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Monday, September 23, 2024

09/23 Links Pt2: NGO Warfare: The Arms Embargo Campaign vs. Israel; The New Rules of Western Journalism; US Jews and Israel’s future; Tucker Screwtape

From Ian:

NGO Monitor: NGO Warfare: The Arms Embargo Campaign vs. Israel
For more than 20 years, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), some with links to terror groups, have engaged in a long-term BDS (Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions) campaign against security assistance to Israel. Their targets include military funding to Israel, Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, and other defensive systems.

In the aftermath of the barbaric Hamas massacre of October 7 and attacks by Iran and its terror proxies (Hezbollah, Houthis, the IRGC Quds Force, Iraqi Shi’ite militias) on Israel, rather than use law and international justice frameworks to support the victims of the atrocities, political advocacy NGOs have only intensified this lobbying. The NGO network initiated lawsuits and called on governments around the world to impose a full arms and fuel embargo on Israel and halt military assistance.

The majority of these campaigns have ignored the blatant Palestinian, Iranian, and Iranian-sponsored violations against Israeli civilians and the constant firing of UAVs, rockets, and missiles at Israeli population centers from Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. The NGOs also neglect the massive flow of offensive weapons and explosives, including drones and ballistic missiles, from Iran and Syria into Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. These groups also ignore the state sponsorship of Hamas by Qatar and Turkey that also buy billions of dollars in weapons from countries where they are seeking embargoes against Israel.
Gerald M. Steinberg: The World Peace Foundation's Propaganda War
The World Peace Foundation (WPF) at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University is a very visible example of exploiting the facade of peace to fuel conflict and promote false accusations that contribute to hatred and violence.7

WPF has joined the intense propaganda war accompanying the Gaza conflict.

Its head, Alex de Waal, has amplified the accusations that Israel was deliberately using starvation as a weapon against Palestinians in Gaza.

However, as the evidence was carefully examined, it became clear that there was and is no famine or food shortage in Gaza.

Despite the ongoing attacks by Hamas and the devastating torture and point-blank murder of hostages, Israel has maintained a steady flow of vital supplies.
The New Rules of Western Journalism
There’s an increasingly vague line between journalism and terrorist propaganda coming out of the Gaza Strip, where terrorists often masquerade as journalists. This is a distinction that you’d hope and expect would be easily discernible to seasoned media professionals like the heads of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) or the editors, if that’s still a thing that meaningfully exists, of Time magazine, which was once the flagship of objective weekly news reporting. But unfortunately, the distinction between news reporting and simple-minded propaganda is no longer a meaningful one to America’s self-appointed political commissars who think that they know better than the facts.

In late July, NATAS nominated a Gazan journalist and apparent member of a terror group, Bisan Owda, for a news and documentary Emmy Award for her AJ+-produced It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive. The docu-short, which has already clinched Peabody and Edward R. Murrow awards, is up in the “outstanding hard news feature story: short form” category. The documentary presents the harsh realities experienced by the people of Gaza in the early days of the Israel-Hamas War, which was initiated when Hamas massacred 1,200 people 11 months ago in southern Israel and took 250 others hostage.

Remarkably, Bisan’s eight-minute documentary makes no mention of the medieval horrors inflicted upon innocent Israelis that terrible Oct. 7 day that started the war. Instead, Bisan presents her unsuspecting Western audience with a sanitized version of history in which Hamas and Gaza’s other terror groups are nonexistent, even inside the Hamas stronghold of Shifa Hospital, and in which she is somehow an objective journalist caught up in horrors being inflicted on innocents by Israeli “occupiers,” rather than an apparent adherent of a terror organization that deliberately murders innocent people, and helped bring about the events she depicts.

The distinction between news reporting and propaganda is no longer a meaningful one to America’s self-appointed political commissars.

Even more troubling than the bizarre absence of Hamas in Bisan’s documentary and the subsequent episodes released by AJ+ from the standpoint of basic journalistic ethics and practice, is what she does choose to show. Interspersed throughout the footage of the immense and genuine human suffering in Gaza is propaganda straight from the Hamas media office. By deliberately mixing truth with lies, such as the assertion that “women, children, and the elderly make up 73% of the dead in Gaza,” numbers that several experts have referred to as “statistically impossible,” Bisan’s content is purposefully designed to sway the hearts and minds of millions of viewers who don’t know better toward the terrorists.

Bisan takes an even less nuanced approach, however, when uploading short videos to her Instagram account for her 4.7 million followers. There, she veers into outlandish antisemitic territory, such as the grotesque allegation that Israel is stealing the organs of dead Palestinian children of Gaza—which comes straight out the pages of age-old antisemitic blood libels. In a video from Oct. 18, the day after an explosion infamously rocked Gaza’s Al Ahli Hospital, Bisan filmed herself in tears over the “800 people killed” by Israel (300 more than Hamas’ number). In a now-infamous twist, the explosion turned out to be caused by an errant rocket fired by the Islamic Jihad terror group. European intelligence later placed the likely death toll at 50—or 93.75% less than the total Bisan claimed.

The fact that this propaganda is only thinly veiled as journalism is less surprising once you take a deeper look at Bisan’s background. Bisan appears to be a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that has American blood on its hands and openly gloated about its participation in the mass slaughter in southern Israel on Oct. 7. In 2018, the PFLP confirmed Bisan’s membership in the organization when it referred to her as part of the Progressive Youth Union, which the PFLP explicitly acknowledges is its “youth framework.” Two years prior, Bisan hosted a PFLP event honoring Palestinian terrorists injured or killed in confrontations with Israeli soldiers, which included Sami Shawqi Madi, who was the head of the PFLP’s media committee at the time of his death. In 2015, Bisan was one of the speakers at a rally celebrating the 48th anniversary of the founding of the PFLP, where she addressed the crowd while wearing a full PFLP military uniform and stated that “the people of Gaza, the people in the West Bank, and in Jerusalem ... will not back down at all from their cause and their revolution.” Bisan also served as the “master of ceremonies” the following year at the 49th-anniversary rally. In a since-deleted article published in Al-Hadaf, the PFLP’s official newspaper, Bisan is lauded as “a symbol of resistance journalism.”

Despite Bisan’s open affiliation with a terrorist organization, and reporting that violates every norm of ethical journalism, NATAS has defended the nomination. Bizarrely, NATAS President & CEO Adam Sharp stated that “NATAS has been unable to corroborate these reports, nor has it been able, to date, to surface any evidence of more contemporary or active involvement by Owda with the PFLP” and that the “content submitted for award consideration was consistent with competition rules and NATAS policies.” Sharp’s response completely ignores the ample evidence of Bisan’s terror ties (including her own confirmation that she participated in the PFLP rallies) and her propensity for spreading antisemitism and openly lying in the service of terrorist propaganda campaigns. In reality, multiple Gazan journalists working for Al Jazeera (which owns AJ+) have been linked to terror groups, while the PFLP and Hamas have been openly training journalists in the Strip for over a decade—some of whom participated in the Oct. 7 terror attack as combatants and even held Israeli hostages in their homes.


Barry Shaw: Jews are the indigenous people of the Land of Israel
What are the two prime commodities of an indigenous people? Peoplehood and land. A specific land.

The story of the Jews as an indigenous people is one of the oldest but best-kept secrets of mankind. It is a story whose value has been denied, ignored. Perverted into lies by those who hate us. Those who lie about our origins. Those that lie about who we were and who we are.

There are those who impose a narrative on us that we are illegal occupiers, strangers in other people’s land when, in truth, we are, quite simply, a people connected to a small specific plot of land. A people who, throughout history, were deprived of our right to live in peace on that land. A people cast out to be despised in foreign lands. Through the ages, no matter how much we tried to integrate, to succeed, in their societies, we continue to be hated.

So, we prayed to return to our ancient land, and even when we did, we are not allowed to live in peace.

We are the Jews, and that land is Israel. We have a unique calendar which annually repeats that ancient message. In our daily prayers, on our holy days and festivals, we are reminded about our history – who we are, and where we came from. It’s been this way for thousands of years.

It is an unbreakable story that links us to our land, and with our God, whether we live there or not. And, as evidence of this truth, it is chronicled in the oldest book known to man, the holy Bible.

It tells of a particular people, anchored physically and spiritually to a prescribed land, a promised land, and to a commitment that has tested us for thousands of years – and is testing us today.

Our story tells of a God who created heaven and Earth, a God that created everything that walks upon the Earth, a God that created man and woman. A God who spoke to a man, Abraham, and told him that He would make of him a great nation if we kept His laws and commandments. As it is written in Genesis 12:2-3, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on Earth will be blessed through you.”

And Abraham took his people to the place that God promised. And God made of Abraham a people that cherished the land and, with generations, that land became Israel.

Let me stop here to tell you that I am not offering you a Bible lesson. I am giving you a proven political history of the Jewish people and Israel. Here is part of that proof:

When Abraham died, he was buried in land he owned in Hebron. He and his wife Sarah, and the wives of Isaac and Jacob, Rebecca and Leah, are buried there. This is no legend. You can visit their tombs in Hebron today.

Our land is mapped with the genetics of our people. The historic locations of the tribes of Abraham are recorded in those maps, proving a recorded history. Each generation adding their story to the growing picture of a Jewish people committing themselves to the land that God gave them. Tribes like Manasseh, Efraim, Simeon, Dan, Judah, Reuben, and Gad. Places like Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem.

