Wednesday, March 13, 2024

03/13 Links Pt2: Howard Jacobson: Who dares to “hijack” the Holocaust?; The left’s sickening betrayal of Israeli women; Floyd Mayweather dedicates motorcycles to Magen David Adom

From Ian:

Howard Jacobson: Who dares to “hijack” the Holocaust?
Such are the canards deployed to rob the Jews of any lingering sympathy they might yet enjoy as victims of that inhumanity The Zone of Interest depicts, and so to downplay, as just another gambit in Jewish subterfuge, the Holocaust itself. Hijack! Consider the import of that word. So despicable are the Jews, they will steal from themselves the most hellish events in their history to justify visiting hell on others.

Why would Jonathan Glazer, of all people – a man who has been immersed to an unusual degree in recent Jewish history – give the slightest weight to this libel?

I don’t say he should have stood before a televised audience of millions and cheered on the Israeli Defence Forces. Indeed, he had no need to invoke his Jewishness at all. But since he chose to do so, could he not have used the opportunity to unite rather than divide, to explain, to speak wisely about a tragedy that is tearing all parties to it apart? Could he not have spoken of the horror felt by every Jew on 7 October, not just on account of the violence done but the approving reactions to it, and the horror felt today by every Jew at the death toll in Gaza, and allow no one to suppose that the heartbreaking scenes there somehow give succour to a fictional Jewish blood-lust justified by the Holocaust?

I don’t accuse Jonathan Glazer of being selective in his compassion. “Whether the victims of October 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza,” he said, “all the victims to dehumanisation – how do we resist?” But resistance to dehumanisation does not necessitate divesting oneself of Jewishness, however one interprets that, whether as the hijacking of it to win a false legitimacy or in seeking any other advantage that being Jewish might confer. For a Jew to concur in this fashionable defamation – that Jews are moral profiteers, and that it is only by shedding such Jewishness that a Jew can feel pity – is doubly despicable.

As a serious, thinking Jewish man, Jonathan Glazer must have read the late Amos Oz on the tragedy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which both parties could be said to be in the right, and then, when the situation worsened, both parties could be said to be in the wrong. The “occupation” didn’t just happen one day to satisfy Holocaust righteousness. It was a child of history, born of a mutual intransigence that pre-dated the Holocaust, the consequence of mistakes and violent obduracies on both sides. A tragedy does not entail blame, but if Jonathan Glazer must buy into Jewish blame he must buy into Palestinian blame as well. It would have taken real moral courage to pursue that line; right now it takes none to castigate Jews.

In my years teaching English literature I had frequent recourse to DH Lawrence’s dictum, “Never trust the teller, trust the tale.” That Dickens was a bad husband, I was forever telling my students, no more made him a bad novelist than beating her dog made Emily Brontë a bad novelist. We will no more fathom the nexus between art and moral intelligence, than that between a normal family life and savagery.

Jonathan Glazer made an ambitious, important film. I salute the artist. But his abject mea culpa debases him as a man.
Seth Mandel: Berkeley’s Jews Show Some Spine
In the late 1950s, the University of California, Berkeley started cracking down on campus politicking. By the ’60s, this effort almost became a total ban. The backlash congealed into the famous Free Speech Movement, whose strategy was to make sure that any rulebreakers were accompanied by dozens (or more) others. This way, the ban’s enemies could paralyze virtually any disciplinary enforcement. The signature moment was a march to a central campus building where participants held giant signs in favor of free speech.

There’s an iconic photo of the demonstrators marching through Sather Gate in November 1964. Ironically, they could not have done so in recent weeks: The antithesis of the Free Speech Movement, at the center of what is now the antithesis of Berkeley 1964, has had the gate blocked off. Pro-Hamas activists on campus have been blocking the gate and harassing any Jewish students in the vicinity. This comes on the heels of the same group’s violent and highly symbolic night of fascist role playing, in which they forced the cancellation of a Jewish speaker by physically assaulting a Jewish woman, spitting on others, smashing the venue’s window and hurling obscenities that wouldn’t have sounded out of place in The Zone of Interest.

It is appropriate, then, that the jackboot siege of Sather Gate was protested on Monday by a peaceful but determined march of Jews reprising their role as enemies of blood-and-soil racial hierarchies. “At noon,” an ABC affiliate reported that “the Jewish students marched onto Sproul Plaza and instead of passing through Sather Gate and past the banner, they avoided a confrontation by literally fording the creek to get to the other side on a foot path.” The report continues: “The crowd of 200 Jewish supporters ended up in front of California Hall where faculty members offered their support, commenting on the Feb. 26 disturbance that forced Jewish students to move off campus.”

That Feb. 26 incident was the breaking point. Anti-Semitic harassment and threats have been part of life for students there since Oct. 7. Other Jews have been assaulted on campus. A federal civil-rights complaint alleges that two-dozen law-school groups have anti-Jewish policies. Kosher restaurants have been targeted. It’s reached the point where one Jewish Berkeley professor is staging a live-in at his campus office.

Berkeley’s repression of Jewish civil rights won’t be solved by one march, but the change in posture to visible protest is welcome. The students and families tried working with the administration but have been ignored at every turn. A school spokesman even admitted the university would not be taking down the Palestine banner blocking part of campus because, although it clearly violates campus rules, “we assessed that using law-enforcement to clear it would create turmoil.” And God forbid there should be turmoil!
Batya Ungar Sargon: The left’s sickening betrayal of Israeli women
Every Palestinian outranks every Jew on the oppression scale and so any Palestinian in conflict with any Jew is the one the left must side with. The Jew has all the agency and the Palestinian has none. Anything bad that happens between them cannot be the Palestinian’s fault, because you cannot blame someone with no agency for anything. They are innocent, like a child. To the woke, the less powerful have no responsibility to act ethically because their rank on the oppression scale means they cannot act at all – and they are already inherently imbued with virtue, no matter what they do. And that goes for the terrorists among them, too.

To the woke, when a so-called person of colour commits a heinous act against a so-called white person, the agency of their actions – and the evil inherent in them – must be reassigned to their victims. What this means is that when a Palestinian rapes a Jewish woman, the agency was hers, not his. She remains the oppressor. His act was her fault, and her suffering does not release her from the burden of her status as oppressor, even in death.

That’s why leftist feminists can’t side with raped Israeli women. To do so would betray everything they believe. They see the Israeli women as deserving of everything that happened to them – as having brought it on themselves. Like the conservatives of yore who blamed rape on the miniskirt worn by the victim, the left today blames the fact that Israel has more power than Hamas for Hamas’s brutalisation of Israeli women. They simply can’t think their way out of seeing Hamas as virtuous. Because to do so would be to admit that their entire worldview is not only wrong, but also morally depraved.

Why didn’t the images from the Nova festival move the left? Because the left has moved on from things like peace, love, dancing, eros, joy, beauty, truth and goodness. It has replaced these with an embrace of ugliness, hatred, resistance ‘by any means necessary’ and a rejection of the kind of joyous sexuality one finds at a music festival. That’s why the images that I assumed would draw sympathy only further served to cast the Israelis as worthy of condemnation.

