Democracies Should Quit the UN Human Rights Council
Of the many bodies at the UN, perhaps the worst – worse even than the General Assembly – is the UN Human Rights Council. It is highly selective in its indignation. China, a member of the UNHRC, imprisons and reeducates one, two, possibly even three million Uighurs. But no one at the UNHRC will ever call China to account. Another current member, Pakistan, imprisons Christians who have been accused of “blasphemy” by Muslims settling personal scores. No one bothers about Pakistan. Russia attempts to murder enemies of the state, even when those “enemies” are abroad. Putin’s men murdered Alexei Navalny and Pavel Litvinenko, and tried to murder, with the Novichok nerve agent, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia, in placid Salisbury, England. But no one is thinking of putting Russia in the dock at the UNHRC. Other members of the UNHRC include Cuba, a wretched Communist dictatorship, and Venezuela, an even more wretched Communist dictatorship, with four million of its citizens now having fled abroad. Among the UNHRC’s 47 members are other splendid examples of democracy and human rights such as Bangladesh (where Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists are persecuted and sometimes murdered), Mauritania (with its 170,00 black slaves of Arab masters), and Libya (with its open-air African slave markets).Demanding real change: How Global Jewry can hold institutions accountable
The UNHRC does have on its permanent agenda, to be taken up for discussion and a vote at every session, the human rights “violations” of exactly one country, Israel. This is the infamous Item Seven, with resolutions to be taken up concerning “human rights in Palestine and the occupied Arab territories.”
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said after the 2020 UNHRC elections: “Today’s Human Rights Council elections prove once again that this council has nothing to do with protecting human rights and everything to do with violating them. Since 2006, the council has adopted 90 resolutions condemning Israel, more than all the resolutions against Syria, North Korea and Iran, combined. The obsessive focus on Israel, along with its protection of oppressive, dictatorial regimes, shows that the Human Rights Council is in the business of white-washing the crimes of these countries. I call on all democracies that are still members of the council to immediately resign from this shameful and antisemitic body.”
Erdan was right to point out the “obsessive focus” on Israel, which has been the constant target of UNHRC resolutions under Item Seven for its supposed “violations” of the rights of Palestinians. In the last 14 years, 90 resolutions at the UNHRC have condemned Israel, which many will be astounded to learn is “more than all the resolutions” that in the same period were passed against three of the worst violators of human rights on the planet – Syria, North Korea, and Iran.
The focus on Israel has been noted by two recent Secretaries-General of the U.N. The first was Kofi Annan. In his speech to open the 61st General Assembly of the United Nations in September 2006, Annan admitted that Israeli is often unfairly judged at the UN: “On one side, supporters of Israel feel that it is harshly judged by standards that are not applied to its enemies. And too often this is true, particularly in some UN bodies.” The other was Ban Ki-moon, who, speaking to the Security Council on December 17, 2016, expressed his opinion that the UN has had a “disproportionate focus on Israel” that has “foiled the ability of the UN to fulfill its role effectively.” The Secretary-General explained that “decades of political maneuvering have created a disproportionate number of resolutions, reports and committees against Israel.”
ON THE INTERNATIONAL stage, there is no hope of reforming the United Nations. After months of reports that UN staff directly participated in the October 7 attack, the UN has confirmed as much. Every step of the way, the UN has attempted to penalize Israel for refusing to die. Western countries should cancel all UN funding obligations and seek new avenues for international programs or collaboration.Seth Mandel: The Story That Explains Why Cori Bush Lost
Every dime to the UN is directly supporting terror sympathizers around the globe. UN aid trucks are repeatedly hijacked for contraband such as cigarettes, which means aid employees are funneling products into the shipments and coordinating with Hamas cells. There is no reason that other bodies that do not employ terrorists cannot take over food insecurity programs and humanitarian aid efforts.
In the private sector, the solution is to vote with your wallet. Stop subsidizing businesses that support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctioning of Israel. Companies that have decided to take stances on the war against Hamas have not been quiet about where they stand; shop somewhere else.
There is no good or service worth the financing of our destruction. In Arizona, our state treasurer has pulled all state investments tied to pro-BDS businesses. Other governments should follow suit.
Making our own path
There is a fundamental problem when we call for change but decline to participate in the necessary steps. Yes, it is inconvenient, sometimes even risky, but sitting idly by is cowardly. If institutions do not give us a seat at the table, we must pull up a chair, and if they do not make room, we build a new space.
All of these institutions and individuals are calculating that Jews are not going to create real problems, thereby allowing them to appease the antisemites and keep our business.
Unfortunately, for most of modern history, that strategy has worked. Global Jewry is too entrenched in the notion that if we are just polite enough and show them the error of their ways, they will come around. Demands must have consequences; otherwise, our words will be meaningless.
Last night Missouri Rep. Cori Bush became the second member of the anti-Israel “squad” to lose her Democratic primary election this summer. And not a moment too soon, since her concession speech was a deranged menu of half-intelligible threats against those she blamed for her loss: the pro-Israel Jewish community.
“AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down!” Bush yelled, to cheers from her crowd of supporters.
AIPAC did indeed spend money to oppose Bush, though she lost to a progressive activist-turned-prosecutor who rose to fame after the riots in Ferguson, Mo., in 2015.
But in a roundabout way, the discourse around AIPAC and Israel did play a role in Bush’s downfall, just not the one she thinks. There was no Jewish hypnotism at work here, or whatever she believes in the darker corners of her weary mind. It’s just that Bush’s handling of the Israel issue, and specifically of AIPAC, provided a window into the fact that the congresswoman had become untethered from reality and was therefore unconditionally unfit to represent the people of St. Louis.
An incident at a late July fundraiser, organized with several anti-Zionist groups, brings this point into focus. Bush recounted a story that supposedly showed how open-minded she was—a story revealed to be a weird fabrication.
It went like this: At an event earlier that day, a woman fainted. “I did what nurses do, take care of the person that was in need,” Bush told the videoconference. She “didn’t care that this is the person that brought [AIPAC] to my doorstep.”
The upshot was that Bush will take care of even the people trying to destroy her.
But when St. Louis Magazine looked into the story, they found that Bush had taken some artistic license when retelling it. The woman in the story was actually Debbie Kitchen, who is neither Jewish nor AIPAC-affiliated. “It just blew my mind,” Kitchen told St. Louis. “Then to find out that she raised $30,000 that night—I was livid.”
According to the magazine, the background is as follows: “Kitchen says she and Bush know each other well because she was active in Indivisible St. Louis, which endorsed Bush in 2020 and 2022. The progressive-leaning group is endorsing Bush’s opponent Wesley Bell in this year’s August 6 Democratic primary, and Kitchen is a very vocal backer of Bell, too.”
This was not an innocent mistake, then. It was an egregious lie told to manifest Jews as the enemy in any situation in which Cori Bush faces opposition.
Ruthie Blum: Joe Biden’s sycophants in the Hebrew media
The eponymous host of Israeli Channel 12’s “Six O’clock with Oden Ben-Ami” opened his show on Monday evening with a tribute, in Hebrew, to the leader of the free world.These words are no joke: Europe must condemn violent hate speech
“President Biden,” he began, “allow me to address you personally, precisely during this delicate and sensitive time in the boiling Middle East.”
