Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

BDS calls on directors to boycott NZ film festival. A story of propaganda and cowardice.

From Stuff (New Zealand):

Palestinian human rights groups have called for a boycott of this year’s Academy Award-qualifying Doc Edge international documentary film festival over concern it’s funded by the Embassy of Israel.

Some have also taken issue with the festival showing films by Israeli directors, but none from Palestinians in the wake of the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

But the festival, which runs in Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and online between June 1 and July 10, says it will not change its offering of films.

The festival told BDS to go to hell, which is the proper response. In previous years, Israel-haters urged the festival to not screen Israeli films, and the festival refused then as well.

Because the festival made it clear that they would not censor Israeli films, the boycotters changed their tactics to attack their funding. That didn't work either.

However, the Israel haters went to Plan C so they can declare some sort of victory. From the official Palestinian Wafa news agency:

International filmmakers have called out the Documentary Edge Festival for its “art-washing” of Israeli racism and apartheid against Palestinians.

In a letter signed by a number of filmmakers such as Cole Yeoman, Gabriel Shipton, David Rane, and others, the directors and writers noted that they “don’t endorse the festival’s continued acceptance of funding and official support from the Israeli Embassy.”

“As filmmakers and participants in DocEdge Film Festival, we are deeply concerned by the festival’s continued acceptance of funding and official support from the Israeli Embassy. It is an offensive and unacceptable affiliation which we do not endorse,” the letter said.

“Our concern is not fearing Israeli influence in the festival selection, rather, the credibility and legitimization that Israel gains from DocEdge’s endorsement and platform. Our call isn't to take ‘sides’ or censor films, it is to recognize human rights and to keep our cultural spaces free from the harm and normalization of racism and colonization,” the letter said.

“It is in firm solidarity with the Palestinian people and the global recognition of human rights that we request DocEdge end their affiliation with the apartheid Israeli Embassy and divest from a relationship that endorses and legitimizes the systemic and racist persecution of Palestinians,” the letter concluded.

I found the letter itself, and it is signed by a directors and producers of eight (out of 113) festival films.

Cole Yeoman - ‘The Milford Road’ - Director/Producer

Gabriel Shipton - ‘Ithaka’ - Producer & brother of Julian Assange

Haidy Kancler - ‘Melting Dreams’ - Director/ Writer

Neasa Ní Chainaín - ‘Young Plato’ - Director

David Rane - ‘Young Plato’ - Producer

Rich Felgate - ‘Finite: The Climate of Change’ - Director/ Producer

Julia Maria Diana Jansch - ‘Coming Home’ - Director/ Producer

Olha Zhurba - ‘Outside’ - Director

Kaia Kahurangi Jamieson - ‘Scope’ - Director/ Producer

Notice that none of these filmmakers actually withdrew their films from the festival. Their supposed concern over how terrible Israel is doesn't extend to them doing anything that will affect their careers. They just signed a letter - a letter designed for the BDSers to claim that they garnered some support from some people who are willing to publicly call Israel an apartheid state.

Now everyone wins: BDS can issue press releases making it sound like their movement achieved a victory by saying that they got prestigious directors to support their message, and the directors can claim that they took the moral high ground without actually doing anything.

The list of festival sponsors is here. Besides the Israeli embassy in New Zealand, the festival is also funded by the embassies of the US, Canada, France, Australia, the Netherlands and the EU.

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!

Khaleej News has a typical article which discusses the alleged health benefits of beef fat.

- A laxative

- A skin moisturizer

- Helps prevent diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

- Has lots of important vitamins

- It has lots of minerals which can treat bone and joint problems

- It protects against osteoporosis

- It reduces the level of triglycerides in the blood

- It is considered a strong sexual stimulant

- It has magnesium, good for diabetics

- It is good for pregnant women and unborn children.

- Helps raise good cholesterol.

But then the article turns into a conspiracy theory about Jews.

You see, Jews lied to the world and said beef fat was harmful. They said that it raises cholesterol and the chance for a heart attack.

This is the biggest trick the Jews have done in the past years

Why did they do this? Because, it seems, the Jews want to sell hydrogenated fats like margarine to unsuspecting non-Jews.

This in turn helps Jews make money from selling low fat foods, and exercise equipment, and diet nutrition.

The main victims of this Jewish scheme are...Arabs, who have a high chance for obesity and diabetes.

There is still plenty of Jew-hatred to be found in Arab media.

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!

06/20 Links Pt2: Israel is the world's worst country - except for all the others; Mumford & Sons guitarist: Palestinians are the real losers in BDS war on Israel

From Ian:

Gil Troy: A New Way to Look at Israel and the Arabs

It’s been an unsettling spring in Israel. A terrorist wave and riots in Jerusalem’s Old City have triggered searing memories of Yasir Arafat’s war against the Oslo Peace Process two decades ago. Most jarring was a March 29 B’nai Brak terrorist attack. Chilling videos showed a Palestinian murdering civilians, including one father whose body stopped the bullets whizzing toward his two-year-old son. But an Israeli-Arab police officer, Amir Khoury, and his partner stopped the terrorist, suggesting a more multicultural future than most non-Israelis imagine.

Khoury’s heroic death contradicts many caricatures of Israel and of Israeli history, just as the present realities in the larger Middle East undermine the narrative that continues to claim that the central stressor in the region is the showdown between Israel and the Palestinians. Diplomatic breakthroughs have Israel interacting with many Arab countries, no matter the heartbreaking outbursts of curated Palestinian violence.

The 75-year-old shorthand term used to describe the unresolved tensions in the region—“the Arab–Israeli conflict”—needs to be updated and made plural. In truth, there are several different conflicts. Some have been resolved; others persist. Most Israelis recognize this nuanced narrative, living as they currently do under a government propped up by an Islamist Arab party in the coalition for the first time. That understanding should now spread outward to the United States.

