The boars used to come at night but now have no fear of walking about in daylight.
Residents are upset, especially since Haifa's policy has been against killing the animals for the past few years.
Is there any chance that this will stop the stories in Arab media of Jews raising the quite unknosher boars deliberately to release them in Palestinian farms and villages?
I somehow doubt it.
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Ronen Bergman's Rise and Kill First is an astonishing work of research. Through over a thousand interviews, Bergman managed to write a history of Israel's policy of targeted assassinations that bypassed the famous secretiveness of Israel's spy agencies as well as the Israeli censor. (The book itself is proof that the Israeli military censor is very reluctant to actually censor things.)
The nearly 700 page book is not merely a history of targeted killings by Israel but really a history of Israel's legendary spy agencies, the Mossad, Aman and Shin Bet. While the story concentrates on assassinations, and is as complete on that topic as one can imagine, nothing happens in a vacuum - killings are done for a reason, whether it is to discourage future terrorism or to send a message to past terrorists that they will never be safe. (The hunt for the Munich terrorists is an example.)
The agencies' growing pains are documented as Israel learns how to do spycraft. From the early pre-state days through the covert (and sometimes overt) war against the terrorists who intruded into Israel in the 1950s, Israel's spy agencies grew in capabilities. They had to pivot to new methods and tools as the enemies and tactics changed.
The action never stops. Bergman writes that his original manuscript was twice as long; he managed to shorten each episode to a couple of pages without the stories losing their punch.
This drama is not only in the successes but also the failures - and there were a lot of failures, with the inevitable political fallout from the government. The Mossad and Shin Bet are not infallible by a long shot, and there have been botched operations, as well as seemingly unnecessary assassinations.
Especially striking at this time of a worldwide pandemic is that decisions are often made with incomplete information. Acting based on assumptions backed by facts is necessary and moral. The alternative, of doing nothing, can endanger more lives than the action can. Sometimes, the assassinations can help avoid war. These are difficult moral arguments and Bergman objectively looks at both sides.
Some of the mistakes were extraordinarily embarrassing. The botched attempt on Hamas leader Khaled Meshal's life was a major setback. The assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai was successful but was a diplomatic disaster as the agents used international passports. Yet when mistakes were made, the security services improved their methods and procedures to ensure that every mistake is made exactly once.
Bergman's reporting goes well into the 21st century, with details on the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists. He also details the assassinations of Hezbollah mastermind Imad Mugniyeh and of Syrian general Muhammad Suleiman in 2008, both of whom worked closely with Iran and the with the more recently departed Qassam Soleimani.
My only quibble is that Bergman sometimes allows his personal opinions to override the facts. He blames the second intifada on Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount even as he knows the evidence that it was pre-planned and Sharon's visit was only an excuse. His antipathy towards Netanyahu also allows one-sided reporting, with the other side of the story buried in footnotes.
But those are minor problems. Rise and Kill First was praised by both pro- and anti-Israel critics because he does such a good job of showing the ambiguity of the policies and of working in the shadows, breaking the normal rules of war, to help save lives.
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Israel’s COVID-19 death toll rose to 181 on Tuesday, after four more people succumbed to the disease overnight Monday and on Tuesday morning.
Among the four fatalities was Aharon Turchin, a 48-year-old father of 14 with no preexisting health conditions. Turchin, who lived in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, passed away at the Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv after being transferred there over the weekend from Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak after his condition deteriorated.
According to Israel’s Health Ministry, there have been a total of 13,883 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in the country since the beginning of the pandemic, including 170 new cases since Monday night. While 4,353 Israelis have officially recovered, 142 are still in serious condition, 113 of whom are intubated. However, the number of Israelis recovering from the virus has exceeded the number of new infections for four days in a row, according to the ministry.
The update comes just days after officials tentatively rolled back some of the strict limitations placed on movement and commerce in the last several weeks, as well as lockdowns on Bnei Brak and two dozen neighborhoods in Jerusalem with particularly high coronavirus infection rates.
Bnei Brak continues to have the highest per capita coronavirus infection rate in the country, but residents are now subject to the same regulations as all other Israelis.
It is even more tragic that survivors such as Even and Levin had to spend their last days alone, away from their families, and had to be buried after tiny funerals due to the virus.
As we honor the memories of six million Jews who perished during the Holocaust and salute the estimated 400,000 survivors still alive today, we should also pause to remember the dozens of survivors who have recently died from corona complications.
The opening ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day was broadcast via the Yad Vashem website, YouTube and Facebook Live on Monday night. Its theme was “Solidarity in a disintegrating world” and included the gripping stories of the six torchlighters and heartfelt prayers from the chief rabbis.
Thousands uploaded messages on virtual plaques on a special memorial site established by the March of the Living organization, which was forced to cancel its annual march from Auschwitz to Birkenau this year for the first time in 32 years, due to the virus.
“The combination of hatred and technology is the greatest danger threatening mankind,” Simon Wiesenthal once said. “Technology without hatred can be a blessing. Technology with hatred is always a disaster.”
As we grapple with the current pandemic, Wiesenthal’s words ring true. But so does the refrain of the “Partisan Song,” posted in English by The Jerusalem Post’s Greer Fay Cashman on Facebook: “Never say that you are walking on your final way. Though blue skies are hidden by days of gray, the hour for which we yearn will yet arrive; The earth will tremble with our tread; We are here!”
