Friday, August 16, 2024
Elder of Ziyon
Trump holds event on combating antisemitism (Jewish Insider)
Former President Donald Trump held an event on combating antisemitism last night at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., where he was joined by an enthusiastic audience of Jewish Republican leaders and top donors including Dr. Miriam Adelson.
“We’re here tonight because we believe that this vicious outbreak of militant antisemitism must be given no quarter, no safe harbor, no place in a civilized society,” Trump said during the hour-long event. “We must reject it in our schools, reject it in our foreign policy, reject it in our immigration system and reject it at the ballot box this November.”
Standing at a lectern flanked by six American flags on one side and six Israeli flags on the other, Trump accused Vice President Kamala Harris of enabling the rise of antisemitism, recent instances of which, he said darkly, have recalled the events presaging the Holocaust. “The toxic poison of antisemitism now courses through the radical Democrat Party,” Trump said in largely scripted comments. “This is a radical, radical group of people. I never thought I’d see that either.”
Israel Razes 50 Tunnels By Gaza-Egypt Border
During the past month, Israeli combat engineers have destroyed approximately 50 Hamas tunnel routes in the area of the Egypt-Gaza border, the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday. The announcement came as Israeli and Arab leaders were due to resume ceasefire negotiations in Qatar.
The tunnels were all in the Philadelphi corridor, a buffer zone that runs the length of the 14-km Gaza-Egypt border. It was created in 2006 to prevent weapons smuggling after Israel disengaged from the Strip. Hamas violently seized control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority the following year.
The military did not specify if any of the tunnels crossed into the Egyptian Sinai. On August 4, soldiers from the IDF’s elite Yahalom combat engineering unit destroyed a three-meter tall smuggling tunnel leading into Egypt that was large enough to drive vehicles through.
Maryland AG replaces one hater with another to serve on hate-crimes panel
Over the past year, a tremendous amount of effort and government resources were expended to remove an anti-Israel extremist from a state board that monitors hate crimes and discrimination. Zainab Chaudry, who posted antisemitic comments on social media, was finally ousted in May from Maryland’s Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention but only after legislation was adopted that completely restructured the commission and replaced all of its sitting members.
Now, however, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has nominated a new commissioner to replace Chaudry, who leads extremist groups and voices antisemitic and homophobic views. Nominated on July 31, Ayman Nassar makes the disgraced commissioner he is set to replace look like an angel in comparison.
According to a new report in Haaretz by Nir Hasson, as the death toll in Gaza reaches 40,000, it's time to face facts: "the numbers show" that the Gaza war is "one of the bloodiest in the 21st Century."They don't go by absolute numbers. Instead, they go by pace and by percentage of population.This is not usually how we evaluate the size of a war. But it is how we evaluate the size of this war. In December, the Washington Post called the war "one of this century's most destructive," again citing pace rather than absolute numbers. It is as if these reporters are starting with the assumption that the Gaza war is the worst in recent history, and then working backwards to find out how.
The United Nations has been unable to deliver hundreds of aid trucks that have entered the Gaza Strip because Israel has given the global body inopportune time slots to collect the supplies, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, told JNS at a press briefing on Monday.Shimi Zuaretz, a spokesman for COGAT, which serves as the Israeli military’s coordinating body for civilian life in Judea and Samaria, and in Gaza, told JNS that Israel gives the United Nations the same time slots for aid pickup as other groups.“We give them more time than the private sector and other organizations,” Zuaretz told JNS. “It is uncalled for to think that the private sector has one time and the United Nations has another time.”
IDF soldiers: 'Lessons of October 7 not learned in Judea and Samaria'
IDF surveillance post operators who served in Judea and Samaria say that the IDF has not learned lessons from October 7 and are warning of another horrific scenario in the near future.
'Nothing has changed since October 7. Until today, we are still digesting what we saw over two years,' said Noa and Ofri to Channel 13 News.
"Thousands of Palestinians approach the fence and the IDF does nothing. We have been seeing 60,000 people - and that is just one hole in the fence. There are many breaches in the fence, thousands could cross in one night. Maybe some go to work, beyond that we have no idea what they are doing here."
Holocaust inversion is going mainstream
Cynthia Nixon, John Oliver, Chef José Andrés. An award-winning writer with an essay in The London Review of Books. Protesters outside the Nova exhibit in Manhattan. Celebrities, faux-academics, and activists. These are some of the people who have been engaging in a particularly noxious form of antisemitism since the Oct. 7 massacre.
Lesley Klaff explained this particular phenomenon in 2014. “What has been called ‘Holocaust Inversion,'” she wrote in Fathom, “involves an inversion of reality (the Israelis are cast as the ‘new’ Nazis and the Palestinians as the ‘new’ Jews), and an inversion of morality (the Holocaust is presented as a moral lesson for or even a moral indictment of ‘the Jews’).” The Holocaust, she asserted, “is now being used, instrumentally, as a means to express animosity towards the homeland of the Jews.”