The Israelis dancing at that festival didn’t know they were ‘evil oppressors’. They didn’t know that any calamity that might befall them would be ‘deserved’, instigated even by their joyous existence. Their agency itself was a crime.

At the end of the day, 7 October revealed how little of the left’s ideology is about values, and how much of it is about power – specifically, about using a person or a group’s supposedly abject status as a method of wielding power. That is the leftist playbook now. Masquerade as powerless so as to grab power. Bray about being marginalised as a way of silencing dissent. Screech about being oppressed as a way of firing your boss and getting their job, or casting your political opponents as unworthy of the franchise.

And that’s why the woke just can’t quit Hamas. They recognise their own game when they see it, even when it shows up as a raping Hamas butcher.


A scene of revelry, then slaughter, is now an Oct. 7 memorial
Last week, I attended a screening of “#NOVA,” a new documentary about the trance-music festival where Hamas terrorists killed more than 360 people and took as many as 40 hostages during the Oct. 7 rampage in Israel. The film, without narration, is composed almost entirely of evidence from the phones of festivalgoers and video taken by the terrorists. It unfolds like many a horror movie, with young people reveling in their freedom and having fun, oblivious to the monster stalking them. By the end, the woman sitting next to me was weeping into the shoulder of the person on her other side.

As it happens, I visited the Nova festival site a few weeks ago. It is in a clearing near Kibbutz Re’im, amid the verdant agricultural fields planted by kibbutzim in southern Israel. The festival site has been turned into a memorial, a forest of metal poles about 5 feet tall, mounted with large photos of those killed or taken hostage. So many are smiling and hopeful — beautiful — that sometimes the thought of what happened to them makes you look away.

Many of the metal poles were ringed at the bottom by small stones, messages and other loving tokens. There was a steady flow of visitors the day I was there, including off-duty Israel Defense Forces soldiers, quietly studying the dozens and dozens and dozens of faces — reminders, though none are needed, of why Israel must fight. The festival site is a somber place and tranquil. Except when the silence is broken periodically by the heavy thud of nearby Israeli artillery firing into Gaza.

Yoni Heilman, an IDF soldier whose Gaza war diary appeared in the journal Sapir, visited the Nova memorial on Jan. 29. “I’m sure the experience felt raw for the hundreds of visitors we saw there,” he wrote, “but for me the site already feels curated and sanitized, a stark difference from the forest filled with burnt-out vehicles, tents, and bodies that I remember from my first days here.”

The “#NOVA” documentary takes viewers back to the festival site before the carnage, before the spasm of rape and murder, when the rave was just beginning, thousands of young people arriving for a gathering billed as “a journey of unity and love.” They take selfies and record videos, excited about the night of dancing amid pulsing lights and electronic music that awaits.

The Hamas terrorists, too, record themselves in eager anticipation of what lies ahead. Shouting with delight, they race toward the border with Israel in pickup trucks, automobiles and motorcycles, bearing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. The symmetry is unnerving: festivalgoers and terrorists, both giddy with expectation — one group celebrating life, the other death.
Jonathan Glazer is just a useful idiot for the enemies of the Jewish people
The natural response to Jonathan Glazer’s acceptance speech of an Oscar for is recent movie The Zone of Interest, is one of utter disgust and disappointment.

Glazer specifically said that he refutes his Jewish ancestry and secondly accuses Israel (whom he doesn’t mention by name) of “hijacking the Holocaust by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many, for so many, innocent people.”

These days, such an accusation by a Jew is probably the most damning accusation imaginable, and when it is leveled at us by the director of an apparently highly successful film, which focuses on the Hoess family of the commander of the Auschwitz – Birkenau death camp, and purports to deal with “where dehumanization leads,” it is hard to ignore.

To add to the irony, this past Friday, Yediot Achronot had a very lengthy profile on Glazer by Benjamin Tobias, their film correspondent, who described Glazer as a “proud” Jew.

The new normal since October 7
The truth is, however, that Glazer’s comments should hardly surprise anybody. How many times have we recently read about Jewish groups that support the Palestinians? Just the other day, I read an article in The Jerusalem Post about the dedication of the new Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam, attended by President Isaac Herzog. Among those who came to “greet” the president were members of a Dutch Jewish anti-Zionist organization called Erev Rav, which organized the protest together with Jews Against Genocide, the local Palestinian community, and Socialists International.

Jewish groups of this sort have emerged in many Jewish communities, especially in the United States, such as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and IfNotNow, and have become much more active and visible in the wake of the Hamas mass murders of October 7.

For those of us born after 1948, such criticism of Israel is unusual and hardly popular. The establishment of the State of Israel turned many opponents of Zionism into ardent supporters of the lone Jewish state.


Red ‘ceasefire’ pin at Oscars reminiscent of Ramallah lynching of Jews
However, to Israelis, the red hand displayed on the pin is reminiscent of the October 2000 Ramallah lynching of IDF reservists Vadim Norzhich and Yosef Avrahami, who had accidentally entered the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Ramallah.

While in the custody of P.A. police, the two were stabbed and beaten to death, their bodies mutilated and dragged through the streets. The most visceral image from that day was of one of the terrorists proudly waving his blood-soaked hands from the police station window.

“The image of red hands is associated with one horrific event imprinted on the minds of Israelis and Palestinians. The 2000 Ramallah lynching of Israelis. This symbolism isn’t a coincidence,” the official X account of the Israeli Foreign Ministry tweeted on Monday.

“If you’re not familiar with perhaps the most iconic image of the Second Intifada, maybe don’t broadcast your ignorance,” added Israeli Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Eylon Levy.

The bloody-handed Aziz Salha, who was arrested in 2001 by Israeli forces, was released 10 years into his life sentence as part of the deal to free IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held prisoner for five years by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas chief in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 massacre of some 1,200 people in Israel, was released in the same deal.
Tom Gross: Conversations with friends: Fatah reformer Samer Sinijlawi: ‘Abbas Must Go’; Peace is possible
Tom Gross talks with Fatah politician Samer Sinijlawi, who is a strong critic of both Palestinian President Abbas (for his extreme corruption and dictatorial rule) and of Hamas.

Samer, who spent five years in juvenile detention and then an Israeli prison for violent crimes committed when he was 15 during the first intifada, has – rare among Palestinian politicians – visited the site of Kibbutz Kfar Aza which is one of the places where the October 7 Hamas massacre occurred. Samer paid his condolences to the victims, and he has strongly criticized fellow Palestinians for not condemning the massacre.

Samer speaks here about his optimism for the possibility of Israeli-Palestinian peace and reconciliation despite all the obstacles in the way, and says that the international community often makes the conflict harder to resolve.


