Sunday, July 30, 2023

07/30 Links: UN bodies receive millions from ‘terror charities’; Antisemitism is a Feature of Partisan Extremism; 5 killed in clashes at Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

From Ian:

Seth Frantzman: What are Israel's upcoming diplomatic challenges, opportunities?
IDF Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi recently discussed the importance of “our responsibility for readiness and unity.” He noted that “the IDF’s purpose has not changed over the course of the past 75 years – to defend the State of Israel, ensure its existence, and achieve victory in times of war. The IDF was established in a time of crisis, out of a necessity to ensure the existence of the State of Israel. This need has not changed to this day. The strength of the IDF lies in the quality of its service members, its high level of readiness for war, and its internal and external unity.”

Ahead of Tisha Be’av, Halevi noted that “these days, almost 2,000 years after the destruction of the Second Temple, the IDF is strong thanks to its people, its capabilities, and above all, thanks to its values – the values of the IDF Code of Conduct, according to which we operate and will continue to operate in the future. We don’t have other service members, and we don’t have another IDF.”

“It is never too late to correct this,” he continued. “We must mend this situation, for there is no other way, without internal and external unity. This is all of our responsibility, and first and foremost it is my personal responsibility as chief of general staff. This is the only way we can maintain the IDF’s purpose: to protect the country and ensure its existence.”

As the Middle East works toward integration, and Gulf states do unprecedented outreach, there is a lot of opportunity for Israel. However, in the middle of it all is Iran, seeking to spoil these opportunities.

Tehran has been seeking to destabilize the West Bank via support for terror groups in Jenin, knowing that West Bank clashes can harm Israel’s ties in the Gulf. Moreover, Iran has been encouraging Hezbollah to increase tensions on the northern border.

In Iraq and Syria, Iran continues to threaten the US. Iran also works with Russia and Turkey to try to support the Syrian regime.

Thus, Iran plays both sides. It seeks closer ties with the Gulf and does outreach to Egypt, while also hoping to use Syria, Lebanon, and the West Bank to destabilize and threaten Israel.

Tehran, for instance, announced a new naval missile on July 24, also announcing that it could make a deal with the US via Qatar or Oman. Iran, therefore, uses the carrot-and-stick approach. It is up to Israel to neutralize the stick and ensure that its partners don’t run to grab the Iranian carrot.

These are the challenges – and opportunities – confronting Israel externally as it looks toward the months ahead.
UN bodies receive millions from ‘terror charities’
The United Nations has a terrorism problem.

Last month, its Security Council refused to designate as a global terrorist the architect behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed 170 people.

Just over two weeks ago, the UN’s Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who has previously appeared on the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen channel, issued a report that was praised by the terrorist group Hamas.

Until today, the UN has actively failed to define terrorism, affording terrorists impunity on a daily basis. Not only does the UN have a problem identifying terrorism when it is right in front of them, but in some cases the UN has even partnered with terrorism-affiliated groups.

Over the last year, four United Nations agencies have partnered with and accepted $7 million from the terrorism-affiliated NGO Qatar Charity. According to the Counter Extremism Project (that maintains databases on extremist groups, their ideology, leaders, history, financing, violent activities, tactics, and rhetoric), the Qatar Charity is a member charity of the Union of Good network.

The Union of Good umbrella organization was banned by the US Treasury in 2008 because of its status as “an organization created by Hamas leadership to transfer funds to [Hamas]” during the Second Intifada. Hamas is on the US State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

“Terrorist groups such as Hamas continue to exploit charities to radicalize vulnerable communities and cultivate support for their violent activities,” said then-US undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Stuart Levey, at the time. The Qatar Charity has been banned by five Middle Eastern countries.
'First the Saturday people, then.."
A thriller by Bruce Portnoy that spans the US and Israel begins with a car crash and is all too real today. Review.

An old Jewish adage says that "every delay is for the good." I was reminded of that while reading the book "First the Saturday people, and then the…" by Bruce Portnoy, published in 2015 to excellent reviews. Had I read it then, I would have considered this page-turning thriller taking place in the Midwest and Israel a good read, but might also have seen it as another far-fetched fantasy on what an author imagines goes on behind the scenes in international undercover intelligence operations, another impossible spy story that would make a great action film.