The story comes with tales of conflict, death, forced deportations, exile. Stories familiar to indigenous people whose rights and land have been robbed by others. And to those snatched from their indigenous lands as slaves. That story is our story.


Yishai Fleisher: “Take Judea and Samaria” Antisemitism, Israel, & the Only Solution | David Friedman
In depth with Amb. David M. Friedman on Israel and the US role in the Middle East past and future. Rabbi Yishai Fleisher sits down with Amb. Friedman to examine the current situation post October 7th, what led up to it and what can be done to craft a better future for the Jewish people, Israel and her global partners.


Zion: A Place Worth Defending
In essence, Zionism is simply an attempt to re-establish their ancestral home, their place of refuge and sanctuary in an alien world which largely despises them. Zion (now Israel), is a place they can gather to practise their faith without persecution. The six ancient cities of refuge were located only within the Land of Israel, just as, in a microscopic sense, the family is a city of refuge.

The world desperately needs Jewish values and wisdom -- those detailed in the holy scriptures. Jewish wisdom was among the first, after the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (c. 1,755 BCE), to present the world with social justice -- not only in the Ten Commandments -- but also in how we treat our fellow creatures:

"But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do" (Deuteronomy 5:14);

"Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk" (Deuteronomy 14:21);

"If you come across a bird's nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young" (Deuteronomy 22:6);

"You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns" (Deuteronomy 24:14);

"You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets - for he is poor and counts on it" (Deuteronomy 24:15);

"You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbour" (Leviticus 19:15);

"You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child" (Exodus 22:22).

Jews have historically defended liberty against tyranny and moral confusion...

The true calling of the Jews, with "the world's most moral army," as the IDF is referred to by military expert Col. Richard Kemp, as they now wage a war that was forced on them, is to bring eternal values such as those above, found in the Torah, to the world at large. The Jews remain, after all, a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation." They are entitled to their land, a place historically theirs -- Zion, Israel, their ancestral home. This land was promised to the Jewish nation forever. It is a place worth defending.
Herzog unveils October 7 war memorial in Jerusalem
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion on Sunday unveiled the Swords of Iron memorial monument on the capital's Ruppin Street, opposite the National Library.

The monument is the first of its kind in the city to commemorate both the victims of Hamas's Oct. 7 massacre and Israel Defense Forces soldiers who fell in the ensuing war.

"These are difficult, painful and bloody days, in which our enemies are doing everything they can to prevent Israeli citizens from living normal lives, to harm the citizens of Israel and the State of Israel," said Herzog at the start of the event.

"We have never sought war, and we do not want war, but let it be clear: We will not rest and we will not stop until all Israeli citizens return to their homes and are safe and secure. It is Israel’s right, and duty, to defend its citizens. Israel's defensive and offensive capabilities are proving themselves, and we will continue until full security is achieved," he added.

The ceremony was attended by senior government officials, Jerusalem City Council members, dozens of ambassadors and bereaved families.

“This monument highlights the magnitude of the loss Jerusalem has experienced, while also conveying hope for better days, days that we all pray for and long to see. This shared commemoration sends a message of hope and unity, which are so vital for all of us," said Lion.

"Anyone who gazes upon this monument realises the unbearable price that Jerusalem and the State of Israel have paid since Oct. 7—the profound pain entailed in this cost. This memorial honors the words, the tears, the stories and the pain of the families," he continued.

A chapter of Psalms was recited by Rabbi Shmuel Slotki, who lost both his sons, Noam and Yishai, to the war against Hamas. The prayer for the return of the hostages was delivered by Jon Polin, father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of six captives recently executed by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza.

The memorial is made of iron, with a diameter of 14 meters and a height of approximately 5.5 meters. The names of the fallen are engraved on the monument—the soldiers, security forces, rescue personnel and civilians from Jerusalem who lost their lives since Oct. 7.

Inside the core of the structure, a verse from the "Nachem" prayer, which is recited once a year on Tisha B'Av, is engraved: "Therefore Zion will weep bitterly, and Jerusalem will give forth its voice. My heart, my heart grieves for their fallen; my bowels, my bowels grieve for their fallen."

Netanyahu: Half of the Hamas hostages alive
Only half of the 97 remaining hostages kidnapped to Gaza during the Hamas-led assault of southern Israel on Oct. 7 are still alive, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said on Sunday.

“According to the information we have, half of the hostages in Gaza are alive,” he told lawmakers during a closed meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in Jerusalem, as quoted by Israel’s Army Radio.

The terror group currently holds 101 hostages, including 97 of the 251 captured on Oct. 7.

Meanwhile, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Sunday blamed Hamas for the impasse in ceasefire negotiations.

“I would say that we are not achieving any progress here in the last week to two weeks. Not for lack of trying,” Kirby told George Stephanopoulos, host of ABC‘s Sunday morning current events news program “This Week.”
Inside the high-stakes, all-hands-on-deck hostage advocacy campaign in Washington
When Noa Argamani visited Washington, D.C., in July, just weeks after the 26-year-old was rescued from Hamas captivity in Gaza by Israeli troops, she made a stop at a nondescript office building in Chinatown.

Inside the Schusterman International Center, which houses several major Jewish organizations, one floor has become the battleground HQ for the small cadre of activists leading advocacy efforts on behalf of the families of the hostages. The smiling faces of the more than 200 people taken hostage by Hamas line the walls, on posters demanding: “Bring her/him home now!”

Armed with a Sharpie, Argamani walked up to the poster showing a photo of her, an image that by then had become recognizable the world over — along with a gruesome video of her being kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7. “Back home,” she wrote on the poster, and drew a heart.

As attention in Washington shifts to a high-stakes presidential election, a team of advocates, allies and officials is working around-the-clock to keep the plight of the Israeli hostages front and center for the American public. That task is becoming harder every day, as the odds of reaching a cease-fire and hostage-release deal look increasingly bleak, and Americans’ attention turns elsewhere.

“We sometimes have days where people talk about crowd size on cable news all day long,” Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, whose 4-year-old great-niece, Abigail Mor Edan, was held hostage by Hamas for seven weeks. “That makes it harder for us to bring up the story of the hostages, and it’s an election year, so there’s a lot of stuff happening.”

Argamani’s visit to the office, which has become a staging ground for advocacy efforts, offered a rare bright spot, months after the first (and so far only) hostage-release deal. But the victorious message on Argamani’s poster is nestled among many more calling for the return of hostages that are now dead, murdered by Hamas. Their smiling faces, eerily frozen in time, reveal the costs of each day that passes without a resolution to the nearly yearlong hostage crisis.

At the center of the behind-the-scenes Washington advocacy campaign is a young Israeli couple, busy with work and a toddler, who decided soon after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks that they needed to do something to help, thousands of miles from home.

No one knew anything at the time. Matan Sivek and his wife, Bar Ben-Yaakov, answered a call from a friend who was starting to work with hostages’ families in New York and asked if they might help with similar work in Washington. They had friends and family members affected by the attacks, but they did not know any of the hostages personally.

“I told Bar, ‘Look, the hostage families, they need help.’ Back then we didn’t even really understand what hostage families are, right? It was very vague, like, most of them didn’t know if their loved ones were hostages or not. Many of them were missing,” said Sivek, the executive director of the Israel National Park Foundations. They could not know at the time that the work that began in a chaotic frenzy in the wake of the deadly attacks would still be needed a year later.

“When the hostage situation developed, they jumped in. It was very natural and very amazing that they were able, really, from the very beginning, to give just hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours of their time to help coordinate activity,” said William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
The Illustrated Hostage Diary of Amit Soussana
That cursed day, Oct. 7, brought with it numerous horrific and disturbing videos, ones that the eye and heart cannot bear to witness. But there is one video I will never forget. Because alongside the terror, there was unimaginable bravery: a young woman being abducted by 10 armed terrorists, fighting them with all her strength. Refusing to let them take her. Not giving up. Fighting for her life.

Now, I am sitting on the porch at the entrance to the hostages’ headquarters in Tel Aviv, on a hot and humid summer day, waiting for that brave woman, to hear her story. Related

Amit Soussana, 40, a lawyer at Luzzatto & Luzzatto, has always loved nature and traveling. A few days before that horrific day, she went with a friend to the Black Arrow Memorial near Kibbutz Kissufim in the south to watch the sunset from the beautiful viewpoint there.

Beyond the fence with Gaza, very close to them, they noticed a pickup truck. Amit felt fear, “Tell me, after all these years, how come they never thought of doing something smarter,” she said to her friend. “Just Qassam rockets, all these years, they couldn’t think of anything else?”

Amit almost never had a fever. But on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, while at the office, she suddenly began to feel unwell. With fever and chills, she barely managed to drive home.

On Friday morning, in the young residents’ quarters in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, she woke up to noises in the yard. One of the neighbors was starting to set up a fair. Amit, who was still sick, decided to drive to her mother’s house in Sderot.

As she left with her car, she saw her neighbor and good friend, Yotam Haim, also leaving with his car. “Are you escaping, too?” she asked him through the car window. “Yes, yes,” he replied, “going to play music.” They were alike and had a good connection.

She went to rest at her mother’s house. Sick and sweaty, she left a shirt there, which later, when she was considered missing, would serve as a source of her DNA in the search among the bodies. That night, her mother urged her to stay and sleep in Sderot, but Amit insisted on returning to take care of her three cats. She only asked her mother to fix her hair a bit, and her mother brought an old-fashioned hairpin and secured her daughter’s hair.

