Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: normalization

Showing posts with label normalization. Show all posts

Thursday, November 10, 2022

National Library of Tunisia stands up to antisemitic bigots

This week, The National Library of Tunisia sponsored an international symposium called "The Forgotten Languages of Tunisia," about works written by Tunisians in languages that are not widely studied in Tunisia nowadays, including Turkish, Berber, Hebrew and a flavor of Judeo-Arabic that is still spoken in Djerba.

Because of the latter two languages, the symposium was interrupted by antisemites, upset that Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic would be discussed in a scholarly environment. The protesters claimed that this was a form of "normalization" with Israel.

For two hours, the protesters stopped the symposium, chanting, "No to Zionism", "No to Judaism", "No normalization with Israel", "Brainless Jews", "No to Holocaust Museum" , "The Tunisian people are a free people who will not fold to the pernicious Zionist project."

Newspaper Al Chourouk complained that one of the speakers, Jonas Sinony, is a Jew with a Polish (Jewish) mother. (He is a scholar of semitic languages.)

The good news is that the story doesn't end the way that most of these do.

Unlike most cases of attempted cancellation in Arab countries, the library stuck to its guns.

The director of the National Library stayed calm in the face of the screaming protesters, repeating that they will not yield to intimidation.

On their Facebook page, they wrote,

The seminar "Forgotten Languages" was a success, and everyone resisted in the face of the forces of bigotry and extortion.

The presentations were valuable and posted on this page, the fair was a success, and the accusations of "normalization" are oppressive and unjust.

Many thanks to the attendees who sympathized with the National Library and remained in the hall waiting for the scholarly sessions despite the desire of a group of people to cancel them.

Many thanks to the helpers of the National Library who fought to defend and preserve the institution.
And many thanks to the members of the library core union for standing up to the aggressors.

Thanks also to the security forces who negotiated with the aggressors and forced them out peacefully.

66 years after independence, and 11 years after the revolution of dignity, we will not accept the confiscation of freedom of speech and academic freedoms, and we will not accept any arbitrary decision from those who forget that we have become free.

The newspaper "Kapitalis" was also angry at the protesters, writing, "This is our heritage and history, and we are the most worthy to study it. By knowledge we are liberated, not by cancellation, erasure and denial."

"These groups (that protested), who pretend to be defending Palestine, will drag the country into more ignorance and misery," the newspaper quoted observers. "These armies of ignorance, fools, ignorant people and promoters of violence are issuing fatwas against Professor Raja Ben Salama, director of the National Library. They will not rest until they get rid of all the enlightened people and assassinate knowledge..."

I do not recall reading such a direct attack at antisemites in any Arabic media. Normally the most extreme voices win by default, because moderates in Arab countries are not willing to risk being publicly slandered as "Zionists" or "Jews."

This is a very encouraging story, and it will take many more similar stories to root out the antisemitism endemic in the Arab world.

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!

Lebanese, Iraqis, Tunisians very upset when their leaders are reported in the same room as Israelis

The COP27 conference in Egypt has the usual comedy that we see at all major international conferences.

Israeli delegates say that they met, or talked with, or were in the same room as Arab enemies, and the Arab delegates are forced to deny or downplay it, as best they can.

In this case, as AP reports:

Israel's environmental protection minister attended a regional meeting Tuesday alongside Iraqi and Lebanese leaders at the global climate conference taking place in Egypt, the minister's office said, where the group pledged to work together to tackle climate change.

According to a statement from the office of Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg, the meeting took place as part of a regional forum of eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries.

The agreement by the member countries said the parties would work to “strengthen regional cooperation" and “act in a coordinated way” on climate change.

“The countries of the region share the warming and drying climate and just as they share the problems they can and must share the solutions. No country can stand alone in the face of the climate crisis,” Zandberg said in the statement.

In photos provided by her office, she is seen seated behind a small Israeli flag. Two seats away from her is Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and across the room is Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, each behind their countries' flags.

The Lebanese caretaker prime minister was upset:

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday denied “any communication with any Israeli official,” after the website of Israeli newspaper Haaretz published a photo showing him and Israel's environmental protection minister along with several world leaders and officials at the U.N.’s COP27 climate summit in Egypt.

“The objectives of the noise that the Israeli media fabricates at such conferences have become known,” Mikati’s office said.

