Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

19th century antisemitic book illustrates how to identify a Jew

The American Jew: An Exposé of His Career, by Telemachus Thomas Timayenis, was the second of a trilogy of antisemitic books by this Greek writer.

A brief biography of the proud antisemite (who once planned to sell a newspaper called The Anti-Semite:)

Thomas Telemachus Timayenis rates high in the rogue’s gallery of Greek criminals, scoundrels and ne’er-do-wells who made the United States their home. Few Greeks arrived in North America with better prospects than Timayenis. Fewer still have disgraced the Greek people so profoundly as this one man. No comprehensive history of the Greeks in the United States can be presented without the inclusion of this problematic individual. Teasing a part of a balanced presentation of Timayenis’ life story is difficult primarily because he so vigorously involved himself with so many prominent individuals and with an amazingly diverse series of causes. What follows is a much abbreviated account of Timayenis’ career and enduring influences.

In short, Timayenis was a professor, novelist, playwright and one of the first to publish a discourse on what was then known as the Jewish Question along racial lines in the United States, rather than considerations of religious doctrine. Compounding what we would call today a hate crime, as we shall see, Timayenis did not even bother to fully compose the text of the argument himself but plagiarized from another author.

In 1888, Timayenis left his academic work and established Minerva Publishing Company in New York, the first company in American to publish books critical of Jews. Timayenis anonymously authored three tracts on the Jews: The Original Mr. Jacobs: A Startling Exposé, ‎The American Jew: An Expose of His Career‎, and Judas Iscariot: An Old Type in a New Form. In The American Jew, Timayenis provided several illustrations showing physical characteristics on how one might identify a Jew. None of these books have ever been out of print and can be found free on the Internet.

Initially, Timayenis based his accounts largely on the publications of Edouard Drumont, founder of the Anti-Semitic league in France. But Timayenis’ writings progressed he clearly had his own ideas. Jonathan D. Sarna writes in The ‘Mythical Jew and in the Jew Next Door a chapter of “Anti-Semitism in American History” edited by David A. Gerber (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1986), that in The Original Mr. Jacobs, Timayenis “calls non-Jews who conform to his Jewish stereotype Jews,” evidence to the contrary notwithstanding: “Has ever a man of observation asked himself the question: ‘Is there any Jewish blood in the veins of John D. Rockefeller?’ We do not hesitate to affirm from an intimate knowledge of the man, that if Rockefeller is not actually a Jew, he has many Jewish traits … The spirit of the Standard Oil Company is simply the spirit of the monopoly, of cruelty, of annihilation of all competitors, a spirit in fact such as manifests itself in the scandalous enterprises of the Jews…” While these three tracts sold in great numbers Timayenis proved so unstable a character that sustained legal battles left him penniless and his anti-Semitic both best-selling volumes and reviled accounts. Various authors adamantly contend that Timayenis’ work spread a permeating ideological fog over the 1880s such that Anti-Semitism gained new ground across the United States.

The books themselves are filled with the most vicious anti-Jewish lies you can imagine, and were apparently best-sellers. Here's a typical paragraph in the 219 pages of The American Jew:

This is before Henry Ford and Charles Coughlin. It was before the publication of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." While his first book about Jews was plagiarized from a French volume, this second book seems to have come from Timayenis;' own twisted mind, and much of modern antisemitism comes from this book which was apparently one of the first in English to attack Jews on racial rather than religious lines.

The New York Times wrote about him in 1888, but the bulk of the article was not about how bigoted he was, but about death threats that he claimed to be receiving several times a day from New York's Jews. Yes, the New York Times was more sympathetic with a proud antisemite than with Jews in 1888.

Hamas Outraged At Duplicate Fake Names Among Gaza Casualties (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Muhammad Wasmadad, a journalist killed on July 29.

Gaza City, February 18 - Officials at the Ministry of Health expressed anger today that the compilers of casualty figures from this past summer's war with Israel sloppily included multiple instances of the same nonexistent people, instead of merely reclassifying dead fighters as civilians and journalists.

Hara al-Susa, head of the ministry's Political Leveraging Division, laced into his staff this morning for failing to adequately oversee the compilation and editing of the casualty lists, an important element in the Hamas movement's strategy to engineer, magnify, and exploit suffering to be blamed on Israel. He pointed to the irresponsible inclusion of the same people several times over on the lists, among them individuals variously identified as journalists, mannequins, and livestock.

