Sunday, May 07, 2023

05/07 Links: The Nakba Narrative: A History of Deception; World Food Programme to suspend aid to Gaza, WB; US lawmaker touts terror-linked orgs' support to condition Israel aid

From Ian:

Examining The ‘Crime’ That Was Mahmoud Abbas’ Rejection of Peace
Would an affirmative response by Abbas have led to a final end-of-conflict agreement?

There were certainly major concerns, such as Olmert’s weak position as prime minister and evidence that in the later stages, Livni attempted to undermine the process.

Despite these flaws, the Americans believed that if the two leaders came to an agreement, momentum would prevail and that no subsequent leader would reverse course and say no to the deal.

Rice makes this exact argument, writing in her conclusion on this topic: “Had Abbas expressed a willingness to accept the extraordinary terms he’d been offered, it might have been a turning point in the long history of the intractable conflict.”

There is no way to know of course, but the Palestinian rejection ensured certain failure. What is beyond doubt is that a sitting Israeli prime minister was ready to agree to a definitive peace agreement that would establish a Palestinian state on territory equal to 100 percent of the West Bank and Gaza, but Abbas said no by refusing to show up to a follow-up meeting and never offering another response or counteroffer.

The real reason for the rejection was not Olmert’s weak standing; it was Abbas’ unwillingness to budge from maximalist Palestinian demands, even if it meant losing out on the chance for Palestinian statehood. The notion of Israel seeking to permanently “dominate” Palestinians or “perpetually occupy” is completely shattered by the Olmert offer and the Barak offer several years earlier.

Anti-Israel discourse deliberately omits or falsifies these events to promote their fabricated narrative of an intransigent Israel unwilling to make peace and end its control of the West Bank.
The Nakba Narrative: A History of Deception
The Nakba Narrative: From 1948 to 1998
The term “al-Nakba” first entered the political lexicon of the Arab world in the late 1930s as a reference to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the modern Middle East in 1920.

The term first became associated with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in August 1948 (as the Israeli War of Independence still raged on) when Constantine Zurayk, a Syrian academic and diplomat based in Beirut, published a slim volume entitled Maana al-Nakba (The Meaning of the Catastrophe).

In this work, Zurayk blamed Arab leaders for the Nakba (due to their military failures and urging of Arab civilians to flee until after the fighting) rather than an alleged grand premeditated Zionist plan to displace the local Arab population (which later became a standard component of the Nakba narrative).

As well, Zurayk’s Pan-Arab ideology meant that he did not consider the Nakba to be an exclusive Palestinian catastrophe but one that primarily affected the larger Arab world.

In the 1950s, some Palestinian writers such as Aref al-Aref began using the term “Nakba” in their writings while others preferred to use different terms. In a 1956 work, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, used the term “al-Karitha” (meaning catastrophe/disaster) since “al-Nakba” had a connotation of the fate of Palestinian Arab society in 1948 being self-inflicted.

In the decades following Constantine Zurayk’s introduction of “al-Nakba” to the Palestinian political lexicon, the term evolved to refer to a narrative that focused exclusively on the Palestinian Arabs (instead of the greater Arab nation) and gradually began to ascribe all blame for the dissolution of Palestinian Arab society to Israeli actions.


NGO Monitor: NGO “Who Profits” Declares Negev Off-limits to Israel
While claiming to scrutinize corporations involved “in the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Syrian lands,” — seemingly referring to the West Bank and Golan — the NGO known as “Who Profits” is increasingly targeting business activity taking place within the 1949 Armistice lines. This suggests that Who Profits, like many other NGOs, considers all of Israel as Palestinian – or Syrian – land, and the NGO advances a false narrative of “apartheid,” treating Israel as inherently illegitimate.

Who Profits maintains an interactive map and accompanying report titled “Tools of Dispossession in the Naqab: Development and Military Projects” – launched in December 2021 – to illustrate “how Israel’s long-standing policies to Judaize and industrialize serve to dispossess the Naqab’s Palestinian Bedouin inhabitants.” The interactive map highlights “several ongoing developmental and military projects in their various stages of implementation.”

This campaign targets civilian infrastructure projects, such as the construction of rail lines and highways, as well as the establishment of military bases in the region. Shockingly, the organization also opposes incentives geared toward Israeli hi-tech workers to encourage them to move to the southern city of Be’ersheva.
US lawmaker touts terror-linked orgs' support to condition Israel aid
US Rep. Betty McCollum touted the support of two organizations designated by Israel as terrorist groups for a new bill seeking to condition US aid to Israel.

