Monday, December 16, 2024

12/16 Links Pt2: The Democrats’ Anti-Israel Future; Amnesty's Descent Into McCarthyism; Katz: ‘We are the closest to a hostage deal since the last one’

From Ian:

The Democrats’ Anti-Israel Future
None of this foretold a friendly policy toward Israel had there been a Harris presidency. Her choice of running mate reinforced this inference. Pennsylvania’s popular governor, Josh Shapiro, was reported to be the front-runner for the position, with polls showing the Electoral College likely to pivot on Pennsylvania’s 19 votes, but a furious campaign was mounted against Shapiro as a Jew who strongly supports Israel. The New Republic’s David Klion, who led the charge, warned that the choice of Shapiro would “ruin Democratic unity.” Harris turned instead to Tim Walz, unknown outside of Minnesota, a state already safely in the Democratic column.

As a member of Congress from a rural district, Walz compiled a moderate record, including support for Israel. As governor, he turned progressive, but it was an office that rarely dealt with foreign policy. Once becoming the vice-presidential nominee, Walz commented that anti-Israel protesters were acting “for all the right reasons,” notwithstanding their calls of “From the river to the sea” and “intifada revolution.”

Her switch to Walz was applauded by James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute and the dean of pro-Arab, anti-Israel agitators. His comments also revealed his take on Harris: “We have every indication that she is going to turn a corner, and [Walz] does not impede that corner turn. Shapiro on the other hand would have become an issue.”

But the Harris-Walz team fell short, leaving us to ponder where the Democrats’ season of post-election breast-beating and introspection will leave Israel. Already, Biden’s defeat has let loose a new momentum against Israel. In late November a Senate vote on three resolutions introduced by Bernie Sanders to block certain weapons shipments to Israel received 19 Democratic votes, with one other Democrat listing herself as “not voting,” out of 49 Democratic members. Apparently none wished to dissociate from Sanders’s stated rationale that Israel’s actions in Gaza are “unspeakable.”

This marked an increase from the 10 votes Sanders had put together for an analogous measure early in the year. Moreover, according to the Times of Israel, Biden administration officials from the White House, State Department, and Pentagon all worked the phones, lobbying against Sanders’s resolutions. True, as a lame duck, Biden has less clout, but he is still president, and senators often take counsel from executive-branch leaders of their own party on foreign issues.

Even while supplying much badly needed weaponry to Israel, and pushing back against congressional efforts to impede this, the Biden administration itself withheld bombs to pressure Israel on Gaza and apparently acted similarly on Lebanon, announcing a large new package only after Israel agreed to a cease-fire with Hezbollah. Nonetheless, most observers feel that Israel came away with a victory.

Whatever arm-twisting Biden did, it is hard to doubt that the Democrats’ momentum away from Israel will continue after he leaves office. And if Donald Trump pursues a strongly pro-Israel policy, it is likely to receive a partisan flip.

How far will the Democrats’ turn from Israel carry them? That question remains to be answered. In the 1990s, Bill Clinton pulled the Democrats back from the left. It is not impossible to imagine that the Democrats could again be yanked back from their current trajectory by some new leader. For example, could Ritchie Torres, the brilliant black Latino gay representative from the Bronx who has emerged during this war as one of Israel’s most articulate and devoted advocates, make the leap last achieved by James Garfield in 1880? Stranger things have happened, but this seems a long shot.

The Republicans are now frequently described as “Trump’s party.” On Israel, the Democrats are, for the foreseeable future, “Obama’s party.” That party may well reflect the delicate balancing of Obama’s Pod Save America formula more than the unambiguous leap to Israel’s defense that was Biden’s initial response to October 7.
Richard Landes: Palestinian Lethal Projections
Conclusions:
The lethal narrative – Israel’s deliberate, murderous cruelty – is not confirmed by footage: there are no elements of the visuals that are probative of the narrative claim of targeting the boy and anyone who helps him. Only the verbal overlay makes that claim, and given how often that script does not describe what the camera shows (torn to pieces… these are the injured), one can hardly consider that testimony decisive.

There is, on the other hand, nothing decisively probative that this is staged, like the boy getting up after the filming. And yet, as with Al Durah, the staged hypothesis does explain all the multiple anomalies. Odds that this is staged, 80-95%; odds it depicts the lethal narrative, under 1%.

From a journalist’s point of view, while this story does not offer sufficient evidence to denounce it as a deliberate fake, it certainly does not offer sufficient evidence to run it as a news story. No serious professional journalist, committed to not running war propaganda as news whether his side’s or the enemy’s, would consider this story viable. Apparently Evan Hill, did. And the Times of Israel sought fit to reproduce his piece without comment.

