Thursday, July 11, 2024

07/11 Links Pt2: Kamala Harris thinks campus antisemites are very fine people; Melanie Phillips: The war against the Jews; Matisyahu to Perform at NYC Oct7 Benefit

From Ian:

ICC Prosecutor Tapped External Panel to Review Evidence: Is That Even Allowed?
As noted, the Rome Statute’s Article 42(7) requires the prosecutor and the deputy prosecutors abstain not from the appearance of partiality and the statute’s Article 45 requires the prosecutor and each of the deputy prosecutors solemnly undertake in open court to act impartially. The Rome Statute, however, does not apply to external consultants of the prosecutor. Consequently, no panel member or academic adviser was as obligated to avoid the appearance of impartiality, act impartially, and avow impartiality as the prosecutor, if at all.

The ICC has Rules of Procedure and Evidence, which apply precepts of the Rome Statute to the functioning of the ICC and to practice before it. Rule 34 of these rules provides, explicitly in addition to grounds for disqualification set forth in Article 42(7) of the Rome Statute, an open-ended list of grounds for disqualification of a prosecutor or deputy prosecutor. One of the listed grounds is “performance of functions, prior to taking office, during which he or she could be expected to have formed an opinion on the case in question, on the parties or on their legal representatives that, objectively, could adversely affect the required impartiality of the person concerned.” In advising the prosecutor on his evidence, the panel members and academic advisers did not act in or before the ICC, meaning that Rule 34 did not apply to them.

The already-noted phenomenon of groupthink persists as a concern about partiality. The panel reviewed evidence that the prosecutor shared with it in a coordinated manner, including meeting at the ICC and in video calls. It reached unanimous conclusions on all questions posed to it—maybe even on more, since the panel commended the prosecutor’s own process of review—and it drafted its report as one. The prosecutor declared that the panel’s analysis supported and strengthened his applications. The risk that some opinion of some panel member was advertently or inadvertently quashed for the sake of group unison is inherent to the panel and the way it apparently worked and should be charged to the prosecutor. This risk alone points to a conclusion that the prosecutor failed to meet his legal obligation to abstain from at least the appearance of partiality.

What is more, external consultants may have had prior functions or can have affiliations or agendas that bias their conclusions. The prosecutor did not disclose whether he or anyone screened the panel’s members or academic advisers for problematic prior functions or formed opinions. The prosecutor did label the panel “impartial” but left unsaid how he determined that the panel members were impartial and how he ensured that they would act impartially. As for the panel’s academic advisers, the prosecutor said nothing about their state of impartiality. Regardless, the asymmetry between the impartiality obligations of the prosecutor, which are maximally stringent, and those, if any, of the panel members or academic advisers introduces the possibility of bias. This possibility should be charged to the prosecutor and further points to a conclusion that the prosecutor did not comply with his obligations concerning impartiality.
Jonathan S. Tobin: Kamala Harris thinks campus antisemites are very fine people
So, while not an all-out opponent of Israel in the manner of her friends in the left-wing congressional “Squad” who traffic in antisemitism, Harris can be seen as a transitional figure for the Democrats on this issue as they complete their journey from a pro-Israel party to one that is hostile to it. She not only lacks the record but the instinct to pretend to be a supporter of Zionism, as Biden has done. She also makes a greater effort than the president to show the younger generation of Democrats who have been indoctrinated in toxic ideas like critical race theory and intersectionality, which falsely label Israel and the Jews as “white” oppressors, that she is on their side.

Nor should anyone look to Emhoff as someone who can be a credible voice on antisemitism or Israel. The first man to hold the title of “second gentleman” spent his life demonstrating zero interest in Judaism or Israel until it became politically important for his wife’s career to do so. He’s representative of a large segment of people whose ties to Jewish life are largely cultural and therefore ephemeral. His daughter, Ella, a fashion model, not only spurns the title of a Jewish influencer but has raised money for the viciously anti-Israel U.N. Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) that has ties to Hamas terrorism and has helped perpetuate the century-old war on the Jewish state. Those who are relying on him to advocate effectively against antisemitism are fooling themselves.

When placed beside a president whose physical and mental decline is obvious, Harris—a healthy and vigorous 59-year-old—seems like a credible alternative, as well as a DEI choice who might hold together the Democratic coalition. However, the prospect of her elevation to the presidency ought to worry anyone who cares about Israel and the imperative to roll back the woke tide that is fueling a surge in antisemitism in the United States and worldwide. Her husband’s origins and any pandering to the community notwithstanding, if she winds up leading the Democrats, the case for the party as a home for Jewish voters will become even weaker than it already is.
Nearly half of Jewish voters believe NY is unsafe for them, shocking poll finds
Nearly half of Jewish voters have felt at risk because of their religious identity while living in the Empire State — while more than a third said that New York is no longer a safe haven for their people, a shocking new poll reveals.

The survey conducted for the pro-Israel New York Solidarity Network found that 44% of the 1,200 Jewish voters in New York City and other counties queried said they have felt unsafe, as did 67% of identifiable Orthodox Jews.

More than a third — 35% — said they agreed with the statement: “New York is no longer a safe haven for Jewish life and the Jewish people.”

Nearly 40% of the same voters said the US is no longer a safe haven for Jews.

The numbers are unsettling given that 1.5 million Jews live in New York state — more than any single place on the globe outside of Israel, the poll takers said.

“That more than a third of registered New York Jewish voters believe New York is no longer a safe haven for Jews should be a five-alarm fire for state and local elected officials,” Sara Forman, executive director of the New York Solidarity Network and Treasurer of Solidarity PAC, said in a statement to The Post Wednesday.

It comes as New York has been hit by a wave of antisemitic hate crimes since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

The hate has spilled onto college campuses, where some Jewish students have been left cowering in fear due to anti-Israel protests and antisemitic incidents — including at Cooper Union and at Columbia University, where vandals occupied an academic building.

Many of the masked hoodlums escaped prosecution, and a campaign is now underway to urge Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to restore a mask ban at public protests to prevent harassers and bigots from hiding their identify and getting away with crimes.

Half of those surveyed by the New York Solidarity Network said they don’t believe New York’s college campuses will do enough to make Jewish students feel safe in the upcoming fall semester, while 42% said they did.

Meanwhile, 86% of respondents said they believe that antisemitism is a serious problem, and 56% have witnessed anti-Jewish hatred on social media and online forums — including 72% of those under the age of 30.

Antisemitic hate crimes are up 45% in 2024, according to NYPD data obtained by The Post in April — with many of the emboldened attacks captured on shocking video.

The survey conducted for the pro-Israel New York Solidarity Network found that 44% of the 1,200 Jewish voters in New York City and other counties queried said they have felt unsafe, as did 67% of identifiable Orthodox Jews.


Melanie Phillips: The war against the Jews
We have to face without flinching what is now undeniable: There is a war across the globe raging against the Jewish people. It’s a war not just to destroy their national homeland but to drive them out of people’s heads, their conscience and their world.

Led by Muslims and the left, with its base in the universities, this war has extended much further than these circles into professional and commercial life.

The Palestinian flag, the symbol of the agenda to destroy Israel and erase the identity and history of the Jews in their ancestral land, is everywhere. Often-murderous antisemitism, once confined to cranks, Nazi supporters and the clinically insane, has been normalized and is surfacing in the most banal, everyday settings.

A Toronto health food restaurant is using the hashtag “#zionistsnotwelcome” in social media posts. In Britain, an ordinary middle-aged Manchester woman declared that Zionist lives weren’t worth saving and that Zionists “need to be finished.”

Palestinian flags sprouted in London at the Wimbledon tennis tournament, during Fashion Week in Berlin and on the lapel of a Delta Airlines flight attendant. In Amsterdam, Anne Frank’s statue was defaced with “Gaza” graffiti. At a Madrid rock concert, the crowd sang: “Let’s go bomb Tel Aviv.”

While this madness has liberals and left-wingers in its grip, its main impetus is coming from the Islamic world. U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines stated this week that the Iranian regime has been actively fueling the Gaza demonstrations by using agents posing as activists online, encouraging demonstrations and even providing participants with financial support.

In addition to Iran, the campaign has been orchestrated by Hamas and other Muslim Brotherhood operatives. The reason for all this is that fanatical hatred of the Jews is fundamental to the religion of Islam, as is the aim of Islamizing the world.

While many Muslims don’t subscribe to fanaticism or fundamentalism, far too many do—and the overwhelming majority subscribe to the demonization and delegitimization of Israel that flow from Muslim Jew-hatred.

The reason the Oct. 7 pogrom in Israel sparked immediate and triumphant Muslim demonstrations was the ecstatic belief that, having destroyed Israeli invincibility by murdering and capturing so many Jews, the way was now open to destroy Israel, wipe out the Jews and conquer the West for Islam.

The far-left, who have latched on to the anti-West aims of this campaign, also believe that their revolutionary time has come.
Melanie Phillips: Britain chooses Labour - will the West Choose SURVIVAL? | Think Twice
Will the West wake up on time to save itself or will it slowly fall to the enemies of civilization? While it looks like the bad guys are winning elections across the West, there’s still room for hope! Tune in for this in-depth interview with Melanie Phillips as she lays out everything you need to know about last week’s UK elections and more.

Also, the UK Conservative party’s failures; how the relationship with Israel will change; the future of the UK Right & the West; and the importance of standing up to Iran.

Chapters
00:00 The Death Wish of the West
03:00 The Rise of the Populist Right and the Discrediting of Mainstream Conservatives
06:18 The Purge of the Labour Party and the Leadership of Keir Starmer
08:42 The Human Rights Culture and Hostility Towards Israel
19:10 The New British Government's Stance on Israel
25:50 The Influence of the Muslim Population in British Politics
29:10 The Collapse of the Muslim Vote for Labour
35:43 The Failures of the Conservative Party and the Potential for a Merger with the Reform Party
39:02 The Collapse of the Conservative Party and the Failure to Articulate a Defense of the Nation
55:04 The Death Wish of the West and the Importance of Conserving Western Civilization
59:25 European Jews' Changing Perceptions of the Threats They Face
01:09:36 The Implications of the American Election for Foreign Policy and Israel
01:15:21 Confronting the Threat from Iran to Defend Israel and Western Civilization


The Brendan O'Neill Show: Melanie Phillips: The case for Israel
Times columnist Melanie Phillips returned to The Brendan O’Neill Show for this very special live episode. Melanie and Brendan discussed the existential threats facing Israel, why anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, and why so-called anti-racists are indifferent to the global surge in Jew hatred.