Despite the many tragedies experienced by the Jewish people, it has proven to be a resilient nation which today has a state of its own. Israel is a source of strength in fighting antisemitism and hate around the world.
That is why, even as we are separated today due to the coronavirus, we stand together and declare “Never again” for the entire world to hear.
Michael Doran: Coronavirus: How Will It Change the World?
The Coronavirus crisis will likely strengthen nationalism and weaken globalism, Gadi Taub tells Mike Doran.
According to preliminary data from the Jewish People Policy Institute's (JPPI) upcoming annual Pluralism Index for 2020, over the past year there has been a significant change in the way Israeli Arabs identify themselves.
According to the survey, conducted by Prof. Camille Fuchs of Tel Aviv University, about a quarter of Israeli minorities (23%) define themselves primarily as "Israeli" and half (51%) self-identify as "Israeli-Arab."
The proportion of non-Jewish people who define themselves primarily as "Palestinian" now stands at around 7%, down from 18% this time last year.
Moreover, there was a sizable increase in the number of Arabs who define themselves as Israeli - that number rose from 5% last year to 23% this year.
This video was taken last Thursday at the Taj Mall, a new supermarket in Gaza.
Forget social distancing. Look at the product selection, including exotic imported cheeses.
Look at how spacious it is, in "one of the most crowded places on Earth."
Look at the lighting and refrigerated section where we are told there is no electricity.
I would love if my local supermarket looked like this.
This is what it called a "prison" without any shame by a large number of educated people.
(h/t Irene)
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Palestinian site Safa reports that Israel's attorney general Avichai Mendelblit recently approved a plan use land next to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron to build an elevator and ramps to help access "for the Jewish disabled" to the holy place.
Even though they are quoting Arutz-7, the original report makes clear that the elevator is meant for all, Arabs and Jews as well as tourists.
Israel has tried for years to cooperate with the PA in helping give access to all to the site, and the PA refused to talk with Israeli authorities, as this 2019 report notes. Even the most right-wing Jews of Hebron insist that the elevator be open to Muslims, saying "The Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs belongs to the people of Israel, and the state must ensure that every person of every religion can pray there."
Even the far left Meretz agrees that there should be universal access:
A wide variety of elected officials this year have joined the call to create access for the disabled. Mossi Raz, a former Member of Knesset from the left-wing Meretz party called for wheelchair access. Despite being an and an ardent opponent of the Jewish community, Channel 20 reported he sent a personal letter to the Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs and to the PA mayor of Hebron asking them to approve the permit.
Right now people in wheelchairs need to be physically carried up some 60 stairs.
The Palestinians are saying that the land surrounding the site belongs to the Waqf.
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At the time of his arrest, Egyptian authorities accused hi of being a member of a Muslim Brotherhood cell named "the Cell of Hope."
Shaath is the son of Nabil Shaath, a top PLO official and senior aide to Mahmoud Abbas. It turns out that, somehow, Nabil is also an Egyptian citizen, and therefore so is Ramy, even though Nabil was born in Palestine and Ramy in Beirut.
Ramy is the head of BDS in Egypt, and now his family is claiming that this is the reason he was arrested:
We were told that the reason for the detention of Ramy is his call for the boycott of Israel and its products in Egypt because this causes trouble to Egypt with Israel. We explained to them that the campaign is a peaceful one to pressure Israel to stop the settlement activities and to respect international law, and the signed peace agreements. This boycott campaign has branches throughout the world including in the U.S. , Europe and Israel itself. The Egyptian intelligence service has not pointed out to any terrorist act that is attributed to our son. This was later used to justify his unjust detention. We assure everyone that our son Ramy has never, in all his life carried out any act of terror or any violation of Egyptian or Palestinian law. He has never been a member of any terrorist organization and he is committed to Egypt’s security and well being as he is about the security and the well being of Palestine. Our entire family makes this commitment as well.
While Egypt has a brutal autocratic regime and routinely arrests and imprisons its political opponents, supporting BDS does not make sense as a reason to arrest someone. This claim appears to be made up in order to paint Egypt as a lackey of Israel, when even Israel doesn't arrest BDS activists.
What really happened is that Ramy loudly criticized Egypt for sending a mid-level official to the US-sponsored Manama conference on economic peace with Israel. His wife wrote an open letter to him on their anniversary last September:
They arrested you because you dared to be proudly Egyptian and Palestinian. You dared to resist the iron curtain that has been falling over Egypt, crushing the aspirations of its disillusioned, revolutionary youth. You dared to oppose Egyptian participation in the Israeli-American conference in Manama. To resist the selling-off of your people’s right to self-determination."
Given that he was arrested only a week after the conference and days after his criticism, while he had been the head of BDS in Egypt for years, this makes much more sense. Egypt might cooperate closely with Israel but it doesn't love Israel that much. Israel gains nothing from the arrest, but Egypt silences a critic.
Interestingly, Ramy used to be a negotiator for the PLO and worked directly with Arafat. During the Oslo process he ate lunch with Israelis. He seems to have been radicalized in more recent years.
