Wednesday, August 02, 2023

08/02 Links Pt2: Jury votes to sentence Tree of Life synagogue killer to death; Don't let the Palestinians erase the Jewish history of Israel

From Ian:

Pittsburgh jury votes to sentence Tree of Life synagogue killer to death
A federal jury on Wednesday sentenced Robert Bowers to death for killing 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history, the New York Times reported.

In June, the jury found Bowers, 50, guilty of dozens of federal hate crimes in the trial held at the US District Court in Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania. Bowers was convicted of 63 counts, including 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death.

Two weeks ago, during the first phase of the sentencing portion of the trial, the jury found Bowers to be eligible for the death penalty. Jurors then heard testimony and arguments from both prosecutors and defense attorneys as to whether he deserved to be put to death for the killings.

On June 16, the jury found him guilty on all counts, with defense lawyers offering no dispute that he planned and carried out the attack.

First-hand accounts pulled at the heartstrings of jurors
Jurors heard testimony from some of the survivors of the attack and evidence of Bowers' antisemitism, including multiple posts attacking Jews made on a far-right website in the months leading up to the attack.

In federal capital cases, a unanimous vote by jurors in a separate penalty phase of the trial is required in order to sentence a defendant to death, and the judge cannot reject the jury's vote. If jurors are unable to reach a unanimous decision, the offender is instead sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release.

In the sentencing phase, prosecutors have argued that Bowers had the necessary intent and premeditation to qualify for the death penalty. They presented witnesses and evidence to show he carefully planned the attack and deliberately targeted vulnerable elderly worshipers.

Defense lawyers argued that Bowers suffers from major mental illness, including schizophrenia, and so lacked the necessary level of intent.

Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who hid in a bathroom during the attack, thanked the jury in a statement, saying "it is my hope that we can begin to heal and move forward."
US Jewish leaders applaud death sentence for Tree of Life shooter
Jewish organizations have applauded a Pittsburg jury's Wednesday decision to sentence the perpetrator of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in 2018.

Amb. Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, emphasized, "Today's decision represents a measure of justice for the slaughter of 11 Jewish worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest act of antisemitism in US history."

Lauder continued, "The jury's decision is a stark reminder to remain vigilant against antisemitism, calling on American leaders to amplify efforts to protect Jewish communities nationwide."

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) stated, "As we process the jury's decision, let us remember the eleven lives lost to a cold-blooded hater of Jews while at prayer in the synagogue."

Yaakov Hagoel, chairman of the World Zionist Organization, praised the Pennsylvania court's decision to sentence the antisemitic killer to death, asserting, "No punishment can undo the loss of these 11 lives, but we will not forget nor forgive."

Reflection on the Jewish community of Pittsburgh
Jewish Federations of North America shared their thoughts and prayers, stating: "As our friends at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh reflect, our thoughts, sympathy, and prayers today are with the Pittsburgh community; the families of the victims; the survivors and first responders directly affected; the congregations that lost loved members; and all of the people traumatized by this crime."

They continued by remembering and honoring the eleven victims.

As they acknowledged the closing of this chapter, the organization emphasized the strength and resilience of Pittsburgh's Jewish community.

Chairman of The Jewish Agency, Doron Almog, reflected on his visit to the Pittsburgh community, stating: "A year ago I visited the Pittsburgh community that is still picking up the pieces from the unimaginable tragedy. The memory of the murdered will be encircled in our hearts, and we at the Jewish Agency send a big hug and strengthen the hands of the families and the community."


JPost Editorial: Don't let the Palestinians erase the Jewish history of Israel
UNESCO recognized the “State of Palestine” in 2011 and the United States and Israel both stopped paying annual dues to the body. In 2019, both countries withdrew from the organization to protest its ongoing anti-Israel bias. Last month, the US rejoined despite a law prohibiting Washington from funding institutions that recognize states that don’t meet international standards of statehood, which includes the “State of Palestine.”

The UN’s bias against Israel is built-in. The Palestinians do not need to win a case based on merits and facts; they have support from an automatic majority.

Three other sites in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) are listed by UNESCO as being in the “State of Palestine”: the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem; the ancient terraces of Battir (Beitar), where Bar Kochba made his last stand against the Romans in 135 BCE; and Hebron’s Old City, including the Tomb of the Patriarchs. That’s right: The land which, according to the Bible, Abraham purchased as a burial plot is now, according to UNESCO, “Occupied Palestinian Territory” at best.

In addition, the Old City of Jerusalem is listed as an “endangered historical site” registered to Jordan and UNESCO routinely refers to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall – the holiest site in Judaism and the portion of its retaining wall that is revered by Jews around the world – by their Islamic names: al-Haram al-Sharif and al-Buraq.

The PA has filed requests for UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee to recognize another 13 sites in the future. These include Sebastia, the capital of ancient northern Israel, built by the Israelite King Omri in 879 BCE. But don’t expect to find a reference to ancient Israel or the Jewish people. The UNESCO World Heritage Convention site describes it thus: “Sebaste, identified with ancient Samaria, is the capital of the northern kingdom during the Iron Age II in Palestine and a major urban centre during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.”

The Palestinians are also attempting to claim the Qumran caves in the Judean Desert, where the Dead Sea Scrolls – ancient Jewish religious manuscripts of unparalleled significance – were discovered in 1946.

