Tuesday, August 06, 2024

08/06 Links Pt2: Daniel Pearl’s Father: KSM Deserves the Death Penalty; Wikipedia hates Israel and Jews; Paris ceremony honors Israeli athletes killed in 1972 Munich

From Ian:

Daniel Pearl’s Father: KSM Deserves the Death Penalty
One person applauding Austin’s rejection of the plea is Judea Pearl, Daniel Pearl’s 88-year-old father. One of the country’s most prominent computer scientists, Judea Pearl told The Free Press that it was important that KSM be executed. “He not only never expressed regret, he bragged about what he did,” Judea said. None of the government’s charges against KSM include the murder of his son, because it could complicate his prosecution on the 9/11 charges—a fact that angers Judea. “As a moral issue, it is clear that my son’s murder should be part of the charges,” he said. Here’s what else he told The Free Press during a short interview on Sunday.

On his son’s last moment:
It pains me to think that the last image Danny saw on this earth was the beastly face of KSM, the embodiment of inhumanity. My son believed that man was created in the image of God, and he treated every person as though they were also created in the image of God. I’m really sorry that Danny left this planet with that sort of image.

On the plea deal that Austin overturned:
Changing the possibility of a death sentence to life imprisonment sounds like they are reducing the sentence, which sends a bad message to the world. It suggests there were some kind of extenuating circumstances, that his crime was not as horrible as we had thought, or that he had expressed some regret or become less inhumane. But all of that is wrong.

On how the U.S. should avenge Daniel Pearl’s death:
A new trial should start with a new charge about KSM’s responsibility for the murder of my son. Witnesses must be called, evidence must be considered, and new charges must be brought. If the allegations for murdering Danny are not brought up in court, then the KSM prosecution will always be incomplete.

On how his son approached his job:
Danny looked at every person as an object of curiosity, not fear. So he traveled through the Middle East and northeast Africa with his violin and his laptop, and he was very interested in getting the Western reader to understand the hardship and the suffering of the ordinary people in those countries.

On sending a message about KSM’s crimes:
I seek justice. I know that’s a poetic term, and I’m not a poet, I’m an engineer, and I look at things pragmatically. The pragmatic fact is that there are thousands and thousands of young Muslims who view KSM as a hero—the one who had the guts to stand up to the evil United States. Our job is to tell those young people that KSM is a criminal, not a hero. He is a criminal, and not only a criminal but a unique type of criminal, and that’s why the death penalty is important.
The New Yorker’s Fact Crisis
It was a commonplace among right-minded people at the dawn of the 20th century that hatred and bigotry were the products of ignorance and would be eliminated through the sanitary means of education. Unfortunately, the horrors of the 20th century would prove this theory to have been radically false. Even the horrors of the Holocaust failed to immunize Western societies against the plague of antisemitism, which is clearly thriving in major Western culture centers to an extent that Victorian optimists and post-Holocaust pessimists alike would find incredible.

So how did so many intelligent people go wrong? In the case of plain old bigotry, they missed the fact that hatred and resentment are at least as foundational to the human psyche as love or the desire for social progress. It is also clear that antisemitism is distinguished from other tribal hatreds and bigotries by the fact that it is a conspiracy theory, and conspiratorialism in societies, institutions, and individuals has an inherent tendency to become more extreme and deranging over time rather than less so. That’s because, by substituting a cosmos of false causes for real ones, conspiracy-theorizing traps its victims in a mirror world in which they progressively lose hold of demonstrable relationships between causes and effects. The more deranged the sufferers become, the more dissonance they feel, and the angrier they get at those they hold responsible for their ills—and, in their minds, the world’s ills. Entire societies—the Spanish Empire, czarist Russia, 20th-century Germany—can descend into the pit of conspiratorial antisemitism and never be heard from again. Which is why normal people who don’t ordinarily give a hoot one way or another about Jews and Israel should greet the yearlong orgy of deranged Jews-are-Nazis pronouncements from the country’s leading universities and culture organs with alarm.

It may come as a surprise that the biggest star among the Jews-are-Nazis crowd works at The New Yorker, a magazine once synonymous with editorial excellence and still synonymous with the art of dressing up Jews in WASP clothing for the consumption of recent Ivy League graduates looking for a guide to normative urban thought and behavior via its famous cartoons. In a moment in which the mid-20th-century marriage between Jews and WASPs has clearly come apart, The New Yorker is undergoing an identity crisis—in which the magazine is “too white” and “too Zionist” for WASP progressives and the Jews who crave their acceptance, yet at the same time clearly unwilling to defend its distinctive if dated American literary voice against the schizophrenic demands of its own class, which includes both its audience and its Upper West Side editors. As the product of a failing cross-cultural marriage, The New Yorker is probably fated to wind up in rehab regardless. But the speed at which it does so is a choice.

Enter Masha Gessen, once a brilliant author, whose early books are classics. The memoir about Gessen’s grandmothers, Ester and Ruzya, and the books about Vladimir Putin and Pussy Riot are distinguished works of journalism, of the type that would no doubt have earned Gessen many warm welcomes at progressive synagogues throughout America in the early 2010s. Over the past decade, however, Gessen has become a purveyor of unhinged conspiracy theories about everything from Butlerian understandings of gender as a vast, malign cultural conspiracy to the malign influence and actions of the State of Israel—which as the ur-conspiracy theory of Western civilization, is inevitably where both Gessen and The New Yorker have wound up.

Gessen, in three lengthy pieces, one in December, one in February, and one recently, has become The New Yorker’s point person on Gaza—at the direction of the magazine’s editor, David Remnick. Unsurprisingly, the chief argument that Gessen wishes to prosecute is that Netanyahu’s Israel is now fully equivalent to Hitler’s Germany.

Gessen’s February New Yorker piece claims that “Israeli officials probably speak for their country when they say, in effect, How can you call it genocide if it’s waged by us?” Gessen bizarrely ventriloquizes Jewish opinion as follows: Jews should (“probably,” or “in effect”) be allowed to slaughter any other people, since they can never by definition commit genocide. One only imagines that The New Yorker’s once-vaunted fact-checking department allows this kind of ad hominem attack on an entire category of people on the theory that because Gessen is of Jewish descent, they are therefore an adequate source for “what Jews secretly all believe,” just as a Black writer would be allowed to pronounce on “how Blacks feel about Donald Trump.” Which is another way of saying that fact-checking is a relic of the 20th century, i.e., The New Yorker is in trouble.
How To Pose as a Reasonable Critic of Israel (With a Little Help From the Media)
Mark Perlmutter is an orthopedic surgeon from North Carolina. He is Jewish but believes that Zionism is "sadism" and "the moral equivalent of Nazism."