When she returned to the kibbutz, she saw Yotam parking his car. “We arrived together!” he said to her. (Seventy days later, after being kidnapped, Yotam Haim, may he rest in peace, managed to escape his captors but was one of the three hostages mistakenly shot by IDF soldiers.)

Amit went inside, crawled into bed, and turned off her phone. She never turns off her phone.

Amit didn’t know that the next morning her life was about to change forever.

Now, sitting together in Tel Aviv, this is what she tells me:
Call Me Back PodCast: One Year Since October 7th - with Yossi Klein Halevi
As we approach the grim one-year anniversary of 10/07, we are featuring a dedicated series in which we take a longer horizon perspective, asking one guest each week to look back at this past year and the year ahead.

For the third installment of this special series, we sat down with Yossi Klein Halevi, who is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Yossi has written a number of books, including his latest, "Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor," which was a New York Times bestseller. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Times of Israel. He is co-host of "For Heaven's Sake" podcast.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
03:10 Reaction to October 7th
11:57 Where did we anticipate we would be a year from October 7th?
14:30 Where is the war heading?
21:29 Israeli Politics
29:00 Defending Israel from abroad
32:12 Can those in the diaspora both defend and criticize Israel?
37:00 The hostage dilemma
44:00 Global opinion of the conflict
49:42 Tension between power and victimhood
52:49 The lasting legacy of this past year


US Jews and Israel’s future
We must all remember an obvious truth that many American Jews refuse to acknowledge: Joe Biden, acting in the more lucid early days of his presidency, is directly responsible for the unbearable tragedy that has befallen the Jewish people, the brunt of which has been borne by those here in Israel.

His botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 was an unmitigated disaster that led directly to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Iranian axis’s decision to move to annihilate the Jewish state.

How fortunate we are that these savage terrorists miscalculated Israel’s wherewithal to defend itself on so many fronts, with fragile American support.

As the Houthis have now succeeded at killing an Israeli civilian in Tel Aviv, a milestone achievement for that particular group of barbarians, we must also recall how Biden in his earliest days in the White House de-listed the Houthis from the U.S. terror list in February 2021 (in exchange for absolutely nothing), in a move designed to curry favor with the Iranian regime, another spectacular and self-inflicted policy failure.

Similarly, Biden reversed President Trump’s successful southern border policies, in a move that undermined America’s interests and seemingly his own party’s prospects in any semblance of a fair election.

Why is this important now? As the IDF seems to have restored some deterrence in a series of operations that sound straight out of James Bond—perhaps none more so than the recent shock cyber-attack on Hezbollah—the mood in Israel is one of victory. For all the talk of unity that has been commonplace since the start of the war, it is little reflected in the political realm, but it can be felt on the streets. Israelis know victory is the only option and are confident in its viability, albeit with the anticipation of a terrible cost none of us wishes to pay.

The anti-government protests that have been incessant since at least my arrival in late 2020 are far more marginalized than they were at their peak during the anti-judicial reform protests just one year ago. The pressure on the governing coalition seems to have waned as efforts to topple it have failed time after time.

Where does this leave American Jews who have prided themselves on their efforts to secure Israel’s future and the safety of its beloved residents in this battle that is understood to be existential? How can “moderate” or undecided Jews have confidence that Kamala Harris, who has ascended to the top of the ticket without receiving a single vote, would be any friendlier to Israel than the nominal “Biden” administration of which she is supposedly second-in-command?

The California-grown “most progressive senator” has no natural affinity for Israel and little record of substance to rely upon. Judging by her campaign, it would be a risk to take to heart whatever platitudes she may utter. Her choice of running mate Tim Walz from Islamist-friendly Minnesota, home of Ilhan Omar, versus the popular Jewish Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, should be a serious wake-up call.

Whether it be due to epic incompetence, weakness or antipathy towards the Jewish state, we here in Israel must assume that any American-led efforts, from appeasement attempts to deter Iran, to the diplomatic failings of Amos Hochstein aimed at preventing war in the north, to the tragically hopeless talks to recover our hostages, are sure to fail as long as the perverse ideology currently ruling in Washington reigns. This means war on difficult terms and more of the agonizing loss that has torn apart the lives of so many citizens of all stripes here in Israel.

I implore American Jewish voters to think long and hard about their priorities. Jewish voters preferred Biden by a wide margin in 2020. The results of his presidency speak for themselves.

Many of my friends who fall into that category professed remorse only after the unspeakable atrocities of Oct. 7. My brother’s kibbutz in the “Gaza Envelope” was invaded that day but was among the few spared a massacre thanks to the heroics of the civilian guard and the self-sacrifice of a young father-to-be, my brother’s friend and mentor, who fell defending it. We are among the most fortunate people in all of Israel. We know far too many others who were not so fortunate.

War is already upon us, thanks in large part to the chronic failure of Biden-Harris policies. Jewish voters who hold Israel dear must beware that more of the current American policy condemns many more Israelis to murder at the hands of vicious jihadists whose sole purpose is our destruction.


McConnell accuses media of fueling antisemitism through biased coverage
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) delivered a speech on the Senate floor decrying whitewashed depictions of Hezbollah and defending the attacks last week against the terror group through booby-trapped beepers and exploding walkie-talkies.

“Israel’s operations against the Iran-backed terrorists surrounding it have also succeeded in exposing some of the most malignant and persistent biases of Western media against the Jewish state of Israel,” the Senate minority leader said on Sept. 19.

He pointed to various media outlets’ use of casualty figures provided by Hamas in the Gaza Strip; The New York Times’ eagerness to attribute rocket strikes to Israel; and NPR’s description of Hezbollah as a “Lebanese militant and political group.”

After arguing that these stories played a role “in the groundswell of anti-Israel and antisemitic hate across the West,” he called Hezbollah “arguably the world’s most dangerous terrorist group.”

Iran’s role in empowering Hezbollah also came in for condemnation.

“Hezbollah is funded, trained and equipped by Iran,” McConnell said. “And with Iran’s help, Hezbollah has conducted terror attacks around the world—from bombings in Argentina and Greece to backing the ghoulish Assad regime in the Syrian civil war.”

He noted that it may be worth mentioning that “perhaps the most carefully targeted series of simultaneous attacks against terrorist operatives in human history comes in response to this all-consuming campaign, which has turned Lebanon into the staging area for war on Israel’s existence,” he said.

Concluding with a reference to the proposal from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to “introduce joint resolutions of disapproving of U.S. security assistance to Israel,” McConnell stated that “such a signal would only empower and embolden terrorists like Hamas and Hezbollah.”
Congressional education panel finds ‘pervasive’ Jew-hatred in unions
Jew-hatred is “pervasive” at unions, which often “usurp” the rights of their members “in pursuit of political and activist ends,” according to a 26-page report that the House Education and the Workforce Committee released on Sept. 20.

“Antisemitism has no place in any civil society, and unions that engage in divisive, anti-Israel politics must be held accountable,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the committee chair.

Foxx singled out the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys that represents New York public defenders, public interest lawyers and their staff, which is an affiliate of the United Auto Workers.

“This report pinpoints the caustic, antisemitic ideology that has consumed many unions, ALAA in particular, while providing common sense legislative prescriptions that will aid in properly educating union members across the nation on their statutory rights—one of them being the right to free speech,” Foxx said. “The time for accountability is now.”

The legal union passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and claimed that Israel engaged in “ethnic cleansing and genocide.” In March, Foxx’s committee subpoenaed the union after it failed to turn over documents. Several members “were forced to be associated with a union that had taken a critical position affecting their faith, the State of Israel and Israel’s sovereignty,” the chair stated at the time.

“Not only did ALAA allow antisemitic and general harassment to go unchecked, but it also attempted to conceal its toxic environment from Congress,” the House committee stated in its recent report. “Nearly 35% of ALAA members and nearly 30% of the MIT Graduate Student Union members rejected political resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, demonstrating how union leadership is needlessly diverging from the primary interests of members.”
Antisemitism in Albany
My daughter was contemplating going with a friend to hear a speaker who created some of her fav TV shows, Marc Guggenheim, writer, producer and novelist. But we had a feeling that there would be Jew-hating protesters on campus.

Why? Because he also happens to be Jewish and pro-Israel. So much so that he withheld his dues from the Writer’s Guild of America because they refused to condemn the Hamas October 7th attacks. He is one of the State University of New York at Albany’s most well known grads. She also had her eye on a feminist panel event. SUNY Albany, from a distance. Photo credit: Rosie Diamond, with permission.

I told her I just had a funny feeling about the Book Festival at the SUNY campus. The literary world has completely turned on Jewish writers – never mind their politics – or even their progressive credentials – but just for being Jewish.

Few of you may be hearing me when I say that the Keffiyeh Klux Klan is infecting every nook and cranny, every sphere in America. You’re thinking gas chambers. But what preceded the early 1940’s Nazi Death Camps – in the 1930’s?

Kicking out Jewish professors, scholars and barring students from University campuses. Check ✔️ Eliminating Jews from public spaces. Check ✔️ Beating up Jewish students. Check ✔️ Canceling Jewish authors from book readings and panels. Check ✔️ And on and on and on.