The heartening plotlines start internally with the Israeli-Arab community’s transformation from living under military rule until 1966 to becoming increasingly liberalized, mainstreamed, and middle class. The Covid crisis highlighted the fact that nearly one-fifth of Israel’s doctors and nurses are Arab, along with more than 40 percent of Israel’s pharmacists.

Outside its borders, we’ve seen Israel’s rise as a regional military power, its role as a high-tech and pharma superpower, and its centrality as a diplomatic power in the growing, mostly Sunni, anti-Iranian coalition comprising Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

The Abraham Accords are at the apex of this transformation. When Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu signed them at the White House on September 15, 2020, with the Emirati foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the Bahraini foreign minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, they opened new opportunities for Israeli Arabs as tourists, translators, and business partners. The Accords are integrating Israel economically into the Middle East, with billions of dollars in deal flow—nearly $2 billion in 2022 alone. While rooted in much goodwill, they are cemented not by misty hopes of a happier future but by a shared fear of Iranian ambition and frustration with American fecklessness.

Meir Y. Soloveichik: ‘Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land’

Strikingly, the bell recast by Whitechapel in 1976, boldly emblazoned by Britain with the words “let freedom ring,” lacked the Levitical verse, the extraordinary link between the American conception of liberty and the heritage of the Jewish people. It is therefore all the more striking that when July 4, 1976, actually dawned in America, something unexpected occurred in Jewish history that truly embodied the Liberty Bell.

On that July 4, Americans woke up expecting the headlines to be about the bicentennial of America, and discovered that after midnight, Israel had engaged in a miraculous mission to rescue over 100 hostages in Entebbe, Uganda. Speaking at the United Nations, Israeli ambassador Chaim Herzog argued that this had been a victory for the entire free world: “We are proud not only because we have saved the lives of over 100 innocent people—men, women, and children—but because of the significance of our act for the cause of human freedom.” The Israelis had, on the American bicentennial, proclaimed liberty throughout the land and fulfilled, for the hostages, the very same biblical verse: “Each man shall return to his heritage, each man to his family.”

The Bell’s biblical story is worth rediscovering today. We are experiencing what COMMENTARY has called “the great unraveling,” in which many on the left assail the greatness of America, describing its story as a series of unmitigated sins. Meanwhile, even on some segments of the right today, we hear dismissal of the universality of the American idea, and of a foreign policy that seeks to support liberty around the world. The bell embodies a people who, ever imperfect, ever exceptional, were inspired by the Bible to advance the cause of liberty on its own soil and throughout the world.

In 2004, on the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the people of Normandy dedicated a near-exact replica of the bell and rung it over the cliffs of Normandy, with the original sound of the bell echoing over the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc. We cannot fail to see in this a reminder of our obligation to preserve the true tone of the bell, the Hebraic grammar of American liberty, until more Americans are willing to hear it again.

Israel is the world's worst country - except for all the others

WHAT HAPPENED to the West was too much success. Success that took the what-ifs out of life, that eliminated the possibility of things not working out.

What generations of increasingly affluent Western parents have done to their children is shield them from life’s vicissitudes, making sure that they live in a world of safe spaces, free of microaggressions and of course, always getting a trophy.

A young adult here who knows that he or she is going to be required to serve the country, most likely in an army that still focuses on the likelihood of combat, is not raised nor is thinking that way.

The question is whether this existential uncertainty is a blessing or a curse. I would argue, given what I see here and abroad, that this anxiety, which has become part of the DNA of the Jewish people, has the effect of keeping us in the moment, of not taking things for granted and enabling a healthy appreciation of not only what we have, but also what might otherwise be.

The two prooftexts for my belief are the following: Israel regularly ranks as one of the happiest nations on earth, and that ranking does not even include the ultimate proof text of my conviction: we have by far the highest birth rate among western nations.

The birth rate says it all: we like it enough here to feel that bringing children into the world is a gift – to the people, to their families, and most of all to the newborns themselves. Yes, the new ones will have to be vigilant, but they will grow up in a place that they will be proud of, that will be proud of them, and that will see them as links in a covenantal chain of an amazing, and yes, an eternal People.

All of this points to a conclusion that yes, we have manifest problems, oodles of nuttiness and a conga line of issues. But at the end of the day, we also have something unique, yet replicable: a basic belief that life here is somehow precious and oh so worthwhile. And that sure isn’t so bad, let alone the worst.

From the Carolina Journal:

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

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

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

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

It includes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

The New York Times helps illustrate how the IDF COULDN'T have killed Shireen Abu Akleh

The New York Times has joined CNN, AP, the Washington Post et. al. in doing a nearly identical analysis of how Shireen Abu Akleh was killed.

It makes most (not all) of the same mistakes the others did, and fudged things to make it look like no one but the IDF could have killed her. But physics is physics, and there is no way that the IDF was in the proper range given by - in their case - two audio analyses by different experts.

The Times did a great illustration of their analysis. I added the real position of the IDF and the position of the two houses that I think are the most likely location of snipers, showing how those two buildings are within the range:

I have shown that witnesses pointed out snipers in buildings south and southeast of the journalists. And that the two main journalist witnesses, Ali Samoudi and Shatha Hanaysha, had both said that the gunfire came from buildings across from them.

I described my logic of the position of the real shooters here, and you can also see there this video from two days later showing how little Jenin gunmen on rooftops care about accuracy when they shoot.

Put it all together, and not only is it impossible (with the information we have) that the IDF could have shot Shireen, but it is highly likely that she was shot by one of the gunmen that we don't have video of but that we have multiple witnesses for.