Feroze Sidhwa is a trauma surgeon from California. He alleges that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Yet in an essay for Politico, Perlmutter and Sidhwa present themselves as physicians lacking "any political interest in the outcome of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—other than wanting it to end." From this perch of supposed neutrality, they accuse Israel of "murdering children" yet do not have a bad word to say about Hamas, even though their article goes on for nearly 5,000 words.

The essay by Perlmutter and Sidhwa is an illustration of how the media can launder Israel's virulent critics to render their views palatable, or even compelling to a mainstream audience. This phenomenon is hardly new, but with a bit of help from Google and X (formerly Twitter), it has become far easier to expose.

In all fairness, Perlmutter and Sidhwa do have a story worth telling. They traveled to Gaza in late March as part of a humanitarian mission for which they volunteered via the Palestinian American Medical Association. They tell the story of a malnourished nine-year-old girl named Juri who had festering wounds, a split femur, and other grave injuries. The surgical team had to wash clumps of maggots off Juri before they could operate, and they warn that she will suffer from severe and permanent disabilities despite their best efforts.

Juri's story is one that deserves to be told, but by a narrator who is prepared to consider the responsibility Hamas bears for her plight. Perlmutter and Sidhwa oppose the horrors of war but cannot bring themselves to acknowledge that Hamas started it. They make a single oblique reference to the events of October 7 and include neither an explicit condemnation of the attack nor expression of sympathy for its victims. Likewise, they express no concern for the Israeli hostages who remain captive in Gaza.

An editor would not have had to conduct much due diligence to discover the two surgeons' bias. Perlmutter's comments on X read like the signs at a campus protest encampment. He describes the Israeli government as fascist, compares a pro-Israel physician to Josef Mengele, and, lest anyone miss his point, simply says, "Israel's genocidal behavior parallels that of Nazi Germany in the 40s."

The bias of Perlmutter's coauthor is no more difficult to discern. Sidhwa has 20 years of experience as a critic of the Jewish state. He first wrote about the subject as a student, contributing a pair of essays to the Israel-bashing website Electronic Intifada in 2005. In the first essay, he mounted a defense of Columbia University professor Joseph Massad, who is once again a figure of controversy thanks to his praise, the day after the October 7 massacre, for the "astonishing" and "astounding" achievements of an "innovative Palestinian resistance."


JPost Editorial: Israelis deserve answers as to who - or what - is holding up a hostage deal - editorial
As Israelis wait with anxiety and fear for Iran to launch its promised attack to avenge the deaths of Hamas and Hezbollah terror leaders, the war in Gaza is continuing, and the fate of the 115 hostages still being held either alive or dead is as murky as ever.

Monday marked the fifth birthday of Ariel Bibas, who is thought to have been held captive in Gaza by Hamas, along with his mother, Shiri, and baby brother, Kfir – who is believed to have turned one year old in captivity – since October 7.

The reason or reasons why the Bibas family and the rest of the hostages haven’t been freed in a ceasefire deal is dependent on whom one chooses to believe.

We, the citizens of Israel, don’t know what is going on behind closed doors and, instead, need to rely on the words of those involved in the long, drawn-out process that has been taking place on and off for months.

Unfortunately, we’re hearing different versions.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that the talks haven’t borne fruit due to Hamas intransigence.

Last week, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said, “Israel neither changed nor added any condition to the [Biden-proposed] outline. On the contrary, as of now, it is Hamas which has demanded 29 changes and has not responded to the original outline.”

All of the redlines Israel is insisting on – including the IDF’s retention of the critical buffer zone between Israel and Egypt known as the Philadelphi Corridor, a mechanism to stop terrorists and weapons entering the Netzarim route, and the importance of ensuring that terrorists do not return to northern Gaza – fall within the framework of the deal, Netanyahu has repeatedly stated.

Reports suggest, however, that those demands were not part of the Biden plan and were added later by Netanyahu. Channel 12, over the weekend, reported that senior officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF chief Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi warned Netanyahu that those allegedly new conditions would doom the deal.
IDF confirms last Israeli missing since Oct. 7 was murdered by Hamas
The Israel Defense Forces announced on Tuesday that it had confirmed the death of Bilha Yinon, 76, nearly 10 months to the day after she went missing during the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on her hometown of Netiv HaAsara.

“IDF representatives officially informed the family of Bilha Yinon, of blessed memory, that she is no longer alive,” the military stated. “Bilha Yinon is the last person to be identified of those missing since Oct. 7.”

The IDF said Yinon’s death was established by a committee of experts that also included representatives of the Israel Police, the Health Ministry and the Tel Aviv-based National Institute of Forensic Medicine, working in cooperation with Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef.

The announcement came after the experts examined “recent findings that were discovered in the area around ​​her home,” the army added.



The 76-year-old was last heard from at 8 a.m. on Oct. 7. Her house was burned down by the approximately 35 Hamas operatives who infiltrated Netiv HaAsara, close to the northern border with the Gaza Strip, and murdered more than 20 people.

Yinon was initially considered dead along with her husband, Yaakov, but a lack of DNA proof led the IDF to retract its preliminary findings.


Mourning the Children Killed in Majdal Shams
Closer in, the effects were far more severe. Standing near the opposite goal and pointing at an adjacent building, a fire fighter related that body parts were blown into and on top of the structure. To a goalkeeper’s left and a few yards downfield was a shallow hole, the spot where the rocket landed, apparently pointing down. It tore the synthetic turf and mangled that section of fence enclosing the field. The resulting fire blackened the fence’s gray poles and wiring, and melted parts of the scooters and battery-powered bicycles that likely transported some of the murdered and wounded children to the field. It also shot millions of crushed-rubber pellets lying under the playing surface and past the fence. Farther along, one of several makeshift memorials decorated the fence and turf, black ribbons specking the wire and a dozen trophies with the victims’ images, a soccer ball behind and a plastic poppy before each trophy, standing upon the green sideline. Wreaths leaned onto a barrier, sent from far-off and nearby communities: Kibbutz Kfar Blum, Kibbutz Snir, Kibbutz Merom Golan, Kisra-Sumei (a Druze town in the Galilee), the Ramat Hanegev regional council, the UJA-Federation of New York. Mourning with you, brothers and sisters in arms, read a message on one wreath. We hurt your hurt, from the mayor and council of Raanana, said another. And: Druze and Jews are brothers.