There was also angst at this photo of Zandberg shaking the hand of Palestinian prime minister Mohamed Shtayyeh:

This screenshot from a video of President Isaac Herzog seen joking with Tunisia’s Prime Minister Najla Bouden, both smiling, has also caused upset in the Arab world.

It is a little childish on both sides - Zandberg's announcing that Israel and Lebanon and Iraq are cooperating when there were lots of other nations represented in the room, as well as Israel's Arab enemies getting bent out of shape over any reports of treating Israeli representatives as human beings.

What Israeli officials should do is attempt to shake hands with their enemies with a big smile. If the Arabs reciprocate, wonderful; if they refuse the handshake the Israelis can shake their heads, still smiling, and call out "Have a nice day!" or "No, my hands are really clean, see?" or some other joke, for the cameras.

Even better, calling out to the Arab leader loudly and laughingly, "How wonderful it is to see you! We'll catch up later, OK?" or "Send my best regards to your wife!" or "Meet you at the bar tonight!"

It would instantly turn the supposed Arab honor at refusing to treat Israelis as humans into a bigger embarrassment. And the fear of shame is the major motivating factor in the Arab world.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

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A story of Palestinians fuming over a Star of David

Earlier this month, a Filipino Christian group rented out a hotel meeting space in Bethlehem and decorated it with cardboard cutouts that included a Star of David and a Temple menorah:

They were almost certainly visiting to join thousands of other Christians for the annual "Feast of Tabernacles" parade and celebration in Jerusalem held during Sukkot every year.

The Filipino delegation probably had no idea that the Palestinians were antisemitic when they put up these decorations. After all, how much media coverage is there of systemic Palestinian hate of Jews? They are only anti-Zionist, right?

Here's what happened.

Shehab News Agency tweeted a video of the hall.

Rumors started flying that the hotel was hosting Israelis for a normalization conference.

Elias al-Arja, the owner of Bethlehem Hotel, told a Palestinian radio station, “I was surprised to see that they installed the Star of David. I removed it and told them that they are not permitted to hold the conference in my hotel. I don’t want any problems....We don’t allow Jews to come here."

A group of angry armed Palestinians threatened the hotel and reportedly shut it down.

Gunmen shot bullets towards the hotel; luckily no one was injured.

The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Tourism announced on Facebook that it closed the meeting hall and launched an investigation into how this terrible thing might have happened.

Needless to say, this is not "anti-Zionism." This is pure hatred of Jews and anything peripherally associated with Jews.

No matter how much the Palestinians insist that they have nothing against Judaism, only Zionism, this incident - the anger shown, the hate that surrounded all aspects of the incident - proves what everyone knows but few are willing to say out loud:

Palestinians don't hate Jews because of Israel, they hate Israel because of Jews.

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!

How pathetic are Israel's Arab neighbors? A tiny but telling example.

Egypt's El Balad and Jordan's Ammon News describe an Israeli TV report that some 12,000 Israelis visited Jordan during the Jewish holidays over the past month, as many Israelis felt that it was less expensive than going overseas. Most of these visitors went to Aqaba as a cheaper alternative to Eilat.

That's a fairly significant number of visitors, and Jordan's tourism sector no doubt benefited a great deal.

But when the TV station wanted to interview a representative of Jordan's Ministry of Tourism, a fairly innocuous request to get some generic quotes, the Jordanian government didn't grant the request.

How childish can they be? They are afraid of being seen, or quoted, on TV along with Israelis in any context. They'll take money from Israeli "settlers" (as the articles described all the tourists) but they won't deign to speak to Israeli TV.

Do they think they are going to destroy Israel through microaggressions? Because that sometimes seems to be the prevailing mentality.

The microaggressions don't end there.

Both articles headline the fact that Jordan refused to speak to the Israeli news crew, even as they eagerly covered what the news channel had to say about Jordan. They seem to want to give the impression to their readers that they are so strong and mighty that they can refuse a request from the all-powerful Jews.

It's sort of pathetic.

The news producers didn't lose a minute of sleep over the snub. The story ran without any problems. The mighty Jordanian decision to boycott Israeli TV was taken as par for the course by the Israelis.

Also, neither one of the news outlets deign to mention which Israeli TV station it was that tried to get the interview. As if mentioning a specific channel is a sign of weakness.