Are Europe's Jews Doomed? | Israel Undiplomatic w/ Amb. Mark Regev & Ruthie Blum
Hear from fmr. Israeli Ambassador to the UK on what Labour's victory means for the Jews and relations with Israel. Also, Ruthie and Mark spar over the potential hostage deal with Hamas. Is it a real hostage deal or a hoax?

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Discussion of the UK Election
01:09 The Potential Impact of Keir Starmer on Israel-UK Relations
03:02 The Ongoing Conflict in Gaza and the Possibility of a Hostage Release Deal
09:18 Differing Opinions on the Deal and Its Consequences
14:00 Internal Politics and Ideological Divisions in the Israeli Government


Special antisemitism envoy vows to fight Jew hatred with global partners
Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel's special envoy to combat antisemitism, speaks to Benita about her efforts to fight Jew hatred, yet another front in the war waged against Israel.


Seth Mandel: The Plight of Canadian Jews
On June 4, several “pro-Palestine” groups posted a list of restaurants in Montreal that should be boycotted because of their Jewish owners or perceived support for Israel. Two weeks later, the inevitable happened: someone opened fire on one of the restaurants on the list.

There were no casualties, but the incident reinforced a message Montreal Jews have heard loud and clear. The “reality in Montreal,” said Moshe Appel, a former resident who moved his family to Israel, is that “if you are visibly Jewish, you’re not safe.”

Montreal is home to about 90,000 Jews. Nearly 200,000 of us live in Toronto, where things aren’t any better. In December, anti-Jewish protesters started regular demonstrations on a bridge leading to Armour Heights, a neighborhood with a large Jewish community. The increasingly confrontational agitators “paraded with placards, including swastikas, photos of Hitler and other antisemitic content, set off smoke bombs, and festooned the sides of the overpass with Palestinian flags and banners… During their rallies, often held on Saturdays when many local residents walk to nearby synagogues or are at home for Shabbat, protestors used loudspeakers to bellow their incendiary chants.”

A regularly scheduled Nazi rally with Palestinian flags alongside the swastikas, in other words, that explicitly targets a Jewish population. Even after the Toronto police ordered them to stop mob-harassing Jews, the rallies continued.

The city’s Pride of Israel synagogue was pelted with stones and vandalized in late June, as was another shul, Kehillat Shaarei Torah. It was the third such attack on the latter since mid-April. In May, shots were fired at Bais Chaya Mushka school in Toronto. The Community Hebrew Academy had to be evacuated due to bomb threats in November.

In January, Jewish-owned grocery International Deli Foods was firebombed and spray-painted with “Free Palestine” graffiti. A couple weeks after Hamas’s attacks, the terror group’s supporters swarmed the Toronto franchise of Café Landwer, whose German-born founder fled Berlin in 1933. That same weekend, protesters targeted Aroma, an Israeli-founded coffee chain with a storefront in Toronto.

These incidents are not outliers. Through March, 56% of the hate crimes reported in Toronto were anti-Semitic in nature. Through the same time frame, the cost of policing the pro-Hamas protests exceeded $10 million for the city. Police were forced to add a command post in one neighborhood targeted by the protests.
High levels of Jew-hatred prior to Oct. 7, EU survey suggests
A whopping 96% of respondents to a new survey on Jew-hatred said that it experienced antisemitism in the year prior to the study, which was conducted between January and June 2023.

The overwhelming majority of that 96%—representing 90% of the respondents to the survey question—encountered that Jew-hatred online, per the survey which the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency published on Thursday.

More than 8,000 Jews older than 16 from 13 E.U. countries, including Germany and France, were interviewed in the survey, which probed antisemitism prior to Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack.

The report also collected data post-Oct. 7 from 12 umbrella Jewish organizations, some of which reported increases of 400% or more in antisemitic incidents after October.

“Europe is witnessing a wave of antisemitism, partly driven by the conflict in the Middle East,” stated Sirpa Rautio, director of the Fundamental Rights Agency. “We need to build on existing laws and strategies to protect communities from all forms of hate and intolerance, online as well as offline.”

“In an increasingly polarized society, we urgently need to spread the message of tolerance and ensure respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of all,” Rautio added.

Can Jews in the EU live an openly Jewish life?
German state's commissioner on antisemitism accused of 'fomenting antisemitism'
In May, after Michael Blume blamed Israeli Jews for antisemitism in Europe, the Frankfurt-based German Jew, Sacha Stawski, from the media watchdog NGO Honestly Concerned urged Blume to resign.

Stawski wrote on Facebook about Blume, the German state of Baden-Württemberg's appointed commissioner tasked with fighting antisemitism: "One must now assume that this man is not only unworthy of his office - an opinion we have had for a long time - but also that he himself is fomenting antisemitism… this can no longer be glossed over or talked out of the world, as he has always done up to now. This can no longer be blamed on any 'trolls,' as he likes to call them, but has to do with his own attitude towards the state of Israel or the Israeli government, which is unacceptable."

Stawski, who has spent decades fighting Jew-hatred in Germany, added “As an antisemitism commissioner, he should know a certain level of diplomacy himself, something that we have been missing from him for years - and not just in his social media postings. In addition, he should know the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition [of antisemitism] and, above all, know what the difference is between criticism of Israel and antisemitism. And he should know that an Israeli government, or any Jew for that matter, certainly cannot be held responsible for antisemitism against Jews worldwide. Such a claim in itself fuels not only hatred of Israel, but antisemitism. Enough is enough, as the saying goes… time to resign.”

Two German court rulings determined that Blume can be termed antisemitic. Blume and Baden-Württemberg Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann’s spokesman, Matthias Gauger, refused to respond to i24NEWS press queries.
Va. court to decide whether American Muslims for Palestine must hand over financial documents
A long-awaited court hearing in Virginia next week is expected to decide if a pro-Palestinian advocacy group with alleged ties to Hamas will be compelled to hand over sensitive financial documents that could reveal closely guarded funding sources.

The outcome of the hearing in Richmond on Tuesday could have major consequences for the Virginia-based nonprofit organization American Muslims for Palestine, which is the target of an investigation launched shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel by the state’s Republican attorney general, Jason Miyares.

In a statement announcing his probe on social media last October, Miyares said his office was investigating the group “for fundraising without proper registration and for potentially violating Virginia’s charitable solicitation laws, including benefitting or providing support to terrorist organizations.”

On its website, AMP, founded in 2006, describes itself as “a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the movement for justice in Palestine by educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage and through grassroots mobilization and advocacy.”

But the group has faced increased scrutiny in the wake of Hamas’ attacks over its ties to anti-Israel protests on college campuses and its backing of National Students for Justice in Palestine, which has expressed outspoken support for Hamas. Top officials at AMP, meanwhile, were once affiliated with a now-defunct group, the Islamic Association for Palestine, found liable for aiding Hamas.

For its part, AMP has said it has never supported or funded terrorism and that it does not send money overseas.

The attorney general’s investigation is among a number of high-profile legal efforts now targeting AMP, including a civil lawsuit filed in Virginia in May that accuses the group of providing material support for Hamas.
Getting Harassed on Campus Isn’t ‘Educational’
The essay was written by Lauren Wright, who teaches at Princeton. She argues that conservatives at predominantly liberal colleges get “exposure to different perspectives, regular practice building and defending coherent arguments, [and] intellectual challenges that spur creativity and growth.” Wright says these are benefits that liberal students have been “robbed” of. And she says that right-wing critics of these schools are missing something: that it is conservatives, not liberals, who reap “what higher education has long claimed to offer.”

As a right-of-center undergraduate at Columbia, I take Wright’s point. I have certainly derived some benefit from living and learning on a campus where vanishingly few students identify as conservative. I have developed “thick skin” and emerged “more resilient”—two of the benefits cited by Wright. But that doesn’t make up for facing a hostile environment on campus because of my mainstream political beliefs.

For reporting on Columbia’s anti-Israel protests and the occupation of Hamilton Hall for the Columbia Sundial and The Free Press, other students, including many in student government, slandered me on social media. Others yelled at me on the street. One particularly charming Columbian screamed “Fuck you” and gave me the finger. For the most part, I have been able to shut all this out and remain focused on my reporting. But these experiences don’t feel like an “educational advantage.”

When Columbia professors attempt to indoctrinate and radicalize students in support of Palestinian extremism, it’s inevitable that pro-Israel students will feel “challenged” in class discussions and develop valuable argumentation skills. That does not mean we should applaud these professors for their intellectual beneficence.

Wright argues that it’d be a mistake for conservatives to abandon elite colleges. I agree. But the intolerance conservative students like me are forced to endure is nothing to celebrate.
Ivy League Students Call YU Home
At 18, Ellie Nathan had her future mapped out: After making an early decision to attend Barnard College, she was set to pursue her pre-med dreams at an Ivy League school.

Then came Oct. 7, and college campuses across the country erupted in anti-Israel protests; protests that were particularly virulent at Barnard, and its across-the-street affiliate, Columbia University.

Nathan’s commitment began to waver; speaking with Jewish students on campus, she was appalled. “They told me, ‘People scream at you every time you walk across campus, but it’s not that bad, you get used to it. You just can’t take it too seriously,’ Nathan said. “Being verbally abused was part of their everyday routine. I couldn’t imagine living like that.”

Learning about Yeshiva University’s extended transfer deadline, she seized the opportunity, and in fall 2024, the Long Island resident will start at Stern College for Women as a pre-med Honors student, joining many high school friends.