And that other potentially relevant fact that could explain why we don't have video. The Jenin Camp Telegram channel has been the clearinghouse for videos around Jenin that morning. It takes videos from multiple sources, and that is where the news media are getting many of the videos they are analyzing. Telegram channel had asked residents, on that very morning, not to photograph any shooters in houses!

"Please brothers, the family inside the houses, no one photograph the gunmen - pray for them."

The New York Times, along with the other analysts, always seem to assume that because they have multiple videos, they have a reasonably complete picture of all of Jenin that day. It is a natural bias to trust things you can see rather than theorize about what you cannot. But when determining who shot this bullet, not only is the IDF outside the range of the audio analysis, but they wouldn't shoot as wildly as the shooters did - if they wanted to aim at the reporters as the "experts" want to say, they would not have been hitting trees.

The gunmen on the video seen above, however, would shoot exactly as we saw.

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!

06/20 Links Pt1: Gantz: Israel building regional air defense alliance under US; Ruthie Blum: The Workings of the Palestinian Propaganda Machine; Israel to allow LGBT Palestinians granted temporary asylum to work

From Ian:

Gantz: Israel building regional air defense alliance under US

Israel is building a US-sponsored regional air defense alliance, the Israeli defense minister said on Monday, adding that the apparatus has already foiled attempted Iranian attacks and could be boosted by President Joe Biden's visit next month.

Drawing closer in recent years to US-aligned Arab states which share their concerns over Iran, Israel has offered them defense cooperation. They have been publicly reticent on the idea.

Unveiling what he dubbed the "Middle East Air Defense Alliance" in a briefing to Israeli lawmakers, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said such cooperation is already underway.

"Over the past year I have been leading an extensive program, together with my partners at the Pentagon and in the US administration, that will strengthen the cooperation between Israel and countries in the region," he said, according to an official transcript.

"This program is already operative and has already enabled the successful interception of Iranian attempts to attack Israel and other countries."

The transcript did not name partner countries nor give further details on the thwarted attacks. Iran, Israel's arch-foe and a regional rival of Arab powers, says any military actions it takes are defensive.

"Over the past year I have been leading an extensive program, together with my partners at the Pentagon and in the US administration, that will strengthen the cooperation between Israel and countries in the region."
Defense Minister Benny Gantz

"I hope that we will take another step forward in this aspect (of regional cooperation) during President Biden’s important visit," Gantz added.

Corruption in the Palestinian Authority

According to Fadi Elsalameen, an adjunct senior fellow at the American Security Project, "The Palestinian Authority is a burden on the Palestinian population. Almost 84% believe the PA is corrupt."

"We've spent almost $40 billion inside the Palestinian territories since 1993, and there's very little to show for that money. But we do have very wealthy politicians."

"Most of the economic sector is monopolized by politicians who are directly linked to the president."

"The majority of the Palestinian economy depends on labor in Israel....You need a permit to enter Israel to work, which is provided for free by the Israelis. But you have to pay the corrupt Palestinian official, who's now the minister of civil affairs, $500 a month to maintain your permit."

Ruthie Blum: The Workings of the Palestinian Propaganda Machine

The good news, along with the fake, is twofold. First, not everyone is buying or selling the presumption of Zionist guilt. In contrast to the reflexive hostility of their radical colleagues in Congress, a bipartisan group of 25 representatives gave Israel the benefit of the doubt in its own letter to Blinken.

“We urge you to ask the Palestinian Authority to provide access to the forensic evidence in Abu Akleh’s death for an independent investigation, so that all parties can reach a definitive conclusion about the events leading to her death, and hold all parties accountable,” stated the letter, spearheaded by New Jersey Democrat Josh Gottheimer and sent on May 4.

And second, the Internet platforms enabling the rapid dissemination of demonization also allow for swift rebuttal. The scores of talented tweeters sharing valuable information to counter the lies and offer solace to like-minded, lonely followers deserve kudos for their labors.

Actress and author Noa Tishby, Israel’s first-ever Special Envoy for Combating Anti-Semitism and Delegitimization, is a prime example. In a TikTok video that went viral within minutes of its release, the brunette bombshell gave an explosive exposé of enemy indoctrination relating to Abu Akleh.

“Here are some facts you may not know,” she begins her brief clip. “The International Federation of Journalists … conducted a report about the number of death cases of journalists in war zones between 1990 and 2020. According to the report, 2,658 journalists have been killed in that period of time. Three hundred forty were killed in Iraq, 178 in Mexico, 160 in the Philippines, 138 in Pakistan, and 116 in India. Twelve of the cases were Al Jazeera journalists. Seven of them were killed in Syria, two in Iraq, one in Yemen, one in Libya, and one case from last week.”

She goes on: “Each one of these deaths is horrific, but you can’t name the other 2,657 journalists. You can only name the one [who] was killed in clashes between Palestinian terrorists and the Israeli army. In any of the other deaths, we did not see such vitriol, hateful, horrific reactions and rhetoric as we’ve seen by the international community, social media, celebrities, and the United Nations towards Israel.”

This, she concludes, “is what we call a double standard… and it’s purely rooted in sometimes subconscious anti-Semitism, anti-Jewish racism. So, please, just think about that for a minute, as well. Okay? And rest in peace, Shireen.”

In a sphere dominated by those who jump on any excuse to delegitimize Israel, Tishby and her allies are engaged in a Sisyphean battle. She realizes that even if the IDF is ultimately exonerated in the Abu Akleh saga, the PA and its sophists won’t cease exploiting the episode until the next one comes along.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported:

A unit of Morningstar Inc (MORN.O) that rates companies on environmental, social and governance criteria will no longer sell a human rights research product to investors after an independent review found it "focuses disproportionately on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict" relative to other high-risk regions, executives said on Thursday.

