Monday, February 24, 2025

02/24 Links Pt2: Olmert reveals map of Palestinian state he offered Abbas; There was no famine in Gaza… according to famine review groups’ own data

From Ian:

Yisrael Medad: Jewish anti-Zionists weaponize Jewish customs to attack Israel
Jewish anti-Zionists have been gnashing their teeth in uncontrollable grimacing these past years in reaction to the IHRA’s (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism.

The definition includes denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, that Israel’s existence is a racist endeavor, comparing Israeli policy to that of the Nazis, or aiding the harming of Jews in the name of an extremist view of religion.

Those elements negate most of the essentials of Palestinianism, especially the version promoted by Hamas.

Psychotherapist Mark Golden, from Newton, Massachusetts, published a column in The Boston Globe on February 13 positing that criticizing Israel is not being antisemitic. Moreover, as a Jew, Golden asserted he is “offended when legitimate critiques of Israel’s violent campaign in Gaza are branded as antisemitic.”

He fears he may be silenced. All, of course, depends on the criticism’s content.

Jewish anti-Zionists
A decade ago, Richard Landes wrote that “forms of Jewish self-criticism need to be understood” as they can cross over “into pathology” when shared by Jew-haters and deniers of Jewish national identity who “would use it to promote demonizing and scapegoating narratives.”

And that is what has happened.

Golden’s column is in harmony with the recent “Stop the Ethnic Cleansing” advertisement published in The New York Times, which displayed the names of 350 rabbis and a few actors and public figures. According to the Vatican News, the ad was financed by progressive donors affiliated with the In Our Name Campaign.

This collective of Jewish philanthropists seeks to raise $10 million for organizations that support efforts to “build self-determination in Palestine.”

Their signatures were nowhere to be seen on a similar advert in 2005 when more than 8000 Jews, including corpses, were ethnically cleansed from Gaza. Nor will you see their signatures on petitions protesting a planned ethnic cleansing of 725,000 Jews from Judea & Samaria and post-1967 Jerusalem neighborhoods.
Who is calling who a Nazi?
The use of Nazi imagery has become so ubiquitous among Democrats that it almost precludes notice. But Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s parallels between U.S. President Donald Trump’s political agenda and the rise of Nazi Germany during his “State of the State” budget address on Feb. 19 hit a new low.

Veering from his speech, Pritzker, who is Jewish, referred to Nazis no less than six times during his criticism of Trump and his policies. In a glaring warning to Illinois citizens, he compared the rise of the Nazis to the Republican Party leader in the White House.

After castigating the president’s policies, including the deportation of violent illegal criminals, Pritzker said: “It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic.”

Such deceitful criticism of Trump reeks of partisan animosity of the basest kind. The governor’s confusing use of Nazi imagery is targeting the wrong culprit and, in the process, exonerating the real perpetrators.

Pritzker’s comments lend fuel to the anti-Israel and pro-Hamas protestors who have regularly used Nazi euphemisms against the Jews, libeling them as “genocide” perpetrators in Gaza and calling for the “final solution” for Jews all over the world. His comments ignore the reality of a president who was praised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.”

Indeed, Pritzker’s rebuke of the president came on the same day that the Trump administration stopped all funding for the Palestinian Authority, which continues its “pay for slay” policies, paying terrorists and their families for murdering Jews. It comes two days after Israel received a shipment of heavy MK-84 bombs from the United States, following Trump’s lifting of a block imposed on the export of the munitions by the Biden administration.

Pritzker must not have gotten the memo regarding Trump’s executive order two weeks ago outlining a broad federal crackdown on “the explosion of antisemitism” in the United States, especially on college campuses. The executive order cites “an unprecedented wave of vile anti-Semitic discrimination, vandalism and violence.” It instructs U.S. policy to use “all available and appropriate legal tools to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.” This includes the canceling of visas for foreign students who are “Hamas sympathizers” and deporting “pro-jihadist” protesters.