He went on fawningly, “Allow me to tell you that very many of us here appreciate you, your courageous friendship, the genuine Zionism you exhibit, the strong and stable backing that you provide the State of Israel against the evil threat of Iran and its proxies.”
Exuding the kind of empathy that nobody in Biden’s own party possesses, he stressed, “Don’t be offended by those who call you a ‘lame duck’—you’re absolutely not that.”
No, he went on, “You are the president of the United States until mid-January of next year, with all that it entails.”
And then came Ben-Ami’s cringe-inducing conclusion.
“Many Israelis know very well how much you invested in Israel’s security—and still invest in it. How much you supported and still support us. How much you knew to embrace us during our darkest hours. How much you consoled the stunned families of the hostages. How you played in the Oval Office of the White House with the little children who returned from captivity. And these many Israelis appreciate and want to thank you for it from the bottom of their hearts. President Biden, well done. Thank you very much.”
To guarantee that no viewers missed this little editorial that would have made even First Lady Dr. Jill Biden smirk, Ben-Ami’s colleague, anchor Yonit Levi, posted the segment on X with English subtitles. She, too, makes no bones about being a fan of the current administration in Washington. And that’s putting it mildly, though she was absolutely smitten with former U.S. President Barack Obama.
A vulgar column by Herman Brusselmans, a prominent Belgian author and media personality, has crossed the line from provocative to dangerous.Natasha Hausdorff: The new Labour government reverts back to antisemitism and anti-Israel policies
In his piece, Brusselmans wrote that he “wants to ram a sharp knife through the throat of every Jew he meets,” a shocking, unacceptable image that is nothing short of hate speech.
This is not merely an expression of antisemitism. It is a dangerous incitement to violence and must be condemned as such. Nowadays, the term antisemitism is, unfortunately, deployed almost as a stock phrase to call out criminal speech or activities against Jewish people. Yet expressing the desire to ram a knife through anyone’s throat, Jew or non-Jew, is despicable and must be protested in and of itself, even before it is deemed antisemitic. It is not just about who these words are directed against; they are inherently wrong and inciteful.
Furthermore, the problem with Brusselmans’ statements is not that they conflate Israel with Jewish people, which simply plays into the growing demonization of Israel, distancing every Jewish community from the State of Israel. While, of course, the government and military of Israel are their own distinct entities and have no official link to Jewish communities outside of Israel, we object to this author’s desire to stab a Jew in the throat for that murderous image alone, not for mixing Israelis and Belgian Jews together. Writing such hatred, even the mention of stabbing anyone in the throat oversteps the boundaries of all political discourse.
The Belgian magazine Humo, where this column was published, has defended Brusselmans, with its deputy editor quoted as saying that the passage was intended as satire. Such a claim trivializes the real threat posed by hate speech and fails to hold accountable those who genuinely spread such harmful ideas.
Brusselmans’s words are not just offensive; they are downright dangerous. They contribute to an atmosphere of fear and hostility that threatens the safety of Jewish individuals and undermines society, creating a toxic environment that can lead to real-world violence.
This incident has received significant attention in the Belgian press, ranking as one of the top stories on HLN and leading coverage on the national news channel VRT. The public outrage reflects the severity of Brusselmans’ words. His stubborn refusal to retract his statement or acknowledge its harm—and his continuing to spew hateful tropes about Jews “who cannot take a joke”—only compounds his wrongdoing.
Over the weekend, the Daily Mail broke the story that the British government had implemented a “secret arms boycott” of Israel by freezing weapons export licenses, despite purporting to delay its decision on instituting an embargo against Israel. Even after civil servants froze licenses to Israel, Foreign Secretary David Lammy continued to claim that no decision would be made on weapons exports before “careful assessments of the law” and the conclusion of a “comprehensive review” that he requested.Taylor Swift concerts canceled after ISIS plot narrowly foiled by police
Quite apart from the damage to the credibility of the British Government, revealed to be speaking from both sides of its mouth, the revelations also deal a substantial blow to the UK’s authority on legal matters.
The previous government maintained arms exports to Israel on the basis of its careful and continuous legal assessments of Israel’s commitment to compliance with international humanitarian law. While the foreign and trade ministers declined to publish the legal advice, in accordance with longstanding convention, the conclusions they drew from it were publicized. Those conclusions were also consistent with the public position of the United States and repeated assurances to the press by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller that the US had not found violations of international humanitarian law and that their view was “informed by [their] ongoing assessments.”
It has quickly become apparent that under the present UK government, the facts and the legal analysis are far less important in their formulation of policy towards Israel. In seeking to win back extreme voters whom Labour lost to rival parties, the easy fix is to take an aggressive stance towards Israel and pursue policies which many attribute to the party’s troubled history of antisemitism. The law be damned, much to the glee of Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.
We have seen this pattern in every aspect of the Labour government’s approach towards Israel since Sir Kier Starmer took up residence in Downing Street, from the re-funding of UNRWA, despite its complicity in terrorism, to the withdrawal of the UK’s representations to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on jurisdiction, despite foreign office lawyers seeking to advance those submissions in the British national interest. Politics have prevailed over the promises Starmer made before his victory, which included combatting antisemitism, discrimination, and inequality and supporting a secure Israel.
To the extent that the UK will seek to ground its further abandonment of Israel upon recent dictates of international legal institutions, it is important that these lawfare initiatives be robustly called out. These include a recent non-binding Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice based upon abject falsehoods, manipulation of international law, and a misapplication of history and geography that sought to wipe Israel off the map. Equally troubling are the false allegations in every sentence of the ICC Prosecutor’s public summary of his application for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, including the canard of starvation in Gaza, which has been resoundingly debunked in a new report by UK Lawyers for Israel.
Israel stands at the forefront of combatting the Iran-led ‘Axis of Resistance,’ which is driven by hatred of the West, including the United Kingdom and its democratic ideals. We must not forget that citizens of the UK were among those murdered and kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre.
Three Taylor Swift shows have been canceled on the European leg of her Eras tour after police narrowly thwarted an ISIS plot to attack her concerts in Vienna — and authorities warned there could be other threats.How Iran finances attacks against Israel
Swift’s sold-out Vienna shows – slated for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – were called off after the terror scare, her Austrian show promoter Barracuda announced.
“With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” the promoter said in a post on Instagram.
Two suspects — a 19-year-old living in his parents’ house near Vienna, along with another man — were arrested Wednesday after police raided the home, according to the Austrian outlet Kronen Zeitung.
A bomb squad found various chemicals and substances potentially being used to make explosives, and evacuated the home.
The pair were allegedly targeting Swift’s concerts at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium, where she is scheduled to play Thursday through Saturday night to sold-out crowds, according to Kronen Zeitung.
“The suspects were focused on the Taylor Swift concerts. We discovered that he was taking action to prepare for the attack,” said Austrian Director General for Public Safety Franz Ruf.
“A clear threat has been averted,” he said, adding that authorities had not yet declared the concerts entirely safe and were still investigating other accomplices, according to Kronen Zeitung.
The 19-year-old suspect is an Austrian national, and is believed to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic terror group in July.
He and the other suspect are believed to have become radicalized online.
Security plans have been increased at the concerts.
