Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, July 15, 2021

07/15 Links Pt2: No More Slogans; Erasing Years of Work, California Bill Revives Anti-Semitic Ethnic Studies Curriculum; Florida Officials Thank IDF Rescue Team

The ADL is not alone in its failures; few of the other prestigious Jewish organizations headlining the No Fear coalition have done much better. But its performance is illustrative of the broader problem. On the eve of the rally, the ADL’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt admitted in a Newsweek column that “the left has an antisemitism problem.” According to Greenblatt, “while extremism on the right has dominated the public conversation for much of the past five years … right now the challenge is also rising among certain elements of the far left.”

Greenblatt implies that this is a new and surprising phenomenon, but antisemitism found its most comfortable philosophical and political home on the left several years ago. President Obama’s strategy of distancing the United States from Israel while bolstering Iran was accompanied by a deliberate demonization of the Israeli government and more than a few intimations that Jewish money and influence were responsible for the domestic unpopularity of the administration’s nuclear deal.

In response, Greenblatt himself spent years leading numerous witch hunts, using the ADL imprimatur to tar opponents of the Obama administration’s Iran policy with the brush of antisemitism. Under the leadership of a partisan political operative, the ADL has been far more committed to the welfare of the Democratic Party than to the welfare of America’s Jews.

It’s no surprise, then, that antisemitism is enjoying normalization across the mainstream of Democratic politics. Just as in Corbyn’s Labour Party, antisemitism now permeates the Democrats’ progressive base. If nothing else, the one thing that Black Lives Matter, the Women’s March, the squad, the Democratic Socialists of America, the teachers unions, and the entire intersectional movement all share in common is a nagging antisemitism problem. These are not fringe movements, but valued members of the Democratic coalition, often used as campaign surrogates and enjoying public endorsement from leading Democratic politicians.

None of this is to say that there is no antisemitism on the right. Republican politicians and right-leaning pundits also stray into stereotyping, invoke antisemitic tropes, trivialize the Holocaust, hold Jews to unique double standards, refer to the canard of dual loyalty, and accept endorsements from outspoken antisemites. But Republican leadership and the Republican Party in general have been far more willing than Democrats to call out such behavior from their own colleagues, and to distance themselves from both the transgressors and their transgressions. On the political right, antisemitism is increasingly the exception; on the left, it is fast becoming the rule. Most people on the left are not antisemites, but antisemites now hold most of the left’s power.

“No Fear” may be a fine aspiration, but it’s deeply misplaced as a substitute for bold action against dangerous forces. In the current climate, fear is deeply rational. Antisemitism is on the rise, it has a strong and tightening grip on elite and establishment opinion, and the primary organizations Jews trust to protect us have instead abetted its rise. It’s past time for America’s Jews to move on from their traditional leaders and organizations in favor of new ones willing to speak honestly and act.

Also King: “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism!” https://t.co/Qfh1b0FSW2
— Orbital tungsten rod sales ?? (@razingarizona) July 14, 2021

Debunked: Those Maps of ‘Palestinian Land Loss’ Are Misleading. Here’s Why.

If you’ve spent some time reading about the Arab-Israeli conflict on the internet, you have most likely encountered a series of maps supposedly outlining how Palestinian land ownership has dramatically declined over the last century.

Seen variously under titles such as “Palestinian loss of land,” “Shrinking Palestine” or, more recently, “Palestinian Historic Compromise,” the maps are striking.

They are also grossly misleading and poison the conversation about Israel. Here’s why.

Most people assume maps are accurate: charts that have been meticulously drawn up to faithfully depict the land they represent. But we often fail to consider their potential to mislead. The ability of maps to convey three-dimensional realities on a two-dimensional plane is more constrained than we realize. Moreover, the title above the map – like a headline – frames the way we understand it.

When taken out of context, maps can easily be used to manipulate or deceive. While this deception is immediately apparent to those familiar with the particular region’s history, such maps can nevertheless successfully influence the perception of uninformed people.

