Youth Organizations Have Picked a Side—And It’s Not the Jews (Judean Rose)

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

Youth organizations or organizations actively involved with or concerned with youth. When you hear of them, you think of forces for good. You think of mentors giving guidance, steering kids on the skids back on track.

But today, that’s not necessarily the case.

Too many youth organizations or those actively involved with youth—whose stated missions have nothing to do with politics—global or otherwise, are taking a position on the war in Gaza, and it’s not a position that favors the Jews.

We know this because they’ve issued statements to that effect—statements that appear not to recognize that the war that has decimated Gaza, began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas, the democratically elected government of Gaza, launched the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. “Ordinary” Gazans, too, took part in the slaughter, pouring right through that fence alongside Hamas, to take advantage of the opportunity to rape and kill the yahud.

Jewish suffering continues deep underground in Gaza, as the last 20 hostages still languish in captivity, chained, caged, and starved, almost two years on. In spite of this, youth organizations nowhere near the Middle East—organizations charged with molding young minds—have decided to ignore Jewish suffering in favor of the people who gang-rape Jewish women tied to trees.

They claim to be nonpartisan, these organizations, but their statements say otherwise. Some downplay or omit the horrors of October 7. Others have issued proclamations of “solidarity” with Gaza endorsing antisemitic violence as legitimate “resistance.” Still a third group engages in what I call “both siding” it, pretending that violence is violence no matter who suffers, that all are exactly the same, which is just as bad. If you can’t decry what happened on October 7, and understand why Israel fought back, you should stay out of it, instead of poisoning young peoples’ minds.

One has to wonder: what is the atmosphere like at meetings or events for Jewish participants? How does it feel to belong to a group that seems to regard your people’s suffering as inconvenient or deserved? And what will become of the next generation—shaped by organizations that ask them to champion the cause of people who eviscerate pregnant women and burn babies and small children alive?

Here are a few examples of supposedly nonpartisan organizations that have issued statements on the war in Gaza:

1. National Education Association (NEA)

The NEA is not exactly a youth organization, but as the largest teachers' union in the U.S., it certainly has the potential to influence America’s children. Only yesterday, on July 8, the NEA voted to sever ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

From the NY Post:

The largest teachers union in America has voted to cut all ties with the Anti-Defamation League — which called the move “profoundly disturbing” as antisemitic attacks in the US are at a record high.

The National Education Association, which is also the US’s largest union with more than 3 million members, approved a proposal Sunday to drop the ADL as an education partner, accusing the New York-based Jewish civil rights group of using the term antisemitism to punish any and all criticisms of Israel. . .

. . . The group has found its relationship waning with the NEA since the start of the war in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, when the Jewish state was attacked by Palestinian Hamas terrorists and retaliated in a conflict that is still ongoing.

Tensions between the NEA and ADL came to a head earlier this year when the Jewish group slammed the former president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) over a presentation on Islamophobia and attacks against Palestinians.

Merrie Najimy, the former president of the union, was one of four speakers at the controversial presentation, which made headlines and was even discussed in the state’s Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism in February. The Massachusetts Educators Against Antisemitism and American Jewish Committee (AJC) New England ultimately accused the MTA leadership of demonizing Israel and spreading “anti-Zionist propaganda” in the classrooms. . .

. . . Liora Rez, the founder of StopAntisemitism, said, “The most radical fringe has taken over the NEA and they actively promote bigotry against Jews and lies about the Jewish state.

“Rather than trying to educate our children, they want to indoctrinate them to hate each other.”

According to Axios, “The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said it welcomed the NEA vote due to concerns over ADL's "anti-Palestinian bias."

2. Save the Children

Save the Children bills itself as “the world’s first and leading independent children’s organisation – transforming lives and the future we share. We’re proud to work with children, their communities, and our partners worldwide, discovering new solutions to help ensure that the world's most vulnerable children survive, learn and are protected,” but apparently that doesn’t include vulnerable Israeli children, such as those slaughtered on October 7.

Save the Children says it reaches tens of millions of children in more than 110 countries through its “life-changing work,” but based on its statement on Gaza, none of those tens of millions of children are Jews. On a slickly designed webpage titled War in Gaza, the (very long) statement makes offhand mention of October 7, neglecting to mention the slaughter of Israeli Jews or the Jewish hostages still in captivity. The statement cites all the exaggerated Hamas death statistics, and of course, in a breathtaking display of what it means to blame the victim, everything that has happened is the fault of Israel:

Children are paying the heaviest price of this war.

In 2024, the occupied Palestinian territory, specifically Gaza, became the deadliest place on earth to be a child.

Since the beginning of the war, over 18,000 children have been killed, while over 14,000 more children are at risk of dying from severe malnutrition in the coming weeks and months if the conditions imposed by the Government of Israel don't drastically improve. After 19 months of war, children's lives continue to hang in the balance.