Iran threatens a large-scale war against Israel, but where does Terhan get the money for its anti-Israel terror? Israel’s enemies—Iran, Hamas, the Houthis and Hezbollah—have all been hit hard, losing troops, training facilities, tons of weaponry and miles of tunnels; senior figures have been assassinated. Yet, the Ayatollah regime continues to benefit from its engine of revenue: large-scale oil exports.How Qatar buys powerful friends in Washington
Oil revenues continue to flow despite the many sanctions imposed on the country since 2019 to stop its oil exports. Iran counteracts these sanctions with more than 300 tankers registered in foreign countries, which form a “ghost fleet.” This fleet turns off or disrupts navigation and identification systems (AIS) and uses false registration documents.
To cover the tracks of this maritime traffic, Iran routinely takes other measures—for example, transferring oil from tanker to tanker, falsely registering a source of the oil as a third country, and using complicated money transfer networks. Iran tempts buyers with a 15% discount on the price per barrel. According to market experts, that discount does not entail losses for the regime because the marginal cost of production in Iran is low compared to other countries.
Washington’s sanctions and Iran’s progression to terror
A major challenge for Washington’s sanctions is that the Iranians are progressing in their sales at a faster pace than the Americans can sanction. For example, through July 18, 2024, the United States slapped sanctions on 48 ships, including 41 tankers. Yet Lloyd’s List notes that since the beginning of the year, the ayatollah regime has expanded its ghost fleet with tankers totaling 3.85 million dwt (capacity—a unit of measure for the maximum weight a ship can carry). An especially small tanker carries 50,000 dwt, and an especially large one is 550,000 dwt.
Just last June, former Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Ebrahim Raisi’s government had been able to sell so much oil in recent years because of the failure to implement sanctions. In other words, the Iranians are profiting from the Biden administration’s unwillingness to enforce sanctions, which in turn stems from Washington’s desire to keep oil prices from rising.
Iran sells to China, and reaps anti-Israel terror
Demand for Iranian oil comes mainly from the largest importer in the world, China. According to the maritime traffic monitoring company ARGUS, China buys 85%-90% of the approximately 1.5 million barrels per day that Iran exports. According to the UANI organization, in June, the quantity of oil spiked 17% compared to the same period last year. From the beginning of President Biden’s tenure in January 2021 to December 2023, the ayatollah regime’s revenues from oil exports to Beijing crossed the bar of $100 billion.
Data from Chinese tax authorities reveal that in 2023, China imported about 11.3 million barrels of oil daily, over 10% more than in 2022. Amid the dramatically rising demand in the post-COVID-19 era, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) records that in 2023, Chinese refineries imported more oil than ever before, seeking to meet the needs of the local transportation industry. Over the past year, China’s primary sources of oil were Russia, Iran, Brazil and the United States. In the first quarter of 2024, 11% of the total came from Iran.
China is deepening its presence in the Middle East, whether in Saudi Arabia or through contacts between the Palestinian factions, because it sees a vacuum and American weakness. Iranian media have reported outright that Iran is protected from U.S. sanctions because of China.
This issue is one Israel cannot address alone, though it may be able to play a role in raising international awareness of the role China plays vis a vis Iran.
Nowhere has Qatar’s practice of buying favor been more apparent than in the events surrounding the 2022 World Cup.Jonathan Tobin: Was Josh Shapiro passed over for VP because of his Jewish roots?
In 2010, soccer’s governing body, FIFA, selected Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup. But this was more of a business transaction than a fair vote. Three weeks before FIFA awarded Doha the 2022 hosting rights, Qatar allegedly offered FIFA a $400 million television contract with state-controlled Al Jazeera. FIFA reportedly received a second $480 million payment from the Qatari government three years later. The Justice Department asserted in a 2020 superseding indictment that FIFA executives “were offered and received bribe payments” to secure hosting privileges for Qatar.
Then, as the 2022 World Cup got underway, a bombshell scandal rocked Europe: Belgian authorities uncovered a Qatari bribery scheme involving European Union officials and more than $1.5 million in cash. Qatar was paying off members of the European Parliament. Leaked documents showed efforts to scrub Qatar’s image by “neutralizing” resolutions critical of Doha and shifting the “narrative in parliament” about Doha’s human rights record, which was under intense scrutiny in the run-up to the World Cup.
The Menendez episode fits with Qatar’s broader strategy of buying clout — sometimes legally, often not — to evade accountability for things like terror finance and human rights abuses. Qatar continues to host the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East and reaps the benefits of its status as a major non-NATO ally, even as it backs terrorist groups and violates human rights. To sustain this insane arrangement, Qatar courts U.S. lawmakers and lobbyists as a matter of survival.
Menendez faces up to 222 years in prison. Qatar, however, continues to buy immunity in Washington, Brussels and beyond. Qatar must be held to account. Authorities here in the United States should investigate the Qatari role in this scandal — and put Qatar on notice that there can be no alliances with a partner who relies on bribery to protect its standing.
Had Harris chosen Shapiro, it would have signalled that she was determined to steer the Democrats back into the political center on not just Israel but other issues like school choice, though Shapiro’s stand on that topic is also anathema to the Teachers Unions that hold so much sway among Democrats.Tim Walz wrote a master’s thesis on Holocaust education, just as his own school’s approach drew criticism
Above all, the rejection of Shapiro after he was bashed by so many on the left serves as a reminder of how much the Democratic Party has changed in the last 24 years.
At this moment, August 2000 seems like a very long time ago. When then Vice President Al Gore chose Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman to be his running mate, the decision was hailed as a brilliant political move by the Democratic Party’s nominee. It both solidified the hold of moderates on the Democratic Party and marked the first time a Jew was named to a national ticket. Like Shapiro is now, Lieberman’s views were liberal on most issues. But he was also a well-respected centrist Democrat as well as an observant Jew, whose piety and plain-speaking manner was admired by people of all faiths.
As is true of almost all vice-presidential nominees, neither Lieberman nor his Republican counterpart Dick Cheney played a decisive role in determining the outcome of an election that was razor-close and decided in favour of George W. Bush by a mere 553 votes in Florida. Lieberman’s nomination was a milestone in American history that seemed to prove that Jews were accepted virtually everywhere in the United States and could aspire to the nation’s highest offices without being subjected to antisemitic invective.
The attacks on Shapiro illustrate that this is no longer the case.
That is not to say that Shapiro has no future in national politics. Should Harris lose this year, he will immediately be classified as among the likely Democratic presidential contenders in 2028. Perhaps political fashions will shift in the next four years in a way that will ease his path. For now, though, it’s hard to imagine the Democrats picking someone who is considered a centrist and well as seen as a throwback to an earlier era where pro-Israel Democrats were the rule and Israel-haters were the exception in the party.
The thesis was the culmination of Walz’s master’s degree focused on Holocaust and genocide education at Minnesota State University, Mankato, which he earned while teaching at Mankato West. His 27-page thesis, which JTA obtained, is titled “Improving Human Rights and Genocide Studies in the American High School Classroom.”Tim Walz Cozied Up to Anti-Semitic Terror Defender at 2019 CAIR Event, Photos Show
In it, Walz argues that the lessons of the “Jewish Holocaust” should be taught “in the greater context of human rights abuses,” rather than as a unique historical anomaly or as part of a larger unit on World War II. “To exclude other acts of genocide severely limited students’ ability to synthesize the lessons of the Holocaust and the ability to apply them elsewhere,” he wrote.