“Switching to YU feels right on so many levels,” Nathan said. “The Honors program is amazing, Stern’s 95% track record for getting girls accepted into medical school is unheard of, and I love that learning Torah is ingrained into the everyday schedule. That combined with the supportive environment of shared values made the decision so clear, and has given me a sense of clarity and peace I haven’t felt in a long time.”

Nathan and many others from Ivy League schools including Cornell, Penn, and Columbia, as well as from other universities such as BU, NYU and Michigan are making the move thanks in part to YU’s new Blue Square Scholars program, created with a $1 million grant from Robert Kraft to help the University take in transferring students who are switching to YU for its quality education and nurturing campus atmosphere. The program furthers the university’s efforts to support Jewish college students throughout the country, providing the necessary infrastructure to accommodate the best and the brightest who are drawn to the university’s values of Jewish idealism and taking a strong stand for Israel.
Eli Lake: You Can’t Blame Iran for America’s Anti-Israel Protests
The problem with the story was not that Russia hadn’t tried to interfere with the 2016 election. It did. Rather, it was the implicit assumption that American voters were so ill-informed and gullible that many of them were swayed to vote for Trump because of Moscow’s online fakery.

And this leads back to Iran’s efforts to attempt to influence American politics. In some ways this is nothing new. In 2018, the cyber intelligence firm FireEye Intelligence released a report documenting Iranian fake news sites and their efforts to sway U.S. public opinion. It found that the efforts were amateurish. For example, a number of fake personas were registered with phone numbers that included Iran’s country code. The propaganda itself was crude, such as messages celebrating Quds Day, a holiday invented by Iran’s regime to single out the Palestinian struggle to conquer Jerusalem.

Haines may be giving the Iranians too much credit. While she acknowledges “Americans who participate in protests are, in good faith, expressing their views on the conflict in Gaza,” she also warns “Americans who are being targeted by this Iranian campaign may not be aware that they are interacting with or receiving support from a foreign government.”

The implication is that American supporters of Hamas are the unwitting victims of foreign propaganda. That glosses over a much deeper problem, though. Many of the Americans who block traffic and take over quads on behalf of the terrorists of October 7 are not taking their cues from Persian cyber-spies, but college professors and journalists. For generations these information elites have insisted that Palestinian terror is a legitimate expression of Palestinian dispossession. But the root cause is not foreign disinformation so much as domestic ideology.
JPost Editorial: Sowing the seeds of destruction: Iran's attempts to fracture American society
Tehran's pernicious game
But if Haines’s information is correct, some of that emotion is being fueled by a country that hates American democracy but wants to exploit it for its own purposes, and that seeks to destroy Israel.

There have been persistent rumors since the protests began that Iran and other governments were involved – some fingers pointed at Russia and China, and at Qatar and and Saudi Arabia – to either foment civil unrest in the US, or weaken US-Israel ties.

Haines’s comments were a first high-level confirmation that Tehran has a hand in this pernicious game.

And it is pernicious on several different levels. First, by stoking discord, Iran seeks to deepen existing fault lines in American society and exploit domestic tensions to further polarize an already badly polarized society, potentially leading to greater social unrest

This is something that could transpire at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month, where there already is concern that this high-profile stage will be exploited by anti-Israel, pro-Hamas demonstrators to create havoc on the streets that will be seen and heard around the world.

Second, this move is destructive because it undermines the public’s trust and faith in grassroots democratic movements. A democracy’s integrity rests on the free and fair expression of public opinion. When a foreign government covertly intervenes in domestic protests, it compromises that principle and breeds skepticism of the protest’s legitimacy and authenticity as well as of the policy decisions influenced by those protests.

Thirdly, foreign interference in domestic affairs poses a real threat to US sovereignty since it involves covert operations to manipulate internal political dynamics. What is even scarier is that some of those being manipulated do not even realize they are being used as stooges to serve another country’s malign interests.

And, finally, this could have negative ramifications for Israel-US ties. If the assessments are accurate, Iran was involved in sowing anti-Israel sentiment on US campuses and in streets that featured in mainstream media, creating a perception that America was moving away from Israel. That very perception – if it takes hold – could impact the decisions of policymakers who are heavily influenced by what they perceive as the public’s mood.

We must hope that with Haines’s revelation, both US policymakers and the public will be more wary and see anti-Israel protests for what many of them are – a vehicle used by foreign interests to sow disunity inside America and drive a wedge between Israel and the Jewish state.
Rubio, Cardin introduce resolution seeking justice for AMIA bombing victims
Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) announced a resolution in the Senate on Wednesday that seeks to continue the fight for justice for those murdered and injured in the bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) Jewish Center in Buenos Aires in July 1994.

The measure also raises the alarm about the increase of anti-Jewish, anti-Israel hatred on a global scale.

Cardin stated that “we are faced with the tragic reality that antisemitism is on the rise at an alarming pace around the world. As I lead the congressional delegation later this month to the commemoration of the AMIA attacks, I will reiterate the solemn duty we share to condemn with our words and our deeds all acts of hate and antisemitism wherever and whenever they happen.”

The bombing on July 18, 1994, left 85 people dead and wounded more than 300. Iran has long been seen to have been behind the attack.

“Thirty years ago, the AMIA Jewish Community Center was the target of a brutal terrorist attack,” Rubio said. “Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit the AMIA museum and witnessed firsthand the tenacity of Argentina’s vibrant Jewish community. Our commitment to justice and accountability remains firm.”

Last month, the four co-chairs of the Latino-Jewish Congressional Caucus also submitted a resolution to hold accountable the Iranian-sponsored terrorists who bombed the building.
It's Not Jews Who Are Waging Jihad around the World
Israel's Arab neighbors number 22 countries with a combined population of nearly half a billion people on more than 5 million square miles of land. This doesn't include 27 other Muslim-majority nations like Pakistan and Indonesia, or even India, which has more than 170 million Muslims. Islam, the world's fastest-growing religion, comprises more than 1.7 billion people. By contrast, Israel has 9.3 million people on 8,000 square miles and is about the size of New Jersey. Yet much of the world is insisting that it is Israel that has to give up "land for peace."

Likewise, it isn't militant Jews who are waging jihad around the world on Christians, Hindus and anyone else who won't bow to Mecca. The militants have a slogan: "First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people."

The pro-Palestinian side argues that while Arabs have occupied what is now Israel for 3,000 years, Jews are interlopers who were not really in the picture until recently. This contradicts archaeological evidence, such as a slab in Egypt from the 13th century BCE that mentions Israel, a ninth-century Canaanite slab citing King David, and the accounts of Josephus, the Roman Jewish historian. Jews lived in the land for 2,600 years before Muhammad founded Islam around 600 CE. The term "Palestine" was coined by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 135 CE from the term "Philistines," the Jews' ancient enemy.
Islamist Intimidation Is Poisoning British Politics
The recent British election showed how urgent it is that we fight back to preserve our civic and democratic values. The intimidation started on the streets. On October 7, as Jewish families were being butchered by Hamas terrorists, Islamists celebrated in London. They danced with joy and flew Palestinian flags from car windows. A large group cheered and set off fireworks. No Jew could feel entirely safe anywhere near these celebrations of a racist massacre.

The regular pro-Palestine marches have also been poisoned by Islamist intimidation. There have been those who have proudly worn Hamas insignia, called loudly for the destruction of the State of Israel, repeated genocidal chants, and ripped down posters of kidnapped children.

Now the intimidation has moved to the ballot box. In the general election campaign, Jess Phillips MP used her election night victory speech to describe the abuse and intimidation she, her team and her constituents experienced in recent weeks. Campaign activists faced intense harassment. "In my constituency, the humiliation was by men, to women," Phillips explained. We should not be surprised that aggressive misogyny is part of the Islamist political playbook.

Shabana Mahmood MP described an election campaign that "was sullied by harassment and intimidation" of her family and campaigners, calling the behavior an "assault on democracy itself." Mahmood cited a community meeting that was disrupted by masked men, "terrifying" those in attendance, and was forced to respond to opponents who branded her "an infidel."

It is reasonable to question why some campaigning to become MPs at this general election seemed to make Gaza their sole focus. It seems that only the war against the Jewish state can provide sufficient motivation for these candidates to stand for Parliament. While democracy means that people can legitimately campaign on a single issue if they want to, the way this campaigning has been conducted falls disturbingly short of the standards we must expect from those seeking to take positions of responsibility or power within our society.

A peaceful democracy depends on allowing MPs to go about their business safe from intimidation and threats, freedom of movement without fear for all members of society, and a zero tolerance approach to racism and misogyny.

Beyond this, we must all take note of this growing threat to the democratic and civil values that we hold so dear. It is not just Jews who must be aware of the threat of Islamism. Any movement that is defined by intolerance, sexism and prejudice is a danger to us all and should be treated as such by everyone who wants to preserve a free and peaceful society.
On a private Zoom call, Biden’s top Jewish supporters question his ability to win
The Biden campaign dispatched a staffer on Wednesday to reassure the members of Jewish Women for Joe, a grassroots group that for years has contained some of the president’s fiercest backers, and several other politically involved Jewish Democrats — who are now, like many other Democrats, privately stressed about President Joe Biden’s ability to beat former President Donald Trump.

It didn’t go well.

Two weeks ago, on the night of the first presidential debate, Jewish Women for Joe posted a picture to its Instagram account that conveyed confidence in Biden. The post compared Biden to Trump. Biden: “Morals that will defend democracy.” Trump: “Morals of an alley cat.” Privately, though, some of the women in the group were deeply concerned by the president’s performance in the debate.

“This group, as dedicated as we are, vary from a little worried to positively unable to sleep over what we think [of] as Biden’s loss of ability to govern and to win,” Betsy Sheerr, a longtime Democratic donor, said at the Wednesday virtual meeting. “This is a campaign that should be about Trump. It’s not. It’s about Biden. Please help us overcome our anxiety and get us focused on where we need to go.” Sheerr declined to comment.
(An audio recording of the meeting was leaked to Jewish Insider.)