And that is the point. Their attempts to appear consequential by refusing to answer a couple of softball questions makes them look even weaker.

They are utterly clueless.

This immaturity is accepted as part of Arab culture by the world. But nothing will change until people ask - what is wrong with these guys?

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!

Jewish wedding in Dubai causes Yemen media to cry over "shame of normalization"

This week was the wedding of the Chabad rabbi of the UAE Levi Duchman to Leah Hadad. Khaleej Times reports:

It was pure joy and excitement in the UAE capital as guests from all around the world attended the first ever wedding of a rabbi in the country.

The rabbi to the UAE, Rabbi Levi Duchman, married Lea Hadad of Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday, September 14, at a magnificent ceremony held at the Hilton Yas Hotel.

1,500 guests from around the world attended the wedding – the largest Jewish event in the Arabian Gulf in recent history – including prominent rabbis and dignitaries. More than 20 ambassadors, including those from Japan, South Korea and Finland, were also in attendance.

Yemen news site 26 September was not happy:

It is a dance of shame about normalization at a huge wedding ceremony for the chief rabbinic in Abu Dhabi, in a new dedication to the shame of publicizing normalization between the Emirates and the Zionist entity

...Leaked wedding videos showed very intimate relations between the Jewish attendees and Emirati officials.
The event, which coincides with the second anniversary of the Abraham Accords, highlighted the growing openness of Jewish life in the Emirates.

Until 2020, the country's Jewish community preserved the privacy of its traditions and services. But recently, the UAE government has welcomed more public festivities and celebrations.

That's the shame that the wedding viscerally brings up to Yemen. Not the normalization, but Jews publicly celebrating in an Arab country with Muslims.

The caption on this video is "Normalization Dance."

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

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Terror group publishes great list of BDS Fails last month

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) is one of those communist terror groups, like the PFLP, that tries to destroy Israel both with bombs and with BDS. And left-wing "human rights" groups love to conveniently overlook the bombing part.

Anyway, the DFLP published a list of announcements about BDS for August, whether praising pro-BDS actions or condemning "normalization" with Israel. It turns out the list of things it condemns is a great list of BDS failures.

Here is their inadvertant list of good news for Israel in August:

The American Sierra Club returns to sponsoring annual trips to Israel, which includes hiking in a variety of nature and wildlife reserves, as well as walking tours in places such as the Old City of Jerusalem, Caesarea and Jaffa.

An Israeli delegation of investors, technicians and commercial officials visited Indonesia, with the aim of identifying opportunities for investments, projects, start-ups and social impact initiatives, to complement the Israeli initiatives to normalize with a number of Islamic countries.

Israel's El Al Airlines started flying into Saudi airspace.

French channel BFMTV edited out an excerpt from the interview with a French journalist denouncing Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid announced the resumption of diplomatic relations with Turkey.

Bahraini hotels began to offer Israeli channels.

The UAE is financing the construction of an Israeli sports stadium.

Morocco signed an agreement to build the Israeli embassy in Rabat.

Israel announced the establishment of a joint industrial zone between Israel and Jordan.

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!

Palestinians upset that they are called out when they act like Nazis

Salfit Governor Abdullah Kamil

Palestinian Media Watch recently reported:

Remember the signs in Nazi Germany saying “Jews not allowed” at the entrance to some shops?

Now Salfit District Governor Abdallah Kamil has “issued a series of important decisions” of which one brings the term “Jews not allowed” to mind. It specifically “forbids” Palestinian businesses to “receive any settler” – i.e., Israelis/Jews. Whoever violates this rule risks closure of his business by the PA Security Forces:

It is completely forbidden to have commercial relations with the settlers, according to Law No. 4 of 2010. It is forbidden to receive any settler in our places of business. We have conveyed clear instructions to the relevant [PA] Security Forces to close any store that violates this decision and to put its owners on trial.

All signs written in the Hebrew language placed in the various places of business and workshops must be removed within a week at the latest. The required legal procedures will be taken against those who do not fulfill this.

We emphasize once more that one must not carry out any action of selling lands, and specifically in Area C , without first receiving security permission from the district.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 28, 2022]

These decisions in force in the Salfit district in the northwestern West Bank have been made to hinder any kind of peace building between Palestinians and Israelis/Jews as their goal is “to fight the settlement enterprise and the relations with the settlers in the district.” District Governor Kamil added that the Palestinian people “will not agree to any manner of coexistence or normalization with the settlers.” The PA routinely refers to all of Israel as "occupied Palestine" and all Israelis as "settlers."