Finally, the storyline is noteworthy since it is not only a lethal narrative – Israelis excel in killing innocent children – but also a projected one. During the second intifada, Palestinian Jihadis developed precisely this technique of setting off an initial bomb and then, when Israelis gathered to help, setting off a second one to kill them as well. So here, people who know that doing so is evil and yet somehow feel authorized to so behave, accuse their enemies of that evil, and appeal to outsiders to take their side out of compassion.

Somehow, in the strange logic of the compassionate imperative, we are forbidden from saying that they deliberately lie to us, but must accept their claim that the Israelis are deliberately targeting their children.
Amnesty's Descent Into McCarthyism: The Case of Israel, Gaza and Genocide
Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnes Callamard has already made clear where her sympathies lie, publicly thanking for his "courage and principles" the former recent head of the Amnesty chapter who resigned his post because of what he said was the unequal treatment of Palestinians there.

Amnesty Israel's internal problems need to be addressed.

But once an organization turns against its own members, it is a dangerous day for human rights. Members who have dedicated their professional lives – and much of their private ones – to fighting their own government, occupation, and for Palestinian rights, often incurring the disdain of their own society for doing so.

It is a dark day when it portrays colleagues who have themselves initiated policies to include more Palestinian voices as hostile to them.

It is a frightening day when an international organization dedicated to free speech cuts off colleagues who posit an alternative legal interpretation, with allusions to racism and insinuations abound that they can't make a clear-eyed argument related to Israel because they are Jewish. Some people might even call this racist.

If these are the enemies of human rights, it's worrying to think about who human rights NGOs count as their friends.

In the 1950s, Joseph McCarthy ferreted out "enemies from within" by accusing them of Communism. Today's human rights NGOs raise different specters: racism, colonialism, oppression. But the contours remain the same. Ideology. Allies turned enemies. Demonization. Unwinnable fights. And a veneer of procedure and justice.

Eventually, the Senate censured McCarthy, and brought his reign of terror to an end. But the years of the Red Scare cast a long shadow until today –a somber reminder of what can happen when institutions are corrupted, power is left unchecked, and ideology takes the reins.


Australian Jews have been shunted aside, but not all hope is lost
BUT ALL is not lost. There are energetic non-Jewish supporters of Israel in Australia, including political party leaders who are likely to replace the current crop of fair-weather friends next year. There are also ethnic community figures and healthy-minded thinkers and writers who have rallied to the side of Israel and the local Jewish communities.

I was privileged to meet one of these heroes, the Australian Aboriginal activist Nova Peris. A double-gold Australian Olympic champion and former Member of Parliament who is lionized and recognized by everyone in the country, she has become one of Israel’s most outspoken defenders.

Speaking at the same pro-Israel events I did, Nova electrified listeners with her discourse on proud Aboriginal identity and indigenous claims to ancestral lands, making an explicit comparison between the struggle of her First Nations communities and the struggle of the Jewish People for respect and for reclamation of its ancient homeland, Israel.

Peris was horrified by the infamous protest just two days after October 7 outside the Sydney Opera House, where a mob chanted “F--- the Jews” and burned an Israeli flag.

No one was arrested at the protest and no one has yet been charged, but guess what? A Jewish man with an Israeli flag at the scene was arrested “for his own safety,” according to police.

LISTEN TO Nova Peris: “As an Aboriginal woman from Kakadu, I know what it means to fight for land and identity. I see you, Jewish people, standing resilient in the land of your ancestors – a land where your history is woven into every stone, from the remnants of Solomon’s Temple to the echoes of Masada,” she said.

“I believe you when you say Israel is your birthright; you are not colonizers, but you are a people who have endured exile, Diaspora, and withstood every effort against you of those who have tried to erase your identity. You have reclaimed your heritage, revived your language, and continued to live with unwavering pride,” Peris said.

“I see you, descendants of David, who faced Goliath with courage and determination. Just like David, you faced insurmountable challenges and prevailed. Your history reminds us that all that strength comes not just from right but from purpose, faith, and resilience.

“I see you, Jewish people, embodying the values of Tikkun Olam – the call to repair the world. Through your technological innovations, medical breakthroughs, and humanitarian efforts, you have shown an unwavering commitment to making the world a better place. I see you. I believe you.”

Nova will receive an award from the president of the Technion at its board of governor’s meetings here in Israel next June – deservedly so.