The Biden campaign has not hired a dedicated staffer to engage with the Jewish community. Instead, the campaign sent Laura Brounstein, its spokesperson for women’s and consumer media, to try to alleviate the concerns of the several dozen people on the call. Her responses to the fear and concern expressed by the call’s participants offer a window into the chaotic messaging the Biden campaign is deploying in private to try to win back anxious supporters — an approach rooted less in evidence than a throw-spaghetti-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks mentality.

She elaborated on many of the arguments Biden’s backers have been using on TV, but they didn’t seem to sway many of the high-level donors and activists on the call.

First, though, Brounstein affirmed their concerns — and admitted she had some of her own, too.

“I was working remotely last week, and I have to say, I started giving in to some of my anxieties that you all are probably facing, having people text you saying, What’s happening? Is he staying in? And feeling nervous,” Brounstein explained. “I had a moment of nervousness too, I will admit, but being in HQ this week, hearing that NATO speech last night, seeing the power of intellect and vigor that the president has brought to everything throughout his presidency and really intensely for the last week has just given me back my excitement and just passion for what we’re doing.”

Steve Sheffey, a pro-Israel Democratic activist in Chicago, asked for advice on responding to others who express concerns about Biden. “He does seem to be showing signs of decline, whether it’s true or not,” said Sheffey, who declined comment to JI. “That’s a perception that one could understand given his performance at the debate and on [George] Stephanopoulos. So how do we answer that?”

Brounstein tried several different approaches to attempt to convince the activists that everything is fine. While she spoke, several of them made clear in the Zoom chat that she wasn’t succeeding.
DSA pulls endorsement of AOC over Israel, antisemitism
The Democratic Socialists of America’s National Political Committee announced Wednesday evening that it would withdraw its endorsement of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) over her recent moves on the issues of antisemitism and Israel.

Ocasio-Cortez is among the most prominent DSA members in the country and has been endorsed by the group in previous races. The group’s National Political Committee said its reversal comes in response to her failure to meet criteria it had set in a June 23 conditional endorsement of her, mostly relating to Israel policy, as well as a request from the New York DSA.

The national DSA said it had conditioned its endorsement on Ocasio-Cortez, who is running for reelection in her deep blue district, publicly opposing all support for Israel, including for Iron Dome; opposing “all criminalization of anti-Zionism,” particularly the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Definition’s working definition of antisemitism; and publicly supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement “to end Israeli settler-colonialism.”

The group said in a statement that it had “not seen evidence of AOC meeting these conditions.” Ocasio-Cortez is among the most outspoken critics of Israel on Capitol Hill, has accused it of genocide and voted against additional military aid.

The DSA also said that “many members” of the DSA have been “demanding that AOC demonstrate a higher level of commitment to Palestinian liberation, self-determination, and the immediate end to the heinous genocide in Gaza committed by Israel.”

Ocasio-Cortez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The DSA highlighted several particular actions to which it objected, including Ocasio-Cortez hosting a panel on antisemitism featuring Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, which the DSA described as “lobbyists for the IHRA definition.” The statement accused Ocasio-Cortez of “conflat[ing] anti-Zionism with antisemitism and condemn[ing] boycotting Zionist institutions.”

The New York lawmaker said on the webinar that anti-Zionism can cross over into antisemitism, but also claimed that “false accusations of antisemitism” are being deployed for political purposes, a comment met with criticism by some in the Jewish community.

JCPA, a nonprofit group, supports legislation to combat antisemitism — although it has not taken a position on the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which is focused on IHRA codification.

“This sponsorship [of the webinar] is a deep betrayal to all those who’ve risked their welfare to fight Israeli apartheid and genocide through political and direct action in recent months, and in decades past,” the DSA statement declared.


Greens criticise envoy, Jewish Council labels Segal pro war
The Greens have criticised the government’s appointment of an antisemitism envoy.

Greens Deputy Leader and Antiracism spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi said “We already have a Race Discrimination Commissioner which is empowered to fight all forms of racism. Labor is trying to reinvent the wheel instead of backing the solution they already have”.

She also criticised the lack of an envoy for Islamophobia, saying the announcement one would be created was hastily added on to the announcement without even a candidate.

“Muslims facing Islamophobia in this country should not be an afterthought. We need a united effort to defeat racism in this country, which is so pervasive and deep seated, especially against First Nations people” she said.

Labor MP for Macnamara Josh Burns, who is Jewish, said “I would have more faith in Mehreen Faruqi’s suggestions on how to combat antisemitism if she was able to call out the vile antisemitism within her party.

Senator Faruqi didn’t speak out when Jenny Leong referred to the Jewish community’s ‘tentacles’. She has not said anything about the Jewish activists who have left the Greens because they don’t feel safe or respected.”

The Jewish Council of Australia has also expressed concern at the appointment.

The left leaning organisation which has little support within Australia’s Jewish community has criticised the track record of the envoy, former Executive Council of Australian Jewry President Jillian Segal.

They accuse her of having lobbied for Israel, opposing voices that support Palestinian human rights, and painting all Jews as supportive of Israel’s actions.

The Council said in a statement “By appointing a pro-war voice to this position the government risks breeding division, increasing Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, and ultimately making Jews less safe.”


Tories clear former minister accused of invoking antisemitic tropes
A former Conservative Minister who was accused of invoking “antisemitic tropes” has been cleared of any wrongdoing by his party.

Sir Alan Duncan, who served as international development minister under David Cameron and foreign minister under Theresa May, was under investigation for comments he made on radio station LBC in which he accused fellow Conservatives of dual loyalties.

A Conservative Party spokesman told the JC, "Following a two-month investigation, an independent panel has reviewed the complaint and dismissed it."

Reacting to the decision, a spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said: "This decision is shameful. Sir Alan Duncan suggested on-air that members of the House of Lords were working at the behest of the Israeli state, and this was not the first time that he made such an assertion. At a time when antisemitism is at an all-time-high, invoking conspiracy theories and tropes about dual loyalty only inflames the situation for British Jews. Political parties are responsible for holding their representatives to account. The Conservative Party has failed to do this and would do well to remind itself of the Equality and Human Rights Commission's ruling with regard to the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership."

Danny Stone, Chief Executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust told the JC: “This is the wrong decision. It sends a message that using tropes, whether knowingly or not is acceptable. This case should be reviewed and reversed.”

In an interview in April in which he called for a suspension of arms sales to Israel, Duncan told broadcaster Nick Ferrari that he wanted to “flush out” pro-Israel “extremists” in government.

The former MP, who represented Rutland and Melton from 1992-2019, claimed that that pro-Israel group Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) “has been doing the bidding of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, bypassing all proper processes of government to exercise undue influence at the top of government.”
Look back on Leicester
Freeman is a familiar figure to anyone who has even a cursory knowledge of British jihadis, sorry celebrated community activists. He was one of the main rabble rousers during the Leicester riots in 2022.

Majid Freeman aka Novsarka quickly stood out on social media when I was delving into the Leicester communal riots in 2022. It was immediately apparent from his social media output that he was playing a big role in inciting violence and discord online as well as agitating on the streets. He was the source of much inflammatory false news – he claimed kidnappings of teenage muslim girls by hindu men which were outright lies. He claimed to have met the victim in person. He claimed that qurans were being torn up and thrown on the streets.

All of this was before British media woke up to what was happening on the streets of Leicester. Indian media however was literally streets ahead in coverage. When Channel 4 news caught up, imagine my immense shock when Freeman was interviewed as a trusted local guide for a spectacularly stupid journalist, Darshna Soni. The BBC, Guardian and even the NYT went to to portray Freeman as a concerned peace activist even when his social media output was there for all to see. It was an unreal moment. They say to not reach for malice as an explanation when stupidity or laziness will do. Well, the stupidity of all these legacy media pundits was off the scale then.

Majid has been a shock trooper on social media since 2011. He believes that 9/11 and the London bombings of July 7 in 2005 were false flags operations by the respective governments of these countries who sacrificed innocent people just so they could frame muslims. Majid also works for an organisation called ‘One Nation’ and does fundraiser projects for them. One Nation’s founder Arshad Patel was arrested during the investigations of the July 5, 2005 London bombings while his sister was the wife of one of the suicide bombers in the attack. Majid Freeman has tweeted support for a number of known terrorists. BBC and other British press promote Majid Freeman as an aid worker. He was working with Alan Henning for Aid4Syria Charity. Henning was beheaded by ISIS in 2015. Both were alleged to be travelling in Syria with Jabhat Al-Nusra Front, an Al Qaida affiliate. After the beheading of Henning, Freeman had posted asking for ‘duas’ (prayers) for Syrian jihadis, and retweeted a statement “Jabhat al-Nusra we are with you even if the world fights you”. Freeman also posted a tribute video for AQ terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki. Aid4Syria’s parent charity, Al Fatiha Global, was under investigation UK Charity Commission for “links [with] individuals purportedly involved in supporting armed or other inappropriate activities in Syria”. Freeman and Henning were travelling with Children of Deen in Syria, another charity group. Britain’s first suicide bomber in Syria, Abdul Waheed Majeed was travelling in the same convoy as Freeman and Henning. The convoy was organised by Children of Deen. Freeman eulogised a Dutch jihadi in Syria, Abu Muhammed. He called for “prayers” for the brothers of ISIS fighter Iftekhar Jaman who were jailed for recruiting for Syria. And it goes on and on. There are compilations of Freeman’s very suspect activity online. It would be more accurate to say that there isnt a muslim terrorist that Freeman has not praised.


UCLA accused of ‘blaming the victims’ in its defense against encampment suit
Becket, the nonprofit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom, has pushed back against efforts by attorneys for the University of California, Los Angeles to excuse the school’s failure to protect Jewish students during pro-Hamas activists’ encampment protests.

The group released a statement on Wednesday updating developments in its case Frankel v. Regents of the University of California, in which the college has now “blamed everyone but itself for the rampant antisemitism that took place on its own campus.”