"Is this supposed to be a joke?" bellowed al-Susa, who claims to have lost several goats over the summer to whom he was reportedly "very close." "We expect the international media to swallow our figures unquestioningly, but that cannot lead us to become complacent and just throw in whatever names we feel like."

The aftermath of an Israeli strike on the AP headquarters.

Especially irksome, said al-Susa, was a group of at least fifty names, perhaps more, that were obviously manufactured for purposes of the report and appeared to be the product of a bunch of puerile middle school pranksters. "Yubik Manoz? Alaik Tuswallo? Arek M'balsak? Tell me, how credible do you think we're going to remain if Mr. Salaambam Thankyumam appears multiple times on these lists?" he continued.

"No one is going to believe there's more than one poor schmuck with those names - but you expect people to accept that there was one guy named 'Ailaik Anal' who was a journalist killed by an Israeli airstrike; another who was a twelve-year-old struck down by naval artillery; and a third, who - get this - was chowing down in his corral with the other sheep when an Israeli sniper took him out."

"Sloppy, just outrageously sloppy, he added.

Analysts believe the carelessness grows out of at least a decade's experience of having the international media uncritically parrot Hamas-provided casualty statistics. "There's little point to due diligence when whatever you throw out there is eaten up," notes media expert Joseph Goebbels. "Sooner or later, the people involved will try to get creative and see how far they can push things. It's a perfectly natural reaction."

"Just ask my Gazan colleague Yusuk Kaki," he added.

02/18 Links Pt1: Baby Adelle Biton Laid to Rest; Hamas's Army of Children; White House delusions

From Ian:

Baby Adelle Biton Laid to Rest; 'A Great Soul in a Small Body'

Four-year-old terror victim Adelle Biton was brought for burial early Tuesday afternoon in her hometown of Yakir in Samaria.
Adelle had struggled to survive since being struck directly in the head by a fist-sized rock thrown by Arab terrorists in March 2013 while riding in the family car outside Ariel in Samaria. She suffered critical wounds, and doctors said Adelle's recovery from the blow was nothing short of miraculous.
For roughly two years Adelle went through rehabilitation, but the severe nerve damage she never recovered from eventually led her to pass this Tuesday after suddenly coming down with pneumonia.
Adelle's mother Adva spoke at the funeral, saying in tears "they didn't give you a chance but you didn't give up for anyone. I didn't agree that they say you don't hear or don't understand, and you proved to me that you hear and understand. You never gave up, my warrior. Those vile people didn't take your beauty even after you were wounded."
"My Adelle, you're my whole world. Yesterday I saw your suffering, struggling for every breath. When they put you on emergency care I said to the Holy One blessed be He - either life or death, enough of your suffering. The Holy One blessed be He decided to take you to Him," added the bereaved mother.

I Know Exactly Who is to Blame for Adele Biton's Death

Little Adele Biton died from wounds sustained in a terrorist rock attack. Many eulogies will be published during the next few days and the Palestinian Arabs will be blamed, justifiably, for their vicious anti-Semitic infanticide.
But I know exactly who else is to blame.
I blame the ignoble Israeli Jewess Amir Hass. “Throwing stones is the right and the duty of anyone living under foreign rule", wrote the official Haaretz correspondent for what the newspaper labels the "occupied territories".
I blame Israel Prize laureate leftist Professor Zeev Sternhell, who praised “that wonderful boy who smashed a windshield”.
I blame those Israeli journalists who legitimize Palestinian nationalism and condone genocide. For them, stoning a Jew such as baby Adele is the minimum right granted by the international community.
I blame Western symbolic violence against the Jews, such as an 8,000-word New York Times magazine cover story justifying Palestinian Arab terrorism and calling for another Intifada. After all, weren’t the Palestinian Arabs who killed Adele Biton just fighting against “the occupation”? Weren’t they?
I blame Obama, because the truck driving in front of the Biton family was attacked during the Arab riots that erupted in Judea and Samaria ahead of the US President's visit. What did Obama say then in front of an enraptured Israeli audience? “See the world through the eyes of Palestinians”. It was an invitation to “liberate” the territory "stolen by the Jews" in 1948 and in 1967.