He then took a position that he noted was “controversial” among Holocaust scholars: that the Holocaust should not be taught as unique, but used to help students identify “clear patterns” with other historical genocides like the Armenian and Rwandan genocides.
Walz was describing, in effect, his own approach to teaching the Holocaust that he implemented in Alliance, Nebraska, years earlier. In the state’s remote northwest region, Walz asked his global geography class to study the common factors that linked the Holocaust to other historical genocides, including economic strife, totalitarian ideology and colonialism. The year was 1993. At year’s end, Walz and his class correctly predicted that Rwanda was most at risk of sliding into genocide.
“The Holocaust is taught too often purely as a historical event, an anomaly, a moment in time,” Walz Told the New York Times in 2008, reflecting on those Alliance lessons. “That relieves us of responsibility. Obviously, the mastermind was sociopathic, but on the scale for it to happen, there had to be a lot of people in the country who chose to go down that path.”
Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz spoke at an event for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in 2019, where he rubbed shoulders with an anti-Semitic scholar behind much of the Hamas propaganda on college campuses in the wake of Oct. 7, according to photos from the event.
Walz, the governor of Minnesota, appeared at the "Challenging Islamophobia" conference, hosted by CAIR's Minnesota chapter on March 28, 2019, at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul. Walz gave introductory remarks at the event and announced the formation of a civil rights office to address Islamophobia in the state, which has the largest population of Somali Muslims in the country.
Photos of the conference show Walz posed with Hatem Bazian, an anti-Semitic scholar who has for years defended anti-Israel terrorist activity. Bazian is the founder of Students for Justice in Palestine, the group behind many of the pro-Hamas and anti-Semitic rallies across college campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks. The group's George Washington University chapter projected the slogan "Glory to Our Martyrs" days after the attack. Bazian also founded Students for Justice in Palestine's parent group American Muslims for Palestine, an influential anti-Israel organization under investigation in Virginia for allegedly financing terrorist activity.
Walz's appearance at the event could undercut the image pushed by the Kamala Harris campaign and liberal media outlets of the governor as a folksy Midwestern moderate. He has already faced scrutiny for embellishing his military record and for his handling of violent riots in the wake of the anti-police George Floyd protests in 2020. Harris snubbed Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, a popular Jewish Democrat, in favor of Walz—a pick praised by anti-Israel "Squad" members and anti-Israel groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America.
CAIR's and Bazian's views were well known at the time Walz attended the Islamophobia conference.
Federal prosecutors labeled CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator of Hamas in a 2008 terrorism finance case. In 2017, Bazian apologized for posting an anti-Semitic meme of a Jewish man with the caption "Mom look! I is chosen! I can now kill, rape, smuggle organs & steal the land of Palestinians Yay #Ashke-Nazi."
The anti-Semitism watchdog group Canary Mission named Bazian "The Most Dangerous Professor in America" later that year.
I like Tappers’s “Sure, absolutely” in response to a moronic antisemitic assertion. https://t.co/GY2eH88boc
— Abe Greenwald (@AbeGreenwald) August 7, 2024
Speakers at “Hands Off the Middle East” rally in Dearborn: We Have Been Approached by Harris and Trump Campaigns – They Know the Next President of the United States Will Be Decided in Dearborn; MEMRI Can Go to Hell! pic.twitter.com/WVNtoHOgB2
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) August 7, 2024
Tim Walz basks in the fact that anti-Semite Ilhan Omar is in Congress, says it "brightens" him up pic.twitter.com/IKEZbwZvm7
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) August 6, 2024
🚨Meet Tim Walz: Khamenei's Puppet🚨
— Shelley G (@ShelleyGldschmt) August 6, 2024
Tim Walz was endorsed with a 100% approval rating by NIAC, a pro-Khamenei lobby that advocates for the Islamic Republic in DC.
In fact, Walz is so beholden to the Khamenei Lobby that he endorsed the disastrous JCPOA that enriched the regime. pic.twitter.com/jtqdSROWU9
Wazwaz also spoke at Red Nation's From Minnesota to Palestine: Teach In and Panel Discussion on December 3rd of last year. Explore this thread, and you will find all manner of violent rhetoric. https://t.co/p1clIbu2Uw
— Stu (@thestustustudio) August 7, 2024
Strife in Democratic Socialists of America over mourning Haniyeh, anti-Zionism
Factions within the Democratic Socialists of America have clashed about taking more radical anti-Israel positions with the removal of a statement condemning the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and the moderation of a resolution to expel Zionists from the organization.Bushwhacked: Anti-Semitic Faith Healer Cori Bush Falls to Pro-Israel Primary Challenger
In response to the alleged Israeli assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran last Wednesday, the killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr last Tuesday, and the airstrikes against Houthi targets in Hodeidah on July 20, the DSA International Committee issued a Sunday statement condemning the “criminal attacks.”
“We mourn and honor the martyrs of Lebanon and Palestine and express our unwavering solidarity with their popular resistance movements,” said the DSA committee. “The contributions of these figures to the cause of freedom and justice will not be forgotten and their victories will not be reversed. Their example will inspire future resistance to colonialism and injustice throughout the world.”
The statement was deleted soon after being published. DSA members accused the DSA’s National Political Committee (NPC) and its Steering Committee for pressuring the body into removing the statement.
The alleged move by DSA leadership came after the controversy over changes in the vote on the made to a “Make DSA an Anti-Zionist Organization in Principle and Praxis” resolution.
The resolution called for the organization, which had denounced and had been critical of Zionism, to officially become anti-Zionist. The DSA would expel any members that oppose the Boycott Sanctions and Divestment movement, are connected to any Israeli or Zionist groups, or who have “knowingly provided material aid to Israel.”
The DSA would have also adopt a series if anti-Israel policies such as rejecting affiliation with any Zionist groups and opposing legislation and opposing aid to Israel.
Anti-Semitic congresswoman and former faith healer Cori Bush (D., Mo.) became the second "Squad" member to lose reelection, falling to her pro-Israel primary challenger in a bitter race that saw her compare herself to Hamas terrorists.Cori Bush Melts Down on Stage After Primary Loss: 'AIPAC, I'm Coming To Tear Your Kingdom Down'
Bush trailed St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell by 5 points with 84 percent of the vote reported when the Associated Press called the race just before 11 p.m. on Tuesday. Bell, a pro-Israel Democrat, criticized Bush for her hostility toward the Jewish state, particularly highlighting her 2021 vote against Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee also spent millions to oust Bush.
In response, Bush said she relates to Hamas, given that she and other anti-police activists were "considered terrorists" while protesting Michael Brown's death in 2014.
"Would they qualify to me as a terrorist organization? Yes. But do I know that? Absolutely not," Bush said of Hamas in the campaign's closing days. "I have no communication with them. All I know is that we were considered terrorists … and all we were doing was trying to get peace."
Bush's loss is a significant blow to the left-wing "Squad," which will lose at least two members come January following Rep. Jamaal Bowman's (D., N.Y.) June primary loss. It's also a blow to Bush's crackpot security team, which includes Bush's husband as well as Nathaniel Davis III, an anti-Semitic spiritual guru who claims he can summon tornadoes and earthquakes at will.
