Monday, June 19, 2023

06/19 Links Pt2: Will Anthropology Faculty Group Become a Political Tool to Boycott and Attack Israel?; UN Security Council Explicitly Condemns Antisemitism for First Time in UAE-UK Resolution

From Ian:

Will Anthropology Faculty Group Become a Political Tool to Boycott and Attack Israel?
A network of scholars (Anthropologists for Academic Freedom) has released several statements noting that the resolution is “misguided, is aimed at the wrong target, and will have absolutely no impact upon the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Several of its members recently participated in a webinar, where they passionately implored colleagues to come to their senses.

The problem is that most of the thousands of eligible voters in the referendum probably are not aware of these materials or resources that cogently present counter-arguments. To its credit, the AAA leadership created a Resources page so that members could become better informed about the issues at stake. But this page is buried in the recently revamped AAA website, and is difficult to find.

Furthermore, the page is top-heavy in materials curated and prepared by a pro-boycott group. A letter organized by the AMCHA Initiative, signed by more than 100 organizations and submitted to over 250 university presidents, doesn’t feature on the page, nor does a warning letter issued by The Deborah Project’s legal team.

In the weeks leading up to the vote, AAA leaders have made no effort to restore balance in the debate. They ignored a reasonable suggestion to organize at least one virtual discussion where both sides could have made their case to the membership, followed by a constructive Q&A. What’s worse is that they have failed to ensure that officers of the association’s many committees present both pro and con arguments, with the result being a manifestly unfair deliberation process. For example, the chair-elect of the Archeology Division is reportedly attempting to create a “space for conversation” about the ballot measure by organizing two upcoming webinars that will only feature BDS supporters.

Now that voting on the referendum has begun, some anthropologists appear to be swayed by two of the resolution’s key claims: Palestinians have asked for this kind of support in a “call from civil society organizations,” and Israeli universities are “complicit” in their oppression. Both arguments rely on most AAA voters having little understanding of the BDS movement or the realities of Israeli campus life.

Rather than originating as a request from Palestinian civil society, BDS was rolled out by far-left European NGOs in 2001, at the infamously antisemitic UN anti-racism conference in Durban. Today, more than two decades later, Palestinian academics and human rights activists do not uniformly support academic boycotts. And Arabs who research and teach in Israel’s universities and colleges are definitely no fans of the tactic.

For example, in a compelling testimonial opposing the resolution, professor Alean Al-Krenawi, a former Dean at Ben-Gurion University and currently the President of Achva Academic College (in Yinon, Israel) pleads with AAA members not to undermine his life’s work in support of Arab scholars and students.

The AAA resolution paints a woefully inaccurate picture of Israeli higher education. The truth is that the Israeli academy is not an arm of the state, nor is it malevolently hostile to Palestinians. Like in the US, Israeli university leaders and faculty often protest encroachment of the government into the academy. They also work hard to advance diversity and inclusion as key priorities, and strive to ensure free expression and diversity of viewpoint on their campuses, including by supporting Palestinian voices.

Come July 14, when the voting period closes, it remains to be seen whether a sufficient number of anthropologists will have rejected turning their professional association into an advocacy organization that mandates absolute positions and virulently anti-Israel ideological orthodoxies, violating the intellectual autonomy of those AAA members who disagree.

But one thing is certain: If this foolhardy and detrimental resolution passes, then it will open the floodgates: pro-BDS faculty zealots at many other large and prestigious professional associations, from the Modern Language Association to the American Historical Association, which have also entertained such irresponsible boycott measures in the past, are likely to once again resurrect them, hoping that this time, they can also prevail.

Those who care about the health of the US academy, and the rising tide of vehemently anti-Israel and often antisemitic activity on campus, should hope for the best — and prepare for the worst.
France: Submission to Islamism Quickly Gaining Ground
Samuel Paty, a high school teacher [was] savagely beheaded on October 16, 2020 in... the suburbs of Paris where he taught...

The list of 14 people [indicted] does not include the murderer, Abdullakh Anzorov: he was shot dead by police.

[A]ll investigations show [that teachers] are afraid and practice self-censorship. For 10 years, teachers have not taught about the Holocaust. They have also given up on addressing the subjects that led to Paty's murder: secularism, tolerance and the right to criticize religions.