Since 2 March 2025, absolutely no humanitarian aid or commercial goods have entered Gaza, putting all 1 million of Gaza’s children at risk of famine and creating conditions incompatible with life.

Children will continue to suffer day after day until the bombing stops, the siege ends and meaningful amounts of humanitarian aid are able to enter Gaza again.

Denying humanitarian aid is a crime under international law and a grave violation against children. The international community must not allow the war to continue and the halt on aid must be immediately reversed.

A definitive ceasefire is the only way to save lives in Gaza and end grave violations of children’s rights. There is no alternative.

The lives of Gaza's 1.1 million children depend on it.

Our response.

Amidst extremely challenging conditions, we’ve been working around the clock to find ways to deliver aid to children.

Save the Children has been supporting Palestinian children since 1953 and has maintained a permanent presence in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) since 1973. Our response has significantly scaled up since October 2023, leveraging our existing footprint, technical expertise, and partnerships to address the evolving humanitarian crisis.

As of 11th March 2025, Save the Children and its partners have reached more than 1.5 million people across the occupied Palestinian territory, including over 1.4 million people in Gaza.

During the pause in hostilities from the 19th January to the 18th March, we provided essential lifesaving aid to over 51,000 people. This included distributing winter clothing to over 15,000 children in Gaza, and food parcels to over 23,000 people. In February, a total of 1,341 children, were vaccinated in our Primary Healthcare Centre in Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis as part of the third polio vaccination campaign.

We have also distributed essential items such as mattresses, pillows, blankets and plastic tarps to families that have returned to northern Gaza, while continuing to provide healthcare services at our two primary healthcare centres and mental health support at our child friendly spaces. Despite this, the needs are vast and ever-growing.

Alongside local partners, we’re distributing vital supplies to families across shelters and households – drinking water, food, hygiene products, mattresses, blankets, learning materials, toys, and games.

We are prepared to scale up further in Gaza to respond to the spiralling needs. But the basic conditions to reach families need to be established by the Government of Israel by lifting the siege and facilitating the safe, unobstructed delivery of aid across Gaza.

Since the pause in Gaza collapsed and the Government of Israel re-imposed a total siege on the entry of aid and goods into Gaza, all that has entered Gaza are bombs and bullets. This complete siege is the longest the Israeli Government has blocked all aid and commercial goods from entering Gaza. Instead of much needed food, clothing or tents to help Gaza’s children survive, airstrikes are being launched into Gaza, killing, maiming, and destroying the lives of children and families.

We are by children’s sides in Gaza and we’ll keep calling for a world that respects their right to survive and be protected. But we can’t do it without your support.

They may be by the side of the children in Gaza, but I’m pretty sure they wish the children of Israel would drop off the edge of the earth.

3. Rotary International

Rotary International is not primarily a youth organization, but it does have several programs focused on youth development and leadership. Rotary International actively engages young people through initiatives like Rotary Youth Exchange, Interact clubs, and Rotaract clubs, aiming to foster leadership skills, promote service, and cultivate global citizenship. The organization says it is nonpartisan: “Rotary is a non-political and non-religious organization open to all people regardless of race, colour, religion, gender, or political preference.”

Its statement on Israel and Gaza tries very hard to be fair to all, but ends up not being very fair to Israel, urging “all parties to seek avenues to peace.” Should the rape victim make up with her rapist? Should the Yarden Bibas shake hands with the people who murdered his wife and children, in the name of peace? Should Israel agree that Rotary’s support for upholding international law is a good thing, fair and balanced, when the ICC calls for the arrest of Israel’s leaders?

Israel and Gaza

Recognizing there has been protracted suffering in the long history of conflict between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza, Rotary International urges all parties to seek avenues to peace.

At the same time, we unequivocally condemn the horrific attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians and are appalled at the number of people who have been injured, killed, and kidnapped.

As the war between Israel and Hamas intensifies, we remain deeply concerned about the potential for further escalation as well as the loss of life and the humanitarian crisis that is occurring in Gaza. We denounce the violence against innocent civilians and support upholding international humanitarian law.

Peacebuilding is both a cornerstone of Rotary’s mission and one of our areas of focus. At our core, Rotary is a common ground for people to come together – across nationalities and religions, cultures and histories – and connect around their shared belief in a better tomorrow. That connection is what humanizes us in times of conflict and builds a foundation for lasting peace.

Rotary remains committed to working with our members, partners, and communities to find long-term, sustainable solutions that support peace and development in the region and elsewhere.

All that talk of peace with the people who rape my people makes me totally sick to my stomach. It’s not possible to be balanced on this subject. It’s just not. There’s a good side and an evil side. You wipe out the evil to protect the good. Hamas is evil.

4. United Way of King County

United Way has a strong focus on youth development and opportunity. The organization says it “works to support young people from early childhood through career readiness, aiming to help them succeed in education, build financial stability, and become engaged community members.”