The next time you see these maps online, feel free to quote from part of this article, or to simply link to this page.

Whatever you do, don’t let the lie go unchallenged.

Misleading Terminology
First, some background information. Historically, the word “Palestinian” did not refer to Arabs living in the region, but to the region itself. Some 100 years ago, the land was administered by the British, and its inhabitants were Jewish, Christian and Muslim – all of whom were identified as “Palestinian.” However, for most, their primary identity was not their nationality, but their religion.

Indeed, many Arabs bristled at being called “Palestinian,” voicing strong opposition to the label. Instead, they saw themselves first and foremost as Arabs or Muslims. Only in the mid-1960s was the word co-opted to mean Arabs.

Hence, before 1948, it would not have made sense to talk about Palestinians as opposed to Jews. The population was divided into two primary groups: Jewish and Arab.

This makes sense because a sovereign Palestinian state never existed. Therefore, there were no “Palestinian lands.” Rather, the land was part of the Mandate for Palestine, a geographical area controlled by the British after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War.

Media Outlets Omit Critical Context About PA’s Pay-for-Slay, Turn Facts About Policy Into Israeli ‘Claims’

Glaring Omission: 2018 Taylor Force Act
The Washington Post, The Associated Press, and Reuters are also seemingly oblivious to the fact that Israel’s decision to freeze part of the tax transfers aligns with United States’ policy to prevent taxpayer money from going to the PA so long as it continues its Pay-for-Slay program.

Named for an American civilian murdered in a 2016 Palestinian terror attack in Tel Aviv, the Taylor Force Act was passed in 2018 with strong bipartisan support. Its purpose is to stop US funding to the Palestinian Authority due to the stipends paid to terrorists and their families.

In fact, it would seem that an article ostensibly castigating Jerusalem for taking steps to deter terrorism would include related information about how Washington has done the same thing. Albeit, the Biden administration has seemingly found a loophole and intends to provide groups supporting Palestinians with hundreds of millions of dollars.

By failing to note the Taylor Force Act, WaPo and The Associated Press can proceed to blithely spread the following:
For the Palestinians, the families of attackers are widely seen as victims of a half century of Israeli occupation. The Palestinians say that many Palestinians are unfairly held by Israel and that the number of prisoners involved in deadly attacks is a small percentage of those aided by the fund.

It is difficult to fathom how any news article could include an apparent justification for terrorism.

Moreover, the problem is widespread. Research conducted by HonestReporting shows that between July 6 and July 12, the term “Taylor Force Act” was included a total of 52 times in news items and television segments. Over the same period, “Taylor Force Act” and “Israel” were mentioned in the same article or segment a mere 15 times. When you add “terror” to the mix, there were only five results.

By uncritically relaying the PA’s stance on Pay-for-Slay, news organizations are proving to be obstacles to the kind of transparency needed to facilitate a robust public debate on the issue of aid to the Palestinian people — especially regarding where it winds up.

Babylonians Graciously Offer Jewish Exiles Perpetual Second-Class Status, Occasional Genocide (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

: Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP via Wikipedia

Babylon, July 15 - Officials and local leaders reacting to the arrival in Mesopotamia of the continuing waves of forced Jewish emigration from Judah took pains today to repeat their message of welcome to the refugees from Emperor Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of their land, stressing that the newcomers can look forward to thousands of years of contingent tolerance, sporadic attempts to destroy Jews, and discriminatory treatment by their host nations, be they the current, Neo-Babylonian Empire, or any number of successor regimes ruling various parts of the Jewish Diaspora.

Crowds of Babylonians lined the roads of towns and cities across the region this week to greet Jewish refugees and those forced at swordpoint to leave their ancestral homeland, a massive population movement expected to continue for months, perhaps years, as Nebuchadnezzar's military mops up remaining Jewish resistance and determines whether to leave any Jews at all in Judah. The crowd called cries of welcome to the Jews, assuring the exiles that millennia of second-class status await them, during which the dominant powers will treat Jews as perpetual outsiders, at best tolerated and at worst, well, look what's happening right now.