It is heartening to know that in these darks days when the Mideast is melting down, when support for Israel in some circles is melting away, and when Diaspora Jews are told to melt into ghettos and be invisible – there are good people who bravely and unapologetically stand with us.

And Australian Jews should also take heart from the knowledge that, despite all detractors, Israel is resilient and intends to win its wars decisively. Jews Down Under must be resilient, too, and resist all attempts to nullify them.
Glenn Loury and the singular pursuit of Israel
I recently watched an hour-long discussion between Glenn Loury, a conservative professor of economics at Brown University, and Columbia linguistics professor John McWhorter about Ta-Nehisi Coates’ new book, The Message, about half of which describes Coates’ reaction after visiting the West Bank sometime before Oct. 7, 2023. Curiously, it was the more liberal McWhorter who was critical of Coates’ explanation for conditions on the West Bank, calling it lazy and simplistic, whereas Loury, the conservative, appeared to have unquestioningly accepted Coates’ assertions.

I haven’t read The Message yet (though I’ve placed a hold on it at the local library to avoid adding to Coates’ profit), but this article isn’t about the book. Rather, it’s about how the demonization of Israel has become so normalized that even well-meaning conservatives like Loury now repeat the same talking points and claims by anti-Israel activists.

Although I suspect Loury isn’t the only non-left, non-woke scholar critical of the war in Gaza, it’s still jarring to hear a noted conservative academic express such one-sided and simplistic opinions about the war in Gaza and by extension, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, particularly in view of his elation at the election of Donald Trump – who has often proclaimed his admiration and support for Israel – to the U.S. presidency for a second time.

One of Loury’s main arguments in defence of Coates is that “there are things that need to be said about the humanity of the Palestinians because we’re killing them by the boatload. Tens of thousands. The babies, the innocents, the collateral damage.” He believes the U.S. media hasn’t given voice to “the Palestinians’ story, to lives otherwise invisible”; nor has the media, in his opinion, revealed how entangled the U.S. is in Gaza’s plight.

“The discourse here in the U.S. is not what it might be,” Loury says. “If you listen to how events in Gaza etc. are discussed in the mainstream media, you won’t learn about the humanity of the Palestinians, or about American participation in their dehumanization.”

So if not in the legacy media, then where? Loury points to “experts” he says have “the moral clarity of seeing apartheid for what it is.” His use of the term “apartheid” in relation to Israel should be a clue as to who these experts might be: As it happens, they include the same array of Israel-hating academics, pundits and international bodies that anti-Israel obsessives always quote to back their claims of Israeli crimes and misdeeds. These include, among others, Human Rights Watch, Israeli human rights groups (presumably B’tselem and other like-minded groups), and the International Court of Justice.

He also points to Jimmy Carter’s 2006 book Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid, and to anti-Israel obsessives like Jeffrey Sachs and Glenn Greenwald, and “realists” such as John Mearsheimer and Larry Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s former chief-of-staff. (The latter two regularly post interviews on Youtube that seem to emanate from precisely the same unknown source, claiming that Israel is losing in Gaza, in Lebanon and against Iran, despite all the evidence to the contrary.)

In other words, Loury believes that to understand the true tragedy of the Palestinians, the go-to people are the so-called anti-imperialists. But these people are institutionally hostile to Israel, as are such UN-affiliated bodies as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. The UN itself is hostile to the Jewish state, as evidenced by their passing more resolutions against Israel than all other 170 member states combined, including China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and many other dictatorships.
Why did anti-Israel activists attack Floyd Mayweather?
Supporting Israel’s right to exist can be a treacherous business in Britain these days. People and businesses with even the most tangential links to the Jewish State can find themselves boycotted and attacked.

Since 7 October, pro-Palestine activists have boycotted Starbucks (despite it not having a single outlet in Israel), released rats into a Birmingham branch of McDonald’s (despite the store being owned by a local franchisee) and picketed outside Marks and Spencer (the founder was Jewish). If those antics weren’t abhorrent enough, the latest target of the pro-Gaza mob suggests some in the movement may have genuinely lost their minds. Surely, you would have to be at least a little crazy to try to take on Floyd Mayweather, one of the greatest pound-for-pound boxers in history.

Mayweather, who has fought and defeated five hall-of-fame champions and 24 world-title holders over the course of his career, was jumped by a mob last week. While out shopping for jewellery in London’s Hatton Garden, the retired boxer was pounced on by roughly 30 people before his security guards intervened – although for whose safety, it’s not clear. Footage shows he was more than happy to give as good as he got before he was dragged into a waiting car. ‘I’ll get these motherfuckers’, he can be heard saying during the scuffle.