In addition to eliminating the Human Rights Radar product, Morningstar's Sustainalytics unit will take other steps recommended by law firm White & Case LLP, such as making its research more transparent and adding an ombudsperson. In a note on Chicago-based Morningstar's website, CEO Kunal Kapoor said that the company previously was "overly dismissive" when Jewish groups and others raised concerns about bias in its research.

While removing Human Rights Radar as a source is important, the issues with Morningstar's Sustainalytics unit goes much deeper.

The report from White & Case shows that the unit has a close relationship with the Who Profits NGO, which lists only Jewish-owned companies even though there are Israeli Arab-owned companies that would fit its own criteria of what to place on a blacklist. Which means that one of Morningstar's main sources for information is, by definition, antisemitic.

Several Sustainalytics employees provided information about the use of the NGO Who Profits as a source relied upon by the Controversies Research, GSS, GSE, and HRR teams in the context of research involving the Israeli/Palestinian conflict areas. Who Profits describes itself as “an independent research center dedicated to exposing the commercial involvement of Israeli and international corporations in the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Syrian lands.”164 Sustainalytics employees expressed contrasting views on the use of Who Profits by the research teams. Some employees indicated that Who Profits was used primarily for background information, and was consistently balanced against other sources. Other Sustainalytics employees explained that research analysts often rely upon Who Profits for what they view as unique, bootson-the-ground research regarding corporate involvement in the region, in part because Who Profits is one of the few organizations that actually operates on the ground in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict areas. One Sustainalytics employee described the relationship with Who Profits as being somewhat distinct from other NGO sources, as Sustainalytics is familiar with Who Profits’ research approach, and thus analysts will sometimes contact Who Profits directly to ask clarifying questions or obtain additional information.

Communications between Sustainalytics employees and representatives of Who Profits suggest that the relationship between the entities is close, relative to Sustainalytics’ relationships with other organizations. For example, in at least two instances Who Profits raised complaints to Sustainalytics (and GES, prior to its 2019 acquisition by Sustainalytics) about certain business practices, specifically once when Sustainalytics sent a representative to an ESG conference in Israel, and, as noted above, once when Sustainalytics published a bespoke research report that cited Who Profits and ultimately concluded the issuers in question had not violated international norms. On both occasions, GES and Sustainalytics sought to meet with representatives of Who Profits and address their concerns. In neither case, however, did Sustainalytics alter its ratings based on Who Profits’ complaints.

This excerpt shows that Who Profits subscribes to BDS, and complained to their good friends at Morningstar's ESG unit because they violated BDS rules by attending a conference in Israel. It is hard to see how any source can be more biased against Israel than that. Yet Morningstar still has a close relationship with Who Profits and seeks out their "research."

This is the most egregious example of anti-Israel bias at Morningstar but not the only one. Some is far more subtle:

With respect to GSS and ratings involving alleged human rights violations in particular, Sustainalytics employees acknowledged the unique challenges that such research presents, and explained that, in order to meet those challenges, GSS analysts substantiate all allegations with multiple, credible sources. GSS researchers explained that in addition to NGO sources like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the sources that are used most often are the United Nations, international governmental organizations like the European Union, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.

While those sources are considered reliable and objective in the international community, all of them have shown marked anti-Israel bias. The report mentions that the Jerusalem Post has been used as well, but that is hardly a counterbalance. Media sources should be checked to see if their assertions have been disproved by CAMERA or Honest Reporting, NGO sources should be checked to see if NGO Monitor had critiqued the source, and UN Watch should be consulted whenever the UN is used as a source.

Only after looking at both these sources and their critics could Morningstar make a reasonable decision.

While the report shows serious effort to be objective, there are many levels to anti-Israel activity, and there are very few people who are attuned to the nuances of how seemingly objective, respected sources can in fact have a serious pattern of one-sided criticisms of Israel based on their own biased sources. We cannot expect Morningstar to be expert in those biases, but if they want to be truly objective themselves, they need to seek out those who specialize in documenting the bias of their sources.

(h/t FDD)

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!

More truth about "Masafer Yatta"

Anti-Israel activists have been screaming about Israel's demolition of the illegal structures on the "Masafer Yatta" area. Even this week, one resident published an op-ed in The Independent "The Israeli government is trying to destroy my village – we need your help."

I showed last month that Masafer Yatta is a relatively recent set of illegal outposts, with no residents or structures outside ruins mentioned in the 19th century Survey of Western Palestine.

This 1935 map also shows nothing in that area:

Some recent aerial photos showing that the area was nearly empty as recently as 1997. Here are comparisons of areas as they looked then (at the beginning of the land grab) and in 2021:

The residents showed their own evidence of residency in the area in recent decades, and the Israeli High Court said that their photos were only showing evidence that there weren't any permanent structures there.

For the sake of example, our focus will be on the aerial photographs of "Khirbet al-Fahit" presented by the respondents ("al-Fahit" according to the petitioners). In 1967 and 1981 the area was completely empty of buildings. Some development is evident during the years 1990 and 1991. In 2001 it is evident that a number of buildings were already built in Kharbit, and such were built more and more in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012.

An identical picture is revealed from the aerial photographs attached by the petitioners and even more clearly. It can also be seen that in 1972 and 1981 there is no evidence of buildings in the area compared to 2011, when there is a lot of construction on the site.

The same is true with regard to Khirbet Hilweh ("Al Hilweh" according to the petitioners). There is not much room to doubt that in the early years (1967, 1979, 1981 and even 1991) there is no evidence of construction on the site. However in the years 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012 more and more buildings and houses were built. There is a sharp and noticeable difference between the photos from the early period (in 1972, 1981 and even 1993) and the photo from 2011 in which construction can be clearly identified.

