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Tuesday, September 19, 2023

09/19 Links Pt2: The Guardian attacks the Jews…. again; Netanyahu’s Twitter gambit; “Obscene Festival of Hate”: Open Letter to University of Pennsylvania President

From Ian:

Dave Rich: Jews Do Count - and that's the problem
To ask the question is to answer it. For some people, the opinions of Jews and the actions of Jewish organisations are the key to understanding something as globally significant as the future survival of X. It’s as if, when Jews lobby businesses, social media companies or politicians, it is different from when others do: more threatening, more insidious, less legitimate, even if others are doing exactly the same. These motifs attach themselves to Jewish activism because they connect with some very old and familiar stereotypes about the supposed influence of Jewish power and wealth in shaping our world; especially if a story can be told that implies behind-the-scenes manipulation and underhand influence. These are things that people instinctively ‘know’ about how Jews operate, whether consciously or not, so when a bunch of seemingly-friendly accounts on X pander to Musk’s bruised ego by suggesting he blame the ADL for his problems, it just fits.

This doesn’t mean that Musk is an antisemite, and he insists that nothing could be further from the truth. It just means that, like so many people, he has absorbed some of the assumptions that circulate in society about Jews, and when confronted with a Jewish organisation doing something he doesn’t like, something that affects him personally, it is easy to interpret this through the framing that antisemitism has provided for centuries. In fact, sometimes it’s easier to fall into that way of thinking than it is to avoid it.

The final example (so far) this month of a world figure saying strange things about Jews is Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, who gave a rambling speech full of anti-Jewish claims, a virtual bingo card of antisemitic myths familiar to anyone who studies this stuff for a living. I’m going to dig deeper into exactly what he said in a future post (Hitler “fought the Jews because they were dealing with usury and money” was the gist of it), but I was struck by the horrified response of Martin Indyk, the veteran U.S. diplomat and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel:

I feel genuine sympathy for Indyk who seemed stung by a sense of personal betrayal, but I’m also flabbergasted by his naiveté. If antisemitism were ‘just’ a visceral prejudice, then he’d have a point. It would indeed be strange for someone who can build a lifelong friendship with a real-life Jew to simultaneously believe such heinous thoughts about “the Jews”. But that gets antisemitism entirely wrong, because antisemitism is not - or not only - about hating actual living, breathing, Jewish people. It’s a set of abstract ideas and beliefs about Jews that is not anchored in reality. Fundamentally, it’s the idea that Jews are always up to something and can never be trusted. And at its most developed, antisemitism is a way of understanding and interpreting world events that places Jews at the centre of everything. It’s not about actual Jewish people and how they behave.

So of course Abbas can be personal friends with Indyk, while also believing a whole raft of antisemitic things about “the Jews”. Just as Musk can be assured he does not hate Jews, while being seduced by the allure of an antisemitic explanation for his problems. And Putin can claim to be ridding the Ukraine of Nazism, while insisting that an “ethnic Jew” is a front for an “anti-human essence” at the heart of Ukraine.

Three leaders of different nationalities, religions and regions of the world, all sharing the same strange notion that - to paraphrase David Baddiel, but not to contradict him at all - Jews Do Count, and usually more than we’d like.

This is what the Everyday Hate substack will be about. It’s about the strange ideas about Jews that have been woven into the cultural fabric and mental architecture of our world over centuries, and that pop up in the strangest of places today. It’s about why antisemitism keeps happening, even though everyone knows it shouldn’t. And, because I’m an optimist at heart, it will have some ideas about what we should be doing about it.
David Collier: The Guardian attacks the Jews…. again
The latest article
Haroon Siddique has once again given legitimacy to a bunch of nasties. He neglects to do any investigating or proper journalism. He *chooses* to give non-critical, undeserved legitimacy to a toxic report. How could ANY JOURNALIST write this piece, without apparently doing even the most basic background research?

This is a report about anti-Jewish racism on university grounds. The most basic questions:
- What is the history of the authors when it comes to antisemitism?
- Are these groups qualified to be held up as experts on the subject?

As Haroon Siddique failed to do the basic job of a journalist and check these organisations (or the report) out before promoting them – I have done the work for him.

BRISMES
On their website the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) claims the aim is ‘to promote interest and study of the Middle Eastern cultural region’ – but much of their firepower appears to be pointed directly towards Israel. They even set up a separate company ‘BRISMES Campaigns’ to focus exclusively on boycotting Israel. This is a group of activist academics who hate Israel.

Until recently BRISMES was run by Nicola Pratt (no stranger to readers of this website) and based at the University of Warwick. These days it is headed by Neve Gordon and uses one of those ‘fake’ paid-for office addresses in Central London. There is only one resolution posted on the main website – a call for the academic boycott of Israel.

There are 14 people in the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom. SEVEN of these ‘academic freedom fighters’ actually signed a letter to Pressure “academic institutions and organizations to respect the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel.” It seems these BRISMES hypocrites are not about ‘academic freedom’ at all – and seek to silence voices when it suits them.

BRISMES and the Jane Jackman article
But what is important here is antisemitism. It was BRISMES that first gave the platform in 2016 to the antisemitic conspiracy paper by Jane Jackman at their annual conference. I exposed the depth of the problem in the paper – it was so bad that Glasgow University even apologised for placing the substandard conspiracy junk in a journal:
“This article does not meet those standards of scholarship. In particular, this article employs some discursive strategies, including a biased selection of sources as well as the misrepresentation of data, which promote what some would regard as an unfounded theory regarding the State of Israel and its activity in the United Kingdom.”

But even that didn’t stop BRISMES. Even though the paper is absolute antisemitic conspiracy junk (and I openly challenge ANY of the BRISMES academics to a public debate on the substance of that paper) – they chose to ATTACK Glasgow University, trying – but failing – to get the university to remove the criticism.