Throughout France, Muslim students openly threaten teachers by telling them that they are "risking a Samuel Paty". Many topics can no longer be addressed.... In biology class, discussing evolution or Charles Darwin is... unsafe.

Teachers have been resigning in increasing numbers, and recruiting new ones has become a problem.

Recently, anthropologist Florence Bergeaud-Backler in a book called Le frérisme et ses Réseaux, l'Enquête ("The Brotherhood and its Networks: The Survey"), explained in detail the way the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist movements in France use social media networks and mosques to incite Muslim children and adolescents to challenge the education provided in high schools to push the French educational system to submit to their vision of Islam.

The French authorities are aware of what is happening, but do nothing. Apparently, government officials are afraid, too, and do not want to take any risks. They know that more than 750 no-go zones exist in the country, and that riots frequently erupt... Most ended in violence by young people from no-go zones who burned cars and looted shops.

Macron's proposed law, called the "Law confirming respect for the principles of the Republic", has since been rewritten. All references to Islam and Islamism have been removed from the text. Passed on August 24, 2021, it does currently not contain any measure likely to combat the Islamist danger. A paragraph speaks of the need to "protect teachers", but teachers are still not protected. The Islamist movements in French high schools continue to exist.

About 400,000 legal immigrants arrive in France from the Muslim world every year, according to the latest informati0on available. These do not include the thousands who arrive illegally.

A study in September 2020 showed that 74% of French Muslims under the age of 25 placed Sharia above the laws of the republic.... Another study published a year later showed that two-thirds of Muslim high school students also placed Sharia above the laws of the Republic. The same survey showed that 9% of young Muslims said they "share the motivations" of Paty's murderer.


‘The Big Lie film: Glastonbury should not screen Corbyn conspiracy theories’
The documentary Oh Jeremy Corbyn: The Big Lie has been drawing sizeable crowds to ticket-only showings and is now slated to be shown at Glastonbury. I hope the festival thinks again.

The film presents a full-blown conspiracy theory about Corbyn’s opponents, conflating Zionists, Jews and Israel as part of a force that “orchestrated” his overthrow.

That, to me, appears to match at least two examples of anti-Semitism in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition, and should raise legal and ethical questions for any venue considering screening it.

The film claims to tell the story of what caused the Corbyn project to fail, employing a familiar cast of characters: Chris Williamson, Jackie Walker, Tony Greenstein, Graham Bash and Ken Loach, all of whom have been expelled from or suspended by Labour, together with David Miller, the former Bristol University academic sacked after complaints from Jewish students.

Film includes ‘Jewish orchestration’ conspiracy theory
Seventeen minutes in, after presenting evidence of an “orchestrated campaign” against Corbyn, the narrator, Alexei Sayle asks: “But if it was an orchestrated campaign, who was in the orchestra?” There follows a silent montage showing the Jewish Board of Deputies, the Jewish Labour Movement, Labour Friends of Israel, and the Israel Advocacy Movement.

As a professional film-maker I recognise this wordless presentation of a controversial idea not as an accident but as a technique: using captions and pictures to state what, if spoken aloud, could be accused of anti-Semitism.

But the “Jewish orchestration” theory is just one conspiracy the film showcases. There are three others, each of which has become central to far-left paranoia about today’s Labour Party.

Film asks if Starmer is an ‘establishment spycop’
First, the film implies that a majority of Labour MPs were actively trying to lose the 2017 general election, which is purportedly evidenced by the shock shown by some at the unexpected success.

Second it asserts that Labour was doomed “from the moment Keir Starmer became shadow Brexit minister” – ie from October 2016 – because Keir was on a mission to destroy Labour using Brexit as the dividing issue.

Thirdly, it suggests that the Labour leader is a state agent planted either by the CIA or the British security service.

Over a picture of Starmer and Corbyn together, Sayle asserts “In the end it was not the paid officials who brought Corbyn down, but an MP who said he was on his side”.

This leads into a segment entitled “Starmer – Establishment Spycop?” and Sayle elaborates: “Was the colourless Starmer really an undercover saboteur, a sort of establishment spycop who infiltrated the Corbyn project just to bring it down?”. At no point does the film answer in the negative.


