Friday, September 27, 2024

09/27 Links Pt2: Murray: The United Nations is pointless, toothless and morally corrupt; Phillips: Eye-witness to atrocity at Supernova; The Moral Inversion of Rashida Tlaib

From Ian:

Netanyahu sets out a choice between a ‘blessing’ and a ‘curse’ in UNGA speech
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set out what he described as a choice for the nations of the Middle East and the world, between the “blessing” of expanded regional normalization or the “curse” of Iran, its proxies and Oct. 7.

“Ladies and gentlemen, as Israel defends itself against Iran in the seven-front war, the line separating the blessing and the curse could not be more clear,” Netanyahu told delegates, brandishing a pair of maps — one showing a potential normalization corridor through the Gulf and the Middle East and the other showing the proliferation of Iran’s proxies.

“On the one hand, a bright blessing, a future of hope,” he said. “On the other hand, a dark future of despair… Israel has made its choice. We seek to move forward to a bright age of prosperity and peace. Iran and its proxies have also made their choice. They want to move back to a dark age of terror and war.”

He said that the countries of the world must choose which side they will stand on. Netanyahu argued that Israel’s wars against international terrorist groups are a fight against a common global enemy. He condemned those at the U.N. and elsewhere who he said have tried to cast Israel as evil and Iran and its proxies as good.

Netanyahu made the case for Israel’s escalating campaign against Hezbollah, which, he emphasized, has targeted citizens from a slew of countries, not limited to Israel.

“As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice and Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Netanyahu said, asserting that Israel has had significant success in its recent operations. More than 60,000 residents of northern Israel have been evacuated since Oct. 7.

He said that Israel has been “tolerating this intolerable situation” of communities being evacuated from northern Israel for a year but “enough is enough,” vowing that Israel would ensure its citizens can return home and “will not accept” a Hezbollah army on its northern border.

Netanyahu emphasized that Hezbollah is violating U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 — which calls on it to move its forces north of the Litani River — and that it is firing rockets from civilian locations in Lebanon.

Addressing Iran’s leaders, Netanyahu said, “if you strike us, we will strike you. There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach.”
Douglas Murray: The United Nations is pointless, toothless and morally corrupt
It’s that most wonderful time of the year in New York. I mean of course the time when the United Nations General Assembly is in session.

There really is nothing like it. If you can’t get down a couple of blocks on foot you can at least console yourself that some African despot is holed up in his 5-star hotel.

And if you can’t cross town in a car then you can be safe in the knowledge that some Arab potentate is raiding the minibar in a hotel of their choice.

But at least you know that the real action is going on over on the floor of the United Nations.

On Tuesday it was Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey who was up. And from the main podium at the UN he used an analogy that people like him enjoy using on 1st Avenue.

“Just as Hitler was stopped by the alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must also be stopped by the alliance of humanity.”

At the 79th General Assembly the Turkish president also criticized the U.N. for failing to fulfill its original mission and instead becoming “a dysfunctional structure.”

He’s right on that last bit, at least. But unfortunately he seems not to realize is that one reason the UN is dysfunctional is because it allows despots like him to use the stage to attack not only the country that is hosting them but also our democratic allies.

Of course Erdogan is simply committing what this city’s shrinks would call “projection.” Throughout his time in office Erdogan has consistently locked up journalists, judges and anyone else who stands in his way or criticizes him.

After what he claimed was a “coup” attempt against him in 2016 he locked up around 50,000 people.

He has also continued a war of aggression against the Kurdish people who have been denied a state of their own by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, among others.

When faced with people like Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, the Mullahs in Iran and the terror-sponsoring, slave-state of Qatar, you would have thought that the world’s democracies would have a chance to shine.

But then you would be wrong.

It seems that when it comes to speeches before the UN the Western democracies are not sending our best.
Kassy Akiva: ‘We Are Winning’: Netanyahu Slams UN As ‘House Of Darkness’ In Scathing Speech
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel was winning the battle against its enemies and tore into the United Nations General Assembly in a Friday speech, accusing the body of being a “house of darkness.”

Netanyahu began his speech by stating that he did not intend to come to the UN this year, but changed his mind because he felt Israel was being slandered.

“I decided to come here to speak for my people, to speak for my country, to speak for the truth,” Netanyahu said. “And here is the truth: Israel seeks peace. Israel yearns for peace. Israel has made peace, and will make peace again.”

“And I have another message for this assembly and for the world outside this hall: We are winning.”

Netanyahu also slammed the UN for its long-standing bias against Israel, which he said has gone into overdrive since October 7.

Calling the UN a “house of darkness” and “a swamp of anti-Semitic bile,” Netanyahu pointed out that there have been more anti-Israel resolutions passed against Israel in the UN than the entire world combined.

“What hypocrisy, what a double standard, what a joke,” Netanyahu said.

“It’s not about Gaza … it’s always been about Israel. … The UN will be viewed by fair-minded people everywhere as nothing more than a contemptuous farce.”

“So all the speeches you heard today, all the hostility directed at Israel this year, not about Gaza. It’s about Israel. It’s always been about Israel, about Israel’s very existence.”

Netanyahu referenced the story of Moses, wherein the ancient Jewish leader said to the Israelites that the actions they choose will determine if they bless or curse future generations.

“That is the choice we face today: The curse of Iran’s unremitting aggression, or the blessing of a historic reconciliation between Arab and Jew.”

Netanyahu unveiled a “map of a blessing,” showing the potential for Israel and Arab partners to form a land bridge to connect Europe and Asia with rail lines, energy pipelines, and fiber optic cables.

Showing a second map “of a curse,” Netanyahu highlighted Iranian influence in the region.

“Iran’s malignant arc has shut down international waterways. It cuts off trade. It destroys nations from within and inflicts misery on millions.” he said, adding that Iran’s aggression endangers every other country in the Middle East.


Readout of PM Netanyahu’s speech to UN General Assembly
Mr. President, Ladies and gentlemen, I didn’t intend to come here this year. My country is at war, fighting for its life.

But after I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight. I decided to come here to speak for my people.

To speak for my country, to speak for the truth. And here’s the truth: Israel seeks peace. Israel yearns for peace. Israel has made peace and will make peace again. Yet we face savage enemies who seek our annihilation, and we must defend ourselves against them.

These savage murderers, our enemies, seek not only to destroy us, but they seek to destroy our common civilization and return all of us to a dark age of tyranny and terror. When I spoke here last year, I said we face the same timeless choice that Moses put before the people of Israel thousands of years ago, as we were about to enter the Promised Land. Moses told us that our actions would determine whether we bequeath to future generations a blessing or a curse.

And that is the choice we face today: the curse of Iran’s unremitting aggression or the blessing of a historic reconciliation between Arab and Jew. In the days that followed that speech, the blessing I spoke of came into sharper focus.