Turkey is complicit in escalating violence against Israel. On July 21, Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, thwarted a terrorist attack that it identified as being directed by Turkey. Five students at Birzeit University in the West Bank, affiliated with a student group “Kutla Islamia,” acquired weapons and cash with the intent of murdering Israeli citizens. Although Israel’s foreign minister drew attention to and condemned the attack and Turkey’s role in it, no other Israeli ally followed suit.In September 2023, Israeli customs authorities revealed that they had intercepted 16 tons of explosive material on its way from Turkey to the Gaza Strip two months previously. In December 2023, Israeli customs officials foiled another attempt by Turkish affiliates to smuggle thousands of weapons parts into the West Bank.Turkey’s approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict cannot be spoken about as an ideological rift with NATO members; instead, it is an egregious example of a NATO member championing and furthering the violent interests of a terrorist entity.
A Jordanian citizen living in Florida has been arrested and charged for allegedly carrying out multiple attacks on businesses in Orlando, as well as a solar energy facility, based on their perceived support for Israel, the Justice Department announced Thursday.Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, 43, allegedly made numerous threats to carry out mass violence and at one point went through with an attack in late June on a solar power generation facility in Wedgefield, Florida, where he spent hours destroying solar panels.
“Don’t.” This was the message Joe Biden has once again given to Iran’s regime as it prepares to attack Israel.I have news for Biden, however: the last time he said “Don’t”, they “did” – and because of the failure in Western policy towards Tehran, the regime will almost certainly do it again.
Last week, The Algemeiner reported that Mary Black, a member of the Raleigh City Council in North Carolina who recently filed for re-election, has come under fire for regularly attacking Israel and Zionists, despite her job having no apparent responsibilities concerning Middle Eastern affairs.Since then, Black, 30, has come under increased scrutiny from the media, community members, and fellow Democrats. The North Carolina Democratic Party Jewish Caucus told The Algemeiner they have endorsed Mitchell Silver, a former New York City Parks Commissioner and Raleigh Chief Planner, who is running for the Raleigh City Council seat currently held by Black.
One of many remarkable aspects of BBC coverage of the current war between Israel and terrorists in the Gaza Strip has been the media corporation’s readiness to uncritically amplify practically any claim or statement put out by Hamas, the terrorist organization that chose to initiate the conflict.Even after 10 months during which many Hamas claims have been shown to be inaccurate — for example, the causes of explosions, casualty ratios, casualty figures, allegations of famine, and more — the BBC apparently still has not arrived at the conclusion that its own reputation as a provider of accurate and impartial reporting would benefit if its journalists did some basic fact checking before promoting assertions made by a terrorist organization.
Recently, CNN published an in-depth article on the war in Gaza, claiming that while the IDF dealt a severe blow to Hamas, the organization is reorganizing on the ground.According to the report, Hamas is recruiting new members, reviving damaged units, and regaining operational capabilities. Although it may adopt different combat tactics, its military strength remains intact and is renewing itself.This claim reflects a fundamental misunderstanding, leading to a significant error.Israel has had a declared strategic goal since the beginning of the war, which is clear, known, and measurable: “To eliminate Hamas’s military and governing power in Gaza.” This objective was defined for the military on the eve of the maneuver. From conversations with some of the commanders leading the IDF in Gaza, it is clear that they believe they are advancing toward its full implementation.The first task, concerning the “elimination of military power,” is clearer and easier. This requires four efforts: eliminating Hamas fighters – its leadership, commanders, and terrorists in the field; destroying the organization’s infrastructure – mainly its command and control centers, intelligence apparatus, and everything that served Hamas in its combat; destroying all weapon production facilities in the Strip and isolating the Gaza Strip from Egypt – to prevent the smuggling of weapons in the future and to deny Hamas the ability to rearm; blowing up the tunnels – to deny Hamas a hiding place in the present and future.All these tasks are being carried out in practice, with Hamas unable to stop them.
Why Harris’s golden boy should alarm every friend of Israel
To those who don’t follow Middle East policy closely, his name might not ring any bells. But for those of us who do, his appointment is a warning – a sign that the Biden administration might be ready to gamble with the security of Israel and, by extension, the stability of the entire region.
As specified at depth and length by The Jerusalem Post’s diaspora correspondent Michael Starr on Friday, Goldenberg’s career has been built on a specific ideological foundation: a deep, almost dogmatic, belief in the power of diplomacy, even with the most duplicitous of regimes, and a marked skepticism toward any show of strength by Israel. He’s the kind of man who, when faced with a roaring fire, would argue for a drop of water rather than a fire hose, fearing that the latter might cause too much of a splash.
How Kamala Harris Missed a Chance to Make History
By deciding not to pick Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris didn’t just miss a chance to lock up a must-win battleground state. She also missed a chance to make history.