However, events since the book was written make those political intrigues eerily believable, so that reading it now is all "for the good" as the adage says, and therefore, recommended.

From its riveting beginning, the book begins to unravel a story with layer upon layer of reality, starting with a husband whose wife is critically injured and daughter killed in an accident he thinks his drinking has caused and her father's wheeler-dealer American-Jewish way of handling the situation. But that, while engrossingly interesting, is only the surface.

Page by page, the layers unfold. Readers need to pay attention to who is narrating each chapter as the scenes follow one fast upon another. Wofl's guilt is not so simple. His wife, an ordinary teacher active in organizations helping Israel as far as he knew, was involved in something far deeper, and the car crash was not as clear as it seemed to be to Wolf and his father in law. It turns out that she was corresponding with the son of a Lebanese diplomat who discovered that a large scale catastrophe to take place in Israel had been carefully planned by Iran. Disaster was imminent, on a scale that would inexorably lead to the destruction of the Jewish State. So Israeli powers work behind the scenes to keep Wolf out of jail despite his vengeful father-in-law's attempts to sway the results, but they can't keep him from wanting to stay in the picture.

Events expand from there, with a second-generation American, a Christian Arab and retired FBI agent who has a sense of justice equal to Wolf's, fueled by his granddaughter's innocent question about what he did to stop the Holocaust, joining him in trying to prevent it from happening. While investigating and in constant danger, the two candidly discuss their views on Israel's existential vulnerability amid the Palestinian Arab narrative, an issue that is brought to the fore in other parts of the book in a clear and forthright manner, making it more than just a thriller.


Antisemitism is a Feature of Partisan Extremism
Far-left Democrats and far-right Republicans don’t agree on much, but both extremes have a disturbing affinity for antisemitism.

Consider Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on the extreme Right, a former StopAntisemitism Antisemite of the Week whose history of antisemitism includes sharing a video alleging that “Zionist supremacists” conspire to replace Europe’s White population with refugees.

Or Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on the extreme Left, who on multiple occasions has met with and praised terrorist sympathizers who celebrate murders of Jews.

These representatives are about as politically divergent as it’s possible to be, so how can they be in alignment on the world’s oldest hatred?

“Horseshoe Theory” may provide answers. The theory posits that the political spectrum looks more like a horseshoe than a straight line, with the extremes closer to each other than they are to the center. Viewing politics through this lens helps make sense of why partisans on opposite sides sometimes take similar positions, albeit for different reasons. For example, the slogan “my body, my choice” has been employed both in support of abortion rights and in opposition to mask and vaccine mandates.

Applying Horseshoe Theory to antisemitism provides some frightening insights into where the two extremes converge - and where they separate.

Rep. Taylor Greene’s support of the Great Replacement Theory, along with her well-known belief in secret Jewish space lasers, typifies right-wing antisemitism. While generally quite supportive of Israel, she and her colleagues on the Republican fringe traffic in conspiracy theories of Jewish control, alleging that cabals plot to weaken America and advance progressive causes.

Some of her Congressional allies even openly associate with Nazi sympathizers. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), for example, has supported and appeared onstage with white supremacist Nick Fuentes, calling him a “patriot.”

Rep. Tlaib’s left-wing antisemitism, on the other hand, looks considerably different. She, along with “Squad” allies including Ilhan Omar (D-MN), couches her bigotry primarily in criticism of Israel’s right to exist.

As the internationally recognized IHRA definition of antisemitism makes clear, criticizing Israel is not antisemitic unless it involves double standards or antisemitic tropes. Sadly, those Representatives fail that test on both fronts.
CNN Host & Ken Roth Team Up To Mislead Viewers About Israel
Throughout this interview, Isa Soares not only failed to take Roth to task for any of his claims about Israel but even asked him soft-ball and leading questions that allowed him to flesh out his biased analysis of the situation in Israel and the West Bank.

Similarly, in March 2023, Soares conducted an interview with Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories who has engaged in trivialization of the Holocaust, has justified Palestinian terrorism, and has been accused of spreading antisemitic tropes.

There too, Soares asked soft-ball and leading questions while allowing Albanese to go on for minutes without rejoinder.