Josh Hammer Podcast: Keeping Tabs on the Jackals of the UN (Feat. Hillel Neuer)
Josh is joined by Hillel Neuer, executive director of United Nations Watch, for an illuminating conversation about everything wrong with the UN.


Israeli PM Netanyahu slams UN General Assembly as ‘swamp of antisemitic bile’ in fiery speech, dozens of diplomats walk out
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the United Nations General Assembly as a “swamp of antisemitic bile” during a fiery address Friday morning — as dozens of diplomats walked out in protest ahead of the speech.

Netanyahu, 74, appeared at the annual UN gathering in New York shortly before the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The prime minister used his time at the podium to slam the mountain of international criticism of Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

He accused the UN of being a “swamp of antisemitic bile” that is “willing to demonize the Jewish state for anything.”

He also called the organization an “anti-Israel flat-earth society.”

The Likud party leader slammed the International Criminal Court’s allegations that Israel has deliberately targeted civilians in Gaza as the product of “profound moral confusion.”

He also had harsh words for the thousands of anti-Israel protesters who mobilized across the world over the past 11 months — including at tent encampments on university campuses throughout the US.

“We see yet another profound moral confusion when self-described progressives march against the democracy of Israel,” he said.


UKLFI Charitable Trust: Panel Discussion on Proportionality in Armed Conflict at the UN in New York
Understanding Proportionality in Armed Conflict - a high-level discussion exploring ethical and legal standards in modern armed conflict, held at the UN Headquarters, New York on 25 September 2024.

As global conflicts become more complex, the principle of proportionality remains essential in ‎‎ensuring that actions align with international humanitarian law and ethical standards.‎

Panel: Colonel Richard Kemp, Professor Alan Dershowitz, Natasha ‎‎Hausdorff, Major John Spencer and Major Andrew Fox.‎ Moderated by Jay Rosenzweig.‎




Melanie Phillips: Eye-witness to atrocity at Supernova
So the overwhelmingly liberal western media will continue to tell murderous lies about Israel. Interestingly, the film was made by the BBC in its Storyville strand. Yet the BBC’s appallingly biased coverage of Israel is the prime reason why the vast majority of the British public remains almost wholly unaware that Israel is being subjected to an eight-front Iranian war of extermination —and why so many have so viciously turned against the Jewish state.

So why has the BBC made this film? Storyville’s commissioning editor, Lucie Kon, is herself a Jew with a courage and determination that are vanishingly rare in the BBC.

Even so, there were reportedly difficult negotiations to get the film on the air. Director Yariv Mozer told The Hollywood Reporter that the BBC forced him to agree not to describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation if he wanted the film to be shown. “It was a price I was willing to pay so that the British public will be able to see these atrocities and decide if this is a terrorist organisation or not,” Mozer said.

In fact, the young Israelis in the film refer to terrorists in Hebrew on many occasions. The film itself states: “The IDF says that more than 3,000 terrorists breached the 40-mile-long border in around 30 places.” This apparently met the BBC’s distinction between using the “t-word” itself and reporting others doing so.

The problem with the BBC’s reporting of the Middle East, however, goes far beyond its perverse refusal to use the word terrorist. Day in, day out the British news outlet disseminates the malevolent falsehoods and distortions about Israel produced by Hamas and its fellow travellers in the international “humanitarian” establishment that wickedly portray the IDF entirely falsely as human-rights abusers and war criminals.

Not once has the BBC — or any other media outlet — ever told the public that every correspondent in Gaza is forced to toe the Hamas line under threat of death or expulsion, and so every piece of information from there has to be treated as unreliable or worse.

The BBC’s chief content officer, Charlotte Moore, attended the London screening. She introduced the film by referring to the “incredibly difficult year” for so many in the room and said: “I hope this film is a demonstration of the BBC commitment to telling stories fearlessly and fairly in pursuit of the truth.”

Well, no it isn’t. The BBC has contemptuously dismissed all complaints about the shocking malevolence of its coverage as being without foundation. It is nevertheless deeply discomfited by the charge against it of systematic bias and antisemitism.

So while the commitment of Lucie Kon to the truth is not in doubt, it’s hard not to conclude that the BBC top brass are using this film to sanitise their coverage — a prime source of incitement to hatred of Israel and the Jews — by giving the impression that it is instead fair-minded.

The deeply perverse response to October 7, however, goes far beyond one news organisation. Mozer says he offered the documentary to multiple streaming platforms in America, but they were unwilling to pick it up due to “concerns about the political situation”.

Israel is battling not just against genocidal enemies but also against a tidal wave of lies in an epidemic of insanity that has consumed the west. This film is vital because, like Israel itself, it stands for truth and justice against a west that has simply lost its mind.
Viewers denounce BBC October 7 documentary as ‘Israeli propaganda’
There was widespread praise and admiration for last night’s powerful BBC documentary about the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival, Surviving October 7: We Will Dance Again.

But not everyone saw it in a positive light. Some took to platforms such as IMDb to express their outrage and question the film's accuracy and integrity.

This documentary offered a haunting, minute-by-minute account of the brutal attack on partygoers at the Nova Music Festival — one of the sites targeted by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Through survivor testimonies, CCTV footage, and mobile recordings, the film captured the harrowing transformation from confusion to panic as Hamas launched its attack, resulting in a catastrophic loss of life: 364 festivalgoers were killed, 44 others were taken hostage and hundreds of others injured.

Even though the documentary was told through eyewitness accounts and footage taken by victims and terrorists alike, it was denounced as a fabrication.

One reviewer in IMDb wrote: “The story feels disjointed, leaving you wondering what the point is. The acting is painfully bad, and the dialogue feels unnatural.”

Another pointed to the “surreal” depiction of events, expressing hope that such a nightmare was an “unrealistic fiction”.

Some viewers alleged that the film served as propaganda for the Israeli government, questioning its motives during a time of ongoing conflict.

“Do we need more 'Dancing Israelis'?” another asked on IMDb, suggesting that the documentary attempts to manufacture consent for government actions amidst an active genocide in Gaza.

Some claimed that positive reviews predominantly come from Israeli audiences.

“It feels like those praising this film are primarily based in Israel, which might explain the high ratings for what many see as a mediocre documentary filled with inaccuracies,” remarked one person.


New Oct. 7 footage shows victim sticking tongue out at terrorists before her murder
Newly revealed footage from Hamas’s October 7 attack last year shows Kinneret Gat, a 67-year-old teacher from Kibbutz Be’eri, sticking her tongue out at Hamas terrorists shortly before they murdered her during the cross-border onslaught.

The footage, which was shared by Israel’s official social media channels, was part of a one-hour report aired on Channel 12’s Uvda investigative program on Thursday, using security camera footage as well as video shot by terrorists depicting the Hamas operatives storming the community’s gate and massacring citizens, as well as the kibbutz’s outnumbered and outgunned civilian security squad who had worked to fight them off.