I don't think that Ramy really is a Muslim Brotherhood member, although it is possible that MB members are involved with him in his other activities against the Egyptian regime. But it is interesting that a top PLO official is trying to intimidate Egypt into releasing his son by painting the regime as a puppet of Israel, rather than emphasizing actual legitimate human rights issues.
(h/t Petra)
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It was the first official document informing the Western public about the Holocaust.[
Though the document contained extensive information on the persecution and murder of Jews in Poland, its effect was limited because many people outside German-occupied Europe found it difficult to believe the Germans were systematically exterminating Jews. After meeting with Jan Karski, who had made multiple undercover trips into occupied Poland and escaped to warn the Allies, Jewish U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter said he did not think Karski was lying, but that he could not believe him.
Historians are divided as to why the Polish government in exile did not publicize this earlier.
The most important item in the brochure is known as Raczyński's Note, by Edward Bernard Raczyński, the foreign minister of the Polish government-in-exile. Raczyński discussed the Germans' initial shooting executions and subsequent lethal gassings of Polish Jews. As horrible as his descriptions are, the reality was even worse.
And the world stayed silent.
Here is the full text of Raczyński's Note, followed by images of the entire brochure.
London, 10 December 1942
Note addressed to the Governments of the United Nations by the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edward Raczyński, regarding German crimes in occupied Poland.
Your Excellency,
1. On several occasions the Polish Government have drawn the attention of the civilized world, both in diplomatic documents and official publications, to the conduct of the German Government and of the German authorities of occupation, both military and civilian, and to the methods employed by them “in order to reduce the population to virtual slavery and ultimately to exterminate – the Polish nation”. These methods, first introduced in Poland, were subsequently, applied in a varying degree, in other countries occupied by the armed forces of the German Reich.
2. At the conference held at St. James's Palace on January l8th, 1942, the Governments of the occupied countries “placed among their principal war aims the punishment, through the channel of organized justice, of those guilty of, or responsible for, those crimes, whether they have ordered them, participated them, or participated in them”. Despite this solemn warning and the declarations of President Roosevelt, of the Prime Minister, Mr. Winston Churchill, and of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, M. Molotov, the German Government has not ceased to apply its methods of violence and terror. The Polish Government have received numerous reports from Poland testifying to the constant intensification of German persecution of the subjected populations.
3. Most recent reports present a horrifying picture of the position to which the Jews in Poland have been reduced. The new methods of mass slaughter applied during the last few months confirm the fact that the German authorities aim with systematic deliberation at the total extermination of the Jewish population of Poland and of the many thousands of Jews whom the German authorities have deported to Poland from western and Central European countries and from the German Reich itself. The Polish Government consider it their duty to bring to the knowledge of the Governments of all civilized countries the following fully authenticated information received from Poland during recent weeks, which indicates all too plainly the new methods of extermination adopted by the German authorities.
4. The initial steps leading to the present policy of extermination of the Jews were taken already n October, 1940, when the German authorities established the Warsaw ghetto. At that time all the Jewish inhabitants of the Capital were ordered to move into the Jewish quarter assigned to them not later than November 1st, 1940, while ail the non-Jews domiciled within the new boundaries of what was to become the ghetto were ordered to move out of that quarter. The Jews were allowed to take only personal effects with them, while all their remaining property was confiscated. All Jewish shops and businesses outside the new ghetto boundaries were closed down and sealed. The original date for these transfers was subsequently postponed to November 15th, 1940. After that date the ghetto was completely closed and its entire area was surrounded by a brick wall, the right of entry and exit being restricted to the holders of special passes, issued by the German authorities. AII those who left the ghetto without such a pass became liable to sentence of death, and it is known that German courts passed such sentences in a large number of cases.
5. After the isolation of the ghetto, official intercourse with the outside world was maintained through a special German office known as “Transferstelle”. Owing to totally inadequate supplies of food for the inhabitants of the ghetto, smuggling on a large scale was carried on; the Germans themselves participated in this illicit trading, drawing considerable incomes from profits and bribes. The food rations for the inhabitants of the ghetto amounted to about a pound of bread per person weekly, with practically nothing else. As a result, prices in the ghetto were on an average ten times higher than outside, and mortality due to exhaustion, starvation and disease, particularly during the last two winters, increased on an unprecedented scale. During the winter 1941-1942 the death rate, calculated on an annual base, has risen to 13 percent, and during the first quarter of 1942 increased still further. Scores of corpses were found in the streets of the ghetto every day.
6. At the time when the ghetto was established the whole population was officially stated to amount to 433.000, and in spite of the appalling death rate it was being maintained at this figure by the importation of Jews from Germany and from the occupied countries, as well as from other parts of Poland.
7. The outbreak of war between Germany and Soviet Russia and the occupation of the Eastern areas of Poland by German troops considerably increased the numbers of Jews in Germany's power. At the same time the mass murders of Jews reached such dimensions that at first, people refused to give credence to the reports reaching Warsaw from the Eastern provinces. The reports, however, were confirmed again and again by reliable witnesses. During the winter 1941-1942 several times of thousands of Jews were murdered. In the city of Wilno over 50.000 Jews were reported to have been massacred and only 12.000 of them remain in the local ghetto. In the city of Lwow 40.000 were reported murdered; in Rowne 14.000; in Kowel 10.000, and unknown numbers in Stanislawow, Tarnopol, Stryj, Drohobycz and many other smaller towns. At first the executions were carried out by shooting; subsequently, however, it is reported that the Germans applied new methods, such as poison gas, by means of which the Jewish population was exterminated in Chelm, or electrocution; for which a camp was organized in Belzec, where in the course of March and April, 1942, the Jews from the provinces of Lublin, Lwow and Kielce, amounting to tens of thousands, were exterminated. of Lublin's 80.000 Jewish inhabitants only 2.500 still survive in the city.