Defending the indefensible
It wasn’t just the blatant antisemitism of Jane Jackman that BRISMES tried to defend. BRISMES defended the disgraced academic David Miller too. Neve Gordon, the head of BRISMES, is a supporter of a world without a Jewish state (one state solution), he writes for the Qatari mouthpiece Al Jazeera, and pushes the Apartheid smear. He has worked closely with the Yevsektsiya group ‘JVL’, promoted Jackie Walker’s film ‘Witchhunt’, and defended Chris Williamson. Shahd Abusalama too. Many of the other figures involved with BRISMES are long-time anti-Israel campaigners such as Nicola Pratt and John Chalcraft,

No experts on antisemitism to be seen – just a bunch of anti-Israel propagandists.
Oslo Accord: Origins, goals, flaws of the Israel-Palestinian peace plan
Back to Arafat. Do you think, there were constructive ideas that Arafat was willing to pursue?
There was Arafat “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” Arafat “the good” suggested to move from the “Logic of War” to the “Logic of Peace”; we tested with him the possibility of getting Palestinian refugees from Lebanon to the United States and Canada. He supported the idea on two conditions: They would have to take more than 100,000 (of a total of 180,000) and it should be with as little as possible public knowledge. He wanted to become president even of a mini-state of Palestine. This opened up important options for Israel. Arafat “the bad” caused damage to his own people by undermining the effort at state-building; and Arafat “the ugly” was the terrorist.

When it all fell apart did you think you could put the genie back in?
No, I didn’t think it would be possible to put the genie back into the bottle. In 2000-2001 three or four major things happened. The security cooperation broke down; and so did the shared narrative of peacemaking. We, and most Israelis were, and are, convinced that the Palestinians started war against a peace government. They, the Palestinians were and are convinced Israel had cheated them with the settlements.

According to Beilin, did Israel cheat them on settlements?
Yes, the spirit of Oslo was to limit settlement expansion. We had 90,000 settlers in 1991 – and in 2000 we had 200,000. For us, we had a peace government.

What else made you think of the need to rethink the Oslo Process?
The 9/11 attack on the United States changed everything. It changed the strategic balance between Israel and the United States. From 1956 onwards and particularly from 1967 onwards, the rule of engagement was that Israel would receive arms from the US; diminish Russian influence in the area; and permit the United States to become the most important power in the Middle East throughout all the 1970s and 1980s. Now, after 9/11, the US has boots on the ground [in the Middle East].

Do you think it’s possible to get back on track for two states?
Today, the essential task is to maintain the prevailing “two nations reality.” Oslo is not totally dead, but the Abraham Accords are alive. The United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel are starting to negotiate necessary understandings on how to promote regional cooperation and get back to peace negotiations.

Can this work?
It is an important path forward with many spoilers on the way. The basic idea is to allow Israel to strengthen its regional role as a constructive power contributing to stability, security, the struggle against poverty, unemployment; and water and food security and more.

Hence, what has to be done?
I believe the Israeli Government has to end what they call “the judicial reform”; intensify the political dialogue with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Egypt and address the Palestinian issue; develop, with Saudi Arabia, a plan for building regional cooperation between the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Eastern Mediterranean which will serve not only Saudi interests, but will allow Egypt to develop Sinai, strengthen the Palestinian economy while building full cooperation with Israel along the Eastern Mediterranean coast between Alexandria and Ashdod; build an independent Palestinian infrastructure for water and energy, and allow the Arab states and the Palestinian diaspora to invest in trade promotion, agriculture, industry, and tourism, etc.

Do you think this is realistic?
Not with the present Israeli government. Unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu puts an end to the so-called “judicial reform,” and reaches an understanding, committing to a detailed plan, which will include turning at first Area B into Area A, and also encouraging Palestinian economic development in Area C, without moving settlements, but ending settlement expansion, I would recommend forming an alternative government under Netanyahu’s leadership with the parties of Gen. Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, allowing Netanyahu to end his career like Churchill, by exercising magnanimity in victory. Otherwise, he will end up like Arafat, causing disaster to his own people. And we will need years to rebuild what is being destroyed.


Caroline Glick: Netanyahu’s Twitter gambit
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to travel to San Jose, Calif., to meet face to face with businessman Elon Musk was a highly significant act on multiple levels.

First is the issue of artificial intelligence. As Netanyahu said in his one-on-one live Twitter conversation with Musk and in a later roundtable, AI may well be the most significant development in human history. The ability to train machines to think more accurately and faster than human beings can be a great blessing for humanity. And it can also be our undoing. Shaping the future of AI, maximizing the opportunities it offers and safeguarding the world from its dangers is doubtless the great challenge of our times.

Netanyahu’s aspiration to make Israel the world leader in AI—just as Israel has been the world leader in cyber security—makes learning from Musk’s perspective a matter of great importance and significant urgency. Mobilizing Musk on behalf of Israel’s efforts—and perhaps, cultivating a partnership with him—would be a significant achievement for Netanyahu and Israel.

The second aspect of Netanyahu’s move to deepen his relationship with Musk involves the future of Israeli technology. Israel is a technology development hub whose comparative advantages are closely aligned with many of Musk’s industries. Persuading Musk to deepen his involvement with Israeli technology can insulate Israel’s high-tech sector to a greater degree than it currently enjoys from the vicissitudes of technology booms and busts.

But perhaps the most important potential upside of Netanyahu’s high-profile visit with Musk is that it enables him to undermine the left’s effort to capsize his visit to the United States this week.