The trend is obvious: Jewish (and Christian) links to the land are being erased with the imprimatur of a UN body. So much for cultural preservation.

Joshua’s battle over Jericho is ancient history but there is an important battle to fight today – combating the replacement of Jewish history by the Palestinian narrative in UNESCO and elsewhere in the international arena.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had justified his country’s reentry to UNESCO by arguing that it will enable the US to more effectively combat anti-Israel bias in the organization. That assertion will now be tested. Will the US and Israel’s other allies push back against Palestinian efforts to erase the Jewish people’s ties to its homeland?
PodCast: When Exactly Did The Arab-Israeli Conflict Begin? A Fireside Chat With Oren Kessler, Journalist & Author of “Palestine 1936”
When exactly did the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours begin? Some detractors say that following the Six Day War, when Israel gained eastern Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria (sometimes called the West Bank), among other areas, the conflict truly kicked off, but others say Israel’s establishment in 1948 was the genesis.

Still, the seeds of the conflict were planted before that, in 1936. That’s according to journalist and political analyst Oren Kessler. Kessler’s new book, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict, posits that 1936 was the year which was critical in establishing a conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours.

Kessler has previously served as the Arab affairs correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, an editor, translator and writer for the English edition of Haaretz and a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think tank in London, and he joins us as our guest on this week’s podcast.


BBC’s ‘Hardtalk’ misses the mark in Amnesty International interview
During that visit to Israel in 2022, Agnes Callamard and her colleague Philip Luther gave an interview to the Times of Israel’s Lazar Berman. As later noted by Shany Mor in relation to Luther’s promotion of the exact same talking point as Callamard uses in this Hardtalk interview eighteen months later:
“Anyway, as Luther is keen to point out, it is not the case that Amnesty has only accused Israel of apartheid. It also issued a report in 2017 accusing Myanmar of committing the crime of apartheid.

This is perhaps the biggest red herring in the entire interview. A comparison of the Myanmar report and the Israel report only serves to make Berman’s questions even more urgent and Luther’s answers even more inadequate.

The Myanmar report deals with specific policies of institutionalised discrimination and forcible population transfers in Rakhine State (one of 21 regions in the country) affecting a minority that comprises roughly 1 per cent of Myanmar’s total population. The Israel report casts the entire existence of Israel as a tainted enterprise. The very basis of Israeli society is a putative crime.

The Burmese government could conceivably implement each of Amnesty’s policy recommendations tomorrow and Myanmar would continue to exist. The recommendations proposed for Israel would end the existence of a Jewish state and leave its six million Jews vulnerable to mass murder and expulsion.

Another big difference: The claims against Myanmar will not be used to mobilise violence against ethnic Burmese around the world.”

Sackur however changed the subject at that point:
Sackur: “Alright, well you’ve made that point. Let’s move on because we don’t have much time left.”

Any serious examination of Amnesty International’s credibility, reputation and impartiality would have to provide audiences with the facts essential for putting the claims made by Sackur’s sole interviewee into their correct perspective. Any such examination would also have to address the relevant issue of the political motivations of Amnesty International and other self-defined ‘human rights’ organisations with which it collaborates.

With such information withheld from BBC viewers and listeners, all Sackur in fact achieved in this part of the interview was to provide Callamard with a stage from which to promote her obviously partial talking points concerning Israel.

Amnesty International was one of the leading NGO contributors to BBC content in 2022, as has been the case for at least a decade. The BBC has regularly promoted uncritical amplification of Amnesty International’s reports concerning Israel, including the one referenced in this interview:

It is therefore of all the more concern that Stephen Sackur did not ensure that his interview with Amnesty International’s secretary general was informative and challenging enough to contribute to audience understanding of the background to that once respected organisation’s spurious ‘apartheid’ campaign against Israel.
Interview Departing EU envoy: I won’t accuse Israel of apartheid, but it’s worthy of discussion
The European Union’s Ambassador to the Palestinians Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff soared off into retirement in style, conducting what he said was the first-ever paraglide over the Gaza Strip last month.

“Once you have a free Palestine, a free Gaza, you can do exactly the same thing, and that’s the reason why I did this — to show you the way forward if you work for it,” said Kühn von Burgsdorff, who formally concluded three decades as a European diplomat on Tuesday.

His stunt struck a nerve in Israel, though, whose Foreign Ministry branded it a “provocative action.”

“The European diplomat forgot a long time ago that he represents the EU and its member states,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson. “He continues to represent the Palestinian narrative and to serve as a propaganda tool for terror organizations controlling Gaza.”

As the statement hinted, Israel sparred with Kühn von Burgsdorff throughout his three-and-a-half-year tenure leading the EU mission in East Jerusalem, as the 65-year-old German-born diplomat regularly used his platform to highlight the Palestinian plight.

He has gone further in his criticism of Israel than just about any Western representative, including accusing the IDF last month of using disproportionate force against Palestinians during a counter-terror raid in the Jenin refugee camp. At a May event hosted by his mission to mark Europe Day, he told the hundreds in attendance that “growing concern about what more and more people around the world see as the crime of apartheid will keep the unresolved Palestinian cause on the international agenda.”

Kühn von Burgsdorff avoided saying whether he thinks the politically charged term accurately describes the reality in the West Bank, but in a wide-ranging interview with The Times of Israel, he did insist that “one should not suppress the discussion of whether what we’re seeing on the ground constitutes the crime of apartheid.”