Israel's Defense Ministry banned Addameer and Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P) last year, due to their demonstrated extensive ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which the US also designates as a terrorist group. McCollum cites data collected by DCI-P in her proposal.

“The organizations operate under the guise of performing humanitarian activities to further the goals of the PFLP terrorist organization…They also assist in raising funds for the terrorist organization via a variety of methods that include forgery and fraud…[and] are controlled by the PFLP [and] employ PFLP operatives in management,” the Defense Ministry stated at the time.

Including terror-linked groups on a list of civil society organizations
McCollum included the organizations on a list of civil society groups that support her legislation, which also includes J Street, Americans for Peace Now, Jewish Voice for Peace, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Council on American-Isralmic Relations (CAIR) and others.

The bill seeks to prohibit Israel from using US aid “for the military detention, abuse or ill treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention; the seizure and destruction of Palestinian property and homes…[or] unilateral annexation of Palestinian lands in violation of international humanitarian law.”


World Food Programme to suspend aid to Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank
The World Food Programme (WFP) will suspend food aid to over 200,000 Palestinians from next month due to a "severe" shortage of funds, the group's senior official for the Palestinian territories said on Sunday.

"In light of the severe funding shortages, WFP is forced to make painful choices to stretch the limited resources," Samer Abdeljaber, the WFP's country director, he told Reuters by phone from Jerusalem.

"WFP would have to start suspending assistance to over 200,000 people, which is 60% of its current caseload from June."

The most impacted families are in the Gaza Strip, where food insecurity and poverty are the highest, and in the West Bank.

The United Nations agency offers impoverished Palestinians both monthly vouchers with a value of $10.30 per person and food baskets. Both programs will be affected.

Gaza, which has been run by the terrorist group Hamas since 2007, is home to 2.3 million people, of which 45% are unemployed and 80% depend on international aid, according to Palestinian and UN records.

"WFP understands the implications of this unavoidable and hard decision on hundreds of thousands of people who also depend on food assistance for their most basic needs," said Abdeljaber.
Amnesty’s new report says Israel’s facial recognition technology advances ‘apartheid’
NGO Monitor, which monitors the actions of various non-governmental organizations, released a statement in response to this latest report.

“As with previous Amnesty attacks, this document erases the terrorism and public safety concerns that drive Israeli policy, as well as the ways in which technological advancements allow for less intrusive security measures. Amnesty also ignores the ubiquitous nature of facial recognition software in countless settings around the world, treating something that has become commonplace as a unique, particularly egregious form of Israeli wrongdoing,” said NGO Monitor.

“The joint Amnesty International and Breaking the Silence report is a clear attempt to exploit an issue of global debate to further its spurious apartheid campaign and promote a BDS agenda. Like Amnesty’s other apartheid attacks, the group presents claims based on highly distorted or even false information. Moreover, Amnesty continues to strip away the context of terrorism, including dozens of attacks taking place in and around Jerusalem’s Old City” said Shaun Sacks, senior researcher at NGO Monitor.

Arsen Ostrovksy, a human rights lawyer and CEO of the International Legal Forum, said, ““The use of facial recognition software is an entirely legal and commonly used counterterrorism tool by liberal democracies; but like on so many other aspects, Amnesty applies one standard to everyone, and a differential standard to Israel, as part of their relentless campaign of lawfare and delegitimization of the Jewish state. It is also the peak of hypocrisy that on the same day that Amnesty attacked Israel for using AI to actually save lives and prevent terror, they themselves got slammed for using AI to generate fake images. How can Amnesty be trusted on Israel? In short, they can’t!”

Facial recognition software is used by many countries to identify any potential threat including airports in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain.


PMW: The truth about the death of terrorist Khader Adnan
The death of terrorist Khader Adnan is providing the Palestinian Authority with yet another opportunity to show its support for terror and mindlessly attack Israel. As usual, however, an abyss divides between the PA narrative and rhetoric about the event on the one side, and truth and reality on the other.

Khader Adnan Muhammad Musa (Khader Adnan) was a senior member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an internationally designated terror organization. Prior to his current arrest, he had previously been arrested a dozen times for his involvement in terror. While on most occasions he was held in administrative detention - a security measure recognized in international law (see Art. 78 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and state practice) - this time he was indicted for membership in a terror organization and incitement to terror.