Dissecting the school’s response, Becket said UCLA “blamed the police for the delayed response of ‘several days.’ It blamed the victimized Jewish students for being in the ‘vicinity’ of an encampment that was blocking their access to critical campus facilities. And, for everything else, it blamed the ‘unidentified activists.’”

Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and an attorney for the students, said “in the end, UCLA has nobody to blame but itself for the harassment, assault and segregation of Jewish students on its campus.”

He added that UCLA “is scrambling to defend its actions and cover up its gross failure of leadership. It won’t work—UCLA will answer in court for the rampant antisemitism it allows and assists.”
Jewish professor wins discrimination suit against University of Maryland
Following years of litigation, education professor Melissa Landa has reached a settlement with the University of Maryland, College Park following retaliation for Israeli advocacy.

“Dr. Landa filed a complaint of religious discrimination and retaliation with the EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission],” said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, which represented Landa. “Following a full investigation, the EEOC issued a determination letter finding there was strong evidence that Dr. Landa was discharged in retaliation and urged the university to settle the case. UMD refused.”

Sekulow said his client, in testimony, stated that “she was discouraged from participating in [pro-Israel] activities and told not to display an Israeli flag in her office.”

The Center for Law and Justice had filed suit against UMD in January 2022, and the school repeatedly failed in its arguments for a dismissal. Landa and UMD came to a settlement in which the college would pay her attorney’s fees and unspecified damages totaling $140,000.
Jewish leaders: Harvard’s reversal of protester suspensions will lead to more antisemitism
Harvard’s decision on Tuesday to reverse the suspensions of five students for participating in the illegal anti-Israel encampments earlier this year on the Cambridge, Mass., campus was met with “disappointment” by two leaders of Harvard’s Jewish community.

“I’m disappointed in this action. I’ve heard the phrase ‘no good deed goes unpunished’ but it seems in this case that no good deed goes unreversed,” Rabbi David Wolpe, a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Divinity School who stepped down from Harvard’s antisemitism advisory committee after a short stint, told Jewish Insider. “Punishment is a lesson — reversing it is a permission.”

Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, who leads Chabad on Harvard’s campus, said the reversal was “revealing and deeply disturbing.” Zarchi added that it’s “sadly clear” the move will embolden anti-Israel demonstrators.

That may have already taken place, judging by a joint Instagram post from the Palestine Solidarity Committee, Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine and the African and African American Resistance Organization. “After sustained student and faculty organizing, Harvard has caved in, showing that student intifada will always prevail,” the groups wrote on Wednesday.

The suspensions and other disciplinary charges — which included the withholding of degrees for 13 seniors because of their involvement in the encampment — were initially announced in late May ahead of graduation. Hundreds of students and faculty members walked out of Harvard’s commencement ceremony in solidarity with the punished students.
Harvard appoints new top lawyer to lead responses on antisemitism lawsuits, federal probes
Jennifer O’Connor has been appointed as vice president and general counsel at Harvard University on July 29, where she will focus on leading the school’s response to lawsuits and federal investigations resulting from a surge of antisemitism following the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Alan Garberm, interim university president after Claudine Gay resigned in January in part because of failing to address anti-Jewish rhetoric, said in an announcement: Widely admired among her colleagues for her collaborative style, strategic insight and dedication to public service, [O’Connor] brings with her an abiding commitment to Harvard and its mission.”

O’Connor previously provided her legal skills to aerospace company Northrop Grumman Corp. and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Disgusting capitulation of the year: The University of Windsor gives away the store to pro-Palestinian encampers
Canada has been proving itself the most spineless country in the world when it comes to dealing with illegal campus activism (or other performative activism). Take, for example, The University of Windsor in Ontario, which until now I thought was a respectable university. They’ve had an encampment for two months, and the students, as usual, made a number of demands before they’d take it down. But in a sickening display of cowardice, Windsor University made a deal with the students, one in which the University capitulates to a number of ridiculous demands. I receive a copy of what is purported to be the agreement, and will send it to you if you ask (it’s too long to reproduce here). But I’ll put some of the agreements below.

Clicking on the heading will take you to the agreement linked to the CBC report, but the quotes I give below come from what I was sent—with the exception of the call for an academic boycott of Israel (it’s in the CBC linked copy but not in what I got). I cannot vouch for which copy of the agreement is the final one, but there’s almost no difference between them.

And some stuff they agreed on. CONTENT WARNING: ARRANT COWARDICE BY CANADIAN ADMINISTRATORS:

The University of Windsor is in the process of developing its first-ever anti-racism policy. A central feature of the policy will be a focus on identity-based oppression, including anti-Arab racism, anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia. The University will use its best efforts to complete the process by December 31, 2024. The University commits to including Palestinian, Arab and Muslim voices as part of the policy consultation. Regular updates will be provided on the Vice-President, People, Equity andInclusion’s website.

The University commits to establishing an anti-oppression website within 30 days of the ratification of this agreement, which will include institutional and third party information and resources on anti-Arab racism, anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia, linked for the benefit of students, faculty, staff and community members

The University agrees to establish anti-Palestinian racism training and education, which will be recommended for faculty, staff and students. The training and education will be mandatory for the Executive Leadership Team and the Board of Governors members.

The University agrees to make internal research grants available for application by students and faculty on the topic of Palestine in all of its dimensions.

The University agrees that students will not receive any academic or employment sanctions for their participation in, or support for, the encampment, bearing in mind the broad protections provided by the freedoms of expression, association, and assembly

No punishments, as usual!
Student film boycotted in UK over scenes in Israel
A Goldsmiths University of London student's short film project was boycotted at the Theatre and Performance (TaP) school’s final degree show in May because of scenes set and filmed in Israel, a student filmmaker told The Jerusalem Post.

Hungarian student Beata Konya’s final-year film Threads of Eternity, which features kabbalistic and Hungarian folklore themes and a vision of a previous life in ancient Judea at Mitzpe Ramon, was met with a “silent boycott” at the mid-May Tap Out 2024 festival.

Students had congregated outside the screening of the film, but declined to enter, according to Konya. Some Goldsmiths students told their peers that they did not view the film explicitly because of its filming location. Other classmates ceased speaking to Konya.

One classmate confronted Konya about her feelings about the war, uninterested in how Konya mourned those she knew who had been killed on October 7 and was concerned for those who had escaped.

Konya was in touch with the university, which held a meeting with a local rabbi on how to move forward with the festival, and released a May 21 statement about tensions.

“We are very clear to respect freedom of speech and political views, and students and staff will of course have different experiences of issues that concern violence and oppression. TaP is very clear to follow the University’s policy that when it comes to a controlled conditions exam, teaching staff already risk-assess and ethics-approve the content of these exams as part of their pedagogic judgment,” A Goldsmiths staff member said in a message to the course. “If you believe strongly that you do not like a topic, content or platform of another student’s exam, please seek advice as to how you respond. We as a Department need to prioritize the carrying out of all exams in a positive and respectful way. It is not acceptable for any student or groups of students to disrupt another student’s exam for any reason. TaP follows the University’s policies, and such gestures in a graduating festival could be seen as harassment and bullying under those policies and would be disruptive of another student’s exam.”

Konya said that the university likely responded to her situation because they were concerned about her mental health – she had ended a trip in Israel only days before October 7 and had survived another terrorist attack, she said. Konya had difficulties in the wake of the Hamas-led pogrom.

“When you experience something like that, then your whole life changes,” said Konya.

Konya was not surprised by the boycott because of the burgeoning pro-Palestinian activism at the university, “but it got really bad to the point that I nearly left the school.”


Top New York Times Editor Says His Paper Prompted US Pause of Arms to Israel
The executive editor of the New York Times, Joseph Kahn, is boasting that his newspaper is responsible for the Biden administration’s decision to stop sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.

Kahn also recently disclosed a $62,500 gift from his family charitable foundation to the Harvard Crimson, a student-run newspaper that has endorsed the movement to boycott, sanction, and divest from Israel and that also calls for Harvard to divest from weapons manufacturers and give amnesty to student anti-Israel protesters.

Kahn’s comment about the bombs came in an interview with the New Yorker magazine that was published online this week.

Asked, “can you talk a bit about how you’re thinking about AI [artificial intelligence] positively?” Kahn replied that the Times “visual investigations team” had used artificial intelligence “in this big investigation about the use of two-thousand-pound bombs by Israel in Gaza, identifying craters and identifying remnants of weapons and quantifying the strikes that actually had a real result in having the US restrict the sale of two-thousand-pound bombs to Israel.”

In a Dec. 2023 column for The Algemeiner, I wrote about the Times project, which was published both in print and video: “The policy goal is clear: to cut off Israel’s arms supply. ‘But the US has not stopped supplying weapons to Israel,’ the Times narrator says at one point, implying that is what the US should do.”

And after US President Joe Biden disclosed, in a CNN interview in May 2024, that he was pausing the shipments of the weapons to Israel, I wrote another column asserting that the New York Times “laid the groundwork for Biden’s decision.”

Now Kahn is validating the two Algemeiner columns, essentially describing the Biden policy decision — widely denounced in the American Jewish community and by pro-Israel lawmakers from both political parties — as a positive result of Times journalism.
Media Trying to Dupe Public Into Thinking That UN Declares Famine in Gaza
We’ve been through this. In June, the IPC Famine Review Committee said there is no famine in the Gaza Strip as of yet. The UN subsequently acknowledged the IPC’s latest report. HonestReporting has also done its due diligence to understand what is really happening in Gaza.

But now, UN special “experts” insist there’s “no doubt” that there is one.

With the death of these children from starvation despite medical treatment in central Gaza, there is no doubt that famine has spread from northern Gaza into central and southern Gaza.

They also despicably cried genocide, even after the ICJ decided that Israel’s fight against Hamas in Gaza is not considered a genocide.

We declare that Israel’s intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza.

It doesn’t matter that one cannot just declare an accusation of this nature in an unofficial capacity. In this case, it’s all just opinion. However, that’s all it took, and the media took it as read. It’s impossible to understand the inference that there must be a famine if bodies like the IPC put out real data reports every few months over whether or not there is evidence of a famine in Gaza.