At the field’s center mark, I happened to lock onto three spots: the missile’s impact point, a small side door near that corner, and, about 4 yards beyond the open door, a migunit: a mobile concrete room about the size of a tool shed, offering refuge from an enemy attack. Miguniot appear alongside some roads, intersections, and in other public places throughout the country as shelter for when a siren sounds.

A Majdal Shams worker had told me that three additional miguniot he’d ordered arrived on Monday, July 22. He’d placed one of them here, just outside the small side entrance to the soccer field. The firefighter had said that when the siren sounded that fatal afternoon, the coach, 21-year-old Aram Shker, ordered the children to run for the migunit. They had less than 10 seconds to reach safety. Some succeeded.

Focusing on the three spots, I imagined the moment the siren went off on July 27 at 6:18 p.m.

The light bulb illuminated in my head, a painful and crushing realization.

I realized that taking any direct or indirect line from anywhere on the field toward the gate opening and through to the migunit, the children’s legs were actually propelling them not toward shelter, but death. They had no way to know that, with the Falaq rocket, Iran’s gift to its Hezbollah proxy, coming from behind them. It landed on and amid the fleeing, terrified children.

Had the migunit not arrived, the children would’ve been told to stop and lie prone where they were, covering their heads—standard procedure in the absence of any shelter. They’d have been farther from the missile’s impact point. Many of the 12 would be alive now.

After running into the father and son entering the field late that Wednesday night, I walked around the rectangle, absorbing the site and the scene. Lamp stanchions provided light as they do when kids played there at night. This time, clusters of adolescents sat on the field, silent but for occasional whispers.

As I circled back toward the goal near the main gate, a man rushed up and pressed into my hands five tiny tin-encased candles, each containing a half-inch depth of wax, at most. I stepped to a memorial of pictures and objects, and crouched beside a white shelf lying upon the turf. I took several larger candles there and arrayed them in a circle around my baby tins as shields from the breeze, took a lighter sitting there, flicked it to produce a weak flame, and touched it to a wick.

The wind snuffed out the fire, then another and another. I cupped a hand around the lighter’s head to shield each flame. I moved the large candleholders into a tighter circle, a more protective wall. I tried other lighters. At best, here and there, a wick remained lit for two seconds before the wind extinguished it.

I departed, unable to protect the tiny candles.
Wikipedia hates Israel and Jews
According to Wikipedia, an “apartheid” state is a Middle Eastern country in which both Jews and Arabs have civil rights, “Palestine” is a country that actually exists and Arabs are natives of the region. Wikipedia also has a long piece celebrating the propagation of this sort of bigotry via “Israel Apartheid Week” with “criticism” of its antisemitic hate relegated to the end.

Wikipedia’s co-founder Larry Sanger abandoned the organization in 2002. As documented on Wikipedia itself, Sanger noted that the site is dominated not by experts with actual, relevant knowledge, but by those who edit most frequently and insistently, not to mention the “trolls.” This is why major universities dismiss Wikipedia as an unreliable source that is unacceptable for academic work.

In June, Wikipedia took its bias to a new level, unironically stating that it considers the ADL an “unreliable” source on the Israel-Hamas War. The statistically impossible casualty counts provided by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, on the other hand, are cited as if they were credible.

The connection between Wikipedia and Big Tech is easy to establish. Though Wikipedia likes to beg regular users for money, its Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) features a who’s who of Big Tech donors: Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Adobe, Salesforce and more. Besides direct grants from these firms, woke programmers, engineers and other staff at companies like Apple and Google, as well as LinkedIn, Intel and Netflix have used matching gift programs to multiply their contributions.

The truth is that WMF, together with the Wikimedia Endowment, holds over $350 million in assets. This means that with no further donations or investments, Wikipedia can continue operating comfortably for over a century. Yet its relationship with Big Tech has only deepened and diversified.

In 2021, Wikimedia launched Wikimedia Enterprise, providing paid services for companies and organizations that reuse Wikipedia content on a large scale. A routine search using Google, Alexa or Siri often brings you a highlighted result drawn from Wikipedia like the Google “Knowledge Panel” at the top of search results. This is, in part, why a Google search for “apartheid” features recurring instances of antisemitic fiction on its first page of results.

Besides Big Tech, there is one more Wikipedia donor to consider: the Soros-funded Tides Foundation. Tides has also given millions of dollars to groups that instigated and supported the antisemitic protests across America since Oct. 7. This is the company Wikimedia keeps.

Through direct links, integration with Wikimedia Enterprise and generous donations, Big Tech is enabling the spread of antisemitic hatred via the trolls of Wikipedia. Only the same Big Tech firms are positioned to compel Wikipedia to improve its contribution, editing and review processes to demonstrate the commitment to fairness and accuracy that should be the hallmark of any true source of knowledge.
Democrats used to embrace Jews – now they impose litmus tests
Shapiro’s detractors consider him too pro-Israel and sympathetic to Jews facing antisemitism, but a closer look at his statements paints a more complex picture. For example, when a Philadelphia magazine interviewer asked Shapiro in February if someone can disagree with Israel “without being straight-up labelled an antisemite,” Shapiro demonstrated that he’s an attentive student of Democratic party communications.

Shapiro assured his interviewer that his Mideast views “are quite nuanced. I believe in a two-state solution. And I believe that Benjamin Netanyahu is a horrible leader and has been a destructive force in the Middle East. You may or may not agree with that, and that’s okay. But we have to be very clear in condemning antisemitism and Islamophobia, which have no place here.”

This is a variation on elected Democrats’ now standard “I love Israel, but I hate Bibi” framing. Shapiro slams Bibi as “a destructive force in the Middle East,” but not terrorists. And after being asked specifically about antisemitism, Shapiro references Islamophobia, because elected Democrats don’t condemn antisemitism without also condemning Islamophobia.

What Shapiro actually thinks about Israel or campus protesters is irrelevant, though. Harris tops the ticket, has a record, and knows these issues animate her base. Shapiro would be the administration’s point man on everything Jewish, and he would be expected to deploy the knowledge gleaned from his Jewish education and numerous Israel trips to deflect (entirely fair) charges that Harris is hostile to Israel and weak on combating antisemitism.