These restrictions were widely reported in Palestinian media.

Columnist Mowaffaq Matar at Raya is very upset at Palestinian Media Watch's analogy between how Nazis boycotted Jews and how the Salfit governorate is boycotting Jews. (He would have no problem with Israeli Arabs doing business in Salfit.)

Unfortunately, not only is the analogy apt, but his defense of the policies sound a bit Nazi-like as well.

It is our right to use all means to protect our existence, our economy, and the life of the Palestinian citizen. ...As for the settler, we do not look at his faith, but rather as an element in an army of invasion, colonialism and occupation, and the owners of this organization know very well that we are not hostile to the Jews because they are Jews, but rather we struggle to recover our public and private land that was usurped by the government of their system and their parties, and expelled its owners and provided it to the settlers to establish bases on it, but In a seemingly civil form, but in fact, they are bases for terrorism, murder, and the seizure of the rights and livelihoods of others. Their crimes are unprecedented except in the Middle Ages, and they have no place in the list of morals and laws of the civilized peoples of the twenty-first century. Settlements have become bases for aggression against the original owners of the land are the citizens of Palestine whom Pal Media Watch should know that state terrorism has not broken the Palestinian people who are determined to resist occupation and settlement with tools, the most important of which are victory for themselves, their identity, culture and economy, and loyalty to the martyrs and prisoners.

In other words, the Palestinian Fatherland is under attack by immoral, depraved, thieving and murderous Jews whose only interest is to destroy the beautiful Palestinian culture, which includes celebrating those who kill Jews.

Why would anyone think that this sounds like Nazis?

"Forbidden for Jews" sign in Nazi-occupied Netherlands

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

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The Abraham Accords are helping Palestinian businesses

It has been two years since the Abraham Accords were signed. Trade between Israel and the UAE is booming - over $1.4 billion so far this year, more than all of 2021.

However, it isn't only Israel and the UAE that are benefitting. Palestinian businesses are gaining as well.

DANA describes itself as "an Abu Dhabi based venture builder and investment platform that supports women-led startups in desert tech, including sectors of agritech, water solutions, food security, waste management, and renewable energy through regional collaboration, innovation mentorship, impact community, and funding."

They currently support "six startups from different countries including the UAE, Israel, Palestine, and KSA, all of which are led by at least one female founder, focusing on sustainability in the desert climate, that address pertinent pain points in the region’s most significant industries. "

The three women who founded DANA include a Jewish American, an Arab Israeli and a Jewish Israeli.

Majd Mashharawi, founder of Gaza's SunBox

Currently, companies that are being nurtured by DANA include BioCloud, an Israeli company that makes herbal pesticides; Sunbox, a Gaza-based solar power startup which is now reliably powering water treatment facilities; Eco-Bricks, which converts polluting stone slurry water from quarrying into quality bricks for construction; and The Food Engineer, a UAE-based vertical farming firm that created a misting technique that uses 95% less water than standard farms.

While the media has taken note of the skyrocketing increase in trade between Israel and the UAE in the wake of the Abraham Accords, one sees very few articles on how the normalization is helping Palestinian firms. They are getting know-how and funding as well as access to world-class expertise that simply would not have been possible before the Accords.

Moreover, DANA fosters women-owned businesses in the notoriously patriarchal Palestinian society.

Israel haters deride the idea of "economic peace" as a basis for a stable Middle East, but this is how real peace can take root and grow. The UAE is an ideal bridge that allows Palestinian businesses to work with Israelis while bypassing the stigma of direct "normalization."

The peace between Israel and the UAE is also creating unforeseen benefits for Palestinians, especially Palestinian women, and this is something to be applauded.

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!

Palestinians overwhelmingly want the option to use Ramon airport; their leaders want them miserable

Today, the PFLP announced it joins the Palestinian Authority in opposition to the Israeli plan to allow Palestinians to travel internationally through the Ramon Airport.

One of its reasons it gave:

The passage of Palestinian citizens through this airport is aimed at striking the communicative and emotional depth with our brotherly people in Jordan, and its goal is also to provide support for the Zionist economy, and to confirm the apartheid policy practiced by the enemy against our people.