It seems Mayweather was targeted because of his vocal support for Israel. According to a witness who worked at one of the jewellery shops, he was referred to as a ‘yahud’ (Arabic for Jew) by his would-be assailants, despite not actually being Jewish. He then hit back, saying he was ‘proud to support the Jews’.
CAIR shows it’s not interested in free speech or government transparency
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has a 30-year history of ties to Hamas, has used open-meeting laws across the United States to influence city councils, school boards and other public forums.

But when it comes to the ethnic-studies curriculum adopted in secret in Santa Ana, Calif., CAIR has made it clear that it is not interested in governmental transparency or community participation. CAIR and its affiliate organizations selectively champion free speech and transparency only when it serves their agenda.

On Dec. 6, the Orange County Superior Court heard a case against the Santa Ana Unified School District. The suit alleges that the school district intentionally violated the Brown Act, California’s open meetings law, to avoid public scrutiny in the development of its ethnic studies curriculum. CAIR put out a press release immediately after the hearing urging the court to “reject an anti-Palestinian lawsuit.”

Discovery in the case revealed that the Santa Ana ethnic-studies committee felt that “Jews are not a disadvantaged ethnic group in the U.S. because they were never slaves.” Communications between committee members included statements such as, “Jews greatly benefit from white privilege, so they have it better,” and “we don’t need to give both sides. We only support the oppressed, and Jews are the oppressors.”

There is much to reject factually about these assertions, but putting that aside, the Brown Act applies equally. A particular California school board does not have the discretion as to which groups should have a say. Open meeting laws are designed to ensure that the public is aware of government action so that the community can provide input and hold elected officials accountable.

The Santa Ana school district intentionally operated clandestinely. For example, the committee scheduled votes on the ethnic-studies curricula during Jewish holidays so that it would not have to address what it referred to as the “Jewish question.” One member of the committee suggested to another via text: “We may need to use Passover to get all new courses approved.” Another official responded, “That’s actually a good strategy.”

In formal depositions, committee members called the Jewish Federation of Orange County “racist Zionists.”
US Islamophobia strategy doesn’t list Jewish groups, though CAIR advised Jew-hatred approach
The White House’s first-ever “U.S. National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate,” which the Biden administration announced on Thursday, runs for 67 pages.

It features “more than 100 executive branch actions and more than 100 calls to action to every sector of society to prevent and address such violent attacks and to ensure that Muslim and Arab Americans enjoy the liberties and opportunities that are the bedrock of our country,” per the White House.

Although a search for “Jew” returns 40 results in the strategy and “antisemitism” yields 44 results and “antisemitic” 12 results, the White House does not state in the press release or the 67-page document that any U.S. Jewish groups were involved in the strategy.

After the White House unveiled its “U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism” on May 25, 2023, the Biden administration listed the Council on American-Islamic Relations as a contributor. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) told JNS at the time that he was “disappointed and appalled that CAIR—an organization that has peddled antisemitic tropes and has ties to extremist, anti-Israel groups—played any role in the U.S. national strategy to counter antisemitism.”

Months later, shortly after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, CAIR blamed the Jewish state for being attacked. By December, the White House had scrubbed references to CAIR from the antisemitism strategy, although archived versions of the original page remain available online.

Morton Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, told JNS that he is not surprised that the White House didn’t contact the ZOA about the new strategy on Islamophobia.


Standpoint with Gabe Groisman: Ep. 61. Antisemitism Across America & Fighting Harvard. Shabbos Kestenbaum
Shabbos Kestenbaum joins Gabe to discuss the explosion of antisemitism in America, and what it means for our country. Shabbos explains his experience at Harvard and his Title 6 lawsuit against Harvard for their abject failure to protect Jewish students.


The Israel Guys: EXPOSED: The Shocking Truth Behind Hamas' Propaganda Machine
Israel and Hamas may be closer to a Ceasefire deal than ever before despite Hamas still making some shocking demands. The US Administration is pressuring Israel to approve military aid to the Palestinian Authority, and a CRAZY report just came exposing the truth about Hamas’s propaganda machine detailing Hamas’ deliberate lies about the civilian death toll in Gaza.


Katz: ‘We are the closest to a hostage deal since the last one’
“We are the closest to a hostage deal since the last one,” Defense Minister Israel Katz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday.

One-hundred-and-five captives—81 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals—were released during last year’s ceasefire with Hamas that lasted from Nov. 24 to Nov. 30. As of Dec. 16, 100 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, with 36 having been declared dead.