In the days before Netanyahu’s Sunday-night flight to San Francisco, the deep-pocketed leftist anarchists who have been running the political war against him and his voters for the past 10 months began revealing the campaign they have prepared for Netanyahu in America.
Netanyahu and Elon Musk's diplomatic dance on antisemitism, free speech
In the intricate world of diplomacy, words often carry more weight than actions. It’s a delicate dance, where a well-placed statement can be more influential than an overt critique.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu displayed his diplomatic finesse – while under intense criticism back home for his government’s judicial reform legislation push – during a meeting with billionaire Elon Musk at the Tesla offices in San José, California. While the meeting was rife with important discussions on various matters, one topic stood out: antisemitism.

Addressing this sensitive issue in a public forum is no small feat, especially when it involves a personality as polarizing as Musk. Netanyahu chose his words carefully, avoiding direct criticism and focusing on the importance of condemnation without compromising freedom of speech, particularly under the umbrella of the first amendment.

In a live broadcast watched by a global audience, Netanyahu praised Musk for his purported stance against antisemitism: “I hope you find within the confines of the First Amendment a way to combat antisemitism. I know you’re committed to it. I think it’s important to condemn. The issue of condemnation is separate from the issue of access.” This is an artful balance of appreciation and expectation, showcasing Netanyahu’s ability to tread lightly on a sensitive topic.

Musk, known for his unfiltered and often provocative statements, responded thoughtfully: “Obviously, I’m against antisemitism. Free speech does mean at times someone is saying something you don’t like. That doesn’t mean negativity should be pushed on people. Our overarching goal is to maximize unregretted user time. We can’t police [antisemitism] ahead of time. We’re not going to promote hate speech.” This response was a testament to a complex nature of free speech, highlighting the challenge of balancing it with the responsibility to curb hatred.

Netanyahu’s diplomatic approach was no surprise, given his extensive experience on the world stage. As a prominent Jewish leader, he had a genuine concern for the rise of antisemitism but also had other pressing matters to address, including economic ties and Musk’s support on various issues. It was tempting for him to sidestep Musk’s appeal to do more to combat antisemitism, especially considering that some of Musk’s critics on this front hail from liberal Jewish groups like the Anti-Defamation League, who are not typically aligned with Netanyahu’s political views.

This intriguing encounter may have resonated with Netanyahu, perhaps reminiscent of his earlier days as a young Israeli diplomat serving as the Israeli ambassador to the UN. As he continues his visit, one can only hope that he engages in open dialogues with American Jews to understand their concerns and fears regarding the current Israeli government.
In meeting with Musk, Netanyahu calls for end to antisemitic bot ‘armies’
Netanyahu stressed the importance of curbing antisemitism on platforms like X (former Twitter), which Musk now owns.

“I know your commitment to free speech, and I know you’re opposed to antisemitism. I hope you find within the confines of the First Amendment a way to try and roll it back,” Netanyahu said. “I encourage you to find a balance. It’s a tough one.”

Musk reiterated his opposition to antisemitism as well as “anything that promotes hate and conflict.” He said he is “against attacking any group.”

“Free speech does at times mean someone you don’t like is saying something you don’t like,” Musk added. “If you don’t have that, it’s not free speech.”

Netanyahu responded that he condemns antisemitism on both the far-left and the far-right. He explained that while hateful speech is protected, it’s important to keep such words limited to individual voices and not armies of bots from spreading it.

“This is actually a super-tough problem,” Musk said. He said charging users on X is “the only way I can think of to combat a vast army of bots.”
Netanyahu on the New York Times: ‘They Usually Get It Wrong’
Musk then asked Netanyahu about judicial reform in Israel. Netanyahu accused his critics of preferring a Platonic model of a philosopher king and appointed guardians, rather than popular democracy. “We have the most activist judicial court on the planet,” Netanyahu said. He added that he’s been looking for a “happy middle” and a “consensus” to bring back the balance with “a minor correction.”

“I’m described as something between, I don’t know, Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan,” Netanyahu said. “It’s not an easy thing to be maligned.”

“I know you’ve never seen that, right?” Netanyahu teasingly asked Musk, whose own press coverage, once adulatory, has turned more hostile.

Musk followed up by observing, “Certainly the press in the US has not portrayed the reforms you mentioned in a positive light.”

Netanyahu replied, “Especially the New York Times. They are on a fantastic, obsessive campaign. They usually get it wrong, so it’s not important.”

Later, Netanyahu and Musk suggested that print coverage is less important than it might have been in the past.

“Who reads today? Do people read?” Netanyahu asked.

Musk replied, “They watch TikTok videos. There’s much less reading.”

Most of the conversation was devoted to the emerging technology of artificial intelligence, which is a topic of interest to both Musk and Netanyahu.

Netanyahu also took the opportunity to stress the danger of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

The Israeli prime minister urged Musk to support free speech and also to combat antisemitism. “I encourage you and urge you to find the balance. It’s a tough one,” Netanyahu said.

Musk has accused the Anti-Defamation League of damaging his business, which the ADL has faulted for becoming a platform for hate.

“Israel will be, always, a democratic country,” Netanyahu said.

Musk volunteered toward the end of the one-on-one session, “I went to Hebrew preschool and I can sing a pretty good ‘Hava Nagilah.'”


BDS Fails, Sept. 2023 (Stories you won't read in the UK media)
Here’s the latest installment in our ongoing series of posts documenting BDS fails – stories of Israeli success that are rarely covered in the British media.

