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Wednesday, June 14, 2023

06/14 Links Pt2: UN should postpone conference on antisemitism if it does not intend to adopt IHRA; BDS movement co-founder to speak at Toronto ‘anti-racism’ conference

From Ian:

United Nations is right to postpone conference on antisemitism if it does not intend to adopt International Definition of Antisemitism
A United Nations conference on antisemitism scheduled for next week has been postponed.

The conference, due to take place on 20th and 21st June in Spain, was organised to unveil the United Nations Action Plan on Monitoring Antisemitism and Enhancing a System-wide Response.

However, in a letter dated 9th June and sent to conference participants, Miguel Moratinos, High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilisations, who is leading the UN’s work on antisemitism, said: “After very careful consideration and aiming to ensure the action plan is inclusive and benefits from the inputs of all stakeholders, I would like to allow more time for further work and finalisation of the plan during summer 2023.”

The meeting is postponed until September, with no date set.

The postponement came amid concerns on the part of the Israeli mission to the UN and Jewish organisations relating to the content of the draft plan.

In particular, the draft plan, three years in the making, reportedly gives equal space and weight to the International Definition of Antisemitism, Jerusalem Declaration and the Nexus Document. This is despite the fact that, whereas the Definition has the support of Jewish communities around the world and the state of Israel and has been adopted by numerous national governments, multinational organisations and provincial and local governments and public bodies around the world, the Jerusalem Declaration is a wrecking document intended to undermine the globally-recognised Definition, and the Nexus Document is a fringe alternative definition which also exists solely and explicitly to undermine the Definition and create space for certain far-left expressions of antisemitism.

For this reason, Campaign Against Antisemitism and swaths of Jewish organisations wrote to the UN urging the adoption of the Definition alone.

The draft plan references the Definition and the two fringe alternatives, and urges UN member states to formulate an acceptable definition, despite the fact that the Definition was drafted over many years and has already been adopted by numerous member states on various continents, and enjoys the support of Jewish communities across the world.

It is understood that Mr Moratinos did not consult with the Israeli mission to the UN or the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and did not even invite the Israeli ambassador to the UN to the conference.
Envoys to UN in Geneva visit Israel, get ‘different perspective’
The first-ever delegation of senior legal advisers and human-rights experts from permanent missions to the United Nations in Geneva visited Israel last week to get firsthand insights into the country’s institutions, legal framework, population and civil society sector.

The delegation included representatives of the permanent missions of the United States, Italy, Greece, Uruguay, Paraguay, Kenya and Israel.

They were hosted by the Center for Jewish Impact, the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) and Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

“The United Nations is a bubble, too often detached from the reality on the ground. Having firsthand experience of Israel is the ideal way to understand the diversity, the complexity, and the beauty of our country,” said Ambassador Meirav Eilon Shahar, permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations and international organizations in Geneva.

“I am convinced that the diplomats who joined this tour will see Israel from a whole different perspective in the future,” she added.

The representatives were given a geopolitical overview of Israel’s security challenges; learned about its institutions and legal system; met with legal experts; and held a roundtable discussion with Israeli civil society leaders.

They visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum and attended a seminar on antisemitism to learn about historical and contemporary manifestations of the world’s oldest hate, particularly from a legal perspective.

“Despite the United Nations’ challenging environment, underscored by the latest Commission of Inquiry report, these diplomats witnessed a side of Israel that inspires hope and showcases the power of resilience,” said Robert Singer, chairman of the Center for Jewish Impact.

“We showed them Israel that they might otherwise never see, and I think it was an impactful experience for them, which we hope they will use in their professional work,” he said.


Congressman Urges DOJ Probe of Tehran-Endorsed 'Mapping Project'
Rep. Jack Bergman has raised national security alarm bells by calling on the Justice Department to investigate ongoing efforts of an anti-American website that is allegedly promoted by Iran's regime and incites assassination attacks against U.S. law enforcement personnel and American Jews.

Bergman, R-Mich., sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland earlier this month. The letter, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, called for immediate action.

He wrote, "To protect Americans' national security interests and religious freedoms, the Justice Department should commission a full investigation into the origins and funding of the Mapping Project, including possible collaboration with the Islamic Republic."