An Israeli official, previously skeptical about negotiations, confirmed this week that progress has been made in talks aimed at securing the release of Israeli hostages held by the Hamas terror organization in the Gaza Strip.

Additionally, a source familiar with the negotiations told Israel Hayom that talks to formulate a hostages-for-ceasefire deal are expected to be completed by Chanukah, with implementation spread over an extended period.

Chanukah this year begins on the evening of Dec. 25.

The main point of contention between Israel and Hamas remains the number of hostages to be released during the deal. A source privy to the details indicated that Israel is still awaiting Hamas’s responses regarding both the framework of the agreement and the terror organization’s ability to secure the release of captives.

According to the source, Israel will evaluate its next steps after Hamas presents a list of hostages to be freed. “The ball is in their court,” the source said.

Despite the gaps between the parties, the message received from mediators has sparked more cautious optimism than in the past. In the same optimistic tone, Saudi news channel Al Arabiya quoted a senior Hamas official saying there has been “unprecedented progress in negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire” and a Hamas leader told the Saudi Asharq News outlet on Monday that a ceasefire deal is “closer than ever.”


IAF says ‘hostage ribbons’ painted in the skies by planes on routine flight path
People across Israel reported seeing large ribbons drawn with airplane contrails in the skies on Monday morning, which many interpreted as a nod to the yellow ribbons worn as a symbol of support for the hostages held in Gaza.

However, the IDF said later in the day that the contrails were caused by a routine patrol, and there was no intent to form the image of the hostage ribbon nor any other symbol.

According to the military, the contrails were caused by an Israeli Air Force spy plane that was operating to track a drone launched from Yemen at Israel, which was successfully intercepted by the Israeli Navy over the Mediterranean Sea.

The IDF said that the flight path of the spy plane and the weather conditions caused the contrails.

“Due to the high flight altitude in varying condensation conditions and strong westerly winds, the unique contrails were created,” the military said. “This was a routine flight path.”

Videos and pictures posted online showed the ribbons in the skies over the Tel Aviv area, Jerusalem, and various areas in southern and northern Israel.

In an initial statement Monday afternoon, the military said the air force found that the ribbons were caused by IAF aircrafts’ “routine operational activity.” It added at the time that investigators were still probing if the ribbons were possibly a stunt carried out as part of a rogue initiative.


Is ‘Palestine’ antisemitic?
It started when a pro-Israel chat group posted an event to take place on Dec. 7 at the University of North Carolina, as students in Hong-An Truong’s Art as Social Action class planned to celebrate their final project, “A fig tree grows in Palestine.”

Their work would be a new addition to the Alumni Sculpture Garden. The three-hour celebration would include music, food and a teach-in. Hong-An is a member of UNC’s Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine. She supported the anti-Israel tent encampments that took place last spring and used her megaphone to proclaim her intention to withhold grades to protest the dismantling of them.

Participants in the chat group debated attending the event. Some wondered if it would be antisemitic. Others believed the project to be inherently antisemitic due to the focus on “Palestine.” One said that “Palestine can exist without the erasure of Israel.” No one on the chat could define the borders of “Palestine” other than to say that Israel established the border, and decides where the walls and checkpoints are placed. Confusion regarding Israel’s history was evident.

This confusion extends beyond the Jewish community. When asked where Palestine is located at a ceasefire hearing before the Raleigh City Council, an elderly woman wearing a keffiyeh said, “Palestine … it’s, it’s Gaza.” At a Duke University pro-Hamas rally, an Arab woman responded with: “Do you know where Israel is?”

Why so many different answers regarding the location and borders of “Palestine?” Because it does not exist. Why do people use the word then? Years ago, it was rarely heard. It seems that those intent on Israel’s destruction have introduced the term into our language and culture as a way to erase Israel, Jewish history and rights to the land while replacing it with a Muslim Arab state.

“Palestine” has become a reality in the minds of students and the public because, as Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels said, “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it.” The goal to erase and replace Israel with an Arab Islamic state was clear at the recent Palestine convention in Chicago. Merchandise sold showed a map of Israel, including Judea and Samaria, labeling it all as “Palestine,” not Israel.


Leading private school association apologizes for antisemitism at conference
A leading US private schools organization has apologized for antisemitic rhetoric at a conference it held in Colorado.

The National Association of Independent Schools event, called the “People of Color Conference,” came under harsh criticism for anti-Israel rhetoric that Jewish groups said veered into antisemitism and made Jewish students feel unsafe.