Lest it seem as if it is just Soares’ journalistic practice to allow her interviewees to speak freely and without comment, this is belied by a heated interview she held with Naftali Bennett in May 2023, during which she constantly interjected and put the former Israeli prime minister on the defensive about Israel’s fight against Islamic Jihad in Gaza.

Where is this same journalistic rigor when Soares interviews such notable anti-Israel personalities as Ken Roth and Francesca Albanese?


5 killed, 6 wounded in clashes at Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon
Overnight clashes Sunday in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon left 5 dead and 6 others wounded, Palestinian officials said.

The ongoing clashes are taking place as Palestinian factions in Ein el-Hilweh for years have cracked down on militant Islamist groups and fugitives seeking shelter in the camp’s overcrowded neighborhoods. In 2017, Palestinian factions engaged in almost a week of fierce clashes with a militant organization affiliated with the Islamic State terror group.

The Palestinian officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the clashes broke out after an unknown gunman tried to assassinate Islamist militant Mahmoud Khalil, killing a companion of his instead.

Factions used assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the overcrowded camp, as ambulances zoomed through its narrow streets to take the wounded to the hospital. Several residents fled the crossfire to nearby neighborhoods in the camp.

According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, six people were wounded in the overnight clashes, including two children. The clashes stopped for several hours in the morning, though state media said there was still sporadic sniper fire.
Palestinian factions fail to reach agreement on ‘national unity’
A meeting of leaders of several Palestinian factions ended on Sunday in Egypt without agreement on achieving “national unity.”

The conference, which lasted for four hours, ended without a joint communique by the participants, a move reflecting the failure of the factions to reach an agreement on the formation of a Palestinian unity government and ending the feud between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction and Hamas.

“We can’t solve all our differences in one day,” said a PA official. “That’s why there wasn’t a joint statement. There will be more meetings in the near future.”

Instead of a joint communique, Abbas read out a statement at the end of the meeting in which he called for the formation of a committee that would “continue dialogue [between the factions] to achieve national unity.”

Ways of achieving national Palestinian unity
Earlier this month, Abbas invited the leaders of all Palestinian factions to a conference in Egypt to discuss ways of achieving national unity and ending the split between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The invitation was issued during an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah to discuss the Israeli military operation in Jenin Refugee Camp.

Abbas was hoping to use the conference to persuade Hamas and other Palestinian factions to join a unity government, according to Palestinian officials.
Abbas’ advisor: Jews are Satan in human form
Official PA TV, broadcast of Friday prayers and a sermon by PA Supreme Shari’ah Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash at a mosque in Ramallah

Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “A group from among the People of the Book (i.e., Jews) wants to deceive you… and turn you back from your religion so that you will be like them. This goes back to the initial point of the conflict, the conflict between good and evil... They [Jews] have left the path of humanity and followed Satanity. Satanity is an exit from humanity … Satan does not have to be in the form of a demon, hidden, he can also be in your form, but he is Satan. In the form of man, but he is Satan. And they (i.e., Satan-Jews) are still fighting us until they turn us back from our religion.”
[Official PA TV, July 7, 2023]

Mahmoud Al-Habbash is Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations, and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice.

The phrase “turn you back from your religion” is a quote from the Quran 2:99: “Many of the People of the Scripture (i.e., Jews) wish they could turn you back to disbelief after you have believed, out of envy from themselves [even] after the truth has become clear to them..” [Quran 2:99, Sahih International translation]


Arafat planned “the two-state solution as a first stage” says PA member of Parliament
PA Parliament Member Munib Al-Masri: “When [former PLO Chairman and PA President] Yasser Arafat presented the two-state solution at Oslo, I was very angry at him, because it said 22% for the Palestinians and the rest for the Israelis. I came to him in Tunis, and he told me: ‘[Calm] down.’ Our thought in all this was the two-state solution as a first stage, until the Arabs learn-”
Falestinona host: “A temporary solution.”
Munib Al-Masri: “A temporary solution, until [the Palestinians] will live comfortably and are satisfied, and there will be the right of return and the like, and we will live in one democratic state.”
[Falestinona, Fatah’s Information and Culture Commission in Lebanon, YouTube channel, May 24, 2023]

Munib Al-Masri - member of the PA Parliament. A well-known businessman from Nablus, he had been involved in contacts with Israeli businessmen in unsuccessful attempts to foster Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation.