Responsible Scholars Must Speak Out Against Discriminatory Anti-Israel Academic Boycotts
On Monday, July 24, the American Anthropological Association (AAA) announced that its members had voted 2,016 to 835 in favor of a “Resolution to Boycott Israeli Academic Institutions.”

The passage of this resolution reflects multiple ironies, contradictions, and double standards.

First, the resolution was presented within the framework of the AAA’s “deep commitment to academic freedom and open debate.” Of course, academic boycotts are antithetical to these core values that define the academy, preventing faculty, students, and other scholars from effectively engaging with their counterparts at the targeted institutions.

Second, the field of Anthropology is ostensibly committed to the understanding of other societies, cultures, and experiences. Yet, with this resolution, the AAA as an institution is essentially cutting itself off from the perspectives and lived experiences of Israeli anthropologists. How will AAA members gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of Israeli society if they cannot conduct research in partnership with Israeli institutions?

Sadly, the scholars most likely to be impacted by the implementation of this resolution are graduate students and junior faculty, who would benefit the most from taking part in study-abroad programs, research projects, academic conferences, symposia, workshops, museum exhibits, and archaeological projects, all valuable educational opportunities which are now under threat.

Third, the resolution maintains a singular focus on Israel – and a deafening silence about the travesties committed by many other nations. It accuses the Israeli academy of being complicit in actions against Palestinians when, in fact, Israeli academics have often been among the most vocal critics of Israeli government policies and have worked hard to promote Arab-Jewish coexistence on their campuses and beyond. This double standard underscores how the purpose of this resolution is not to promote human rights, but to isolate Israel – and only Israel.

Finally, this resolution will have no discernible impact on the policies of the Israeli government but may indeed negatively impact Jewish and Zionist faculty and students in the US. Numerous studies and reports have documented that the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement coarsens the discourse on campus, promotes prejudice and hate against Jews on campus, and leaves many Jews feeling demoralized and disempowered within their academic institutions and disciplines. Having a prominent academic association essentially endorse a core tactic used by the BDS movement will alienate Jewish and Zionist scholars from their academic fields of study and dissuade students from pursuing anthropology.
‘An Unpleasant Experience’
The creeping centralization of Palestine in British student politics extends beyond the NUS into colleges and campuses generally, as sociologist David Hirsh is all too aware. When I show up at his North London home shortly after lunchtime, Hirsh is only half expecting me. Recalling our appointment, he invites me in and we take a seat in his living room, where a large desk sits inside the bay window. Hirsh settles in on the couch across from me, above which are shelves lined with books and DVDs with Hebrew and Arabic titles.

Since 2003, Hirsh has been a senior lecturer in sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, a college located in southeast London. He is perhaps best known for coining the “Livingstone Formulation,” named for the former mayor of London Ken Livingstone. The Livingstone Formulation is a reference to those who refuse to engage with an accusation of antisemitism on its merits, but rather respond with a counteraccusation that the accuser is taking part in a conspiracy to silence political speech.

The anti-Israel political culture in the NUS, Hirsh thinks, reflects a broader problem not only in academia but in left-liberal circles in Britain in general. Hirsh and like-minded colleagues have been pushing back against academic boycotts of Israel since the mid-2000s. In April 2005, the Association of University Teachers voted to boycott two Israeli universities, a decision overturned a month later following international outcry. In 2006, the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education passed a motion in favor of boycotting Israeli lecturers and academic institutions who did not dissociate themselves from their country’s so-called “apartheid policies.” The two associations later merged to form the University and College Union (UCU), rendering that motion null and void since it wasn’t binding on the merged union.

“If somebody doesn’t want to go to Israel, they don’t have to,” Hirsh tells me. “But to insist that a university or a [trade] union adopt a policy that says that you cannot do collaborative work with someone who lives in Israel is quite a different thing. It’s about setting up an exclusion of Israelis—and only Israelis.” And in the case of the 2006 motion, he says it was about imposing a litmus test on Israeli academics—that only those willing to disavow their institution or distance themselves in public forums from what anti-Israel academics term “Israeli apartheid” were deemed acceptable.

In 2007, Hirsh tried to challenge support for boycotts within his own UCU branch at Goldsmiths but says he had a hard time getting members to back a motion that said, “We’re for the politics of peace, for solidarity with the Israeli peace movement and with those Palestinians who are for a peaceful solution, and for organiz[ing] concrete material solidarity with Israeli and Palestinian universities.” It was a shock to Hirsh that a number of his colleagues who didn’t normally attend union meetings showed up to vote against the motion and in favor of an academic boycott. “I was a bit naïve,” he tells me.

Hirsh soon found himself almost totally isolated within his department at Goldsmiths for pushing back against the academic boycotts—“There were many people who didn’t talk to me and I didn’t talk to them.” And although it is always hard to know if the one led to the other, Hirsh struggled to get his academic work peer-reviewed and published in journals. Instead, he made a living off of student advising and first-year teaching, “the work a lot of people didn’t want to do.”
Was the Rebuke of a Progressive Democrat a Blow to the Boycott Israel Movement?
Some observers suggested that the Jayapal affair and the House vote effectively comprised a rebuke of progressives, and exposed their position on Israel as both marginal and as electoral poison. But the affair meshes with polls that continue to indicate younger Democrats and progressives are more favorably inclined towards Palestinians than Israelis. This divide is a harbinger of Democratic Party politics in the future, a reality denied by some commentators on the left, but tacitly acknowledged by The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman that Biden might be “the last pro-Israel Democratic president.” The implications for official policy including regarding BDS and the broader treatment of antisemitism and Israel lie in the balance.