Fox News Digital has reported extensively on the Mapping Project in 2022, when it was first revealed, and in March with respect to the role of the Iranian regime in supporting the terrorism aims of the Mapping Project.

Bergman stated in his letter to Garland, "I write to express my concern that the Islamic Republic of Iran is covertly supporting a purported social justice movement in the United States known as 'the Mapping Project' as part of a sophisticated campaign to sew social discord and undermine public faith in American institutions.

"Launched in 2022, the Mapping Project maintains a website with an interactive map that pinpoints the precise geographic locations of more than 500 civil society, government, national security, religious, and community organizations in the state of Massachusetts that it claims should be 'dismantled' for advancing perceived 'harms' in the United States and in Israel."

He noted, "Among the entities whose precise locations are shared on the Mapping Project website are some 271 police stations – law enforcement is a frequent target for the Mapping Project, which publicly called for the abolition of the Boston Police Department – nine U.S. military bases and installations, and several Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Secret Service offices. Nearly 300 of the approximately 500 organizations mapped by the Mapping Project contribute to the nation's national security."
BDS movement co-founder to speak at Toronto ‘anti-racism’ conference
A Canadian group called Independent Jewish Voices is hosting an “Anti-Racist Solidarity and the Fight for Justice in Palestine” conference in Toronto from June 16-17. One of the slated speakers is Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the anti-Israel BDS movement.

By “platforming speakers like Omar Barghouti,” the group “is making clear that it supports a one-state framework, which would mean the destruction of the Jewish state, which Barghouti unabashedly sets out as his objective,” said Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. “It demonstrates in the clearest of ways that the group has no interest in promoting peace and universal rights.”

Fogel added that IJV should be seen as only representative of “the fringe minority who actually affiliate with it” and not of Canadian Jewry. “Those who do accord this group any credibility must be understood as doing so to justify their own anti-Israel political agendas,” he said.

Bargouti has said: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian, rational Palestinian, not a sell-out Palestinian, would ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

Another speaker at the event, Shatha Ayman, has supported the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Canada lists as a terrorist entity.


Pro-Palestinian activist jailed for 18 months after Jewish man 'beaten with crutches'
A New York court has sentenced a pro-Palestinian activist to 18 months in jail for attacking a Jewish man two years ago.

Joey Borgen was attacked by Waseem Awawdeh and four assailants while walking to a pro-Israel rally in Manhattan in May 2021.

Borgen was called a "dirty Jew" before being punched, kicked, pepper-sprayed and beaten with crutches, causing numerous injuries, including a concussion.

He had been wearing his kippah.

Awawdeh pleaded guilty in April to attempted assault in the second degree as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.

He received consecutive jail terms of 12 months for the assault charge and six months for the weapon charge.

Borgen delivered a victim impact statement at the sentencing of Waseem Awawdeh, 24, who was filmed beating Borgen with crutches, calling him a 'dirty Jew' and pepper spraying him.

According to the New York Post, Borgen told the court: "Why is he getting a break? I really can't fathom why he's getting a deal. Me, personally, I wanted to go to trial, I wanted to see full justice".

Awawdeh had faced up to seven years in prison, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office offered the 18 month sentence in exchange for his guilty plea.

Awawdeh said: "I have no problem doing it again" after his arrest, according to prosecutors, adding: "If I could do it again, I would do it again."

Another attacker in the case, Faisal Elezzi, pleaded guilty in April to attempted assault in the third degree as a hate crime.

He will serve three years of probation and go through mandatory anti-bias programming, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said.

The three remaining defendants — Mohammed Othman, Mohammed Said Othman and Mahmoud Musa — will stand trial in August.


J-TV: European Leftist vs Rudy Rochman on Israel DEBATE
Rudy Rochman debates a student UC Berkley campus over double standards with regards to Israel and Zionism. A J-TV Collab project.


Native American leaders seek to establish embassy in Jerusalem, strengthen ties with Israel
Chief Joseph Riverwind, a leader of the Arawak Taino Nation and peace chief between tribal nations, and his wife, Dr. Laralyn Riverwind, who is ambassador-at-large for the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee, have been building bridges with Israel and the Jewish people for decades. After years of bringing delegations of Native Americans to Israel, the Riverwinds have expressed their desire to open a Native American embassy in Jerusalem.