The assault saw a total of some 1,200 people killed, mostly civilians, and 251 taken hostage to the Gaza Strip, amid horrific acts of brutality as families were targeted in their homes.

Kinneret Gat, whose daughter Carmel Gat and daughter-in-law Yarden Roman-Gat were taken hostage that day, had previously been seen in videos that surfaced in the days after the attack with her hands tied, walking alongside other elderly members of the community who were led by Hamas fighters through the kibbutz before they were shot. Her death was confirmed last December.

Carmel Gat, Kinneret’s daughter, was among the six hostages murdered in a tunnel under southern Gaza’s Rafah late last month, whose bodies were recovered by the IDF days later, prompting outrage in Israel and drawing hundreds of thousands to the streets demanding a deal with Hamas to secure the remaining captives’ release.

Yarden Roman-Gat was released in November as part of a hostage deal.


Republican Attorneys General Back Lawsuit Charging Americans for Muslims in Palestine With Supporting Hamas
A group of Republican attorneys general has filed an amicus brief backing a lawsuit against American Muslims for Palestine and National Students for Justice in Palestine, the anti-Israel groups accused of providing material support to Hamas.

The coalition of 22 attorneys general, led by Virginia's Jason Miyares and Iowa's Brenna Bird, filed the brief late last week, urging the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to "decline to dismiss" a lawsuit brought on by survivors and family members of those killed by Hamas on Oct. 7.

The defendants stand accused of serving as "the propaganda and recruiting wing of a Foreign Terrorist Organization in the United States." American Muslims for Palestine and National Students for Justice in Palestine have galvanized anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activists across the country in the wake of Oct. 7, calling for a "Unity Intifada" against the Jewish state and vowing to "contribute to the fight for Palestinian liberation."

The suit seeks to hold the anti-Israel groups accountable under the Anti-Terrorism Act for allegedly "providing material support to Hamas," according to the AGs' brief.

"Attorneys General, as their States' chief law enforcement officers, have a deep interest in holding terrorists and their supporters accountable," says the brief. "That accountability helps ensure that citizens of their States receive financial compensation from the individuals and organizations who supported the terrorists that engaged in the horrific attacks that harmed family members and loved ones—fully acknowledging that no amount of financial compensation can ever make up for the tragic losses these citizens have experienced."

Miyares and Bird told the Washington Free Beacon that organizations that abuse their "nonprofit" status to promote terrorism must be held accountable.

"Sunlight is the best disinfectant and we are working to get to the truth. Groups such as AMP and NSJP are alleged to have abused their nonprofit status in order to promote Hamas' dangerous ideological campaign of hatred," Miyares said. "Their inconsistent financial reporting, particularly in Virginia, raises serious concerns about whether donations to these organizations are in fact being funneled to support activities far from their publicly stated mission."

"It is not only despicable but illegal for any person or group to provide support to terrorists. I stand with the victims and families whose loved ones were murdered on October 7," Bird added. "They deserve the chance to take their fight against terrorism to court and to hold accountable any group that leverages its 'nonprofit' status to act as Hamas foot soldiers and promote terrorism."
Schakowsky, 'Progressive" Dems Introduce Bill to Fund Terror-linked UNRWA
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and other “progressive” Democrats have introduced legislation to restore U.S. funding to the terror-linked United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) despite the fact that several of its employees participated in the Hamas terror attack against Israel on October 7.

The legislation, called the “UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act of 2024,” is almost certain to fail, meaning it is only a symbolic gesture, but a bizarre one.

Then-President Donald Trump cut funding to UNRWA in 2018 amid concerns that it encourages conflict, because it indoctrinates Palestinian children to hate Israel and Jews, and perpetuates the idea that Israel will disappear.

President Joe Biden restored over $700 million to UNRWA after taking office.

After October 7, as evidence emerged that several UNRWA employees had taken part in the deadly terror attack, and that thousands more had cheered it on, the Biden administration suspended funding, as did several other countries.

After a faulty “investigation” that cleared UNRWA — and to which Israel objected — several countries, but not the U.S., restored funding to the agency. Subsequently, UNRWA admitted that nine of its employees may have been involved in the October 7 attack. One of them was specifically accused of abducting a dead Israeli’s body to Gaza.

Still, Schakowsky — whose district includes a large Jewish community — and her colleagues want to force the issue.


Dave McCormick making inroads with Jewish voters in Pennsylvania
Dave McCormick’s ongoing outreach to Jewish voters in his campaign to unseat Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) has been yielding some notable results, according to interviews with disaffected Jewish Democrats now pledging to back the Republican nominee in November.

The change of heart among some single-issue Jewish voters who count Israel as a top concern in the election underscores how political allegiances have been scrambled in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, even as it remains unclear if their decision to cross party lines will meaningfully influence the outcome of the race in a hotly contested battleground state.

McCormick has been particularly proactive in his efforts to court Jewish voters in Pennsylvania, who represent about 3% of the state’s population and could make the difference in a close election. The former hedge fund executive and military veteran has been outspoken in his support for Israel as it fights Hamas and other Iran-backed proxies in the region, while raising alarms about antisemitism on college campuses.

He has also criticized Casey’s record on such issues, most recently in an opinion article published in the New York Post on Sunday, where he accused the senator of failing to push for a Senate floor vote to advance a major bill called the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which is aimed at addressing rising antisemitic activity on campuses across the country.

McCormick’s messaging has resonated with some Jewish Democrats who spoke with Jewish Insider on Tuesday — noting that they have appreciated his statements of solidarity during an especially fraught moment for the Jewish community in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Rona Kaufman, a law professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and a self-described progressive Democrat, said she intends to vote for McCormick — whom she first met at a hostage vigil in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Squirrel Hill — because she agrees with “his kind of worldview and perspective when it comes to national security and Iran and Israel.”

But Casey has fallen short of her expectations amid the war in Gaza, she said in an interview with JI, citing his endorsement of Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), a fierce critic of Israel, as particularly “problematic” for her. “A Democratic Party that would disavow the far-left fringe elements, that is a party I would still be voting for,” she said.

Kaufman, whose parents are Israeli and whose daughter lives in Israel, said she believes her progressive values remain intact even as she prepares to cast her vote for the opposing party, which she has never done before. “This is what I’m still voting on, all of my core values, but on a global perspective,” she said, “as opposed to just thinking about which laws are going to be passed in the U.S. over the next four years.”


Bipartisan skepticism in Washington about efforts to allow Turkey to buy F-35 fighter jets
The Biden administration is reportedly working to broker a deal that would reopen the pathway for Turkey to purchase cutting-edge F-35 fighter jets, a prospect that is raising bipartisan skepticism from some lawmakers, as others see such a sale as a way to incentivize better behavior from Ankara.