Picking Shapiro would have made a historic statement about the aspirational greatness of both America and any political party. She would have confronted head on the dark and rising antisemitic wing of her own party with a brave and honest message that would have resonated everywhere.
The resignation of Minouche Shafik, president of Columbia University, is being hailed as a victory all around. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who had called for her resignation back in April, celebrated the news.But at Columbia, the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) also celebrated.My personal view is that Shafik was probably as good as you could get at a university as corrupted as Columbia, and likely more than Columbia deserved.
The anti-Israel occupation at McGill University may have been relegated to the dustbin of history, but the campaign to rewrite history has begun in earnest.In a July 31 opinion column by Edward Dunsworth and Catherine Leclerc, assistant professor of labour history, and associate professor of Canadian literature and translation at McGill University, respectively, the professors attempted to erase weeks of documented hate and violence, and convince readers that none of it really happened.Their column entitled: “The McGill Fortress,” which was published in both Le Devoir and La Presse respectively, called the motley crew of anti-Israel protesters who were formerly at McGill University a “group of young people” simply fighting “genocidal practices,” when evidence suggests, not only that most were not, in fact, students at the university, but more importantly, there is no genocide in Gaza, full stop.
Today, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) releases its latest trustee guide, Danger in Divestment: The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement and What Trustees Need to Know. It is a companion document to the just-released Equal Space for All: A Trustee Guide to Preventing Encampments and Occupations on Campus. Together, these guides serve as powerful, practical advisories for college trustees as they try to navigate what is widely anticipated to be a volatile fall semester on American campuses.The anti-Israel protests in spring of 2024 were marked by obstructive encampments, illegal occupations of university buildings, shout-downs and harassment of both students and faculty. Demonstrators made demands that universities divest themselves of any holdings they have in Israel or companies that do business in Israel. Such divestment policy would damage the institution’s ability to deliver financial returns it needs to support the entire campus community and be a breach of the trustees’ fiduciary obligation to the institutions they serve. Calls for severing academic and cultural alliances should likewise be summarily rejected by higher education governing boards, since that would be an egregious violation of long-standing academic ethics.While theBoycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is an appropriate topic for classroom debate and discussions, it is not a topic that should come before institutional governing boards.ACTA strongly recommends that trustees reject calls by protestors for formal consideration of divestment or boycotts tagged to any political agenda and to protect their institutions from future pressure to do so by officially adopting and enforcing the Kalven Commission’s institutional neutrality principles, which means that the university will not collective adopt policy positions outside its core mission of teaching and research.
An excavation at the main drainage channel that ran under the streets of ancient Jerusalem has revealed a collection of well-preserved artifacts that offer unique insights into the state of the city at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said Tuesday.The channel “passed under, amongst other facilities, the colorful markets of Jerusalem at the foot of the Temple Mount, and along the entire length of the City of David,” the IAA said in a press release.Among the discoveries were a delicate glass vial, nearly perfectly preserved, several small oil lamps with soot still in them from use, various coins and beads, and a collection of ceramic vessels used to hold perfume and oil.
Aviva Klompas: Fighting for Israel and the Jewish People While Telling the Bigger Story
Following Oct. 7, there was so much misinformation surrounding what really happened that day and during the war that followed. Both the mainstream media and social media were rife with it, and it was difficult to distinguish what was true and what was a lie.
One person who consistently delivered factual, up-to-date, reliable information was Aviva Klompas, an X user who had quite the impressive resume. She’s co-founder of Boundless Israel, a think tank that specializes in Israel education and combating antisemitism, she was the associate vice president of Israel and Global Jewish Citizenship at Combined Jewish Philanthropies, and she served as the head of speechwriting at the Israel Mission to the UN.
‘Friends no longer speak to me’: How it feels to be a British Jew after October 7
It wasn’t just the world that changed the day Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 last year. The world of British Jews did too, as mutating strains of anti-Semitism worked their way beyond smashed shopfronts and violent protests and into the domestic and everyday. And each witness uses the same expression. The silence was deafening.
“My whole life has changed since October 7,” says Barbara Smith*, 49, from London. “I’ve lost half my friends. I’ve lost my best friend. I don’t know how the situation will ever right itself.”
There are only 287,000 Jews in Britain, the same number as Buddhists but a tiny minority compared to the four million Muslims. There is a new political climate in which – willingly or otherwise – British Jews have become inextricably linked to the state of Israel. Across a scale of opinion that ranges from wishing Israel to be destroyed to opposing Israel’s actions in Gaza, Jewish people are an enemy – supportive of and complicit in the appropriated words “genocide” and “Zionism”.
Stemming from this, some Jews say, is hostility and suspicion that has seeped into every area of their lives, fuelling uncertainty about where it will flare up next, never being sure of the intentions of those with whom they interact daily.
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