But who cares about logic, right?

Journalists understand very well how the public consumes information, and they know how it views bodies like the UN – they take their word as an official authority. Yet, they continue to publish articles, irresponsibly portraying the statement of these UN “experts” as if it is an official UN one.


Grotesque Lancet Libel Reprinted by NYT, WaPo, MSNBC, The Independent and Irish Times
As predictable as it is frustrating, the letter penned by Rasha Khatib, Martin McKee, and Salim Yusuf and published in the supposedly respectable medical journal, The Lancet, has found its way into international media outlets that really should know better.

Earlier this week, we noted that a piece published in the “correspondence” section of the journal — so, not a peer-reviewed study or anything remotely rigorous — contained numerous grossly misleading and outright false statements.

Among the more outrageous claims in this letter was the assertion that it is not “implausible” that the overall number of deaths in Gaza could be higher than 186,000 — a figure the authors concocted by comparing Gaza to other conflicts with no substantial basis. Meanwhile, even Hamas estimates casualties at figures four times lower.

Besides presenting wildly inaccurate numbers pulled out of thin air, the letter also featured several incorrect citations, questionable sources, and one footnote even linked to the wrong UN study. Not exactly thorough research.

It is, of course, embarrassing for a well-respected journal like The Lancet to publish such inaccuracies. However, it’s important to note that this piece is not a peer-reviewed study, paper, or article. Any attempt to present it as such is flat-out dishonest.

A number of anti-Israel media outlets, such as Al Jazeera, The National, and The New Arab, pounced on the Lancet letter, obscuring its nature to present it as a study, suggesting that either The Lancet itself or its “experts” are behind the 186,000 casualty figure.

And, as sure as night follows day, several supposedly trustworthy news outlets followed the Arab media’s lead, reprinting this grotesque libel without the slightest bit of scrutiny.

The Washington Post, for example, reported that “The Lancet, a respected British medical journal, calculated that the real death toll, including those missing in Gaza’s ruins and ‘indirect’ deaths from malnutrition, disease and other conditions brought on by the conflict, could be around 186,000 people — that is, roughly 8 percent of Gaza’s population.”

While noting the piece was not peer-reviewed, MSNBC still described it as an “analysis” of the death toll and covered its findings in detail. However, MSNBC reporter Clarissa-Jan Lim did not perform even the basic due diligence of verifying the sources cited in the letter.

Several other news outlets also reported the journal’s “findings.” The UK’s Mirror stated that the “reputable medical journal” claimed deaths could exceed 186,000. The Independent, The Irish Times and New York Mag similarly reported that a “recent calculation by The Lancet puts the civilian death toll in Gaza at around 186,000 people, roughly 8 percent of the territory’s population.”

The Metro alluded to the “ever-present fear of death” among Gaza’s civilians and suggested that the “true death toll could be more than 186,000 people, according to correspondence recently published in the journal The Lancet.”

The New York Times’ Opinion Editor Meher Ahmad was one of the few journalists to correctly describe the piece as a “letter.” However, she still attempted to contextualize the authors’ “staggering” number, describing the contents of the missive as “more a call for open documentation of casualties than anything else.”

And here we thought a medical journal should be dealing in facts, not using exaggerated and fake statistics as a “call” for better documentation of casualties.

The only correction made to the piece so far is an update to an erroneous footnote. The Lancet seems utterly unashamed to be associated with an allegation that is both demonstrably false and dangerously misleading.
CHCH Broadcaster Spreads Propaganda Suggesting Almost 200,000 Gazans May Have Died In War
A new pernicious claim is being lobbed at Jerusalem, and it’s being uncritically repeated – and even exaggerated – in some corners of the Canadian news media.

In the July 5 edition of The Lancet, a British medical journal, under the heading ‘Correspondence,’ a letter was submitted by three individuals: Rasha Khatib, Salim Yusuf, and Martin McKee, who made the unsubstantiated and irresponsible claim that “it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.”

The letter is fatally flawed for a host of reasons as pointed out by HonestReporting, including that it takes Hamas’ unverified and untrustworthy claims of some 37,000 deaths in Gaza as accurate, it ignores that roughly half of that figure, even if accurate, are combatants, and – based on other conflicts, with zero connection to Gaza – that in a theoretical post-conflict era where civil society breaks down, such a ratio is possible.

In other words, the letter from the trio of writers has about as much credibility as staring into a crystal ball.

But that did not stop one broadcaster, CHCH from uncritically repeating the claims – and even exaggerating them.

In a July 9 article entitled: “Death toll in Gaza likely much higher than reported: study,” the broadcaster falsely states that: “A new study has found that the death toll in Gaza is likely higher than what has been reported.”

This is a gross misrepresentation. The letter is not a study, and it does not claim that 186,000 people have died, but such details were wholly overlooked in the CHCH report.

In the broadcast report, the anchor falsely referred to the letter as a study, and groundlessly made reference to a “famine” in Gaza, despite there being no evidence of such a phenomenon, and even a United Nations-affiliated group in June saying it found no evidence for famine.


Christiane Amanpour Wants to Know, What Does Israel Fear From Palestine?
At 2PM on October 7, as Hamas’s barbaric attack on Israel was still ongoing, Christiane Amanpour gave her CNN platform to Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian Authority Ambassador to the UK, to blame that day’s attack on Israel and to compare it to Israel’s self-defense with almost no pushback from the anchor. Nine months later, with 120 Israelis and tourists still being held captive by Hamas, Amanpour continues to promote guests who distort reality.

On June 25, Christiane Amanpour interviewed Palestinian propagandist and founder of Al-Haq, Raja Shehadeh. Throughout the interview, both Amanpour and Shehadeh engaged in a tactic of reversing victim and offender, and often their descriptions of events bore little resemblance to reality. While acknowledging that the October 7 attacks occurred, and that Hamas’s killing of civilians was unjustified, both acted totally oblivious to the cause-and-effect relationship that attack had on subsequent events.

Among other topics, Amanpour and Shehadeh discussed Shehadeh’s new book titled, “What Does Israel Fear From Palestine?” In the wake of October 7, the title beggars belief. In 2005, Israel evacuated every single civilian and soldier from Gaza, leaving behind a greenhouse business that was gifted to the people of Gaza and a beautiful Mediterranean coastline for tourism. At that time there was no occupation and no blockade, and the people of Gaza, functionally, had independence. In a 2006 election, their first opportunity for self-determination, they elected Hamas. Hamas then started wars with Israel in 2009, 2012, 2014, and 2021, culminating in 2023 in the vicious attack in which 1200 Israeli men, women, and children were burned to death, raped, tortured and killed, with another 240 total initially taken hostage to Gaza.

What does Israel fear from Palestine, indeed.

But Amanpour’s first question to Shehadeh about the book was, “given that Israel essentially has the balance of power, why do you think Israel fears Palestine? Do you think it does?” Shehadeh replied, “I think they fear the very existence of Palestine, because if Palestine exists, then the Israeli myth, foundation myth would have to be amended, because the foundation myth of Israel was that they came to a land that was empty, that didn’t have any Palestinians or anybody, and they established Israel from year zero, and so to recognize Palestine would require reconfiguration of the Israeli myth, and that’s the main fear, I think.”

This is false, of course. Early Zionists were well-aware that Arabs were living in the Ottoman- and then British-controlled region of Palestine, and, as Efraim Karsh has explained, “took for granted the full equality of the Arab minority in the prospective Jewish state.” The population of the region prior to waves of Zionist immigration was sparse, and the Arabs who lived there did not call themselves “Palestinians.” But no one thought that there were no people living there at the time. The relevant point is that there was no sovereign state there.


MEMRI: Former Palestinian Minister: On October 7 Hamas Launched An Escapade That Led To The Loss Of Gaza
In an article in the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, Ashraf Al-Ajrami, a former Palestinian Authority (PA) minister of prisoner affairs, responded to recent remarks made by Hamas leader abroad Khaled Mashal, who said that only resistance will lead to the liberation of the Palestinian people.[1] In the article, titled "Destruction of Gaza – Is This the Price of Liberation?", Al-Ajrami wrote that Hamas is deluded, because the October 7, 2023 attack did not liberate the Palestinians but rather caused them harm that will last for generations and brought about "a new Nakba, greater than that of 1948." He called on Hamas officials to stop chanting bombastic slogans and recognize that the attack was an ill-considered escapade that led to the loss of Gaza.

The following are translated excerpts from his article:[2]
"Khaled Mashal, a member of the [Hamas] Political Bureau and the movement's leader broad, caused a furor and provoked angry responses when he attempted to justify the tremendous and historically-unprecedented destruction caused to Gaza in this war -- [the war] of collective extermination that Israel launched and is still waging there in response to Hamas' October 7 attack on the Gaza border last year -- by claiming that this is the price of liberation and the price of resistance.

"Far from the squabbling among the [Palestinian] factions, let us try to analyze Mashal's claims and understand whether he is right or this is [just] an attempt by Hamas to evade responsibility and present the events as a natural and fitting [part of] the Palestinian people's struggle for the liberation of its homeland and as a price it must pay for liberation.

"As a matter of fact, I did not wish to broach the topic of who is responsible for the great disaster that has befallen the Palestinian people in Gaza. I preferred to leave this assessment for the post-war phase, since the top priority [right now] is the immediate cessation of the war… But when Mash'al speaks with such confidence and such contempt for the lives of tens of thousands of civilians who were killed, his statements should be discussed…

"Some might say that, were it not for the Hamas attack, the Palestinian cause would not have returned with such force to the international agenda, and the two-state solution would not have been put forward in this way, as the top priority of the international approaches seeking to create a state of stability and security. It may also be true that the war accelerated the recognition of a Palestinian state by European and other countries, given that the issue of recognition was under discussion in several European countries [even] before the war.