Following his indictment, a judge ordered that he be held on remand pending trial. In one of the appeals Adnan submitted against the decision to hold him on remand, the appeals court judge found that there was sufficient prima facie evidence to support the indictment and that considering the nature of the offences, Adnan posed a danger to society sufficient to warrant his remand pending trial:

The court of first instance and the appeals court also considered whether the fact that Adnan had decided to go on hunger strike should affect the decision and found that accepting such an argument would cause others to follow the same course and would end in “security chaos”.

Despite having exhausted his rights to appeal, and despite having been granted additional opportunities to make his claims in court, Adnan continued his hunger strike - from which he eventually died. During his hunger strike, Adnan also dogmatically refused any medical treatment, including refusing to allow the doctors to monitor his vital statistics.

To understand Adnan’s true nature, it is sufficient to listen to one of his speeches exposed by Intellinews on its Twitter account after his death. In the video, Adnan, reportedly speaking at the funeral of an Islamic Jihad terrorist, in October 2007, passionately asks the crowd, who of you is the next suicide bomber – referred to by Adnan as the “next Martyrdom-seeker” – who has the “next explosive belt” and who has “the next shooting?”


Shin Bet releases Jordanian MP for weapons smuggling trial at home
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) released a Jordanian MP to Jordanian law enforcement on Sunday to bring him to trial for illegal weapons smuggling at the Allenby Bridge on April 23.

The agency said MP Imad Adwan attempted to smuggle 12 rifles and 194 guns in his car.

The Jordanian legislature voted to remove Adwan’s immunity on Sunday, Jordanian media reported.

According to the Shin Bet, Adwan exploited his diplomatic status and had been smuggling since February 2022 on 12 different occasions.

While some of the smuggling involved other illegal items, much of the smuggling runs in 2023 involved weapons.

Adwan received significant compensation for the smuggling, the Shin Bet said.

The Shin Bet said they arrested other accomplices in the West Bank and that Jordanian authorities arrested a number of accomplices in Jordan.
Herzog meets Arab leaders on sidelines of Charles III’s coronation
Israeli President Isaac Herzog mingled with an array of national leaders, including those from a string of Arab countries, at a reception at Buckingham Palace on the sidelines of King Charles III’s coronation in London this weekend.

Israel’s head of state connected with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Bahrain’s Crown Prince/Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco.

Herzog also shook hands with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Omani Crown Prince Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, whose countries do not have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.

Charles commended Herzog on his efforts to mediate between Israel’s government and opposition over the proposed overhaul of the judicial system.

The president and his wife, Michal, also met with First Lady Jill Biden, who was representing the United States at the coronation. Michal Herzog spoke with Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Government approves $8.8m budget to restore ancient Israel’s capital in West Bank
The government approved a budget of NIS 32 million ($8.8 million) on Sunday for the restoration and development of the Sebastia archaeological site near the West Bank city of Nablus, a largely neglected historical site over which Israelis and Palestinians have been wrangling for decades.

The proposal was submitted by Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, Tourism Minister Haim Katz, and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who argue that the Palestinian Authority, which oversees some areas in the West Bank, is trying to take control of the site illegally, according to a report in the Haaretz daily. In their proposal, they wrote that the Palestinian Authority recently “declared Sebastia a Palestinian heritage site and promotes illegal and destructive activity in the area with the aim of taking over the place,” while “severely damaging the antiquities at the site.”

Sebastia is situated a few kilometers northwest of Nablus in the northern West Bank. Known in Hebrew by its biblical name Shomron, the site is though to have been the capital of the northern Israelite kingdom in the 9th and 8th centuries BCE, founded by the sixth Israelite king, Omri.

Both Israelis and Palestinians lay claim to the site as their exclusive cultural heritage but it has lain mainly underdeveloped and unexcavated. Israel controls the archaeological park containing the ancient finds, which is in Area C, but the town of Sebastia is in Area B, under joint Israeli and Palestinian control. Its municipality is headed by Palestinian officials who say they want to administer the park, but lack the resources to develop it.
Israeli gov't adopts additional sections of IHRA antisemitism definition
The Israeli government on Sunday adopted a number of additional sections of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition which deals with "distortion and denial of the Holocaust," as well as the definition of "discrimination against the Gypsies/Roma people."