Olmert reveals for first time map of Palestinian state he offered Abbas
Former prime minister Ehud Omert has for the first time revealed the map for a two-state solution that he showed to Mahmoud Abbas in 2008, and spoke of how he urged the Palestinian Authority president to sign the document right there and then.

As legend would have it, after his meeting with Olmert, Abbas returned to his Ramallah headquarters in the West Bank and hastily drew up a copy of the map on a napkin for Palestinian officials to review. In fact, that sketch was made on a piece of paper that was previously revealed in 2013 along with details of the far-reaching concessions that Olmert offered.

However, the actual map he showed Abbas was, until now, hidden.

Olmert showed the map to documentary-maker Norma Percy as part of a series titled “Israel and the Palestinians: The Road to 7th October,” which was to be available on iPlayer from Monday, the BBC reported.

“This is the first time that I expose this map to the media,” he said.

Olmert and Abbas met in Jerusalem on September 16, 2008.

At the table, Olmert showed the map to Abbas and implored him “Sign it! Sign it, and let’s change history!” he said.

“Prime Minister, this is very serious. It is very, very, very serious,” Abbas said in response, Olmert recalled.



Olmert’s proposal included annexing 4.9 percent of the West Bank to Israel, which would give up a similar area of territory from areas near the West Bank and Gaza Strip to be included in the Palestinian state.

The swap would leave major settlement blocs in Israel, but also require evacuating dozens of smaller settlements.

In addition, Olmert offered to divide Jerusalem, with both Israel and the Palestinians having separate parts as their capital and a “holy basin” — including the Old City and its Temple Mount — to be administered by a committee from Israel, Palestine, the US, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

A tunnel or road would join the West Bank to Gaza, which at the time was already under control of the terror group Hamas.

As the meeting drew to a close, Olmert refused to give the map to Abbas unless he first signed a copy. Abbas declined, insisting he needed to study it first with his own experts.

Instead, they agreed to hold a follow-up meeting the next day.

“We parted, you know, like we are about to embark on a historic step forward,” Olmert said in the film.
New study: There was no famine in Gaza… according to famine review groups’ own data
A review conducted by the UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) organization into allegations by international famine review bodies that famine and severe malnutrition were widespread and prevalent in Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas has found that famine did not break out in the territory according to the figures of the very organizations making the claims.

The report noted severe problems with the reports these organizations issued, due to what it said was their use of “incomplete or inaccurate data,” the inconsistent application of methodological standards, failure to take into account new data, and “potential bias” in how it interpreted and presented the information it had.

These groups data were used as evidence by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court prosecutor in legal proceedings they initiated against Israel, and have created severe legal problems for the State of Israel.

From almost the very beginning of the war, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), connected to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) established by USAID, began issuing periodic reports on the food security situation in Gaza, asserting in early and late 2024 that famine was either imminent or had already taken hold in parts of the territory.

Israeli academics and public health officials began questioning the accuracy and reliability of these reports from May 2024, highlighting how the estimates made by these organizations appeared to ignore key information about aid supply and use data from questionable sources.

UKLFI’s review of the issue, published last week and which highlighted these criticisms, found that there was no famine in Gaza during the war, as defined by IPC standards, and that even levels of acute malnutrition were only marginally higher than pre-war figures.


'I condemned Hamas—my own family blocked me': Arab peace activist on her journey from antisemitism to Judaism
Rawan Osman, a pro-Israel activist of Lebanese-Syrian descent now based in Germany, has become a prominent voice challenging antisemitism in the Arab world.

During a visit to Israel, she spoke to Ynetnews about her transformation from a Hezbollah supporter to a vocal Zionist, her work on the documentary Tragic Awakening and her decision to convert to Judaism.

Osman, who grew up in Lebanon, was raised on a state-sanctioned narrative that demonized Israel. "I was a fan of Hezbollah. I believed the narrative the state wanted us to learn about Israel and the Jews," she said. "I'd never spoken to a Jew until I moved to France in my twenties and lived in the Jewish quarter. That was my first encounter with Jews, and that opened my eyes." Her shift in perspective was not immediate but developed over years of reading about Israel and Jewish history. "It sounds as if it happened overnight, but that was a long journey," she explained. "Slowly, after years of reading about Israel and Jewish history, I became a proud Zionist activist. And after October 7, that event changed my life."