Bush has paid that team more than $812,000 on private security services since 2019, the Washington Free Beacon reported last month. Her husband, Cortney Merritts, received $150,000, while Davis—who claims to be 109 trillion years old and offers courses on "psychic self-defense"—has received $152,000.
Bush also claims a host of supernatural abilities.
She spent years working as a faith healer for the Kingdom Embassy International church, a religious group that claims to have resurrected the dead and cured AIDS, COVID-19, cancer, and paralysis. In her 2022 autobiography, Bush claimed she cured a woman's tumors and healed a young girl of paralysis.
Less than two days after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's headquarters was vandalized, Rep. Cori Bush (D., Mo.) promised to tear down the Jewish group—a remark that caps off a failed primary campaign that began with an accusation she was "fanning the flames of antisemitism."
Three masked suspects sprayed "F— Israel" on AIPAC's Washington, D.C., headquarters and destroyed property early Monday morning, Jewish Insider reported Wednesday. Palestine Action, a global anti-Israel coalition, claimed responsibility and accused AIPAC of propping up "morally bankrupt" American politicians.
Then, late Tuesday night, Bush blamed the Jewish group for her loss to her AIPAC-funded primary challenger, St. Louis prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell.
"All they did was radicalize me, and so now they should be afraid. See, now they about to see this other Cori, this other side," Bush said during her concession speech. "AIPAC, I'm coming to tear your kingdom down."
AIPAC, which has spent millions in successful races to oust anti-Israel candidates, used the opportunity for a victory lap.
"Voters across America are rejecting anti-Israel voices in favor of candidates who understand the vital importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship," AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann told the Washington Free Beacon. "The outcome in this race—as in so many others—shows that the pro-Israel position is both good policy and good politics for both parties."
"We will not be deterred by the illegal actions of fringe, anti-Israel extremists in our efforts to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship," Wittmann said in response to the vandalism of AIPAC headquarters.
This is one of my favorite Leftist tropes. "I was a huge Hamas supporter, but now that you've stopped me, I'll be an EVEN BIGGER Hamas supporter!!!!" Same line of idiot logic the Left applies to the Middle East: "You can't kill Hamas! That will make them even more Hamas!" https://t.co/6VMiAJqK3U
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 7, 2024
Another squad member gone from congress too soon. RIP to @CoriBush’s career pic.twitter.com/KUokmqPlDZ
— Lyle Culpepper (@ShutupLyle) August 7, 2024
#Minnesota
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) August 6, 2024
Fun Fact: Ilhan Omar's primary is August 13th.
Fun Fact: it's an OPEN primary so all registered Republicans, Independents, and Democrats can vote in the primary.
Fun Fact: Omar is running once again against Democratic challenger Don Samuels. Samuels lost to her in… pic.twitter.com/sHUN6PWuBV
Let's take a look at Ilhan Omar's voting record:
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) August 7, 2024
❌ voted against the Iran Counterterrorism Act
❌ voted against the Standing Against Houthi Aggression Act
❌ voted against the Servicemember Quality of Life & National Defense Act
❌ voted against sanctions on China, Iran, &… pic.twitter.com/fUxvlAUoEF
Sharing this video not because I want to influence a foreign election, heaven forbid. But because she's a disgusting Jew hater that has no place in any position of power in any country. #mn5 pic.twitter.com/qoUFKrEm4J
— The Mossad: Satirical, Yet Awesome (@TheMossadIL) August 7, 2024
Mohammad Tawhidi - aka The Imam of Peace - calls Ilhan Omar “ISIS with lipstick.”
— The Persian Jewess (@persianjewess) August 7, 2024
It’s time to kick this domestic terrorist out of Congress on August 13. Vote Don Samuels.
pic.twitter.com/KAvWAiRF4A
Students gearing up for round 2 of pro-Palestinian protests: ‘We’ve been working all this summer
The pro-Palestinian activists who disrupted campuses across the nation are plotting their return for the new academic year.Education Department probing Pomona for alleged Title VI violation
Demonstrators say all forms of protest are still on the table, despite the more than 2,000 arrests so far, as students try to figure out a new strategy to demand their schools divest from Israel, among other goals.
“What we will see [is] the students will continue their activism, will continue doing what they’ve done in conventional and unconventional ways. So not only protests, not only encampments, kind of any — any available means necessary to push Columbia to divest from from Israel,” said Mahmoud Khalil, student negotiator on behalf of Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
“And we’ve been working all this summer on our plans, on what’s next to pressure Columbia to listen to the students and to decide to be on the right side of history,” Khalil added.
Students will be heading back into the classroom this month after a chaotic ending to the last academic year.
Dozens of schools across the country saw protests against the war in Gaza, including interruptions to multiple graduation ceremonies, and scores of students were suspended for their actions.
Since then, the war in Gaza has only escalated with thousands killed and no clear end in sight.
“There’s definitely conversations happening regarding how they can continue to advocate, to raise awareness about Palestinian human rights and genocide that’s happening in Gaza,” said Zainab Chaudry, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations office in Maryland.
“And I think that there’s some students who already started planning over the summer. There have been some meetings that have been organized by some student leaders at different campuses to strategize ahead of the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year.”
“Just to strategize what are the boundaries and what are students’ options in terms of being able to continue to keep the pressure on administrations to divest,” Chaudry added.
Students have demanded their schools to divest from companies associated with Israel and release statements against the country’s actions in Gaza amid its war with Hamas, among other policy changes.
But over the summer, multiple schools, including Harvard University, have said they are no longer taking official positions on political issues, making such statements unlikely. And some schools have strengthened rules against campus encampments.
The U.S. Department of Education is investigating Pomona College, a private liberal arts school in Claremont, Calif., for alleged violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the federal government announced on Tuesday.Florida to its public colleges: audit Jew-hatred
The department investigates schools that receive public funding for bias related to “shared ancestry,” including religion. Many of the department’s open investigations are related to alleged Jew-hatred, although the department does not disclose publicly the reason for the investigation.
JNS sought comment from the college.
Pomona received an “F” grade on the StopAntisemitism report card released late last year. “Students do not feel that the school administration supports its Jewish population enough in combating antisemitism,” the watchdog said at the time, noting that Pomona “acknowledged” the survey “but refused to complete it.”
Pomona “does not include antisemitism in its diversity, equity and inclusion training,” per StopAntisemitism, which noted that Pomona students “do not feel safe showing their support for Israel on campus.”
It added that multiple resolutions boycotting the Jewish state passed at the school.
“We have reviewed or are reviewing every complaint we have received, and any violations found will be addressed with discipline under our code of conduct,” the college stated on Dec. 1. “We will enforce our policies to support all students in pursuing their education.” The college added that one example of antisemitism is “perpetuating the idea that if a Jewish person supports Israel, they are supporting the killing of infants and children.”
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and the Anti-Defamation League announced on May 9 that they had filed a complaint with the Education Department against Pomona.
Public colleges and universities in Florida are being directed to assign faculty committees to review educational materials for antisemitic or anti-Israel bias and to create a process by which professors can ensure that they have checked their own course materials for Jew-hatred. Ray RodriguesRay Rodrigues, chancellor of the state university system of Florida. Credit: Courtesy.