The larger Democratic Party trajectory remains similar to the British Labour Party, where a BDS inspired crisis on campus led to exposure of antisemitic activists at the party’s core who continue to challenge the leadership and undermine its credibility.

These controversies also frame the continuing backlash over the Biden administration’s national strategy on antisemitism. Critics continue to point out that the administration’s refusal to fully embrace the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and its approving reference toward the rival Nexus Document deliberately evades the leading source of contemporary antisemitism, hatred of Israel. Others have noted that the national strategy entails “partnerships” with a variety of organizations including CAIR, which have increased their vitriol against Israel.

Outside of the national strategy, however, the Biden administration now appears to be implementing the Trump administration’s 2019 Executive Order that calls on the Department of Education to adopt the IHRA definition in the context of Title VI of the 1964 Higher Education Act, and for other Federal departments to consider contemporary antisemitism with reference to IHRA.

In contrast, the Department of State’s recent decision to exclude Israeli entities in the West Bank appears to have been made without consulting the department’s own Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. Republican Senators have called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to rescind the policy.

Elsewhere in the political sphere, Texas’ anti-BDS law was upheld in Federal court, while the governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, issued an executive order prohibiting the state from contracting with or investing in entities boycotting Israel.

In the international sphere, a bill was passed in the UK Parliament prohibiting local councils and other public bodies from adopting BDS policies. The Conservative government stated the bill was designed to restore government control over foreign policy. Opponents from both sides voiced concerns that the bill would somehow criminalize speech regarding Israel and warned that it equated Israel with the West Bank, thereby restricting free speech and the ability of local councils to “promote Palestinian self-determination.”

The legal and economic status of the “territories” remains a focus for controversy and BDS. Britain’s trade minister stated in July that the country’s new free trade agreement with Israel does not include goods and services produced in “illegal settlements.”

A report also indicates that the United Nations “High Commissioner for Human Rights” removed General Mills from its blacklist after the company sold its stake in an eastern Jerusalem factory.

BDS activists immediately claimed credit for the decision, which General Mills explicitly stated was not political but rather part of a global restructuring. In contrast, while the French firm Carrefour has opened 50 supermarkets in Israel, it has explicitly refused to open any branches in the “territories.” The firm’s General Secretary Laurent Vallée stated that “No Carrefour store will be present in the territories mentioned,” and that “there is no complicity, and we are taking care to prevent any risk.”
Rashida Tlaib Attends Anti-Israel Art Show Glorifying Palestinian ‘Martyrs’
Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan attended an art show in May that glorified Palestinian “martyrs” and called for the end of Zionism, according to a Facebook post.

The event was put on by the Handala Coalition, a collective of Palestinian youth organizations in Michigan, at the Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery and ran from May 26 to June 17, The Arab American News reported. Tlaib, who has a history of anti-Israel rhetoric, visited the art gallery on May 30 and took pictures with several attendees and organizers in front of a lended Israel apartheid wall, according to a Facebook post.

The event featured a canvas demanding freedom for Palestinian “martyrs” and denouncing Zionism, according to The Arab American News.

“Free our martyrs,” the canvas reads “Free them all. Zionism will fall.”

The display reportedly included a painting of Khader Adnan, a former spokesperson for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a U.S.-designated terrorist group since 1997, according to The Arab American News. Khadar died in May after an 86-day hunger strike following his arrest by the Israeli military over suspicion of his involvement in terrorist activities, according to the Times of Israel.

The exhibit included displays saying “We Will Return,” and one piece showed a Palestinian woman who appears to be holding a gun with the phrase “Power To Our Freedom Fighters, Glory To Our Martyrs” written on top, according several posts. Another piece of art showed Israeli checkpoints and called for the end of Israeli apartheid against Palestinians, according to the group’s Facebook page.
"1000 Petition California’s Jewish Lawmakers to Defund Antisemitic Classes"
In light of a new discovery by the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) that California’s new ethnic studies requirement is likely inoperative, more than a thousand Californians on Tuesday petitioned members of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus to keep the requirement unfunded.

Despite assurances from these same legislators to the Jewish community that “guardrail” amendments added to the California ethnic studies high school graduation requirement bill (AB101) would prevent required classes from promoting “bias, bigotry and discrimination,” school districts like Santa Ana Unified have adopted courses that include blatantly antisemitic and anti-Israel content. Other school districts, including Jefferson Union High School District, Hayward United, and Castro Valley United, have hired ethnic studies contractors responsible for authoring the rejected, antisemitic first draft of the state’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC). The contractors have made it clear they are intent on implementing ethnic studies curricula even more antisemitic than their original rejected draft. That original draft outraged the Jewish community, state legislators, and the Governor, who vowed it would “never see the light of day.”

However, a new analysis recently released by FAIR argues that the AB 101-mandated graduation requirement is likely, not operative, allowing school districts and the state time to stop this dangerous antisemitic momentum.