The organization says it is nonpartisan, and “represents a neutral ground where people can join together for the greater good of the community.” But the King County, Washington branch of the organization which includes the city of Seattle, decided to issue a statement on the war in Gaza on October 11, that is so neutral as to exclude the issues of right and wrong, good and evil, terrorism and those who defend against it. With Israel still reeling from the attack, United Way of King County sidelined what actually happened, and more than hints that Israel shouldn’t respond. Sure. As if us Israelis should just leave our hostages there in Gaza, stay home, and lick our wounds. Like Rotary International, in bending over backward to be fair, United Way of King County is fair to no one, and especially not to the Jews who were massacred so brutally on October 7:

United Way of King County’s Response to the Israel-Hamas War

United Way of King County mourns with others around the world the unspeakable violence and loss of life from the Israel-Hamas War.

We work side by side with communities to build an equitable future for everyone. There are far too many examples—locally, nationally, and globally—that demonstrate we are losing sight of that shared humanity and the common needs and dreams we all share.

We join our local community members who are grieving.

5. Boston CASA

Sometimes a gala speaks a thousand words. At its 13th annual gala event, Transforming Lives, Boston CASA, whose mission is to advocate for abused and neglected children, honored infamous antisemite Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley with the 2025 Susan J. Ganz Award. The event announcement called Pressley “an activist, a legislator, a survivor, and the first woman of color elected to Congress from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Throughout her career, Congresswoman Pressley has fought to ensure that those closest to the pain or the closest to the power – driving and informing policy making,” whatever that means.

As far as I’m concerned, the only thing Ayanna Pressley has fought for is to demonize Israel. She boycotted Bibi’s address to Congress, speaking of Israel bombing “innocent civilians” with no mention whatsoever of October 7 or Hamas.

She speaks of an ongoing “genocide” when the only genocide is the purposeful antisemitic slaughter that occurred on October 7.

 

The fact is, that in honoring Ayanna Pressley, this organization that is meant to advocate for Boston children, fails to advocate for the child victims of October 7. And so I return to my original thought: youth organizations—or those entrusted with shaping young minds—are meant to be forces for good. They are meant to protect the vulnerable, guide the impressionable, and foster moral clarity. But today, too many are doing the opposite. They are modeling moral confusion, justifying barbarity, and embracing those who would see the Jewish people wiped from the face of the earth.

If your mission is to shape children into decent human beings, start by telling the truth. Tell them what happened on October 7. Tell them that Hamas didn’t just kill Jews—they butchered them, raped them, beheaded them, burned their children alive. And if you can’t bring yourself to say that much—if your instinct is to “both sides” it or to preach peace with those who take toddlers hostage—then do us all a favor and get out of the business of working with youth.

Because this generation deserves better. And so do the dead.

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Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon! "He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

 

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08/14 Links Pt2: The Jews in Defiance of History; Obama’s Calculated Tolerance of Black Anti-Semitism; Antisemitism Still Haunts the European Left

From Ian:

Meir Y. Soloveichik: Not Everything Is Tisha B’Av

It is with this in mind that we must approach the reaction of many when the Knesset, three days before Tisha B’Av, approved limitations on the Israeli Supreme Court. The Times of Israel immediately presented us with the remarkable headline: “Judicial overhaul opponents see parallel to Tisha B’Av, saddest day in Hebrew year.” Indeed, comparisons to the destruction of the Temple abounded. A meme with the words shisha b’av, “the sixth of Av,” was circulated on the Internet, with the comparison to Tisha B’Av being made even by prominent Israeli writers. Some Israelis announced that though they did not usually fast on the Ninth of Av, they would do so this year to mourn what the Knesset had wrought.

I do not wish to discuss the merits or flaws of the government proposal. Rather I want to make one point only: One cannot compare the tragedies of the Jewish past to a democratic vote by the Israeli Knesset, however mistaken one might believe that vote to be. To make this comparison is to recommit the sin of the spies and their audience among the Hebrews, and to repeat the error of our ancestors in the desert millennia ago. Sharing a meme with the words shisha b’av dangerously demonizes a vast part of the Israeli electorate by comparing voters to the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem. And one can react only with horror to the statement by a Jew that a vote by the Knesset is more worthy of mourning than the deaths of Jews throughout history.

In arguing that the memories of Tisha B’Av obligated him to protect the physical well-being of the Jewish state, what Begin was also implying was that in the story of Israel, some—though not all—of what the Romans had wrought had been undone by the rise of the State of Israel and the miracles that followed. The Temple is not yet rebuilt, and hatred of the Jews still festers, but a rebuilt, united Jerusalem stands under Jewish sovereignty. If those who suffered in the events marked on the Ninth of Av would have been shown images of our own age—a united Jerusalem featuring a Jewish government, a Judean desert in bloom, and Jewish homes rebuilt throughout the Holy Land—they would have rejoiced at this vindication of Jewish yearnings. And if they would have been told that during all this, the parliament of the Jewish state would then vote to limit the ability of a Supreme Court to pronounce administrative decisions as “unreasonable,” their awe would not be diminished by an iota, no matter the flaws or virtues of this vote.