Yasser Arafat – Founder of Fatah and former chairman of the PLO and PA. During the 1960s, 70s and 80s Arafat was behind numerous terror attacks against Israelis. Although he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 together with then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and then Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres “for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East" after signing the Oslo Accords peace agreement, Arafat launched a 5-year terror campaign – the second Intifada (2000-2005) – in which more than 1,000 Israelis were murdered. Arafat died of an illness in 2004.




Iran: With Friends Like That
The Islamic Republic has been asking to be admitted into the BRICS group [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa] club since 2010 when the "Supreme Guide" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced his intention to create a "New World Order" through a triple alliance of Iran, China and Russia.

Tehran sources say the Iranian demand, though supported by South Africa and India, has been quietly vetoed by Russia and cold-shouldered by China.

Khamenei's dream of a "New World Order" led by Iran, China and Russia, has proven to be a pipe-dream shaped in the mind of a leader that operates in a fantasy universe.

The pipe-dream was partly punctured last week when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made his first foreign visit after his election victory to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, ignoring Iran altogether.

[F]or years, the former head of the Islamic Majlis's National Security Commission Heshmatallah Falahat-Pisheh has warned that both China and Russia have treated the Islamic Republic as nothing but a source of profit for themselves.

Former Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh has warned that Russia, having pushed Iran out of the European oil market is now trying to do the same in the Indian and Chinese markets by offering mouth-watering discounts. Since last March, China's oil imports from Iran have fallen by almost 40 percent, according to unofficial estimates, with Russia claiming the part that Iran has lost.
Israel busts Iranian attempt to phish state workers via LinkedIn
Israel exposed an Iranian phishing campaign aimed at gathering information about Israeli policies and citizens, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced on Sunday.

The Iranian campaign primarily targeted Israeli civil servants and researchers at various research institutes and had been going on for several months, the Shin Bet said.

Fake profiles were employed impersonating Israelis whom would-be victims had been in contact with for professional or personal reasons. The Iranians would make initial contact through a phony LinkedIn profile, then later shift the conversation to email.

Eventually, the Israeli targets would receive an attached file in the guise of an invitation to a conference or an article or study of interest. Opening the file would introduce malicious software that would give the Iranian contact access to the rest of the target’s computer.

The Iranian entity’s appeals were based on information collected about the Israeli targets from social networks and the internet, and the contents of the correspondence and the connection were appropriate to their occupation and interests.

“The awareness and vigilance of the citizens they turned to, along with additional actions by the Shin Bet and the Israeli security system, thwarted the Iranian attempts to achieve their goal,” the Shin Bet said.


Iran’s Raisi demands return of $7 billion in frozen assets from S.Korea
A sum of $7 billion in revenue from the sale of petrochemical and oil products is being withheld from the Islamic Republic of Iran between two South Korean banks, Iranian state-run Mehr News Agency reported on Saturday.

In a letter penned to the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi addressed the financial dispute over South Korea’s holding of Iranian funds.

The Iranian funds have been frozen in North Korea for some time. In late May, Mehr reported that the US was leading a joint effort with South Korea to unfreeze the funds.

At the time, Mehr cited Korean claims that the release of the Iranian money come under the condition that said money would be used for “public purposes.” It further quoted a South Korean government official as saying, “If all goes to plan, we expect our strained relationship with Iran to improve significantly.”

Additionally, a week later, in June, Mehr reported that the decision to release the $7 billion had been made. Nevertheless, citing “some disruptions,” the Iranian news organization notes this has yet to occur and that the money is still being held due to sanctions on the Persian state.
Iranian official promoting Islamic values suspended over alleged gay sex tape
An official in charge of promoting Islamic values has been suspended from his position in Iran after a tape was circulating apparently showing him having sex with another man.

The authenticity of the tape, which allegedly shows Gilan province’s head of culture and Islamic guidance, Reza Tsaghati, has not been verified.

According to the BBC, Tsaghati is the founder of a cultural center that has a focus on piety and promoting women’s wearing of the hijab.

The report said Tsaghati has been removed from his post and officials have denied having any prior knowledge of his behavior.

Same-sex relations are outlawed in Iran, potentially carrying the death penalty, and the LGBTQ community faces discrimination.