The IHRA definition has already been adopted by dozens of countries across the world.

Diaspora Affairs and the Combatting Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli added that "the IHRA definition is currently one of the most essential and strategic tools for the fight against antisemitism, with an emphasis on 'new antisemitism' that strives to deny the legitimacy of the State of Israel to exist."

Chikli said that the "decision will help Israel in its efforts to get organizations and countries to withdraw their recognition of the BDS movement's decisions concerning, among other things, the denial of the Holocaust."
Israel to commemorate non-citizen Jews murdered by antisemites abroad
For the first time since the establishment of the state, the Israel Cabinet on Sunday decided to commemorate Jews who were murdered abroad in antisemitic attacks even if they were not citizens of the state.

The move, which follows a wave of antisemitic attacks around the globe, aims to deepen the connection between Israel and world Jewry.

“This is an important and necessary step for a nation and a country that has struggled with antisemitism since its inception,” said Yaakov Hagoel, chairman of the World Zionist Organization. He initiated the move last year based on a study by the Boston-based Ruderman Family Foundation.

“Our brothers and sisters living in the Diaspora are an inseparable part of us and unfortunately they struggle every day with antisemitic events,” Hagoel said in a statement.

The proposal adopted by the Cabinet was brought forward by the Minister for Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli. His ministry will formulate the recommendations for recognizing Jews, and non-Jews, killed in antisemitic attacks abroad.

“Including the recognition of victims of antisemitic violence as victims of acts of terrorism is an important and necessary step … [by] Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people,” Chikli, who is also minister for social equality, said.


After six years, Israel razes illegal PA structure at ancient Jewish site
Israel’s Civil Administration demolished a Palestinian Authority school on Sunday morning that had been built illegally in Herodian National Park, an ancient Jewish fortress and town located about 7.5 miles south of Jerusalem.

“We thank the Civil Administration for demonstrating their enforcement this morning near Herodian,” said Chairman of the Yesha Council Shlomo Ne’eman. “Establishing dilapidated schools are in reality P.A. land-grab tactics of state land, which actually put students at risk.

“We have reached an absurd situation where the court, through petitions by civil society organizations such as Regavim, must order the state to do the obvious. This is definitely another step in the persistent struggle for our state land. There is still a lot of work to be done,” he added.

For more than five years, Regavim, an Israel NGO involved in land issues, has been fighting a legal battle against the Civil Administration, the governing body tasked with carrying out bureaucratic functions in Judea and Samaria, to enforce a demolition order against the illegally built school.


Hamas vows to avenge death of Arab Israeli in roadside brawl
The Hamas terrorist organization vowed revenge Saturday evening after an Arab Israeli driver was shot dead earlier in the day during a roadside brawl.

The incident occurred on a road near the Gan Ner town in northern Israel. Footage that circulated on social media showed a scuffle between two men in the middle of the road that ended with one of them shooting the other.

Authorities said 19-year-old Diar Umari from the Arab village of Sandala, was critically wounded in the shooting and taken to a nearby hospital in Afula, where he was pronounced dead.

The Israel Police detained a 32-year-old resident of Gan Ner in connection with the incident. Law enforcement said they were investigating the motive behind the shooting, which took place amid a crime wave gripping Israel's Arab communities.

Resident of Sandala later rioted outside Gan Ner and threw stones at police officers.


Times of Israel, BBC Update Slain Palestinian Teen Jibril Ladaa Was a Hamas Fighter
In response to communication from CAMERA, Times of Israel and BBC Arabic last week improved their respective articles about a Palestinian teen killed by Israeli military fire, adding that he was a Hamas militant after initially neglecting to include that highly relevant information. On its own website, Hamas claimed Jibril Muhammad Kamal al-Ladaa as the organization’s “martyred Jihad warrior.”

In both English and Arabic, the Times of Israel’s May 1 article, “Palestinian teen killed, six others hurt during IDF raid in Jericho,” originally neglected to mention that al-Ladaa was a Hamas member. The article had initially reported:
A Palestinian teenager was killed during an Israeli military raid in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp near the West Bank city of Jericho on Monday morning, Palestinian health officials said.

Editors commendably added the text both in English and Arabic. The amended text now states:
A Palestinian teenager affiliated with the Hamas terror group was killed during an Israeli military raid in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp near the West Bank city of Jericho on Monday morning, Palestinian health officials said.