The discussions come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan escalates his rhetoric against Israel, including expressing support for Hamas and threatening to invade or attack Israel. Turkey has also been increasingly hostile toward the NATO alliance and its efforts to counter Russia.

Ankara has been barred from acquiring the top-of-the-line fighter jet and placed under U.S. sanctions since its 2017 purchase of a Russian S-400 missile system. Experts warn the S-400’s radar systems could compromise sensitive technology and details of the F-35 if operated in the same airspace. Reports indicate that, under the deal in discussion, Turkey would be allowed to buy F-35s if it transfers the Russian hardware to a U.S.-controlled area at an airbase in Turkey.

“It is being talked about. We’re at a point where it’s a consideration, and then we’re going to have to make a decision,” a Senate Intelligence Committee member familiar with the matter told Jewish Insider.

Pressed on whether such a deal would require the U.S., or possibly Ukraine, to be able to inspect the S-400, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) responded, “Well, Turkey has access to one — you’re getting warm.”

The State Department indicated that the administration does still want to see Turkey become part of the program but didn’t confirm the specific details of current talks.

“The requirements for Türkiye to procure the F-35 are well known, and our policy has not changed,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to JI. “Türkiye’s continued NATO interoperability remains a critical US priority.”

The spokesperson added, “we look forward to resolving this [sanctions] issue with Türkiye in a productive manner” and remain “committed to robustly implementing … sanctions to deter arms export transactions that bring Russia revenue, access and influence.”
Canadian Jewish leaders suspicious of Ottawa’s timing in announcing security funding
The Canadian Liberal government giveth and it taketh away.

Ottawa voted on Tuesday to consider whether to recognize a Palestinian state on the same day as the Canadian government announced new funding for securing Jewish communities.

Some of the $48 million infusion into the Security Infrastructure Program “will help protect Jewish nonprofit organizations, community centers and religious institutions from the growing threat of hate-motivated crimes,” stated the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), a major advocacy group.

Michael Teper, vice president of the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation in Toronto, told JNS that the timing of the announcement was a politically motivated “diversion” and “smoke screen” to draw attention away from the ruling party’s unfriendly stances on Israel.

In addition to the vote on potentially recognizing a Palestinian state, the Liberal government abstained from a U.N. vote earlier this month that called for the Old City of Jerusalem to boot out the Jews. Canada broke with a longstanding policy of bipartisan support for Israel in abstaining rather than voting against the resolution, which passed 124-14 with 43 abstentions. On Sept. 10, Mélanie Joly, the Canadian foreign affairs minister, announced that the country had suspended some 30 existing permits for arms sales to Israel.

“They’re trying to tell the Jews, ‘Here’s quite a bit of cash. We hope you enjoy it. Now stop complaining about us. Shouldn’t you be grateful? Now, we’re trying to buy your votes, and buy your allegiance and try to fool you,’” Teper told JNS.

Teper allowed that cameras and guards can help deter attacks or lead to arrests but said that those precautions couldn’t stop “mobs of haters” that often come in the hundreds in front of Canadian Jewish institutions and businesses.

“The problem is that it doesn’t matter whether you have $65 million or $165 million. It’s very difficult to make a public space defensible for the Jews anymore,” he told JNS. “I don’t think throwing money at us is going to solve the problem. The problem is that there’s a cultural—and I regret to say it, perhaps even a demographic—shift in the population of Toronto that has made it virtually impossible to be safe for any money.”

The action plan on fighting hate, which the Canadian government released on Sept. 24, contains, “major improvements to the Security Infrastructure Program, which has provided funding for security infrastructure maintenance and improvements to workplaces, community centers and places of worship of at-risk communities,” according to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. (SIP is now the Canada Community Security Program.)

Canadian police reported in July that antisemitic hate crimes were up 71% from 2022 to 2023 and up 172% since 2020, with Jews accounting for some 70% of religiously motivated hate crimes in 2023.

“With the Jewish High Holidays and the anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre mere days away, this is a timely announcement,” stated Shimon Koffler Fogel, the CIJA president and CEO.
Kassy Akiva: Gazan Filmmaker With Ties To Palestinian Terror Group Wins Emmy
A Gazan woman with ties to a U.S.-designated terror organization won an award at the 2024 News and Documentary Emmy Awards Wednesday night.

Bisan Owda, who was once a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), won Outstanding Hard News Feature Story: Short Form category for her Al Jazeera show “It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive.”

Owda’s video series documents her experience following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, during which the terrorist group and Gazan civilians massacred and captured Israelis.

The Daily Wire previously reported on Owda’s terrorist ties, including evidence that she was a member of the PFLP, which the United States lists as a terror organization. The Marxist terror group claimed Owda as a member of its youth wing in a 2018 post on its website. In a 2015 on-camera interview with a Palestinian outlet, Owda, wearing military garb and a PFLP scarf, said she would not back down from “revolution.”

Bisan Owda at the 2015 PFLP anniversary celebration, as reported by Al Watan Voice. (Photo credit: Al Watan Voice)

“The most important front is that the people of Gaza, the people in the West Bank, and in Jerusalem, and all the protesters are one hand and one people who will not back down for a moment from their land, from their right to their land,” she said in Arabic. “That is to say, they will not back down at all from their cause and their revolution.”

The interview took place at PFLP’s 48th-anniversary celebration in 2015, for which “Comrade” Owda served on the reception committee to welcome the crowds, according to the Palestinian outlet Al Watan Voice.

In photos, Owda was seen on stage addressing the crowd, which included young children and masked men holding knives and Hezbollah flags.

Owda confirmed to Danish outlet B.T. that she was present at the 2015 PFLP event as a speaker, and generally supports what she calls political activities against Israel’s occupation. The Daily Wire reviewed Owda’s correspondence with B.T., where she confirmed her involvement and asked to not be directly quoted.
Why Are Jews Called 'Settlers Colonialists' w/ Adam Kirsch
In this week’s episode of "Think Twice," JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin is joined by Adam Kirsch, author of the new book On Settler Colonialism, Ideology, Violence, and Justice.

Kirsch discusses the concept of "settler colonialism," its implications for Israel, and how it has fueled antisemitism on campus.

What is the historical context of the “colonialism” claim vis-à-vis the Jewish state? Why have so many people in academia and media fallen for this narrative? And what is the impact on campus and in broader society?

Listen to the fascinating discussion that explores one of the most popular myths fueling the Arab-Israeli conflict!