“There is no place for antisemitism at NAIS events, in our member schools, or in society,” the president of the association, Debra Wilson, wrote in a letter Thursday to Jewish leaders expressing “profound remorse” over the event.

The apology was a response to criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Federations of North America, and Prizmah, an association of Jewish day schools.

Last week, the leaders of those groups wrote to Wilson expressing “deep concern” about the conference, saying some of the rhetoric “normalized antisemitism.”

The event’s keynote speaker, Dr. Suzanne Barakat, a physician, called Israel a “racist” endeavor, accused Israel of genocide and downplayed the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion, the letter said.

A Jewish student said he and his classmates felt “targeted” and “unsafe” at the conference, compelling them to conceal their Stars of David under their shirts and exit the event, the letter said.

“That any student would feel the need to conceal their identity at our conference is antithetical to our mission and our values,” Wilson said in her response.
Kings College London is accused of 'defending hatred' after investigators dismissed complaint against a professor who distributed Hamas propaganda in her seminar
A top university has been accused of 'defending hatred' after it dismissed a complaint against a professor who distributed Hamas propaganda in her seminar.

An investigation by King's College London found that the lecturer who told students to read materials produced by the Hamas media office had committed 'no wrongdoing'.

A Jewish student who secretly recorded the seminar and made a complaint against Dr Rana Baker was pressured on multiple occasions by the university to delete his audio.

The professor in the history of the Middle East had assigned sections of Hamas propaganda called 'Our Narrative: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood' to her students.

She then urged them to consider the terrorist group as a 'Islamic national liberation resistance movement' that is 'fighting Zionists not Jews'.

In the recording of the seminar, passed to the Mail, she asked: 'What do we make of it [the reading given that] Hamas is recognised as a terrorist organisation by all the major powers?'

Later Dr Baker, pictured below, claimed the Holocaust was used to prevent any 'criticisms of Israel'.

She said: 'The deployment of the Holocaust as a justification to build an exclusive Jewish state ... if you look at the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of anti-Semitism, it does say criticising Israel can amount to anti-Semitism.


Columbia professor who praised Hamas massacre to teach course on Zionism
A Columbia University professor who called the October 7 massacre "astounding," "awesome," and "incredible" will be teaching a Spring course on Zionism.

Professor Joseph Massad will be teaching an undergraduate course, History of the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala) in 19th century Europe and the development of Zionism.

The course also covers a "current peace process between the state of Israel and the Arab states and the Palestinian national movement."

The course will also provide "a historical overview of the Zionist-Palestinian conflict."

A few days after the Hamas attack, Massad published an article on the website Electronic Intifada.

"Perhaps the major achievement of the resistance in the temporary takeover of these settler-colonies is the death blow to any confidence that Israeli colonists had in their military and its ability to protect them," he wrote.

Representative Ritchie Torres responded to the news in a post on X/Twitter: "What’s next at Columbia? David Duke teaching a course on anti-racism."

"Why should US taxpayers subsidize ideological indoctrination that glorifies the mass murder, maiming, mutilation, rape, and abduction of Jews and Israelis?"


Anti-Israel MPs to call for arms embargo outside parliament
Anti-Israel MPs – including Zarah Sultana, who represents Coventry South as an independent, Jeremy Corbyn and others in his own loose coalition of pro-Gaza MPs – are expected to display a “Stop Arming Israel” banner outside Parliament to show their support for imposing an arms embargo on Israel.

Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters are also expected to congregate outside parliament ahead of a debate on Monday afternoon calling for the immediate revocation of all arms export licenses to Israel.

The hardline anti-Israel Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has asked supporters to descend on Westminster as MPs debate two petitions relating to Israel and Palestine.

But both debates take place in Westminster Hall, and not in the Commons, meaning MPs will not vote on the request of the petitions at the end of the debate.

Instead, the aim is to give MPs an opportunity to discuss the issues raised by a petition, and get a response from the Government.

Liberal Democrats Roz Savage MP, a member of the Petitions Committee, has been asked by the Committee to open the debate.

MPs from all parties can take part, and the Government will send a minister to respond.

A petition calling for an arms embargo has more than 107,000 signatures and states: “The UK is complicit in arming Israel, and many regard Israel to be committing war crimes.”

It adds:”“Arms that have been partly manufactured in the UK appear to be being used in the current military action in Gaza.”
Lib Dem MP begins Westminster Israel arms ban debate by using disputed Gaza death toll
A Liberal Democrat MP has begun a Westminster debate on a petition to ban arms sales to Israel by suggesting “reputable” sources put the death toll in Gaza at “as many as 186,000.