“We are going to conduct a keyword search on course descriptions and course syllabi. Any course that contains the following keywords: Israel, Israeli, Palestine, Palestinian, Middle East, Zionism, Zionist, Judaism, Jewish or Jews will be flagged for review,” wrote Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of the state university system of Florida, to presidents of the state’s universities.
“This process will ensure that all universities are reviewing the same courses, and nothing falls through the cracks,” Rodrigues added in the letter, which the university system shared with JNS.
“The most important thing is that we get this right,” he wrote.
Canadian medicine has an antisemitism problem.
— Joe Roberts (@Joe_Roberts01) August 7, 2024
A heart-wrenching read of the lived experience of a physician who faced antisemitic discrimination in Canadian medical education published in the Canadian Medical Education Journal (@CmejEditor) today. pic.twitter.com/WA20xM5sbX
Does @Columbia have an antisemitism problem?
— CAMERAorg (@CAMERAorg) August 7, 2024
The abhorrent behavior of some staff, and the college's failure to fire them, certainly suggests so. pic.twitter.com/l6P9tvl3Vj
According to @BBCNews Hezbollah is merely an “Iran-backed Lebanese group”.
— CAMERAorg (@CAMERAorg) August 7, 2024
I'm sure this will come as a surprise to the millions of innocent Israelis and Lebanese who have suffered due to their brutal terrorism for decades. pic.twitter.com/GP9XNXcsSJ
I don’t know that I would go THAT far, NPR, but Walz sure seems like he was picked to accommodate a certain Hamas-sympathetic contingent of the Dem base. pic.twitter.com/mVXLi0ps0w
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 7, 2024
POLITICO writes about this guy taking over Hamas like he got a promotion in the lobby shop at Covington. pic.twitter.com/8uTvzFe6TX
— Andy Kaczynski (@KFILE) August 7, 2024
For reference https://t.co/oBcphMypUv
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) August 7, 2024
As you can see, Robert has indeed written for the above outlets, and contionues to do so for at least Press TV, Al Mayadeen, and RT as of July 2024.
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) August 7, 2024
His articles and videos aren't hard to find. They're about as radical and supportive of terror as you'd expect. pic.twitter.com/cat4dJlnYr
In a past life, Robert was an aspiring rapper (I kid you not). His debut mixtape, "The Intifada," was released in 2016 pic.twitter.com/sp2TQQrBG6
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) August 7, 2024
Excellent news. Free speech is paramount. But free speech doesn't give you carte blanche to promote terrorism pic.twitter.com/GZcBVWDP44
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) August 7, 2024
The article leaves out that the arrest is based on Seligson allegedly serving as a lookout in multiple acts of vandalism.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) August 7, 2024
Just because he also records it and calls himself a journalist does not relieve him from the legal liability of being an accomplice in crimes. https://t.co/9ztyZRM5Mn pic.twitter.com/9hFOllGdHj
Self-hating Jews petition the Israeli Supreme Court
Lenin called those who work against their own people’s best interests in support of their enemies “useful idiots.” Even during these days of war in Israel and record-high antisemitism worldwide, we see Israeli non-profits giving comfort to the enemy and Diaspora Jews funding them.Israel nixes deal with Norway to transfer funds to PA
Today, as Israel awaits a possible attack from Iran and Hezbollah, there was a hearing in Israel’s Supreme Court on a petition filed by Adalah, an Israeli non-profit, on behalf of the Palestinian Authority against the Israeli Knesset.
This petition marks the first time the P.A. has filed a petition before the Supreme Court. The petition aims to repeal the Israeli law that transfers funds earmarked for the P.A. to the families of terror victims instead of to terrorists.
Yes, in the State of Israel, as hostages are being held in Gaza and radical Muslims threaten our destruction, Adalah—given $652,869 by the pro-boycott New Israel Fund over the last few years—is advocating for money to be given to terrorists rather than to terror victims. This, in the middle of a war.
The P.A. has long had a policy of allocating monthly salaries and benefits to imprisoned and released terrorists, as well as the families of “martyrs.” This funding amounts to around $300 million annually and is a clear demonstration of the P.A.’s support for terrorism against Israel.
In a filing with the High Court, Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara argued: “It cannot be considered appropriate that a court in Israel would open its gates to the Palestinian Authority and hear its arguments about the supposed injury to its constitutional rights while it continues with its abhorrent and disgraceful policy.”
Unsurprisingly, outraged family members of hostages and terror victims flooded the courtroom.
Many Diaspora Jews help fund Adalah, which has called the Israeli government “the Israeli regime” and describes it as “a colonial one, with distinct characteristics of apartheid.”
Jerusalem has decided to cancel an agreement for Oslo to serve as an intermediary to transfer funds earmarked for the Palestinian Authority that were frozen in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led massacre in the northwestern Negev.
The Israeli Cabinet recently made the decision, which was kept confidential, Ynet reported on Wednesday.
It came in response to Norway’s recognition of a Palestinian state in May and its stance on the current Gaza war, including statements made against Israel by Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz last month rejected a request from his Norwegian counterpart for an official visit to Israel.
The Scandinavian country on Feb. 18 agreed to serve as an intermediary to transfer funds to Ramallah.
Israel’s Security Cabinet in January approved a decision to freeze funds from reaching the Palestinian Authority that the latter planned to send to the Gaza Strip, where Hamas would seize most of it. Instead, Jerusalem decided to channel the money to a third party, Norway, for safekeeping.
The IDF Homefront Command has announced the Cancelation of the Annual Pilgrimage to the Tomb of 16th Century Rabbi and Jewish Mystic, Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi, within the City of Safed in Northern Israel which usually takes place between August 8th and 10th. The decision… pic.twitter.com/SlPWppM7ln
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) August 6, 2024
ELIMINATED!
— Hamas Atrocities (@HamasAtrocities) August 7, 2024
This lovely dude was Rabia al-Anbusi, the sheikh of the Tubas Battalion of the Islamic Jihad in Nablus
He was killed by the IDF when he tried to carry out a shooting attack pic.twitter.com/vBR7OD1aM8
The gunfire of his fellow Palinazi terrorists killed a Palinazi terrorist during the funeral of another Palinazi terrorist in Jenin, West Bank pic.twitter.com/6iSxfh6oJc
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) August 7, 2024
Abu Nashat complains that this packet of "Alawda" Palestinian wafers which cost 2 shekels ($0.53) before the war, now costs 8 shekels ($2.11) because of the war merchants. Abu Nashat currently lives un Deir al-Balah, Central Gaza Strip.