The Regavim NGO gives the true origins of the illegal outposts:

This is how these "villages" were born: The shepherds of Yatta, who lived in brick and mortar homes, would sleep in the natural caves in the grazing areas during certain seasons, rather than trekking back to the village each night. After the IDF closed off the area, the shepherds were permitted to continue to graze their flocks there; the IDF gave them a few days' warning before live-fire exercises to insure that no one got hurt. But the give-them-an-inch-and they'll-demand-a-mile dynamic soon set in, and the Palestinian Authority jumped in and began to fund construction and provide materials for permanent structures. Foreign interests funded infrastructure projects for the "indigenous farmers" - laying the water and electricity lines that enabled more and more people to set themselves up on the "free" land and build additional homes - all funded by European donations. This pattern was repeated all through the area; this was proven in the High Court of Justice - by the plaintiffs themselves!

But the IDF willingness to compromise meant that instead of dealing with the illegal construction early, they allowed it to become much more of a problem.

The first petitions regarding Masafer Yatta were filed over 20 years ago - by leftist organizations that tried to wrest control of the area out of the State's hands. There were temporary injunctions issued, which were not only ignored, they were trampled. Rather than tear down the few structures that had popped up in the firing zone, the IDF kept pulling back, limiting the area it used for training in order to avoid harming the squatters who, for their part, pulled out all the stops and poured massive resources into more and more construction and development. What started off as a few structures in contained areas metastasized into hundreds of structures, many hundreds of residents, and a brand new fake-news international humanitarian crisis. A full two decades passed before the High Court finally admitted what had been clear from the start, and what Regavim has been saying all along: The Arab claims to this land are fake news, the claim that Israel is dispossessing indigenous people is a lie - and the State of Israel has allowed its own delusions that it can compromise on our national interest to cause massive local and international damage.

The court decision also noted that the vast majority of petitioners still have homes in the places they moved from to grab this seemingly free land from the State of Israel. In other words, the claim that over 1000 Palestinians will be "homeless" is yet another lie. They have their original homes.

There are no indigenous residents of "Masafer Yatta." The land was always empty and the only reason anyone lives there today is because Palestinians are trying to steal all the previously empty lands they can and claim that they were always there.

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!

An Egyptian newspaper has come up with a brand new story:

An Old Jew Tells What Churchill Said About Palestine: Nothing Here Grows Without Roots

A Jewish old woman who celebrated her 106th birthday a few days ago, said: “One hundred years ago, I was a six-year-old girl at that time who was commissioned to give Winston Churchill a bouquet of roses when he visited Palestine as Minister for the Colonies in 1921."

He went to visit the municipality of Tel Aviv, which the British established in 1909 (!) to be the first seed that they planted to grow later, so that Israel will be the desired homeland for the Jews of the world at the expense of the Palestinian Arab people of the land.

The old woman said that as part of decorating the Churchill reception area in the Tel Aviv municipality garden, the party organizers had to cut down pine trees near the borders of Lebanon and bring them in a hurry to Tel Aviv and planted them in the sandy soil of the municipality garden to beautify them to make them appear more beautiful and elegant and closer to the gardens of Europe!

The little girl, who is very old these days, said that she was bored minutes after the guest started giving his speech, and she leaned on one of the trees, so the tree leaned over towards the other trees and the deception appeared.

She said, as she watched Churchill burst out laughing he leaning toward the mayor and whispered in his ear words that the (old) girl later learned that he had told the mayor:

“I am afraid that your state will fall one day, even if we help you and the whole world helps you to establish it.. Nothing grows here without roots.”

A very nice story that is almost certainly a lie. If this old lady had said this story in a Hebrew newspaper, the Arabic account would have mentioned her name and the newspaper it came from.

Churchill was very pro-Zionist when he visited Palestine in 1921. The Jerusalem Post had a nice article about it on the hundredth anniversary, and quoted him:

[Churchill told a delegation of Arabs seeking his opposition to Zionism,] “It is manifestly right that the Jews should have a National Home where some of them may be reunited. And where else could that be but in this land of Palestine, with which for more than 3,000 years they have been intimately and profoundly associated.”

Churchill told the Jewish delegation which followed:
“The cause of Zionism is one which carries with it much that is good for the whole world, and not only for the Jewish people; it will bring prosperity and advancement for the Arab population.”

Before returning to Cairo the evening of March 30, Churchill visited the then twelve-year-old Jewish town of Tel Aviv, meeting with its Mayor Meir Dizengoff, and the agricultural settlement in Rishon LeZion. On his return to London, he told the House of Commons:

“Anyone who has seen the work of the Jewish colonies will be struck by the enormous productive results which they have achieved from the most inhospitable soil.”

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Al Jazeera catalogs every single "Talmudic ritual" attempted on the Temple Mount

Al Jazeera asked an "expert" to describe out every single "Talmudic ritual" that "extremist Jewish settlers" are attempting on the Temple Mount.

Morning prayer (Shaharit)

Afternoon prayer (Minha)

Minyan

Nanua Ritual: Shaking and swaying movements performed by settlers and shown during their prayers in Al-Aqsa.

Wedding blessing: a remarkably common custom in the last two years, as the newlyweds storm Al-Aqsa before their wedding and pray there with the blessing of one of the rabbis, then take memorial photos and dance at the door of the chain, “asking for blessing from the place of the temple,” according to their claim.

Prayer (Al-Shma): It is the recitation of the first paragraphs of “Deuteronomy” and says “Hear, O Israel, that Adonai our God is one God.” This ritual has been repeated in Al-Aqsa a lot, and has increased since 2014 until today, as the intruder puts his hand on his face with his eyes closed, and shouts in the name of God and his unification.

Blessings of the Priests: A special biblical ritual during which the rabbi (a religious leader) accompanies his students and raises their hands and spreads them over their heads, with the recitation of passages from the “Book of Numbers” in the Torah, and is usually performed by students of the school called “Har Habayit or the Temple Mount” east of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The prayer of penance It is performed before the great Jewish holidays, especially Yom Kippur, and is accompanied by wearing the white robes of penitence, in addition to the dress of serving the temple and its priests.