Political BDS Fails
British FM in Israel: ‘Opportunity to renew partnership in face of Iranian threat’ Paris strips Abbas of top medal: ‘You justified the extermination of Europe’s Jews’
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has stripped Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of the French capital’s highest honor after he made remarks about the Holocaust that repeated antisemitic tropes, her office said Friday.
Abbas could no longer hold the Grand Vermeil medal awarded to him in 2015 after he “justified the extermination of the Jews of Europe” in World War II, Hidalgo’s office told AFP.
“The comments you made are contrary to our universal values and the historical truth of the Shoah,” Hidalgo said in a letter to Abbas sent on Thursday. “You can therefore no longer hold this distinction.”
G20 leaders unveil Israel-Saudi Arabia rail link plan
At the G20 summit in New Delhi today, the US, India, EU and Saudi Arabia announced the promotion of a major railway and sea transport corridor between India and Europe via the Middle East. The project includes a rail link between Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The summit was attended by leaders including US President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modri, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and EU President Ursula von der Leyen, which demonstrates the importance that the leaders attach to the plan, which would strengthen economic ties between Riyadh and Jerusalem.
Israel opens embassy in Manama
Bahrain underscored the importance of a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as it celebrated the opening of the first Israeli embassy in its capital and spoke of the importance of the frozen Negev forum.
The Israeli embassy’s opening is a “historic step” that is a “further important milestone in the relations between the two countries and reflects our support for the embassy’s diplomatic efforts to further develop bilateral relations,” Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani.
He celebrated the moment by hosting Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who made his first visit to Bahrain since taking office, to mark the moment. Cohen met both with Zayani and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
Bruno Mars faces pressure to cancel Tel Aviv concert
Pop sensation Bruno Mars is facing mounting pressure from advocacy groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a pro-BDS group, to cancel his upcoming concert in Tel Aviv, expected to take place in October. The event, scheduled to take place at Hayarkon Park, has sparked outrage due to its association with the Israeli government’s policies and practices in the region.

JVP and various movement partners have called on Mars to reconsider his decision to perform in Tel Aviv, citing concerns over the Israeli government’s use of such concerts to “divert attention from the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

In an open letter addressed to the artist, JVP wrote that “by playing in Tel Aviv, you would be crossing an international picket line,” the letter states. “Whatever your intentions may be, Israel’s far-Right government, its most racist, homophobic, and authoritarian ever, will embrace and promote your performance to whitewash, or art-wash, its crimes against Palestinians.”

The letter asserted that the "Israeli government and its supporters use international artists’ performances in Israel as propaganda."

“Israel’s discriminatory and racist policies and practices have led Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, leading Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, and Palestinian human rights organizations to conclude that Israel imposes a system of apartheid against the Indigenous Palestinian people,” the letter continues. “This is a crime against humanity in international law.”

The controversy surrounding Mars’ concert comes after all tickets for both shows sold out rapidly. Live Nation, the event's promoter, is reportedly considering adding a third show to meet the high demand.

As fans eagerly await Mars’ decision, the international community watches as well to see whether the artist will use his platform to make a statement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mars’ concerts in Tel Aviv are scheduled for October 4th and 7th.


Are American College Groups Deliberately Scheduling Anti-Israel Events on Jewish Holidays?
Despite what the name suggests, the upcoming “Palestine Writes Literature Festival” at the University of Pennslyvania (UPenn) appears to have less to do with books and more to do with hating Jews, judging by its list of guest speakers.

Among those invited to address attendees are Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd musician who doesn’t think it’s antisemitic to don a Nazi-style uniform while goose-stepping on stage, and Palestinian activist Noura Erakat, who has compared Zionism to Nazism and thinks Israel shouldn’t exist.

While fired CNN contributor Marc Lamont Hill will also be in attendance and he has actually authored several books, we do not expect many nuggets of wisdom from a man who suggested in his 2021 tome, ‘Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics’ that Jews, Muslims and Christians had coexisted in harmony for centuries in the Middle East before the State of Israel ruined everything.

Apparently, Lamont Hill’s education about the Middle East didn’t extend to learning about things like “The Farhud,” which was the unprovoked massacre of Jewish men, women and children in Iraq in 1941, or the “Jizya,” otherwise known as a special tax that was historically levied on Christians and Jews living in Muslim-majority countries.

As if inviting a who’s who of antisemites wasn’t bad enough, the UPenn Palestinian festival seems also to have been designed to coincide with the Jewish High Holiday period, with the event announced on Rosh Hashanah and scheduled to take place on Judaism’s holiest day Yom Kippur — a fact that was criticized by Jewish leaders who noted that such timing reduces the likelihood of Jewish students protesting against it.
UPenn Hillel to Hold ‘Massive’ Shabbat Event as School Begins Hosting Anti-Zionist ‘Palestine Festival’
The University of Pennsylvania’s Hillel chapter announced that it will hold a “massive” Shabbat event this Friday in response to a controversial festival taking place on campus that will feature a gamut of anti-Zionist activists who have promoted antisemitic tropes and called for violence against Israel.

“We will be inviting students from across campus — Jewish and non-Jewish alike — to join us for a night celebrating Jewish pride, unity, and togetherness,” the Ivy League school’s Hillel said in an open letter posted on social media. “Prominent politicians and Penn alumni will be coming to celebrate along with hundreds of students, to show — contrary to what antisemites like Roger Waters would have us believe — that Jewish Penn students will NEVER stop showing their pride in Israel, their Jewish identity, heritage, and beliefs.”

Waters, the former Pink Floyd frontman, is a scheduled speaker at the “Palestine Writes Literature Festival,” which the University of Pennsylvania is set to host from Friday through Sunday. In recent years, Waters has made comments about “Jewish power” and compared Israel to Nazi Germany. In May, during a concert held in Berlin, he performed in what looked like a Nazi SS officer uniform. A projection that played during the concert also compared Holocaust victim Anne Frank to Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh — who was accidentally shot and killed last year while covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank — and the show was deemed as “deeply offensive to Jewish people.”

Another speaker listed on the festival’s itinerary, Palestinian researcher Salman Abu Sitta, previously said during an interview that “Jews were hated in Europe because they played a role in the destruction of the economy in some of the countries, so they would hate them.”

Islamic University of Gaza professor Refaat Alareer — who said in 2018, “Are most Jews evil? Of course they are.” — was initially scheduled to speak. However, StopAntisemitism, a nonprofit organization that tracks antisemitic incidents and hate crimes around the world, reported last week that Alareer had been removed from the speakers’ lineup.