FAIR explains that a last-minute amendment added to AB 101 stipulates that the bill is “operative only upon an appropriation of funds by the Legislature for purposes of [the] amendments.” The addition of such a fail-safe amendment after all guardrails had already been amended to the bill strongly suggests that legislators, too, were not confident the guardrails would work, and wanted a way to prevent the requirement from moving forward if it became clear that a biased, bigoted and discriminatory version of ethnic studies could not be kept out of California classrooms. Although some money – a fraction of the estimated $275 million per year price tag of the graduation requirement — was earmarked for ethnic studies in a bill (AB 130) signed into law more than 6 weeks before the addition of the “operative only upon an appropriation” amendment, no funds have been allocated for AB 101 since the bill was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Newsom.


Why didn't 'The New York Times' report on the Holocaust?
God bless the Hebrew University Summer Ulpan in Jerusalem. I was a student in the program in 1987, after graduating with honors from Columbia University, and was placed in the top rung of the Hebrew courses (known in Hebrew as ramah vav). I graduated with an A-, likely because my Hebrew grammar was my Achilles heel.

The ulpan program was excellent. Although my Hebrew was good from years in yeshiva day school and high school in New York – and 10 months before college, in the hesder yeshiva in Gush Etzion – I was astounded that for the first time in my life, I penned essays and poetry in Hebrew (one was about Spinoza) and I was able to understand Yehuda Amichai in the original.

The trips during the summer break were memorable, especially a trip to the Sinai – in Egyptian hands – and the swimming and snorkeling were great. Also memorable was chanting Eichah at a crowded and well-lit Kotel on the evening of the Ninth of Av. It was the best summer of my life.

And yet, I am critical of Israel’s oldest university for two reasons. First, it took too many years for Hebrew University to establish an academic chair in Yiddish Language. It was not until 1952. As much as I love Hebrew and know little Yiddish, we must acknowledge that Yiddish was the core of a civilization that endured a millennium.

Whatever animus Zionists, led by David Ben-Gurion, had against Yiddish as a language of exile should not have interfered with the academic study of the language (not a “jargon”).

My second criticism is the subject of the remainder of this essay. After his death in 1968, the widow of Arthur Hays Sulzberger established a scholarship in his memory at the Hebrew University. I will argue that as long ago as this scholarship was established, it should now be abolished. Sulzberger, as publisher of the highly influential New York Times, betrayed his fellow Jews by diminishing news of the Holocaust during his tenure as the head of the newspaper.

No matter how much money his wife donated to the university, he abdicated his responsibility to the Jewish people. The Hebrew University should never have honored him with a scholarship. And it was only in death that he acted on behalf of Jews and the Jewish people.
The Washington Post Buries the Truth About Palestinian Terrorism
“Facts,” Mark Twain famously observed, “are stubborn things.” But at the Washington Post, facts about Israel are in short supply. And instead of unearthing them, the Post seems intent on burying the truth.

Take, for example, a July 25, 2023, report on a recent archaeological discovery in the Gaza Strip (“125 tombs found after chance discovery of ancient Roman-era cemetery in Gaza”). While ostensibly highlighting the findings of the dig, the Post’s dispatch shirks from unearthing basic facts. Indeed, the newspaper glosses right over them, asserting that the Gaza Strip is an area prone to “conflict and impoverishment.” The area, Post reporter Ellen Francis writes, is “Palestinian territory under [an] Israeli blockade” that can hinder “efforts to find and safeguard archeological treasures.”

Yet, the Gaza Strip is under a blockade by both Israel and Egypt. Indeed, by many metrics, Egypt’s blockade is more stringent. And for good reason—the Gaza Strip is ruled by Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that calls for Israel’s destruction.

The Post—in keeping with its well-worn habit—merely refers to Hamas as a “militant” movement. This effectively sanitizes a terrorist organization whose charter approvingly quotes Hitler. The newspaper omits that the blockade was initiated because of Hamas attacking Israel following the Jewish state’s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. In the subsequent two decades, Hamas has continued to attack Israel, leading to multiple wars. This is important context. As CAMERA told Post staff, if the blockade is to be mentioned, it should be fully and accurately described and the reasons for its existence should be noted.

Further, the idea that Israel poses a threat to “archeological treasures” is patently absurd. The Jewish state has both funded and led pioneering archeological digs, turning up numerous historical finds. Indeed, Israel is a world leader in the field. Ironically, the Post itself has previously lambasted Israel for excavations.

But where Israel invests in groundbreaking research, Hamas invests in terror. The terrorist group has pilfered international aid, using it to build underground tunnels to kidnap and murder Israelis. If Gaza is subject to poverty, the blame can be laid at the doorstep of Hamas. Genocidal Islamists seldom make for good rulers.

Elsewhere, the Post has given facts short shift.
Why Won’t The New York Times Correct Glaring Western Wall Error?
Writing about the Israeli government pushing through the first part of the polarizing legislation to overhaul the Israeli judiciary last month, The New York Times’ Jerusalem bureau chief Patrick Kingsley referenced some of the more extreme politicians who form Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition:
… Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition includes a finance minister who has described himself as a proud homophobe, a security minister who was convicted of racist incitement, and an ultra-Orthodox party that proposed fining women for reading the Torah at the holiest site in Judaism.

Although seemingly subtle, the mistake is significant: no one has proposed fining women for reading the Torah at Judaism’s holiest site.