Osman has traveled to Auschwitz and visited Israeli communities near Gaza, deepening her understanding of Jewish suffering. She is baffled by the continued global support for Hamas despite the October 7 massacre. "I don't understand how anyone can buy their narrative," she said. "I just read this morning—like many around the world, we don’t want to believe the Bibas family was killed. They are monsters, and learning that the aggressor is your own side, not Israel, is a harsh realization. I'm trying desperately to get Arabs to understand that they are intensely brainwashed." She is outspoken about what she sees as the real threat in the region. "Every day, it becomes clearer that the enemy of the people in the region is not Israel, but the so-called 'Axis of Resistance' led by Iran or by the Iranian regime. The Iranian people are awesome and they deserve better."

Osman’s outspoken stance has come at a price. "I still have many family members and friends in Lebanon and Syria. Most of them blocked me right after October 7 when I made a public statement condemning Hamas and supporting Israel," she said. "Many out of fear, but many just because they are antisemites, as I was until my mid-twenties."

She has also faced threats, particularly from Palestinian communities. "I did receive many death threats in Germany. There is a criminal investigator I report some of them to, but as they say, 'A dog that barks rarely bites.' Those who want to kill me won’t inform me in advance," she said. "I have to be careful where I'm invited to speak publicly. We have heavy security, but I truly believe I'm doing the right thing, so it doesn’t bother me at all."


Kemi Badenoch calls for investigation into ‘systemic BBC bias against Israel’
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called on the BBC to formally investigate accusations that it is “systemically biased” against Israel.

The Leader of the Opposition wrote to the corporation’s Director General Tim Davie to express concerns over “allegations of potential collusion with Hamas, and the possibility of payment to Hamas officials” in relation to a recent documentary.

The broadcaster removed Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone from all platforms, after it emerged that the teenage narrator of the documentary about the war in Gaza is the son of a senior Hamas official.

The corporation said it was conducting “further due diligence”, following the admission that Abdullah Al-Yazouri was the son of the Deputy Minister of Agriculture in the Hamas government.

Badenoch wrote: “It is well known that inside Gaza the influence of the proscribed terrorist organisation Hamas is pervasive.

“How could any programme from there be commissioned, without comprehensive work by the BBC to ensure that presenters or participants were – as far as possible – not linked to that appalling regime?”

Her letter, first reported by the Daily Mail, continued: “Would the BBC be this naive if it was commissioning content from North Korea or the Islamic Republic of Iran?”

In calling for a probe into “systemic BBC bias against Israel”, the Tory leader also chastised the corporation’s coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict, claiming that “Israeli interlocutors are robustly interrogated, and Palestinian officials can speak with little challenge”.

She suggested that these claims were detrimental to the BBC’s “public standing” and that the Conservatives could not support the BBC’s licence fee system “without serious action”.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the BBC faced accusations of “whitewashing” Hamas propaganda after an article on the terror group’s handover ceremony for the bodies of murdered Israeli hostages, described banners, including images of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as a vampire alongside slogans accusing him of being a Nazi war criminal, as “highlighting the catastrophic consequences of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and the Palestinian determination to stay put”.
BBC spent £400,000 of licence payers’ cash on controversial Gaza doc branded ‘propaganda tool for Hamas’
THE BBC spent £400,000 of licence payers' cash making a documentary branded a propaganda show for evil terror group Hamas, The Sun can reveal.

Highly placed sources confirmed the huge sum was handed to the production company behind controversial prime-time programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.

Hamas deputy minister of agriculture Dr Ayman Al-Yazouri is said to be Abdulla's father

The main narrator of the heart-tugging, supposedly factual exposé - 13-year-old Abdulla Eliyazour - was revealed to be the son of senior Hamas official Dr Ayman Al-Yazouri.