You see? Giving Palestinians more options in how to travel, and allowing them to travel from an Israeli airport sitting next to Israeli passengers, is apartheid!

Palestinians on social media have been showing intense interest in using Ramon Airport. They are not at all convinced by the arguments against it given by the Palestinian Authority and other leaders.

One online poll shows 66% were looking forward to traveling via Ramon, while only 29% said that they were against it because of "normalization."

Ramallah Live compared the cost for West Bankers to travel through Jordan with Ramon, and found that the Jordanian fees were triple the cost of Ramon - 180 shekels to 60. This did not include the fees on returning, paying VIP fees the Allenby Bridge to reduce the number of hours of waiting.

On August 16, the Palestinian minister of transportation said, "We will consider imposing procedures and sanctions against travelers through Ramon Airport, and we urge all Palestinians not to use this airport because it does not represent a Palestinian sovereignty."

The Palestinian response on Facebook has been withering, with many pointing out that he personally has a VIP pass to travel through Ben Gurion Airport - why is that not violate Palestinian sovereignty?

There are nearly 10,000 comments like these:

Yes, I swear to God, we hate you
We wish to hear a statement that will benefit the people!!!
With the honor of your sister, shut up and beat yourself up
Spit on you and your authority
You are all illegitimate and your origin is not known, bastards
I swear to God that penalties and procedures must be against the officials who left the people to humiliate on the crossings. I am with the citizen who travels from anywhere to preserve his dignity.

Others point out the awful conditions and humiliation at the Jordanian crossings, asking how travel through Jordan helps "Palestinian sovereignty."

And there is another group of Palestinians who demand to be able to use Ramon Airport: Gazans!

The current plan is to only open it for West Bank Palestinians, but it is closer to Gaza and Gazans would jump at the chance to use that airport rather than try to make it to Cairo, which is very difficult. Some are demanding the right to use Ramon, and given that Israel already vets many of them to work in Israel, this would seem to be a possibility. Commenters there point out the humiliation they go through to even have a chance to travel to Egypt, the ability to fly out of Ramon would be a dream for Gazans. If for no other reason than PR, Israel should consider allowing those who pass security checks to use that airport as well.

Ramon Airport continues to expose the pure hypocrisy of Palestinian and Arab leaders who, for decades, have made decisions for Palestinians and pretend that these decisions are for their own good. In the end, they are only for the good of the self-appointed leaders, and Palestinians suffer.

Israel is treating Palestinians with more respect than their own leaders do, and despite all the anti-Israel propaganda, the people know this very well.

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!

Spanish Christian tourist on Temple Mount freaks out Palestinians as a "naked Jewish settler"

A Spanish Christian tourist's Instagram photo is causing an uproar among some Palestinian factions.

Ana Ramos Gutiérrez visited the Temple Mount earlier this month, and posted this photo:

It was noticed today, and Palestinian media are freaking out about this "naked" picture.

But that isn't enough to whip up the anger that political and terror groups need in order to survive. So the media, Hamas and Palestinian officials have been falling over each other to issue condemnations that are more and more insane - and of course, they claim that Gutiérrez is a "Zionist settler."

There is a hashtag on the topic: "#Jewish_prostitute_desecrates_Al-Aqsa," with dozens of angry people upset at her and one other photo of a woman showing her knees.

Incidentally, on her Instagram, you can see that she - along with her family - visited the Kotel and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as well, along with the Dead Sea.

Hamas newspaper Felesteen writes, "An Israeli settler provoked the feelings of the Almoravids in Al-Aqsa Mosque, after she took pictures semi-naked on the stairs leading to the Dome of the Rock."

A Hamas spokesman said the photo "constitutes an unprecedented provocation to the feelings of our Palestinian people and the entire Arab and Islamic nation."

Palestinian Ahrar Movement spokesman Yasser Khalaf said, "This step is the result of the continued encouragement of the Zionist governments that oversee and strive to impose their Judaization and settlement plans for the Holy City and Al-Aqsa Mosque. This intrusion is a major and dangerous provocation to the feelings of our people, Muslims and all Arabs, and disregard for the entire nation , and it is the result of the continuation of Arab-Zionist normalization that encourages the Zionists to persist in their aggression and crimes against our people ...These scenes are a dangerous transgression of all red lines."

The preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Ikrima Sabri, said that this was a desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the violation of its sanctity by storming it in indecent dress in defiance of the feelings of Muslims.

I have yet to see a Palestinian say that Muslims playing soccer, volleyball or parkour in front of the Dome of the Rock is considered "desecration."

(h/t YMedad, Yoel)

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

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Lebanese and other Arab media this week are celebrating the decision by a junior chess player to refuse to compete against an Israeli in a tournament in Abu Dhabi.

The Lebanese chess champion, Nadia Fawaz, withdrew from the 4th round of the 28th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival to avoid facing the Israeli player, Elia Grozman.

Her refusal to play against Grozman came as a statement of refusal to recognize the Israeli state, a stance always taken by Lebanese players and athletes in international competitions.

Some articles list other recent examples of Arab refusal to compete against Israelis in recent international tournaments:

Charbel Abou Daher recently withdrew from the 2022 Youth MMA World Championships in Abu Dhabi, even though some believed he could have won, to avoid playing an Israeli opponent. The Lebanese MMA Federation shared on Instagram an explanation that his decision was made for “patriotic reasons.

Aquilina Al Chayeb is a judo athlete who, during the Athens Junior European Cup 2022, allegedly lost on purpose to avoid facing an Israeli in the next round. The Lebanese Judo Federation allegedly asked their player to lose her current tie to avoid competing with an Israeli in the next round, as to do so would have been considered recognition of Israel. Al Chayeb did not have the option to simply withdraw lest the International Judo Federation (IJF) penalize her and thwart her career, so she went on to deliberately lose.

And:

Earlier this month, Iraqi tennis stars Nasr Mahdi and Mohammad al-Mahdi withdrew from the 2022 Bucharest Wheelchair Open in Romania to avoid playing against their Israeli rivals.

Majid al-Ugaili, president of the Iraqi Tennis Federation, announced in a statement on Aug. 11 that the draw put them on a mathematical path to pairing them with a pair of Israelis. The Iraqi seed team then decided to withdraw from the competition.

As early as July 31, the Palestinian Information Center reported that Jordanian taekwondo player Maysir al-Dahamsheh avoided a confrontation with his Israeli opponent at the 2022 World Taekwondo Cadet and Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Plus:

A Jordanian national table tennis player did the same last summer at the World Para Table Tennis Championships in Slovenia by withdrawing from the competition to avoid playing against an Israeli opponent.

[In July], Algerian footballer Ahmed Touba refused to accompany his team, İstanbul Basaksehir to a match against Israel's Maccabi Netanya in the second leg of the preliminary round of the Europa Conference League matches. Touba also refused to participate in the first leg of the match in Istanbul on July 21.

A Sudanese judoka Mohamed Abdalrasool pulled out of his match against Tohar Butbul in the 73-kilogram men's division in the Tokyo Olympics last year.

Isn't it time that sports federations get their acts together and ban any country from competition that acts like this? As it is, the athletes are celebrated in their home countries for their "bravery" and they gain more than they lose. It is up to sports federations to ensure that the pain for boycotting matches against Israel (or any country) is greater than the accolades.

And Israel can do its own part. Since much of the Arab psyche is driven by "honor," Israel should put out the message that the Arabs who withdraw from competition are really frightened of losing to an Israeli. Over time, this can turn the refusal from looking honorable to looking cowardly - and athletes would not want to be viewed that way.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

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Human Rights Watch doesn't give a damn about human rights, example #2843

Ken Roth, the outgoing head of Human Rights Watch, revealed how little he actually cares about human rights yet again, in just one tweet:

The Israeli government should not be conditioning Palestinians' basic rights (to be able to travel from a nearby airport) on "the Palestinians withdraw[ing] their charge of war crimes at the International Criminal Court." Justice isn't a bargaining chip.https://t.co/RQF6jcx6C9
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) August 23, 2022

First of all, is there a basic human right "to be able to travel from a nearby airport"? Is HRW lobbying for airports to be built in remote areas of the world because of this "basic right"?

Why is it a violation of basic rights for Palestinians to travel through national borders with Egypt or Jordan to get to an airport - and they can only achieve this right by crossing a different national border with Israel to travel to the Negev?