On Thursday, award-winning feminist author, Elisa Albert, slated to be a panel moderator on Saturday morning, was kicked off a panel scheduled by the New York State Writer’s Institute Book Festival, an event held at SUNY Albany, a public university which receives significant State and Federal funds. The NYS Writer’s Institute is part of SUNY Albany.

Why? Because two of the panelists suddenly refused to appear on a panel with a Zionist aka a Jew. Albert actually promotes a peace organization to dialogue with Gazans, featured on her website. DOES NOT MATTER. She graciously offered to speak by herself. The NYS Writer’s Institute Book Festival said no. At the very last moment, she was out. The panel was canceled. The topic, Girls Coming of Age, had nothing whatsoever to do with Israel. DOES NOT MATTER.
‘No morals’: Comedian calls out celebrities for anti-Israel bias
Comedian Daniel-Ryan Spaulding has exposed celebrities who want to give their opinions on the war in the Middle East but can't highlight the Israeli hostages being kept in Gaza, saying it shows “complete moral decay”.

“These people have exposed themselves and we don’t have to take them seriously anymore,” Mr Spaulding told Sky News host Rita Panahi.

“They don’t have morals … someone who is a brave person and a caring person and an empathetic person … speaks out when it’s not convenient.

“This is such a morally clear issue.

“All these people on the left that we always think of as amazing, inspiring, champions of women’s rights and human rights, the fact they could not mention the hostages and support the hostage families … whatever they say is irrelevant.

“Celebrities, your time is up.”


Javier Bardem slams Israel’s ‘unacceptable, dehumanizing’ policies in Gaza
Actor Javier Bardem used his platform at the San Sebastian Film Festival over the weekend to denounce Israel for its conduct in Gaza.

At the festival to receive its prestigious Donostia Award, the Spanish Bardem, who has starred in films No Country for Old People, Skyfall, and Eat Pray Love with Julia Roberts, accepted the award but said “I welcome [the award] with great joy but I am not in the mood for celebrations. What has happened in Gaza is unacceptable, dehumanizing,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.

No justification
“The atrocious and reprehensible attacks by Hamas in October do not justify the massive global punishment that the Palestinian population is suffering. I believe that the impunity with which the Israeli government enjoys its actions in Gaza, and the West Bank has to change,” added Bardem, calling the Netanyahu government “the most radical government” the country has ever seen and accused it of committing war crimes in Gaza.

Bardem, who’s married to actress Penelope Cruz, implored Western governments, the US and UK in particular, to reconsider their “unconditional support” for Netanyahu.

The festival took place against the backdrop of Palestinian flags along the red carpet and pro-Hamas demonstrations. The Hollywood Reporter added that protestors wrote pro-Gaza messages in the sand on San Sebastian’s most famous beach, La Concha.
Rachel Reeves’ speech disrupted by pro-Palestine protesters
Pro-Palestine protesters disrupted Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s keynote speech at the Labour Party’s annual conference on Monday morning.

One of the demonstrators was heard saying “we are still selling arms to Israel, I thought people voted for change, Rachel” before being removed from the conference hall by security to chants of “shame” from Labour delegates.

Another was heard chanting “stop arming Israel” and “stop funding war”.

The Chancellor hit back at the hecklers, saying: “This is a changed Labour Party, a party that represents working people, not a party of protest” an implied dig at former party leader Jeremy Corbyn, to a long standing ovation from the packed conference auditorium in Liverpool.
Diane Abbott completely IGNORES anti-Jewish hate at event focused on ending antisemitism and Islamophobia
Labour MP Diane Abbott completely ignored antisemitism at an event aimed at ending all forms of racism.

The Hackney North MP failed to mention the discrimination faced by Jews in a message read out at a Stand up to Racism talk organised on the fringes of the Labour Party's national conference in Liverpool.

While Abbott was unable to attend the "Why a Labour Government must challenge racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism" event in person, a statement was read out on her behalf.

The veteran MP criticised "increased racism" impact on "Black and Asian people in this country as well as Muslims" in Britain but did not mention discrimination faced by Jews.

Her message read: "We are in a very difficult period. There is both a renewed war drive and a renewed austerity drive.

"Whenever either of these happen they are always accompanied by increased racism. Now that both are happening simultaneously, Black and Asian people in this country as well as Muslims are bearing the brunt of the Government attacks.

"Anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric and polices are linked. So too are the persistent attacks on asylum seekers, migrants in general, Black people and Muslims. In fact, anyone targeted by the Far Right and the racists.

"We know that attacks on the oppressed are used as a tactic of divide and rule. Those attacks are also significantly stepped up at a time when there is economic stagnation and a fall in living standards.

"And the Government threatens that things will only get worse so this is a grim outlook.

"This means that we must have the maximum unity in taking on the racists and the fascists.

"It is in the vital interests of all targeted communities to be able to defend themselves and we must defend them when we do."

Britain has seen a surge in reports of antisemitism since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7 last year.


The Quad: Shai Davidai EXPOSES Campus Hate
Are U.S. college campuses in for a repeat of last year’s antisemitic hate fest? In today’s interview, "The Quad" discusses the current state of campus hate with Columbia University professor Shai Davidai.

Chapters
00:00 Are things better now?
06:00 Approaching Oct. 7
10:00 Campus administration
16:30 Have U.S. campuses changed for good?




Department of Education official explains why colleges haven’t lost federal funding over antisemitic activity
Catherine Lhamon, the assistant secretary of education for civil rights, told lawmakers on Friday that existing federal law and procedures make it unlikely that any schools will lose their federal funding over antisemitic activity on their college campuses in the near term.

Some lawmakers have honed in on threats to colleges and universities’ federal funding as a method of pressuring or penalizing them over their failure to protect Jewish students. But Lhamon explained at a roundtable with congressional Democrats that pulling funding requires a yearslong litigation process under current federal statute.

Before seeking to revoke funding, Lhamon said that her department, the Office of Civil Rights, must first investigate and communicate a finding that the subject of an investigation has violated civil rights law, at which point she’s required to give schools the opportunity to voluntarily come into compliance.

If a school refuses, then the DOJ can take the matter to an administrative law judge. If the judge rules that the school is in violation, the subject can still appeal the ruling all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Only at the end of that process — which Lhamon acknowledged could take years — can funds actually be revoked, Lhamon said.

But, she added, most schools will agree to voluntarily take action — OCR is currently taking a discrimination case, related to disability issues, to a judge for the first time in 27 years.

Lhamon also acknowledged another gap in her office’s enforcement ability — she does not have the authority to require schools to dismiss problematic faculty.

Addressing the antisemitism that has pervaded campuses across the country over the past 11 months, Lhamon described herself as “shocked” by the comments she hears from school leaders professing to be unaware of their responsibilities to protect Jewish students from discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, a situation she described as unacceptable.

“We are seeing kids assaulted. We are seeing kids stopped from going to class,” Lhamon said. “These are not close calls about whether a university should be responding to them, and yet our universities are treating them like there’s maybe something they don’t need to do, or there’s a byzantine process that a student needs to follow before they can get a university response. That’s not the law.”


Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s Special Representative On Combating Islamophobia, Sanitizes Hateful Anti-Israel And Anti-Jewish Rhetoric During Recent CBC Interview
In the September 12 episode of CBC’s The Current, guest Amira Elghawaby – Canada’s Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia – made a number of concerning comments which threaten to mislead listeners about the nature of what has been taking place on university campuses since Hamas’ massacres on October 7.

Her interview was about allegations of Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students in Canada, and she suggested that Muslim students do not feel comfortable on Canadian campuses right now due to alleged consequences for their comments regarding the war.

It must be made very clear that any and all forms of discrimination are reprehensible, and all Canadians of good conscience should join her in condemning any incidents in which people are mistreated because of their identity. The stories she shared about someone with a hijab being spat on and of offensive slurs being hurled at Muslim students are concerning, and should be taken seriously.

While there is no disagreement on that core issue, it is nevertheless important to still point out areas where Elghawaby said things that are alarming, unfair, and/or misleading regarding this sensitive situation.

Elghawaby Dismissive Of Pervasive Antisemitism In Canada
Despite her role in an anti-hate position and her positive comments about her relationship with Deborah Lyons, Canada’s Special Envoy on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, Elghawaby was shockingly dismissive of antisemitism at various points throughout the interview. Regarding the issue of the anti-Israel encampments which illegally occupied various campuses last spring – barring Jewish and pro-Israel students from accessing parts of their campuses, and openly spouting violent rhetoric such as support for “intifada” – Elghawaby stated that “the accusations that students or faculty staff are engaged in antisemitic narratives is being used to silence” and alleged that “there was no evidence of antisemitism within the [University of Toronto] encampment.”

She also stated that a student letter denying Israel’s very right to exist from a group of students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) was merely “hurtful but not antisemitic,” and argued that the slogan ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ – an open call for the elimination of the world’s only Jewish state – is “in and of itself not a hateful chant.” Though host Matt Galloway challenged her on these points, noting that many Jewish students feel unsafe and unfairly targeted, Elghawaby did not seem to recognize the hypocrisy displayed by these comments, nor the dangerous and one-sided environment for which she appears to be advocating. Downplaying how often these activists have engaged in extremist or antisemitic conduct might mislead listeners as they may not realize how widespread these scourges were throughout the encampment movement.
Boycotting Israel could cost top 100 US universities $33.2b
The endowments at the top 100 American universities could lose a total of $33.2 billion over the next decade if the schools boycott the Jewish state, according to a report from JLens, which has been part of the Anti-Defamation League since 2022.