Chapters
00:00 Understanding the Context of October 7th
02:53 The Rise of Settler Colonialism Discourse
05:47 Defining Settler Colonialism and Its Implications
09:08 The Historical Roots of Delegitimization
12:00 The Role of Academia in Shaping Narratives
14:51 The Intersection of Ideologies and Their Impact
18:10 The Future of Jewish Identity and Israel
21:03 The Hypocrisy of Land Acknowledgments
23:48 The Complexity of Indigenous Claims
27:09 The Dichotomy of Oppression and Power
30:04 The Path Forward for Israel and Palestine
32:55 The Broader Implications for Western Civilization
35:46 The Publishing Industry and Settler Colonialism
39:06 Final Thoughts on Jewish Identity and Activism


The Moral Inversion of Rashida Tlaib—and the Smearing of Dana Nessel
In normal times the outrage would have been directed in one direction: at Tlaib. The congresswoman would have issued a statement apologizing for her remarks and everyone would have moved on. But we no longer live in normal times. We live in a post–October 7 America where antisemitism is kosher when it comes from progressives pontificating on Palestine.

Indeed, when CNN anchor Tapper asked Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer for a comment on the incident, Whitmer demurred and said, “I’m not going to get in the middle of this argument that they’re having.” The next day, Whitmer offered mild criticism of the remarks without mentioning Tlaib by name. The governor, who is often held up as the great hope of moderate Democrats, appears frightened of offending the wing of her party that protests in solidarity with terrorists.

Check out any of your favorite progressive publications—The Intercept, The New Republic, Zeteo—and the story is the inverse of reality. They argue that Nessel is the bigot for smearing Tlaib with the stain of antisemitism. It becomes Nessel who has defamed Tlaib—and who must be held to account. This is extraordinary considering that Nessel appointed the first Arab American state solicitor general in American history, Fadwa Hammoud.

This fake umbrage is best captured in a post, retweeted by Tlaib, from Matt Duss, the executive vice president of the Center for International Policy and a former foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders. He complains that Tapper, Anti-Defamation League Director Jonathan Greenblatt, and others “can engage in a multi-day defamation campaign against @RashidaTlaib by blatantly misquoting her and face zero repercussions for it is a great example of the institutional anti-Palestinian bias she called out in the first place.”

This kind of gaslighting has become an unfortunate pattern for progressives since October 7. A couple of examples: After a horrific pogrom where Jewish Israeli parents were murdered in front of their children, it was Israel that was the aggressor. Israel’s defensive war, according to this warped logic, is a genocide. Meanwhile Hamas, the perpetrators of the genocidal act, are the noble resistance.

We see it as well when it comes to this alleged right of dissent that Tlaib spoke to the Detroit Metro News about. When asked about her visit to the University of Michigan encampment that displayed banners praising the “intifada,” Tlaib was starstruck. “It was very inclusive. It was diverse, very loving,” she said. She then said she wished the university’s president “could see his students as people that just want to save lives, no matter their faith or ethnicity.”

In other words, Tlaib is claiming a movement that makes Jewish students feel the need to hide their stars of David on campus is actually a human rights organization.

To call this gaslighting is too charitable. It is a moral inversion.

There is a single scandal out of Michigan this week and it is simple: The congresswoman implied that the attorney general could not do her job because of her Judaism.
75 college leaders at DC summit examine how to tackle campus hate
Hillel International, the American Jewish Committee and the American Council on Education gathered university leaders for two days of panels and discourse to more effectively address eruptions of antisemitism observed across academia over the last year.

The groups sponsored the University Presidents Summit on Campus Antisemitism, conducted earlier this week on Sunday and Monday at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C.

Ted Mitchell, president of ACE, said that he was “confident the presidents who attended left better-equipped to take on these tough issues and the challenges to come, to the benefit of all of our students and communities.”

Participants represented a broad spectrum of schools—from religious to research-based, community colleges to Ivy League institutions, and public state schools to private liberal arts schools.

Topics that the more than 75 college presidents and chancellors considered in panels included exploring the roots of antisemitism; understanding Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; protecting free speech; and maintaining a secure campus environment.

“Universities play an outsized role in our broader society, encouraging values-driven leadership, the open exchange of ideas, and the principles that form the foundation of our democracy,” stated Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee.

“Addressing the hate we’re witnessing on campus is not just essential for the safety and security of Jewish students in the quad, but also for the health of higher education in America,” Deutch said. “Only by ensuring that the voices of the Jewish community are not silenced can we ensure the free exchange of ideas, the importance of which extends beyond campus and forms the bedrock of our liberal democracy.”
At UC Berkeley, the Heckler’s Veto Prevails
At the University of California, Berkeley, a strange but revealing twist on the usual campus anti-Israel activism took place. Two faculty members, Steven Hayward and John Yoo, invited the Knesset member Simcha Rothman to come speak about judicial overreach in Israel and his controversial attempts at reform. “But,” writes Hayward, “it got weird.”

The protestors inside the lecture hall who shut down the event were mostly left-wing Jews. Outside the lecture hall was the rabble of anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas demonstrators who took the event as an opportunity to attack any Jews at hand—even left-wing Jews.

Although as mentioned the chief of police and vice-chancellor were present, there were no serious efforts to arrest any of the disruptors. The official explanation was that the police feared that “both sides” would escalate into physical violence.

And despite the [administration’s] boast that such things cannot be allowed to happen again, they will until Berkeley and other universities get serious about arresting and prosecuting disruptors, as well as expelling students who participate. I’m not holding my breath.

October 7 is just around the corner. I expect this first anniversary of that atrocity will see significant campus demonstrations and unrest around the country.

It’s interesting to note that since October 7, university presidents and administrators have suddenly discovered the virtues of free speech, and pundits have accused right-leaning critics of the anti-Israel protests of hypocrisy for supposedly abandoning their commitment to freedom of speech. But this story shows the absurdity of the actions of the former and the arguments of the latter: preserving free speech in fact requires punishing violent and disruptive behavior.
Harvard Referred 68 Encampment Participants for Discipline. Now, With Classes in Full Swing, None Are Suspended.
Twelve days into the anti-Israel encampment at Harvard University, then-interim president Alan Garber said participants posed "a significant risk to the educational environment." After ending the encampment, his administration brought disciplinary cases against 68 students. Now, with fall classes in full swing, none of those students are suspended and most are in good standing, according to a House Committee on Education and the Workforce report.

The report, released Thursday, admonishes Harvard for failing to impose "meaningful discipline on antisemitic students who engaged in conduct in violation of University rules, including participating in the Harvard encampment, occupying a campus building, and disrupting classes." Fifty-two of the 68 student encampment participants referred for discipline, for example, are now in "good standing," according to the report. Fifteen are on probation, and one is on leave. None are suspended.

The revelation suggests Garber will not take a harsher stance toward anti-Israel protesters than his predecessor, Claudine Gay, who infamously declared during a December congressional hearing that "calling for the genocide of Jews" may not violate Harvard's harassment rules. It depends on "the context in which that language is used," Gay said. She resigned roughly a month later.