Dr Roz Savage, a member of the Petitions Committee, had been asked by the Committee to open the debate on two petitions relating to Israel and Palestine.

Arguing in support of an arms embargo and immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, Savage appeared to suggest a figure used by The Lancet magazine early this year on deaths in Gaza was indeed well sourced.

But after the 180,000 death toll figure was published in a now deleted admission on X one of the authors of the report appeared to suggest the figure was “purely illustrative”.

Opening Monday’s debate Savage told MPs that the official figure for deaths in occupied Gaza stood at “over 42, 000 Palestinians, although estimates from reputable sources claim that maybe as many as 186,000 have been killed.”

The MP for South Cotswolds also went on to confirm that she supported stopping the sale of arms to Israel.

She claimed the Labour government is “on the wrong side of history” and must halt selling arms to Israel.

Savage then went on to quote the recently published report from Amnesty International accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza.


Lebanese Druze politician says country should ‘permanently abandon’ war on Israel
Wiam Wahhab, a Druze Lebanese politician and former minister, said in an interview on Sunday that Lebanon should end its long-running fight against the State of Israel and pursue normalization.

Wahhab, the founder and head of the minor Tawhid Party, or Arab Unification Party, is considered an ally of the Hezbollah terrorist group, which holds considerable power in Lebanon, and of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

In an interview with the local al-Jadeed TV station, Wahhab said, “We must permanently abandon this mentality of war with Israel,” according to translation from the L’Orient Today Lebanese news outlet.

Wahhab, who served as environment minister in Lebanon from 2004 to 2005, said he would be willing to strike a “deal with the devil,” meaning Israel, in order to ensure the safety of his Druze community. The Druze population in Lebanon is thought to make up about three percent of the population. Wahhab’s party does not currently hold any seats in parliament.

“The Lebanese have sacrificed more than 75 years of their lives for the Palestinian cause. This must come to an end,” he said during the interview, adding that “the nation does not want war and no longer wishes to fight the Israeli state.”

After decades of constant fighting against Israel, Lebanon “must stop following pipe dreams… the nation does not want to fight,” said Wahhab. “We want to live comfortably,” he added, suggesting that “the only victor in the region is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who continues to reshape the Middle East.”


King Charles to visit Auschwitz for 80th anniversary of liberation
King Charles has accepted an invitation to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp in January, joining representatives from 20 different countries to mark the 80th anniversary of the camp’s liberation.

The king, who visited Auschwitz in 2020 when still Prince of Wales, has had a long-standing connection with survivors, a number of whom, though now frail, are expected to attend the commemoration ceremonies. During his 2020 visit he warned that “hatred and intolerance still lurk in the human heart.”

Though not in the best of health himself — he is still continuing weekly treatment for cancer — King Charles has vocally opposed antisemitism and was determined to attend the historic occasion on January 27. It will almost certainly be the last such event attended by Holocaust survivors.

Organisers say he will be the first British monarch to visit Auschwitz. His mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, made her final foreign trip in 2005 when she visited Bergen-Belsen.

Though Auschwitz was liberated by troops from the Soviet Union’s Red Army, it is believed that there will not be a formal delegation from Russia at the ceremony because of global condemnation of the country’s war with Ukraine. The Auschwitz Museum director, Piotr Cywiński, has emphasised that the commemorative events will be “divorced from politics” — and given the king’s decision to attend, it is unlikely that anything at the ceremony will be done which could embarrass him.
Man who punched 64-year-old Jewish man in NY sentenced to state prison
Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, announced recently that Perin Jacobchuk, 34, has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in federal prison for assaulting a 64-year-old Jewish man and, concurrently, one-and-a-third to four years in federal prison for attacking a 63-year-old Asian woman.

“Perin Jacobchuk will serve state prison time for committing two, separate, brutal attacks fueled by his prejudices and biases,” Bragg stated. “These hate crimes left both New Yorkers with physical injuries, which they have thankfully fully recovered from. I hope that the resolution of this case can offer the victims comfort in knowing that Jacobchuk has been held accountable.”

Jacobchuk pleaded guilty to both attacks. He has admitted that he performed a Nazi salute at a Jewish man walking in Central Park in Manhattan on Dec. 4, 2022. The Jewish man heard the attacker “using antisemitic slurs and making antisemitic remarks, including ‘kill the Jews,’” per Bragg’s office. “The man walked towards Jacobchuk and verbally confronted him about his offensive behavior. Jacobchuk walked towards him, repeating the same antisemitic remarks and slurs, including ‘kill the Jews.’”