The ADL assembled the “first of its kind” report by analyzing “the historical performance of two hypothetical large-cap U.S. equity portfolios: one broadly diversified without restrictions, and another excluding companies targeted by BDS campaigns,” the nonprofit said.

Some of the companies that the ADL excluded from the latter due to the boycott Israel (BDS) campaigns are Alphabet (the Google parent company), Amazon, Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin and Microsoft. It found a “substantial” gap, 1.8 percentage points, between the two hypothetical portfolios, with the one that boycotts Israel lagging behind with returns of 11.1% rather than 12.9%.

“Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Princeton are projected to collectively lose more than $8 billion in estimated returns on their endowments over the decade,” per the ADL. “Brown University, which is actively considering demands for Israel divestment, could miss out on an estimated $309,787,060 in returns on its $6 billion endowment.”

ADL CEO and national director Jonathan Greenblatt, said, “Calls for universities to divest from companies doing business in Israel are not only morally dangerous, but may also be financially dangerous. University investment committees have a fiduciary responsibility to prudently steward institutional resources.”


A discussion with David Collier about the attack on the JC
Last week, we posted about the resignations of several British Jewish journalists from the Jewish Chronicle after it was revealed that reports published by the JC by Israeli freelance journalist Elon Perry were likely fabricated.

Though the JC retracted all of Perry’s articles, and apologised for the error, Jonathan Freedland, a Guardian columnist and former executive editor, Hadley Freeman, who, for decades was a Guardian columnist, and David Baddiel, a Guardian contributor, used the incident to publicly denounce the Chronicle, the oldest continually published Jewish newspaper in the world.

After reading our post, you’ll likely enjoy listening to a (X Space) conversation about the row we had with British researcher, blogger and activist David Collier, which you can listen to here:


Novara Media apologise for fuelling antisemitic abuse of Jewish Labour donor
Novara Media has apologised for falsely claiming that a leading Labour donor was an ‘apartheid profiteer’ and that his son, who leads the party’s youth wing, has close ties to the Israeli government.

The incorrect claims led people to direct antisemitic abuse at Gary and Jack Lubner, the left-wing publisher wrote on Sunday.

"We failed in our duties, in publishing these false allegations,” Novara said.

In April, the outlet published a video titled, “The TRUTH About Labour’s Pro-Israel Mega-Donor.”

It claimed that Gary Lubner had profited from South Africa’s apartheid regime.

The businessman was born in the country to Jewish refugees from Russia before being conscripted into its police force. It is an experience he credits with fuelling his opposition to the country’s brutal system of white supremacy which lasted until 1990.

Having made millions of pounds running Belron, which owns the glass repair firm Autoglass, he went on to donate millions to the Labour Party.

His son, Jack Lubner, is the national chair of Young Labour and a parliamentary researcher for Finchley and Golders Green MP Sarah Sackman.

Apologising for coverage of the pair, Novara said: “The video claimed without any evidence that Gary Lubner was an apartheid profiteer and falsely alleged that Gary and Jack Lubner have close ties to and are supportive of the Israeli Government.

"We wish to make clear that the allegations within the video against Gary and Jack Lubner were false and based upon a single unreliable article. We failed in our duties in publishing these false allegations…

"We are pleased to make clear that Gary Lubner was an anti-apartheid activist and led anti-Apartheid organisations through the 1980s. He worked closely with leading figures in the anti-apartheid movement to help bring about change in South Africa. He also at Mr Mandela’s own request, served as a Trustee on the Nelson Mandela Legacy Trust.”


EXPOSED: Foreign Media Journalists in Gaza Participated in Hamas’ “Loyalty” Day
Journalists working for foreign media in Gaza have participated in Hamas’ “Day of Loyalty to the Palestinian Journalist,” an annual event hosted by the terror group’s Government Media Office with the stated aim of aligning the media with Hamas’ agenda, an HonestReporting investigation revealed. The exposure unveils the disturbing relationship between Gaza’s rulers and the journalists tasked with covering them, calling into question their objectivity and the ethical standards of their media outlets — the Associated Press, AFP, Reuters, and The New York Times.

Here are the highlights:
AP’s staff photographer Hatem Moussa delivered a video address at Hamas’ 2014 Loyalty Day event. It appears that his message was displayed on the same screen as the message of Abu Ubaida, the terror group’s military wing spokesperson. It was also published in propaganda style by Hamas’ official news agency.

AP’s photographer Fatima Shbair and AFP’s Mohammed Baba spoke in a promotional video for the 2021 event, in which they were also honored by Hamas for receiving international awards.

Two journalists were honored in the 2021 event as Hamas media office’s “work partners:” Yasser Qudih, who infiltrated into Israel on October 7 and recently won the Pulitzer Prize with Reuters’ photography staff, and The New York Times’s photographer Samar abu Elouf, who recently won the prestigious Polk Award.

At the 2022 event, two journalists were honored for serving on the judging panel of the Government Media Office’s media contest: Reuters cameraman Fadi Shanaa and AP’s Adel Hana, whom we exposed for teaching Hamas’ media courses.

Other journalists were honored in 2021 and 2022 for winning international awards. These included Reuters photographer Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, who recently also won the 2024 Staff Photography Pulitzer, and AP photographer Khalil Hamra.

In 2022, the terror group also gave monetary awards to two journalists who were exposed by HonestReporting for their infiltration into Israel and their links to Hamas — Hassan Eslaiah, who worked for AP and CNN, and Ashraf Amra who worked for Reuters.
BBC framing of Hizballah communications devices explosions
Listeners to the BBC’s ‘Newscast’ podcast and TV programme on September 18th were told by security correspondent Frank Gardner that the incident is “a message, and a very powerful and sinister one”.

Viewers of the BBC News Channel on the morning of the same day were told (7:09) of “a large-scale attack here; something that’s really affected civilians”.

Later the same day, BBC TV viewers were told by an interviewee (01:42) that Israel had “literally turned instruments of 20th century communications into weapons of mass destruction”.

In another BBC television programme, audiences were told (09:51) by Jeremy Bowen that:

“…there are plenty of people criticising Israel as well for using force somewhat indiscriminately. As well as hitting military targets – those Hizballah fighters – also killing members of their families, killing children, killing bystanders in markets.”

That framing by Bowen was repeated (from 05:00) in the September 19th edition of the BBC World Service radio programme ‘The Newsroom’ and listeners were told (04:37) that the UN Secretary General had said that “governments should not – quote – weaponize civilian objects”.

The September 18th edition of BBC Two’s ‘Newsnight’ included extensive comment from Daniel Levy who was presented as “a former negotiator for the Israeli government in peace talks with the Palestinians” (with viewers not told that was over two decades ago) who is “now critical of the current government”. In an item introduced as being about “Israel’s strategy”, Levy told viewers that:

Levy: “This is a new type of warfare. We see mass maimings. This has clearly hit civilians. It feels like a textbook definition of terrorising people.”

That part of Levy’s contribution was also recycled in the above edition of ‘The Newsroom’ (from 03:50).

On ‘Newsnight’, Levy went on to claim that:

“If you look at that off the back of what’s gone on in Gaza – the arrest warrants requested at the International Criminal Court for starvation as a weapon of war, what the International Court of Justice has said is a plausible genocide – what this means for how war is conducted and Israel can get away with this raises a whole new set of questions.”

Presenter Jo Coburn failed to clarify to viewers that “starvation” is not being used “as a weapon of war” in the Gaza Strip and that in fact Israel has facilitated the entry of over a million tons of aid since the war began. Like far too many of her colleagues, she also failed to relieve audiences of the misconception promoted by Levy regarding the ICJ, which – as the BBC well knows – has not said that “a plausible genocide” is happening in the Gaza Strip.

As we see from the above examples, in much of the BBC’s content this story was portrayed as an “indiscriminate” attack using “civilian objects” which “affected civilians” and “healthcare workers”. In fact, those pagers and walkie-talkies had been purchased by Hizballah and then specifically issued to the terrorist organisation’s operatives for the purpose of communicating, planning and conducting operations. The BBC however chose to platform politically motivated portrayals of the precise targeting of a terrorist organisation’s operational communications network as “a textbook definition of terrorising people” with “weapons of mass destruction”.

A clearer example of the framing of a story in an attempt to influence public opinion is difficult to imagine.
BBC News website invents a new Middle East border
BBC audiences are not told that “the international resolutions” include UNSC resolution 1701, according to which Hizballah should be disarmed and nowhere near the border with Israel.

The IDF does not have a base called “Al-Ulaika barracks” in the Golan Heights but the BBC clearly did not bother to fact-check that Hizballah claim before promoting it worldwide. As we see, the BBC refers to “the Lebanese-Palestinian border” despite the fact that no such border (and, as the BBC’s style guide clarifies, no Palestinian state) exists. In other words, the BBC adopted – and uncritically promoted to its audiences – the Hizballah narrative according to which all of Israel is ‘Palestine’. It is hence unsurprising to find that the BBC had nothing to tell its audiences about reports concerning the outcome of Hizballah’s attack on Kela (rather than “Kila”):

The superfluous punctuation around the phrase terror attack would clearly hinder readers’ understanding of the fact that – as the BBC knows – in March 2023 an Arab-Israeli civilian was severely wounded in a roadside bombing attack on Route 65, near Megiddo Junction. The armed terrorist who perpetrated that attack was caught and killed as he tried to return to Lebanon. Nevertheless, the BBC apparently thought it appropriate to qualify the nature of an attack involving infiltration into a foreign country to place a roadside bomb targeting civilian motorists.