Tom Gross: Conversations with friends: Rawan Osman, Lebanese-Syrian peace activist reaches out to Israel & Jews
As part of the “Conversations with friends” series, Tom Gross speaks with Rawan Osman, a Lebanese-Syrian peace activist who is currently leading an international campaign by moderate Muslims for the release of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

“Arabs need to study history and understand Jews are indigenous to the Middle East and part of our heritage,” she adds in this discussion.

Rawan’s father was a Sunni from Damascus. Her mother is a Shia from the Lebanese Bekaa valley region, the stronghold of Iran’s Hizbullah.

“Hizbullah leader Nasrallah strongly influenced my childhood,” she says, “and we all grew up taught to be antisemites”.

After living in Syria, Lebanon, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Rawan moved to Europe as an adult, where she first met Jews and slowly became interested in Jews and Judaism. She then visited and made friends in Israel, resulting in her family disowning her.

Rawan talks about the October 7 attacks, how Muslims and Jews can better co-exist in future, and how Arab states can learn from Israel. She criticizes how many Arab migrants to Europe have imported intolerant attitudes including sexism, homophobia and antisemitism and Holocaust denial from the Arab world.

In Israel, Rawan met the mother of teenage Hamas hostage Naama Levy and Rawan says “Naama Levy’s name will haunt Hamas in their graves.”


Five new ambassadors welcomed by Herzog, three from Africa
Five new ambassadors presented their credentials to President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday, bringing the total number of new ambassadors since October 7 to 21. The first of these presented credentials on October 24.

Despite the criticism leveled against Israel by several countries, diplomatic relations, for the most part, remain intact.

The most recent ambassadors are Eustaquito Nseng Esono from Equatorial Guinea, who is his country’s first resident ambassador to Israel; Alejandro Rubin Cymmerman from Paraguay, who is exploring the possibility of moving his country’s embassy to Jerusalem, while an Israeli delegation is currently in Paraguay with a view to re-opening the Israeli embassy there; Zaza Randelart from Georgia, who noted that Georgians have lived in Jerusalem since the 12th century; Willy Nyamitwe from Burundi, a devout Catholic who said that he was so excited to be in Israel that he “couldn’t wait to come to Jerusalem to present [his] credentials;” and Mahlaba Almon Mamba, from the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Nyamitwe pointed out that Burundi is the only country other than Israel that has a Star of David on its national flag, and that the traditional greeting is “Shalom.”

Earlier this month, President Umaro Sissò Embalo of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa came to Israel and met with Herzog and others.

In individual ceremonies, all three African ambassadors voiced solidarity with Israel, condemned Hamas, conveyed the condolences of the leaders of their respective countries to the families of the victims, urged the speedy return of the hostages, and expressed a common interest with Israel in fighting terrorism, and in bringing peace and prosperity to the region.

Mamba also conveyed a request by the Queen Mother of Estwatini to come to Israel for medical treatment. He did not specify the nature of her illness, but Herzog instantly replied that Israel would be honored to help her, adding that Sheba Medical Center is known to be among the ten best hospitals in the world.
House lawmakers praise German chancellor for supporting Israel at ICJ
A bipartisan group of 25 House lawmakers on Wednesday praised German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for Germany’s “intention to intervene” in support of Israel against genocide accusations at the International Court of Justice.

“We applaud your decision to stand beside Israel against these baseless claims made in the international arena by South Africa,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Scholz. “It is crucial that the international community address the misleading, meritless, and untruthful nature of South Africa’s accusations, seemingly designed to hinder Israel from acting in self- defense in response to the heinous terrorist attacks on October 7.”

The lawmakers condemned the South African case for “barely acknowled[ing] the atrocities committed by Hamas.”

They said the case “jeopardize[s] Israel’s ability to respond to threats from those seeking its destruction” and “set a dangerous precedent, politicize the court, and could impact the on- going fight against authoritarianism and terrorism that the democracies of the world are currently confronting.”

They praised Germany for “continu[ing] to embrace the painful lessons of history’s past to stand up for what is right” and said that its support for Israel “will not be forgotten.”

The letter was led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Tom Kean (R-NJ), joined by Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Don Bacon (R-NE), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), Lois Frankel (D-NY), Jim Costa (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Wiley Nickel (D-NC), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Marc Molinaro (R-NY), Don Davis (D-NC), Jared Golden (D-ME), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Michelle Steel (R-CA) and Young Kim (R-CA).
Jeffries calls for Hamas to be ‘decisively defeated’ in response to Biden’s Rafah ‘red line’
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said on Wednesday that he wants to see Hamas “decisively defeated” in response to a question about a potential Israeli invasion of Rafah.

Jeffries’ comments came at a press conference where he staked out a strong pro-Israel line as the prospect of a Rafah invasion divides Democrats.

The administration has been urging Israel against expanding its operations in the southern Gaza city where many displaced Palestinians are sheltering, with Biden calling a Rafah invasion a “red line” that the U.S. cannot support. Administration officials yesterday somewhat softened that stance, calling for a humanitarian plan before an operation in Rafah.

Asked by Jewish Insider whether he agreed with Biden’s “red line” comment, Jeffries said, “I support everything that the president said during the State of the Union address and his general perspective that what we have to do is make sure that Hamas is decisively defeated. It’s a brutal terrorist organization.”

Biden did not mention the Rafah “red line” at the State of the Union — those comments came subsequently, in a weekend interview. Israel has said that fully defeating Hamas will require operations in Rafah to eliminate the terrorist group’s remaining brigades and commanders, as was noted in the question to Jeffries.

“Unless we defeat Hamas, there is no possibility for just and lasting peace,” Jeffies continued. “But at the same time, we have to make sure we get the hostages out and humanitarian assistance into Gaza, decisively.”

The Democratic leader also addressed AIPAC activists at a summit in Washington, D.C., this week.
Daniel Greenfield: Rep. Adam Schiff Co-Sponsors Resolution Accusing Israel of Sexually Harassing Muslim Women
The resolution misleadingly connects this to the claim that “Palestinian women have been harassed at checkpoints”.

This resolution was put forward by Rep. Debbie Dingell, who has ties to Dearborn aka Hezbollahtown, and has taken the expected political positions. Co-sponsors include anti-Israel figures.

So why did Rep. Schiff and Rep. Goldman decide to co-sponsor it?

One answer is that they simply didn’t read it. Congressmembers often don’t read what they sign off on. Another is that they’re trying to pander to the anti-Israel Left and pro-Israel Dems at the same time. When their constituents complain, they’ll tell them that a resolution that this is the best resolution they could get.

And so the resolution captures the current state of the party, condemning both Hamas and Israel.
Florida congresswoman blames Israel lobby for Democrat vote to ban TikTok
Florida Congresswoman Pam Keith has blamed Israel lobby group Aipac (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) for the large Democrat vote to ban Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok.

The House on Wednesday passed legislation that could ban the platform in the US if its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, refuses to divest.