The Hares Boys are now murderers

Two years ago, the Biton family 's existence changes in the blink of an eye. Adva Biton, and her three young daughters Avigail, 4, Naama, 6, and Adele, then 2 were injured when Palestinian "boys" hurled rocks at their vehicle, causing their car to swerve off the road and collide with an oncoming truck.
The thugs who nearly destroyed the Biton family became a cause celebe in anti-Israel circles.
The ISM started a letter writing campaign. in support of the "schoolboys", Mohammed Kleib, Mohammed Suleiman, Ali Shamlawi, Ammar Souf, Tamer Souf, saying they "were were arrested and charged with 20 counts of attempted murder for allegedly throwing stones at an Israeli settler’s car", and alleging " They received these charges despite an overwhelming lack of evidence". There was not a word about the devastating injuries received by Adele.
A mother and 3 young girls were nothing more than "setters" to the ISM, and the thugs terrorized them were repeatedly framed as the victims, with the ISM writing, "It is difficult to comprehend how terrible this ordeal must be for the boys and their families."
Today Adele Biton died from complication from the injuries she received in the accident. May she rest in peace. The "Hares boys" are now murderers.
People of good faith, from all regions and all walks of life mourned the little girl.

Edgar Davidson: Comic Relief funds the people who legitimize the murder of 4-year-old Adelle Biton

Two years ago Adelle Biton (then aged two) miraculously survived a rock attack by Palestinian terrorists which left her with severe neurological damage. She died today after her condition deteriorated rapidly. Adelle is one of many Israeli civilians who have been killed or severely wounded by Palestinian rock attacks in the last few years. These attacks are never reported in the Western media (and, indeed, the overwhelmingly leftist Israeli media also does its best to cover them up) except in the context of them being an example of 'weak Palestinians throwing harmless stones against evil Zionists with guns'.
Organisations like War on Want and the openly terrorist supporting International Solidarity Movement (one of whose founders Atif Choudhury is a member of War on Want's Council of Management) regard stone-throwing by Palestinians as legitimate, 'peaceful' acts of resistance. Their relentless campaign to delegitimise Israel also ensures that children like Adelle Biton are dehumanised as "Zionist settlers" deserving of punishment. They even encourage and brainwash westerners to go to Israel and participate in the harassment of Jews. For example, Kayla Meuller (the American recently murdered by ISIS) was a member of ISM sent to Israel and who was proud to boast of her participation in the stone throwing; the world media called her a 'human rights activist dedicated to world peace'. They say the same about War on Want and the many dozens of other organizations dedicated to the delegitimisation (and ultimate destruction) of the Jewish State.
I have been warning about War on Want for many years. Yesterday the newly formed Jewish Human Rights League protested about the organisation's continued antisemitism and its recent anti-Israel stunt that involved handing out fake guns to British students.

Giuliani defends Netanyahu, slams Obama (video clip)

Here are two minutes from a speech that Rudy Giuliani gave at an Iranian-American Community of Arizona symposium entitled “Countering Islamic Fundamentalism and a Nuclear-Armed Iran,” on February 13.

The cloud over Schocken Street

A poll in 2013 showed that Israelis were the 11th happiest people in the world.\

Another survey in 2014 showed that among the 10 countries with advanced economies polled, Israel ranked second in satisfaction with how things were going.

Yet another survey last August showed hat 86% of Israelis were satisfied (or very satisfied) with their lives.

But not 100%.

There are some Israelis, a tiny minority, who are miserable, and they spend every waking hour telling the world how awful things are.

Arabs? Mizrahi Jews? Haredim? No, no and no - their happiness numbers are all better than world averages.

The most miserable people in Israel are the people who write for Haaretz.

Every single day, Haaretz has multiple articles about how absolutely awful Israel is. I'm not exaggerating. Most are of course rabidly against the current government and obsessed with anything negative they can find there, but others are angry at pretty much everything and everyone, and they want the world to realize how terrible the country that they live in is.

Here is one of today's articles in Ha'aretz, by Zvi Bar'el, in its entirety. I won't even fisk it; :

European Jews moving to Israel are trading anti-Semitism for racism

French and Danish immigrants will find that Israel swallows its immigrants, but it doesn't digest them.

By Zvi Bar'el | Feb. 18, 2015 | 2:48 AM

Dusty old plans stored at the Immigrant Absorption Ministry and the Jewish Agency and its affiliates are being revived. Everyone is ready to welcome the big wave of immigrants expected to move to Israel following the terrorist attacks in France and Denmark. No country in Europe is safe for Jews anymore, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, not forgetting of course to remind these future refugees that the continent remains “that same old Europe.”