What Can the Foreign Press in Israel Learn From This Blockbuster Movie?
On January 15, 2009, US Airways Captain Chesley Sullenberger became a national hero overnight after safely landing a bird-struck passenger jet on the Hudson River. All 155 people on board survived, most with minor injuries, and the media soon dubbed the freak incident a “Miracle on the Hudson.”

Still, his split-second decision to ditch the aircraft became the subject of scrutiny by authorities, with some even claiming he could have returned to LaGuardia or another nearby airport.

In the 2016 film “Sully,” loosely based on true events, government investigators initially suggest that a pilot error was to blame for the loss of the aircraft. Why? Because simulations showed that a successful return or diversion was possible.

What can the foreign press in Israel learn from this acclaimed Clint Eastwood blockbuster?




BBC again visits terrorists in Jenin, promotes one-staters – part one
Yousef Eldin is a London based documentary maker who works for the BBC World Service. Readers may recall that in 2019 Eldin participated in the production of a filmed report concerning detained Palestinian minors which, among other things, included promotion of an NGO linked to a terrorist organisation.

In the early hours of June 13th the BBC News website published a written report by Yousef Eldin headlined “‘As Palestinian youths, the political process has failed us’” and later the same day Eldin promoted a filmed version of his report which appeared on BBC World News TV.

On June 17th the BBC World Service promoted a shorter version of that film on Twitter and for reasons unknown included a link to a 2021 radio programme featuring Jeremy Bowen which was previously discussed here.

The basic premise promoted by Eldin in all those items is that young Palestinians reject the concept of the two-state solution and that their frustration with their own political leaders and processes has led to support for armed confrontation with Israel.

In the written version of Eldin’s report readers are told that:
“…support for armed confrontation is highest amongst under 30-year-olds, with over 56% supporting a return to an intifada, or uprising, against Israel, according to the most recent poll in March.

In the past year, numerous new militant groups have sprung up in the northern West Bank towns of Nablus and Jenin, challenging the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces.

The most well-known are the Lions’ Den and the Jenin Brigades, which have carried out attacks in the West Bank against Israeli forces and settlers.”

As regular readers will be aware, the BBC has done little to inform its audiences about the terror groups – not “militant groups” as Eldin euphemistically portrays them – such as the Lions’ Den which have emerged in areas ostensibly under PA control since 2021 (rather than “in the past year”). Readers would therefore be unlikely to know that the Lions’ Den has not confined itself to carrying out attacks in Judea & Samaria. In September 2022 a planned attack on a synagogue in Bnei Brak by a member of that organisation was thwarted when he was arrested in Jaffa. The Jenin Battalion (aka Jenin Brigades) has claimed responsibility for shooting at Kibbutz Meirav.
(Talk)Back With a Vengeance France24’s Unfiltered Hate-Filled Arabic Comments
Any lessons learned last April at France24 Arabic after CAMERA Arabic exposed unfiltered hate speech thriving on the social media platforms of the publicly-funded French network were apparently as fleeting as a Middle Eastern summer rain.

While editors quickly deleted or heavily edited nearly all of the vile antisemitic talkbacks on its YouTube and Facebook channels which CAMERA Arabic had flagged earlier this spring, a fresh review of new content reveals that unchecked bigoted rhetoric is again rampant on France24’s Arabic talkbacks.

Thus, in France24 Arabic Facebook posts covering a terror attack targeting Jewish Israeli civilians in Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market (April 24, 2023, five wounded) and a deadly terror attack near Hermesh in the northern West Bank (May 30, 2023, one civilian dead), more than a third of the comments expressed joy over the targeting and murder of civilians.

Moreover, the Facebook and Twitter posts covering Jerusalem’s June 1 pride parade served as a particularly strong magnet for raw hatred. Over 100 comments, more than a third of all those published on the two posts, included rabid bigotry either towards Jews, LGBT folks or both. Among the lowlights were pronouncements including: “restarting the Holocaust anew is required,” “they defile the Holy Land, may Allah take them,” and “your end is near, Allah’s willing.”