Money spent on the hour-long BBC2 programme was revealed yesterday as Tory leader Kemi Badenoch demanded to know whether any of the cash went to Hamas.

BBC bosses were forced to withdraw the documentary from its iPlayer streaming service last week pending "further due diligence" checks after being accused of pro-Hamas bias.

Anger grew after Beeb bosses initially tried to defend the programme, and blamed London-based production company Hoyo Films for not revealing the boy's link.


BBC Arabic ‘fails to challenge half of hateful statements by pro-Palestine guests’
The BBC’s Arabic channel has been accused of allowing ‘false’ and ‘hateful’ statements by pro-Palestinian contributors to go unchallenged while repeatedly challenging pro-Israel speakers.

Media observers have claimed that the channel’s presenters are far more likely to interrupt and challenge contributors who support Israel than those who criticise it.

BBC Arabic, which is run by the BBC World Service, has been criticised repeatedly for the way it reports the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The latest row comes after Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, said she would be holding urgent discussions with the BBC over concerns that it aired a documentary featuring Hamas propaganda.

On Friday, the BBC pulled the hour-long film from iPlayer. following a row over its use of the son of a Hamas minister as the narrator and central protagonist alongside two other children with family links to the terror group, without disclosing their connection to viewers.

Ms Nandy said she would be talking to the broadcaster to emphasise the importance of “getting it right” in its coverage of the conflict in Gaza.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) found that in a sample of nine cases on BBC Arabic, four statements by pro-Palestinian speakers which it described as hateful or false went unchallenged.

‘Misinformation’
At the same time Camera found that five pro-Israeli speakers were each challenged for their views, but with what it described as “misinformation”.

These included BBC Arabic presenter Akram Shaban saying of Hamas that “for their people they defend their land which is occupied according to international law” in response to Israeli speaker Idit Bar describing them as “terrorist gangs”.

During one interview with another Israeli speaker, Yoseph Haddad, in December 2023, Mr Shaban challenged his assertion that women had been raped and children burnt alive during the Oct 7 attacks two months earlier, despite evidence such atrocities had taken place.

By contrast contentious statements by pro-Palestinian speakers went unchallenged, Camera claims.
Legislation on IHRA definition of antisemitism splits New Jersey gubernatorial field
New Jersey legislation codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism is splitting the Democratic field in the gubernatorial race, after one leading candidate said last week he’d veto the bill.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) told JI this week that she supported legislation under consideration in the state that would codify the IHRA definition as New Jersey’s official definition of antisemitism for assessing cases of antisemitic discrimination. “I’ve supported the IHRA definition in the U.S. House, and would support the current state Senate bill to combat the alarming rise of antisemitism in New Jersey,” Sherrill said in a statement to JI.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s (D-NJ) campaign indicated in a statement that he also supports the bill. His campaign manager, Chelsea Brossard, noted that he “helped write and pass” the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which codifies the IHRA definition at the Department of Education.

“Since October 7th, antisemitic incidents have skyrocketed to an all-time high in New Jersey. This is unacceptable, and Josh will continue working tirelessly at all levels of government to protect Jewish students and families from all forms of hate,” Brossard said.

Those comments come after Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who has touted his Jewish heritage on the campaign trail, said he was opposed to the legislation, arguing that it could infringe on criticism of Israel and ultimately exacerbate antisemitism.
Oklahoma advances bills to solidify IHRA antisemitism definition into law
Two bills that would solidify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism into Oklahoma state law and educational policies passed in the state’s Senate committees in Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

The first bill, Senate Bill 942, was initiated by Oklahoma Republican Senator Kristen Thompson. SB 942 requires Oklahoma K-12 schools and institutes of higher education to include the International IHRA definition of antisemitism in their codes of conduct for students, faculty, and staff.

It, and the other bill, SB 991, were backed by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), an international network of 850 groups dedicated to combating antisemitism.

CAM noted that SB 942 strengthens Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by requiring Oklahoma’s Department of Education and the state’s Regents for Higher Education to monitor and investigate antisemitic discrimination in schools.