The vote was 352 in favour and 65 opposed, with 197 Republicans and 155 Democrats voting to approve it. Fifteen Republicans and 50 Democrats voted against the bill.

Reacting to the news of the vote, Pam Keith, representative of Florida’s heavily Jewish 18th Congressional District, wrote on Twitter / X: “Wow! I am f*****g SHOCKED that Dems are voting to ban Tik Tok. This is AIPAC at work.”
More than 20 progressive groups form a coalition to counter pro-Israel groups before the election
Facing a barrage of super PAC money, more than 20 progressive groups are coming together to forcefully counter pro-Israel groups’ efforts to primary challenge liberal members who’ve been critics of Israel’s blistering military offensive in Gaza.

The coalition, called Reject AIPAC, includes Jewish peace organizations and Arab American and Muslim groups that have been organizing in record numbers since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.

Their efforts are a direct response to pro-Israel political action committees like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC, that are pledging or planning to spend tens of millions of dollars to try to defeat Democratic members of the so-called “squad” in primaries and the general election this year. That campaign has turned the otherwise safely Democratic districts into election battlegrounds.

“These are a handful of Black and brown progressive incumbents who are under attack from a threat of $100 million in spending and usually Democratic leadership and establishment is up in arms anytime someone primaries an incumbent,” said Usamah Andrabi, communications director for Justice Democrats, one the groups leading the coalition. “But the energy is a little lighter when it comes to some of these progressives and so we are coming together to ensure that they have the resources to defend themselves against AIPAC.”


Omar: Biden Has Made ‘Significant’ ‘Change in Policy’ on Israel-Hamas I and Uncommitted Voters Want
Phillip then asked, “And do you think your constituents ultimately will come to the same conclusion that you did, the tens of thousands who voted uncommitted as a protest against the President?”

Omar answered, “Well, the uncommitteds have been very clear, they want a change in policy, and we’ve seen that. Within three days, you had the vice president using the word ‘ceasefire.’ We now have the President saying there is a red line if Israel goes into Rafah that he is going to condition aid. So, there has been significant progress. I think it is the responsibility of every citizen of this country that cares for the humanity of all to continue to push this administration to do what it can do to end the onslaught that Palestinians are living through every single day.”


Antisemitism in Ireland ‘Blatant and Obvious’ in Wake of Hamas Onslaught, Says Jewish Former Cabinet Minister Alan Shatter
Americans are now hearing a message that is regularly broadcast in Ireland, Shatter said. Government representatives “don’t mention the tunnels, the rockets, the human shields, the relationship between any ceasefire and the release of the hostages. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Iran are never singled out. The Israeli Ambassador is nearly always subjected to hostile interviews, in contrast to the Palestinian representative.”

Shatter’s own media profile, once extensive, has been diminished as a direct consequence. “I’ve been practically canceled by the radio and TV stations where I used to appear regularly,” he said. “And because the Irish media is united in criticism, when they interview people from the government, they never ask about Iranian meddling.”

Antisemitism in Ireland has become “blatant and obvious,” Shatter said. There is little sympathy for the right of the Jews to national self-determination, despite the fact that “Sinn Fein fights for exactly this for the Irish,” he noted. A storied writer who has published several books, Shatter’s latest manuscript — provocatively titled “So You Have a Problem With Jews?” — remains unpublished, with one imprint informing him that he was being turned down because “there’s no interest” in Ireland on the topic of antisemitism.

Yet antisemitism is an unmistakable presence in Ireland’s current political discourse. “There’s no insight within the political establishment of the impact of Oct. 7 on the Jewish community in Ireland, and on me personally,” he said. “They don’t care about the impact on the community of this vicious anti-Israel rhetoric or the thousands of demonstrators marching against Israel.” Even so, Shatter has not given up the lonely life of an Israel advocate in Ireland, despite being subjected to endless opprobrium on social media for his efforts. “I’m subjected to a continuous stream of vile abuse and commentary,” he said. “I see that as an illustration of what is happening now in Ireland.”


South African foreign minister: Citizens in IDF to be arrested on return
Naledi Pandor, the foreign minister of South Africa, said at an African National Congress event earlier this week that South Africa will arrest citizens who serve in the Israel Defense Forces upon their return to South Africa.

“I’ve already issued a statement alerting those who are South African and who are fighting alongside or in the Israeli Defense Force [sic]; we are ready—when you come home, we will arrest you,” Pandor said to crowd applause, per Israeli media.

South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide in a case it brought before the International Court of Justice, the principal U.N. judicial arm, in The Hague, late last year.
South Africa threatens to arrest dual citizens serving in IDF
Shaun Sacks analyzes South African Foreign Minister's announcement on Saturday, stating that the country would arrest dual nationals who have served in the Israel Defense Forces upon their return to South Africa


Arab Israeli Granted Asylum in Britain, Claiming ‘Hostile Attention’ If He Returns Home
A 24-year-old Arab Israeli citizen active in Britain’s pro-Hamas demonstrations has been granted asylum in the UK after claiming he would face persecution in Israel due to his race, his Muslim faith and his opinion that Israel is “governed by an apartheid regime.”

However, the claim appears to be more of a red herring than anything else, intended to head off an attempt to deport “Hassan” (not his real name) from his cushy life in Britain.

In their request for asylum, attorneys claimed “Hassan” would be at risk of “hostile attention” if he were to return to Israel. Was he facing deportation? If so, for what reason? No explanation provided.

According to The Guardian, which broke the story, “Hassan” has spent most of his life in the UK.

It’s not clear why the Home Office decided to grant him asylum rather than allow the legal process to unfold.

Interestingly, British journalist Douglas Murray has repeatedly pointed out that bona fide Hamas terrorist leaders are living in England, and some have even been granted citizenship. “Hassan’s” status is unclear, as is the reason for concealing his identity.

“Hassan’s” lawyers said he believes Israel is governed by “an apartheid regime that engages in systematic and pervasive discrimination, persecution and violence touching on all aspects of Palestinian life,” according to the report.

It is an odd and slightly paranoid view, given the deeply integrated role of Arab Israelis in the Jewish State, visible to anyone who visits the Knesset (Israeli parliament), where there are nearly a dozen Arab Israeli lawmakers representing several Arab Israeli political parties), any hospital, pharmacy or university. Arab Israelis are members of the Israel Defense Forces, Israel’s Border Police and the Israel Police force as well.
Multi-Million Pound Donor to Labour Says Hamas are _Freedom Fighters
Labour have spent the week saying the Tories should pay back the £10 million they received from someone who they say said something racist. Similarly long time Labour Party donor Dale Vince has given Starmer’s party at least £2.5 million to date, including a £1 million cheque late last year. He’s recently launched an initiative calling for the youth of Britain to vote Labour. Well and truly in the fold of Labour’s funding class…

If Labour thinks donors’ cash donations should be returned when they say extreme things, what do they make of Vince’s views? Late last year on Times Radio, after saying that Hamas should be able to defend itself, Vince stated that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter“. When challenged on the fact that saying Hamas are freedom fighters isn’t the official Labour position, Vince said: “This is my view, this is how I feel“. When can we expect Starmer to announce that the £2.5 million will be returned?