The Twitter post in particular drew a high ratio of hateful comments. Given that Twitter responses cannot be deleted by anyone except the commentator, previous experience should have taught France24 Arabic that content addressing both Jewish and LGBT affairs would draw an avalanche of hate, and therefore the network’s account administrators should have prevented the orgy of hate by blocking comments in advance.
New York Times Quietly Concedes Jesus Didn’t Live in ‘Palestine’
After twice this year failing to correct false references to Jesus as either Palestinian or living in Palestine, The New York Times has finally come through with a stealth correction on an additional item falsely stating that the revered figure lived in Palestine. In his May 14 article about Christian doomsday cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, Andrew Higgins erred: “Mr. Mackenzie, casting himself as a Christ-like figure, lived in a section he called Galilee — after the area of Palestine where Jesus lived most of his life” (“He Told Followers to Starve to Meet Jesus …,” May 14, 2023).

As The New York Times itself noted in a commendable June 20, 2008 correction, the Romans named Judea and the Galilee, where Jesus was born and then lived, “Palestina” more than a century after he was crucified. The Times correction 15 years ago accurately stated:
The Malula Journal article on April 22, about efforts in the village of Malula, Syria, and two neighboring villages to preserve Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus, referred incorrectly to the name of the region where Jesus spent most of his time. It was Galilee — not Palestine, which derives from the word Palestina, the name that Roman conquerors gave to the region more than 100 years after Jesus’s death.

In 132 (Common Era or AD), approximately 100 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, the Jews fought against Roman rule for a second time in what is known as the Bar Kochba Revolt. After the Romans defeated the rebellious Jews in 135, they renamed the land of the Jews Palestina to punish the Jews and to make an example of them to other populations considering rebellion. The Romans took away the Jewish name, Judea, and replaced it with the name of an ancient enemy the Jews despised. The Philistines were an extinct Aegean people whom the Jews had historically loathed as uncultured and barbaric.

Four years ago, The New York Times corrected an Op-Ed by Eric V. Copage which had erroneously stated: “But Jesus, born in Bethlehem, was most likely a Palestinian man with dark skin.” The April 27, 2019 correction stated: “Because of an editing error, an article last Saturday referred incorrectly to Jesus’s background. While he lived in an area that later came to be known as Palestine, Jesus was a Jew who was born in Bethlehem.”

Regarding last month’s error in the piece on the cult leader, Times editors followed up on CAMERA’s request to correct, quietly deleting the false reference to Jesus residing in Palestine, apparently on May 24. The amended online text now accurately reports, “Mr. Mackenzie, casting himself as a Christ-like figure, lived in a section he called Galilee — after the area where Jesus lived most of his life.” (The publication of this post was delayed as the quiet correction has just now come to CAMERA’s attention.)
Teaching about the Holocaust? This is the best way how
The Holocaust did not occur in isolation or without a historical backdrop. It is important to recognize that such a horrific event could not simply happen without understanding the broader context. When studying the Holocaust, much emphasis is placed on the Nazis’ manipulation and propaganda, but we must also consider the deep-rooted culture of violence, suspicion, and hatred toward Jews that existed for centuries. We must not overlook the fact that many non-Jewish Europeans grew up in societies where hostility toward Jews was ingrained. We must remember the first mass murder of Jews in Europe occurred in Mainz and Worms in 1096.

The story of the Holocaust did not begin in 1933, it began thousands of years ago and it is still being written today. It is vital that people learning about the Holocaust understand that. They must be exposed to the fact that Jews today are living in a time of alarming levels of Jew-hate, which are rooted in similar ideas to that of the Nazis, and other Jew-haters. With much talk of the lessons of the Holocaust, the number one lesson must be to fight Jew-hate specifically.

My classes on the Holocaust were bookended by lessons and activities on Jewish life. In the first lesson, we explored Jewish identity and indigeneity, so the students understood the people at the center of the story they were about to explore. This rooted the story in the Jewish perspective and enabled them to understand the realities of Jewish life.

On the final day of my class, I treated my students to an experience at an Israeli restaurant in Hong Kong. As we savored Middle Eastern dishes like shakshuka, humus, and falafel, I took the opportunity to emphasize the Jewish perspective once again. I wanted to ensure that my students understood that Jewish history extends far beyond the adversity we have endured. It is not confined to the tragic events of 1945.

Instead, it is a testament to our resilience and the continuous progress we have made. Gathered in Hong Kong, we were celebrating Jewish life, embracing its richness, rather than solely focusing on the dark chapters of Jewish persecution and devastation. This moment of realization profoundly impacted my students, enabling them to grasp the broader narrative that encompasses the Jewish people.