Raising the Israeli flag: The intruders deliberately raised the flag at Al-Aqsa during the so-called "Unification of Jerusalem" day, which precedes the Judaization dance and march. The latest scenes of raising the flag was on May 29, when settlers raised it collectively inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque between the Mughrabi Gates and Al-Silsila, in an unprecedented scene since the occupation of East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1967.

Plant offerings: During the last Jewish Throne Day[Sukkot], settlers tried to introduce what they call “vegetable offerings,” such as basil and willow branches, and they succeeded in secretly bringing palm fronds to Al-Aqsa in September 2021.

Animal sacrifices: Since 2014, settlers have slaughtered animal sacrifices (sheep, goats, lambs) around the wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque, in celebration of the Hebrew Passover. The past years have witnessed the thwarting of several attempts to slaughter sacrifices in Al-Aqsa, the last of which was after intense calls for slaughter or bloodshed in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa in mid-April, coinciding with the month of Ramadan.

Puberty ceremonies (bar / bat mitzvah): at the age of 13 for males and 12 for females, the adult reads the memorized passages of the Torah, then the rabbi recites to him the “blessing” prayers, and the settlers deliberately establish them in Al-Aqsa to bind their children to it.

Daily lessons from the rabbis: They are given by rabbis dedicated to this task from the so-called "Temple Mount School", when they accompany the intrusive groups on tours and dedicated paragraphs inside the mosque.

The epic prostration (Barkhout): It means the complete prostration, and the flattening of the body on the ground by extending the hands, feet and face completely, and this represents the utmost degree of submission.

The blowing of the trumpet (the shofar): ...In the contemporary application the occupation army used it as a method of “declaring sovereignty” over Al-Aqsa, as the Rabbi of the Israeli army (Shlomo Goren) blew it on the day of the occupation of Al-Aqsa Mosque on June 7, 1967, And it continued during the biblical occasions until it stopped after the burning of the Al-Qibli prayer hall in 1969 for fear of a confrontation with the Islamic world. The trumpet was blown again inside Al-Aqsa on the Hebrew New Year in early September 2021.

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06/19 Links: Centennials to celebrate in Washington, Israel and at the UN; France: Dangerous for Jews; Congress Must Defund the UN’s Poisoned Pillay Report

From Ian:

FDD: How to Curb Anti-Israel Bias Inside ESG Risk Ratings

State Anti-BDS Laws May Apply to Morningstar’s Anti-Israel Ratings and Reporting
After flatly denying any wrongdoing in a March 2021 public statement,24 Morningstar faced the increasing possibility that states could prohibit investment in the company due to its promotion of boycotts against Israel.25 Indeed, Morningstar’s engagement of White & Case was prompted by Illinois’ investigation into Morningstar’s possible violation of the state’s anti-BDS statute.

The White & Case Report itself contains substantial evidence that Morningstar is, in fact, promoting BDS among its customers and the investors that receive ESG ratings from Sustainalytics. As indicated above, Sustainalytics’ ratings of companies doing business in Israel rely heavily on NGOs that expressly promote BDS. And notwithstanding the Report’s conclusion that “Sustainalytics products do not recommend or encourage divestment,”26 the evidence presented in the Report demonstrates otherwise:
Sustainalytics employees were emphatic that none of their research is intended to serve as a “blacklist”—i.e., an exclusionary list of companies in which clients must avoid investing, or must divest from if already an owner. However, employees also acknowledged that at least some clients may use their ESG products in this manner (particularly the GSS and Controversies Research products).27

That is not surprising. After all, why else would investors request ESG ratings and research reports if not to inform their investment and divestment decisions?

Worse still, the Report indicates that Sustainalytics may engage directly with companies to try to dissuade them from doing business in and with Israel. For example, the Report cites one Sustainalytics employee who “characterized the GSE engagement service as the opposite of divestment, as it consists of a dialogue with the engaged company that is designed to improve relationships between the investor-client and engaged issuer, rather than to punish the issuer.”28

To the extent that Sustainalytics encourages companies to cease doing business in Israel to improve their ESG ratings — which is precisely what would happen, according to the methodology set forth in the Report29 — these interactions may amount to boycotts of Israel under numerous state anti-boycott laws.

In sum, not only are Morningstar’s ESG ratings and reports driven by a quantifiable bias against Israel, but by promoting boycotts of Israel, the company risks running afoul of numerous state statutes. For the sake of its shareholders, Morningstar should look beyond the misleading conclusions set forth at the beginning of the White & Case Report and address the root causes of the anti-Israel bias that the remainder of the Report makes glaringly obvious. States with anti-boycott laws will likely now review the Report and consider opening investigations into Morningstar to ensure further reforms are adopted.

France: Dangerous for Jews

[T]he attitude of the French judiciary to [Hadjadj's] murder is similar to how it has regarded all murders of Jews in France, for decades.

First, the authorities always say, as quickly as possible, that the murder of the Jew was not at all motivated by antisemitism. When evidence to the contrary accumulates and becomes impossible to deny, the antisemitic motive may reluctantly be recognized -- as with the abduction, torture and murder of Ilan Halimi in 2006; the murder of Sarah Halimi in 2017; and the murder of Mireille Knoll in 2018.

That the murderers are generally Muslim further encourages the French judiciary not to speak of antisemitism. In fact, it is almost taboo to speak of any Muslim antisemitism in France: Muslim antisemitism is supposed not to exist. All organizations dedicated to fighting antisemitism target only the "far-right."

The French authorities and mainstream media describe crime, but do not explain it -- meaning that crime is rising but not being fought.