Since a “longtime friend” told Philadelphia magazine Shapiro is incredibly ambitious, he might willingly become Harris’ shield. But what would potentially benefit Harris, Shapiro, and the Democratic party wouldn’t help rank-and-file American Jews, who would face increased pressure to be the “right” kind of Jew. It’s tragic that one of the country’s two major parties has been Corbynised, and it’s ominous that it’s now led by a woman who has done nothing to stop it.
Vance: Dem antisemitism thwarted Shapiro’s veepstakes prospects
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), the Republican nominee for vice president, said on Tuesday morning that if Vice President Kamala Harris did not select Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate, then the decision would be due to what he identified as antisemitism within the Democratic Party.

“If it’s not Josh Shapiro,” Vance told radio host Hugh Hewitt hours before Harris announced she had chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, “I think they will have not picked Shapiro, frankly, out of antisemitism in their own caucus and in their own party. I think it’s disgraceful the Democrats have gotten to this point where it’s even an open conversation.”

Shapiro, a Jewish Democrat who was among the finalists on the vice presidential short list, had in recent weeks faced growing resistance from an organized campaign led by far-left activists who expressed vehement opposition to his support for Israel and criticism of extreme anti-Israel campus protesters.

The campaign drew charges of antisemitism for singling out Shapiro, the only Jewish contender under serious consideration, whose views on Israel largely aligned with other candidates including Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Walz, the latter of whom emerged as a progressive favorite.


Josh Shapiro and the Media Antisemitism Machine
We’ve been here before, and now Israel and the Jews are at the center of the U.S. presidential election race. Until Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, mainstream and social media focused attention on Jewish Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who was considered a front runner.

The New York Times “Draws Fresh Scrutiny” to Take Down a Proud Jew
Despite Shapiro’s capabilities, his effectiveness as a politician and his policies on issues that matter to the American people, the media, including the New York Times, chose to focus on him as a pro-Israel Jew who has been outspoken on antisemitism on college campuses. Is this really such a devastating a problem for American voters who are focused on the constantly rising prices of basic necessities?

It doesn’t matter that this Statista poll shows foreign policy as second-to-last on the list of top voter issues:

Or that likewise, this ABC News/IPSOS poll shows that the Israel-Hamas war is the lowest priority of all issues among U.S. voters.

All that matters is that Shapiro has “been one of the Democratic Party’s staunchest defenders of Israel at a moment when the party is splintered over the war in Gaza” and that he considers himself “a Zionist.”

The New York Times damned him by revealing on Saturday that he volunteered “in the Israeli army” when he was 20-years-old, when he actually just did some volunteer projects on an IDF base.

An op-ed Shapiro wrote for his college newspaper, written after his experience volunteering in Israel, was initially resurfaced by the Philadephia Inquirer. At the time, he wrote that he didn’t believe Palestinians were capable of peace because they are “too battle-minded.”

This is a view that 30 years later, created a rumble across the media, despite his attempt to take it back. Shapiro has been viewed as a centrist in the Democratic Party and has been very outspoken about his support for a two-state solution.

Social Media dictates the news agenda
Shapiro’s five-month stint doing volunteer service projects, including that on an IDF base 30+ years ago spread across the Twitterverse (or rather X-Universe). Of course, it’s been twisted into him “serving in a foreign military.”

There are numerous problems with this, one being, the obtuse disease on social media where people refuse to factcheck and purposely put on blinders to fit whatever story fits their own narrative.
Dean Phillips: Harris and Walz need to ‘prioritize’ removing antisemitism from party
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) he doesn’t think Harris’s VP pick was based on religion, but that she and Walz need to work to remove antisemitism from the party.

The remarks followed accusations that attacks on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) from the far left were based on his religious heritage.

“I don’t think this decision was entirely predicated on religion,” Phillips told CNN’s Dana Bash. “I hope it wasn’t, but at the end of the day, antisemitism is real, and I have great faith in Vice President Harris and Tim Walz to acknowledge that and remove it from the national discourse because we are paying attention.”

“I would call on Vice President Harris and Governor Walz to prioritize the removal of anti-Semites from this party,” Phillips added.

Phillips also lauded Harris’s choice of Walz, saying that he is a “decent, outstanding guy,” who has been a mentor.

“Tim Walz is a gentleman, competent, common sense school teacher, National Guardsman, and someone who just is a decent, outstanding guy,” Phillips said.
‘Jewish Americans for Kamala Harris’ is an Anti-Israel Group
Democrats have tried to reassure Jewish voters that they have nothing to worry about despite Kamala’s harsh criticism of Israel’s war on Hamas.

To counter those concerns, the Jewish Democratic Council of America, headed by Haile Sofer, Kamala’s old policy adviser, rolled out a ‘Jewish Americans for Kamala Harris’ online rally. But while the Zoom rally flier may feature a photo of Kamala and her husband, Doug Emhoff, awkwardly lighting a menorah, the leading figures in the rally only raise more questions.

The two most prominent non-elected officials taking part in the rally are Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers union, and her girlfriend, Sharon Kleinbaum.

While Weingarten is best known for her work in keeping school closed leading to as much as a grade point of loss in education, she is militantly anti-Israel and has used antisemitic rhetoric.

In response to a question from the JTA, a liberal Jewish media outlet, about the power of teachers’ unions, Weingarten launched into an antisemitic tirade in which she claimed that “American Jews are now part of the ownership class” who “want to take that ladder of opportunity away from those who do not have it.” The American Jewish Committee had responded with an op-ed urging her to “Counter, Not Inflame, Antisemitism”.

I have tried to reach out to ‘Jewish Americans for Kamala Harris’ to inquire if they agree with Randi Weingarten that Jews are “the ownership class” who “want to take that ladder of opportunity away from those who do not have it”, but have not received an answer.

Weingarten had befriended and defended antisemites including former Women’s March leaders Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour, calling them “friends” and “warriors for justice.” Mallory was an enthusiastic fan of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who had praised Hitler. She had described the creation of Israel as a “human rights crime” and attacked Jewish groups.

Sarsour had a long track record of antisemitism and support for Islamic terrorism. After the Oct 7 Hamas attacks, the Islamic activist claimed that Jewish hostage posters were entrapment and that Jews everywhere were watching them. “So when you go home, they have their little people all over the place, trust me I know them, I got a radar for them… you think they’re ordinary people, trust me when I tell you they are everywhere. They’re on your college campus, they’re outside the supermarket, they’re outside Grand Central Station.”
Meet the Al-Qaeda Lawyers Advising Team Harris
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday big-footed the brigadier general overseeing the war court at Guantanamo Bay and revoked the plea deals she had struck with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh-Mohammed and two co-conspirators, which took the death penalty off the table.