— Imshin (@imshin) August 7, 2024
TikTok timestamp: 6 hours ago… pic.twitter.com/TlmbDAonYq
The Delusions of the Houthi Terrorist Group in Western Yemen continue, as they claim to have Targeted both of the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-Class Guided-Missile Destroyers in the Red Sea, the USS Laboon (DDG-58) and USS Cole (DDG-67), as well as the Liberian-Flagged Cargo Vessel,… pic.twitter.com/6KEOq7NvLh
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) August 7, 2024
Saudi Arabia compares the Islamic Republic of Iran with Nazi Germany. And this is correct. Please share pic.twitter.com/nw5RmoXwgc
— neveragainlivepodcast@gmail.com (@neveragainlive1) August 6, 2024
Seen in Iran: pic.twitter.com/WviJ0yPXGw
— 𝗡𝗶𝗼𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗴 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) August 6, 2024
Antisemitic incidents rise in Czech Republic in 2023 by 90% -report
Antisemitic incidents rose by 90% in the Czech Republic from 2022 to 2023, according to an annual report by the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic published on Monday.Cruise Company To Kosher Travelers: Stay Off
There were a total of 4,328 antisemitic incidents recorded by the federation through open sources and submissions by community members. In 2022, there were 2,277 incidents reported, a 101% increase from 2021. The most dramatic increase occurred following the October 7 massacre and the Israel-Hamas war, with an average increase of over 250% in incidents from October-December.
The organization noted that its collection of incidents was not exhaustive, because of its open source collection and the dependency of victims to come forward, but that they could draw information about trends and the social climate in the country.
The federation emphasized that no anti-Jewish physical violence occurred in 2023 and that the Czech Republic remained a safe country for Jews. In the last five years, two attacks were reported to the FJC, in 2020 and 2021. Almost 99% of the incidents involved “publicly uttered statements, chants, and banners at demonstrations, posters, graffiti, videos, articles, publications, and all manifestations of antisemitism on the Internet, social media and communication platforms.”
There were six incidents of attacks and desecration of Jewish property. In July, “Israel is a Nazi state” was graffitied on the fence of a Brno Jewish cemetery, and in August tombstones were toppled at a Markvarec cemetery. There were also 18 incidents of written or verbal threats, insults, and harassment.
“F*ck you, f*ck all the f*cking Jews. Don’t try anything, or I’ll find you,” an employee of the Prague Jewish Museum was reportedly told in January.
Even with the recent spike in global anti-Semitism, the kosher cruise seemed a safe respite, a reliable escape. That, at least, is what some 140 vacationers believed as they booked tickets on the Costa Toscana for a weeklong tour.Israeli frisbee team banned from Belgian tournament due to threats
They were wrong. Days before the voyage was to begin, tour operator Yossi Zablocki received a curt message: The ship’s crew refuses to cooperate with the provision of kosher food for the Jewish passengers at any point in the trip. Nothing a frantic Zablocki could suggest would alter their stance. “We simply will not do this,” he was told.
By this point, Zablocki had already purchased $22,000 of kosher product, ready to be loaded on the ship in Marseille, where it was docked for a day before it arrived in Barcelona. He also had the kosher certifiers, or mashgichim, cleared, medically checked and ticketed to accompany the trip and perform the ritual supervision that kosher cooking requires. And the kitchen was confirmed to have the necessary ovens, utensils and equipment.
None of these steps were new for Zablocki. A 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry who has run over 40 high-end kosher cruises, he knew the routine cold. Indeed, there wasn’t much to know, especially on the ship’s end: A standard cruise kitchen is already well-equipped to follow the simple steps that make it kosher, even if only for a portion of its clientele. That is, perhaps, why he never faced any resistance from any crew before.
The ship and its crew are operated by Costa Cruises, which is owned by Carnival Cruise Line. Zablocki had for years dealt with its US representative, who arranged the deals without a hitch. In the past year, however, Costa USA is apparently operating in large part from the company’s Brazil office, not a place especially known for kosher travel. That is the office that delivered the message on behalf of the ship’s staff, just days before the voyage, in terms so extreme that Zablocki and his customers were left speechless.
Not only would the crew refuse to dedicate any kosher sections of the kitchen, it said, but they also insisted that no kosher utensils or food with a kosher certification will be available on the ship. “The use of kosher china, pots, frying pans, etc. will not be allowed.” Anything kosher was in effect to be treated as forbidden on the ship. And no rabbi shall enter.
It was in part the extremity of such demands that suggested to Zablocki and a few of his customers that something more than an administrative dispute may lie behind the refusal.
“Nothing like this has ever happened,” he said, “and there was no credible reason that could even serve as a pretense for the crew’s outright – and sudden – refusal to accommodate us.”
Israeli youth ultimate frisbee teams were banned from participating or attending a tournament in Belgium in response to threats of protest and unrest by anti-Israel demonstrations, according to Tuesday statements by the Israeli Flying Disc Association (IFDA), the European Ultimate Federation (EUF), European Flying Disc Federation (EFDF), and the De Pinte municipality.
The Israel boys and girls teams were notified Tuesday that they would be banned from involvement in the 2024 Under 17 European Youth Ultimate Championships following a decision by De Pinte mayor Vincent Van Peteghem in response to damage and vandalism to the Moerkensheide sports park by anti-Israel activists.
“Boycott Israhell now!” was painted on the sports complex building, according to the mayor’s office.
The Israeli Foreign Affairs and Culture and Sports Ministries and the ambassador to Belgium attempted to intervene and the first day of the competition was postponed, but the final decision to ban the teams was made on Tuesday night.
The Israeli teams said that they had received a message from Ghent Mayor Mathias De Clercq threatening to cancel the entire August 6-10 tournament if Israel participated, but negotiated with tournament organizers to find an alternative venue. The deal was made on the condition that the Israeli delegation not take part in the opening ceremony and any tournament social events.
The De Pinte municipal council said that it had been decided to hold Israeli matches at the Moerkensheide sports park rather than the Blaarmeersen recreation park after a security assessment that there was a significant terrorist threat and a “high risk of public order disruption” by anti-Israel organizations. The council cited 58 anti-Israel protests, occupations, and vandalism in the Ghent area and threats by groups as evidence of the concrete problem. The Blaarmeersen facility’s layout made it vulnerable to protests, and the city noted that warm weather at the site had in the past fostered inter-group tensions.
North shore synagogue beefs-up security as ‘anti-Jewish sentiment’ riseshttps://t.co/r8T1gFn4CH
— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) August 7, 2024
David Barwell, Daily Telegraph
Rising antisemitism has resulted in members of one of Sydney’s largest Jewish communities hiding their religious identities in public and facing…
Mind-boggling observations from a U.S. high school history teacher who has been teaching her sophomores for two days about the Holocaust. Not to be believed. A serious wake-up call. WATCH
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) August 6, 2024
🎥 via @DahliaKurtz pic.twitter.com/HNIPAtxHeo
travelingisrael.com: The Nazis and the Arabs of Palestine: the Untold (yet Documented) connection
The Nazis and the Arabs of Palestine: the Untold (yet Documented) connection
The Jewish Financier Who Used His Influence to Get the U.S. to Stand against Anti-Semitism
Yesterday’s newsletter mentioned the play The Lehman Trilogy, based on the story of the founders of the Lehman Brothers banking firm, and cited a review calling attention to its thinly veiled anti-Semitism and serious departures from the truth. For the actual story of some of America’s great Jewish financiers and the roles they played as leaders of U.S. Jewry, one might turn to The Money Kings, by Daniel Schulman. In his review, Allan Arkush focuses on one in particular: Jacob Schiff, who in his day was one of the foremost Jewish philanthropists:How the US caved to antisemitism and snubbed a Jewish Olympian at 1936 Berlin Games
In tandem with his efforts to help migrants, Schiff sought to alleviate the conditions that motivated them to leave the tsarist Empire for the United States in the first place. Already in 1891, he was meeting with President Benjamin Harrison (together with Oscar Straus and Joseph Seligman’s brother Jesse) to seek his administration’s support for Russian Jewry. Twelve years later, in the aftermath of the Kishinev pogrom, he unsuccessfully badgered Theodore Roosevelt to take punitive commercial action against Russia if it didn’t cease to discriminate against American Jews traveling in its territory.