The Riverwinds told The Media Line that they are inspired by the story of the Jewish people and Israel—the story of an exiled people who returned and settled in their native homeland. “The story of the Jewish people, the indigenous people of Judea, brings us hope. For a tribal nation that has been able to return home, to their sacred sites, their culture, their tradition, their language,” said Riverwind.

The importance of combatting antisemitism
He added that combating antisemitism is one of their main goals while bringing delegates to Israel repeatedly. “Unfortunately, a lot of anti-Israel propaganda is hitting America, and that is starting to slowly get into the indigenous communities of the United States,” he added.

“We desire to educate people about the history, the long-term history of Israel and Judea,” said Riverwind, stressing that teaching ancient history is so important to make people understand the bond between Jews and the land of Israel.

The Riverwinds are also co-founders of FireKeepers International, a charitable organization committed to preserving and teaching indigenous and modern life skills, traditional holistic healing, feeding the hungry, and helping veterans through their healing process.
What Arab-Israeli Ties Look Like Behind The Headlines: A Fireside Chat With Ofir Gendelman, Former Israeli Spokesperson To The Arab Media & Founder & CEO Of Gendelman Strategic Consulting
Israel’s ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain are often pointed to as a model for what Israel-Arab relations can look like if they reach their full potential: extensive economic and cultural ties, and an open embrace of open relations.

But why is it that some Arab countries have accepted Israel’s existence, even enthusiastically adopting ties, while other states have refused? And what will it take for the Palestinian leadership to recognize the benefits of peace with Israel that other Arab leaders in the Middle East have already done?

Or, as some critics contend, is the Palestinian Authority too invested in conflict with Israel to ever acknowledge the economic growth potential that lies in a peace agreement with the Jewish State?

To help us navigate this complex web, we are joined by Ofir Gendelman. For 17 years, Ofir served as Israel’s spokesperson to the Arab media. He previously served in Israel’s Embassy to Canada in Ottawa as First Secretary and Consul, among other roles. Currently, he manages Geldeman Strategic Consulting, which assists Israeli and international companies expand their business in the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco.
Israel records $12.5 billion in defense exports, 25% to Arab neighbors
The Defense Ministry on Wednesday announced a record $12.556 billion in defense exports during 2022, with Israel getting a boost from new Abraham Accords’ countries.

These new allies accounted for almost 25% of exports.

Though the report did not name countries, it is known that the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have purchased defense products and Morocco and Sudan are also part of the Abraham Accords.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, “The remarkable data unveiled by the Israeli defense establishment, reaching new heights in defense exports, showcases the State of Israel's strength and excellent technological capabilities. Through the creativity and innovation of both the Israeli defense establishment and the Ministry of Defense, we not only outpace our adversaries but also sustain our qualitative edge.”

Defense Ministry Director-General Eyal Zamir stated, “Global instability increases the demand for Israeli air defense systems, drones, UAVs, and missiles, and we continually work to preserve our capabilities and strengthen them.”

Director of SIBAT Brig. Gen. (res.) Yair Kulas added, “Looking ahead, the geostrategic changes in Europe and Asia in addition to the Abraham Accords generate a high demand for Israel’s cutting-edge systems. The Defense Ministry is actively collaborating with Israeli defense industries to continually increase the scope of defense exports.” Defense exports increased by 50% compared to previous three years

The report said that 2022 saw a 50% increase compared to the previous three years and that the volume of sales had doubled compared to the prior decade.
UAE expected to join Israel in global communications project
A communications corridor that will transmit digital data between Asian and Arab countries and with Europe and the West through Israel is expected to be constructed in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates and an additional Arab country that has not yet made peace with Israel, Israeli officials said Monday.

The agreement of the project, which is slated to be signed in the coming months, is the latest sign of the growing economic ties between Israel and the UAE.

The proposal will see the laying of fiber optic cables along the 250-km.-long Europe Asia Pipeline Co. (EAPC) pipeline between Eilat and Ashkelon, while two-way underwater cables will be affixed between foreign countries and Israel, said Elad Malka, deputy director general of the Israeli Communications Ministry.

Malka, speaking to JNS, declined to name the additional Arab country that is expected to join the project.

Foreign companies will be tasked with the work on the cable from their countries to Israel, he said, while Israeli companies will be in charge of the intra-Israel section.

“The Abraham Accords made this possible,” Malka said. “Before this there was no one to connect to.”