The festival itinerary includes a host of other speakers who have praised terrorism against Israel and spoken out against Zionism.
UPenn to Host Palestinian Literature Festival Featuring Speakers Who Praise Violence Against Israel
The University of Pennsylvania is slated to host a Palestinian literature festival this week that will feature speakers who have praised terrorism against Israel and maintain links to designated terror groups, such as Hamas.

The Ivy League school located in downtown Philadelphia will play host this year to the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, a three-day event that purports to "explore the richness and diversity of Palestinian culture."

But the event’s featured speakers have ties to Palestinian terror organizations, routinely endorse violence against Israel, and malign the Jewish state’s supporters as "scum" and "filth." Some of the speakers include anti-Israel Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, former Palestinian political prisoner Wisam Rafeedie who writes favorably about terror attacks on Israel, and Salman Abu Sitta, who sits on the advisory board of an Israeli-designated terror group.

The event, scheduled to take place Friday through Sunday on Penn’s campus—during Yom Kippur, one of the Jewish religion’s most sacred holidays—has drawn outrage from Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy groups who say the Ivy League school is fostering an unsafe environment for its Jewish students and allowing its institutions to be used as a vehicle to drive hatred of Israel.

"The Palestine Writes festival features multiple speakers with disturbing histories of antisemitism," said Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntisemitism.org. "We urge Penn to remove those speakers or move the event off campus; neither public money nor alumni donations should be used to provide a platform for Jew-hatred."

Rez’s organization is calling on its supporters to boycott the event and deluge Penn president Liz Magill with phone calls condemning it. Penn’s Hillel, a Jewish space on campus, is reportedly hosting a counter-event for Jewish students and Israel supporters on Friday.
Arsen Ostrovsky: “Obscene Festival of Hate”: Open Letter to University of Pennsylvania President
Whilst we acknowledge the statement released this week by UPenn leadership, including yourself, noting that some of the speakers at the event have a “troubling history of engaging in antisemitism by speaking and acting in ways that denigrate Jewish people”, with all due respect, the university’s statement and refusal to act in any meaningful manner, is woefully insufficient, flies in the face of the university’s legal obligations, and quite frankly, is utterly offensive to the Jewish community.

The fact that this public event is not organized by the university, as you claim, is besides the point. It is being held on university grounds, and is being sponsored, in part, by the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences. There is no affirmative obligation upon the university to agree to hold such an event on your grounds, let alone sponsor it, especially when the university has a record of cancelling events in the past, following concerns raised by the student community, however, yet again, the concerns of the Jewish students and community here are being completely dismissed and ignored.

As Member of Congress and UPenn alumnus, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, wrote to you in a recent letter of 10th September, 2023, “While policy discussions and differing views are a welcome and critical part of building cultural understanding, they cannot provide a bully pulpit for those who seek to divide others. If the University’s goal is to promote mutual understanding and bring students together, it will fail so long as antisemites and anti-Israel advocates are given a platform to spew hatred.”

With antisemitism in the United States, including at universities, already at record high, events such as the upcoming ‘Palestine Writes’ festival, only exacerbate the already hostile environment faced by Jewish students, fanning the flames of Jew hatred and potentially leading to antisemitic harassment and violence on campus. We understand that these concerns have also been expressed to you directly by Jewish students at the university and the local Jewish community.

We further wish to draw your attention to the fact that, as a recipient of federal funds, UPenn is also bound by its obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, including prevention of hostile and discriminatory environments for students, such as one that will inevitably be created as a result of this event.

If the organizers of the event wish to conduct this obscene festival of hate, they should not be afforded the privilege of doing so on university grounds, and sponsored by the university itself. Doing so would be not only a gross affront to the Jewish students and community on campus, it would also run contrary to UPenn’s mission of inclusion, respect and diversity, and be in breach of your federal legal obligations under the Civil Rights Act.

Accordingly, we call on the university to immediately:
Disinvite the extremist, antisemitic and terror affiliated speakers above, from participating at the event;
Revoke any official university sponsorship from the festival; and
Rescind the approval to hold the event on campus grounds.

We also urge the university to formally adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, to guide you in identifying, calling out and investigating instances of antisemitism and harassment of Jewish students on your campus, as testament to your commitment to combating anti-Jewish hatred and discrimination.

With antisemitism, incitement and violence against Jewish students on campus already at record high, there can be zero tolerance for such unchecked hate.

We await your urgent response.


‘Unambiguous Victory’: Australian Court Rules in Favor of Jewish Students in Antisemitic Harassment Lawsuit
A federal court in Australia has ruled that Brighton Secondary College violated laws prohibiting racial discrimination when it neglected to protect five Jewish students from antisemitic bullying.

“This ruling is an unambiguous victory for the legal rights of Jewish students to be free of antisemitic harassment and intimidation at school,” Brooke Goldstein of The Lawfare Project, a Jewish civil rights group that provided financial and logistical support to the complainants, said on Monday. “It is appalling that this horrific behavior was ignored for so long by the school, and it is shocking the State Government of Victoria disputed every aspect of this claim instead of taking strong and resolute action to remedy the situation and protect these students.”

Goldstein added, “The ruling makes crystal clear that Jew-hatred cannot be tolerated or ignored, but must be rooted out.”

The verdict comes three year after the students came forward accusing administrators of ignoring antisemitic discrimination and fostering a “prison culture” that contravened their human rights.

According to Australian media reports, former Brighton student Liam Arnold-Levy testified that no action was taken after someone punched him in the stomach and threatened to slit his throat, or when others called him “Jewboy,” “f___ing Jew,” and told him to “die in an oven.” In another incident, a school official allegedly accused him of “being dramatic” when a group of female students “violently” pushed him.