Soon thereafter, during the Russo-Japanese War, Schiff played “a decisive financial role” by taking up half of a Japanese bond issue at a time when other financiers were unwilling to do so. He spent $25 million (the equivalent of almost a billion dollars today). Schiff took this action at least in part to punish Russia for its treatment of its Jews and received from the Japanese emperor the “Second Order of the Sacred Treasure” for his investment.
Schiff continued to hammer away at the regime he loathed and eventually enjoyed a limited measure of success. In 1911, after failing to convince President William Howard Taft to break the U.S. commercial treaty with Russia, he launched a public campaign through the American Jewish Committee “to mobilize public opinion behind a legislative effort to invalidate the treaty.” It worked. Congress voted overwhelmingly to do so, and the president’s hand was forced. On January 1, 1912, he pulled the U.S. out of the treaty.
For New Yorkers of a certain generation, Marty Glickman epitomized sports broadcasting, coining several phrases including his trademark call of “Swish!” when a basketball player hit nothing but net.Judo’s Olympic betrayal: Forfeiting to avoid Israeli opponents
Yet Yeshiva University Prof. Jeffrey Gurock insists that his new biography of Glickman isn’t a sports book — at least, not a conventional one.
The book’s title might indicate otherwise. “Marty Glickman: The Life of an American Jewish Sports Legend” is described in a release as “the first comprehensive biography” of its subject. Within its pages is a multifaceted portrait of Glickman, who died in 2001 at the age of 83.
“I am an American Jewish historian,” Gurock clarified. “I use Glickman’s story as a way of understanding more than just sports.”
Gurock calls his subject “a great athlete, a great sportscaster, and more importantly, an emblematic second-generation American Jew. As people read the book, they will learn a lot about what the Jews of America went through, issues of their life, through the metaphor of sport, through the personality of Marty Glickman.”
In his research, Gurock was aided by some of the many sports broadcasters who were in some way mentored by Glickman, including Marv Albert, Bob Costas, and women’s broadcasting pioneer Gayle Sierens.
A former high school and collegiate athletic standout, Glickman called 2,000 games in his broadcasting career across the sports spectrum, from basketball to rodeo. In 1936, as a member of the US Olympic team, he was at the center of a controversy during that year’s Summer Games in Berlin when he was one of two Jewish-American athletes replaced at the last minute on the US 4×100 relay squad.
“Up until that moment in his life, everything had gone well for him as a Jew,” Gurock noted.
Gurock is the author of 25 books, including a previous account of the chosen people and the playing fields — “Judaism’s Encounter with American Sport.” In “Marty Glickman,” he revisits a golden era of Jewish athletic achievement in the early 20th century, when Jews were prominent in urban sports such as boxing and basketball. In 1946, when the New York Knicks debuted as a professional basketball team, there were seven Jews in the lineup, with Glickman calling the games.
I was fortunate to have represented my country in the sport of judo. Judo is a combat sport, where you need to physically battle against an opponent in order to win. It is not subjective. It is a confrontation of strategy, and physical and mental combat. The objective in a judo match is to throw an opponent onto their back with a combination of speed and force. You can also win by immobilizing them or by forcing a submission through an armlock or choke.
Those who compete in the sport of judo at the highest level are fighters. I never won an Olympic medal, but I was proud that I never lost a match by way of submission. When I trained in Japan, my coach, the former Olympic champion Isao Okano, told me not to waste my time tapping out and submitting if I was caught in a choke or an armlock. Instead, use that time to find a way to escape. Giving up was never an option.
I am disgusted when I see judo athletes forfeiting matches on purpose, to avoid facing Israeli judokas. They are blatantly turning their back on the values of the Olympics and the sport of judo.
When I was 16, competing in my first senior competition, I drew the reigning Olympic champion from Cuba in my first-round match. I was completely overmatched and as a result, our fight did not last long. I appreciated his talent, technique, and skill. We both shared a love for the sport of judo. His religious beliefs and opinions regarding communism were of no concern to me. My goal was to defeat a fellow athlete. We train to win.
As a sport, judo emphasizes doing what is right. Show respect to all and accept the fact that we are all different. Recently at the Paris Olympics, Algerian fighter Messaoud Redouane Dris failed to make weight when facing his Israeli opponent Tohar Butbul. This was not an accident. Judo is a discipline. Judokas are regimented to make weight. This was a Muslim athlete refusing to compete against a Jewish athlete. The Olympics are about bringing people together despite their differences and political ideologies.
I do not know if this was Dris’s idea or a result of pressure put on him by his coaches or athletic federation. To train and dedicate yourself to win a medal and then back out, without a whimper, seems curious.
While Dris’s character may come into question, his Israeli opponent Butbul is beyond reproach. Butbul demonstrated true Olympic spirit by saying he respected Dris and hoped for a day when they could train together in Algeria and Israel. Perhaps one day, we could shake hands. Respect is an Olympic core value.
Israeli pride: #Israeli cyclist Mikhail Yakovlev (23) made history by setting the first-ever Israeli Olympic record with a time of 9.152 seconds in the men’s sprint at the 2024 Paris #Olympics . Though the Olympic record was later broken again, we could not be more proud of you… pic.twitter.com/0HshcQQ8Bp
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) August 7, 2024
Daughter of Israelis makes US wrestling history with gold medal win
American wrestler Amit Elor, just 18, has spent time training in Israel while visiting her late grandmother, before catapulting herself into international wrestling stardom, winning a gold medal as the youngest ever US wrestler last month at a Senior level competition in Belgrade, Serbia.
“My parents came to the US in the 1980s from Israel to go to school. But the rest of my family is in Israel. So I would always go during the summers to visit my grandma. "And whenever I was there I would wrestle in the local club, I also did some judo. I have been going to Israel pretty often,“ Elor told The Jerusalem Post in a Skype interview.
“I love Israel. And, in some ways, I feel like I am representing them also, but I was born in the US and raised there. I feel like I am more of an American than an Israeli” because, she noted, she was born in the US.
Elor covered her wrestling accomplishments, family history, training in Israel and in the USA, the survival of her grandparents during the Holocaust, and her athletic goals. The accolades for Elor have been widespread within the elite wrestling community as well as in major media.
Amit Elor, a proud American-Israeli, just became the youngest wrestler to ever win an Olympic gold for team USA! 🥇🇺🇸
— Yael Bar tur 🎗️ (@yaelbt) August 6, 2024
Here she is after her historic win, displaying the yellow ribbon in honor of the hostages still being held in Gaza.🎗️
📸 @NZenziper pic.twitter.com/X3qTjHJVng
Love love love this!
— Arsen Ostrovsky 🎗️ (@Ostrov_A) August 7, 2024
Israeli windsurfing silver medalist Sharon Kantor returns home to hero’s welcome, from #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/2uDYIefX94
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. Read all about it here! |
|