And so it must be stressed—though as I type these words, I still cannot believe that it must be stressed—that however much one might disagree with the Israeli coalition’s agenda, it is not Tisha B’Av. It is not the Holocaust. It is not the destruction of the Temple. It is not the expulsion from England, or Spain. It is not the auto-da-fé. It is not the massacres of the Crusades. To argue otherwise is to desecrate the memory of the martyred and the murdered, the exiled and the expelled, those who died with faith in the future of Jerusalem on their lips, and who would react with wonder at the miracles of our age.

Obama’s Calculated Tolerance of Black Anti-Semitism

I believe Sheila Miyoshi Jager’s account; she has nothing to gain by such a story, while the calculating Obama, determined to leave her because he was sure that as a white woman, she would be a political liability as his wife, made sure in his own memoir, Dreams of My Father, to leave out the Cokely episode, including his failure to condemn Cokely for his charge that “Jewish doctors” were deliberately committing “genocide” on “black babies.” This variant on the medieval blood libel about Jews killing Christian children so as to use their blood in making matzos, was a charge so explosive that it could well have resulted in murderous attacks by credulous African-Americans on Jewish doctors. When Sheila Miyoshi tried to convince Obama to denounce Cokely, he refused. He had decided that if he condemned Cokely, he would lose more support among black antisemites than he would gain in Jewish support. Clearly, Obama did not share the anguish of Jews at such charges, an updated version of the medieval blood libels. He was perfectly willing to pass over in silence Cokely’s disgusting and absurd charge of “genocide” by “Jewish doctors” of “black babies.” Sheila Miyoshi was appalled at Obama’s indecent political calculus, and told David Garrow so; that, she said, was her reason for the breakup. Obama, ever the calculating arriviste, determined to rise high, felt no need to reassure Jews that he stood with them. Instead, his silence about Steve Cokely’s charge suggested he had no interest in condemning even the worst antisemitic charges if to do so might hurt him with a black electorate that was also predominantly antisemitic.

Obama’s betrayal of a longstanding American commitment to veto all anti-Israel resolutions at the UN Security Council, when instead of a veto he had Samantha Power abstain from voting on UN Security Council Resolution 2334, that declared Israeli settlements in the West Bank, where a half-million Israelis lived, to constitute a violation of international law, was bad. An American veto would have killed the resolution. With the Americans not vetoing it, UNSC 2334 passed by a vote of 14-0. But Obama had done worse than that, when as a thrusting young Chicago politician he refused to do the right thing; he never denounced Steve Cokely for his extreme antisemitism, reflected in his charge that “Jewish doctors” practiced “genocide” on “black babies.” Obama’s tolerance of the worst kind of antisemitism was then, and remains, a form of antisemitism.

Antisemitism Still Haunts the European Left

Why the double standard? Why identify and condemn antisemitism from the right but not from within the left’s own ranks?

A large part of the answer sheds light upon a problem for the left not just in France, but in Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom—the other countries covered by the ADL report—as well. In essence, antisemitism is not seen as a pernicious ideology targeting Jews as the root of the world’s ills, but rather as an instrument to be deployed in political conflicts. If antisemitism comes from a source that you would have no truck with anyway—in this case, an organization that believes fervently that Catholic doctrine should lie at the foundations of law and public policy—then there is no hesitation in condemning it, particularly when, as was true with the Civitas episode, there is no mention of Zionism or the State of Israel. But if antisemitism comes from an ally, like Corbyn, then you are duty-bound to deny it and dismiss it as a smear. In such an environment, any analytical consistency and certainly any attempt to point out the glaring overlap between far-left and extreme-right antisemitic tropes—dual loyalty, financial clout, disproportionate political and cultural influence—becomes impossible.

While the ADL report highlights the differences between the four countries under the microscope, there are also some key commonalities. “In all four countries, the two dominant findings were that antisemitism was used in anti-Israel contexts and in anti-capitalist contexts,” it observed. “In anti-Israel contexts, antisemitic themes included (1) accusations that Jewish cabals control politics and media and prevent either criticism of Israel or support for Palestine; (2) Holocaust trivialization as a means of arguing that Palestinians are no less victims today than Jews were during the Holocaust; (3) equating Israel with the Nazi regime, thus demonizing Israel; (4) accusations of antisemitism are in bad faith and employed to silence criticism of Israel. In anti-capitalist contexts, antisemitic themes included (1) Jewish control of financial markets; (2) Jewish obsession with money; and (3) Jewish exploitation of workers.”

The point, however, is that large swathes of the European left are either incapable of recognizing these themes as antisemitic, or they believe that the upsurge in hatred against Jews is solely a result of Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians. “They have learnt nothing from what happened to them in Europe. Nothing,” ranted Tariq Ali, a British far-left leader, at an anti-Israel rally in May 2021. “Every time they bomb Gaza, every time they attack Jerusalem—that is what creates antisemitism. Stop the occupation, stop the bombing and casual antisemitism will soon disappear.”