That editorial choice of course means that the BBC can avoid the topic of Hizballah’s provocations and escalations prior to October 2023 and thus frame its current actions solely as ‘support for Gaza’.
BBC News again ignores editorial guidelines on ‘contributors’ affiliations’
Khalil’s report recycles Amnesty International’s talking points, once again without any information provided concerning its record of anti-Israel campaigning.

“Human rights group Amnesty International UK said the measures were “too limited”. […]

Amnesty International UK accused the government of “gesture politics”, given less than 10% of arms export licences were suspended.

The charity’s chief executive, Sacha Deshmukh, said the restrictions were “too limited and riddled with loopholes”.

“[The] decision means that while ministers apparently accept that Israel may be committing war crimes in Gaza, [the government] is nevertheless continuing to risk complicity in war crimes, apartheid – and possible genocide – by Israeli forces in Gaza,” he said.

The non-profit organisation has continuously called for a ceasefire and for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza.”

Another view of the story promoted in later versions of the report comes from regular BBC contributor Husam Zomlot:

“…Husam Zomlot, the Palestinians’ top envoy to the UK, called the partial ban an “important first step” to the UK’s fulfilment of its “legal obligations under domestic and international law”. […]

In a statement, Mr Zomlot said that the Palestinian Mission to the UK would “continue working” with the UK government towards a “full arms embargo”.”

An additional opinion on the story which Hafsa Khalil considered worthy of promotion is that of Lord Peter Ricketts, who appeared on BBC domestic radio on the same day.

“Former national arms advisor Lord Peter Ricketts told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the government’s decision was “long overdue”.

Lord Ricketts told the BBC in April following an Israeli strike that killed seven aid workers that the UK should stop selling arms to Israel, claiming there was “abundant evidence” that obligations on civilian safety were not being fulfilled.

In his latest interview with the BBC, he said: “There comes a point when the legal advice is so clear the government has an obligation to follow it.””

Despite her promotion of that quote, Khalil has nothing to tell readers about alternative views of the clarity of that “legal advice”. Neither does she clarify that Ricketts did not bother to wait for the results of investigations into the April 1st incident in which WCK workers were killed in the Gaza Strip before commencing a media campaign calling for the UK to halt arms sales to Israel.

The presentation of differing viewpoints is of course an important part of reporting any story. However, for that reporting to be impartial it is necessary – as the BBC’s editorial guidelines on that topic recognise – to ensure that audiences are made aware of relevant context.

Portraying an NGO which campaigns against the country that is the topic of these reports as merely a “non-profit” and a “human rights group”, or failing to disclose the affiliation of an MP with an organisation that files politically motivated lawsuits against that country, obviously compromises the ability of audiences to understand the context to and the reasons behind the viewpoints the BBC finds fit to promote.
HRC In True North: “BC Imam Preaches ‘Armed Struggle’ Against Jews To Muslim Youth”
On September 18, HRC Executive Director Mike Fegelman was interviewed by True North for his reaction on a radical British Columbia imam, Sheikh Younus Kathrada, who regularly spews antisemitic hate from the pulpit of his mosque, which HRC has long documented (see here, here, here and here) and who recently preached that Jews are the “real enemy” and ordered his followers to engage in an “armed struggle” against the Jewish people.

Fegelman told True North that the widespread acceptance of anti-Jewish and anti-Western rhetoric from extremist Islamists naturally leads to the normalization of antisemitism. He emphasized that those who spread anti-Jewish bigotry should face consequences, including hate speech charges and urged more Canadians to speak out and call for decisive action by law enforcement officials.

BC imam preaches armed struggle against Jews to Muslim youth Clayton DeMaine (September 18, 2024)

A British Columbia imam known for preaching hardline Islamist views told Muslim youth in Victoria that Jews are their “real enemy” and that God would have taken “vengeance upon them himself” but instead ordered Muslims to engage in an armed struggle against the Jewish people.

In a video documented by Memri, an organization that monitors Islamist extremism, Imam Sheikh Younus Kathrada told youth on Aug. 2 at the Muslim Youth Center in Victoria, B.C., that God has ordered them to fight Jews.

“Never be afraid to describe the yahud (the Jew), the real enemy the way that…Allah has described them. If Allah had willed, he could have taken vengeance upon them himself. But he ordered armed struggle,” Kathrada said in a video posted by Muslim Youth Victoria on YouTube. “(God) ordered armed struggle to test some of you by means of others, and those who are killed in the cause of Allah, He…will never waste their deeds.”

B’nai Brith Canada, a Jewish community group, has been documenting antisemitism in Canada and called on the government to denounce Kathrada and safety officials to investigate him since 2004.

In his latest sermon at the Muslim Youth Victoria Islamic Centre, Kathrada outlined several reasons why he thinks Jewish people are collectively guilty and deserving of God’s vengeance.

“(The Jews) are a small group that spreads corruption throughout the land,” Kathrada said. “The yahud have an ancient and dark history of bloodshed and breaking covenants and treaties…Not even fetuses in the wombs are safe from them.”
NYT Covers for Oct 7 Massacre Participants
If a magician never reveals his tricks, then we shouldn’t expect the New York Times to acknowledge the brazen sleight of hand it used to cover up for terrorists involved in the Oct. 7 massacre.

But the secret behind the newspaper’s illusion should be revealed. The Times, after all, promises something far greater than petty amusement. It promises journalism that’s “beyond reproach” and of the “highest possible standards,” as the paper’s guidelines put it, all of which makes it, in words of its executive editor, “a pillar of democracy.”

From the perspective of the audience, the trick looked something like this: They see that Israel charged several U.N. employees with participating the Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre. They are told of how Israel hasn’t shared evidence for such charges. And with the wave of the wand, the U.N. is vindicated, and Israel is incriminated.

In the paper’s own words:
Israel and UNRWA have long had contentious relations, and they have sharply deteriorated since the war began. Earlier this year, Israel accused a dozen workers of participating in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terror attack in Israel or its aftermath, an allegation that imperiled the organization because it led donors, including the United States, to suspend their financial support.

The United Nations fired 10 of the 12 employees Israel accused. An internal U.N. investigation later found that Israel had not provided evidence to back up its separate allegation that many UNRWA workers had ties to Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.
NPR Reporting on Pager Attack Omits Crucial Background Information
Seventy thousand residents of the north of Israel have been displaced from their homes for the past 11 months due to rocket fire by Hezbollah. In an August 25 attack, the terror organization launched hundreds of rockets and drones in a single day. And on July 27 an Iranian-made rocket launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon killed 12 Israeli Druze teenagers.

But somehow none of these details made it into NPR’s September 17 article about the attack on Hezbollah earlier this week, during which members of the group found their pagers exploding. (“Hezbollah accuses Israel as thousands hurt in unusual pager blasts.”)

Instead, reporters Jane Arraf and Vincent Ni tell readers that Israel’s “attack raises fears of an escalation,” and that, “Hezbollah militants have been engaged in 11 months of cross-border fighting with Israel,” whitewashing Hezbollah’s aggression. They also described Hezbollah as a “Lebanese armed group,” without noting that it is designated as a terrorist organization by the US government.

The article says, “the attack … comes following warnings from Israeli officials of possible military action against the Lebanese group.” But NPR’s readers are given no clue why Israel might issue such warnings.


PMW: PA Chairman Abbas condemns Israel’s retaliation against Hezbollah as “acts of terror”
Despite thousands of Hezbollah rockets fired into Israel, Abbas' advisor accuses Israel and the US of unilaterally "escalating the situation to undermine the region's stability"

Fatah supports Hezbollah and expresses "its great appreciation for the support that [Lebanon] has given the [Palestinian] cause… despite the sacrifices it is making"

Fatah "promised and swore once again to continue on the path of struggle to realize… the end of the occupation (i.e., Israel)"

Hamas' Al-Sinwar thanks Hezbollah for joining "one of the most honorable battles," stresses importance of "jihad and resistance" against "the Zionist project"

Hamas' Al-Sinwar to Nasrallah: "This pure blood and the blessed convoys of Martyrs will become more decisive and stronger against the Nazi Zionist occupation"

Top PA/Fatah official Rajoub last month urged Hezbollah and Iran to "punish the Israeli enemy"
Is Jordan reaching its boiling point?
As the first anniversary of Israel’s war with Hamas approaches, anger in neighboring Jordan appears to be spiking, even as the country’s leader, King Abdullah II, works to find a balance between public sentiment and maintaining a three-decade-old peace agreement with the Jewish state.

Nearly two-thirds of Jordan’s population is of Palestinian heritage and many more identify closely with the plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

The tension looked set to boil over last week when a Jordanian national – a truck driver transporting goods through the main border crossing into Israel – shot and killed three Israeli civilians. Fury at Israel was also on display last Wednesday when an Islamist party campaigning on an anti-Israel platform significantly increased its share of seats in the legislature in the country’s parliamentary elections.

Additionally, over the past few weeks, the IDF has turned its attention to the Jordanian border, carrying out a military operation to crack down on the flow of weapons through the Hashemite Kingdom to Palestinian militants in the West Bank. The source of those weapons, the army said in a recent media briefing, is Iran.