8. It has been reliably reported that on the occasion of his visit to the General Government of Poland in March, 1942, Himmler issued an order for the extermination of 50 percent of the Jews in Poland by the end of that year After Himmler's departure the Germans spread the rumour that the Warsaw ghetto would be liquidated as from April, 1942. This date was subsequently altered to June. Himmler's second visit to Warsaw in the middle of July, 1942, became the signal for the commencement of the process of liquidation, the horror of which surpasses anything known in the annals of history.
9. The liquidation of the ghetto was preceded, on July 17th, 1942, by the registration of all foreign Jews confined there who were then removed to the Pawiak prison. As from July 20th, 1942, the guarding of the ghetto was entrusted to special security battalions, formed from the scum of several Eastern European countries, while large forces of German police armed with machine guns and commanded by SS. officers were posted at all the gates leading into the ghetto. Mobile German police detachments patrolled all the boundaries of the ghetto day and night.
10. On July 31st, at 11 a.m., German police cars drove up to the building of the Jewish Council of the ghetto, in Grzybowska Street. The SS. officers ordered the chairman of the Jewish Council, Mr. Czerniakow, to summon the members of the Council, who were all arrested on arrival and removed in police cars to the Pawiak prison. After a few hours' detention the majority of them were allowed to return to the ghetto. About the same time flying squads of German police entered the ghetto, breaking into the houses in search of Jewish intellectuals. The better dressed Jews found were killed on the spot, without the police troubling even to identify them. Among those who were thus killed was a non-Jew, Professor Dr. Raszeja, who was visiting the ghetto in the course of his medical duties and was in possession of an official pass. Hundreds of educated Jews were killed in this way.
11. On the morning of the following day, July 22nd, 1942, the German police again visited the office of the Jewish Council and summoned all the members, who had been released from the Pawiak prison the previous day. On their assembly they were informed that an order had been issued for the removal of the entire Jewish population of the Warsaw ghetto and printed instructions to that effect were issued in the form of posters, the contents of which are reproduced in Annex. 1 to this Note. Additional instructions were issued verbally. The number of people to be removed was first fixed at 6.000 daily. The persons concerned were to assemble in the hospital wards and grounds in Stawki Street, the patients of which were evacuated forthwith. The hospital was close to the railway siding. Persons subject to deportation were to be delivered by the Jewish police not later than 4 p.m. each day. Members of the Council and other hostages were to answer for the strict fulfilment of the order. In conformity with German orders, all inmates of Jewish prisons, old-age pensioners and inmates of other charitable institutions were to be included in the first contingent.
12. On July 28rd, 1942, at 7 p.m., two German police officers again visited the offices of the Jewish Council and saw the chairman, Mr. Czerniakow. After they left him he committed suicide. It is reported that Mr. Czerniakow did so because the Germans increased the contingent of the first day to 10.000 persons, to be followed by 7,000 persons on each subsequent day. Mr. Czerniakow was succeeded in his office by Mr. Lichtenbaum, and on the following day 10.000 persons were actually assembled for deportation, followed by 7.000 persons on each subsequent day. The people affected were either rounded up haphazardly in the streets or were taken from their homes.
13. According to the German order of July 22nd 1942, all Jews employed in German-owned undertakings, together with their families, were to be exempt from deportation. This produced acute competition among the inhabitants of the ghetto to secure employment in such undertakings, or failing employment, bogus certificates to that effect. Large sums of money, running into thousands of Zlotys, were being paid for such certificates to the German owners. They did not, however, save the purchasers from deportation, which was being carried out without discrimination or identification.
14. The actual process of deportation was carried out with appalling brutality. At the appointed hour on each day the German police cordoned off a block of houses selected for clearance, entered the back yard and fired their guns at random, as a signal for all to leave their homes and assemble in the yard. Anyone attempting to escape or to hide was killed on the spot. No attempt was made by the Germans to keep families together. Wives were torn from their husbands and children from their parents. Those who appeared frail or infirm were carried straight to the Jewish cemetery to be killed and buried there. On the average 50-100 people were disposed of in this way daily. After the contingent was assembled, the people were packed forcibly into cattle trucks to the number of 120 in each truck, which had room for forty. The trucks were then locked and sealed. The Jews were suffocating for lack of air. The floors of the trucks were covered with quicklime and chlorine. As far as is known, the trains were dispatched to three localities - Tremblinka, Belzec and Sobibor, to what the reports describe as “Extermination camps”. The very method of transport was deliberately calculated to cause the largest possible number of casualties among the condemned Jews. It is reported that on arrival in camp the survivors were stripped naked and killed by various means, including poison gas and electrocution. The dead were interred in mass graves dug by machinery.