In addition, the updated article, in both English and Arabic, also adds: “The Gaza Strip-based Hamas later claimed al-Lada’a as a ‘fighter’ and a member of the terror group.”


Arab League readmits Syria 12 years after its suspension over civil war
Arab government representatives in Cairo voted on Sunday to return Syria to the Arab League after a 12-year suspension.

The vote in the Egyptian capital came days after regional top diplomats met in Jordan to discuss a roadmap to return Syria to the Arab fold as the conflict there continues to de-escalate, and shortly before Saudi Arabia hosts the upcoming Arab League Summit on May 19.

The decision for Syria to return also includes a commitment to ongoing dialogue with Arab governments to gradually reach a political solution to the conflict, in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254. The Arab League in the decision also set up a communications committee consisting of Saudi Arabia and Syria’s neighbors Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq to follow up on developments.

There is still no Arab consensus on normalization with Damascus. Several governments did not attend the meeting. Among the most notable absentees was Qatar, which continues to back opposition groups against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and continues to resist normalization with Damascus.

Syria’s membership in the Arab League was suspended 12 years ago early on in the uprising turned-conflict, which has killed nearly a half million people since March 2011 and displaced half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million. Get The Times of Israel's Dail


Jewbotinsky: Don't Ask Saudis What Happened in the Grand Mosque in 1979
This is what happens when you barricade yourself in a mosque in Saudi Arabia...


The lies and libels of Israeli Apartheid Week
Israeli Apartheid Week is an anti-Israel campaign hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on college and university campuses that spreads libels about the State of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The central claim of Israeli Apartheid Week is that Israel practices apartheid against Palestinians and Israel’s Arab citizens. This is an outright lie.

Apartheid was a system of de jure discrimination and segregation in South Africa that was existed from 1948-1994. During apartheid, a white minority ruled and oppressed a majority black population with restrictions on housing, employment and freedom of movement.

Nothing like this exists in Israel. All citizens of Israel, whether they are Jewish, Arab, Christian, Druze or otherwise, have the same legal rights. This is enshrined in constitutional law.

Israel’s Declaration of Independence, the founding document of the country, affirms that Israel “will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture.”

Not only does Israel affirm this in principle, it has upheld it to the best of its ability. Israel’s Arab citizens serve as ambassadors, judges, legislators, journalists, professors, artists, politicians and other leadership roles in Israeli society.
Meet Muhammad Shehada, Social Media’s Favorite Terror Apologist
Muhammad Shehada, a Gaza Strip-based Palestinian author and Twitter activist who rose to fame writing articles for the Jewish Daily Forward, claims to advocate for “peace and coexistence.” Accordingly, Shehada has wished Jews a happy Passover and Rosh Hashanah, in addition to condemning Kanye West/Ye’s antisemitism. His Facebook profile even features a quote from Mahatma Gandhi — perhaps the world’s most celebrated pacifist.

Over the years, the Gazan’s professed commitment to nonviolence has been rewarded with bylines on Al Jazeera, Vice News, The Nation, and 972+ Magazine, as well as with mentions in some mainstream news outlets, including The Washington Post, Newsweek, and the Financial Times.

Yet behind Muhammad Shehada’s superficial lip service to coexistence and a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict lies a thinly veiled anti-Israel agenda that, through lies and deceit, seeks to normalize Hamas terrorism against innocent civilians.

In this piece, we will highlight some of Shehada’s most outrageous comments and claims.

Muhammad Shehada’s Support for Anti-Jewish Terror
On March 30, 2023, we published an article that, in passing, called out Shehada’s long history of support for anti-Jewish terror. Although he was quick to shoot the messenger, telling his 17,000 followers that HonestReporting “weaponiz[es] antisemitism charges,” many Twitter users responded by pointing out that Shehada once posted a jovial selfie with Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ terror chief in Gaza.

In a speech given just days before Shehada’s tweet, Haniyeh told media that “[armed] resistance will continue in the West Bank, Gaza, and the land of Palestine [sic] until we defeat the Zionist occupier… from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea.” Dispelling all doubt surrounding Hamas’ stated intention to wipe the only Jewish state off the map, he added: “Palestine is Gaza, the West Bank, Haifa, Jaffa, Akko, Lod, Ramla, and Safed.”


Twitter reinstates adviser to Israel’s national security minister
Twitter briefly banned Yishai Fleisher, an adviser to Israel’s Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, over the weekend following a May 4 post in which he suggested throwing the bodies of dead terrorists into the sea.