JNS TV: Iraqi Kurdish journalist: I feel at home in Israel | Our Middle East
Are the people of the Middle East more ready for peace with Israel than we have been told? Will the indigenous minorities of the Middle East find common ground with the Jews of Israel?

In this week’s episode of "Our Middle East," Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs President Dan Diker hosts Suzan Quitaz, a Kurdish-Swedish journalist based in London. Because they were Kurds, Quitaz’s family was deported from Iraqi Kurdistan when it was under the control of Saddam Hussein and she grew up in Sweden.

They discuss
- the commonality of the Kurdish and Jewish story
- the want of the people of the Middle East to make peace with Israel
- the grave misunderstandings by the US about the region


Dame Margaret Hodge: Far left bullies are no better than the far right
I remain immensely proud of my successful battle against the BNP. In 2006, I was in my sixties when the BNP secured 12 seats in Barking and Dagenham town hall, having only stood 13 candidates. Had they managed a complete slate across the borough they would have swept the board and taken control of the council. So when Nick Griffin announced he would stand against me in the 2010 election, I knew the threat was serious.

I could have retired. My husband was terminally ill. But as a first-generation immigrant whose family had fled persecution, abandoning the fight against the BNP was simply not an option. Defeating Griffin was essential to extinguishing his brand of antisemitic politics in London. I put all my energy into the battle for Barking.

The Jewish community were immensely supportive. The Community Security Trust helped me develop my campaign strategy and many Jewish people, including traditionally Conservative-supporting Jews, helped finance our campaign. In the meantime, I had to get used to racist jibes, including when one BNP activist screamed at me in the street, “Get back to Germany, Margaret”; to which I retorted, “I can’t. They killed all my family.”

So why the attack from the extreme left today? Obviously, I am a target because of the role I played in challenging Corbyn’s despicable role in allowing antisemitism to infect the Labour Party. But something more worrying is at play. Almost two decades ago, many voters in Barking and Dagenham first turned to the BNP out of frustration with the Labour Party, because they felt we did not care about, or even understand, their concerns.
Jewish leaders demand termination of CUNY Law dean after antisemitic speech
CUNY is the 'most systemically antisemitic US university'
A 12-page report released just days ahead of the controversial commencement speech claimed that CUNY has become the most systemically antisemitic US school in the past two years.

The report was compiled by Students and Faculty for Equality at CUNY (SAFE CUNY), an NGO that describes itself as an alliance of CUNY students or scholars. The report alleges that there are alarming levels of deep-rooted, systemic antisemitism at the highest levels of CUNY "perpetuated through lies, coverups, retaliation campaigns, intimidation against whistleblowers and corruption that has penetrated the deepest corners and the most senior leaders of the university."

While the report shies away from investigating or re-investigating the "relentless barrage of antisemitic incidents since at least 2015," CUNY has made a slew of headlines in recent years for anti-Jewish occurrences.

Last year, The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) filed a Title VI complaint against CUNY, which has 25 college campuses across the five boroughs. It alleges that CUNY has ignored a sustained pattern of antisemitic activity.

Numerous antisemitic incidents dating as far back as 2013 are listed in the complaint. Among them are several instances of students carving swastikas on school property. In all of these cases, CUNY was aware of the incidents and did nothing to stop them nor the situation, the complaint claims.

Rafaella Gunz was a student at CUNY but left the institution due to what she described as a "toxic" antisemitic environment.

"There was just a big sort of like, icing out of me, a big culture of exclusion amongst the Jews that don't full-heartedly endorse the Palestinian cause by any means necessary," said Gunz, who noted that the anti-Zionist CUNY Law Jewish Law Students Association was of no help. "Basically, I was just not welcome in the community, despite the fact that I agree with them on, like, 99% of issues."

CUNY Law School faculty adopted a BDS resolution on May 11 that had been originally introduced and passed by the student government in December. The resolution officially endorses BDS, and calls on the institution to divest from Israel, end all Israeli student exchanges, and cut ties with any groups that "repress Palestinian organizing."

"CUNY's persistent and longstanding practice of ignoring antisemitism has enabled it to foment the horrifying Jew-hate that we are all seeing now across its campuses," said SAFE CUNY.