Garber, who became Harvard's permanent president in August, initially suspended five students for encampment-related violations. Harvard went on to downgrade those sanctions "to probation of no more than a semester," according to the committee report.

Included in the downgrade was a student who "participated in the encampment and raised a Palestinian flag over University Hall" and "was initially informed he would receive a three-semester suspension. Thereafter, however, the consequential three-semester suspension was downgraded to mere probation until December 20, 2024." Four other encampment participants were first required to withdraw for two terms but will now be off probation in less than a month, according to the committee.
Portland State considers divestment after protesters cause $1.23 million in damages to libraryc
Portland State University just reopened its library after pro-Palestinian protestors took over and vandalized the building in April, causing $1.23 million in damages.

Now, the university is considering protesters’ demands to divest from companies with connections to Israel – prompting criticism from one scholar.

The Millar Library re-opened Sept. 16 after a lengthy repair process that cost $1.23 million, university spokesperson Katy Swordfisk told The College Fix in a recent email.

The protesters’ occupation of the library last spring proved very destructive. Walls, windows, computers, books, furniture, and more were damaged or destroyed, and images showed large parts of the building spraypainted with anti-Israel graffiti.

The fire safety system also was damaged, making it unsafe even for staff to have “consistent access” to the building for several months, according to an update on the library’s website.

Afterward, 22 protesters were arrested, including seven students, the Portland Police Bureau told KOIN News at the time.

Pro-Palestinian students want PSU to end ties to Boeing and other companies connected to Israel. In May, the student government passed a resolution calling for the university to end its “relationship” with the company.

Additionally, a video of the damage to the library shows the words “F— Boeing” spraypainted across glass doors.

This fall, the university is starting up a Committee on Socially Responsible Investment and Partnership to consider the divestment demands.

Swordfisk told The Fix the committee “is tasked with examining PSU’s practices around investment and partnership. The Committee will make recommendations to support and enhance alignment with PSU’s mission and values.”

Boeing has a longtime charitable relationship with PSU, donating “$150,000 to name a classroom in the Karl Miller Center” and “$28,000 a year for scholarships,” according to the student newspaper PSU Vanguard.


Bipartisan House members reject Meta’s approval of anti-Israel slogan
Ten Democrats and six Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, expressing opprobrium over a decision for the platform to permit the usage of language that advocates for the annihilation of the Jewish state.

“We write to you today to express outrage with the Oversight Board’s decision that the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ does not violate Meta’s rules on hate speech, violence and incitement, or dangerous organizations and individuals,” the legislators wrote on Wednesday. “Earlier this year, Congress voted in a resounding bipartisan fashion to condemn the use of this phrase and deemed it antisemitic.”

Co-signers of the letter included Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Don Davis (D-N.C.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Tom Kean (R-N.J.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.).

“Meta’s failure to act on this phrase is another example of social-media companies taking one step forward, and two steps back. ‘From the river to the sea’ is not a political statement; it is an open call for the complete eradication of the Jewish state,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League.

He said that while the ADL welcomed the Oversight Board’s decision on understanding the usage of “Zionist” to sometimes slur Jews, this ruling “erred in deeming this call for the destruction of the Jewish state as an acceptable form of speech on their platforms.”

The Congress members wrote that they “strongly urge Meta to reject this guidance for its platforms and take the proactive step to deem this phrase hate speech.”


Palestinian gunmen shoot and kill aid worker in Gaza, charity and family say
Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip shot and killed an aid worker from a US-based charity, firing on her car in what Hamas-run government officials told her family was a case of mistaken identity.

The car in which Islam Hejazy, Gaza program manager at HEAL Palestine, was traveling was intercepted on Thursday in the area of Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.

Gunmen riding in three cars sprayed the vehicle with dozens of bullets, according to residents and the woman's family.

"She was the mother of two small children and a humanitarian with the highest ethics and professionalism," HEAL Palestine, posted on its Facebook page.

"HEAL Palestine is more dedicated than ever to serving Gaza, in her honor. Ceasefire now," it added.

Her family issued a statement on Friday, saying they were told by government parties at the hospital where her body was taken that she was killed by mistake. Her killers, whose identity wasn't immediately clear, had failed to identify the vehicle she was driving, they said.


Whistleblower accuses US of ignoring evidence Standard Chartered Bank served suspicious Iranian clients
A former Standard Chartered Bank executive said in a new court filing that U.S. authorities either overlooked or concealed crucial evidence showing the bank conducted many more transactions with sanctioned Iranian entities and international “terror groups” than it admitted to when settling a criminal case in 2012.

Julian Knight, who headed a Standard Chartered transaction services unit from 2009 to 2011, said U.S. officials falsely denied he had provided the information when the Department of Justice declined to intervene in his whistleblower claim against the bank.

Knight, who asked a U.S. federal court in New York to reinstate his claim, said that the government had committed a “colossal fraud” on the court by denying he had provided “damning evidence” that the bank “facilitated many billions of dollars in banking transactions for Iran, numerous international terror groups, and the front companies for those groups,” long after it claimed to have discontinued all Iranian operations in 2007.

He said the government either “lied that it had conducted ‘a lengthy, costly, and substantial investigation’ into his claims or it was “fully aware” of the transactions he had provided “and simply lied to conceal them.” He added: “The Government’s own statements support the latter scenario.”

“False declarations submitted to the Court by the Government thus corrupted the integrity of this judicial proceeding to its very core,” Knight’s motion said. Julian Knight, former head of a Standard Chartered transaction services unit from 2009 to 2011. Image: Supplied

In 2012, Standard Chartered agreed to forfeit $227 million to the DOJ for violating federal and state laws by illegally moving millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system between 2001 and 2007 on behalf of entities in Iran and other countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions. The settlements, known as deferred prosecution agreements, allowed the bank to avoid criminal charges in exchange for its commitment to stop processing transactions for sanctioned entities and implement a series of internal reforms. Since 2012, prosecutors have extended the agreements after finding additional wrongdoing. In all, the London-based bank has paid well over $1 billion to settle U.S. and U.K. charges it repeatedly breached sanctions by clearing millions of dollars for clients in Iran and several other sanctioned countries.

But Knight alleges he provided U.S. authorities with evidence of much more wrongdoing than the bank has acknowledged to date; he said authorities failed to act on it, then denied its existence to a court.
German expert warns: Islamist and European antisemitism now dangerously intertwined
“As a German, I wanted to learn how Auschwitz could have happened. This brought me to researching the topic of antisemitism about 30 years ago,” Dr. Matthias Küntzel told The Jerusalem Post in an exclusive interview. Küntzel is a German political scientist and veteran scholar with expertise in antisemitism.

But then, over two decades ago, something happened. “9/11 came, and already on 9/12 I started to read books about the history of Islamism and the Muslim Brotherhood, looking to know why this terrorist attack had happened,” Küntzel added.