15. According to all available information, of the 250.000 Jews deported from the Warsaw ghetto up to September 1st, 1942, only two small transports, numbering about 4.000 people, are known to have been sent eastwards in the direction of Brest-Litovsk and Malachowicze, allegedly to be employed on work behind the front line. It has not been possible to ascertain whether any of the other Jews deported from the Warsaw ghetto still survive, and it must be feared that they have been all put to death.
16. The Jews deported from the Warsaw ghetto so far included in the first instance all the aged and infirm; a number of the physically strong have escaped so far, because of their utility as labour power. All the children from Jewish schools, orphanages and children's homes were deported, including those from the orphanage in charge of the celebrated educationist, dr. Janusz Korczak, who refused to abandon his charges, although he was given the alternative of remaining behind.
17. According to the most recent reports, 120.000 ration cards were distributed in the Warsaw ghetto for the month of September 1942, while the report also mentions that only 40.000 such cards were to be distributed for the month of October, 1942. The latter figure is corroborated by information emanating from the German Employment Office (Arbeitsamt), which mentioned the number of 40.000 skilled workmen as those who were to be allowed to remain in a part of the ghetto, confined to barracks and employed on German war production.
18. The deportations from the Warsaw ghetto were interrupted during five days, between August 20th-25th. The German machinery for the mass slaughter of the Jews was employed during this interval on the liquidation of other ghettoes in Central Poland, including the towns of Falenica, Rembertów, Nowy Dwór, Kaluszyn and Minsk Mazowiecki.
19. It is not possible to estimate the exact numbers of Jews who have been exterminated in Poland since the occupation of the country by the armed forces of the German Reich. But all the reports agree that the total number of killed runs into many hundreds of thousands of innocent victims – men, women and children – and that of the 3.130.000 Jews in Poland before the outbreak of war, over a third have perished during the last three years.
20. The Polish population, which itself is suffering the most grievous afflictions, and of which many millions have been either deported to Germany as slave labour or evicted from their homes and lands, deprived of so many of their leaders, who have been cruelly murdered by the Germans, have repeatedly expressed, through the underground organizations, their horror of and compassion with the terrible fate which has befallen their Jewish fellow-countrymen. The Polish Government are in possession of information concerning the assistance which the Polish population is rendering to the Jews. For obvious reasons no details of these activities can be published at present.
21. The Polish Government – as the representatives of the legitimate authority on territories in which the Germans are carrying out the systematic extermination of Polish citizens and of citizens of Jewish origin of many other European countries – consider it their duty to address themselves to the Governments of the United Nations, in the confident belief that they will share their opinion as to the necessity not only of condemning the crimes committed by the Germans and punishing the criminals, but also of finding means offering the hope that Germany might be effectively restrained from continuing to apply her methods of mass extermination.
I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to Your Excellency the assurances of my high consideration.
Edward Raczyński
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz signed a coalition deal during a meeting Monday evening, bringing to an apparent end a nearly year-and-a-half-long political stalemate.
A joint statement from Blue and White and Netanyahu’s Likud party said the agreement was to form a “national emergency government,” apparently to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
“We prevented fourth elections. We’ll safeguard democracy,” Gantz tweeted shortly after the announcement was made. “We’ll fight the coronavirus and look out for all Israeli citizens. We have a national emergency government.”
The deal will be signed formally after Independence Day next week, reports said, after which Likud’s right-wing religious partners are also expected to sign on to it.
The parties are then expected to move forward with legislation to cement the premiership rotation agreement that will see Gantz take over from Netanyahu as prime minister after 18 months.
The final agreement dovetails with most of Netanyahu’s demands, including on the the annexation of parts of the West Bank, a process that it says can begin in July 2020. (h/t messy57)
President Trump’s Peace Plan – released on 28 January 2020 – provides the first realistic opportunity in 100 years since the San Remo Resolution to restore Jewish sovereignty in Judea and Samaria – and create a second Arab state in Mandatory Palestine never contemplated at San Remo.
The PLO and the Arab League have rejected Trump’s plan out of hand.
President Trump nevertheless has decided to proceed, with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to restore Jewish sovereignty in about 30% of Area C. A joint US-Israel mapping committee is presently finalising details identifying the particular areas.
Trump’s decision has been opposed by many Israeli political leaders – notably Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi – who are currently struggling to form a Government of National Unity with Netanyahu – in which Gantz will succeed Netanyahu as Prime Minister after18 months.
Until recently Gantz has opposed any alteration to the current status of Judea and Samaria unless the international community and the Arab States agree. It is now being reported that Netanyahu and Gantz have agreed that Gantz’s party can – as members of a National Unity Government – vote against any such Trump-Netanyahu action.
American Zionist groups have similarly attacked this Trump-Netanyahu historic move. One such group – the Israel Policy Forum (IPF) – has written to Gantz: “We write to you as American Jewish communal leaders who are proudly Zionist, unquestionably pro-Israel, and who have devoted our lives to supporting the State of Israel and ensuring an ironclad relationship between Israel and Diaspora Jewry.”
IPF proclaims: “We have strongly objected to Israel unilaterally annexing West Bank territory and applying sovereignty to Jewish settlements, whether according to the parameters of the Trump plan or any other similar proposal, at any point in time.”
IPF couches its plea in the language of the enemies of the Jewish people – “unilaterally annexing West Bank territory and applying sovereignty” – rather than “restoring Jewish sovereignty in 30% of Judea and Samaria”
138 prominent American Jewish communal leaders including Charles Bronfman and Sir James Wolfensohn have signed this letter.