We support Austin’s move, but what does tough-as-nails former prosecutor Kamala Harris, the anointed Democratic presidential nominee, think about this issue? It would be nice to know, should the press ever dare to ask her a question.

There are a couple of reasons to wonder.

The first is her brother-in-law Tony West’s role as a "key campaign adviser" to Harris and co., according to Axios. The New York Times describes West, who served as number three in Barack Obama’s Department of Justice, as Harris’s "secret weapon." West was one of eight (!) al-Qaeda lawyers brought into the Justice Department by then-attorney general Eric Holder, including former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal, who was thankfully rendered unconfirmable due to the legal services he provided to America’s enemies.

West joined the Justice Department after serving as defense counsel for John Walker Lindh, also known as the "American Taliban." U.S. forces picked him up on an Afghan battlefield and brought him back home to the country he betrayed to stand trial. He served 20 years in prison when he pleaded guilty to providing support to the Taliban. West represented Lindh pro bono and argued that he was "not a terrorist."

That’s not the end of the story. According to the Times, West also "recommended bringing on Eric H. Holder, the former attorney general, to handle the vetting process for Ms. Harris’s running mate." Holder, of course, led the Obama administration’s efforts to move KSM’s case and those of his co-conspirators out of Gitmo and into a Manhattan courtroom. That left-wing legal gambit blew up in his face when outraged lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans alike, blocked the move.
Kamala Harris's VP? Tim Walz’s record on Israel, Holocaust education and antisemitism
Response to Hamas attack
After Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Walz ordered flags in the state to be flown at half-mast, and criticized both the attack and those who chose not to condemn it.

“If you did not find moral clarity on Saturday morning, and you find yourself waiting to think about what you needed to say, you need to reevaluate where you’re at,” Walz said at a vigil held at Congregation Beth El in suburban Minneapolis, according to TC Jewfolk’s report from the event.

“What was evident on Saturday morning was the absolute lack of humanity, the terrorism and the barbarism,” Walz said. “That’s not a geopolitical discussion. That’s murder.”

Since then, however, he has not been an especially prominent voice in debates over Israel, and he has indicated tolerance of those who want to see the Democratic Party dial down its support for the war against Hamas in Gaza.

This spring, when more than 18% of Minnesota voters cast “uncommitted” Democratic primary ballots to protest President Joe Biden’s support for Israel, Walz said the criticism should not be dismissed out of hand.

“We’ve got eight months. We’ve got to bring these people back in and listen to what they’re saying,” Walz said at the time. “Take them seriously. Their message is clear, that they think this is an intolerable situation and we can do more, and I think the president is hearing that.”

Walz did not suggest that he agreed with the protest voters, and in April, he condemned hostility toward Jewish students at campus protests against Israel while expressing sympathy for the protesters’ messages on Gaza.

“I think when Jewish students are telling us they feel unsafe in that, we need to believe them, and I do believe them,” he said on a local PBS program. “Creating a space where political dissent or political rallying can happen is one thing. Intimidation is another.”
Kassy Akiva: FLASHBACK: Tim Walz Called The Iran Deal The ‘Best Path Forward’
As Israel braces for a strike from Iran and its terrorist proxies, Vice President Kamala Harris tapped as her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who voted in favor of the infamous deal that emboldened and enriched Iran.

Walz voted for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as a member of Congress in 2015, calling it the “best path forward” CBS News reported at the time. He has remained a vocal defender of the plan, and criticized former President Donald Trump when the latter withdrew from the deal in 2018.

The JCPOA stipulates that Iran would halt any nuclear weapons programs and permit inspections of its nuclear energy facilities in exchange for the United States and its allies agreeing to lift economic sanctions and permit access to about $56 billion of its frozen assets.

Opponents of the JCPOA, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, doubted Iran’s commitment to transparent inspections, and argued that the deal didn’t address Iran’s ability to increase funding for its terrorist proxies with the lifted sanctions and unfrozen assets.

Since the United States agreed to the JCPOA, Iran’s military budget grew by approximately 30 percent, even as the country’s economy foundered. It is estimated that Iran could produce enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb in under a week, according to Bloomberg.

“This deal is far from perfect, and I harbor no illusions that the hate and violence of the Iranian regime will fade after it goes into effect,” he wrote. “I expect Iran will continue to be a destabilizing force in the region and a threat to America and our allies. But, I believe this agreement is our best path forward.”
VP Pick Tim Walz Pushed To Close Gitmo and House Terrorists in US
Minnesota governor Tim Walz, who was named Kamala Harris’s vice presidential pick on Tuesday, pushed to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and move its terrorist captives into holding facilities in the United States. His position put him to the left of other prominent Minnesota Democrats like Amy Klobuchar, but Gitmo, Walz said, is a "serious obstacle to peace in the Middle East."

As a House member representing Minnesota's First Congressional District, Walz voted against a 2009 measure that would have barred the federal government from shutting down Gitmo and relocating terrorists housed there to American cities. Walz railed against the U.S. detention camp as an obstacle to peace in the Middle East. He also argued that Minnesota's criminal justice facilities could "handle" housing Gitmo terrorists.

"Walz said he thinks the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay is a serious obstacle to peace in the Middle East," MPR News reported in June 2009, shortly after Walz returned from a "fact-finding trip to the Middle East."

"Walz said Guantanamo should be closed, and the detainees there should be dealt with appropriately. He said that could include care at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester," a federal prison in Minnesota for inmates who require long-term medical care.

Walz's crusade to close Gitmo puts him in close company with some of Harris's top campaign advisers.
'It's Walz, Baby, Let's Go!' Anti-Semites Rejoice After Harris Snubs Jew
Leading anti-Semites rejoiced on Tuesday after Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz, the left-wing governor of Minnesota, to be her running mate. Many were relieved that Harris did not pick Josh Shapiro, the Jewish governor of Pennsylvania, whose "views" on issues such as Israel's right to exist had prompted "concern" among some Democratic voters, according to ABC News.