Canadian FM calls for investigation of sexual violence against Palestinian women
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, currently on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East, posted on X, of her plight to uncover sexual assault allegations by Palestinian women on Tuesday.

“We believe Palestinian women. Allegations of sexual and gender-based violence against them must be investigated, and Palestinian women must be supported. Today, I announced in the West Bank that Canada will commit $1milliom to support this important work,” she wrote.

The same day, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry invited the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramilla Patten, to investigate “Israel’s well-documented sexual violence against Palestinian women, men, and children detainees and disappeared persons” in a press statement. There is limited data on this occurrence.


Flatbush Israel Real Estate Event Cancelled by NYPD Over Fear of Pro-Hamas Gangs
“Welcome to the great Israeli Real Estate Event” proclaims a colorful poster listing dates for the event in Montreal, Toronto, Teaneck, Lawrence and Flatbush — oops, not Flatbush, folks, because that one was cancelled after attendees in Teaneck were harassed by pro-Hamas anarchists.

The Teaneck event, which took place at Congregation Keter Torah this past Sunday (March 10), was targeted by pro-Hamas anarchists who turned violent, hurling various objects and spraying red paint at pro-Israel counter-protestors, commuters and pedestrians.

Teaneck police arrested at least two protestors during the demonstration, which drew an estimated 1,000 protestors, most of them non-Teaneck residents.

NYPD, Flatbush Fold to Pro-Hamas Gangs
After having met with New York Police Department officials in advance of a similar event scheduled to take place this Wednesday in Brooklyn, the Flatbush Jewish Community Council announced the event was canceled.

In its statement, FJCC said police urged them to cancel the event.

We have apparently arrived at a point where New York’s Police Department would rather cancel a Jewish event than have to protect participants from pro-terror anarchists.
80+ bands pull out of South by Southwest to protest festival’s ties to Israeli military
More than 80 bands and several scheduled panelists have pulled out of the ongoing South by Southwest festival, citing Israel defense ties among its organizers.

Organizers of the Austin, Texas, event that draws attendees from around the world have threatened legal action against the boycott’s leaders. But they also said on Tuesday that they “fully respect” the boycott.

The protest was sparked by the Austin For Palestine Coalition, which called for a boycott of the festival due to the fact that its sponsors include the United States Army and the weapons manufacturers RTX Corporation, Collins Aerospace and BAE Systems. The festival began March 8 and runs through Saturday.

The coalition argues that, because the U.S. military and the defense contractors have supplied Israel with weapons and technology — RTX supplies major components of the Iron Dome missile defense system, for example — boycotting the festival will show solidarity with Palestinians.

“No more war profiteers and warmongers in this city!” the coalition posted on Instagram Tuesday in an announcement of the dropped bands. “Free Palestine. Ceasefire Now.”

The boycotting acts represent a small fraction of the total bands that were booked for SXSW, which this year totaled more than 2,000 and included headliners such as The Black Keys, Bootsy Collins and the Japanese artist Chiaki Mayumura.


Sarah Lawrence College hit with Title VI complaint over systemic antisemitism on campus
Sammy Tweedy, a college student who left Sarah Lawrence College to study at Tel Aviv University after facing relentless antisemitism at the New York school, is cited in a new complaint against the college based on violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

The complaint, the latest in a string of Title VI complaints against universities since Oct. 7, was filed on Tuesday by Hillels of Westchester with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on behalf of Jewish students, Jewish Insider has learned. (Sarah Lawrence is located in Westchester County.)

It details several examples of antisemitism, both before and after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel and the subsequent rise of harassment of Jews on campus, including Tweedy’s experience receiving violent and threatening text messages. The complaint says that faculty at the Bronxville, N.Y., private college have ignored the campus’ “persistent and pervasive” antisemitism.

According to Tweedy, after returning from a trip to Israel, members of the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine sent him messages threatening physical assault and “saying I should have been killed in Israel,” he recalled, noting that the threats were reported to the Sarah Lawrence administration, to no avail.

The complaint alleges that two days after Oct. 7, SLC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion director promoted an event hosted by the college’s SJP Chapter, “Hour of Solidarity with Palestine,” in an email sent to Hillel students and other Jewish students. The DEI director, who also serves as the faculty advisor for the SJP chapter, never mentioned in her email the Israeli victims of the Hamas massacre or the trauma experienced by Jewish students, according to the complaint.
Penn Professor Who Cheered on Hamas Attack Sues University To Thwart Congressional Investigation
A University of Pennsylvania professor who cheered on Hamas's Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel is suing the school in an attempt to stop a federal investigation into its response to campus anti-Semitism.

Huda Fakhreddine, an associate professor of Arabic literature at Penn’s Middle East Center, filed her suit against the school Saturday. It accuses Penn of cracking down on anti-Israel speech and aims to stop the transfer of university documents to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. The committee's chairwoman, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.), sent a letter to Penn leaders in January requesting their internal deliberations on anti-Semitic campus incidents.

Penn is cooperating with the request and began submitting documents to the committee last month. Fakhreddine—a vocal critic of the Jewish state who praised "Palestine" for "inventing a new way of life" on Oct. 7—wants the school to stop, citing privacy concerns.

"Penn's continuing cooperation with, and disclosure of private and confidential information about Plaintiffs to the Committee," the suit says, "threatens all Plaintiffs with the irreparable harm of a renewed and continued barrage of death and rape threats and hate speech."

Attorneys who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon on background to discuss the suit candidly dismissed its merits.

One said Fakhreddine has "no case against the university," emphasizing that the suit's privacy argument does not apply to students and faculty members who use university-owned emails. The other agreed.

"I can't imagine a court stepping in," the attorney said. "Tough luck."
Pro-Hamas statement quietly scrubbed from MIT website as school faces congressional investigation
A statement from several student organizations blaming Israel for the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack, which was hosted on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s website, was quietly scrubbed as a House committee asked the institution for documents relating to its anti-Semitism investigation.

The statement was deleted around the same time that the House Committee on Education and the Workforce asked on March 8 for documents from MIT relating to anti-Semitism on campus.

The statement, signed by MIT Coalition Against Apartheid, Palestine@MIT, Brandeis Students for Justice in Palestine, MIT Black Graduate Student Association, MIT Reading for Revolution, and more, blamed Israel for the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack.

”Palestine@MIT and the MIT Coalition Against Apartheid hold the Israeli regime responsible for all unfolding violence. We unequivocally denounce the Israeli occupation, its racist apartheid system, and its military rule. Colonization is inherently violent, aimed at erasing and replacing indigenous peoples,” the statement read.

”We affirm the right of all occupied peoples to resist oppression and colonization,” it added.