Actually, not only the Jews of Europe aren't safe. The Jews of Israel have a hard time being convinced that their haven can face up to the threats in the region that Netanyahu warns them of daily. But let's assume that thousands of Jews do decide to abandon their businesses, studies, homes and livelihoods and board rescue flights to Ben-Gurion International Airport. What will they find here?

They'll see right-wing videos portraying the Israeli left as Nazi collaborators out to destroy the country. They'll learn how fortunate they are not to have come here as refugees from Eritrea or Sudan, or even as Jewish immigrants from Ethiopia.

Jews who have suffered European anti-Semitism will trade it in for Israeli racism. They'll discover they've become citizens of an occupying country, the occupation that has contributed to that same anti-Semitism that made them pack their bags in the first place.
And here are two other facts that European Jews should be aware of. Israel's murder rate is 1.8 per 100,000 people, while in France it’s 1 per 100,000 and in Denmark 0.8. Last year, 27 people were killed in terror attacks here. In France and Denmark not a single person was.

The situation in Europe could worsen, but in Israel the risk that the situation could worsen is far greater. If European Jews come to Israel immediately, they can vote in the March 17 election and support the person who promised them a safe haven and invited them to immigrate, or more accurately ordered them to.

True, quickly enough they'll discover that their safety isn't subject to the whims of the Islamic State or Al-Qaida, and they won’t suffer murderous manifestations of anti-Semitism. But to be real Israelis, they'll have to adapt to the Israeli depression and the constant fear of war or mass destruction — or both.

Of course, Jews from Europe can respond to all this with the question: “If things are so bad in Israel, why do you Israelis stay?” The answer is implied in the question: We are Israelis. Our identity is dictated to us. Hebrew isn't only our language, it's our culture. Our solidarity is limited to ourselves; our collective memory as Israelis isn't shared.

That is, there are Palestinians in Israel, but they're the enemy at the moment. The anger that some of us feel isn't directed at the country but rather at the country’s leaders, the ones who distort the national identity and dip it in racist-religious acid. We're proudly surviving with the help of the saying “We survived Pharaoh and we’ll survive this.” Survival rather than quality of life is the linchpin of our identity.

You, the Jews of Europe, were taught to demand quality of life. In Israel, anyone seeking quality of life like that in Berlin is considered a traitor. And please don’t confuse Israeliness with Jewishness. Israelis don’t go crazy for foreigners even if they're Jewish. Just ask the Russians. About 150,000 of the immigrants from the former Soviet Union have left.

And ask the Ethiopians, the Bukharans and the Kurds, who decades after arriving are still identified by where they came from. Of course, you're entitled to immigrate, and of course you'll receive a warm welcome at the airport. But remember that Israel hastily swallows its immigrants. It doesn't digest them.

The amount of self-loathing shown here is off the charts. But at Ha'aretz, this is pretty much par for the course.

To be fair, the writers for +972 Magazine are just as filled with self-hate as those at Ha'aretz.

From a Swedish Radio interview with Israeli Ambassador Isaac Bachmann:

She doesn't even ask if Israeli actions or "Zionists" are responsible for antisemitism - she is asking whether Jews are!

The ambassador replied appropriately, comparing her question to asking if women are responsible for rape.

From TheLocal:

On Tuesday, a journalist for Sveriges Radio (SR) asked ambassador Isaac Bachman on air: "Are Jews themselves responsible for the progression of anti-Semitism?"

The ambassador appeared shocked by the suggestion, and replied: "I purely and simply reject the question."

When the journalist asked "Why?", Bachman said: "There was no reason to ask this question."

The station removed the programme from its online archive and issued a full apology.

Here is the apology:

Israeli Ambassador Isaac Bachmann was a guest in this afternoon's Studio Ett. He put forth an interesting reasoning of the causes of the growing anti-Semitism, but was asked an unfortunate question of whether Jews has a personal responsibility.

We apologize for the question. It is misleading and blames both individuals and a vulnerable group.

The Jewish community has suffered terrible terror and have all our sympathy.

An editorial apology was broadcasted at the end of Studio Ett's transmission.

We have received questions about how the interview will be saved, so therefore this clarification:

We have chosen to publish an edited version of the interview on our website. It is an unusual step, but we do not wish to contribute to the formulation being further circulated.

The original transmission is saved according to the usual procedures which among other things means that it is transferred to the Royal Library.