♦ Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), winner of the 2019 Anti-Semite of the Year award, posted a celebratory emoji alongside a photo of herself with Walz, whom she publicly endorsed days prior to the announcement. Omar somewhat ominously suggested that, unlike Shapiro, her state's governor had the "qualities" necessary "to balance out the ticket."

♦ Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.), another radical left-wing member of the "Squad," was also thrilled that Harris picked a non-Jew to be her running mate. "It's Walz, baby, let's go!" he shouted in a video posted on social media. "Tim Walz in the building!" Bowman, who is best known for writing a poem suggesting 9/11 was an inside job, this year received support for his failed primary campaign from pro-Hamas activists who blamed Israel for the terrorist group's Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

♦ Mehdi Hasan, the former MSNBC host whose show was canceled after he repeatedly disparaged Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack, argued the "great decision" to pick Walz over Shapiro showed that Democrats were "taking the base seriously," presumably in reference to the anti-Semitic protesters who praised the Oct. 7 terrorist attack as an act of "anti-colonial resistance."

♦ Keith Ellison, the former congressman who now serves as attorney general of Minnesota, said there was "no better choice" than Walz. Ellison has palled around with prominent anti-Semites such as Jeremy Corbyn, the former British Labour Party leader, and Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam founder who has compared Jews to "termites." Days after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, Ellison's chief of staff promoted a rally in support of the terrorists.
WATCH: Van Jones Says Harris Picked Walz To Appease 'Anti-Jewish Bigots,' Caving to 'Darker Parts in the Party'
Democratic strategist Van Jones on Tuesday said Vice President Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate to appease "anti-Jewish bigots" and the "darker parts" in the Democratic Party.

"You can be for the Palestinians without being an anti-Jewish bigot, but there are some anti-Jewish bigots out there. And there has to be conversations about how much of what just happened is caving into some of these darker parts in the party," Jones said during a CNN interview Tuesday, shortly after Harris announced Walz will join her on the Democratic ticket.

Josh Shapiro, governor of key swing state Pennsylvania, had been widely seen as the favorite to become the Democratic VP candidate but came under scrutiny by progressive Democrats for his Jewish background and support for Israel in the war against Hamas.

Jones said that picking Walz over Shapiro helps Harris reach many young Democrats, especially Muslims and Arabs, who "have not felt seen by the Biden administration" and called the president "Genocide Joe" for providing military support to Israel.

"But you also have anti-Semitism that has gotten marbled into this [Democratic] Party," Jones added.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.) said before Harris announced her pick that it was "very noticeable" and "deeply concerning" that "the only Jewish candidate is getting excruciating, very specific scrutiny, particularly around his positions on Israel."

House speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), meanwhile, described Shapiro as "a stronger choice" for Harris, saying that the presumptive Democratic nominee "was reluctant to put a vice presidential nominee on the ticket with Jewish heritage because they’re having a split in the Democratic Party."

"They have a pro-Palestinian, in some cases pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party," Johnson added. "Sadly for Josh Shapiro, because of his heritage, I think that is the reason he was overlooked.


With Her Primary Looming, Cori Bush Refuses To Call Hamas a Terrorist Organization
In the final days on the campaign trail of her embattled primary race, Rep. Cori Bush (D., Mo.) refused to call Hamas a "terrorist" organization and said she wanted to be "careful about labeling" since she was called a terrorist while protesting.

During a Ferguson campaign event, the St. Louis "Squad" member said she didn’t know enough about Hamas to label it a "terrorist" organization. She also conflated herself with Hamas, claiming she and other radical activists protesting Michael Brown’s death in 2014 were "considered terrorists," too, the New York Times reported.

"Would they qualify to me as a terrorist organization? Yes. But do I know that? Absolutely not," Bush said. "I have no communication with them. All I know is that we were considered terrorists, we were considered Black identity extremists and all we were doing was trying to get peace. I’m not trying to compare us, but that taught me to be careful about labeling if I don’t know."

Hamas has been designated by the State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997.

"Have they hurt people? Absolutely. Has the Israeli military hurt people? Absolutely," Bush said.

Bush's spokeswoman Marina Chafa later backtracked and said the Missouri Democrat does acknowledge that Hamas is a terrorist organization. She concluded, however, that the term has been "weaponized by the far right consistently to justify violence and in this instance, the collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza."

Bush did not return a Washington Free Beacon request for comment.


FDD: State Laws on Israel Boycotts Hold Up in Court
Daniel Schuchman writes that every American has a constitutional right to boycott Israel (“Free Speech Includes the Right to Boycott Israel,” op-ed, July 31). That’s true. What’s false, however, is that state laws related to boycotts of Israel infringe on First Amendment rights; that corporations have a constitutional right to state contracts or investments; or that states can’t condition their contracts and investments on a corporation’s commercial behavior.

Two years ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld an Arkansas law prohibiting state contracts with, or investment in, companies that engage in economic boycotts of Israel. The Supreme Court later denied a petition to hear an appeal.

Most states now have laws regarding companies that boycott Israel. None relate to speech. All relate to commercial conduct that attempts to inflict economic harm on Israel or Israel-based companies. Federal anti-boycott laws dating to the Arab League boycott of Israel also remain on the books.

The campaign to boycott Israel is deeply antisemitic. It attempts to use economic warfare as a tool to delegitimize and destroy the world’s only Jewish state. Its supporters hate the fully constitutional state laws that encourage companies to steer clear of that warfare, and for good reason: The laws work.
Judge rejects Harvard’s bid to dismiss lawsuit over antisemitism accusations
Harvard University failed to persuade a US judge to dismiss a lawsuit in which Jewish students accused the Ivy League school of letting its campus become a bastion of antisemitism.

Without ruling on the merits, US District Judge Richard Stearns said the plaintiffs plausibly alleged that Harvard's response to on-campus incidents was inadequate, and that "the facts as pled show that Harvard failed its Jewish students."

Stearns said he was also "dubious" that Harvard could hide behind the argument that some of the challenged on-campus activity was protected by the US Constitution's First Amendment.

Seeking an injunction
Students sued in January, accusing Harvard of selectively enforcing its anti-discrimination policies to avoid protecting Jewish students from harassment, ignoring their pleas for protection, and hiring professors who supported anti-Jewish violence and spread antisemitic propaganda.

The students sought an injunction to stop Harvard's alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars federal funds recipients from allowing discrimination based on race, religion and national origin.