"Moreover, the popular activities in solidarity [with the Palestinians] in the U.S., throughout Europe and all over the world are [indeed] unprecedented. Israel has never been in such a terrible position in the international arena. It is isolated and accused of committing war crimes, and the sword of justice is pursuing its leaders, who may be arrested and brought to trial at the International Criminal Court. All this is true and there is something [even] bigger and deeper, but it is happening due to the great loss of life and property suffered by the Palestinian people in this war, and due to the Israeli crimes that no one could have imagined.

"Many among us in Palestine and in the Arab world believe that Israel is about to collapse. Some [even] spread the idea that it has already begun to collapse and that we will soon celebrate the end of the Zionist enterprise, which has started to erode from within, and that its [internal] struggles and controversies, which have increased because of the war, are undermining its stability. This [opinion] assumes that Israel is defeated to an extent that will cause it to fall apart.

"[But] the truth is that the problems in Israel and the controversies within it existed before [the outbreak of] the war and after it, and they increase and decrease depending on the type and composition of the governing coalition. But this in no way indicates the imminent collapse of the [Israeli] state, for it still has means of survival that allow it to solve its problems, whether by resorting to the law or through elections. Furthermore, its economy is still strong and it is capable of enduring for a long time yet. The important point is that Israel, which was established by means of an international resolution, still preserves its status in [the array of] Western imperialist interests, and there are those who are ready to support it and stand with it in every situation -- so much so that a total Israeli defeat has become a taboo and a red line for the U.S. and for many Western countries.
PMW: Palestinian Authority lies about October 7: Israeli hostages are “soldiers,” Hamas terrorists are “civilians”
During the current war between Israel and terror organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority has tried to whitewash Hamas’ massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023—the horrific event that started the war—claiming that Hamas only attacked soldiers.

The PA has also demonized Israel, claiming that there are no Hamas terror infrastructures nor terrorists in the Gaza Strip, and that Israel is the one fighting only civilians.

The following are two examples of such lies coming from the PA top echelon:
Israelis abducted by Hamas “are not hostages” but “soldiers arrested by the Palestinian fighters” – top Fatah official

Interview in English with Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub:

Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “The Palestinian prisoners should be released [in exchange] for the Israeli prisoners who are in the custody of Hamas (i.e., Israeli hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7). [We] should have a prisoner of war exchange…”

South African SABC News interviewer: “Israel is demanding an immediate release of those who have been taken hostage by Hamas.”

Jibril Rajoub: “Those are not hostages. Most of those are Israeli soldiers and they were arrested by the Palestinian fighters. The civilians who were at the beginning already have been released.”

[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Feb. 22, 2024]

Note: Most of the Israeli hostages are civilians, including infants and the elderly, who were violently taken captive from their homes or from the NOVA music festival on Oct. 7.

Only some of the civilians were released in an exchange deal in late November 2023, while many more remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Jibril Rajoub has also whitewashed the atrocities of Oct. 7 as the Palestinians’ “war of defense.”
Mother of all depravity: Gazan children are sent to fight and die
Thousands of Gazan youth have been recruited to be trained by Hamas to shoot at the IDF, to replace the thousands of fighters who have been killed. These kids are expendable props to Hamas, serving public relations' purposes when photos show youth losing their lives on the battlefield as they're pitted against Israel's military might. All of this is predictable, given what we know about the Hamas death cult, driven by the intense hatred that they are indoctrinated with from birth.

There remains no reasonable explanation as to how mothers of Gazan youth willingly send their sons out to die, often with great pride, claiming that "it is a mother's most glorious duty for their children to kill themselves for Palestine." The Gazan mothers and fathers are fully complicit in sending out their children to die for a cause which is rooted in hatred, terror and evil.

When you listen to an interview, where the wife of a Hamas operative says that she and her husband, as well as their children, all pray that Allah would grant them martyrdom, it makes you wonder. They have literally been programmed to accept death as a blessing. This human tragedy rivals the biblical account of parents who offered up their children to the Canaanite god Molech, a truly homicidal act.


Pezeshkian’s win doesn’t change the fact that Iran is dangerously close to the bomb
Over 15 million Iranians turned out on Friday to cast their vote for reformist presidential candidate Massoud Pezeshkian, who defeated his uber-conservative rival Saeed Jalili.

Washington quickly sought to emphasize that it doesn’t anticipate the 69-year-old heart surgeon having any meaningful impact on the regime. “We have no expectation that this election will lead to a fundamental change in Iran’s direction or its policies,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday.

Miller stressed that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei makes the substantive decisions in Iran. “Obviously, if the new president had the authority to make steps to curtail Iran’s nuclear program, to stop funding terrorism, to stop destabilizing activities in the region, those would be steps that we would welcome,” Miller said. “But needless to say, we don’t have any expectation that that’s what’s likely to ensue.”

Israel offered a similar message. The Foreign Ministry posted on Instagram an image of Khamenei with the word “before” over it, and an identical image of the supreme leader with the word “after” over it.

Did millions of Iranians participate in a meaningless exercise, one that would have no impact of the fate of their country and of the region?

Half the country apparently felt that way. Turnout in the first round only scraped 40 percent, the lowest since the shah was deposed in 1979. Even Khamenei admitted that turnout was “lower than expected.”

That number climbed to 50% in the run-off, but much of the increase came from fear of what a Jalili victory would have meant for the country, explained Raz Zimmt, Iran scholar at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

“The vast majority of the public does not believe in the regime, and doesn’t believe in the possibility of effecting meaningful change under this regime,” he continued.
Netherlands to Join EU Push to Blacklist IRGC as New Report Reveals Iranian Weapons Smuggling to Houthis
The Netherlands will join Germany’s initiative to push the European Union to declare Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization, according to Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

The revelation came as the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) released a new report detailing how the IRGC has been smuggling weapons to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, a US-designated terrorist group that has been disrupting global trade with its attacks on shipping in the busy Red Sea corridor.

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp “announced that the Netherlands will join the initiative to promote a decision in the EU to declare the IRGC a terrorist organization,” Katz tweeted on Wednesday. “We will continue to join hands in our fight against terror.”

Katz included a photo of the two diplomats meeting at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) summit in Washington, DC this week.

The foreign ministers also discussed “the situation in Gaza, the West Bank, Hezbollah, and Iran,” according to Veldkamp.

Last week, the EU reportedly accepted Germany’s request to consider labeling the IRGC a terrorist organization.

Denmark, Sweden, and the Czech Republic also agreed to support Germany’s initiative to blacklist the IRGC, according to reports.

Consequences of the EU designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization could include the freezing of its financial assets, criminal prosecutions for ranking members, travel bans, and bans on arms shipments across EU countries.

By blacklisting the IRGC, the EU would join a growing list of nations who view the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Last month, Canada announced that it would list the IRGC as a terrorist group.
The Theological Dimensions of Anti-Zionism
In reviewing a new book by Ilan Troen, an Israeli scholar, the historian Allan Arkush runs through a wide range of arguments against a Zionist presence in the land of Israel. The book, called Israel/Palestine in World Religions: Whose Promised Land?, starts by examining secular and political arguments against Jewish political legitimacy, among them

the currently “regnant, if not hegemonic, argument” that Zionism is nothing but a form of settler colonialism. The four pages in which he explains how “scholars and polemicists have wrenched out of context an exactingly developed colonial-settler analysis to describe a distinctive and different historical experience” constitute perhaps the most concise and cogent deconstruction of this unfortunately fashionable accusation now available in print. Yet Troen doesn’t delude himself into thinking that “the misapplication of the colonial-settler pattern to Israel” or any other challenge to the legitimacy of Zionism can be deflected through argumentation.

Troen argues that these “theological dimensions” of anti-Zionism derive instead mainly from Christianity and Islam, according to whose “historic doctrines, the (possibly) miraculous return of Jews to reclaim and rebuild their ancient homeland should never have happened.”

In his chapter on Christianity’s claims, Troen quickly and effectively sketches the story of Christian supersessionism, which delegitimated Judaism as a religion along with any Jewish claim to the Holy Land. He demonstrates that this doctrine underlay the Catholic Church’s initial opposition to Zionism but didn’t prevent it from ultimately recognizing the existence of the State of Israel. Nevertheless, even when it did so, it did not “acknowledge the legitimacy of the State of Israel as a Jewish state. It merely affirms the presence of Jews.”

If there is some range in Christian views of Zionism,

there is no comparable diversity within Islam, however, “which has been far more unified in its opposition to Zionism than Christianity.” Troen’s capsule history of the domineering relationship of Islam toward Judaism effectively covers all of the ground between the Qur’an and Hamas, demonstrating the deep roots and abundant fruits of Islamic resistance to Zionism and hatred of it.

Still, Arkush concludes hopefully, “Troen sees some grounds for optimism even within the Muslim world, such as the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, led by Mansour Abbas.”
One-quarter of Canadians believe the Holocaust is exaggerated: poll
There is rising Holocaust skepticism in Canada, especially among young people, according to a new national poll.

The new poll, which was conducted by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies, comes amidst rising rates of antisemitism in Canada following the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel and the nation’s subsequent war against Hamas.

In November 2019, pollsters found just 17 per cent of Canadians said that fewer than six million Jews perished in the Holocaust. By May 2024, that number had jumped to 24 per cent.

Even looking at shorter time periods, such as between late February 2024 and mid-May 2024, there was an uptick in the number of Canadians who believe the Holocaust has been exaggerated. In February, pollsters found that only five per cent of Canadians believed the Holocaust was exaggerated. By May, that had jumped to nine per cent. That view more than doubled between those aged 45 to 54, from four per cent to 11 per cent, and nearly doubled in those aged 25 to 34, from eight per cent to 15 per cent.

“The increase in agreement that ‘the Holocaust is exaggerated’ from five to nine per cent in the space of just a few months may be regarded by some as modest but it is indicative of a worrisome trend, especially amongst millennials,” said Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies, in an email. “It raises serious questions as to how and by whom such skepticism about the Holocaust is being driven.”

