Yes, there was a Saudi consulate in Jerusalem before 1948

Haaretz reports:Saudi Arabia’s appointment of its first ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, who will also serve as consul general to Jerusalem, was not coordinated with Israel, and Israeli diplomatic figures are struggling to gauge its implications for the efforts to normalize relations with the kingdom.Senior Israeli officials said Sunday that Riyadh’s weekend announcement...

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In 1940, American Jews were urged to purchase land in Eretz Israel despite antisemitic British restrictions

The most infamous section of the 1939 British White Paper was the part that severely restricted the ability of Jews to immigrate to Palestine - on the eve of the Holocaust.Not as well known is that the White Paper also prohibited or restricted Jews from purchasing lands from Arabs for much of the area of the Mandate:The Administration of Palestine is required, under Article...

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When do charges of "cultural appropriation" cross the line into antisemitism?

Palestinian Arabs falsely complaining that Israeli Jews are "culturally appropriating" their cuisine have become so common that they are almost a cliche. But at least some of these accusations cross the line from absurd into antisemitism.Here's an article this past weekend from L'Orient Today by Emmanuel Haddad:After hummus, falafel and so many other flagship dishes of...

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False claims of Nazi spies masquerading as Jews provided excuse to limit Jewish immigration to America during the Holocaust

The Ken Burns documentary that started being broadcast last night, The US and the Holocaust, has prompted me to dig up little known stories about how the US severely limited Jewish immigration.One reason that the US gave for limiting immigration was the fear that some of the immigrants were in fact Nazi spies.The New York Daily News reported on November 26, 1940 - a year before...

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