Earlier this month, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi launched into a condemnation of Western attitudes toward the LGBTQ community during a visit to Uganda.

“The West today is trying to promote the idea of homosexuality and by promoting homosexuality they are trying to end the generation of human beings,” Raisi said.


American Anthropological Association boycott of Israel will be to its detriment
At one level, the AAA and MESA resolutions represent the politicization of academia, where professors demand that their institutions adopt their politics in place of the often contradictory and always messy politics of the region. Professors know better; a passive-aggressive attitude that has alienated Americans on a wide swathe of issues.

But on another level, the AAA and MESA resolutions, for all their self-proclaimed morality, are the death cries of disciplines devoted to self-destruction. One result of MESA’s Israel boycott resolution was the abandonment of the organization by institutional members who could not countenance paying for discrimination on the basis of national, religious, and ethnic origins, or the attendant bad publicity. Individuals have also voted with their feet, with some reports suggesting a significant drop in membership. The AAA will experience the same results that MESA has

AAA should expect the same results. Not surprisingly, the number of Middle East studies and Anthropology degrees awarded in American universities continues to decline. Those who choose to remain in the professions are either true believers or experts at keeping their mouths shut. The reputational harm to the humanities and social sciences will worsen and intellectual diversity, already vanishing on campuses, will suffer another grievous blow.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Organizations such as ours, the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) takes pains to welcome all viewpoints, while refusing to vilify any state or society. Anthropologists need similar alternatives.

Until then, scholars and the public should look on with deep dismay at the AAA decision, and keep the organization and the profession as a whole under a microscope for the abuses that will result from this decision.
Anger as Kanye West reinstated on Twitter after saying he'll go 'death con 3' on Jews
Twitter has reinstated the account of Kanye West, months after he was banned for a series of antisemitic posts.

Elon Musk suspended Ye, as West is also known, from the social media platform weeks after purchasing it last October.

At the time, Musk branded Ye's post of a swastika interlaced with a Star of David as “incitement to violence.”

Meanwhile last October, CNN cited several people with ties to West as saying the rapper and fashion mogul had long been “fascinated by Adolf Hitler.”

No fewer than four people alleged that Ye originally wished to name his 2018 album “Hitler."

The same month, in an interview on Fox News' “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Ye accused Trump’s Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner of brokering the Abraham Accords solely because of his and his family’s interest in “making money.”

Days later, Ye tweeted: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”
3 resign amid San Diego Human Relations Commission antisemitism backlash
Three members of the San Diego County Human Relations Commission have stepped down amid controversy stemming from a commissioner’s antisemitic remarks.

Commissioner Khaliq Raufi can be heard saying on video (52:18 mark) during a July 18 meeting that the Torah commands Jews “to ‘go kill Palestinians. Wipe them all out.’ It’s a teaching that on a daily basis they teach their followers in their synagogues.”

Raufi stepped down last week, along with District Attorney Summer Stephan and county Sheriff Kelly Martinez, the only two elected officials on the commission.

The San Diego Union-Tribune described Raufi as “an Afghan Community Islamic Center member and refugee who served alongside U.S. troops before immigrating to San Diego in 1992.” In his resignation letter, sent to county supervisor Joel Anderson on July 25, Raufi stated that his “intention was never to hurt anyone through my words.” He accused the commission of not being a “safe space for people to freely express their beliefs and engage in community building.”

In her own letter, to Andrew Strong, the commission’s executive director, Stephan said that she was indefinitely suspending attendance after becoming alerted to Raufi’s remarks, which she wrote were said “in a manner that was disparaging and dehumanizing to an entire segment of our community.”

In Martinez’s letter to Ellen Nash, commission chairwoman, she stated that “the current divisiveness and direction of the Commission has forced me to suspend my participation,” saying that she couldn’t be a part of a commission that “does not uphold the high ideals [upon] which it was enacted.”

Local Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League of San Diego and Imperial County, the American Jewish Committee and Jewish Federation of San Diego, issued a statement condemning Raufi’s remarks.
The Nation Continues Tradition of Publishing Jew-Haters With CUNY Law Speaker Column
While The Nation has form for defending antisemites, including regularly publishing the hate-filled ramblings of professional Palestinian activist Mohammed El-Kurd, it is surprising that editors at the outlet failed to do any fact-checking of Mohammed’s 770-word defense.