Other controversies at CUNY included having Nerdeen Kiswani, the founder of the anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime (WOL), give the CUNY Law graduation commencement speech on May 12.

Kiswani has been under scrutiny in the past for threatening to light a person's IDF sweatshirt on fire, as well as several controversial statements.

Gunz, a former classmate of Kiswani's at CUNY Law, has said that Kiswani has been criticized "because she interrupts Holocaust memorial ceremonies and says that she hopes the last thing Zionists hear in their life is 'pop pop.'"

In 2017, CUNY invited Linda Sarsour to deliver a commencement address to the school of public health despite nearly 9,000 petition signatures imploring the university not to honor Sarsour's long history of antisemitic comments. Sarsour has sympathized with terror against Israeli Jews, is a supporter of Louis Farrakhan, and has stated that “Israel was built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everybody else.”


CAA writes to Glastonbury Festival and its partners over planned screening of pro-Corbyn propaganda film
Campaign Against Antisemitism is writing to Glastonbury Festival and its partners over the Festival’s planned screening of a propaganda film about the antisemitic former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Festival’s Official Connectivity Partner is Vodafone, with whom it announced a “multi-year partnership” earlier this year, and its Official Media Partners are listed as the BBC and The Guardian.

The Festival’s website links to a description of the film, titled Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! The Big Lie, which says that it “explores a dark and murky story of political deceit and outrageous antisemitic smears.”

Also linked is a trailer of the film, in which one interviewee questions whether Mr Corbyn was brought down by an “orchestrated campaign”.

The film’s contributors include a who’s who of controversial figures such as Jackie Walker, who has previously stated that Jews were “chief financiers” of the African slave trade; the filmmaker Ken Loach, who caused outrage when, during an interview with the BBC, he refused to denounce Holocaust denial. Both were expelled from the Labour Party; Graham Bash, the Political Officer of the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation Jewish Voice for Labour; and Moshe Machover, a professor and Holocaust revisionist. All have been expelled from the Labour Party, although Mr Machover was readmitted.

Also involved is Andrew Murray, a close adviser to Mr Corbyn who, in 2005, authored an article in which he claimed that the roots of the 9/11 terror attacks lay in “Zionist colonialism” of the Balfour Declaration.

The film is narrated by comedian Alexei Sayle who claimed in 2014 that BBC presenter Emma Barnett, who is Jewish, supported the murder of children following an article and radio interview in which she had decried antisemitism amongst anti-Israel activists.


BBC Laps Up Amnesty International’s Latest Anti-Israel Hit Job
Carrying on its long tradition of unfairly attacking Israel, Amnesty International has published another hatchet job masquerading as a serious investigation this week.

The report, “Israel/OPT: Civilian deaths and extensive destruction in latest Gaza offensive highlight human toll of apartheid,” accuses Israel of committing a war crime in its pursuit of Islamic Jihad terrorists in the Gaza Strip last month.

As is the usual fashion when it comes to Amnesty, the 1,300-word denunciation of Israel exercising its legally-sanctioned right to defend itself is replete with hyperbole, distortions and outright lies — the latter demonstrated in Amnesty repeating its well-worn libel that Israel is an apartheid state.

Given that Amnesty so clearly has an anti-Israel axe to grind, one would think that reputable news organizations, like the BBC, which prides itself on its commitment to impartiality, would take anything published on the Amnesty website with a pinch of salt.

Alas, not so.

Instead, the BBC has regurgitated almost word-for-word Amnesty’s most damaging allegations surrounding Israel’s role in the May conflagration, including Amnesty’s claim that the IDF mounted “disproportionate air strikes which killed Palestinian civilians.”

Of course, and this should go without saying, there is nothing disproportionate about killing terrorists who are planning to launch attacks on Israeli civilians.

In the piece, ‘Amnesty: Possible war crimes in recent Israel-Gaza fighting,’ the BBC’s Middle East desk correspondent David Gritten quotes as length Amnesty’s repeated claim that Israeli strikes to take out Islamic Jihad commanders were excessive, as well as the NGO’s malicious assertion that the risk to civilians in Gaza was “likely disregarded” by those in Israel who “planned and authorised the attacks.”
BBC Arabic yet again corrects on Jordanian custodianship in Jerusalem
This is not the first time that the BBC has erred on this topic: the last correction was prompted by CAMERA Arabic in November 2022 with the corporation acknowledging that:
“Jordan’s custodianship (or special role) in Jerusalem’s holy sites… extends to Muslim sites only”.