Other American Zionist groups such as J Street and T’ruah use the identical anti-Zionist language to vent their opposition to Trump’s decision.
These Zionist naysayers opposing long-lost Jewish sovereignty being restored in partsof Judea and Samaria are repudiating the miraculous resurrection of this entitlement recognised at San Remo 100 years ago.
Trump-hatred seems to be driving these American Zionists to sacrifice the Jewish People’s long-term national interest for short term partisan American politics.
In a January 23, 2020 column in the Saudi Al-Riyadh daily, Saudi author and journalist ‘Abdallah bin Bakhit wrote that a true bid for peace with Israel requires transcending politics and acknowledging that the Holocaust was a “tragedy” and an “unforgivable crime.” The column was published following the visit of Mohammad Al-'Issa, secretary-general of the Mecca-based Muslim World League, to the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp on January 23, 2020.[1] In the column Bin Bakhit also rejected the claim that the Palestinian problem was a result of the Holocaust, explaining that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has its roots much earlier, in the beginning of the 20th century.
The following are translated excerpts from his column:[2]
“If we are [really] interested in peace, it is not enough to talk about peace, brandish slogans of peace and demand that others listen to the peace initiatives. In our world [which abounds with] conflicts, no one pays attention to subtle messages like these that [merely] echo in space unless they are preceded by a message of peace on the ground…
“The Jews have a right to live in peace, just like the Muslims and the Hindus. Just as the conflict between certain groups of Hindus and Muslims does not negate the right of either side to live in peace, so the conflict between Muslims and Jews over the Palestinian issue does not negate the right of either side to peace and justice.
“Many of us don’t realize that what happened to the Palestinians in Palestine was not the result of what happened to the Jews in Germany. The British colonialist did not give Palestine to the Jews as a gift to appease them after what happened to them during World War II [i.e., the Holocaust]. The Arab-Israeli conflict began at the start of the twentieth century, while the crime of the Jewish Holocaust took place in the middle of that century.
“The visit of Dr. Mohammad Al-'Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League, to Auschwitz, where the Nazi Holocaust took place and where more than a million people were killed, mostly Jews from Poland, was a moral gesture unrelated to the pending political issues. This visit highlights the Saudi perception of Islam, which does not distort the facts or exploit them [to serve] its interests. Mixing [unrelated] issues and using them for political [ends] only fills mankind with more hatred and violence.
“This historic visit proves that Saudi Arabia, aided by its moderate Islam, does not adopt contradictory messages in striving for peace. What is happening to the Palestinians in Palestine is a tragedy, and what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany is also a tragedy. When we defend the rights of the Palestinian people, it must not be [accompanied by] efforts to ignore the rights of others. What happened to the German Jews and to several other ethnic groups [during the Holocaust] is an unforgivable crime.
Having been hostile to Israel for decades, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seems to be changing its policy, thinks an official with close ties to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Although full diplomatic relations are not yet possible, he believes this is only a matter of time. A Saudi official said Riyadh had come to acknowledge "the positive part Israel has played in the region" and started to realize that "cooperation needs to replace the constant clashing" so typical of the Middle East.
The source in Riyadh, who is connected to the highest echelons in the government, including the crown-prince himself, confirmed the Saudis' satisfaction with the U.S. peace plan, designed to put an end to the conflict. "Mohammed Bin Salman thinks the Palestinians have wasted too many opportunities thrown their way," he states, referring to a number of initiatives that have been offered to the Palestinians throughout the years.
"The problem is that Palestinians are hard to please. We also have a tendency to believe that some elements of their leadership are interested in keeping the conflict alive to continue to get our generous donations.... When the Coronavirus is behind us, Mohammed Bin Salman plans on telling the Palestinians to either take the plan or leave it. If they push it away, future opportunities - if they ever show up - will certainly be less profitable," the official said.
It was 84 years ago on April of 1936 when Palestinians began what we now call the 1936 Arab Revolt. In opposition to the British enforcement of the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which prioritized Jewish immigration to Palestine and displaced indigenous Palestinians, the revolt began as a general strike. Rural Palestinians in the 1930’s lived during a debilitating economic depression. Their struggle was only worsened by British colonial policies and heightened anti-Semitism in Europe resulting in an increase of Jewish immigration to Palestine.
In response, the Arab Higher Committee led a general strike against the British and Zionist opposition. As the action progressed, however, the Arab Higher Committee had been accused of betraying the cause after agreeing to the request of the Arab kings to end the strike.
The general strike lasted for six months making it one of the longest general strikes in history and marking the start of the Arab Revolt that lasted until 1939. Today we want to honor this collective resistance as we continue our joint struggles for liberation!
5000 Arabs were killed in the Arab Revolt, many by the British but perhaps most by infighting. Wikipedia summarizes:
The revolt weakened the military strength of Palestinian Arabs in advance of their ultimate confrontation with the Jewish settlement in the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine and was thus counterproductive. During the uprising, British authorities attempted to confiscate all weapons from the Arab population. This, and the destruction of the main Arab political leadership in the revolt, greatly hindered their military efforts in the 1948 Palestine war, where imbalances between the Jewish and Arab economic performance, social cohesion, political organisation and military capability became apparent.