PreOccupiedTerritory: Group Railing Against ‘Jewish Supremacy’ Takes Particular Joy In Asserting Islamic Supremacy (satire)
A collection of activists who gathered together under the banner of advocating for protection of Palestinians from “Zionists,” who, the activists believe, consider themselves better than everybody else, shifted abruptly into behavior demonstrating they believe Muslims are better than everybody else, observers reported today.

Protesters assembled to call for Israel to cease its offensive in the Gaza Strip to neutralize the Hamas terrorist organization characterized the Jewish State’s actions as rooted in Jewish supremacy, a goal the activists impute to Zionism – the movement for Jewish sovereignty and self-determination as equals among the nations of the world.

Once assembled, the protesters moved from chanting slogans about dismantling the Jewish State to taking down a nearby US flag and replacing it with the red, black, white, and green Palestinian flag. The slogans similarly shifted from opposition to Zionism, or accusing Jews of various evils, to predicting that Islam will dominate the Earth.

The phenomenon parallels and dovetails with similar incidents, often simultaneous, involving demonstrators who rail against violence visited on Palestinians, while directing violence toward people they have identified as Jews.
Is Politico rebelling against Axel Springer’s Israel policy?
The ongoing Israel-Hamas war is casting a spotlight on latent editorial tensions between Politico and its parent company, the German publishing giant Axel Springer, whose unique mission statement has long promoted unwavering support for the Jewish state.

In recent months, however, the tenor of Politico’s coverage has tacitly challenged that commitment, a review of stories published over the course of the war indicates.

The popular D.C. news and politics outlet has turned a distinctly critical eye on Israel as the conflict has unfolded, frequently giving special prominence to detractors of Israel over pro-Israel voices or even neutral foreign policy experts, for instance, while publishing columns suggesting Israel is a human rights violator, among other contested claims.

Considered in aggregate, the emphasis on such framing underscores how Politico has increasingly clashed with one of its owner’s most venerated principles, espousing unequivocal support for “the Jewish people and the right of existence of the State of Israel.”

The most recent example of a disconnect between Berlin and the Beltway emerged in the form of a political cartoon by a longtime Politico cartoonist that drew backlash on Tuesday for suggesting that Jews are using “centuries of pogroms, antisemitism and the Holocaust” as an excuse for Israel’s war in Gaza.


BBC News misrepresents Israeli president’s speech

Camera prompts correction on Gaza casualties from Daily Mail

Extreme Anti-Israel Publication Rabble.ca Has Received Nearly $400,000 In Federal Government Funding In Last Five Years

Toronto Star Commentator Gullibly Repeats Hamas Disinformation As Fact

PMW: In classic antisemitic libel, PA official daily accuses Israel of poisoning water
Antisemitism is fundamental to Palestinian Authority ideology and takes many forms. As reported by PMW, the PA chose to preach in all its mosques a mere two weeks after the October 7 atrocities in which Palestinians murdered Jews—in their homes, in their towns, and at the Nova music festival hiding behind rocks and trees—that it is Muslim destiny to kill Jews hiding behind rocks and trees. That was an example of PA religious Antisemitism.

The PA has now taken its people back to medieval-style Antisemitism by accusing Israel of poisoning the water.

“Israel and also the US have many types of weapons that [Israel] could use…It [Israel] is liable to spread viruses; it is liable to poison the water; it is liable to do everything of this nature, perhaps things that we are not even thinking about. Even trees that are growing naturally, crops such as spinach and mallow, they will spray them with toxic substances.”

[Official PA TV, columnist Omar Hilmi al-Ghoul of Al-Hayat al-Jadida, March 6, 2024]

Poisoning water and spreading disease are libels that were commonly hurled at Jews in the Middle Ages, especially when they were accused of being the source of Bubonic plague. Believing Jews to be the source of disease created rage among the European populations and led to repeated massacres of Jews.

This libel accusing Israel of poisoning the water is likewise intended to create outrage among Palestinians, who will feel justified in attacking and killing Israelis. It is particularly odious coming at a time when Israel is allowing hundreds of trucks filled with humanitarian aid into Gaza every day, while no humanitarian aid is reaching the Israeli hostages.

PA libels about Jews and Israel are a major part of its national discourse, intended to create loathing of Israelis and justify terror. For example, one ongoing PA libel is that Israel abuses Palestinian prisoners through medical neglect, medical experiments, and intentional infection. This likewise was recently disseminated by a senior PA official, after a Palestinian prisoner died of cancer:


MEMRI: Jordanian Journalist: Hamas' October 7 Attack, Taking Of Israeli Hostages Are Not Terror But Legitimate Acts Of Resistance To Occupation
In an article in the London-based Qatari daily Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, Jordanian journalist Hilmi Al-Asmar writes that Hamas' October 7 attack, in which some 1,200 people were murdered and 241 were taken hostage, was not an act of terror but a legitimate act of resistance to the Israeli occupation that is sanctioned by international law. The taking of the Israeli hostages is likewise legitimate resistance according to international law and international conventions, he says. Al-Asmar explains that the Gaza Envelope area – which, it must be stressed, is not part of the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 – is occupied land that belongs to the refugees who were expelled to the Gaza Strip. Therefore, these refugees are not only entitled but obligated by law to resist the occupation. He also comes out against the Western countries and the Arab regimes that regard Hamas and other Palestinian organizations as terrorist and deny their right to resist the occupation.

Al-Asmar concludes by saying that, although the right to resist is recognized by international law, the resistance does require the approval of international law and does not heed it – "since the resistance on the ground is the one that writes history and the law and the one that grants [itself] the right to exist by virtue of its strength and the strength of its people."

The following are translated excerpts from Al-Hilmi's article.[1]
"According to legal experts, international law takes precedence to local law, and it regards the Palestinian organizations as resistance movements because they are fighting against occupation. Therefore, any local law – Israeli, Arab or foreign – that designates Hamas and the [other] Palestinian resistance movements as terror organizations is at odds with [international] law, to which those countries are signatory and which grants the resistance movements the right to resist occupation. This means that [this local law] is null and void. Since the so-called Gaza Envelope is occupied land, and every part of it belongs to the refugees whom the occupation expelled to the refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, international law obligates these refugees to oppose the occupation and return to the land of their forefathers. In this sense, the attack carried out by the resistance on October 7 was a legitimate right, not a terrorist attack.


MEMRI: Palestine As A Weapon... Inside Lebanon
The Gaza war between Hamas and Israel has had an effect on public opinion worldwide. But the effect has not been the same in all countries. In Spain and Latin America, for example, full-throated advocacy for Palestinian causes is most marked among the political left; the farther left the party, the more extreme the advocacy. In the Middle East, the war has exacerbated existing friction between regimes, such as between Morocco and Algeria. In some places the war has fed into internal conflict, being used as a weapon or club in domestic political situations. In Jordan, the war is heightening friction between the country's Palestinian majority and its minority "East Bank" Jordanian elite. Internal tensions also spiked in Lebanon, a country where the cause of Palestine has been used at least three times in the past 50 years – by the PLO, by Syria and by Iran – as an excuse for foreign interference and oppression.