So, what does this mean for Holocaust education?
It means that we must prioritize and center the Jewish perspective. We must not diminish the Jewish experience in the Holocaust, nor our historic experience. We must focus on the lives of the Jews who were murdered. Their stories and experiences should be at the forefront of our teaching. By doing so, we honor their memory and ensure that their voices are heard.

Students must also understand that Jew-hate has plagued the world for thousands of years and that it is a continuous threat to the lives of Jews and therefore all lessons on the Holocaust must include time spent learning about the wider context of Jew-hate.

Lastly, students must be taught that Jews are so much more than the hate we face. They must understand the fullness of our experience and history and the richness and beauty of our civilization.

This is how we teach the Holocaust.
‘Unprecedented Step Forward’: UN Security Council Explicitly Condemns Antisemitism for First Time in UAE-UK Resolution
The UN Security Council last Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution that for the first time explicitly condemns antisemitism in the 77-year history of the body, according to officials with the United Arab Emirates, which drafted the resolution along with the United Kingdom.

The resolution, officially numbered Security Council resolution 2686 on “Tolerance and International Peace and Security,” was introduced during the UAE’s month-long presidency of council and is intended to condemn violence, hate speech, and extremism, and to encourage the promotion of tolerance, according to its language.

The text of the resolution expresses “deep concern at instances of discrimination, intolerance and hate speech motivated by racism or extremism or directed against persons belonging to religious communities, including cases motivated by Islamophobia, antisemitism or Christianophobia…”

“Among a number of other firsts, resolution 2686 is the first UN Security Council resolution to directly refer to antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Christianophobia, and also the first resolution to acknowledge that hate speech, racism, and extremism have the potential to stoke tensions, fuel grievances, and descend into conflict,” the UAE spokesperson said. “The resolution acknowledges these phenomena as threat-multipliers and really is an unprecedented step forward for the Council.”

Felice Gaer, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, welcomed the resolution’s condemnation of antisemitism.

“We are pleased to see that, like other human rights abuses, the relevance of antisemitism to conflict and atrocities, like genocide, has been acknowledged by the Security Council. It’s overdue but very welcome,” she said.
TikToker prankster with history of antisemitic acts facing legal trouble
UK-based TikTok prankster Bacari-Bronze O'Garro, known to followers as Mizzy, has been placed in law enforcement custody after breaching a criminal behavior order that was issued in late May 2023, British media reported.

"Mizzy" consistently posted over-the-top videos invading the personal space and privacy of private citizens. He had been posting these videos without permission from his subjects. His actions have ranged from entering homes to stealing people's pets and running away from the scene, to actions of an antisemitic nature.

At just 18 years old, he has been charged with three breaches of criminal behavior after continually ignoring official warnings to stop his disruptive behavior. The order was designed to keep him from posting the clips with the intention of curbing his posting.

The order was issued in late May after he entered a family's home as part of a TikTok "prank" video, BBC News reported. O'Garro was quickly charged and breached the order prompting an investigation into his social media content.

The prankster listed his address in Dartford, Kent, next to London. He pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors told British media that two of his more recent offenses happened just a day after the order was issued, breaching the order. In addition, he visited a Westfield shopping center in the area the same day, which he did not have permission to do.
Australian civil rights group slams country's biggest Nazi auction
Australia’s biggest online auction of Nazi memorabilia was slammed Friday by a local civil rights organization.

Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Australia's leading civil rights group, said Friday's auction called “Huge Militaria Sale !! - Get it Before History is Banned & Erased” was about "profits over morality."

"The extermination and dehumanization of millions should not have a tag price and be offered to the highest bidder," Abramovich continued.

"Danielle Elizabeth should retitle this sickening auction to 'A Tribute and Gift to Glorify and Honor Hitler and His Cruel Regime of Mass Murder and Torture.' If Hitler was alive today, he would be thanking this auction house and applauding their ghastly profiteering, delighted that his legacy is being mainstreamed and promoted in Australia.

"The perverse and twisted sale of these blood-stained items, the devil’s tools, tramples on the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and is a spit on the graves of the valiant diggers who sacrificed their lives to defeat this evil tyrant. It is also a kick in the stomach of the survivors who have suffered enough. These satanic articles are the pure embodiment of absolute inhumanity and horror and may end up in the hands of Third Reich worshippers who will proudly display them in their homes and use them to recruit new members to their sickening cause.