The French government has declined to document the religion or race of people charged with crimes. Although the refusal may be well-intentioned, it prevents any understanding of what is taking place and consequently any the means of addressing or preventing it.

David Singer: Centennials to celebrate in Washington, Israel and at the UN

President Joe Biden’s postponement of his forthcoming trip to Israel this month due to “scheduling factors” gives Biden, the United Nations (UN) and Israel the opportunity to celebrate at UN headquarters the 100th anniversaries of American and international support for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.

In announcing Biden’s postponed visit US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides said:
“I’ll bet that Joe Biden has been to Israel and the Middle East more times in his career than every American president combined. He calls himself a Zionist, he loves this place and I think there’s no question about his commitment to this place.”

The first Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897 had declared:
“Zionism aims at establishing for the Jewish people a publicly and legally assured home in Palestine.”

America’s commitment to Zionism’s ambitious goal came on 30 June 1922 – when both houses of the US Congress passed the following joint resolution:
"Favoring the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That the United States of America favors the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which should prejudice the civil and religious rights of Christian and all other non-Jewish communities in Palestine, and that the holy places and religious buildings and sites in Palestine shall be adequately protected."

The League of Nations (LON) – the UN’s predecessor - closely followed the US Congress on 24 July 1922 - proclaiming the Mandate for Palestine:
- Recognising “the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country”
- protecting the civil and religious rights of the “existing non-Jewish communities”.
- appointing Great Britain to achieve these objectives

On 16 September 1922 a memorandum relating to article 25 of the Mandate was presented by the British Government to the Council of the League notifying it that the reconstitution of the Jewish National Home was to occur only in 22% of the Mandate territory west of the Jordan River - and not in Transjordan – the remaining 78% of the Mandate territory east of the Jordan River

The antisemitism problem in France is not only from the (usually) Muslims who attack. It includes the French authorities who refuse to accept that there is a problem at all.

From Gatestone Institute by Guy Millière

Lyon, France. May 17, 2022. A district called La Duchère. René Hadjadj, an 89-year-old Jew, was thrown off a 17th floor balcony -- an act quickly revealed as a murder. The murderer was Rachid Kheniche, a 51-year-old Muslim Arab, with a Twitter account containing many antisemitic messages. The public prosecutor, who has since partially reconsidered his position, immediately declared that the murder was not an antisemitic crime. The mainstream media never reported the murder; only local Jewish newspapers did. Hadjadj's family, who live in the same neighborhood, said they preferred to remain silent.

Journalists have analyzed the situation of Jews in districts such as La Duchère. The responses from the families with whom they meet are always the same: constant Muslim harassment and threats.

The article summary includes:

First, the authorities always say, as quickly as possible, that the murder of the Jew was not at all motivated by antisemitism. When evidence to the contrary accumulates and becomes impossible to deny, the antisemitic motive may reluctantly be recognized -- as with the abduction, torture and murder of Ilan Halimi in 2006; the murder of Sarah Halimi in 2017; and the murder of Mireille Knoll in 2018.
That the murderers are generally Muslim further encourages the French judiciary not to speak of antisemitism. In fact, it is almost taboo to speak of any Muslim antisemitism in France: Muslim antisemitism is supposed not to exist. All organizations dedicated to fighting antisemitism target only the "far-right."
The French authorities and mainstream media describe crime, but do not explain it -- meaning that crime is rising but not being fought.
The French government has declined to document the religion or race of people charged with crimes. Although the refusal may be well-intentioned, it prevents any understanding of what is taking place and consequently any the means of addressing or preventing it.

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Read all about it here!

The antisemitic American Muslims for Palestine has a lobbying arm called AJP Action.

They recently released a scorecard for members of the Senate where they score them on how much they believe they support their cause. They base the scorecard on these criteria:

If they opposed S.1751 - Emergency Resupply for IRON DOME Act of 2021

If they supported S.J.Res.19 - Congressional disapproval defense support of Israel

Opposing S.1061 Israel Normalization Act of 2021

Opposing Combating BDS Act (H.R.336)

Opposing S.Res.120 - anti-BDS act

Supporting a letter urging Israel to provide Covid vaccines to Palestinians

Signing a letter supporting Gaza Aid (includes urging Israel to open Gaza border)

Signing a letter supporting sanctions on Israelis associated with NSO Group

Not signing a letter for the full cooperation of US and Israel on missile defense

Not signing a letter to Halt UNRWA Funding

Not attending AIPAC convention

It is quite clear that these criteria aren't "pro-Palestinian" but anti-Israel.

The scorecard results shows a mix of Democrats and Republicans who get a failing score of F. Democrats with the most pro-Israel scores include Amy Klobuchar and Jacky Rosen.

Of course Bernie Sanders gets an A. But Mitt Romney gets a B, Ted Cruz gets a C.

Other prominent names include Elizabeth Warren (A), Chuck Schumer (B), Rand Paul (B), Jon Ossoff (A), Mitch McConnell (B), Marco Rubio (F), and Patrick Leahy (A).

Whether or not this is a reasonably accurate proxy for how these politicians think about Israel is up for debate. But it is definitely useful tool for the pro-Israel crowd as well as the other side!

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

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Palestinians in the UK warn about the "dangers" of interfaith dialogue - they normalize Israel!

The Palestinian Forum in Britain, in cooperation with the European-Palestinian Communication Forum (Europal), organized a symposium in London on “How Interfaith Groups Are Being Used to Normalise Israeli Apartheid.”