Public opinion in Lebanon is not uniform according to sect. There are "pro-Resistance" Christians, some of them vociferously so, and there are non-Christians – Shi'a and Sunni and Druze – who are against Lebanon being part of a wider war and opposed to being dragged by Hizbullah into another conflict. Those types of individuals often have to keep a lower profile given the threat of assassination, as befell Hizbullah critic Lokman Slim in 2021.[1] But if one was to generalize, opposition to war is much more likely – certain more open – among the country's Christian population, which is much more likely to embrace the concept that the war in Gaza has nothing to do with Lebanon and that Lebanon should concern itself with its own business and be neutral in all regional conflicts, including wars with Israel. To want to be neutral and at peace in Lebanon, to put the country's interests first over some foreign conflict, is interpreted by the so-called "Axis of Resistance" as being pro-Israel even if one never mentions that state.

Since the war began on October 7, 2023, the Resistance Axis – Hizbullah and its puppets – have concentrated much of their ire, their propaganda networks, and street action against the country's Christians, particularly against the Maronites, their leaders, and their symbols. In this way, an external conflict has been transformed into a tool of coercion and intimidation in an already existing internal struggle for power, pitting the country's Shi'a duopoly (Hizbullah + Amal) against anyone else, but especially against that part of the Maronite leadership most opposed to Hizbullah hegemony.

This could be seen from the beginning of the war in October. A reporter for Lebanon's MTV channel was interfered with by a pro-Hizbullah minder in South Lebanon because he claimed that the channel "supported the Zionist enemy." At the same time, noisy crowds carrying Palestinian and Hizbullah flags invaded Christian urban areas – Awkar, where the U.S. Embassy is located, and Achrafieh/Gemmayze. These outsiders' chants included "Shi'a, Shi'a, Shi'a," "At Your Service, Oh Nasrallah," and "Let's Go, Sayyed, for the Sake of Allah." Strangely enough, such provocative acts were deemed to be not sectarian – but Christians advocating for a federal Lebanon are often derided as irredeemably sectarian.
Nasrallah: Screams of Israeli settlers are louder because of Hezbollah
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on Wednesday that "what is happening to this day, especially in Gaza, is a lesson to all the peoples of the world, and we must emphasize the great achievements of the Al-Aqsa flood and what will come after it.

"All Palestinian factions are unanimous in stopping the aggression, contrary to what is being reported that Hamas is obstructing the negotiations.

"We affirm from our Lebanese front that we stand alongside the people of Gaza," the Hezbollah leader continued. "The screams of settlers in northern occupied Palestine are getting louder as a result of Hezbollah operations."


Biden Admin Poised To Grant Iran Billions in Sanctions Relief, Lawmakers Warn
The Biden administration is poised to issue a fresh sanctions waiver for Iran that will grant the country access to upward of $10 billion in frozen assets, providing Tehran with "a financial lifeline" as it foments terrorism across the Middle East, according to a group of GOP lawmakers.

In November, shortly after Hamas's attack on Israel, the State Department signed off on a sanctions waiver that permits Iraq to transfer multibillion-dollar electricity payments to Iran. The waiver, which grants Tehran access to around $10 billion in frozen funds, is set to expire this month unless the Biden administration renews it.

A group of Republican lawmakers is concerned that the sanctions waiver will be approved, according to a letter sent late Monday to the Treasury and State Departments and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The lawmakers ask the Biden administration to provide information on how much cash Iran has been able to access in the months since sanctions were lifted.

The sanctions waiver decision comes as Iran and its regional terror proxies—which include Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen—foment chaos across the Middle East, including a series of missile attacks that killed 3 American military members and wounded more than 40. Critics of the sanctions waiver say it will enable Iran to continue funding its terrorist allies amid the worst spate of violence in the Middle East in years.

"Given the Biden Administration's posture on the last waiver we presume that the Biden Administration will renew the waiver again to continue to allow for the transfer of funds from Iraq to Oman," four Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Bill Huizenga (Mich.), wrote in the letter. "By waiving the application of sanctions, the Administration is maintaining a financial lifeline for the Iranian regime, even as it continues to support terrorist organizations around the world."
South Africa’s Chief Rabbi Says State Is ‘Diplomatic Proxy’ of Iran
The chief rabbi of South Africa said in a speech this week that his country's government is a "diplomatic proxy" of Iran.

"Just as Hamas serves as an armed proxy for Iran, the South African government serves as its diplomatic proxy, as it did at the [International Court of Justice], the diplomatic equivalent of the Oct. 7 attacks," said Rabbi Warren Goldstein, referring to South Africa's suing Israel for genocide at the World Court, according to Jewish Insider.

Goldstein made his comments in a speech, the text of which was obtained by Jewish Insider, at an AIPAC leadership summit taking place in Washington, D.C., characterizing the position of South Africa's government as "pro-Hamas."

"The different kinds of wars they fight are intertwined—Hamas with bombs and guns to kill and maim as many people as possible, and South Africa with words and arguments to delegitimize Israel, and turn Western opinion against the Jewish state, forcing it into self-destructive negotiations with its enemies through which it might be slowly dismembered or, left without the means or support to defend itself, simply overrun," said Goldstein. "This makes the diplomatic war of delegitimization, ultimately, the most serious national security threat facing Israel."


Antisemitism training for schools frozen after legal challenge from left-wing group
Government plans to fund antisemitism training in schools and universities have been plunged into chaos after a left-wing campaign group backed by American millionaires began a High Court case to block them, the JC can reveal.

Leading Jewish organisations including the Campaign Against Antisemitism, the Community Security Trust, Chabad and the Holocaust Educational Trust had formed consortiums that tendered bids for the £7 million programme, which was announced by the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in his autumn statement last year.

But last Thursday, the day before the bidding process was due to close, an email from the Department for Education (DfE) informed all who had shown interest that the process had been frozen indefinitely.

“The department has enacted a pause to the procurement”, the email said, adding that it hoped the process would soon reopen.

The message was sent a week after the UK branch of the US-based Diaspora Alliance launched a High Court judicial review of the scheme, arguing it should be scrapped because the DfE has stipulated that the training should use the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

According to the Diaspora Alliance the definition “has been used to repress free speech and silence those who campaign against Israel’s government's actions” and was “really an attempt to create a speech code about Israel”.

The IHRA definition says that it is antisemitic to state that Israel has no right to exist, or to claim that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is comparable to that of Jews by the Nazis.
There is a lot to learn from Bulgaria’s no-nonsense approach to antisemitism
As antisemitism has risen to record levels all over the world in recent months, the Bulgarian government is to be commended for understanding rapidly evolving attacks on Jews and the Jewish State, Robert Singer and Prof Rumyana Marinova-Christidi write.

In recent years, the issue of antisemitism has been taken more seriously around the world, especially as hate against Jews keeps rising.