For example, at one point she absurdly suggests that Israel is “threatening to provoke a major religious conflagration around the Noble Sanctuary mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem” in reference to Judaism’s holiest site, the Temple Mount. But the fact is that Israel is trying to avoid such a flare-up, including by preserving the status quo which prevents Jewish prayer.

Indeed, the only people who threaten the sanctity of the site are Palestinian leaders who frequently incite Palestinian mob violence by claiming the al-Aqsa mosque is being threatened, such as when PA President Mahmoud Abbas claimed Jews were defiling the mosque with their “filthy feet.”

Mohammed finishes her propaganda piece with perhaps the most disingenuous statement imaginable:
I will not apologize for fulfilling my moral obligation to call out oppressive institutions and regimes wherever they exist, no matter what consequences I may face. Since Israel was established in 1948, it has wreaked violence and pain on the Palestinian people. Rather than targeting people like me who shine a light on that reality, perhaps Israel’s defenders should instead choose to stand on the right side of history and work to end Israeli apartheid.”

So, who are these other allegedly “oppressive institutions and regimes” Mohammed has called out? The answer to that is none if her commencement address is anything to go by.

In fact, it seems there is only one “regime” that Mohammed is interested in. Yes, you guessed it: Israel. We don’t have to wonder why.
U.S. Taxpayers Donated $391K to Terrorist-Defending Imam's Two Organizations
American taxpayers have, over the past two years, given almost $400,000 to two non-profits led by a radical imam in Boston. Imam Abdullah Faaruuq has lionized a terrorist convicted of trying to kill FBI agents and U.S. soldiers.

Faaruuq also handed out Islamist tracts to incarcerated Muslims while serving as a chaplain in Massachusetts prisons. He once described the United States as "the land of the coward and the home of the slave."

Faaruuq is a longtime advocate for Aafia Siddiqui, a U.S. trained neuroscientist who was convicted of multiple counts of attempted murder in 2010 and is currently serving an 86-year prison sentence for her crimes. After Siddiqui's arrest in 2008, Faaruuq downplayed the threat she posed to U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, telling interviewers from National Public Radio in New York City, "The government, I think has little to fear from a girl about five foot one and about 90 pounds." Fifteen years later, Faaruuq offered nearly the same description of Siddiqui when speaking with Focus on Western Islamism (FWI). "She's about five foot one, 105 pounds," he said. "They had half a dozen military men with guns ... and they couldn't control a little girl."

It's an odd thing to say about a woman found with two pounds of sodium cyanide and plans for a mass-casualty attack on American soil in her possession when she was detained by Afghan police in 2008. Prior to her interrogation by American officials, Siddiqui grabbed an M4 rifle and began firing it at her questioners while shouting anti-American slogans.

In a 2010 speech about her case, the imam called upon his listeners to "grab onto this rope, grab onto the typewriter, grab onto the shovel, grab onto the gun and the sword, don't be afraid to step out into this world and do your job." This rhetoric prompted Americans for Peace and Tolerance to ask if Faaruuq was "urging Boston-area Muslims to respond violently to the arrests of Islamic extremists."

The following year, Faaruuq emphasized how "brave" Siddiqui was at a fundraiser in Worcester, Mass. In audio obtained by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Faaruuq is heard to say, "They say she took up a machine gun while they held her captive ... and was ready to attack her captors. What a brave woman she is and what a brave woman she continues to be." Faaruuq also said that Siddiqui was "only guilty of trying to defend herself and if my mother was in the same place, she would have [taken] her West Indian machete and cut her way through those kafirs (non-believers)."
Following CAA action, Unite union cancels Bristol screening of antisemitism-denial film and launch of Asa Winstansley’s book ‘Weaponising Anti-Semitism’
Following correspondence with Campaign Against Antisemitism, the Unite union has cancelled the screening of a propaganda film about the antisemitic former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn that was due to be shown alongside a book signing and talk from Asa Winstanley.

Mr Winstanley, a controversial activist and the author of the book Weaponising Anti-Semitism, is a former Labour member who quit the Party after being suspended pending an investigation. He has called accusations of antisemitism under the Party a “smear” and has referenced “Labour’s manufactured antisemitism crisis”. He has also tweeted repeatedly in promotion of the conspiracy theory that Israel is to blame for the racist killing of George Floyd.