The Mufti, Hajj Amin al-Husseini and his supporters directed a Jihad against any person who did not obey the Mufti. Their national struggle was a religious holy war, and the incarnation of both the Palestinian Arab nation and Islam was Hajj Amin al-Husseini. Anyone who rejected his leadership was a heretic and his life was forfeit. After the Peel report publication, the murders of Arabs leaders who opposed the Mufti were accelerated. Pressed by the assassination campaign pursued by the rebels at the behest of the Husseini leadership, the opposition had a security cooperation with the Jews. The flight of wealthy Arabs, which occurred during the revolt, was also replicated in 1947–49.
Thousands of Palestinian houses were destroyed, and massive financial costs were incurred because of the general strike and the devastation of fields, crops and orchards. The economic boycott further damaged the fragile Palestinian Arab economy through loss of sales and goods and increased unemployment.
Clearly, the revolt did not achieve its goals, although it is "credited with signifying the birth of the Arab Palestinian identity."
The revolt killed thousands of Arabs, destroyed the Arab political and economic leadership in Palestine, and the results were disastrous for any Palestinian national aspirations since there was no leadership or unity in 1948. There is a direct line from the 1936-9 Arab Revolt to what the Palestinians call the naqba.
So why would anyone who pretends to be pro-Palestinian celebrate this huge failure?
Because there was a single positive result for the Palestinians. The British, cowed by the threat of further Arab violence, agreed to severely curtail Jewish immigration to Palestine a was agreed previously. This occurred on the eve of the Holocaust, meaning that hundreds of thousands - or perhaps millions - of Jews that would have loved to flee Nazi occupied Europe for Palestine could not do so.
That White Paper was the only result that could be considered positive to the antisemitic Palestinian Arabs of the time. And today, that is still the only concrete result of the revolt that anyone can point to.
Which means that anyone who celebrates the Arab Revolt is either unaware of its results, or they are thrilled with the only result - that Jews fleeing antisemitism could not find safety in the Jewish ancestral homeland.
The Arab Higher Committee initially argued that the independence of a future Palestine government would prove to be illusory since the Jews could prevent its functioning by withholding participation, and in any case, real authority would still be in the hands of British officials. The limitations on Jewish immigration were also held to be insufficient since there was no guarantee immigration would not resume after five years. In place of the policy enunciated in the White Paper, the Arab Higher Committee called for "a complete and final prohibition" of Jewish immigration and a repudiation of the Jewish national home policy altogether.
In June 1939,Hajj Amin al-Husayni initially "astonished" the other members of the Arab Higher Committee by turning down the White Paper. According to Benny Morris, the reason that the advantageous proposal was turned down was entirely selfish: "it did not place him at the helm of the future Palestinian state."
But in the end the Palestinian leadership accepted it:
In July 1940, after two weeks of meetings with the British representative, S. F. Newcombe, the leader of the Palestinian Arab delegates to the London Conference, Jamal al-Husseini and fellow delegate Musa al-Alami, agreed to the terms of the White Paper, and both signed a copy of it in the presence of the prime minister of Iraq, Nuri as-Said.
In summary, the Revolt was a disaster for Arabs and an absolute catastrophe for the Jewish people. In the zero-sum world inhabited by Arabs, your enemy's loss is your gain by definition.
The only possible thing that SJP is celebrating is the the death of untold numbers of Jews.
(h/t Tasha)
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The latest salvo of antisemitic garbage comes from "Who Profits," the same people that make lists of Jewish-owned businesses for the world to boycott.
Here, they are giving out a lesson in how to twist a news story into anti-Israel propaganda and, they hope, a meme:
They literally give a step by step guide in how to twist facts by putting everything into an anti-Israel "frame:"
While it is still too early to tell how the COVID-19 will impact the global and local economy, we can begin by posing the right questions with the following framing in mind:
The first lesson of anti-Israel brainwashing is to let them tell you how you should think.
COVID-19 is not operating in a vacuum. As it spreads through Israeli-occupied Palestinian and Syrian land, it is interacting with the structures of occupation which, while far from novel, are every bit as adaptive, resistant and continually mutating as any member of the corona family.
Translation: Zionism and Israel is a virus that must be eradicated. And even though we cannot tell you how, just try to think of ways that Israel is responsible for everything happening in areas under full Palestinian control.
COVID-19 will not function as a ‘Great Equalizer’ – The myth that a pandemic does not discriminate between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the dispossessed, is patently false. An occupied and besieged population and a systematically de-developed economy are particularly vulnerable to both COVID-19 and the economic fallout.
It's funny that Israelis are FAR more likely to get infected with COVID-19 than Palestinians. Somehow this prediction, which has been hammered over and over again from the loathe-Israel crowd, has still not come true. While Israel is under lockdown, Palestinians - especially in Gaza - are under fewer restrictions with very few cases of infections. So who is more vulnerable?
Desperate times legitimize repressive measures. Declaring a state of emergency often provides the pretext for the introduction of new repressive and exploitative measures and the entrenchment and legitimization of existing ones.
And these measures are...? In fact, Palestinian leaders have been closing down towns, installing checkpoints, blocking the borders - doing all the things that Israel is castigated for. Meanwhile, Israel has been working closely with Palestinian leaders and NGOs to forestall an epidemic in the territories and to plan responses if it happens.