As the Jewish man tried to leave, Jacobchuk followed him riding on a bike and kept making antisemitic comments. He also “punched him in the back of the head, knocking the man to the ground,” per Bragg’s office. “The man suffered a concussion and several injuries, including a broken bone in his right hand, broken left kneecap and damage to his teeth, which required extensive dental work.”

“These injuries made it difficult for the victim to eat, use his hand or put weight on his knee for several months,” the district attorney’s office said.
‘We deeply regret it’: Madrid shop pulls Nazi experiment doctor
A miniature model maker in Madrid has apologised for a resin figurine resembling a Nazi experiment doctor, saying it “deeply regrets” marketing the product.

The 35mm doll called “Dr. Strudel” which carried a blade and syringe and was clad in breeches, dark leather boots and a visor cap marked with a skull and bones and a cross, was available online for €12.40 (£10.72).

But it was removed on Friday after Jewish News contacted the retailer Scale 75 for comment.

Other products on offer include models from different periods, as well as an RAF pilot with a pet bulldog, a German officer and a cigarette-smoking US tanker.

Mark Wilson, 58, a “keen modeller” from Barnsley in South Yorkshire, urged others to boycott the retailer earlier today.

“Depicting in a figure the idea that a Nazi Doctor is a cute or worthy subject to produce is a disgrace to the memory of the many innocent victims, including children,” he told Jewish News.

The retailer originally said on Facebook that it was “greatly sorry” the design “hurt some sensitivity [sic]” but added that its intention had been to represent “an obviously cruel and detestable character, as smoothly as possible.”

“The figure is not going to be withdrawn from the market because we consider that we are not doing apology of any kind [sic] or praising these types of characters,” the shop added.

But Scale 75 said in a statement on Friday: “As we have tried to smooth out the reference with the customers on Facebook, we strongly believe the response was tainted in translation.

“At no time has Scale 75 ever meant to promote or minimise the atrocities that have happened during WWII. We have seen how this character has offended our patrons and the Jewish Community.


Greece to buy artillery systems from Israel worth over $600 million
Greece is in advanced talks to buy 36 PULS rocket artillery systems from Israel as it pushes to modernize its armed forces, two officials said on Friday.

The discussions on the 600-700 million euro ($630 million-$735 million) deal come as the countries are in negotiations for Israel to sell Greece a 2-billion-euro anti-aircraft and missile defense dome.

Greece’s government will submit the deal to a parliamentary committee for approval in the first quarter of 2025, the officials said.

Athens has drafted a multi-billion, 10-year purchasing plan that also includes acquiring up to 40 new F-35 fighter jets from the US and four frigates from France.

The PULS system, made by the Israeli company Elbit, has a range of up to 300 km (190 miles), the officials said. The deal also includes the construction of components in Greece.

One of the officials added that on Friday, the country’s top decision-making body on foreign affairs and defense matters, KYSEA, approved the procurement of US-made Switchblade drones, made by AeroVironment.
B’nai B’rith coaching scholarships honor murdered Druze children
B’nai B’rith International, in partnership with the Majdal Shams municipality and the Israel Football Association, announced football coaching scholarships for three young coaches from the Golan Druze villages of Mas’ada and Majdal Shams.

The initiative launched by B’nai B’rith on Dec. 11 honors the memory of 12 Druze children killed on July 27 when a Hezbollah rocket fired from Lebanon hit a football field in the Golan village of Majdal Shams while the children were practicing.

These scholarships will enable the coaches–relatives of the murdered children–to receive advanced coaching training and certification accredited by the Israel Football Association.

“The project includes training local coaches who will connect children and youth to a sport that symbolizes joy, hope and community strength,” said Dolan Abu Salah, a local council head in Majdal Shams.

The coaches “will give children and youth a sense of stability and security, restore the positive spirit to the community and form the basis for a future full of hope,” he said, adding that “this is a significant step in restoring the spirit and resilience of our children.”

The program will culminate in a graduation ceremony and sports exhibition following the two-month course, which began on Dec. 11.

“Upon completing their training, the coaches will return to their villages to train local children, fostering resilience and healing in the wake of unimaginable loss and a year marked by conflict,” said Alan Schneider, director of B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem.

“It is our distinct honor to partner with the Association and the Municipality in realizing this flagship program.”

Funding for the scholarships is provided by the B’nai B’rith International Israel Emergency Fund.
travelingisrael.com: Tour of sacrifices (children, animals and more) in Jerusalem



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