The event description stated that there would be a launch of the book which apparently “shows how Labour’s antisemitism crisis was manufactured by those who feared Jeremy Corbyn’s support for the Palestinian cause and a broad progressive agenda.” A book signing and talk from Mr Winstanley was then supposed to take place.

This was due to be followed by a screening of the film Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! The Big Lie. However, following contact from Campaign Against Antisemitism in which we pointed out that the scheduling of the event appeared to be contradictory to the reports that the film has been banned in all of Unite’s buildings, it was cancelled.

The news comes shortly after, following action by Campaign Against Antisemitism, Glastonbury Festival, YMCA, Basildon Council, the national pub retailer Greene King, Tolpuddle Village Hall, Yeovil Labour Club, a Nottinghamshire church and independent venues around the country, have cancelled screenings of the film.

The film claims that it “investigates the ‘secret war’ waged against Corbyn” and questions whether there was an “orchestrated campaign” against the former Party leader.


BBC News continues to avoid the topic of Palestinian child soldiers
Seventeen-year-old Ali al-Ghoul was shot while attacking an IDF bulldozer with a pipe bomb. The Jenin Battalion later put out a video showing al Ghoul and other minors making IEDs. Seventeen-year-old Majdi Ararawi was described by the Jenin Battalion as “one of the fighters of the engineering unit of the Al-Quds Brigades – Jenin Brigade” and sixteen-year-old Nur-al-Din Marshoud was described as “one of the fighters of the Islamic Jihad Movement”.

The practice of recruiting minors to terrorist organisations is of course by no means new but the BBC has over the years serially ignored the topic of the summer camps run by proscribed Palestinian groups.

In 2017 the BBC produced a special feature about “the grooming, then the recruitment and training to create a new army of child jihadists, who might grow into adult militants” in which it was able to inform BBC audiences that “[r]ecruiting child soldiers is a war crime”. That feature however was not about Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad but rather concerned ISIS:

In 2019 and in 2022 the BBC produced content relating to child soldiers in Liberia. In 2020 it reported on child soldiers in South Sudan and in 2022 in Yemen.

Although there is plenty of documentation in the public domain concerning the recruitment of Palestinian children and adolescents for rioting and terrorism, the BBC consistently avoids that very serious issue. The corporation’s worldwide audiences have therefore know nothing about Ali al-Ghoul’s recruitment to Hamas as a teenager or how he and other youths have been exploited by terrorist organisations for the production and planting of explosive devices.

Apparently such widespread abuses by Palestinian terrorist organisations are not considered newsworthy by the BBC.


Members of 'Newburgh Four' who plotted to blow up New York synagogues freed from prison
Three men who plotted to blow up New York City synagogues, a Jewish community centre and shoot down military planes have been released.

The trio, who were convicted more than a decade ago of the plots, were ordered to be released from prison by a judge on Thursday who said they had been manipulated by the FBI.

The men have been named as Onta Williams, David Williams and Laguerra Payen, who were three of what became known as the "Newburgh Four."

A fourth individual, James Cromitie, did not seek compassionate release and is expected to serve until 2030. He was described as the ringleader by the US government.

In a scathing opinion against the FBI, US District Judge Colleen McMahon branded the men "hapless" petty criminals. newburghfour

Judge McMahon said in a 28-page legal order that they were "easily manipulated" by the government in a sting operation.

She said all four men were caught up in a scheme in 2009 to attack the synagogues, community centre and launch stinger missiles at military aircraft, driven by overzealous FBI agents and an "unsavoury" confidential informant.

The judge granted compassionate release to three men and reduced their sentence to time served plus 90 days. She cited concerns for the men's health and her own qualms about the original 25-year-sentence she imposed on the men in 2011.
Protesters turn up at Melbourne neo-Nazi powerlifting event at Legacy Boxing Gym in Sunshine North
A neo-Nazi powerlifting event at a Melbourne gym has gone ahead despite 300 protesters gathering outside to voice their disgust.

The European Australian Movement and Nationalist Socialist Network, which is led by known white supremacist Thomas Sewell, hosted the 'White Power Lifting Meet' at the Legacy Boxing Gym in Sunshine North on Saturday.