Touring the Jordan Valley last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted Israel’s “multifront war,” including real threats from the east, and said he would work to bolster Israel’s border fence with Jordan in an effort to prevent the smuggling.

His comments, however, also underscored the peace agreement with Jordan that was signed nearly exactly 30 years ago, on Oct. 26, 1994. “It is important to us to ensure that this border remain a border of peace – and security,” Netanyahu added.

“This is a border of peace,” the prime minister emphasized in a statement later released by his office. “We are cooperating with the Kingdom of Jordan to make sure it stays that way.”

“Pay close attention to Netanyahu’s words, he was careful to include that Israel would cooperate with the Jordanians on security,” Ronni Shaked, a researcher on Arab affairs at the Truman Institute at Hebrew University, told Jewish Insider in an interview.
Israel carries out covert assassination, steals documents in Iran
Israel allegedly carried out an assassination and document theft within Iranian territory, according to a presenter from a channel affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, quoting an Iranian intelligence source.

The presenter, Vahid Haddab, claimed that "last month, Israel assassinated a figure whose identity has not yet been identified and stole documents inside Iran." Since the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran at the end of July, speculation about Iranian retaliation has intensified, especially following the explosions of pagers and communication devices in Lebanon, as well as the attack on the Iranian ambassador in Beirut.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced on Sunday that they were dismantling a network consisting of twelve Israeli agents who operated across six provinces in Iran with the aim of undermining the country's national security.

In a statement released via the Tasnim state-run news agency, it was reported that "after Israel's resounding failure," the Guards' forces managed to uncover the Israeli network, which sought to harm the Iranian people.

No details were provided regarding the location or timing of the arrests, and no information was given about the nationalities of the involved agents.

Previous arrests
Iran has previously announced the arrests of agents, who it claims operate on behalf of foreign intelligence services, primarily Israel.

In recent years, Iran has accused Israel of destroying nuclear sites and assassinating Iranian scientists. Additionally, several individuals have been executed after being convicted of collaborating with Israel, according to rulings by the Iranian judicial system.
‘We have to put an end to this regime,’ exiled Iranian crown
The time for solidarity between Israelis and the Iranian people is over, and it is now time for action, Reza Pahlavi, the exiled Iranian crown prince, told JNS on Friday afternoon at the Israeli-American Council summit in Washington, D.C.

The son of the last shah of Iran, Pahlavi, who is based in the Washington area and who founded the National Council for Iran, told JNS that there is a need for maximum pressure on Iran and major support for the country.

“We have to put an end to this regime,” he told JNS, of the Islamic Republic of Tehran, after he addressed the IAC summit.

The solution will come “at the hand of the Iranian people,” not via “foreign warfare or intervention,” Pahlavi told JNS. He added that Iranians, who “have been fighting alone,” need wider support.

“We need to be able to organize campaigns,” he told JNS. “We need to be able to organize labor strikes in Iran, which is the quickest way to bring this regime down in paralysis.”

Pahlavi also said there must be an effort to maximize defections in order to minimize resistance when the time comes.

“I think the role that America plays in this is critical. It goes without saying that the Israeli government has to be able to see eye-to-eye with some key governments in the region, whether it’s the Saudis or governments like the British, or the French, or the German government or the European Union,” he said. “If we get the proper leadership in place and coordination, I believe that we can succeed and prevail.”


Meir Y. Soloveichik: Tucker Screwtape
In 1942, with the world at war, an Oxford tutor wrote a book about traditional faith unlike any other ever published. It consists of missives from a senior devil in a demonic bureaucracy who is guiding a junior devil tasked with tempting one specific soul to achieve that man’s damnation. The senior devil is named Screwtape, and his letters are addressed to his nephew, Wormwood. C.S. Lewis’s brilliant conceit is that every one of Screwtape’s letters serves as a sort of mirror in which all moral categories are inverted. Thus Screwtape refers to God as “our Enemy above,” and to Satan as “our father below.” For this bureaucratic demon, Hell is a source of admiration, Heaven an object of horror. Damnation is desired, and eternal life with God is disdained. By experiencing an instinctive horror at these moral reversals, the reader is to intuit the right and the good.

Many decades later, in September 2024, America was treated to a Screwtape Letter of its own. Tucker Carlson, one of the most popular podcasters in America, hosted a “historian” on his show whose description of World War II involved a reversal of all obvious moral categories and historical facts. In this vile revisionist retelling of the war, Winston Churchill was cast as the “chief villain” of the episode and a “psychopath,” while Hitler was portrayed as a reasonable statesman who sought peace and understanding with England. Carlson’s interlocutor attributed the death of countless multitudes in German camps to an unfortunate lack of preparation on the part of Germany, and an overpopulation of POWs. Carlson, in turn, enthusiastically agreed with his guest’s characterization of Churchill and said his intention was to ensure that the guest would come to be seen as “the most important historian in the United States.” Unlike Lewis’s satire, this was done in all seriousness: Evil was really good, the heroes of history were actually villains, and the Holocaust, we are informed, never happened.

Screwtape lives.

The entire episode was horrifying. But it is worth noting, in this context, what the very inspiration for The Screwtape Letters might have been. According to some accounts, C.S. Lewis got the idea by listening to a boring sermon and apparently began to wonder what it would be like to hear a speech advocating evil. He wrote the following to his brother:
Before the service was over—one cd. wish these things came more seasonably—I was struck by an idea for a book wh. I think might be both useful and entertaining. It wd. be called As one Devil to Another and would consist of letters from an elderly retired devil to a young devil who has just started work on his first “patient.” The idea wd. be to give all the psychology of temptation from the other point of view.

But there was another possible source of inspiration, and that was hearing Hitler himself, and the evil, execrable, and eloquent way in which the chancellor made the case for his cause. A blog known as A Pilgrim in Narnia by a dedicated Lewis fan named Brenton Dickieson points to an earlier passage in that same letter: “I don’t know if I’m weaker than other people: but it is a positive revelation to me how while [Hitler’s] speech lasts it is impossible not to waver just a little. I should be useless as a schoolmaster or a policeman. Statements which I know to be untrue all but convince me, at any rate for the moment, if only the man says them unflinchingly.’”
Seth Mandel: Lawsuit Pits ADL Against Intel Over Anti-Semitism
Lawsuits against universities have led the way in the legal war on anti-Semitism since October 7, but the private sector was sure to follow with a high-profile suit of its own. It has done so now in a complaint against Intel, and the Anti-Defamation League’s decision to join the suit will ensure it remains in the headlines.

The story behind the suit is as follows. Some time before October 7 of last year, an Israeli man moved from Tel Aviv to New York when Intel purchased the company he worked for. After the attacks, the man claims, two Intel executives began making public anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas social-media posts. One of those executives was then made the employee’s supervisor. When the employee complained—the Israeli man, a veteran of the IDF, is trying to remain anonymous, so it is (for now) a John Doe suit—the company retaliated against him, according to the suit, firing him. Doe was the only one fired from this supervisor’s section and the only Israeli in it.

Doe says Intel then supported the two executives and refused to work with him on a compromise.

Intel’s large presence in Israel and the ADL’s involvement are important details here. According to CNBC, “It is the first time the ADL has sued a major American company in its over 100-year history.”

What was the content of the offending posts that started this battle? ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt appeared on CNBC yesterday and described them as “social-media posts displaying Israeli soldiers being bombed, being burned. Images of Israeli soldiers where Palestinians had the feet on the neck—ugly, hideous, grotesque stuff.”

The supervisor also, apparently, continued making comments about Doe’s national origin before Doe was pushed out. “We’re living in this wonderland now where it seems to be open season on Jews,” Greenblatt said on CNBC. “Somehow, some way, people think it’s just political speech if you target and harass people because of their Jewish identity or faith.”

Doe also says Intel filed a motion to “out” him, which he finds gratuitously retaliatory in itself. The company’s motion claims that Doe ought to go by his real name in the suit since he has publicly named the executives at Intel (Doe responds by noting that those officials’ social-media postings were public and under their own names), and that there’s no real threat to Doe’s safety by having his identity publicly revealed.

The most telling part is Intel’s response, as reported by CNBC: “An Intel spokeswoman said the company has a longstanding culture of diversity and inclusion and does not tolerate hate speech of any kind, pointing to its code of conduct.”

We have a handbook! What more do you want from us?
‘We can’t afford to be silent': US antisemitism envoy tells 'Post'
‘This is the first time ever there is an international framework for how to respond to antisemitism,” explained Dr. Deborah Lipstadt, who was appointed by US President Joe Biden and confirmed by the US Senate in March 2022 as the US special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism, leading efforts to advance US foreign policy to counter antisemitism throughout the world.

She spoke to The Jerusalem Post, two months after issuing the landmark “Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism” in Buenos Aires.

As of September 2024, 42 countries have signed the guidelines, a deceptively simple document, containing just a dozen directives – fewer than 700 words: Speak out against antisemitism, avoid politicization of antisemitism, adopt and implement strategies and action plans, appoint and empower leadership designated to combat antisemitism, understand and define antisemitism, protect Jewish communities, collect data documenting incidents of antisemitism, enforce anti-hate crime and anti-discrimination laws, educate, cultivate a whole-of-society commitment, engage social media, and strengthen international collaboration.

On a daily basis, Lipstadt meets with Jewish stakeholders, Jewish organizations, US Senate members, prioritizes issues with her staff, and meets with senior members of the State Department to discuss how to encourage more countries and institutions to sign the guidelines.