Anne Lagercrantz, director Dagens Eko
Klas Wolf-Watz, director P1 morning and Studio Ett
Magnus Westberg, producer Studio Ett"

(h/t Bjorn, Erik)

From Ma'an:

Deputy head of Hamas Mousa Abu Marzouk says the last visit to Gaza by international Quartet envoy Tony Blair came to notify the Hamas movement of a new set of preconditions before the war-torn coastal enclave could be rebuilt.

Blair is now talking about five new preconditions to be imposed on Hamas before Gaza reconstruction and improvement to the living conditions, the official said.

Blair's five new preconditions, says Abu Marzouk, include Palestinian reconciliation, a Palestinian political program based on a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 borders, and confirmation that Hamas is a Palestinian movement seeking to achieve Palestinian goals rather than being part of an Islamic movement with regional dimensions.

He also says Blair wants approval that the two-state solution is a final solution to the conflict and a reassuring message to Egypt that Hamas won't be a base for "terrorism in Sinai" and that it would hold talks with the Egyptian government to "prevent terrorism."

In response to the alleged preconditions, the Hamas official said his movement is a Palestinian, Arab and Islamic resistance movement. Its goals are to achieve the Palestinian people's aspirations of return, freedom and liberation, and its top priorities "at this stage" are reconciliation, ending inter-Palestinian dispute and unity of all the Palestinians wherever they live.

Furthermore, Hamas looks forward to operating within a national Palestinian consensus whose goals are withdrawal of Israeli occupation from the West Bank and Jerusalem and establishment of an independent Palestinian state whose capital is Jerusalem.

Hamas, according to Abu Marzouk, is using all available means to achieve those goals and to have distinguished relations with all Arab countries especially with Egypt.

Palestinian reconciliation has already been accomplished, added Abu Marzouk, confirming that his movement is willing to put into effect every single term of the reconciliation agreement.

The question is, said Abu Marzouk, would Israel accept a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders? Would they accept to evacuate the West Bank settlements and stop seizing lands there? Or is it still looking forward to expanding even beyond the West Bank so as to "devour" the West Bank and impose facts on the ground? he asked sarcastically.

With regard to Hamas' insistence that it doesn't have regional plans, the Hamas official said such an assumption would need evidence that the movement has political programs and agendas in that direction. "Where are such agendas and programs?!" he wondered.

Abu Marzouk also commented on the two-state solution as a final solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and confirmed that Hamas "won't agree to sign" an agreement that "confiscates the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people."

He finally reiterated that it was indisputable that Hamas cared about Egypt's security and stability and would never intervene in Egyptian internal affairs.

A casual reading of this would make it sound like Hamas accepts a two-state solution, with a vague caveat.

Which is exactly how Hamas wants to appear to Tony Blair.

Hamas media, however, reports that Abu Marzouk explicitly rejected Blair's demands for a two state solution and that he emphasized that point. He said that "the hopes and aspirations and identity and attachment to the land can not be eliminated or changed by the signing of a leader or the approval of a faction," meaning that no agreement will ever stop Palestinian Arabs from trying to destroy Israel. He accuses Blair of trying to force Palestinian Arabs to waive their "rights" to Israel.

His entire statement is here.

And yet there are still plenty of idiots who will point to lying declarations and mentally fill in vague statements to confidently declare that Hamas has accepted the two state solution.

Challenge antisemitism (Deutsche Welle)

A nice op-ed from Deutsche Welle Editor-in-Chief Alexander Kudascheff:

Islamist terrorism has a hold on Europe - a hold of fear. This year, it was France first, now Denmark - and everyone wonders where the terrorists will strike next.

No one doubts they will attack again. But at least the fear of danger and the terrorist threat hasn't diminished or blocked political common sense. Europe presents itself as determined not to be forced to its knees or give up its values. Europe wants to hold fast to the ideal and reality of an open, free society and to resolutely defend freedom of opinion against a closed theocratic system.

This terror targets all of us, but it particularly targets Jews in Europe. It targeted Jews in Paris in a shop that sells kosher food, it hit Jews in a synagogue in Copenhagen. It humiliates them by targeting Jewish graves - for years, Jewish cemeteries have been desecrated across Europe, in particular in France, where tombs were vandalized just this past weekend.

Many will shrug off these news reports, but it is important to stress that these vandals disturb the peace of the dead and offend the feelings of relatives and friends. They vilify people's memory, which is disgusting no matter whether the perpetrators are far-right extremists or Islamists.