The ban was lifted on Sunday.

Twitter initially banned Fleisher for his response to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s decision to return to their families the bodies of the terrorists who murdered three members of the Dee family. The IDF operation that killed the terrorists took place on May 4.

Fleisher, who is also a spokesman for the Jewish Community of Hebron, tweeted that instead of giving the bodies back, Israel should throw them into the sea. “Let the Jihadists and their supporters know that if they raise a hand against Israel their death will be final,” he said.

The Jewish Press reported that Fleisher received an automated message from Twitter reading, “Your account was suspended due to violations of our Terms of Service. After reviewing for reinstatement your account will not be restored.”

Fleisher responded, “In my role as an adviser to the Israeli government I wrote a tweet recommending a policy to deal with terrorism. If I crossed a line, I apologize.
Israeli comedian leaves US after being questioned by ICE over tweet
Israeli comedian Guy Hochman and his pregnant wife left the United States after a tweet of his was reported to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by a Haaretz journalist earlier this week.

In the tweet, Hochman discusses how his seventh-grade English teacher told him he would never master English, but now he is performing in Miami, although not in English. He goes on to thank those who helped organize the event before finally adding: "Blessings for my pregnant wife that is coming to stay with me here, five months until an American citizen will be born to us."

The tweet was called out by Haaretz journalist Chaim Levinson, saying: "Guy Hochman really drags his pregnant wife to give birth in America so that the child gets citizenship and then preaches to the whole world and his wife about patriotism from Miami?"

Hochman responded by saying "Someone travels for a week to perform for dear Israelis in the US and the journalist who previously beat up IDF soldiers throws a tantrum."

Twitter argument escalates
Five hours later, Levinson tweeted "I updated the immigration police on Guy Hochman's intention to stay in the US so that his wife would give birth there and the child would become a citizen. We won't let this ugly Israeli give a bad name to millions of good citizens. Feel free to fill in as well."

The bottom of the tweet contained a link to the ICE tip form.
Jerusalem Post corrects report about the BBC
On April 23rd the Jerusalem Post published a report titled ‘Israeli MK bashes BBC coverage of settlements, terrorism in letter’ in which readers were originally informed that “The BBC launched an investigation into its coverage of Israel”. The report continued:
“In November, the BBC apologized for its anti-Israel bias in its reporting, and a month later, the corporation launched an investigation into its reporting on Jews and Israel.

The investigation came after the British paper The Jewish Chronicle started a petition for the BBC to launch a probe into its impartiality.

The British government also criticized the BBC’s coverage of antisemitic affairs after the network reported that a group of Jews who were attacked in London were calling out anti-Muslim slurs to the attackers. This was later proven to be untrue.”

CAMERA contacted the Jerusalem Post, pointing out that the BBC has not launched an investigation into its coverage of Israel. Following the Jewish Chronicle’s petition, a cross-party group of members of the two houses of the UK parliament – rather than the BBC – launched a panel of inquiry as reported by that paper at the time.
Dutch police arrest over 150 soccer fans for chanting antisemitic slogans
Police in the Netherlands arrested more than 150 soccer fans on Saturday night for chanting antisemitic slogans while making their way to a match in Amsterdam.

The incident occurred at a metro station close to the capital’s Johan Cruijff ArenA, home of Ajax Amsterdam.

Local news station AT5 said those arrested were AZ Alkmaar supporters.

Opponents of Ajax often refer to the club as “The Jews,” as the team has had several Jewish chairmen and notable players.

European Jewish Association Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin thanked Dutch police for their “determined and decisive action” and called on the board of AZ Alkmaar to commence an educational initiative with the participation of the first team squad, as well as for the club to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of Jew-hatred.

“Antisemitism has no place and must be given no quarter in the Europe of 2023. Those who do not stand up against it with Jews today will find themselves the object of the same hate speech by those same thugs tomorrow,” said Margolin.

Last year, two Dutch fans responsible for antisemitic graffiti targeting a soccer player were ordered by a judge to perform 60 hours of community service and to visit the Holocaust Memorial of Names in Amsterdam.
'Israel is working on space warfare capabilities'
"Israel is working on space warfare capabilities," CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries Boaz Levy revealed in an interview with Israel Hayom on the occasion of the company's 70th anniversary.