Senate Bill 991, also introduced by Senator Thompson, builds off a January 2022 proclamation issued by Governor Kevin Stitt adopting the IHRA antisemitism definition by formally incorporating it into Oklahoma state law.

Support and concern over the bill
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed SB 991 by a 7-0 vote. The Senate Education Committee passed SB 942 by a 7-3 vote.

The vote on SB 942 broke along party lines with all the Republicans voting in favor and all three Democratic state senators—Mark Mann, Jo Anna Dossett, and Carri Hicks—voting against.
Adrienne Adams is in thrall to the antisemitic left — and unfit to be our mayor
While Mayor Eric Adams’s legal troubles have been national news, New York City is getting ready for its mayoral election in November, with primaries taking place in June. Among those expected to vie for the Democratic nomination is the speaker of the City Council, Adrienne Adams (no relation). Hannah Meyers explains why this should worry members of America’s largest Jewish community:

On Tuesday, an anti-Israel mob targeted one of the city’s densest and most visible Jewish communities in Borough Park, Brooklyn. Rioters banged drums, shouted pro-Hamas slogans and chanted, “Zionists go to hell” as they waved Palestinian flags, their faces hidden behind keffiyeh scarves. Some broke through police barricades to charge at nearby Jews and pro-Israel demonstrators, leading to a violent scuffle.

Speaker Adams has consistently rejected opportunities to use her leadership position to show concern and support for New York’s Jewish community following the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel and the immediately ensuing rise in attacks on American Jews.

On top of these signals of disparate disregard for Jews, Speaker Adams in June drafted and promoted a City Council resolution demanding a cease-fire in the Gaza war—to the disgust of many Jewish council members and New Yorkers. The speaker showed her sympathy for the socialist left’s anti-Semitic politicking by allowing the preposterous appointment of Councilwoman Shahana Hanif as co-chair of a new City Council Task Force to Combat Hate. Hanif is a poster child for the normalization of vitriolic anti-Zionism among New York progressive politicians.
Web Summit’s anti-Israel CEO kicks off confab in Doha

NJ congressman slams Rutgers for ‘antisemitism’ after lecturer attends Hamas-linked webinar

House Dem in Charge of Caucus-Wide Messaging Praises Activist Who Pledged To 'Take' Jews 'Back to Poland'

French court postpones decision on freeing Lebanese terrorist who killed diplomats

Oxford Union standing committee could face criminal liability amid ongoing counter-terror investigation

Northwestern University Mandatory Anti-Discrimination Training Pushes Unverified CAIR Data

Andrew Pessin: “Anti-Zionism is Antisemitism,” on Campus

Life at Columbia U: Pro-Palestinian protestors disrupt Israel history class, vandalism

Barnard College expels students involved in anti-Israel class disruption

Qatar's grip on education is causing an explosion of campus antisemitism

How Universities Get Away With Hiring Radicals

Rejuvenation: CAMERA’s Focus on the World Media
The media watchdog Committees for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis is actually global, to the benefit of all. Adam Levick speaks with Eve Harow from the Israel based office about his particular work monitoring the British press. The last 16 months have seen a skyrocketing number of journalistic lies that have fomented anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments. The organization׳s attention to truthful detail has garnered hundreds of corrections and fewer attempts to twist facts. Their work on campus and elementary school curricula is critical in ensuring that the educational environment is what we need, as well.


Muslim Vote Convener warned by his education department employer over comments made on Sydney nurses

Israeli who averted bus bombing: ‘I was a messenger of God’

Gazan rocket fired at Israel, hits inside Strip

IDF’s expanded presence on Syrian side of buffer zone appears long-term

IDF operating ‘day and night’ to destroy arms in Syria

Seth Frantzman: Iran praises historic Hezbollah funeral as sign of resilience

Pro-Iranian influencers invited on 'Birthright-style trip' to Nasrallah's funeral

Argentine president opening files on Nazi ‘ratlines’ that trafficked Eichmann, Mengele

travelingisrael.com: Is traveling to Jerusalem in 2025 safe?





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