It's high time Europe remembers that it not only has a Jewish legacy, but as Jewish present, too. Apart from great Jewish personalities in European history like Albert Einstein and Moses Mendelssohn, murderous anti-Semitism also shaped the old continent for a thousand years: during the Crusades in Britain and France, the 1492 expulsion of Jews from Spain and the Holocaust, the genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany.

The history of Jews in Europe is a history of persecution, discrimination, social ostracism and murder.

That is why today, Europeans must defend the Jews if they don't want the exodus of Jews from the continent to continue. Of Europe's roughly two million Jews, only 30,000 emigrate to Israel every year, but many more leave Europe unnoticed, heading for Canada or the US.

Europe is remaining levelheaded even in the face of Islamist terrorism. Hardly any laws have been changed, and there has been no hysteria. Societies are not paralyzed by fear of the invisible threat - not yet. But Europe and the Europeans must get more involved in the fight against anti-Semitism.

Europeans must give Jews in their countries the feeling that as a matter of course, they stand by their side. It's a scandal that many people appear to have got used to police protection for Jewish kindergartens, schools and synagogues.

Politically, it is more than alarming that criticism of Israel (for instance in the Gaza war) often turns out to be nothing but veiled anti-Semitism.

But Europe, and every single European, must stand united against rampant anti-Semitism. Not just in demonstrations and other events, but in everyday life. Do not stand idly by when your neighbor's life is threatened, the Bible says.

We shouldn't stay silent, but raise our voices in anger.

Believe it or not, this editorial was translated into Arabic and published in Egypt's Shorouk News.

02/17 Links Pt2: British artists shun Israel’s ‘blood money’ but accept Britain’s; CIA and Anti-Zionism

From Ian:

Richard Millett: As Jews are murdered why is War On Want handing out fake guns to British students?

With Jews being murdered in France, Belgium and Denmark there’s an ominous feeling that British Jews are awaiting their own round. With that in mind a group of concerned British Jews from Jewish Human Rights Watch protested this morning outside the offices of War On Want in central London.
War On Want is one of Britain’s most respected charities but it is, sadly, now being run by people determined to import the Israeli-Palestinian conflict onto the streets of Britain.
Quite unbelievably, after what has happened this weekend and in Belgium and Paris, War On Want’s current campaign includes handing out fake guns to students to help mark what is sickeningly termed “Israeli Apartheid Week” which begins next week on British university campuses.
Many British Jews are feeling insecure and accuse WOW of helping to spread propaganda and hate against the Jewish State which could well lead to the events of Paris, Belgium and Denmark being repeated in the UK. They are asking: Is War on Want helping to promote a War On Jews?
I questioned John Hilary (see below), WOW’s executive director, about this and other issues as he approached his offices. As you can see Hilary refused to answer my questions about WOW handing out guns to British students, a two-state solution, Israel’s future or the bombing of innocent Israeli civilians by Hamas.

Why, as Jews die, is War On Want handing out fake guns?

Brendan O'Neill: British artists shun Israel’s ‘blood money’ but accept Britain’s

Seven hundred British creatives have signed a pledge saying they will never work in Israel or take the Israeli government’s filthy lucre so long as it continues to wage war in Gaza and kill Palestinians. So why, then, are they happy to take money from the British government, when the British government has in recent years bombed Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and left a trail of destruction and line-up of corpses that make last year’s Israeli clashes in Gaza look like a tea party in comparison? Come on. There must be an answer to this question. What is it? Why shun Israel’s ‘blood money’ but accept Britain’s?
A quick glance at the list of 700 Israel-boycotters reveals numerous people who have built their careers on cash from the coffers of the Iraqi-killing, Afghanistan-repressing British government. There’s Ken Loach, recipient of monies from the government-backed UK Film Council, here chiming in with all the others to say he will ‘accept neither professional invitations to Israel, nor funding from any institutions linked to its government’. So, Ken, why are you happy to accept money from institutions linked to a government that has killed way more people in the Middle East than Israel has?
There’s Mike Leigh, who’s also been funded by the UK Film Council, and who threw a massive hissy fit in 2010 when the Film Council was wound down in its current form and reorganised. Ladies and gentlemen, the principled film-directing doyen of decent Hampsteadites, who makes angry public statements over two things: his implacable, principled refusal to take blood money from the Israeli killing machine and his fury at having his bloody money from the British killing machine taken away from him! What a guy!