Ali did not spell out the lesson that he believes the Jews should have learned from the Nazi era, but the implication of his words is that they are receiving their just desserts for dispossessing the Palestinians. And that their choice now is to either give in—and thereby suddenly and miraculously banish antisemitism from public discourse, or to carry on fighting and accept antisemitism as an inevitable consequence. Until this mode of thinking is banished from the left, Jews will have little reason to trust its representatives, even on those occasions when they do condemn antisemitism.

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Rep. Pramila Jayapal did NOT take back her accusation that "Israel is a racist state"

As reported yesterday, US Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, described Israel as a “racist state” while trying to calm down pro-Palestinian protesters at the annual progressive Netroots Nation conference in Chicago on Saturday.

“As somebody who’s been in the streets and participated in a lot of demonstrations, I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state," she said.

This caused a backlash from many other Democratic Congressional leaders, who (without mentioning Jayapal) issued a statement that flatly said, "Israel is not a racist state." 

This prompted Jayapal to issue a clarification that has been reported as an apology or a walk-back of her words.

But it is neither.

Jayapal's statement said, “At a conference, I attempted to defuse a tense situation during a panel where fellow members of Congress were being protested. Words do matter and so it is important that I clarify my statement. I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist. I do, however, believe that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies and that there are extreme racists driving that policy within the leadership of the current government.”

Words do matter, and Pramila Jayapal indeed chose her words carefully. 

There is no contradiction between her Saturday statement that "Israel is a racist state" and her Sunday statement that "I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist."

She is saying that it is theoretically possible that a state called Israel can exist that is not racist - but Israel is racist, today, and she has been fighting to make that clear to the world.

She didn't even say that "the idea of a Jewish state" is not racist, and the libel that a Jewish state is inherently racist (while Christian, Italian, Spanish, Arab and Muslim states are not)  is the basic position of the modern antisemites. 

It is an antisemitic lie to say that Israel, which has numerous laws to ensure the equality of all citizens, is a racist state. It is antisemitic lie to claim that Israel is racist for treating non-citizens differently than citizens, which every other nation on the planet does - and indeed is obligated to do as part of its job to defend and support its own citizens. It is antisemitic to blame Israel alone for the lack of peace when every rejection of every peace plan that would lead to an independent Palestinian state while keeping Israel as a Jewish state was done by the Palestinian side. 

Several pro-Israel Democrats have drafted a letter that says, "We are deeply concerned about Representative Pramila Jayapal’s unacceptable comments about our historic, democratic ally Israel, and we appreciate her retraction....We will never allow anti-Zionist voices that embolden antisemitism to hijack the Democratic Party and country.”

But she didn't retract anything. Jayapal did not say a word that disagrees with her shameful, antisemitic statement to the protesters - protesters who, incidentally, hijacked the entire conference for 16 minutes while the organizers pathetically pleaded with them to allow the proceedings to continue.

Pramila Jayapal had a chance to apologize and retract her disgusting statement. She went out of  her way to do neither. And the mainstream Democrats have not done anyone any favors by pretending that everything is all smoothed out now. On the contrary, they have enabled her to double down on Jayapal's bigotry and hate, as well as that of the "progressives" who support her. 

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Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.  Read all about it here!

 

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10/25 Links Pt2: The New Progressivism Makes No Room for Jews; How did a radical Islamist fool the West?; Adidas drops Kanye West

From Ian:

The New Progressivism Makes No Room for Jews

In 2016, as “intersectionality” escaped from academia to become a progressive buzzword—and came to to signify a doctrine that all just causes are linked and complementary—David L. Bernstein began to suspect that it was apt to be used against the Jews. As he pointed out in an article published that year, activists argued under the banner of intersectionality that anyone opposed to racism in the U.S. should also oppose the existence of Israel. He thought, however, that there was hope:
While I didn’t say so explicitly, I’d come to believe that the mainstream Jewish community needed to find a way to include the Jewish narrative in the intersectional matrix—to complicate it—so that Jews and Israel were not viewed as the perennial oppressors and Palestinians the perennial victims. Concerned about the growing backlash to my article, I used the opportunity [to participate in a panel discussion with some of my critics] to soften my stance on the topic, stating “I still have much to learn,” and that “intersectionality is a complex, interesting, and nuanced phenomenon that we need to understand, not just from the perspective of the pro-Israel community, but from its own perspective as well.”

Bernstein, at the time still president of the left-leaning Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), soon learned that there was little room for such a compromise position:
[In 2020], the JCPA pulled together a Zoom meeting for a coalition called Jews for Criminal Justice Reform, which included top Jewish criminal-justice activists from around the country. After an inspiring talk by Paul Fishman—a former federal attorney from New Jersey—on the need to end mass incarceration, we broke up into smaller groups to discuss next steps. A lawyer named Jared, the group facilitator for my breakout session, asked, “What do you all think our criminal-justice reform priorities ought to be?” Ariella, a young professional staffer from a Jewish civil-rights organization, interjected, “Before we talk about strategy, there’s a lot of internal work we have to do in the Jewish community. We need to recognize our complicity in white supremacy and ensure we have black Jews at the forefront of these efforts.”