It is true that the ultra-Orthodox Shas political party proposed legislating a fine of up to 10,000 shekels ($2,729) and up to six months in prison for women who read from the Torah, blow a shofar, put on prayers shawls or phylacteries — but this would not have applied to Judaism’s holiest site for the simple reason that Jews do not pray at Judaism’s holiest site.

As Kingsley and editors over at The New York Times should be well aware of by now, Judaism’s holiest site is the Temple Mount, which is administered by the Jordanian Waqf and subject to a status quo agreement that forbids Jewish prayer — by women and men alike.

Rather, Kingsley was referencing the Western Wall, which has been the subject of opposition by orthodox Jews to egalitarian prayer at the holy site.


New York City Exhibit Spotlights Jewish World War II Refugees Who Found Salvation in Shanghai
A new exhibition that opened in New York City on Monday highlights the personal stories of Jews and their descendants who found refuge in Shanghai, China, in the 1930s and 1940s during World War II.

Titled Shanghai, Homeland Once Upon a Time – Jewish Refugees and Shanghai, the exhibit shares 30 oral stories of former Jewish refugees and their families, and also displays memorabilia, replicas of historical records, more than 200 photographs and documentary videos. On display are boat tickets refugees used to escape Nazi-occupied Europe, a marriage certificate issued in Shanghai that has Chinese lettering, and a student report card from the Shanghai Kadoorie School, among many other items. The exhibit depicts the daily lives of these Jewish refugees who resettled in Shanghai and their partnership with the Chinese people.

The exhibition was organized by Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Shanghai Fosun Public Welfare Foundation and the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum in China. It is the museum’s first overseas exhibition since its expansion in 2020.

About 20,000 Jewish refugees who escaped Nazi persecution in Europe found a safe haven in Shanghai between 1938 and 1941 and set up a new life for themselves in China. Shanghai did not require entry visas at the time and kept its borders open for all immigrants.

Chen Jian, director of the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, said in a news release that the institution was particularly interested in bringing this exhibit to the United States because of the country’s large Jewish population and especially in New York City, which is home to over 2 million Jews, many of whom are descendants of Jewish refugees who resettled in Shanghai. At the exhibit’s opening ceremony, New York City Mayor Eric Adams gave the museum a special certificate of honor.

Shanghai, Homeland Once Upon a Time – Jewish Refugees and Shanghai will run until Aug. 14 at Fosun Plaza at 28 Liberty St in downtown Manhattan. Watch a promotional video for the exhibit below.
Researchers say Japan exaggerated the story of ‘Japanese Schindler’ Chiune Sugihara
Three years before the Olympics began in 2021, Tokyo was already developing the national image it would display as the world looked on.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education issued a handout to the city’s public schools in 2018 highlighting “the outstanding achievements of our predecessors” that were meant to “raise [students’] self-awareness and pride as Japanese.”

Occupying a majority of the four-page handout was the story of diplomat Chiune Sugihara, who wrote thousands of life-saving visas for Jews fleeing Europe in 1940. The pamphlet recreates a dramatized version of Sugihara’s life and actions, bolstered by quotes from nameless descendants of the Jewish refugees he saved.

“Sugihara should be remembered and honored as an amazing hero who sacrificed his profession and family to save strangers from a different ethnicity and culture,” one of the quotes reads.

Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat to Lithuania from 1939 to 1940, helped thousands of Jewish refugees flee wartime Europe by issuing transit visas that allowed them to travel across the Soviet Union to Japan. Today, his name and story can be found all over the country, from his supposed hometown in Yaotsu to a museum at the northern Tsuruga port where Jewish refugees landed.

His likeness is found in memorials in Tokyo and in manga series and films, in addition to nearly every modern history school textbook. In 2017, the Tokyo Weekender magazine dubbed Sugihara the “best Japanese person ever.” Some Catholics have even expressed hope that Sugihara will be officially canonized by the Catholic church as a Saint.
Controversy swirls around Bollywood romcom and use of Shoah references
A new Bollywood film sparked controversy for its extensive comparisons between a romantic relationship and the Holocaust.

The plot of the 2023 romantic comedy “Bawaal” revolves around Ajay Dixit, a history teacher from India, who embarks on a trip to Europe with his newlywed wife, navigating the complexities of their strained relationship.

The film repeatedly draws parallels between the couple’s relationship and the Holocaust. At one point, the two are told “every relationship goes through its Auschwitz” of the struggles that arise in partnerships, and in a pivotal scene, Dixit (Varun Dhawan) states, “We’re all a little like Hitler, aren’t we?”

Even more provocatively, there is a fantasy scene in the film where the couple is trapped in a gas chamber alongside figures dressed in striped clothing, resembling Holocaust victims, who are exposed to poison gas.

“Amazon Prime should stop monetizing ‘Bawaal’ by immediately removing this banal trivialization of the suffering and systematic murder of millions of victims of the Nazi Holocaust,” stated Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global social action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

An official Israeli Foreign Ministry social-media handle, Israel in India, posted that the Israeli embassy “is disturbed by the trivialization of the significance of the Holocaust in the recent movie ‘Bawaal.’”