Jewish-led UK artists’ boycott greeted with derision

Laura Marks, senior vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, alluded to the timing of the boycott letter, calling it “offensive” in an interview with The Times of Israel.
“There is something ironic in the demand for a cultural boycott and the demand not to engage when the attacks in Copenhagen and Paris were made on people who wanted to express themselves,” Marks said.
Marks claimed a cultural boycott of this sort is also “racist.” “As the APPG report makes clear, negative language towards Jews becomes the norm if you don’t challenge it,” she said.
“How do we change attitudes if people want to close down communications? Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and [these artists are effectively] saying that they will continue to work with all sorts of awful regimes and that Israel is the only one they aren’t going to deal with.”
On Monday, an editorial in The Times weighed in, saying, “The egregious campaigns for a cultural boycott of Israel are stoking ugly, atavistic movements in Europe. These need to be confronted by civilized opinion. Israeli governments are fallible but the Jewish state is a force for democracy in a region that is short of it.”
Chairman of Britain’s Zionist Federation Paul Charney was equally dismissive when speaking with The Times of Israel.
“The signed letter says much more about the myopic views of a small clique of navel-gazers then it does about any wider support for boycotts in this country,” said Charney.

ISIS threatens "Rome"

From Time:

The executioner speaks in English and points his knife toward the Mediterranean. “We will conquer Rome, by Allah’s permission,” he says.

The video released by the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) on Sunday showing the killings of 21 Egyptian Christian workers, appeared to be directed at the Christian world, the continent of Europe and gloried in its brutality.

It was filmed in Libya on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The video made no reference to the other powers in Libya’s civil war, in which both of the country’s rival governments claim to be combating ISIS.

Unlike the statements of other Islamist groups in the region, the video also made no mention of the Egyptian state, which has cracked down on political Islam since the removal of elected President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Egypt’s government is also participating in the fight against Islamists in Libya.

Instead, the five-minute film is concerned with more international themes. The targets are not modern states, but rather “Rome” and Christians, who are labeled “the people of the cross, the followers of the hostile Egyptian Church.” The message was phrased in religious terms intended to transcend national boundaries. The video ends with the Mediterranean waves dyed red from the blood of the murdered men.

The spectacular appearance of ISIS on the Mediterranean’s southern shores alarmed European governments. Italy’s Interior Minister Angelino Alfano called for NATO to intervene in Libya. “ISIS is at the door,” he was quoted as saying. “There is no time to waste.” If the country’s conflict is not resolved soon, U.K. special envoy Jonathan Powell declared, Libya risks becoming “Somalia on the Mediterranean.”

From ANSA:

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni warned Friday that "Italy is under threat from the situation in Libya, 200 nautical miles away". In a television interview, he said it was a grave concern that Islamic State (ISIS) militants may be as closed as Sirte in Libya. Earlier, the Italian government urged citizens to "temporarily leave" Libya as ISIS appeared to be making headway.

This shows that the advice of Graeme Wood in his otherwise excellent article mentioned yesterday, to contain ISIS instead of destroying it, will never work. He writes:

Properly contained, the Islamic State is likely to be its own undoing. No country is its ally, and its ideology ensures that this will remain the case. The land it controls, while expansive, is mostly uninhabited and poor. As it stagnates or slowly shrinks, its claim that it is the engine of God’s will and the agent of apocalypse will weaken, and fewer believers will arrive. And as more reports of misery within it leak out, radical Islamist movements elsewhere will be discredited: No one has tried harder to implement strict Sharia by violence. This is what it looks like.

Perhaps IS can be contained in Syria and Iraq, but when territorial contiguity is unnecessary - as its members in Libya and the Sinai show - then it can always give the appearance of growing. And in Islam, appearances are more important than facts. (This is a byproduct of the honor/shame dynamic.) Other hardline Islamist groups will inevitably decide to join IS for practical reasons: it is a name-brand chain of radical Islam, freeing the other groups from worrying about marketing, recruiting and fundraising.

(h/t Yoel)

The tiny remaining Jewish community in Yemen is getting very close to disappearing altogether after the Houthi takeover of the government.

But once upon a time, Jewish craftsmen in Yemen were highly regarded for their skill.

From National Yemen:

For thousands of years, Jews in Yemen excelled in the manufacture of silver, old wooden windows, doors and boxes, as well as in carving the walls of houses, mosques, and schools, which are considered today relics and historical places.

Jews were keen to sculpt the Star of David, a Jewish symbol, in all their works. At the same time, people were also keen to buy things that had the Star of David because it indicated quality Jewish work.

