitant to work with a former Nazi, Skorzeny’s insider knowledge was critical to successfully stopping a major threat to its national security.


Antisemitic Propaganda Distribution by US White Supremacists Soaring, New ADL Report Reveals
Propaganda activities by US white supremacist groups soared by nearly 40 percent in 2022 according to a new Anti-Defamation League (ADL) report issued on Thursday, in a further sign of the emboldening of America’s far right.

The ADL’s annual assessment of propaganda distribution by neo-Nazi and white nationalist organizations noted that there were 6,751 incidents in 2022, marking a 38 percent increase on the previous year.

“There’s no question that white supremacists and antisemites are trying to terrorize and harass Americans and have significantly stepped up their use of propaganda as a tactic to make their presence known in communities nationwide,” Jonathan Greenblatt — ADL’s CEO — said in a statement.

“We cannot sit idly by as these extremists pollute our communities with their hateful trash,” Greenblatt added.

The ADL’s analysis also observed that reported incidents of explicitly antisemitic propaganda more than doubled, rising from 352 incidents in 2021 to 852 in 2022.

Among the reports key findings were the growing tendency of white supremacists to drape banners, often on highway overpasses, displaying viscerally antisemitic messages to vehicle passengers. The ADL found that there were 253 “banner drops” in 2022, a rise of 38 percent on 2021.

Events sponsored by white supremacists and the distribution of their propaganda on university campuses also increased during 2022, the ADL said.


Israeli Company Gets FDA Nod for Home Digital Dialysis System
Healthy kidneys automatically filter waste from the blood 24/7. But for millions of people with advanced kidney disease – including about 570,000 Americans — that essential task is no longer automatic.

The job of failed kidneys must be done by a long, exhausting process called dialysis at least several times a week.

About 90 percent of people with kidney failure spend half their remaining lifetime hooked up to dialysis machines and traveling to and from dialysis clinics.

The poor quality of life for dialysis patients became a personal concern of medical device executive Hezkiah Tsoory in 2014, when his own father began this life-supporting treatment.

“Together with a group of scientists, engineers and nephrology [kidney] experts, we came up with a solution that will enable patients and their families to do home dialysis in a very scalable, safe way: a Digital Dialysis Clinic,” says Tsoory, CEO of liberDi based in Or Akiva, Israel.

“Our system is positioned to replace traditional full-service, in-clinic care with a self-care system suitable for many people on or requiring dialysis.”

A Trendlines portfolio company, liberDi received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2019 research and innovation program and won first prize in the 2021 Medimor-Poriyah Medical Center MedTech Startup Contest.
Former baseball star Darryl Strawberry is now an evangelical preacher focused on promoting Israel
As part of his journey after a tumultuous decade and a half in the spotlight, former New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry is speaking at a pro-Israel event in his second career as an evangelical minister.

Strawberry, an eight-time MLB All-Star-turned-traveling-preacher, will be a panelist on Thursday at Extending the Branches of Zionism, an event taking place in New York City and organized by the Jewish National Fund-USA focused on support for Israel among non-Jews.

The panel will include participants from two JNF-USA programs that Strawberry supports called the Caravan for Democracy Student Leadership Mission and the Faculty Fellowship Program in Israel. Both bring non-Jews on Birthright-style trips with the intention of having participants subsequently discuss Israel on college campuses.

“I think the most important thing is, as a non-Jewish person, you have to be able to educate them about Israel,” Strawberry told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on a Zoom call. “I think in this country, a lot of people talk about Israel and talk about the Jewish people, but they’ve never been there. So they don’t even have a clue.”

Strawberry, 60, was a New York sports icon in the 1980s as a leading member of the 1986 World Series champion Mets. With a picturesque, looping swing, the lanky 6-foot-6 outfielder could both hit for power and show off speed on the bases, drawing early predictions from sports analysts that he was destined to be an all-time great.

But Strawberry instead became a poster child for the team’s hard-partying ways, and he and fellow phenom Dwight “Doc” Gooden saw their careers hampered by drug addiction and scandal. Strawberry’s downfall included multiple stays in drug and alcohol rehab centers; multiple surgeries for colon cancer and losing his left kidney; and a charge for getting caught soliciting a prostitute in 1999, the last year he would play professional baseball.
Chaim Topol, of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ fame, dies aged 87
Israeli actor Chaim Topol, who gained international fame for his portrayal of Tevye in the stage and cinematic versions of the “Fiddler on the Roof,” died on Thursday in Tel Aviv after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s.

He was 87 years old.

Topol was best known for his depiction of the central character in Shalom Aleichem’s musical, and then later in the 1971 film adaptation.

The actor was born in Tel Aviv in 1935, and began his career in the army’s entertainment troupe. He later toured Israel with various theatrical companies and eventually co-founded the Haifa Theater.

His breakthrough film role came in 1964 as the title character in Sallah Shabati, written by Israeli Ephraim Kishon. The comedy documented the chaos of Israeli immigration and settlement in the early years of the Jewish state.

Topol won a Golden Globe for the role for most promising newcomer, and the film became Israel’s first-ever nomination for an Oscar in the international film category.

Topol went on to appear in more than 30 films in Israel and the United States, including a role in the 1981 James Bond installment “For Your Eyes Only.”

He also won a Golden Globe for the portrayal of Tevye in the feature film “Fiddler on the Roof” and was nominated for an Academy Award in the best actor category for the role.

He appeared as Tevye onstage in more than 3,500 performances across the globe.
Actor Chaim Topol From ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ Fame Remembered as Israeli ‘National Treasure, Cultural Icon and Mensch’ After His Passing
His performance of Tevye won him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy in 1972, beating out Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka and three other candidates. Topol was also nominated for an Oscar — one of eight nominations that the film received — and in 1991, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in a Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof.

“Anyone who plays Tevye knows he can never top Topol. God rest his soul,” said British-Iranian actor and comedian Omid Djalili in a Twitter post, while the official Twitter account for the state of Israel tweeted about the late actor: “To many of you, he was Tevya, to us Chaim Topol was a national treasure, a cultural icon and above all a human being who loved his country … we lost a legend and a mensch.”

Turner Classic Movies said following his passing, “We are deeply saddened to hear the loss of actor, singer, and illustrator Chaim Topol. A multitalented international star of the stage & screen, we will always remember his warmth that will continue to endure as this sunrise sets.”

“From Fiddler on the Roof to the roof of the world, Haim Topol, who has passed away from us, was one of the most outstanding Israeli stage artists,” Herzog said. “A gifted actor who conquered many stages in Israel and overseas, filled the cinema screens with his presence and above all entered deep into our hearts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also commented on Topol’s death, saying that his “contribution to Israeli culture will continue to exist for generations.”

Topol illustrated more than 20 books in Hebrew and English and his sketches of Israeli presidents were turned into stamps. In 2015, he was awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement. He is survived by his wife Galia Finkelstein and their three children Anat, Ady and Omer.


Israeli actor and singer Chaim Topol dies at age 87



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