A social media post from the group stated: 'We implore members of the wider national community to celebrate the movement's exponential growth with us'.

The group promoted its inaugural 'all white' powerlifting competition on Saturday, with seminars and speeches on 'white power' to follow on Sunday at an undisclosed location.

'The wider nationalist community is invited to participate, but must be vetted at a meeting before the event on the 29th to attend,' an event flyer read.

'Australia for the white man!'

Protesters turned out in the hundreds on Saturday, demanding that 'never again' should an event of its kind take place.

'No hate, no fear! Nazis are not welcome here!' the 300-strong group chanted, accompanied by handmade banners and signs.

The demonstration was organised by the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism group who wanted to show that the community is 'against racism and bigotry in all its forms'.

'Never again. That's our message. Neo-Nazis are desperately trying to build a following, and they're doing it in the heart of one of Melbourne's most multicultural suburbs,' said rally organiser Jasmine Duff.
Meet 007: The cell with a license to kill cancer, created by an Israeli startup
To protect itself against disease, the human body has immune cells that patrol like police officers, entering disease cells and destroying them. But some dangerous cells, including some solid tumors, operate in stealth and cannot be targeted by the body’s regular immune system.

Edity Therapeutics, an Israeli startup founded in 2019, reprograms a patient’s own immune cells, giving them the ability to hunt down and destroy these cancer cells. It’s like transforming regular beat cops into lethal supersleuths.

After successful laboratory tests, Edity plans to start preclinical trials of an immune cell that the company is reprogramming to become a delivery vehicle. These cells will contain therapeutic payloads ready to find and destroy not just cancer cells – but a host of diseases currently without a cure.

If that leaves you neither shaken nor stirred, consider the codename of this avenging angel that could be the next breakthrough in targeted cell therapy: ED 007.

Edity will train ED 007 to identify solid tumors that are not usually recognized by the body’s own immune system, allowing them to grow unhindered and metastasize. ED 007 will inflame these tumors, triggering the body’s own immune system to kill the cancer. Because the retrained cells are taken from the patient’s own body, the threat of rejection and autotoxicity is hopefully eliminated.More on Edity’s funding round

“Science allows us to treat any disease in a test tube but there are still many diseases with no cure,” says Dr. Michal Golan-Mashiach, Edity’s CEO and Founder. “Edity’s technology will bring new treatment options to previously incurable diseases, offering new medicines to patients and their families.”
Israel inaugurates longest suspension bridge connecting J'lm Mount Zion to Valley of Hinnom
The longest suspension bridge in Israel will be inaugurated on Sunday and will connect Jerusalem's Mount Zion to the Valley of Hinnom, following nine months of construction at the cost of 20 million shekel.

The 202-meter (663 feet) long bridge is expected to be one of the main tourist attractions in the capital and will be open for pedestrians from 6 am to 10 pm daily. From the bridge, visitors will be able to see the natural valley that surrounds the Old City from the south.

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion said the municipality has invested millions in the development of tourist attractions and invited Israelis and visitors from abroad to visit the bridge.

Before the 1967 Six Day War, the valley was a no man's land and used mostly as a garbage dump. Efforts have been underway to clean it up in the past 20 years, and clear hiking trails through it.

It contains archeological remains from different periods in History, ancient grave sites and a spring and is lush with natural vegetation and clear mountain air. Among the artifacts found, was a stone that archeologists believed was being quarried to be used in the construction of the Holy Temple but was left behind for an unknown reason.
U.K government to probe Channel Islands concentration camps
The official inquiry into Nazi atrocities committed on Alderney in the Channel Islands is under pressure to investigate why those responsible for committing war crimes on British soil were never brought to trial in the UK

UK’s Holocaust envoy, Lord Pickles discusses the launch of an inquiry into the number of prisoners murdered by the Nazis in the British crown dependency


Holocaust survivor uses Tiktok to educate millions
As a generation of young Jews come of age, they seek new tools to educate their peers about the painful legacy of genocide and antisemitism experienced by their beloved elders

Jewish World Weekly host Calev Ben-David talks with the great-grandson of Holocaust survivor and author of 'Lily's Promise' Dov Forman, about their work to educate about the Holocaust through social media




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