"I wonder: do the owners of this business ever pause to think about the 1.5 million children mercilessly killed in the Holocaust, the mothers clutching their infants as they were pushed into the gas chambers?"

Abramovich went on to reference a recent increase in antisemitism in Australia.


Israeli, American and Australian Corporations Collaborate on Climate Tech Insurance Venture
IAG Firemark Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Australia and New Zealand’s largest general insurer IAG, together with Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), and Margalit Startup City New York, on Monday, announced a ground-breaking Climate Tech insurance partnership aimed at discovering, nurturing, and developing emerging cutting-edge technologies and startups to measure and mitigate risks stemming from the impact of climate change.

“IAG Firemark Ventures, JVP, and Margalit Startup City NYC will be encouraging collaboration with corporations, startups, and emerging businesses to support and scale climate technological solutions to help insurers achieve their global energy, environmental and sustainability goals,” The three partner companies’ press release announced, and stressed the need to combine AI predictions and analytics as climate change is introducing new risks and uncertainties that directly impact the insurance industry for individual consumers and insurance providers.

“Extreme weather events like hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and droughts have become more frequent and severe, leading to increased property damage, crop losses, and business disruptions. Consequently, insurance companies face higher claims payouts and increased financial risks,” they stressed.

“The International ClimateTech Center takes an entirely new approach to Climate Tech, whereby mainstream technologies join forces with the worlds of Insur-tech, Fintech, cyber, Foodtech, and AgriTech, to tackle the climate crisis in the most innovative manner possible,” according to the announcement.

The Center works to help scale sustainable, technological solutions to climate change in urban landscapes, with an accelerator program that has so far attracted more than 500 startups from the US, Europe, and Israel.
Arab Israeli beach soccer club wins European championship for first time
An Arab Israeli beach soccer club made history Sunday by winning the Euro Winners Cup 2023 with a dramatic win in the final against Italy’s Lenergy Pisa in a penalty shootout.

“Falfala” Kfar Qassem BS Club is the most successful team in the history of Israel’s short-lived beach soccer national league, having won five championships in the 13 years in which the league was active between 2007 and 2019.

Though the league has not held a game for the past four years, mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic, the team has continued to play and went on to represent the Jewish state in the European championship, which was held this year in Nazaré, Portugal, as the latest national champions.

Last year, Kfar Qassem finished third in the European championship, and this year marks the first time an Israeli squad has clinched the title.

After impressive wins 9-2 over France’s Marseille in the quarterfinal and 4-2 over Spain’s Huelva in the semis, the final was hard-fought, with Kfar Qassem taking the lead twice thanks to goals by Swiss goalkeeper Eliott Mounoud and Pisa coming back each time to level the score.

Eventually, a penalty shootout emerged as the tiebreaker for the title. After Pisa missed one of its kicks, Kfar Qassem’s captain Amer Yatim netted the final penalty to kick off the Israeli team’s celebration.
90 years after Hitler founds Volkswagen, its soccer club faces off Jewish champions
The historically Jewish club TuS Makkabi Berlin will play against VfL Wolfsburg in the first round in the The DFB-Pokal, the German national cup in soccer, 90 years after the first club was targeted by the Nazis and the second was made possible by Hitler. The match will take place in August.

Makkabi has recently become the first Jewish club to qualify for the first round of the DFB Cup after it secured the title of the Berlin State Cup, a first for the club. VfL Wolfsburg was formed originally as a sports club for the workers of car manufacturer Volkswagen in the city of Wolfsburg. Volkswagen was originally founded by Adolf Hitler in 1933.

TuS Makkabi Berlin is said to have emerged from the historically Jewish Bar-Kochba Berlin club. That club was formed following Zionist thinker Max Nordau following his speech at Second Zionist Congress, in which he coined the phrase "Muscular Judaism (Muskeljudentum)". Bar-Kochba Berlin was active in 14 cities across Germany.

Despite its historic roots, the current iteration of the club as TuS Makkabi Berlin is not defined by ethnicity. One of its stars is a son of Turkish migrants, although a significant part of the management is still composed of members of the Jewish community, as are the majority of the players.
I’m a Gentile Teaching at an Orthodox Jewish School
I grew up in New York City, so I thought I had a generally good understanding of what it meant to be Jewish, as far as a Gentile like me could understand. After all, I love Katz’s deli, I attended many Passover Seders at my best friend's house, and I even married a Jewish woman.