Arnold-Levy said that it was only when he transferred to a private Jewish school that he was granted a meeting with Brighton principal Richard Minack, who, during their conversation, said that he did not know that Arnold-Levy had been bullied and denied responsibility but said he felt bad for the pain experienced by the student.

According to The Lawfare Project, the judge who presided over the case determined that Brighton Secondary violated Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act by “failing to take appropriate and reasonable steps to discourage and modify the antisemitic student bullying and harassment behavior,” and that school officials showed an “inexplicable and unusual tolerance for antisemitic graffiti and a preparedness to ignore, downplay, and take less seriously the complaints made by Jewish students and their families.”

Antisemitism in Australian schools has been widely reported.
Rewriting the History of the Corbyn Years (Part 2): Agenda Journalism in Asa Winstanley’s book Weaponising Anti-Semitism
John Ware was the reporter for the 2019 BBC Panorama documentary Is Labour Antisemitic? In Part 1 of this series he explained how The Forde Report, and Forde’s statements in a subsequent interview to Al Jazeera, are badly misleading people about his documentary. Here, he critically reviews Asa Winstanley’s book Weaponising Anti-Semitism: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn. As with the Forde report, it’s important, he says, to keep the historical record straight. In Part 3 he will critique Al Jazeera’s series The Labour Files.

‘SOLD OUT!’ tweeted Asa Winstanley, referring to his book Weaponising Anti-Semitism: how the Israeli lobby brought down Jeremy Corbyn. The first print run just ‘flew off the shelves’ he says, and within three weeks was reprinting.[1] ‘Very honoured that my journalism is helping the (Palestinian) movement.’[2]

Winstanley styles himself as an ‘investigative journalist.’ More precisely, he’s an activist, an agenda journalist. The clue is in the title of the online outlet he edits, ‘The Electronic Intifada’.[3]

His book doesn’t beat about the bush: the antisemitism crisis under Corbyn was ‘constructed … manufactured … concocted’ and its ‘biggest wave’ was the row that led to the removal from the Labour party of one of Corbyn’s closest political allies, Ken Livingstone.[4]

Disciplining Livingstone, he says, set the pattern of retreat by Corbyn leading to concessions and ultimately rendering comparison between Zionism and Nazism taboo, ‘no matter how historically factual and carefully worded.’[5]

According to Winstanley, the moment that triggered Corbyn’s capitulation was 8.50am on 28 April 2016 as the 71 year old ex-London Mayor was walking his dog, the same day that his wife turned 50. He was asked by Vanessa Feltz on BBC radio if Labour MP Naz Shah’s Facebook posts advocating the ‘transportation’ of Jews from Israel to America as a ‘solution’ to the Israel-Palestine conflict were antisemitic?[6]

Shah appeared to be endorsing the ethnic cleansing of Jews in Israel and had tagged one of her posts with a hashtag ‘#ApartheidIsrael’ above a police mugshot of Martin Luther and his famous quote: “We should never forget that everything Adolph Hitler did in Germany was ‘legal’”, [7] drawing the obvious parallel between what Hitler did and the actions of the Israeli state.

Livingstone notoriously responded that the posts were ‘not antisemitic’ followed by a non-sequitur which seemed like another of his many attacks on the legitimacy of the entire Zionist enterprise: ‘Let’s remember that when Hitler won his election in 1932, his policy was then that Jews should be removed to Israel. Hitler supported Zionism.’[8] (my emphasis)

Winstanley scoffs at any suggestion of antisemitism by Shah and her ‘series of grovelling apologies’[9] even though she herself admitted her posts were antisemitic. She said she ‘deeply’ regretted’ them. ‘Antisemitism is racism. Full stop.’[10]
Russell Brand removed from Corbyn's poetry anthology amidst allegations
British celebrity and comedian Russell Brand, who is facing allegations of sexual assault from four different women, was removed as a contributor in Jeremy Corbyn’s upcoming poetry anthology Poetry For The Many.

The publication of Corbyn’s anthology, while originally set for November 14, will be pushed back so that publishers can redesign the cover, which once featured Brand’s name.

A spokesperson for Corbyn’s organization the Peace and Justice Project, confirmed the Huffington Post's report that Brand would be removed.

“In light of the recent allegations concerning Russell Brand, we have removed his contribution from our upcoming Poetry For The Many project,” a spokesperson said. The controversial remaining contributors

The book’s remaining contributors include Rob Delaney, Julie Hemondhalgh, Ken Loach, Morag Livingstone, Francesca Martinez, Maxine Peake, Michael Rosen, Alexei Sayle and Gary Younge.

Ken Loach, one of the aforementioned contributors, was removed from the Labour Party over his membership of the group “Labour Against the Witchhunt.” The group argued that antisemitism claims against the Labour Party were false.

In one interaction, reported by the Jerusalem Post, Loach was asked by a BBC interviewer if some might say Corbyn’s election as Labour Party leader had “allowed the oxygen for those sort of views.” In response, Loach said, “Jeremy Corbyn has been a longtime supporter of the Palestinians and the injustice that is done to them, the theft of the land by the Israelis and the massacre of people in Gaza, the blockade of Gaza.”
Ken Livingstone’s challenge to EHRC’s Labour report ends in ‘humiliation’
Ken Livingstone has withdrawn a legal challenge to the landmark equalities watchdog report into Labour antisemitism which claimed he had contributed to “unlawful harassment related to Jewish race and religion”.

The move was hailed by campaigners a “significant victory for the Jewish community” and a “humiliation” for the former London mayor.

The 2020 Equality Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report into Labour under Jeremy Corbyn found the party responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination.

Livingstone had been seeking a High Court review of the report along with Labour councillor Pat Bromley, both of whom were singled out in the 850-page document.

However, they accepted a deal offered by the EHRC that involves each side withdrawing from the case and bearing its own legal costs.

The EHRC legal costs are thought to have exceeded £215,000, while the Labour Party and the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also spent tens of thousands of pounds in legal fees.