PreOccupiedTerritory: Qatar Allocates Extra Slave Labor To Build Haniyeh Tomb (satire)
Emir Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani’s regime announced today that they will either acquire or appropriate from other projects the human chattel necessary to construct an elaborate mausoleum in which to inter the chief of Hamas assassinated in Tehran last week.

The Qatari autocrat – who officially holds the title of prime minister – issued a press release this morning with the information, including a draft idea for the design of the edifice, and an estimate of approximately 5,000 forced-laborers from south Asia, southeast Asia, and Africa. The construction endeavor, with a scheduled start date of September 30, will reach completion by July 2026, in time for the second anniversary of Ismail Haniyeh’s slaying – according to the most recent reports, by a bomb hidden in his guest room two months before his visit to Iran to celebrate the inauguration of the Islamic republic’s new president.

Palace representatives acknowledged that the labor requirements will necessitate either drafting existing slave labor from other projects underway in the country, or importing more human-trafficked workers to handle the additional workload the mausoleum will create.

The draft plans for the structure call for a 5,200-square-meter domed pavilion featuring alcoves with exhibits on Haniyeh’s life and achievements. One section of the tribute exhibit will also include a dedicated exploration of the planning and execution of the Al Aqsa Flood operation last October that killed 1200 Israelis and others, and involved the mass rape, torture, and kidnapping of hundreds of others.

The plans as released do not appear to show the suffering of Palestinians before, during, or after that operation, or during any of the time since Hamas wrested control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah in 2007 in a brief but brutal civil war, then embarked on a terrorism spree that prompted an Israeli blockade still in force.


FDD: Analysis: Mass arrests and conflicting narratives following the Haniyeh assassination
In response to the assassination of former Hamas Political Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, the Islamic Republic has arrested over 20 senior intelligence officers and military officials, as well as staff workers at the military-run guesthouse, The New York Times reported on August 4. A day prior, The Independent Persian claimed that some 40 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Ansar al-Mahdi Protection Unit were arrested shortly after the assassination.

Some reports even claim that officials as high-ranking as Law Enforcement Special Units Commander Hassan Karami were also arrested in the raids. The regime was quick to address any allegations related to the mass arrests, and the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News promptly rejected some claims, stating that Karami was still the commander of the special units.

The Independent Persian and The Telegraph claim that the IRGC’s specialized intelligence unit for espionage has taken over the investigation into Haniyeh’s assassination, with The Independent Persian reporting that the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) was not allowed to participate in the ongoing manhunt. If true, this further strengthens existing claims about a rivalry among the regime’s security and intelligence institutions.

The IRGC’s Intelligence Organization and MOIS have a long history of competition to dominate the regime’s security apparatus, whether regarding foreign-sponsored espionage or nationwide protest movements. Iranian civic activists who endured torture at the regime’s secret holding cells have claimed that intelligence officers from IRGC and MOIS competed over which faction would be first to find the “culprit” through violent interrogation that obtained confessions, particularly after incidents associated with the Mossad.

This ongoing rivalry might be the reason behind contradictory reporting on how the assassination unfolded. The New York Times and The Telegraph both cited IRGC officials alleging that a bomb was placed in Haniyeh’s room two to three months in advance and detonated remotely from outside Iran. The Telegraph reporting added that two agents placed explosive devices in three rooms of the IRGC safe house and later snuck out of the country but still had a source in Iran.


New Hampshire Adopts IHRA to Fight Antisemitism
On August 05, 2024, Governor Chris Sununu signed into law SB 508, which codifies the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. In May, New Hampshire passed Senate Bill 508, which ensures that the State will consider the IHRA definition when reviewing unfair or discriminatory practices suspected of antisemitism. The bill follows an executive order by Gov. Chris Sununu issued last year, which generally prevents New Hampshire's Executive Branch from investing or contracting with companies engaged in boycotts against Israel.

StandWithUs thanks Governor Sununu and leading sponsors, Rep. James Spillane, Rep. Jennifer Rhodes, Rep. Terry Roy, Senator Jeb Bradley, Senator Sharon Carson, and former Rep. Paul Berch, for helping move this hallmark bipartisan legislation to fruition. StandWithUs also thanks its partners, IAC for Action and the the National Jewish Advocacy Center. New Hampshire now joins a growing portfolio of over 30 states to have adopted the IHRA definition.

Jordan Cope, StandWithUs Director of Policy Education, observed, “With antisemitism having exploded worldwide post-October 7, the IHRA definition remains a tool of paramount importance for helping identify and quell the mounting tide of antisemitism as Jews around the world desperately seek assurances for their own safety. New Hampshire’s moral clarity on this matter sets a clear example for New England from which other states ought to draw inspiration.”

There has been confusion—sometimes intentional—about what adopting the IHRA definition means. Neither SB 508 nor the IHRA definition creates a special non-discrimination class for Jewish people. The IHRA definition is simply a guiding tool for identifying antisemitism in the application of already-existing laws where antisemitism may be involved.

According to recent research, a third of Americans are either unsure of what antisemitism means or has never heard the term. To even begin to address the problem of antisemitism, there must be clarity about what it is. SB 508 clarifies confusion about what antisemitism is by adopting a definition that was drafted by leading world experts to reflect the lived experience of Jewish people. The IHRA definition is the global consensus having been adopted or endorsed by over 1,100 governments, institutions, and organizations, including the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Departments of Education and State, and governments of about 40 countries. The IHRA definition has been supported by both Republican and Democrat presidential administrations.
West Virginia man pulled over for leaving hateful fliers in hotel parking lots
Law enforcement arrived at the Embassy Suites in Charleston, W.Va., to find fliers promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories. They soon found the man who allegedly committed the act following antagonism towards the officer who pulled him over for an expired license plate.

Police took Jeremy Harris, 27, into custody, charging him with disorderly conduct for spewing vulgarity, a misdemeanor. In his car, they found copies of the hateful literature.

According to the complaint, Sgt. Travis Bailes wrote: “I asked him to stop using profane language in public. As Mr. Harris was given his citation and allowed to return to his vehicle, he turned to me and shouted, ‘f*** you. Heil Hitler,’ and presented a Nazi salute.”

The fliers blamed Jews for the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, gun control and the LGBTQ movement. They also disparaged circumcision. Harris reportedly distributed them at two other hotels: a Holiday Inn Express and a Best Western/Quality Inn.
Belgian author: 'I want to ram a sharp knife through the throat of every Jew I meet'
A Belgian author and columnist wrote in the Humo Magazine on Sunday that, at times, he wanted to stab every Jew he encountered as revenge for violence between Israel and Middle Eastern terrorist groups.