“Following extensive research and reading, I then came to a realization, which was surprising for me, that a major drive for the attack was antisemitism. For the attackers, New York was a ‘Jewish city,’ and they wanted to cause as much damage to ‘Jewish property’ as possible.”

This turn of events inspired Küntzel to immerse himself in the study of Islamist antisemitism. “[I] discovered during research that Nazi Germany played a role in spreading antisemitism in the Middle East; [there are] archives about the connection between Islamists and Nazi Germany.”

However, despite his in-depth research on this critical subject, Küntzel quickly learned that he was bound to remain quite lonely on his journey as one of the lone voices who researches and publishes studies revolving around Islamist antisemitism.

“Most researchers in Germany don’t want to touch this topic at all, and so it remained a special niche for me. This is due to several reasons. Some are afraid of being labeled as ‘Islamophobes’ because they dare to say a critical word about Islam or Muslims. I too am against racism – I research antisemitism! – but the topic is too important to leave it alone.”

Küntzel described how others in the German intellectual field seek to blame Israel for the prevalence of antisemitism in the Arab world. “This does not make sense, as studies show that this antisemitism against Israel and the Zionists developed in the 1930s, a whole decade before the establishment of the state of Israel. But this notion is not welcomed by too many intellectuals,” he added.
Pro-Hamas vandals deface, burn ancient Judea synagogue
Palestinians spray-painted pro-Hamas graffiti on and set fire to an ancient Jewish synagogue south of Hebron in Judea on Thursday morning.

The Eshtemoa Synagogue, which dates to around the fourth to fifth century C.E., is located in as-Samu, some 7.5 miles south of Hebron and 37 miles southwest of Jerusalem.



The Civil Administration, Israel’s governing body in Judea and Samaria, coordinated a Palestinian firefighting effort to extinguish the flames.

“This is a terrorist act in every sense and should be treated as such. It is an attempt to erase the Jewish identity and symbols from our ancestral lands,” said the head of the Mount Hebron Regional Council, Eliram Azulai, according to Ynet.

Eshtemoa was an ancient city mentioned in the Bible (Joshua 21:14). During the Roman and Byzantine periods, Eshtemoa was described as a large Jewish village.
Paul Coates, father of journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates, republishing antisemitic screed ‘The Jewish Onslaught’
Black Classic Press, a Baltimore-based publishing company founded in 1978, has long been dedicated to unearthing “obscure and significant works by and about people of African descent,” its website states.

In recent weeks, the company has been a focus of renewed attention as its founder, Paul Coates, 78, prepares to accept a lifetime achievement award from the National Book Foundation in November.

But even as Coates has been celebrated for nurturing such contemporary authors as Walter Mosley and reissuing works by W.E.B. Du Bois, among other luminaries, his company has also recently chosen to spotlight an antisemitic screed that seeks to uphold a widely discredited conspiracy theory alleging Jewish domination of the Atlantic slave trade.

Called The Jewish Onslaught, the book was self-published in 1993 by Tony Martin, a former professor of Africana studies at Wellesley College who had faced backlash for approvingly teaching an infamous tract from the Nation of Islam purporting to show that Jews played a disproportionate role in the slave trade — a claim historians have dismissed as factually inaccurate.

Black Classic Press makes no mention of Martin’s commitment to propagating an antisemitic trope in a laudatory blurb on its website, saying he “became embroiled in controversy over his classroom use of a book detailing the well-documented Jewish role in the Atlantic slave trade.”

The company did not respond to a request for comment from Jewish Insider on Thursday about its decision to republish Martin’s book — which was condemned at the time of its publication and has also been a source of controversy in recent years.


An outlandish, intentionally awkward Jewish play seeks to make a point about antisemitism
A clown, a klezmer band and Adolf Hitler walk into a bar.

Well, not quite. But they do appear together on stage in “Good Showbiz: A Celebration of Jewish Theater,” a mostly one-man show that is wrapping up a monthlong run at the Elysian Theater in Los Angeles on Saturday. (Tickets, unsurprisingly, cost $18.)

The show is the joint creation of comedian Eli Leonard and director Theodore Bressman, a writer and producer who got his first production credits working under the actor Seth Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg. The comedian Sarah Shtern plays several smaller characters, including Hitler.

“What we’re trying to do here is build our own punk rock version of Jewish comedy that does not shy away from the history of Yiddish theater or Jewish stand-up, but embraces the history for the moment we’re in right now,” Bressman told Jewish Insider on Thursday. The team takes inspiration from more than a century of Jewish comedy, including stand-up, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and Alex Edelman’s Emmy-winning Broadway special “Just For Us.”

Promotional materials could make even a connoisseur of vaudevillian Jewish comedy blush: Photos posted to Leonard’s Instagram show him dressed in the most cartoonish possible caricature of a Jewish person, wearing a black hat with a tallit, a long black coat characteristic of Haredi Jews and a prosthetic nose, at times dancing with a bottle of Manischewitz perched on his head.

This awkwardness is the point, Bressman said. The goal of the show, he added, is to force viewers to face the discomfort of laughing at exaggerated Jewish stereotypes — laughter that Leonard invites with his performance — when antisemitism is rising. Leonard was trained as a clown, and that’s the comedy he employs: sensationalist and interactive, bringing in audience members for short bits and awkward confrontations.

“It catches people by surprise to see a Jewish man truly inhabit the most over-the-top version of the stereotype, and then to get people laughing within that context. It’s a provocative hour, because I think people don’t even realize how willing they are and how OK they feel laughing at this kind of comedy,” Bressman said. “There’s clues throughout the show that the stereotype is in service of this larger message at the end of the show.”

The message is a simple one, but Bressman thinks it’s still needed: that little antisemitic asides that may seem relatively painless, like comments about Jews running Hollywood or Jews running the media, can lead to the kind of deep-rooted antisemitism that became a part of state policy in Nazi Germany.

“What that leaves the audience with is hopefully a greater understanding that the conspiracy theories and willingness to engage in stereotypes that so many people seem egregiously willing to do in 2024 have direct roots to the Jewish experience in Germany and in the lead-up to the Holocaust,” said Bressman. “That’s why there’s such an unknown feeling of pain associated with the propagation of these conspiracy theories today.”
Giant – exploration of Roald Dahl and antisemitism that speaks to our times
The central conflict is triggered when an American Jewish sales executive enters the room. Jessie Stone (Romola Garai, restrained but ready to burst) has been sent by Dahl’s American publisher as a damage limitation exercise. The plan is to get him to apologise, but everyone creeps around this star author, not wanting to upset him, at first. He delights in his power, referring to Jessie’s Jewishness in provoking ways, and we feel the temperature drop when she begins to bite back.