He said that the challenges developing around Israel, especially from Iran, are demanding, but that Israel currently possesses the ability to respond, and is busy with "always staying a step or two ahead."

The last few years have been very profitable for the aerospace industry in particular, and defense industries in general, as the outbreak of the Ukraine war created plenty of opportunities in the field. Western Europe is concerned about the possibility of a larger war, for the first time since World War II, which has led to a significant increase in defense budgets and the procurement of various weapons. According to Levy, the main lesson from the war is the need for integrated systems, so-called systems of systems.

"We can no longer look at individual systems, but one thorough system that gets a continuous picture from satellites in the sky, is based on artificial intelligence elements, which can process large amounts of information and knows how to synchronize defense and weapon systems."


Steve Guttenberg and his Judaism take center stage in the adaptation of his memoir
Actor Steve Guttenberg has had the kind of career that put him in touch with nearly every trend in Hollywood. There were prestige films like “Diner” and “Cocoon” and the lighter but wildly successful fare like the first four movies in the “Police Academy” series. “Three Men and a Baby” was the biggest American box office hit of 1987; the 2004 Christmas movie “Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus” somehow spawned a sequel.

In short, it’s the kind of career that would inspire a juicy, dishy memoir, which it did when he wrote “The Guttenberg Bible” in 2012.

Now a brand new stage adaptation, “Tales From the Guttenberg Bible,” is playing through May 21 at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Guttenberg plays himself in the show, in which he explores his career, his Judaism and much more.

“As a tradition and as a culture, [Judaism’s] been a huge part,” said Guttenberg, who was born in Brooklyn in 1958 and raised in Massapequa, on Long Island. “My family didn’t observe Friday nights, but my father was kosher… I was bar mitzvahed, and then when I went out to California when I was 17, I found the temple to be a great respite for me, especially from the loneliness.”

For years, Guttenberg regularly attended the Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles, and later joined Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades.

The show features four actors playing 90 different characters, including the Jewish movie producers Allan Carr and Robert Evans, the voiceover actor Michael Bell (who is Guttenberg’s godfather), as well as Paul Reiser, Merv Griffin and Kevin Bacon. It covers Guttenberg’s life from age 17 — when he famously snuck onto the Paramount Pictures lot, set up an office and sometimes claimed to be the stepson of then-Paramount executive Michael Eisner — through his late 20s.
Metal icon David Draiman on why Israeli audiences are unique
In the past few years, Jewish heavy metal star David Draiman has become nothing short of an advocate of the Israeli state. By his own admission, it has alienated him from certain circles of the showbiz world. But he says that negative public opinion of his political views no longer bothers him.

In fact, American rock band Disturbed, which Draiman fronts, is returning to the Holy Land in June for its second live performance in the country in four years. The first show, on 28th June, sold out quickly, and a second show has now been added on the 29th. Extended family

“The experience last time was absolutely amazing,” he says, referring to the concert in July 2019.

Back then, Draiman made headlines in Israel for singing Hatikva, the Israeli national anthem. “I don’t know how we’re going to have a better one this time.”

Draiman’s grandmother immigrated in the 1920s from Yemen to pre-state Israel, where she resides to this day. The singer’s grandfather used to be part owner of the Hamodia daily newspaper, while his brother Benjamin recently moved to Israel. All that in addition to “thousands of cousins and uncles and all kinds of relatives.”


100-year-old Holocaust survivor throws first pitch for Tampa Bay Rays
Holocaust survivor Helen Kahan celebrated her 100th birthday Friday by throwing the first pitch as local team the Tampa Bay Rays prepared to play the New York Yankees at the Tropicana Field in Florida.

Kahan was given the honor to mark a partnership between the Rays and Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, where she is a volunteer.

“The more I do, I practice here, the more I’m better,” Kahan said in a report from USA Today.

“I did not have time to do it but now I’m doing it,” she said.

Kahan’s family was there to see her throw the pitch, including her 14 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Kahan wore a Rays uniform for the occasion and gave the ball a sprightly lob at the catcher.

Kahan was born in Romania and she, along with the rest of her family was sent to the Auschwitz death camp.


i24NEWS English: American Jewish heritage month: i24NEWS speaks to W.H Liaison to U.S Jewish community
Paying tribute to the generations of Jewish Americans who have helped form the fabric of American history, culture and society, U.S President Joe Biden declares May as the Jewish American heritage month




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