Zaher Birawi, head of the Palestinian Forum in Britain, said during his opening speech, “The aim of the symposium is to warn of the danger of the occupation state or the Israeli lobby institutions in Europe using this concept (of interfaith dialogue) as a means to normalize the practices of the apartheid state, or to infiltrate communities. It promotes the occupation’s false narrative about the conflict, or is even an attempt to distance the Muslim community, its institutions and mosques from talking about the crimes of the occupying state against Jerusalem and the Israeli violations against the first two Qiblas and the third of the Two Holy Mosques. "

Birawi added: “We are certainly with the idea of coexistence, tolerance, and even cooperation between religions, but on the basis of respecting everyone’s minds and rights, and not according to the model supported by the Israeli lobby, but on the basis of rejecting the occupation and its practices against Muslims and Christians in Palestine, mosques and churches, and on the basis of rejecting racism in all its forms.”

In short, they support dialogue which is a monologue of Palestinian Arab claims.

It looks like it attracted about a dozen people.

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06/18 Links: Biden’s Mideast peace problem? He lives in the past; Israel must expel the EU’s antisemitic diplomat; Palestinian activists ban ‘LGBT party’ in Ramallah

From Ian:

Biden’s Mideast peace problem? He lives in the past

U.S. President Joe Biden’s first visit to the Middle East next month will include stops in Israel and the West Bank. It is notable that in the White House press statement listing the issues Biden plans to raise with his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, the word “peace” does not appear.

This is not because Biden is uninterested in advancing peace between Israelis and Palestinians, as some media outlets have implied.

On the contrary, Biden has taken a series of steps to elevate the Palestinian leadership over the last 17 months, including restoring the U.S. aid that former President Donald Trump halted. On June 9, just last week, the Biden administration opened a new “Office of Palestinian Affairs” in Jerusalem, three years after the Trump administration closed the Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem.

The opening of the office is not only a reversal of Trump administration policy but also an explicit rejection of the Israeli government’s opposition to the current administration’s earlier plan to reopen the Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem.

It is an ironic coincidence that, on the same day that the Biden administration announced its decision to open the Office of Palestinian Affairs, two Palestinians were indicted for their role in a deadly ax attack in the town of Elad in which they killed three Israelis and wounded several others.

Biden’s failures in the Middle East are markedly different from those in other parts of the world. His disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which emboldened Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine, and his repeated gaffes regarding Taiwan, among other difficult moments over the last 17 months, all stem from carelessness and a lack of engagement.

But his Middle East policy fails in a different way. It is a systematic kind of engagement in the worst possible manner. In effect, Biden is pursuing a new “appease” process characterized by the single-minded elevation of the Palestinian leadership while not holding them accountable for incentivizing violence against Israel and disregarding Israel’s expressed concerns.

How Israel is using gas exports to boost its diplomatic standing

In the talks with the Europeans, it became clear that that without an alternative gas supply, Europe will need to return to burning coal, a move that would be bad for Europe and bad for the climate.

“The Israeli gas market is young,” Schillat said. “Tamar is just a decade old, Leviathan has been producing gas for two-and-a-half years and Karish has yet to connect to the pipe.

“This is an advantage since our industry can grow and we have a lot of projects to increase capacity,” he added.

In the short term, Israel is already moving ahead with plans to build a third pipeline that can transport gas to Egypt via Nitzana. Currently, gas is moved to Egypt through two pipes – one underwater and one, above ground, via a depot in Jordan.

The third pipe will enable Israel to up its capacity. Once in Egypt, the gas will be liquefied at two different LNG facilities, loaded onto cargo ships and then sent to Europe where it can be converted back into gas and used for electricity.

In the longer term, other options are being reviewed from FLNG facilities near the gas rigs to a massive pipeline that would transport the gas to Europe, directly from the Mediterranean. Talks are ongoing between the government and commercial companies on these different proposals.

“The capacity is going to increase in a big way and we can double what we are exporting already within the next four years,” a government source explained.

But here is the catch – this is infrastructure, big infrastructure and that takes time to build and get working. What Israel decides today will only become available within a matter of years. In the meantime, winter is around the corner for Europe and energy needs will dramatically grow.

There is an opportunity that Israel has. Hopefully, it will not miss it.

Israel must expel the EU’s antisemitic diplomat

Not only is Von Burgsdorff’s libelous rant insulting to every Israeli, and especially to the families of victims of Palestinian terror, but it is also a strong terror motivator. While Palestinian terror is promoted directly by PA figures who incite hate and murder along with the PA’s rewarding and honoring terrorists, terror is also promoted when Palestinians feel they have international support to kill. When Von Burgsdorff, a senior diplomat, says in effect that the gruesome murders of Israelis who were chopped to death with axes in front of their children was “not surprising,” the diplomat can become a terror multiplier. Worse still, coming from a diplomat who represents the EU, he is probably even more influential than the PA religious figure who recently prayed on official PA TV, “Allah, delight us with the extermination of the evil Jews.”

Palestinians calling to kill Israelis is part of the background hum in the PA, but a diplomat who blames the butchering of Israelis by Palestinians on Israeli behavior is a strong booster shot for terror in the region. If even only one Palestinian’s motivation to kill Israelis is aroused or strengthened by the knowledge that the EU understands his plight and motivation, the diplomat will be morally responsible for the consequences of the terror.

Von Burgsdorff’s statement in the name of the EU that Israel’s behavior causes Palestinian terror is no different in essence than Abbas saying European Jewry’s behavior brought centuries of massacres. They are all saying that killing Jews and Israelis, whether thousands in Israel or millions in Europe, is an act of self-defense.

If the EU wants to have any standing in Israel, it must immediately recall Von Burgsdorff, condemn his irresponsible speech and replace him with someone who does not support terror justifying Antisemitism. If the EU refuses to bring him back, Israel must demand that Germany recall its diplomat; if neither acts properly, the Israeli government must do what any government that respects the lives of its citizens would do: Put him on the next plane to Brussels or Berlin.

Israel must not allow any diplomat to remain in the region who echoes PA hate speech by blaming Jewish victims for their own murders. Von Burgsdorff must go.