More and more, that’s how it is now: a young staff person holding the work process hostage until we recite some prescribed litany of woke pieties. What, pray tell, did Ariella think all this self-reflection would do to help black people get out of being jailed for low-level drug charges? I suspect she didn’t have a clue. And as things turned out, our breakout session never discussed a single criminal-justice reform measure.

In short, Bernstein discovered that there is no room in this brand of progressive ideology to see Jews as anything but oppressors, and for Jews to do anything but proclaim their own imagined sins. This discovery is the subject of his newly published book, Woke Antisemitism.

How did a radical Islamist fool the West? - analysis

Many articles written about Qaradawi after his death emphasized his condemnation of al-Qaeda and ISIS and his moderate rulings permitting certain Western conduct for Muslims living as minorities in Western countries.

These articles portrayed him as many Westerners wanted to see him: a widely accepted authentic Islamic scholar who wanted to dialogue with the West and rejected violence.

However, the intelligence center noted that many of these articles left out that he helped shape “the concept of violent jihad,” especially justifying “carrying out terror attacks, including suicide bombing attacks, against Israeli citizens, the US forces in Iraq, and some of the Arab regimes.”

Qaradawi supported violent jihad and suicide bombing attacks against Israeli civilians. He was a source of supreme religious authority for Hamas at a time when many Islamic scholars still prohibited suicide of any kind.

Qaradawi claimed that violence was a legitimate expression of the so-called “resistance” and that Israel was a militaristic society in which every civilian is a potential soldier, said the report.

His antisemitism was not limited to Israel, with the report saying he frequently expressed antisemitic statements worldwide and even issued a fatwa authorizing attacks on Jews around the world.

In that fatwa, “he claimed that there is no essential difference between Judaism and Zionism, and therefore every Jewish target equals an Israeli target,” according to the report.

‘The Squad’ urges Biden administration to negotiate ceasefire in Ukraine

30 Democratic US Congressmembers – most notably the young progressives who have become colloquially known as “The Squad” – penned a letter to President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday in which they ask the administration to avoid direct military conflict and attempt to bring Russia and Ukraine to a ceasefire.

“Given the catastrophic possibilities of nuclear escalation and miscalculation, which only increase the longer this war continues, we agree with your goal of avoiding direct military conflict as an overriding national-security priority,” the letter read. A call for diplomacy

The congress members noted the difficulties involved in a settlement, particularly with the issue of annexed territories in the east of Ukraine, though they also mentioned Biden’s commitment to end the war. While no concrete plan of action was presented in the letter, the congress members suggested that easing sanctions against Russia would be a natural step to take.

“Such a framework would presumably include incentives to end hostilities, including some form of sanctions relief, and bring together the international community to establish security guarantees for a free and independent Ukraine that are acceptable for all parties, particularly Ukrainians.”

“The alternative to diplomacy is a protracted war, with both its attendant certainties and catastrophic and unknowable risks,” the letter continues.

The signers of the letter also pointed to the food and commodity crises brought upon by the war as reasons to seek an end to the war. “Economists believe that if the situation in Ukraine is stabilized, some of the speculative concerns driving higher fuel costs will subside and likely lead to a drop in world oil prices.”

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North Carolina Democrats resolutions call for destruction of the Jewish state

From the Carolina Journal:

A group of N.C. Jewish clergy leaders are calling out the N.C. Democratic Party for anti-Israel resolutions that were considered at the party convention held June 18 in Durham. Calling the resolutions potentially “dangerous.” the clergy members point to the party’s Platform Committee Special Report, which sets a wide range of positions that the state party takes in the upcoming year, including 2022 elections.

The North Carolina Jewish Clergy Association issued a statement on June 17 that criticized Democrats’ resolutions that said Israel violated the human rights of Palestinians, called for an investigation into the alleged killing of a Palestinian-American journalist by Israeli forces, and establishing May 15 as Nakba Remembrance Day, recognizing the destruction of Palestinian villages.

“Of the seven resolutions devoted to foreign affairs, three are focused on criticism of Israel,” said the NCJCA Steering Committee, including Rabbi Judy Schindler, Rabbi Eric Solomon (co-chairs), Rabbi Mark Cohn, Rabbi Lucy Dinner, Rabbi Andy Koren, Cantor Shira Lessek, and Rabbi Batsheva Meiri. “While some of our clergy are sympathetic to some of the claims embedded in the statements, on the main, these resolutions are not thoughtful nor balanced. In short, they contain one-sided representations of the complexities of the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict.” 

The document is ridiculously anti-Israel, to the point of calling for the destruction of the Jewish state via the fictional "right of return."