CAMERA Arabic contacted the BBC regarding this recurring error by its Arabic service and received the following response on May 3rd:
“The editors of the Arabic Service […] have reviewed the video with their colleagues in the Amman bureau. The video has been amended to reflect the correct facts about Jordan’s role with regards to the sites in Jerusalem.

We apologise for the errors.”

Accordingly, all references to Christian sites were removed from the item and the video is now 28 seconds shorter as a result. The text was corrected as follows:
“Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and Holy Places described what had happened as violating al-Aqsa and Jerusalem’s holy places, drawing on the Hashemite custodianship, which grants Jordan the right to oversee and administer al-Aqsa Mosque and the Muslim and Christian holy places in the city of Jerusalem.”
Guardian plumbs new depths in evoking Israeli villainy
An analysis by the Guardian’s Bethan McKernan explored the likely political motivations for China’s recent foray into the Israeli-Palestinian issue – in particular, Beijing’s efforts to facilitate talks between the parties predicated on a two-state solution.

The only thing notable in the piece (“China’s Palestinian moment is about global standing rather than peace”, June 12) was the opening sentence in the following paragraph:
Despite seeming parallels, there is no official Palestinian position on the plight of China’s persecuted Uyghur people. A delegation of Arab League diplomats visited Xinjiang province last week, a move widely criticised by rights groups as whitewashing Beijing’s human rights abuses against the Muslim minority.

If, as it seems, McKernan is suggesting “parallels” between China’s persecution of the Muslim Uyghurs and Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, then this is among the more egregious examples of the outlet’s moral myopia and abject ignorance we’ve ever come across.

Let’s briefly unpack it.

The Uyghurs are a mostly Muslim, Turkic-speaking ethnic group living in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. China’s totalitarian regime has, since 2017, engaged in a systematic campaign of cultural genocide – an effort to erase entirely the Uyghur traditions, language, faith and ethnic identity.

Approximately one million Uyghurs are currently imprisoned in forced-labour and re-education camps merely for practicing their religion, having international contacts or communications, or attending a western university. In these camps, many are forced to renounce Islam and swear their allegiance to the Communist Party. They’re subjected to torture, sexual violence, forced sterilizations and abortions.

China’s campaign of ethnic cleansing against this Muslim group also includes the state’s destruction of thousands of Uyghur mosques, cultural sites and graveyards – and other steps, such as banning certain Islamic practices.

Further, reminiscent of Nazi propaganda videos purporting to show Jewish concentration camps inmates being treated well and thriving, the Chinese government has reportedly recorded a series of videos attempting to depict Uyghurs as happy with their lives, with some denouncing international criticism of China.
As New York Air Quality Improves, Fox Coverage Is Smoggy
In a June 10 Weather First Weekend report on New York’s improving air, Fox Business mischaracterized Israel’s air quality as among the worst in the world.

“The mood has lifted for all of us because it just feels so much better to be able to breathe in clean air,” Amy Freezer, Fox’s co-anchor of weather command, reported Sunday morning, June 10.

Craig Herrerra responded: “You nailed it, when you said that. Inhale and exhale. Of course, that’s moving to other parts of the country. But New York City finally seeing some improvement after that record-breaking week across the big apple. Some of the worst air quality or the worst air quality recorded in the city’s history. ”

To which Amy Freeze misleadingly responded: “At times we were the worst in the world, worse than India, worse than Israel, some of the places that are plagued with poor air quality.”

While India's air quality is indeed ranked among the 10 worst countries in the world (coming at 8th place), Israel does not even appear in the list of the 50 countries with the worst air quality, ranking 53 out of 131 countries:


German Panel Says Kandinsky Painting Should Be Returned to Heirs of Jewish Couple Persecuted by Nazis
A 1907 painting by the legendary Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky currently owned by the Bavarian state bank should be returned to the heirs of a Jewish couple from Amsterdam who originally owned the artwork, an independent German commission advised on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

The commission said that from November 1927, the painting titled The Colorful Life by the Russian artist was owned by Hedwig Lewenstein Weyermann and Irma Lewenstein Klein, a Jewish couple living in Amsterdam. The artwork shows a large group of people, dressed in colorful ensembles, out on a lawn while some of them eat, play music or appear to be dancing.