“There was a poor choice in the utilization of some terminology in the movie, and though we assume no malice was intended, we urge everyone who may not be fully aware of the horrors of the Holocaust to educate themselves about it,” it stated. “Our embassy is constantly working to propagate educational materials on this crucial subject, and we are open to engaging in conversations with all individuals to foster a better understanding of the universal lessons derived from the Holocaust.”
‘The Worst Forecasts Now Carry Greater Weight:’ Jewish Historian Tracks Growing Antisemitic Climate in Russia
As Russia retreats further into the ultranationalist politics that have underpinned its invasion of Ukraine, the country’s centuries-long tradition of antisemitic agitation has been reactivated, according to a Russian Jewish historian, who is openly wondering whether those Jews who remain there may once again face deadly persecution.

“Two years ago, I would have said no, but I think that today, the worst forecasts carry greater weight,” the Russian Jewish historian Ksenia Krimer told The Algemeiner in a telephone interview this week, from her offices in Germany. “It’s not yet on the scale of [Stalin’s repression during] the 1930s, but they have emptied the prisons and the penal colonies [to enable convicted criminals to fight for the Russian army or one of its paramilitaries], so now there is plenty of room in those places. I really don’t see what’s stopping them.”

The origins of the current wave of antisemitism in Russia are rooted in the early days of the war, when up to one million people fled the country, among them thousands of Jews, many of whom headed to Israel, said Krimer, a historian and fellow at the Leibniz Center for Contemporary History in Potsdam, Germany.

Since the start of the invasion, “between 700,000 and one million people left the country,” Krimer said. “A substantial proportion came from Jewish backgrounds, because Israel launched an emergency aliyah program for Jews from both Russia and Ukraine.” According to the Israeli authorities, nearly 33,000 Russian Jews emigrated to Israel in 2022, a 400 percent increase on the previous year.

Those who departed Russia as the invasion got underway quickly found themselves demonized by politicians and the state media. As Krimer points out, Putin set the tone with a March 16, 2022 speech in which he railed against the emigrants as “traitors” and a “fifth column” who were ripe for manipulation by western countries. “Russians will be able to tell the difference between the patriots and the scum,” Putin fulminated. The “scum,” he continued, would “be quickly spat out, as you would a tiny fly that lands in your mouth.”
‘Danger to the Community’: FBI Arrest and Charge Meth Dealer Neo Nazi
A California neo-Nazi who allegedly manufactured ghost guns and conspired to distribute methamphetamine faces over 30 years in prison after being arrested by the FBI on Thursday.

“As alleged this convicted felon affiliated with a violent white supremacist group, who espouses horrific acts of violence against Jews, appears to be manufacturing firearms,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement on Friday. “The potential danger to the community cannot be overstated. We will continue to investigate this matter to ensure that this defendant is held accountable for his crimes and to keep our community safe from acts of violence motivated by racist and hateful ideology.”

According to a press release issued by the Department of Justice, the FBI took 34-year-old Ryan Scott Bradford, a convicted burglar, into custody on Thursday following a n investigation that yielded copious evidence of his ghost gun manufacturing and efforts to sell methamphetamine to vulnerable addicts. Bradford’s history on the internet was also troublesome, with investigators finding that he boasted an association with a California white-supremacist-prison gang known as the “San Fernando Valley Peckerwoods.”

On Amazon, Bradford went by the username “Peck Erwood” and used a picture of the woodpecker bird as an avatar, a common practice among white supremacists, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The “Peckerwoods,” DOJ noted, are a highly dangerous crime syndicate that has committed racial violence as well as drug and weapons trafficking and fraud.
Man who said Jews should be exterminated and decorated house with Hitler portrait jailed
An antisemitic man whose house was decorated with Nazi flags and a portrait of Adolf Hitler has been jailed.

Samuel Doyle also called for the extermination of Jewish people and promoted the former German dictator in online posts.

He came to the attention of officers from Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands (CTPEM) after intelligence about his online activity was passed to them.

Doyle was arrested in February 2022 at his home and officers uncovered more evidence of his Extreme Right-Wing views.

His house was adorned with Nazi flags and fridge magnets, fascist and racist manifestos and books, and a portrait of Hitler.

Following two no comment interviews, Doyle was charged and later pleaded guilty to five counts of distributing or publishing written material to stir up racial hatred.

Doyle, of Glossop, Derbyshire, was jailed for three years at Manchester Crown Court on Monday.

Detective Inspector Chris Brett, from CTPEM, said: "Freedom of speech is an important part of our shared British values - and something that is enshrined in law.


Holocaust Centre North apologises over training course press release
A Holocaust centre has apologised for the language that it used in a press release for a managerial training course that it offered.

The Holocaust Centre North, in Huddersfield, launched a programme last month which is designed to teach “modern leaders” how to learn from twentieth-century dictators about office culture and inclusion.

In a press release, the charity said of the course: “Exploring the leadership traits of Hitler, Stalin and others, as well as the dangers of being a bystander, the half-day course highlights the dangers of ignoring inclusion. It offers a challenging look at equality, diversity and inclusion at a time when cases of toxic workplace culture are rarely out of the headlines.”

Hannah Randall, Head of Learning at the organisation, is quoted in the press release as saying: “Participants are shocked to see that some of their leadership traits are similar to dictators. Stalin was an extreme micro-manager and this style is familiar to a lot of people. So too is Hitler’s hands-off and unaccountable approach that relies on his force of personality to get things done. It’s very much the blueprint of populism.