However, because of spreading sectarianism, racism, and hatred between peoples, non-Jews in general avoid things with the Star of David because of its association with Israel.

Whether people today love the Star of David or not, it is sculpted in many old doors, walls, and jewelry in old Sana’a. Tourists and businessmen pay thousands of riyals to buy jewelry and other works by the Jews.

Ahmed, 47 and a craftsman in old Sana’a, said that anything in a Jewish craftsperson’s hand was transformed into a masterpiece, especially silver and gold pieces, textiles, and architecture.

“In addition, Jews were responsible and accurate in their time with customers. Despite people at time considering craftsmen from the lower class, many preferred Jewish works and praised their performances. They were called Industry Men in Yemen,” he added.

According to Ahmed, until recently when most Jews left Yemen, craftsmen were sculpting the Star of David or any symbols in order to convince people their work was Jewish.

He explained that the traditional industries of Yemen’s Jews developed with time and place where they inherited their jobs for each other and watched modern industries that were brought from abroad through Aden and the Turks.

“All this creativity and magnificent sense came from the Jews under difficult circumstances faced by Yemen economically, politically, and socially before the revolution,” said Ahmed.

According to old families in Sana’a, any village or neighborhood inhabited by Jews was turned into workshops for industries and crafts of all kinds.

The emigration of Jews from Yemen led to the deterioration of the Yemeni economy and the extinction of many crafts.

02/17 Links Pt1: As Anti-Semitism returns, Obama remains ignorant; LATMA with English Subs!

From Ian:

Toddler injured in 2013 attack in critical condition

A 4-year-old girl seriously injured in a 2013 rock-throwing terror attack is fighting for her life, doctors said Tuesday.
Adele Bitton was readmitted to the Schneider’s Children’s Hospital in Petah Tikva earlier this week for pneumonia and on Tuesday, doctors said her condition was critical.
Bitton suffered a traumatic brain injury in March 2013 when Palestinians threw rocks at a car she was in near the West Bank settlement of Ariel, and has been largely unresponsive since then.
Medical staff at the hospital said Bitton’s condition deteriorated after developing respiratory complications from the lung infection. She was transferred to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit where doctors are working to save her life.
Speaking to Channel 2 News, Bitton’s parents urged the public to pray for their daughter’s recovery, and said they were hoping for the same miracle that saved her life two years ago.

UPDATE: Toddler injured in 2013 attack dies of pneumonia

A 4-year-old girl seriously injured in a 2013 rock-throwing terror attack died on Tuesday afternoon from complications from pneumonia, a Petah Tikva hospital said.
“With great sadness we announce the passing of Adele Bitton, who passed away this evening despite doctors’ efforts to save her. We send our condolences to the family,” the Schneider’s Children’s Hospital said in a statement.
Medical staff at the hospital said Bitton’s condition deteriorated after developing respiratory complications from a lung infection. She was transferred to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit Tuesday where doctors attempted to save her.

As anti-Semitism makes a comeback, Obama remains ignorant

The hostility of the intellectual elites to Israel encourages these terrorists as they plot further evil. The men of evil understand that only the Americans stand in their way of realizing the dream of the worldwide caliphate, and when the leader of the Americans isn’t even sure who the enemy is they rightly figure they have little to worry about.
The 8,000 Jews in Denmark deal with anti-Semitism every day, and the Danish government, full of the usual Scandinavian piety about its wonderfulness, grants millions of kroner to activists who disguise their hatred of Jews, and lecture the Israelis about how they deal with the real-world threats to Israeli survival.
The good news is that France, which has had a habit of sleepwalking through history, seems to have pinched itself awake. Since the Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket attacks even the densest Frenchman can see that the Islamic radicals have him in their gunsights along with everyone else who doesn’t bow to Allah in the way of the 9th century. Prime Minister Manuel Valls has ordered the isolation of Muslim jihadis in prisons, increased spending on intelligence agencies and according security forces greater authority to monitor terrorist suspects on the Internet.
Mr. Obama wants more authority, too, but nobody in Congress can figure out why. He already has more authority than he’s willing to use. He could take to heart the admonition of Theodore Roosevelt: “I have a perfect horror of words that are not backed up by deeds.” So do we all.

We'll be the Judge, episode 2

The second episode of the Israeli satire program "We'll be the Judge," from the creators of Latma's Tribal Update, Israel Channel 1, February 12, 2015. (h/t Ronin0948)