Canadians between the ages of 25 and 34 were most likely (31 per cent) to doubt the official death toll of the Holocaust, followed by 27 per cent of those between the ages of 18 and 24. Among those 35 and older, a little more than one-fifth also held inaccurate views about the death toll of Adolf Hitler’s “Final Solution.”
'Bizarre propaganda': Candace Owens accused of minimizing Holocaust, Nazi medical experiments
Controversial commentator and media personality Candace Owens was accused of antisemitism after referring to the medical experiments on Jewish twins performed by Nazi Doctor Josef Mengele during the Holocaust as “bizarre propaganda," The New York Post reported Wednesday.

Owens made the remarks on her podcast. She was once a known personality at the conservative media outlet The Daily Wire, but she left earlier in 2024 following reported disputes with co-founder Ben Shapiro over the Israel-Hamas war and antisemitism.

Ben Shapiro criticized Owens's statements, including back in November when he said that Owens's rhetoric surrounding the Israel-Hamas war has been "absolutely disgraceful," adding that "she still works for my company."

Owens calls Nazi experiments 'waste of time and supplies'
On her podcast, Owens questioned the authenticity of some accounts of Nazi experiments, describing them as “absurd” and a “tremendous waste of time and supplies,” ultimately labeling them as “bizarre propaganda.”


Ohio police chief steps down after sharing racist, antisemitic memes
Brian Gerhard, East Cleveland chief of police, has agreed to resign as the city’s top law-enforcement officer six months after a suspension when an investigation began into imagery alleged to have come from his cell phone.

He is accused of sharing memes between June 2019 and August 2022 that reportedly include caricatures of Jews, advocacy of Adolf Hitler, antisemitic conspiracy theories, racism against black people and homophobic themes.

The agreement between Gerhard and the city did not require him to admit wrongdoing nor did it make mention of the offensive communications. The deal went into effect on June 14, though Gerhard will remain on the payroll through Dec. 15.

Willa Hemmons, East Cleveland law director, expressed hope that “this agreement will rectify some of the harm and hurt, and we will be able to move forward.”

Gerhard had assumed his position in October 2022, following the previous chief’s arrest on charges of theft and tax fraud.
‘You Corrupt the World!’ Jewish Man Wearing Kippah Assaulted in Washington, DC
A Jewish man wearing a kippah was assaulted in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, DC on Wednesday morning in what police are investigating as a hate crime.

The attack occurred outside the Foggy Bottom metro station on 23rd St. and I St. in northwest DC on George Washington University (GW) property, next to the university’s hospital and across the street from the GW campus that was the site of raucous anti-Israel demonstrations this past academic semester.

Ariel Golfeyz, 31, from Baltimore, MD, lives in Foggy Bottom near the site of the assault and was on his way to work via the Metro station, listening to music. He told The Algemeiner that he noticed a man — a medium-height black male of slight build with a beard — walking behind him unusually briskly for about a block, but thought little of it.

At 8:35 am, Golfeyz was approached from behind and “sucker punched” while being driven into the bushes and beaten, he recounted. Defending himself, Golfeyz said the altercation lasted a full two minutes before a nearby GW Police Department officer arrived to deescalate the situation. Personnel of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in DC arrived soon afterward.

Golfeyz sustained significant bruising to his face and sought further examination immediately after the incident. He believes he was targeted for wearing a kippah publicly.

“I was just walking and all the sudden I saw from the right side a fist, and I just fall to the ground and realized at that point in time — you feel your jaw cracking and I realized someone was trying to attack me,” Golfeyz recounted to The Algemeiner. “And immediately after punching me he jumps on me and starts kicking and punching me, and at that point it was just fight or flight. And I just started fighting, covered myself, turned into a ‘curlball.'”

“I just couldn’t get him off of me because he continued kicking and punching,” Golfeyz continued. “I was in mortal physical danger.”

Golfeyz recounted how he grabbed the assailant’s neck and later bit him as a last resort — which, along with the MPD officer, allowed him to break free. Regarding the police response, he commended how officers contained the assailant but was critical of how long it took to respond.
Israeli series, ‘A Body That Works,’ hits Netflix top 10 all over the world
A Body That Works, the new series from Keshet International about a Tel Aviv couple (Rotem Sela and Yehuda Levi) who can’t have a baby and hire a surrogate (Gal Malka), is certainly working for Netflix, which is streaming the series around the world.

On Tuesday, Netflix announced that the series is in the top 10 in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Poland, and Romania, among other countries. The series became available on the platform less than a month ago, in the original Hebrew version, and it also stars Lior Raz of Fauda as a work colleague of the character played by Sela.

The series made headlines in 2023 when its two lead actresses, Sela and Malka, shared the Best Actress Award in the International Panorama competition at the prestigious Series Mania competition in France. It was created by Shira Hadad and Dror Mishani (both of whom collaborated on the series Wisdom of the Crowd) and Shay Capon (Dumb), who also directed the series.

Following in the footsteps of other Israeli series
Other Israeli series, such as Fauda, have performed well on Netflix internationally, with the third season consistently hitting the top 10 worldwide, including in Arab countries like Lebanon. At one point in 2023, four seasons of the series were in Lebanon’s Netflix top 10, including the recently released fourth season, which was in second place on the list. The series, which features about half of its dialogue in Arabic, is about an Israeli counterterrorism unit operating in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, and Europe.

Shtisel, a series about an ultra-Orthodox family in Jerusalem, has also been popular on Netflix.
House lawmakers urge administration to ‘immediately’ nominate Abraham Accords ambassador
A bipartisan group of 33 House lawmakers wrote to President Joe Biden on Thursday urging him to “immediately” nominate an ambassador-level envoy for the Abraham Accords and Middle East normalization, a position established by Congress late last year.

Legislation establishing the post, which requires Senate confirmation, was approved as part of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act in December 2023, but no deadline was provided for the administration to name an ambassador. Lawmakers are alleging that no progress has been made.

“It is incumbent that you nominate an Envoy as soon as possible in accordance with the FY24 NDAA,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden.

Daniel Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, was appointed to a similar role in July 2023, as a senior adviser for regional integration at the State Department, without Senate confirmation. But Shapiro left the post in January, moving to the Pentagon, and has not been replaced.

“Unfortunately, since this position was created in December, it is our understanding that no progress has been made to nominate an Envoy,” the lawmakers wrote. “In fact, at a House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee hearing on June 23, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf stated that there is not even a short list.”

They said that filling the post would help show Israel and the international community that the U.S. remains interested in normalization.

The letter was led by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY), who introduced the bill establishing the ambassador post.

“Time is of the essence in the battle for Israel and the region’s future, and now more than ever, the administration must nominate an Envoy for the Abraham Accords,” Torres said in a statement. “Israel’s strategic allies in the region counteract Iran and its army of proxies in their never-ending battle to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. With the oversight of the Envoy, the administration will be empowered to continue in its work of building towards a lasting peace in the region.”
Israel Aerospace Industries Signs $1 Billion Deal With Morocco as Abraham Accords Remain Resilient Amid Gaza War
Morocco has struck a $1 billion deal with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to acquire an intelligence spy satellite from the Israeli defense company, Moroccan and other media reported this week, underscoring the strength of the Abraham Accords even in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The deal, which was reportedly finalized at the end of last year and signed earlier this week, will improve Morocco’s military defense capabilities. The satellite is expected to be delivered within five years and replace the Mohammed VI-A and Mohammed VI-B satellites currently used by Morocco.

Defense and economic cooperation between Israel and Morocco began in 2020 as a part of the Abraham Accords, which were a series of historic, US-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and several countries in the Arab world. Sudan, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates also normalized relations with the Jewish state.

Prior to 2020, Egypt and Jordan were the only Arab countries to have peace agreements in place with Israel. Normalization expanded due to the belief that common economic, diplomatic, and security interests could become more important in Israeli-Arab relations than Israel’s political and territorial conflict with the Palestinians.

After the Israel-Hamas war began in October, however, analysts questioned whether the heightened regional tensions would cause the normalization agreements previously made to bend or break. While there has been some tension, they have remained intact, as evidenced by Israel and Morocco’s latest deal.
Matisyahu to Perform at NYC Benefit Supporting Israel’s Southern Communities Impacted by Oct. 7 Hamas Attack
Jewish reggae singer Matisyahu will perform at a benefit in New York City in September that will raise money to help rebuild and strengthen communities in southern Israel impacted by the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks.

The benefit, hosted by Americans for Ben-Gurion University (A4BGU), is called “One Day,” after Matisyahu’s popular song of the same name, and will take place on Sept. 22. It will be held two weeks prior to the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in southern Israel. Ben-Gurion University (BGU) has a $1 billion global fundraising campaign called Way Forward to help support Israel’s future in the Negev region following the Oct. 7 atrocities, and the “One Day” event in New York will help raise funds for the campaign, which has already garnered more than $380 million.

“During such challenging times for Jews worldwide, it’s essential that we come together to advocate for our people, including by supporting organizations that are leading the way forward for Israel after Oct. 7,” Matisyahu said in a statement. “That’s precisely why I was inspired to use my voice for A4BGU and BGU, who are working to build the Israeli people’s resilience and are playing a central role in their road to recovery.”

Matisyahu dedicated his 2004 song “Warrior” to wounded Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers he met at an event coordinated by A4BGU in Aspen, Colorado. In May of this year, he released a song about antisemitism, and its music video was filmed at the site of the Nova music festival massacre on Oct. 7 and features survivors of the Hamas attack. He has been outspoken in support of Israel following Oct. 7 and talked earlier this month about how his solidarity with the Jewish state has resulted in him being dropped by his manager and having a number of his scheduled concerts cancelled.

“Matisyahu’s song ‘One Day’ expresses a hope for an end to violence and hate, as well as the start of a new era of peace and understanding. After Oct. 7, the world needs this message more than ever,” said Doug Seserman, CEO of A4BGU. “We are thrilled to have Matisyahu lend his voice towards A4BGU’s efforts around the rebuilding of Israel’s South, with Ben-Gurion University leading the way forward as the epicenter of the region and the key to its recovery.”




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

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