The adoption of national plans to combat antisemitism and the appointment of special envoys for monitoring and combating antisemitism have displayed an increased sincerity on the part of leaders in Europe, North America and elsewhere in dealing with one of the oldest and fiercest hatreds in history.

However, few have gone past the declaratory into the operational, and taken such a holistic approach, as the Republic of Bulgaria. Taking matters seriously

In 2017, Bulgaria was one of the first countries to adopt the International Holocaust Authority’s (IHRA) Working Definition of antisemitism, a year before it was even a formal member of IHRA.

The same year it appointed a national coordinator for combating antisemitism. As opposed to many other nations, the coordinator or envoy was not a low-ranking official with little power or authority but was given to the deputy foreign minister.

The following year, an agreement was signed with major national and international Jewish organisations which provided an opportunity to establish a mechanism for regular consultation and cooperation to exchange information, experience and best practices in the field of preventing and countering antisemitism and improving the security of the Jewish community.
Indiana governor should veto ‘toothless’ Jew-hatred bill, AG says
Indiana state senators have turned a bill, which was originally written to protect Jewish students from “ruthless, antisemitic attacks that have increased since the horrific slaughter of Israelis on Oct. 7,” into “a toothless mess,” Todd Rokita, the state attorney general, stated on Tuesday.

The amended bill “allows antisemites to continue to cloak their discriminatory hatred of Jews as simple political disagreements directed at Israel, not Jews,” Rokita added.

He also criticized Indiana state representatives for failing to “correct the Senate’s actions, which equates hateful, antisemitic rhetoric, like ‘From the River to the Sea’ to mere political speech.”

“The governor should veto this compromised bill to show he understands that regular Hoosiers won’t compromise with Jew-hating bigots,” Rokita said, directing his advice to Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican.

The Indiana state Senate had removed the 11 “contemporary examples” appended to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s working definition of antisemitism from the bill. One of the IHRA examples of antisemitism is “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.”

Rabbi Mark Goldfeder, CEO and director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, told JNS that the bill, if passed, “has the potential to do great harm to our community” by excluding the contemporary IHRA examples.
Jewish teenage girl in Brooklyn ‘punched at bus stop’
Surveillance camera footage appears to have captured an assault on a teenage Jewish girl in Brooklyn, NY, last Friday.

A spokesperson for the New York City Police Department said that the 15-year-old girl “stated she was waiting for the bus when an unknown suspect struck her in the left ear with a closed fist, causing pain and swelling.”

“The suspect fled on foot,” the police spokesperson added. “There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.”

Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, who works in communications for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, shared video footage from the Crown Heights Shomrim community watch group on social media and stted that the girl was Jewish.
Robert Oppenheimer’s Embrace of Israel
Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s film about the career of the titular physicist, won seven Oscars Sunday night, bringing the man who played a leading role in the Manhattan Project back into the public conversation. Born to a Jewish family in New York City in 1904, J. Robert Oppenheimer had little in the way of religious education and through his life expressed little sense of Jewish identity. Yet Meyer Weisgal, a longtime aide to Chaim Weizmann and later the president of Israel’s prestigious Weizmann Institute of Science, stated in 1967 that the recently deceased Oppenheimer would have been put in charge of the institution were it not for his unexpected death that same year.

Martin Kramer tries to verify this claim, and reports on two trips Oppenheimer made to Israel in 1958 and 1965. I won’t spoil Kramer’s conclusion, but I will share this quote from a speech the physicist gave during his first visit:
I can say that the whole world sees in Israel a symbol, and not just a symbol of courage, and not just a symbol of dedication, but of faith and confidence in man’s reason, and a confidence in man’s future, and in the confidence in man, and of hope. These are all now largely and sadly missing in those vast parts of the world which not so long ago were their very cradle.

Oppenheimer, Kramer explains, expressed his admiration for the Jewish state on other occasions as well:
Israeli society, he told his New York audience a few months later, was “forced by danger, by hardship, by hostile neighbors, to an intense, continued common effort.” As a result, “one finds a health of spirit, a human health, now grown rare in the great lands of Europe and America, which will serve not only to bring dedicated men and dedication to Israel, but to lead us to refresh and renew the ancient sources of our own strength and health.”


After being canceled in the US, Jewish singer Matisyahu will return to Israel
American Jewish singer Matisyahu, who has been thrust into the headlines recently over backlash in the US for his support of Israel, will be returning to the country for two shows – on April 2 at Zappa Jerusalem and April 3 at Zappa Ganei Yehoshua.

Last month, two Matisyahu shows were canceled – in Tucson, Arizona, and Santa Fe, New Mexico – after the venues said they couldn’t guarantee security due to anti-Israel protests that were planned to be held outside the concerts.

According to the singer/songwriter, the issue was actually staff who were unwilling to work at the show. Even when he offered to supplement these staff shortages, he was refused, Matisyahu posted on social media at the time.Another show, in Chicago, was canceled last week.

“While my fans and I are deeply hurt by this, please know we will not cower to these bullies and the pressure they exert,” Matisyahu wrote on Instagram.

“While the true details surrounding this decision remain opaque, and while the responsible parties all point fingers at one another over the decision, I can assure you there have been no threats of violence received by our security team, who have been vigilant in knowing what is happening in each city,” the singer wrote Friday on his Instagram account about the Chicago show.

Matisyahu said the venue had paid him for the cancellation and that he would donate the proceeds to the Hostage and Missing Families Forum “to help the families of the hostages, and in honor of International Women’s Day to acknowledge the women and girls still held captive by Hamas,” as well as to the emergency medical service United Hatzalah.


Floyd Mayweather dedicates motorcycle fleet to Magen David Adom
On the fourth day of his trip to Israel, former boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. visited Magen David Adom’s Marcus National Blood Services Center in the central city of Ramla, where he dedicated a fleet of ambucycles to the emergency response organization.

Magen David Adom said the visit by Mayweather, who is known for his philanthropic work, left an “indelible mark” on its staff.

“We are truly grateful for Floyd Mayweather’s commitment and support at this dark time in our history,” said Catherine Reed, CEO of American Friends of Magen David Adom. “The Floyd Fleet will save thousands of lives in record time and wouldn’t have been possible without him.”

Magen David Adom has been using ambulance motorcycles since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, when the organization inherited motorcycles from the departing British Mandate authorities. The first official fleet of ambucycles was inaugurated some 20 years ago.

Earlier this year, Mayweather was honored at a Magen David Adom dinner in Miami, where he became acquainted with the organization.

Wednesday’s event in Ramla brought together MDA personnel who survived Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people, including numerous volunteers of the organization, were brutally murdered and thousands more wounded.

Mayweather’s visit “served as a beacon of hope and solidarity during challenging times, inspiring resilience and unity among those in attendance,” MDA said in a statement to the press.
Floyd Mayweather shows support for Israel during visit
Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather shows support for Israel during visit, meeting with United Hatzalah volunteers






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