“Many of the countries who are signatories, including my own, have national strategies, but that’s each in a silo,” Lipstadt explained to the Post.

As of September 2024, 42 countries have signed the guidelines, and Lipstadt’s office continuously works to get more signatories, a complex process that requires individual negotiations and meetings. Since April, she’s traveled to 12 countries, and in each country she discussed the guidelines.

“There is a concept of walking the precincts. Before elections, the head of the committees of the parties would walk the precincts so people would get out and vote. We walked the precincts,” she told the Post.
As antisemitism soars, The Jerusalem Post rallies behind Canada’s Jews
It was a quiet afternoon last month when the tranquility of Toronto’s Jewish neighborhoods was shattered by bomb threats targeting over 100 Jewish institutions, including synagogues and community centers in Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver.

These threats forced evacuations, disrupted services, and left communities in fear. This was not an isolated incident but part of a disturbing trend that has been escalating since the October 7 massacre by Hamas, when hatred against Jews turned violent.

Just days later, pro-Hamas protests erupted outside synagogues in Toronto and Montreal, where congregants were met with slogans glorifying terrorists and inciting violence.

These protests, often marked by flags and chants vilifying Jews and Israel, have turned sacred spaces into battlegrounds of intimidation. The message is clear: for some, it’s open season on Jews in Canada.

As Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post, I am outraged by the rise of these targeted, life-threatening incidents against Jewish communities.

Canada, once a beacon of multiculturalism and tolerance, has been infiltrated by a surge of antisemitism, turning safe havens into danger zones. A spike of antisemitism in Canada

In September 2024, antisemitic hate crimes had tripled in Toronto alone, making Jews – who make up just 1% of the population – the target of 67% of all religiously motivated hate crimes.

It’s easy to dismiss these threats as isolated acts of extremism, but the data tells a different story. In July 2024, synagogues in Vancouver and Montreal were firebombed, kosher stores were defaced with antisemitic graffiti, and Jewish schools came under gunfire.

These are not random acts; they are coordinated and emboldened assaults on a community that thrives on peace and resilience.
Rediscovering Jerusalem: Journalist releases new edition of Six Day War-era book
In the spring of 1967, a young Abraham Rabinovich requested the permission of his superiors at the local New York publication he wrote for to fly to Israel because he felt the rumblings of war and wanted to report on the action.

“They said, ‘You have two weeks, war or no war,'” he recalled in a recent interview with The Times of Israel. He stationed himself in the Musrara border area, chatting with people in the shelters and keeping an eye on the Arab side of the fence.

In the end, he stayed much longer than two weeks. Rabinovich enrolled in an Ulpan to learn Hebrew and better communicate with the locals. He began compiling stories and interviewing civilians and returning soldiers about their experience of the Six Day War. These stories eventually became his first book, “The Battle for Jerusalem,” published in 1972.

Over the next several decades, as he developed his career as a Jerusalem Post reporter, he continued to author books. He has used his slower retirement years to write independently for various publications worldwide, offering his unique perspective on global events.

“Jerusalem on Earth, Clamoring at Heaven’s Gate: Post-Six Day War Jerusalem,” was initially published in 1988. Recently, a revised version has been released with additional chapters and new photographs.

The new edition of “Jerusalem on Earth” opens with the story of two men, Haim and Abu Ali, living on opposite sides of the Jordan-Israel border fence in pre-1967 Jerusalem. These two develop a close friendship that blossoms when the city is united. The book’s final chapter catches up with them several years later; their wives, children, and grandchildren have grown close, with Haim’s son preparing to join the IDF.

Throughout the series of compelling vignettes, Rabinovich paints a picture of an evolving city through the eyes of its inhabitants. In particular, he focuses on former mayor Teddy Kollek, using Kollek’s career as a throughline.

As a beat reporter covering Jerusalem police and municipal activity, Rabinovich kept a very close eye on Kollek. Their relationship started with a bang, Rabinovich recalled.
Chanukah in September in Washington, as USPS releases holiday stamp
Chanukah came 13-and-a-half weeks early at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., as a band and a Jewish student choir performed songs about dreidels and menorahs, as well as Yiddish and Ladino music.

Beatrice Gurwitz, the museum’s incoming executive director, thanked the musicians for helping the audience, of about 75, get into the holiday spirit during the United States Postal Service’s first-day-of-issue event on Thursday for its new Chanukah stamp.

“The event is the perfect embodiment of what we do here at the museum every day,” she said. “We explore the history of Jewish Washingtonians and the many ways that it has shaped and been shaped by our broader national story.”

Gurwitz drew attendees’ attention to a matchbook in an adjacent gallery room, which was used for a national menorah lighting in Lafayette Square in front of the White House in 1979 during the Carter administration. Because it was a windy evening, a tall Plexiglas box was put around the menorah, for which longer matches were required. Staffers secured extended matches from a nearby design store owned by Jews.

The president subsequently signed the matchbox—which is on view at the museum—“Best Wishes. (Thanks!) To the Kranish’s. Jimmy Carter 12/79.”

“The story of the first national menorah is a story about our local community—the people who planned the lighting, the people who debated if the lighting was a good idea in the first place and the local shop owners, who helped bring Jewish tradition to a national stage,” Gurwitz said.

“Because of that ceremony 45 years ago, Jewish cultural traditions are increasingly part of our national holiday commemorations,” she said. “This year, when Jews and non-Jews use the Chanukah forever stamp, they will be participating in a long tradition of celebrating diversity in America.”
Italian FM Tajani expresses strong support for Israel at UNGA sidelines event
As hundreds of heads of state convene in New York City throughout the week for the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Antonio Tajani, Italy’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, emphasized support for Israel in its ongoing war against Hamas at an event held Sunday evening on the sidelines of UNGA.

Speaking at the invitation-only event hosted by the European Leadership Network (ELNET), Tajani told the approximately 70 attendees — prominent business and philanthropic leaders in both the Jewish and Italian communities — that there “is a link” between the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. “The names of the links are Iran and Russia. This is a dangerous situation,” he said, noting that the world is divided into a battle between “democracies” versus “autocracies.”

Tajani condemned Spain’s formal recognition earlier this year of a Palestinian state. “I am against [it] … Palestine as a state doesn’t exist,” Tajani said. “It is the West Bank and Gaza [and] Gaza is under terrorist control.”

The Italy-Israel alliance event was held at the Upper East Side home of Ari Ackerman, a co-owner of the Miami Marlins. Guests were offered a selection of kosher Chianti wines and a variety of hors d’oeuvres, including potato latkes and spicy salmon balls. Attendees included William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Galit Levi, Israeli fashion designer; Mariangela Zappia, Italy’s ambassador to the U.S. and Maurizio Massari, permanent representative of Italy to the U.N; David Siegel, former Consul General to the Southwest U.S. and president of Friends of ELNET-US; Roberta Anati, former deputy director of Italian Trade Commission and CEO of ELNET-Italy.

ELNET is a non-profit founded in 2007 dedicated to strengthening relations between Europe and Israel, with offices in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom and Israel. The reception came as the group attempts to expand its presence in New York, having recently formed a local advisory board, of which Laurent Morali, president of Kushner Companies, will chair.


‘One Day’ benefit featuring Matisyahu raises $1m for recovery, education in southern Israel
“Sometimes I lay under the moon
And thank God I’m breathin’
Then I pray, ‘Don’t take me soon
Cause I am here for a reason.”

The Jewish world is holding its collective breath as the days inch forward to mark an entire year of fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the terror group infiltrated the border on Oct. 7 and wreaked havoc in communities in southern Israel.

So it’s not surprising that about 350 Jewish and pro-Israel supporters were drawn to a concert in New York City on Sunday night aptly titled “One Day”—a small break from the barrage of sober news that keeps coming out of the Middle East. They didn’t venture too far, theoretically, choosing to hear the American Jewish singer Matisyahu, who was performing as part of the inaugural New York benefit for the Americans for Ben-Gurion University (A4BGU).

Dressed for the most part in requisite New York black, attendees ate, drank, socialized, and later, danced and clapped in what was once the Grand Dame of Manhattan movie theaters—the Zigfeld in Midtown—now a ballroom space for galas and corporate events.

They also came to honor Gary DeBode, outgoing board chair, for the work that he and his family have done in the past four years and more to support the university based in Beersheva.

“Sometimes in my tears I drown
But I never let it get me down
So when negativity surrounds
I know someday, it’ll all turn around because

All my life, I’ve been waitin’ for
I’ve been prayin’ for, for the people to say
That we don’t wanna fight no more
There’ll be no more wars, and our children will play.”

In addressing the audience after dinner and before the show, Doug Seserman, CEO of A4BGU, noted that due its proximity to the terrorist attacks, the university was significantly affected on Oct. 7. Some 1,200 people were killed that Shabbat and Simchat Torah morning—364 of them at the Nova music festival, many of them in their 20s and early 30s—with thousands wounded and 250 men, women and children kidnapped and taken to Gaza.

He said that “10% of the dead belonged to BGU.” Others were abducted, injured and evacuated to other areas of the country.

With hundreds of faculty, staff and students living in the communities bordering Gaza, thousands on active reserve duty and nearly everyone within the range of Hamas rockets, the threat has been close at hand and very real, according to “Strong and United: We Will Prevail,” the university’s emergency response impact campaign report issued in January.




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