It includes:

Forcible Transfer: In which Israel has removed and demolished tens of thousands of Palestinian communities and homes that it refuses to recognize, even though those communities existed there for decades, in order to maximize land available to Jewish communities; by making it exceedingly difficult to remain in certain areas, through blocking building permits and access to utilities such as water, sewage, and electricity, amounting to forcible transfer through a policy of ‘relocation.’

Creation of Separate Reserves and Ghettos: The purposeful end goal of Israeli actions such as expropriation of land and forcible transfer is the fracturing and ghettoization of Palestinian lands. While Palestinians make up about 20% of Israel proper’s population, the vast majority are restricted to only 3% of its land...

Denial of the Right to Leave and Return to Their Country, and the Right to a Nationality: ...In addition to making it difficult for Palestinians to leave Gaza and the West Bank, those wishing to return to their family lands are also faced by near-insurmountable challenges. While Israel gives any Jew, anywhere in the world, the right to immigrate to and become citizens of Israel at any time, even if they settle in occupied East Jerusalem or the West Bank, those Palestinians and their families who were either expelled from Israel in 1948 or fled from fighting in the region after that time are not granted that same right of return. Finally, by both not recognizing Palestine and holding the revocation of residency as a threat above all Palestinians, Israel denies the Palestinians a right to a national identity. By denying this right, Israel subjects all non-Israeli citizen Palestinians to a “state” in which they have no legal protections or rights, even to basic needs like food, water, and shelter, as can be seen in the actions of Israel towards these people; 

The text is riddled with lies, half-truths and purposeful mixing up of different issues to give the worst impression.  Here's a really egregious example accusing Israel of dropping American bombs on civilians just for fun:

WHEREAS, as Israel has shown itself to be either unwilling or unable to address these human rights violations, the United States must ensure that American resources, such as the bombs used without justification on civilian targets this past May...

This is the wholesale hijacking of the NC Democrats by the extreme Left of the party. Many Zionists are concerned about the depth acceptance of the "Squad" mentality in the mainstream of the party, items like this document cement that concern. 

It will be interesting to see the reaction from Zionist Democrats to this extreme anti-Israel document. 

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03/14 Links Pt2: Amnesty International admits – it wants the destruction of Israel; Netanyahu says it’s ‘absurd’ Iran nuclear talks ongoing after Erbil attack

From Ian:

David Collier: Amnesty International admits – it wants the destruction of Israel

Tokenising Jews, silencing their voice
We are left with O’Brien sitting in his ivory tower talking about Jews. He says he knows what Jews think. He disagrees with surveys that suggest he may be wrong. O’Brien clearly thinks he knows Jews better than they know themselves. British Jews know this antisemitic feature of the hard-left all too well. We dealt with it as it ran rampant through the Labour Party. People telling Jews that they knew better than the Jews, what being Jewish was about.

Since when was it in Amnesty’s remit to cast aside surveys of American Jews and suggest that Amnesty know better?

Like many, O’Brien does not understand ‘Jews’ at all. I am sure he has one or two Jewish friends. People, with one foot already outside of the community who have turned their ‘Jewishness’ into something abstract and meaningless. Just as the Corbynites hid behind fringe hate groups like Jewish Voice for Labour, Amnesty have found their ‘acceptable’ Jews now too.

But Jews won’t be told by naive fools such as O’Brien what they do or do not want. We will reject Amnesty’s blatant antisemitism. The Jewish people were stateless for long enough. We know all too well how high the price can be for political impotence. And as we look at Ukraine – it is worth reminding ourselves of the reality of the world that we live in. The world needs a Jewish state that is independent and capable of defending itself. We need Israel. This is not up for debate.

Seeking the destruction of Israel
So now we know for sure. Amnesty International is seeking the destruction of Israel. O’Brien has his vision. He calls it a ‘Jewish safe space’. He says Israel should not exist as ‘a Jewish state’. We recognise this terminology. It is the same language that BDS uses. With Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran all making genocidal threats, O’Brien is trying to convince Jews they live in ‘Switzerland’.

He has the same problem many on the left do. He sees Jews as white and privileged and he sees Palestinians as ‘brown’ and gives them no agency. Rather than viewing the Islamist need for imperial domination as the problem, he sees the tiny Jewish safe haven as being the cause of the conflict. There is no point looking for logic, truth or consistency in this. It is the same incoherent modern leftist swamp in which antisemitism thrives.

The bottom line is this. Amnesty seeks the destruction of Israel. They want a world without an independent state for the Jewish people. They have clearly placed this at the top of their ideological wish list. There is no argument anymore. Amnesty International are as antisemitic as they come.

JPost Editorial: Amnesty International's report on Israel is full of distortions and lies

In the US, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) called the report “a gross mischaracterization of Israel, its history and its values.” State Department spokesperson Ned Price warned against applying double standards to Israel.

Most Jewish organizations also rejected the report. But O’Brien, who is not Jewish, obviously trusts his gut instinct more. He also seems to be hoping that by “changing the conversation” and repeating the apartheid lie enough times, he can create new facts.