Secondly, did Israel really condition travel through Ramon on the ICC?

The Guardian article that he is referring to says:

A controversial plan to allow Palestinians to fly to Turkey from southern Israel’s Ramon airport has been shelved on the eve of the first scheduled departure.

Israel’s airport authority announced earlier this month that Ramon in the Negev desert, near the Red Sea city of Eilat, would begin allowing Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to travel on Turkish-operated flights to Antalya and Istanbul from 22 August.

The proposal is believed to be part of a package of goodwill measures from Israel to the Palestinians unveiled to the US president, Joe Biden, during his visit to the region last month, reportedly offered on the condition that the Palestinians withdraw their charge of war crimes at the international criminal court.

This article was written before Israel did a pilot flight yesterday to Larnaca, Cyprus, with Palestinians aboard - but Roth wrote his tweet afterwards. From all reports, Israel has every intention to continue with this plan and offer Palestinians who are not a security risk the ability to fly out of Israel.

In other words, it is clear today that Israel is not conditioning the use of the airport on Palestinians withdrawing their charges at the ICC and that the rumor floated by the Guardian is incorrect - but Ken Roth reported it as fact.

However, there was another part of the Guardian report about someone limiting the rights of Palestinians to travel: the Palestinian Authority itself!

Remarks attributed to a Palestinian ministry of transport source published in Palestinian outlets last week suggested the PA would fine or otherwise punish people who sought to use Ramon.

“The PA has no right to do or say anything about Ramon airport. They have permits and VIP cards so they and their families can travel through Ben Gurion, while we have to go to Jordan and spend one day there before the flight, and spend money,” a Palestinian critic of the PA said in a popular TikTok post.

“So do not sell us patriotism, and don’t say it is without coordinating with the PA. All the PA officials care about is their personal interests.”

Haaretz adds, "The Palestinian Authority also condemned the flight, and announced that it would impose sanctions on the passengers. "

If Ken Roth cares about the right to travel, why doesn't he mention that the only ones trying to ban that for Palestinians are their own leaders?

Beyond that, it is clear that for Roth, the right to travel is not as important as his bashing Israel.

Here we have a plan, and a successful pilot, to allow Palestinians to travel through Israel to the rest of the world on their own passports. This plan saves them time and money. They are treated respectfully and equally with the Jewish passengers on the same flights. If this was really a human rights issue, Ken Roth should be celebrating. Instead, he parrots an obviously false rumor against Israel.

That is proof positive that, to Human Rights Watch, spouting malicious lies about Israel is more important than what they call "basic rights."

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

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First Palestinians fly from Israel's Ramon Airport - and who they are may surprise you

Times of Israel reports:

A group of Palestinians took off to Cyprus on Monday, for the first time using Ramon Airport outside the southern city of Eilat as part of a pilot program allowing the facility to be used by residents of the West Bank for certain flights, part of a series of gestures from Israel aimed at easing the lives of Palestinians.

Until today, Palestinians wishing to fly abroad needed to travel to Jordan and board a flight from there, or secure a hard-to-come-by entry permit into Israel to fly from Ben Gurion Airport.

Arkia Airlines is operating the inaugural service, which is flying 40 residents of Bethlehem and Hebron from Ramon Airport at 11:30 a.m. to Larnaca. A return flight is scheduled for Friday. The route will also serve Israelis, who will be seated alongside the Palestinian passengers.

So much for "apartheid."

Who are the Palestinians traveling to Cyprus?

According to Ultrapal, they are doctors and pharmacists who work for a Ramallah-based pharmaceutical company who is paying for the trip. Their families are coming as well.

The employees were given a choice of whether they prefer to fly out via Amman or Ramon Airport. About 40 are leaving through Israel.

I wish my employer would pay for a free vacation for my family!

I can't determine which company is behind this. The Palestinian pharmaceutical sector is pretty successful; the largest company Jerusalem Pharmaceuticals has manufacturing facilities in Jordan and Algeria as well. There are several other major pharmaceutical companies in Ramallah.

Israel Hayom reports that when this initiative was first announced, many Palestinians expressed interest in taking the hours-long trip to Eilat to fly from Ramon, because travel to and from Jordan has been a nightmare.The Palestinian Authority has been discouraging Palestinians from using Ramon Airport, because anything that makes Israel look like anything other than a monstrous regime is anathema to them, and they would prefer their own people suffer than to allow them to benefit from anything Israel does to make Palestinian lives easier.