The painting was auctioned in the Nazi-occupied city of Amsterdam on Oct. 9, 1940, but beforehand the Lewenstein family had loaned it to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, from where it was taken on Sept. 5 1940, the commission said. It added that the painting was acquired in auction by Salomon B. Slijper, whose widow sold it to Bayerische Landesbank in 1972. It has since on loan from the bank to the Staedtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus and Kunstbau museum in Munich.

Bayerische Landesbank argued that the painting may have been sold by Klein as part of her divorce settlement. However the German panel concluded that “the painting was seized as a result of persecution,” and that the Jewish couple in Amsterdam “were persecuted as Jews” when the German occupation of the Netherlands began in 1940.

“There is no evidence to support the assumption that Irma Lewenstein Klein arranged for the painting to be handed over of her own free will,” the commission added.
Solihull Neo-Nazi jailed for extreme racist, antisemitic and pro-terror group posts
A neo-Nazi who kept an unlicensed shotgun has received a prison sentence of almost four years for praising a banned terror group and posting racist, homophobic content online.

Richard Osborne, 53, pleaded guilty to two counts of publishing material intended to provoke racial hatred and homophobia.

The Solihull resident received a prison sentence of three years and ten months for posting racist and homophobic materials on the Russian social media platform VK at least 120 times.

Osborne was a supporter of a far-right banned terrorism group and posted the flag of banned neo-Nazi group National Action.

He often posted graphic, racist materials on his VK profile – ranging from Holocaust denial and trivialisation, anti-Jewish and anti-Black cartoons published on a US-based white supremacist website, to content calling for the violent removal of Muslim, Jewish, and Black communities from the UK and Europe.

Following his arrest, Orborne’s property was searched and a shotgun was found under a bed. He was charged with possession without a license.


Toronto Jews to hold ‘Jewish Pride’ motorcycle and car rally
Herut Canada expects several hundred people to attend “A Day of Jewish Pride” motorcycle and car rally in Toronto on June 25.

The 11 a.m. event, which is to include speakers, a Krav Maga demonstration and class, Israeli music and food—is to commence at Earl Bales Park in North York. According to recent data, Jews, who make up 3.4% of the Toronto population, are the victims of 26% of the Ontario capital’s crimes. (A retooled Holocaust museum opened last week in Toronto.)

“Antisemitism is very much alive both here and the rest of the world. Jews need to come out, be tough and show our pride,” Aaron Hadida, national director of the local chapter of Herut, a pro-Israel nonprofit, told JNS.

Organizers anticipate a line of cars, motorcycles and other vehicles “coming out and showing that we are not afraid,” Hadida, who hosts a podcast called “Tough Jews,” told JNS. Herut will also hand out Israeli flags and T-shirts.

No one should have to endure discrimination based on the culture or community into which one is born, according to Hadida.
Sicily’s Jews have their first rabbi in 500 years. Italy’s Jewish establishment won’t accept them.
Rabbi Gilberto Ventura believes his synagogue has the most beautiful view in the world. Located in the tower of a century-old castle on the slopes of Mt. Etna in the eastern Sicilian city of Catania, the synagogue is wedged between a snow-capped volcano and the sun-kissed Mediterranean sea.

The 49-year-old Brazil-born rabbi also thinks his congregation is one of the most unique in the world. It’s made up mainly of Bnei Anusim — descendants of Jews forced to hide their religious practice and convert to Catholicism after the Spanish Inquisition of 1492. Before that infamous decree, Sicily was home to tens of thousands of Jews.

The synagogue, which was first inaugurated last fall, is the result of decades of grassroots efforts by those descendants in Catania to find each other and forge a sense of community that had been lacking for centuries.

Hiring a full-time rabbi was the last piece of the puzzle, and Ventura, who has a long history of working with communities of Bnei Anusim in Brazil, was a natural candidate. He arrived in Catania in January.

“I really believe that the future Judaism in the world, especially in some places like Italy and, of course, Brazil, is connected to the Bnei Anusim, and the need to embrace the Bnei Anusim,” Ventura said.