The event is the first in a series hosted by the WNDC that will explore “Palestine past, present and future.” Israel’s own ancient past, its successful present and its future as the Jewish state is of less importance to the group.

In a separate story published over the weekend, JTA revealed that the environmental Sierra Club NGO has canceled its scheduled trips to Israel in response to pressure from progressive and anti-Zionist groups after activists alleged the organization was “greenwashing the conflict” and “providing legitimacy to the Israeli state, which is engaged in apartheid against the Palestinian people,” according to an email seen by the news agency.

This is another example of what happens when the apartheid libel is deliberately spread.

Such efforts don’t only harm Israel’s image, they cause once respected organizations to lose their credibility and standing. Above all, they do absolutely nothing to promote peace or help the Palestinians.

By criminalizing Israel and ignoring Palestinian anti-normalization and terrorism, these organizations and the progressive activists are encouraging more rejectionism and more terror.

The Palestinian Authority will see no reason to make even basic moves to peace as long as it believes it can erase Israel with progressive, Western support. The lies themselves fuel further attacks, both on Israelis and on Jews and Jewish targets around the world. The apartheid libel is not only a lie, it is a dangerous one.

Because it’s not like there’s an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Ukraine or anything, so @hrw is back to their favorite topic - Jew bashing. Of course taking everything out of context, to engage in some not-so-mild misinformation and bigotry. https://t.co/5iPbRpQYPN

— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) March 14, 2022

Netanyahu: New Nuclear Agreement Will Give the Ayatollahs a Nuclear Arsenal

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu launched a scathing attack on world powers who are continuing to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran — even after the Islamic Republic fired missiles toward the US consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan.

In video messages posted to social media in both Hebrew and English on Sunday evening — addressed to Israeli and American citizens, respectively — the former prime minister said it was “absurd” for world powers to continue to negotiate in Vienna with Tehran.

“The desperate rush to sign this flawed nuclear agreement with Iran is not only absurd, it’s downright dangerous,” Netanyahu stated in his English video, posted with the caption: “Every American family should watch this video.”

“Yesterday, Iran fired missiles in the vicinity of the American consulate in Iraq, and the US continues to charge ahead, along with the other powers, to sign a nuclear agreement that will give the ayatollahs a nuclear arsenal,” Netanyahu charged.

“It would also relieve sanctions and give them hundreds of billions of dollars in order to continue the terror that they waged yesterday and wage every day throughout the Middle East and the world,” he said. “This agreement is even worse than its predecessor, because in three years’ time, under this agreement, Iran will be a threshold nuclear state. It will have enough enriched uranium to create dozens and dozens of nuclear bombs and it will have the ICBMs [intercontinental ballistic missiles] to deliver them to any place in the United States.”

The final details of the burgeoning nuclear deal between Iran and world powers have yet to be revealed, and diplomats involved have said that some remaining elements are still being negotiated. It was not immediately clear which documents or intelligence Netanyahu was basing his claims on.

Every American family should watch this video. pic.twitter.com/BVo5ZFJwKk

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) March 13, 2022

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How nutty has the far Left become? They now consider Keith Ellison to be too far to the Right!

From Middle East Eye:

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is facing mounting criticism from pro-Palestine activists over his decision to attend an event on Tuesday honouring the legacy of late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The memorial made headlines last month when activists successfully pressured Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known as AOC, into withdrawing from the event.

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), a leading Palestinian advocacy organisation, said in a statement earlier this week that they met with Ellison, who was elected as the first Muslim in Congress in 2007, to discuss their concerns over the event.

"Despite a lengthy discussion in which AMP presented the facts, Attorney General Keith Ellison is moving forward with participating in the memorial event," AMP said.

Mondoweiss (above) also complained about Ellison, noting what a pro-Israel shill he supposedly is: "

While he was running to chair the Democratic National Committee in 2016, Ellison publicly condemned the BDS movement. “I have long supported a two-state solution and a democratic and secure state for the Jewish people, with a democratic and viable Palestinian state side-by-side in peace and dignity,” Ellison said in a statement at the time. “I don’t believe boycotting, divesting and sanctioning Israel helps us achieve that goal.”

Ellison had been involved with Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, he supported the one-sided Goldstone Report and he voted against giving Israel funding for defending itself from Hamas rockets, and in 2010 he said that American foreign policy is “governed” by Israeli interests. He's not exactly a pro-Israel politician. 

But compared to the "Squad," he's positively a moderate. 

At the APN event honoring Rabin, Ellison was reported to have called him a human rights abuser before he turned to peace.

On APN Rabin call, Keith Ellison says Rabin was involved in human rights abuses ("breaking the bones") but says "it's brave to fight and risk your life in defense of your country...but if you want to demonstrate true bravery you have to go to your people [and make peace]" pic.twitter.com/itufXF3j4G

— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) October 21, 2020

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