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Data point: Palestinian media calls terror victims "settlers," Arab media calls them "Jews" (or "Israelis")

Palestinian media, whether Hamas or not, consistently refers to the victims of the terror attack in Jerusalem this past weekend as "settlers."

The rest of the Arab world, however, has been referring to them as Jews or Israelis.

This may seem like a minor matter, but up until recently the nomenclature would be consistent - the Arab world would follow how Palestinians spun stories.

Palestinian media calling the victims "settlers" makes it appear as if they deserved to be attacked. Calling them "Jews" or "Israelis" makes the attacker the guilty party, except for inveterate antisemites reading the article.

Baby steps....

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Jordanian Islamist party warns against Jordanians working in Eilat

The Islamic Action Front, the Jordanian political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, has warned of the "danger" of allowing hundreds of Jordanian youth to work in Eilat.

They said that this normalization somehow poses a threat to Jordanian national security.

The issued a statement that "rejects the attempts of the Zionist entity to infiltrate Jordanian society and pass the normalization approach by exploiting the youth's need for work and money."

As far as I can tell, the IAF is worried that Jordanians working in Israel will see Jews as something other than monsters. They warn about "the security risks of Jordanian youth working with the occupation and trying to influence them to serve its goals."

The poor, misguided youth of Jordan apparently can be easily influenced to become more Zionist by merely working for and getting paid by Jews under good working conditions and higher salaries than they can get in Jordan.

The statement ended affirming that "the Zionist entity will remain the nation's number one enemy."

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Palestinians have a thriving export industry that has netted them billions of dollars. Understand this and you understand everything.

Israel has proposed a plan for West Bank Palestinian Arabs to be able to travel overseas via the Ramon Airport in Eilat, planning test flights to Turkey from which they can go anywhere else in the world.

Up until now, if they want to fly anywhere they need to travel through the Allenby Bridge crossing to Jordan and from there go to Amman.

This plan would save them a great deal of time and headaches, especially with the huge delays at the Jordanian crossing point.

So, naturally, they are opposing it.

Musa Rahhal, spokesperson for the Palestinian ministry of transportation, is saying "it comes within the framework of the policy of apartheid, pressure on our people, and the Israeli economic benefit."

He then went into fantasyland and conspiracy theories:

The spokesman claimed that Israel was trying to force all Arabs – Palestinian citizens and Arab-Israelis alike – to travel through Ramon Airport. All citizens of Israel – Jews and non-Jews alike – are permitted to travel through Ben-Gurion Airport and other Israeli-controlled border crossings.

Rahhal also claimed that the current overcrowding at the Allenby Bridge between Israel and Jordan was part of an Israeli scheme to force Palestinians to use Ramon Airport. In the past few weeks, thousands of Palestinian travelers have been stranded on the Jordanian side of Allenby Bridge because of unprecedented overcrowding and the limited hours of work at the border crossing.

There is a very simple reason why the Palestinian leadership consistently opposes any plan to make the lives of Palestinians easier.

Palestinians have a thriving export business. This export has created lots of jobs in the NGO industry. It has brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in aid from the EU and from Arab countries. It is a critical part of their economy.

The export is Jew-hatred.

Anything that Israel does to help Palestinians live more normal lives threatens this critical export. Palestinian misery is the most important raw material for the profitable export of antisemitism, so the leaders must ensure that misery is generously spread to their people in as public a fashion as possible, s long as the misery is always blamed on Jews.

The Palestinian export of Jew-hatred is the only reason why Palestinians remain the top recipients of humanitarian aid on a per capita basis in the world - a position they have held, unchallenged, for decades. If they couldn't blame their misery on Jews, they would lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

So of course they oppose allowing their people to travel more easily to the world. They want to say they live in an open-air prison.

Of course they oppose closing down "refugee" camps even in their own areas. Because they claim that people in the borders of British Mandate Palestine are "refugees" and need hundreds of millions from the international community.

Of course they oppose any peace plan that allows Israel to exist as a Jewish state. They need Jews to blame for everything.

Once you understand this simple fact about the Palestinian export industry, all of the things that seem inexplicable suddenly make sense.

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