But the facts don't fit the "framing" that is necessary to brainwash people into hating Israel.
What happens in Palestine does not stay in Palestine. A key reason Israel is continually looking to diversify its portfolio of repression is that it can later turn it outward for economic profit and political gains.
So, if Israelis develop a treatment or a vaccine, this is bad because they might profit from them?
This is a perfect example of how the modern antisemites create propaganda.
And make no mistake - the real analogy is between the coronavirus and the virus of antisemitism.
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The Health Ministry published a national plan to protect almost 90,000 elderly citizens living in residential facilities on Monday, as Israel seeks to tackle further outbreaks of coronavirus in nursing homes and assisted living.
Among the 174 Israelis who have died from the coronavirus to date, including two new fatalities on Monday, more than 60 were residents of nursing homes and assisted living.
The plan, developed by Sourasky Medical Center chief executive Prof. Ronni Gamzu, emphasizes that great attention and resources must be dedicated to institutions caring for the elderly "if there are aspirations for an exit strategy."
Ten "iron" principles are identified in the plan, including management of the crisis by one government body; the establishment of isolated beds in geriatric rehabilitation centers for sick residents; increased coronavirus testing; additional staff and protective equipment; and emotional support to combat the impact of isolation and reduced social activities.
Roni Ozeri, chairman of the Association of Nursing Homes and Assisted Living in Israel, welcomed the publication of the plan but emphasized that any assistance "must address the state's criminal neglect in recent years." The state must recruit and provide licenses to an additional 6,000 nursing staff to solve current shortages, he said.
"Nursing facilities, which suffered from a structural deficit of approximately one million shekels per year even before the crisis due to insufficient Health Ministry budgets, must receive an emergency budget with far greater amounts than currently being discussed," Ozeri said.
A total of 13,654 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Israel to date. Some 150 people are in serious condition, including 114 patients requiring ventilation. So far, 3,872 patients have fully recovered.
A senior Israeli defense official warned on Sunday that the government may for the first time in the country’s history impose a nationwide 24-hour curfew during Memorial Day next week, to prevent a major coronavirus outbreak.
Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism, begins next Monday evening (April 27) and ends the following evening.
Usually, people gather at graves of fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism during Memorial Day eve and on the day itself, either spontaneously or during official state ceremonies.
The official said that even though no public events were planned this year, there is a fear that gatherings may take place nonetheless, leading to a spike in community spread of the coronavirus, undermining the lockdown measures that have been in place for the past month to fight the pandemic.
“This is a very delicate subject because of the various emotional matters involved; this is perhaps the most sensitive issue in Israeli society,” the official said, adding that “Defense Minister Naftali Bennett will make a decision after considering all aspects; we have to accommodate the bereaved families, but also take into account public health concerns.”
The head of an organization representing relatives of fallen soldiers and terror victims has cautioned that bereaved families will not accept the shuttering of military cemeteries during Memorial Day next week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that the traditional commemoration events will take place on April 27-28 without crowds in light of the coronavirus pandemic, fearing a renewed outbreak if annual ceremonies are held as normal.
“Unfortunately, it is the first time since the country’s founding that military cemeteries will be empty [on Memorial Day],” Eli Ben Shem, chairman of Yad Labanim, wrote Sunday to Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi and other senior officials.
“Following the directive by Defense Minister Naftali Bennett canceling the ceremonies and the order not to come to the military cemeteries on Memorial Day, we are receiving hundreds of messages from families who don’t accept it and are threatening to force their way in,” he said.
Ben Shem said some bereaved relatives had even threatened to commit suicide on their loved one’s grave.
“I am convinced we must do everything to prevent difficult images of this kind on Memorial Day, the hardest day of the year for the families,” he wrote, asking Netanyahu to intervene.
He said that a “widespread public campaign” was necessary to avoid confrontations between bereaved families and police.
The traditional Israel Air Force flyover to celebrate Independence Day will not take place this year to avoid gatherings amid the coronavirus outbreak, the IDF announced Monday.
Instead, a smaller flyover of four IAF aerobatics planes will take place over hospitals in a show of solidarity with medical crews. The IAF was conducting practice flights on Monday.
The IDF asked citizens to follow Health Ministry guidelines and not to gather. The flyover will be available on a livestream broadcast by Israeli media, it said.
Independence Day begins the evening of Tuesday, April 28. It will end on Wednesday, April 29.
The annual flyover is one of the most popular parts of Independence Day celebrations. Millions of Israelis watch combat jets, transport aircraft and helicopters fly over the entire country.
Nazi Germany used the motif often. Mein Kampf referred to Jews as octopuses, and this Nazi cartoon portrayed Churchill as a Jewish octopus:
Another from the cover of a German magazine:
The transition from octopus-as-Jew to octopus-as-Israel is keenly shown here in a 1952 Syrian book cover:
The Soviet Union also freely used the octopus as both symbolizing Zionism and Jews:
Nowadays, the octopus is used for "Zionists," although it is very clear that they mean Jews, both the modern antisemites:
And Arab antisemites:
The octopus motif shows that that there is no difference between anti-Zionism and antisemitism.
(h/t Tomer)
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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 19 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
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Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Elder of Ziyon