An EHRC spokesperson said: “We firmly stand by our robust and fair investigation, the findings of which were accepted in full by the Labour Party.

“We welcome the decision to withdraw this judicial review claim, with disappointment at the valuable time and resources that we have had to expend on defending it.”

CAA chief executive Gideon Falter said: “This is a significant victory for the Jewish community, as it means that the EHRC’s groundbreaking report into antisemitism in the Labour Party stands.
Prominent Anti-Israel Activists & Arabic-Language Newspaper Call For Israel’s Destruction & Engage In Antisemitism
Some of Canada’s most prominent anti-Israel activists are once again using traditional news and social media platforms to disseminate their hatred.

Firas al-Najim, the leader of a group called Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights, and who has been the subject of multiple HonestReporting Canada alerts chronicling his antisemitic and anti-Israel disinformation, has posted a number of videos to his new TikTok account, where he calls for the destruction of Israel and praises terrorist groups. His previous TikTok account was closed by the social media company after HonestReporting Canada alerted TikTok officials and the public about the nefarious content of his posts.

In one video from September 3, al-Najim is seen trampling on an Israeli flag in Windsor, Ontario, telling viewers that “the Zionist regime will be dismantled,” referring to Israel as a “cancerous entity,” and proclaiming that “Zionism is terrorism. Zionism is racism.”

Al-Najim’s ire is not only targeted towards Israel, but clearly towards Jews as a larger group.

In another recent video on September 13, al-Najim taps into antisemitic conspiracy theories by referring to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as “the inheritors of the killers of the prophets,” continuing a favourite recurring theme of his, where he calls Jews prophet-killers on social media.

In another video post from mid-September, al-Najim takes issue with how Canadian news media outlets cover stories of intolerance in society, telling viewers that the Canadian news media “always focuses on antisemitism… obviously that’s because of the Zionist lobbies.”
BBC News fails to tell all in Gaza border explosion report
Knell and Abualouf do not clarify whether or not the “Palestinian security source” from which they got information they considered worthy of publication is a Hamas official and neither do they bother to explain how a “home-made device” – a phrase intended to downplay its danger – which only makes “a very loud, annoying sound” managed to kill at least five people.

In paragraph six the absurdity of the use of the term “rallies” becomes even more apparent:
“The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said protesters had previously thrown explosives and grenades at soldiers.

A grainy black and white video released by the IDF shows the explosion close to a concrete wall, which Israel has built around Gaza, as a small crowd of people runs away.”

That video can be seen here. Additional videos of the incident – possibly including that subsequently referenced by Knell and Abualouf – can be found here and here.
“A graphic Palestinian video seen by the BBC shows a large group of young men about 2m (6.6ft) from the Israeli barrier when there is a powerful explosion which appears to kill some protesters instantly. No Israeli forces are visible.”

Footage which emerged later showed the same rioters also shooting at Israeli forces with firearms.

Knell and Abualouf go on to unquestioningly present an account from a witness which clearly hinders – rather than helps – readers’ understanding of the story:
“A witness, Saif Muhareb said he was with a group of some 50 people.

“We found a black object that looked like a camera – 10cm wide and 50cm long. I was towards the back when someone touched it and it exploded.””

Knell and Abualouf give a whitewashed portrayal of the ‘Great Return March’ riots of 2018/19 which – as was the case in BBC coverage at the time – fails to clarify that “the Palestinian health ministry” is run by the same Hamas terrorist organisation that was involved in the organisation of the weekly riots or that around 80% of those killed during the violent rioting at the border have been shown to be affiliated with various terror organisations – primarily Hamas.
Finland Takes Step to Combat Antisemitism, But More Can Be Done
Finland’s scandal-ridden new government recently published a policy to combat racism and bigotry, including antisemitism and Holocaust denial. The government has dealt with numerous crises stemming from coalition members’ racist remarks. The welcome move will help Finland and other European nations in combating antisemitism, but more can be done.

The new government was inaugurated on June 20. Just 10 days later, Minister of Economic Affairs Vilhelm Junnila, of the far-right Finns Party, resigned after several blunders. This included the revelation that in 2019, Junnila delivered a speech praising the number 88. This was not a Sesame Street-style praise of letters and numbers. Eighty-eight is used by neo-Nazis as a code for “Heil Hitler” because “H” is the eighth letter of the alphabet.

Seeking to distance itself from this bigotry, the Finnish government prepared a new program that will criminalize hate crimes committed against religious groups, including Jews, and Holocaust denial. This will put Finland among more than a dozen countries with laws combating Holocaust denial.

Holocaust denial and other counterfactual conspiracy theories spread like wildfire on social media. Many of those who deny that the Holocaust occurred actually wish that it did happen, and would welcome a repeat of this atrocity. Fighting against Holocaust denial is therefore crucial to preventing this horror from being repeated.

Finland is a slightly surprising country to be having an antisemitism controversy. Fewer than 2,000 Jews reside in the country of 5.5 million. Compared to the rest of Europe, Finland’s Jews fared well during the Holocaust. And Finland’s record on antisemitism has arguably been better than that of its Scandinavian neighbors. There have been numerous attacks against Jews in Sweden, and Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, has moved to divest from Israeli banks, a step the Anti-Defamation League has called antisemitic.
Polish Government Honors Far Right Writer Who Defamed Jews as ‘Leeches,’ Called Holocaust a ‘Myth’
A Polish writer who vilified Jews as “leeches” and argued that Zionism has “acquired a peculiar cruelty” has been honored by the Polish government.

Rafal Ziemkiewicz — a columnist for the far right weekly Do Rzeczy and television host who began his career as a writer of science fiction — received an award last week from Poland’s Minister of Culture, Piotr Gliński.