“We are using extreme scenarios but it serves a dual purpose. It makes people question their leadership style and it makes them confront relatable experiences that some would rather forget. So, for example, most people have seen discrimination in their organisation, which is stage three on the ten stages of genocide. A good number of people have seen colleagues not allowed to share their ideas or be valued because they’re a woman and some have seen colleagues wearing a hijab openly mocked and singled out for abuse.”
Israeli firm rolls out cancer screening program in DRC
Tel Aviv-based FemTech company MobileODT, in partnership with Cingulate Medical, has announced phase one of its planned rollout of a large-scale National Cervical Cancer and Breast Cancer screening and treatment program in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The program is the initiative of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi Tshilombo, and will highlight the importance of women’s health in the DRC. Mobile ODT provides complete screening and treatment solutions for women’s health.

Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounts for about 66% (196,000) of estimated global maternal deaths according to a joint report released by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Bank Group in 2019. Cervical and breast cancers are the top two cancers among women in the DRC. Close to 8,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, with 5,550 dying from it, every year. Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.

This program, using groundbreaking Israeli technology, will allow millions of Congolese women access to lifesaving healthcare solutions. This will be the most comprehensive and largest cervical and breast cancer screening and treatment program in Africa.

“We are extremely proud that the MobileODT screening and treatment technologies have been selected to be part of this endeavor in the DRC,” said Leon Boston, MobileODT’s CEO.

“Our turnkey screen and treat offering, from HPV testing to visual inspection and thermocoagulation treatment, offers a complete single-visit solution. With our single-visit solution, we overcome the two main issues in the developing world: accessibility and loss to follow-up. We are privileged to contribute to saving lives and changing outcomes for so many women.”
US approves €316 million sale of Israel's David's Sling missiles to Finland
The Defense Ministry on Thursday night announced that the US had approved its sale of the David's Sling medium-range missile defense system to Finland for €316 million.

Calling the deal "historic," the ministry said that it, and the quasi-private sector producer Rafael, would soon hold a signing ceremony.

A statement from the ministry said that the US State Department had just recently notified Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Director-General Eyal Zamir, and Director of the (MAFAT) DDR&D Division Danny Gold, of the approval.

Negotiations for the approval were led by the director of DDR&D’s Israel Missile Defense Organization, Moshe Patel.

The US approval was needed as its missile defense organization and the American Raytheon defense firm were joint partners in developing David's Sling.

All of those parties will work on providing Finland with the missile defense system, while engaging Finland's local defense community in aspects of customizing the system. Boosting Israel's defense exports worldwide

Gallant said the deal was a "very substantial step toward actualizing the historic deal between Israel and Finland."

He added that Israel's ingenious creative minds had led to breakthroughs in sales of its defense products throughout the globe.

Israel is also far along the road to a sale of the Arrow 3 system to Germany.


A new video game educates young people about the Holocaust
In the spring of 1939, a Polish-Jewish schoolboy called Samuel tells his parents about a story he was taught at school. As a punishment for killing a bird, a wealthy “man with a big nose and a long beard” is forced to dance forever in a thorn bush. This cruel, anti-Semitic tale has been around since medieval times. Samuel’s parents, Bluma and Moses, are appalled. They debate whether to explain the discrimination Jews face to their son, or whether it is kinder to protect him from it.

This is one of the few choices players are given in “The Light in the Darkness” (pictured), a free-to-play game which launched online in February. (It is releasing on mobile, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox consoles later this year.) Set in Paris during the second world war, it follows the fictional family as their world is torn apart by anti-Jewish prejudice. Their freedoms are stripped away: the authorities force them to wear a yellow star and to give up their tailor shop.

The narrative-driven game is based on events which took place during the Nazi occupation of France. French police arrested 13,000 foreign Jews in July 1942, including more than 4,000 children. They were imprisoned in the Vélodrome d’Hiver, a stadium in the capital, and later deported to death camps. It is a dark chapter in French history; the state did not admit its complicity with the Nazis until 1995.

According to Luc Bernard, who created and funded “The Light in the Darkness”, it is the first video game about the Holocaust. Nazi villains appear in many successful series including “Battlefield”, “Doom” and “Medal of Honour”; players can shoot at them during run-and-gun campaigns. But historical accuracy almost always takes a backseat.

One of the few games to feature concentration camps is “Wolfenstein: The New Order”, a dystopian shooter game of 2014. But the plot imagines an alternative version of world history in which Nazi Germany beat the Allies. Most games set during the second world war do not even mention the genocide of the Jews, notes Mr Bernard. By contrast, “The Light in the Darkness” features historical photos and video footage. Joan Salter, who survived the Vel d’Hiv round-up as an infant, co-wrote the script.

To build the game, Mr Bernard, who is Jewish, sought stories about Jews in occupied France, many of whom were betrayed by their neighbours. He gathered testimonies from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and the USC Shoah Foundation in California, which has filmed around 55,500 survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust. “We don’t talk enough about who they were, and how their lives were affected,” Mr Bernard says. By switching the game into “educational mode”, players can hear more personal histories.

The basic premise of a video game is that a player determines their destiny within pre-written storylines. “The Light in the Darkness” is powerful because it flips this concept. The game includes a few narrative-choice sections—should the family go on the run, or emigrate to America?—but players soon learn that any decision is futile. They have almost no control over their own lives. By the end, they must watch as Samuel and his parents are separated and then deported to camps.




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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 19 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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