In his column in the Dutch-language weekly satire magazine, Herman Brusselmans described his mood swings over his fears that a "Third World War is coming" because of a "small, fat, bald Jew" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who wanted to wipe out "the entire Arab world."

"For every Hamas or Hezbollah fighter killed by that Israeli shitty army, hundreds of innocent civilians are killed, and we can do nothing but keep repeating that many of them are children," wrote Brusselmans, adding that he imagined that those killed were his son or girlfriend. "I get so angry that I want to ram a sharp knife through the throat of every Jew I meet."

Brusselmans gave a caveat that one had to remember that "not every Jew is a murderous bastard." To temper his feelings, he imagined feeling sorry for an elderly Jew but wishing him hell because of his mood swings.

Israel's ambassador to Belgium responds
Israeli ambassador to Belgium Idit Rosenzweig-Abu responded on social media that if such comments were made against Muslims rather than Jews, they would not be accepted by society.

"How did this pass editing? Antisemitism and legitimization of violence have to be a red line even for an 'intellectual’s' verbal tantrum in a left-wing magazine," Rosenzweig-Abu said on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.

Israeli academic Emmanuel Navon said that the article was incitement and called on the Belgian Police to investigate the columnist.


Frisbee tournament put on ice in Belgium over Israeli team’s participation
Following an act of anti-Israel vandalism at a sports venue in Belgium, local authorities on Tuesday paused an international frisbee tournament, preventing hundreds of athletes, as well as 33 Israeli ones, from competing.

The delay in the opening of the European Ultimate Junior Championships Under 17 in De Pinte village in Belgium follows the splashing on Monday of red paint and the scrawling of the words “boycott Israhell now” on a wall of the intended for the pan-European frisbee tournament, De Standaard newspaper reported. The municipality decided it could not guarantee the participants’ safety, preventing the matches from taking place.

The act, whose perpetrators have not been identified, follows agitation in recent days on social networks against the participation of the Israeli team alongside delegations from 10 additional countries. The De Pinte municipality postponed the tournament indefinitely, and it is not yet known whether the event will take place.

The tournament, whose main organizer is the European Ultimate Federation, was already moved to De Pinte from Gent following security concerns related to the Israeli delegation.
Algerian Olympic team blames ‘Zionist conspiracy’ for trans boxer row
Speaking before the bout, which guaranteed that she would win at least a bronze medal, Yassine Arab, the director of the Algerian Olympic and Sports Committees, claimed Khelif had been attacked by shadowy forces.

“The Zionist lobby, they want to break the mind of Imane. But now Imane is very strong. They don’t want that a Muslim girl or Arabic girl goes higher in the level of the rank of female boxing,” he said.

“We are all here for Imane. You can see all the support of everybody from the world. All the international press associations, they support Imane.”

Speaking to BeIN Sports, Khelif said: “This is a matter of dignity and honour for every woman or female.

"The entire Arab people have known me for years. For years I have been boxing in international federation competitions, they [the IBA] were unfair with me. But I have god.

“I want to tell the entire world that I am a female, and I will remain a female.

“I dedicate this medal to the world, and to all the Arabs and I tell you, long live Algeria."
Paris ceremony honors Israeli athletes killed in 1972 Munich Games attack
Israeli athletes and officials, the mayor of Paris and International Olympic Committee officials paid tribute on Tuesday to Israeli Olympic team members killed by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Eleven Israelis were killed in an attack on Munich's poorly secured Olympic village where they were staying.

"The 5th of September, 1972 is the darkest day in Olympic history," IOC President Thomas Bach told the ceremony held at Israel's embassy during the second week of the Paris Olympics. "Everything was shattered with the horrific terrorist attack on the Israeli Olympic team 52 years ago."

Amid heightened geopolitical tensions over Israel's war in Gaza, the memorial ceremony, originally due to take place just before the start of the Games outside Paris City Hall, was moved to the heavily protected Israeli embassy.

"The pain remains eternal," Israeli President Isaac Herzog said via video link. "I'll never forget the tears, the shock ... the Olympics which represented joy turned into tragedy."

The Munich attack on the Israeli team by gunmen associated with the Palestinian guerrilla group Black September shocked the world, playing out in large part on live television watched by millions of people.

Ongoing tensions and security measures
Eight terrorists infiltrated the Olympic Village and broke into the Israeli athlete apartments, kicking off a bloody 24-hour standoff that began with a struggle between the gunmen and unarmed athletes who tried to defend themselves.

The gunmen killed two athletes and took nine hostage, who were later killed after a failed rescue attempt by German police. A German policeman and five of the Palestinian gunmen were also killed in exchanges of fire after the stand-off at the Olympic village and at nearby Fuerstenfeldbruck airfield.

Three terrorists were captured but freed in October in exchange for hostages aboard a hijacked German airliner.

German and Olympic authorities faced bitter criticism at the time for their response to the attack.

The 1972 Games continued after the attacks and the IOC took almost half a century to comply with families' requests for an official act of remembrance at an Olympic event.

It finally held a moment of silence and mentioned the Munich victims at the Tokyo summer Olympics' opening ceremony in 2021.

For the Paris Games, Israeli competitors are being escorted by elite tactical units to and from events and given 24-hour protection throughout the Olympics, officials say.

Ahead of the Games, the Palestinian Olympic Committee joined calls for Israel to be excluded because of the war in Gaza.


KKJ-JNF unveils rare photos of Tisha B’Av from early Israeli statehood
Tisha B’Av, the pinnacle of the Jewish mourning period for destructions of the First and Second Temples, will be observed this year from sundown on Aug. 13 until nightfall on Aug. 13. It is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar when many fast and pray.

In preparation, KKL-JNF is releasing rare photographs from the early days of Israel that capture the commemoration of Tisha B’Av. The images reveal soldiers observing the traditions of the day at a military base, as well as a mass prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. They illustrate how Jewish traditions were deeply rooted in the early days of Israeli statehood and underscore the enduring importance of maintaining commandments and customs.

Efrat Sinai, director of archives at KKL-JNF, said: “The KKL-JNF archive preserves numerous moments from the history of the State of Israel—from communities and revival to leaders and pioneers, and from festivals to holidays. We are proud to continue revealing important photographs from KKL-JNF’s extensive collection, which documents the Land of Israel and its history from the early 20th century to today.”




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