But teaching biology at Ramaz, an Orthodox Jewish school, this past year showed me how little I knew.

I was bowled over by the students’ collective fearlessness when it came to discussing ideas and debating their points without fear.

I would tell the head of my department whenever there might be a controversial issue that might come up in biology class just to give her a heads up. She would nod her head and say, "Okay, as long as the science is clear to the students." She wasn’t overly concerned with how potentially spirited the debate might get between students.

This is rather different from what I have experienced at other schools where the unspoken rule was to avoid or minimize discussing issues that could be potential hot buttons. Biology is a subject where a lot of landmine issues can be found; issues around gender, race and sexuality can inadvertently turn a lesson into a hotbed of political strife. Even topics as innocuous as natural selection can be a proverbial landmine if a teacher isn’t careful.

Students in the past have confided in me that they are nervous expressing their points of view out of fear that they will be shunned or canceled. I don't know what is in a student’s heart and mind, but at Ramaz not once have I had a student share fears like that with me.

Jewish culture embraces discussion, argumentation and hearing various points of view and that helps to prevent or at least minimize that kind of idea policing. As part of the culture, students study the Talmud and they learn to read multiple interpretations and commentaries of Torah passages. These students have grown up in a world where it is normal and expected for people to have strong perspectives on important issues, but it’s also expected that your point of view be supported by more than feelings – there needs to be evidence and logic to support your conclusion.
JNS: Fleur Hassan-Nahoum: Israel needs to be more welcoming to Arab tourists | Our Middle East
Is the Israeli government getting in its own way by talking about normalization too much? Can more be done to welcome Arab tourists?

In this week's "Our Middle East", host Dan Diker has Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum on to discuss the art of quiet diplomacy and the steps needed to bring peace to the region

They discuss
- the key role business plays in making peace possible
- the need to make Israel more welcoming to Arab tourism.
- the harm that is done in speaking too publicly about Saudi/Israeli normalization




Bereaved family, grateful organ recipients meet in Petach Tikva
The family of Yagel Ya’acov and Hallel Weigel Yaniv, two brothers whom terrorists murdered in February, met with the four recipients of their corneas at Rabin Medical Center’s Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah on Sunday.

“We are at a happy event; there are people here who have returned to see. It is a wonder of wonders. The light of Hallel Weigel’s eyes still shines in the world,” bereaved father Shalom Yaniv said.

One of the recipients, 66-year-old Ron Carmeli of Petach Tikvah, said he’s been looking forward to seeing his granddaughter, playing with her and taking her to the zoo.

“You can feel the dramatic movement from this transition from evil that turned into boundless free-giving love,” said Carmeli.

Itzhak Buskila, a 42-year-old husband and father of three children from Tirat Hacarmel near Haifa, now looks forward to returning to work in warehouse logistics for a food distributor. He read an emotional letter to parents Shalom and Esti Yaniv.

“You are a larger-than-life family. In the most difficult hours, you thought about giving and free love. Thanks to you, my sight has returned to me. I will never forget the moment they informed me that a donor had been found. Thanks to you, my children will have a father who can see them grow up.”

Also receiving corneas were Ziona Zalzberg, 68, from Migdal Haemek, near Nazareth, who loves traveling and looks forward to doing “everyday tasks” on her own, and Tal Almos, a 44-year-old husband and father of three from the coastal town of Atlit, near Haifa. Almos was born with an eye disease and received a cornea transplant years ago. He lost his vision in an accident two years ago.

Hallel and Yagel Yaniv were killed in a Palestinian drive-by shooting in Huwara, south of Nablus (Shechem) in February. Palestinians rammed their car, forcing it to the side of the road. The brothers were then shot to death at point-blank range.

Hallel was studying in a hesder program that combines military service with religious studies in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. The 21-year-old was a staff sergeant in the Israel Navy and served in a patrol boat squadron.

Yagel, who was two weeks away from his 20th birthday, was studying in another hesder program in the Givat Olga neighborhood in Hadera. He was seeking to qualify to serve in a combat unit.

Both had signed Israel Transplant (ADI) organ donor cards.




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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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