She accuses him of conflating Israel with Jewishness, and challenges his comparison of Israel to Nazi Germany. He speaks of apartheid, of the systematic degradation of Palestinian life and the responsibility of Israeli citizens to speak up in protest.

It is sophisticated writing, speaking not only of Dahl but also to our own time, although the ground is inherently lopsided: the opposing arguments around Israeli and Palestinian freedom cannot be weighted equally when one – Dahl’s – is fuelled not only by a sense of righteous injustice but also bigotry.

He is no straightforward monster, though, or at least not in the first act, when he is also rational, tender and playful. Rosenblatt’s writing steers delicately away from polemic or crude binaries. Dahl speaks of “your lot” to Maschler and generalises about Jews as a “race of people” bearing certain traits, alongside legitimate criticisms of Israel.

By the second act, his antisemitism is glaring, and the drama seems to not know where to go from here, stalled by having to return from the coded conversations of our day back to the fall-out around Dahl’s article.

Until then, so many debates are embroidered seamlessly into the drama, from the gap between the monstrous genius and his work (Stone admits she still loves Dahl’s books), to the exploration of Jewishness. (Maschler, as a Jew, never defines Dahl as an antisemite).

Where some theatres have remained at a safe distance from this subject matter – the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester has recently been accused of censorship on it, for one – Giant shows a necessary bravery in taking it on. This is what theatre is for.
'Disgusting display': Town Square exhibit closes amid antisemitism concerns
The Aurora Cultural Centre has shut down galleries in the new Town Square after complaints of antisemitism related to one of its exhibits.

The exhibit is part of several new exhibitions in its new Town Square space, which had its grand opening Saturday, Sept. 21.

Newmarket resident Jennifer Yarmus was part of a group who flagged concerns about two art pieces that were included in the exhibit.

In one, a pillar featuring various graffiti-style paintings includes the word “intifada,” an Arabic word for uprising or rebellion, commonly used to refer to multiple uprisings of Palestinians against Israel. The pillar also features a Palestinian flag and the words "Free Palestine."

The pillar also features several slogans commonly associated with Indigenous causes in Canada, like “Land Back,” which Yarmus, who is Jewish, described as antisemitic in the context of the pillar’s other messages.

Another, a map of the Middle East, has “(Israel)” in brackets, with "Palestine" written underneath.

“Everything since Oct. 7 right now is triggering for us,” she said. “We’re in a time for many of us — myself included, I am a grandchild of Holocaust survivors — and I feel like I’m living in a different way, in a modern-day version of what my ancestors went through, when they didn’t have a voice to speak up or call attention or call things out as they see it that are harmful and inflammatory and potentially dangerous to us.”

“I’m just using my voice to protect myself, to protect others and my family,” she added.

Jewish Aurora resident Melissa Fields-Katz wrote on Facebook that she was “heartbroken over this disgusting display.”

“I am shocked and horrified by the antisemitic display in the Town Square. As a member of the Jewish community and an Aurora resident, it’s hard to feel safe in my own community, let alone see art work calling for my death. Please take these concerns seriously. I am heartbroken over this disgusting display.”
Israel: State of a Nation with Eylon Levy: Branding Zionism | Lizzy Savetsky on how to look good and influence people
Lizzy Savetsky is a leading Jewish influencer and pro-Israel activist. Lizzy started her online journey over a decade ago as a fashion blogger, posting on her blog, Excessories Expert, and Instagram page. Gradually – Lizzy began to share more about her family life, Jewish faith and traditions, and educational content, including “Yiddish Word of the Week” and her daughter’s weekly “Torah Corner.” In 2019, Lizzy changed her handle from ExcessoriesExpert to LizzySavetsky to focus more exclusively on Jewish and Israel content.

Lizzy was a dedicated voice for Israel long before October 7, but in the past few months she has used her platforms to support Israel, interview families of hostages and survivors of the massacre, support Jewish college students, and educate her followers about the increase in antisemitism around the world.


Volunteer medic injured on Oct. 7 returns to service with ‘ambucycle’
One year after being seriously wounded by a Hamas terrorist in Sderot on Oct. 7, United Hatzalah volunteer emergency medic Rabbi Chaim Sassi returned to active service on Tuesday after receiving a custom-made “ambucycle” designed to accommodate his lingering leg injury.

On the morning of Oct. 7, Sassi, who also serves as the regional rabbi for the organization in Sderot, was shot in the face and the leg by a Hamas sniper after attempting to rescue a badly wounded police officer outside the city’s police station. Despite his injuries, he managed to crawl to safety and bandage his wounds, recording what he believed might be his final message to his family during a harrowing hour-and-a-half wait for rescue.

Following a long rehabilitation, Sassi’s determination to resume his work prompted United Hatzalah to commission a unique vehicle tailored to his needs. The ambucycle, featuring two front wheels for enhanced stability, allows Sassi to ride safely despite the balance issues caused by his leg injury.

At a ceremony held at Rabbi Sassi’s home in Sderot on Tuesday evening, he was presented with the vehicle.

“From the day I was injured, I had no doubt that as soon as I was able, I would return with full strength to life-saving activities in Sderot,” said Sassi.

“I had the privilege of responding and saving lives on one of the most difficult days our nation has faced. Now, my greatest desire is to continue this vital work. I thank the leadership of United Hatzalah, who supported me through the difficult times,” he added.


Tree grown from ancient mystery seed found in cave could be source of biblical balm
If God’s threat to “hide His face” represents one kind of difficult-to-interpret biblical phrase, Jeremiah 8:22, where the prophet asks rhetorically, “Is there no balm in Gilead,” represents the opposite kind, where the problem isn’t theological but philological and even biological. The sense of the verse is evident, but the exact meaning of tsori (usually rendered “balm”), a word used elsewhere in Scripture, is not. A new discovery might shed some light on the subject, as Sue Surkes explains:

The resin of a tree germinated from a mysterious 1,000-year-old seed found in a Judean Desert cave could be the source of the biblical tsori, a type of medicinal balm, according to newly published research. Radiocarbon dating has put the date of the seed’s origin somewhere between 993 CE and 1202 CE. The tree, still in a pot, has been identified as a species of Commiphora, part of the frankincense and myrrh family.

Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, found the seed in the Institute of Archaeology of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. Joseph Patrich had excavated it from Wadi el-Makkuk in the mid-1980s.

The Commiphora seed, two centimeters (0.8 inches) long and nicknamed “Sheba,” was planted in 2010. Five weeks later, a seedling emerged. Once the plant had bark, it yielded resin.

If fragrant—which tests so far suggest it is not—it could have been a candidate for the legendary Judean balsam or “balm of Judea,” which no longer exists. Prized for its exquisite perfume and medicinal qualities in ancient times, this was a non-native plant cultivated at oases around the Dead Sea for 1,000 years until the 9th century CE.




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