Ziemkwiecz, who was one of several recipients in the ministry’s 2023 Culture and National Heritage Awards, was honored with a special award named for Tomasz Merta, a Polish historian and former culture minister who was killed in the April 2010 plane crash near the Russian city of Smolensk that claimed the lives of 96 people, including the then Polish President, Lech Kaczyński.

An official statement from the Ministry of Culture announcing the awards described Ziemkiewicz as a “publicist, journalist, and author of fantasy literature,” pointing out that he made his debut as a writer with a short story that was published in 1982.

Over the last decade, Ziemkiewicz has established himself as one of the most vocal antisemites in Poland. In a video posted to his YouTube channel in 2021, Ziemkiewicz asserted that the Jewish victims of the July 10, 1941 pogrom in the Polish town of Jedwabne had essentially deserved their fate.

“These Jews have historically been the exploiters, the leeches,” he ranted. “There has been no bigger enemy of the Polish peasant than the Jewish middleman who screwed him for cash in every possible way. In times of foreign occupations, they were also German spies. The emancipation of the Polish people required getting rid of those exploiters.”

In his most recent book, Ziemkiewicz claimed that “Zionism under the influence of the Holocaust, or rather the myth of the Holocaust that they created, acquired a peculiar cruelty.” Demeaning young Israelis who serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as “killing machines,” Ziemkiewicz also attacked what he called “Jewish aggressiveness,” saying that the “ideology of the Holocaust” could be summarized as “Jews, Jews über alles” — a reference to the Nazi anthem.

“Ziemkiewicz uses the term ‘Zionists’ as invective directed against Jews in general, without any connection with the actual meaning of the word,” the “Never Again” Association — a leading Polish anti-racist NGO — observed.


Partnering with Israel can help U.S. expand relationships in Africa, lawmaker says
The U.S. should leverage its relationship with Israel to help expand its relations in Africa and resist Russia and China’s encroachment on the continent, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) told Jewish Insider after she visited Israel and Rwanda with eight other members of the Congressional Black Caucus earlier this month.

“Part of the trip that was fascinating is that Israel was really able to speak to and understand the needs of Rwanda because of its similarities,” Cherfilus-McCormick told JI last week. “It really shows you that as the U.S. has goals of strengthening our relationships with Africa, there’s many African countries [where] we need Israel — that trilateral relationship — to really build that trust.”

Cherfilus-McCormick said that conversations with officials from the three countries, particularly Israel’s ambassador to Rwanda, highlighted Israel’s inroads on the continent through trade and technology, such as irrigation; humanitarian work; and discussions about military cooperation.

“Israel has successfully [built] this relationship with Rwanda where we have struggled, especially in recent years,” she continued. “We need to make sure we’re maximizing those relationships because, in some spaces, Israel might be the best voice to help us mend the disconnect that we may have.”

The second-term Florida congresswoman said that the trip, which was sponsored by the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation and was the group’s first trip to Rwanda, also highlighted commonalities in the Jewish, Rwandan and Black American experiences.

She said that the group saw “the same mechanisms in place” to dehumanize the Tutsis — the ethnic group targeted in the Rwandan genocide — like Jews during the Holocaust and Black Americans.

She emphasized that the visit also drove home that the Rwandan genocide, which took place over a three-month period in 1994, was in the very recent past and that there are still forces in the region that might wish to continue it.


Israel unveils IDF's new AI-powered 'Barak' super tank
The IDF’s new advanced and AI-powered Barak tank is operational and being incorporated into the Armored Corps, starting with Battalion 52, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

The new tank has been in development and production for more than five years, it said. It was built in a joint endeavor by the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development, IDF Ground Forces, the Armored Corps, and the 401st Brigade.

With new targeting abilities, the tank is designed to monitor its surroundings and process and present the information to the soldiers in a simple and easy-to-use way. As part of this, the tank is programmed to zero in on and target enemy forces before they are able to attack the tank.

The tech integrated into the tank
The system also allows the drivers to focus on one environment at a time, allowing them to see their surroundings outside the tank with a push of a button, using the Elbit Systems IronVision helmet, which enables the tank’s crew to “see through the vehicle’s armor.”

This is meant to help solve complex navigation issues in different situations, especially in urban areas.

The Barak was designed with the soldiers in mind. As such, the operating system is able to adapt itself to their needs, allowing them to pick the optimal setting for their task.

While this is meant to lessen the workload for the soldiers, the teams will remain the same four people (commander, driver, gunner, and loader), but the tasks performed by the team members may change. Teams in Barak tanks will function differently than those of other tanks due to its unique abilities.
IDF disabled vets win 4 medals at 1st Invictus games
For the first time an Israeli delegation competed in the Invictus games. A sports competition for wounded combat solder's from around the world. Co manager, of the Israeli team that went to the Invictus games Ora Seidner speaks on the behind the scenes of this monumental achievement.


Archaeologists find ancient stonemason’s workshop in Jerusalem outskirts
Defense Ministry archaeologists announced they have discovered the remnants of quarries and a stonemason’s shop on the outskirts of Jerusalem, during work to expand a highway in the West Bank.

The Civil Administration, an agency within the Defense Ministry in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, said that the site was from the Second Temple period and that the dig revealed “an entire production center” for stoneware alongside several quarries abutting each other.

The site, which an administration statement touted as “a historic and rare discovery,” is located between the Adam settlement and Palestinian town of Hizma, where the unit’s archaeology department uncovered a similar workshop for stoneware production around 30 decades ago.

Citing the presence of the two sites, the Civil Administration said the area once likely served as “the center for quarrying, production and distribution of stoneware” for Jerusalem and the surrounding area.

While the site was dated to the Second Temple period, from the 6th century BCE to 70 CE, no more specific estimates were provided on when it was in use.

The head of the Civil Administration’s archaeology unit hailed the new discovery as “part of the treasures and culture of the area.”




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