But in an ongoing point of frustration, the formal organization representing Italian Jewry, the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI), does not recognize them as Jews.
Israeli researchers reach 'breakthrough' in fight against skin cancer
A new study conducted at Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer reveals how melanoma cancer cells affect their close environment to support their needs by forming new lymph vessels in the dermis (inner layer of the skin) to go deeper and spread through the body.

The researchers, who call it a “breakthrough,” believe that their discovery could contribute to the development of a vaccine against the deadly cancer.

The study was led by Prof. Carmit Levy of TAU’s Faculty of Medicine and Prof. Shoshana Greenberger from Sheba. Funded by the Israel Cancer Research Fund, its results appeared under the title “Primary melanoma miRNAs trafficking induce lymphangiogenesis” in Nature’s Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

Melanoma, the deadliest of all skin tumors, starts with the uncontrolled division of melanocyte cells in the epidermis – the top layer of the skin. In the second stage. the cancer cells penetrate the dermis and metastasize through the lymphatic and blood systems.

In previous studies. a dramatic increase was observed in the density of lymph vessels in the skin around the melanoma - a mechanism that has not been understood by researchers until now.

“Our main research question was how melanoma impacts the formation of lymph vessels, through which it then metastasizes,” Greenberger explained. “We demonstrated for the first time that in the first stage, in the epidermis, melanoma cells secrete extracellular vesicles called melanosomes.
Woman on Israeli beach finds 3,000-year-old figurine
A woman strolling on Israel’s Palmachim Beach south of Tel Aviv found a 3,000-year-old figurine of an Egyptian goddess, which she turned over to archaeologists at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Lydia Marner, 74, a resident of Lod and an Azerbaijani immigrant, said she and her husband noticed an object emerge from the sea one stormy day “about a month ago.”

Understanding she had found something significant, Marner contacted friends who were knowledgeable in archaeology, then reached out to the Antiquities Authority via its Facebook page.

Inspectors Dror Citron and Idan Horn were dispatched to examine the ancient figurine. After examining and cleaning the statuette, the Authority announced the find on Tuesday.

“I can’t believe I had the privilege of finding this. At first, my husband laughed at me, but today, the whole family already knows the amazing story that happened to me. I’m very happy that the honor of finding it fell to me,” Marner said.

The Antiquities Authority confirmed that the figurine represented Hathor, an Egyptian goddess associated with fertility, strength, protection and wisdom.

According to Amir Golani, an expert on the Bronze Age at the authority: “The Canaanites used to adopt ritual and religious customs of the Egyptians, who ruled our region at the time. Just like homes today, where you install a mezuzah or hang a picture of a saint on the wall, then, they used to place ritual figurines in a central place in the house, for good luck and protection from bad things.”

The statuette was made of clay that was embedded into a stone pattern, a process allowing people to quickly produce numerous such figurines, he explained.
Ed Sheeran is popular — but Talmud more so, per stadium attendance
British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran came close to setting the attendance record at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, drawing a crowd of 89,106 concertgoers.

The current record-holder? A celebration of Talmud study in 2012 that filled the seats and stands with 93,000 people, most of them Orthodox men.

That gathering, called the Siyum HaShas, marked the completion of the seven-and-a-half year cycle of Daf Yomi, the practice of studying one double-sided page of Babylonian Talmud per day.

The 2012 ceremony re-entered social media discourse this week due to a tweet from PopCrave, an entertainment news company with 1.4 million followers on Twitter. Its tweet, posted early on Monday, read, “Ed Sheeran breaks the all-time attendance record at MetLife Stadium with a reported crowd of 89,000 people. It is his biggest US show to date.”

The tweet has been viewed nearly six million times, but hours after it went up, a box of text appeared below it fact-checking its claim and citing the Siyum HaShas attendance. The text feature, known as a Community Note, provides context to tweets that contain inaccurate or misleading information. They began appearing on the platform in 2021 and are written by users who apply to write them. A note will show up below a tweet if enough other contributors rate it as helpful.

The Community Note tacked onto the PopCrave tweet was posted just before 10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time and was written by a contributor identified on the platform with the alias “Futuristic Mountain Seagull.”

“The all-time attendance record for MetLife Stadium of 93,000 people was set by the 12th Siyum HaShas on August 1, 2012,” the note reads. It includes a link to the Wikipedia page for MetLife Stadium. Sheeran’s attendance figure was reportedly the largest ever for a concert at the stadium.




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