The current wave, estimated at several million, significantly increases the number of Jewish exiles forced into Babylonia, eleven years after Nebuchadnezzar removed the vassal King Jechoniah of Judah and installed the latter's brother Zedekiah in his stead. The emperor deported large swaths of Judah's aristocracy along with Jechoniah, in an attempt to decapitate incipient insurrection. However, Zedekiah eventually revolted as well, prompting Nebuchadnezzar to order a full-scale invasion and reduction of every Jewish stronghold. Following suppression of Zedekiah's revolt, the military administration installed Gedaliah ben-Ahikam as governor of the troublesome province and its remaining inhabitants, but the long-term prospects of that arrangement remain uncertain.

Babylonian community leaders exhorted their constituents to make the Jews feel at home by reminding them they don't belong. "We do them a favor by not killing them, that's the main thrust of our welcome," explained Hamedatha the Agagite. "I just don't think people who hold this bizarre notion of a single deity behind all of reality can ever truly integrate into larger polytheistic society. So we can give this a few decades at most, I think - probably on the order of seven or so - but my prediction is their presence is just going to be a thorn in the side of right-thinking people and it's our children and grandchildren who will have to deal with it."

07/15 Links Pt1: Israel Is Held to a Special Standard that Is So High It Can't Be Met; Why the World Needs to Condemn Hezbollah; Slovakia to open diplomatic mission in Jerusalem in September

From Ian:

Israel Is Held to a Special Standard that Is So High It Can't Be Met

It was during Operation Cast Lead in December 2008. The Israeli Embassy in Britain was surrounded by demonstrators, some of whom became violent. They climbed the fence, threw Molotov cocktails and rocks. Tension was running so high that Yuval Diskin, then-head of the Shin Bet security agency, which is in charge of security at Israel's embassies and consulates abroad, recommended closing all diplomatic missions to keep their staffs safe.

Ron Prosor, who was serving as Israeli Ambassador to Britain at the time, rejected the idea.

"No embassy will close on my watch and under my command," he told Diskin. "As far as I'm concerned, they can take the staff out in APCs," he added. The embassy continued to operate. A few days later, clad in a flak jacket, Prosor took part in a pro-Israel demonstration held by the local Jewish community.

This story, which does not appear in Prosor's new book Undiplomatically Speaking (Yedioth Books, Hebrew, English translation scheduled for 2022) reflects the approach of one of Israel's outstanding diplomats of the past few decades: initiative, offense, standing up for Israel's national honor and battling for the justness of Israel's path on all fronts. It should be required reading for any Israeli who wants to understand what is happening to us in the international arena.

In the book, Prosor sums up 30 years at the heart of diplomatic activity. From the secret contacts he helped build with the Gulf states to dealing with the global media in London and the ceaseless struggle against the UN's hypocrisy and triple standards. The book includes anecdotes, including one time when Prosor noticed an unusually unattractive woman sitting next to him on a flight. On second glance, it turned out that "she" was none other than then-head of the Mossad Meir Dagan.

Prosor sits down with Israel Hayom to discuss the new governments in Israel and the US.

My oped in @LeTemps: ”The ICC was designed to fight impunity for the worst atrocities, not to pursue a democracy defending itself from terrorists, with a robust legal system, and with an army that has 'done more than any other in history to avoid harming civilians in a war zone.' https://t.co/92Jmt3MNw4
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) July 15, 2021

BREAKING: The Dutch government's antisemitism envoy calls on all European countries to follow the Netherlands & withdraw from the UN's Durban IV conference, "a process rife with antisemitism."

Also pulled out: Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, UK, US. https://t.co/ml3RJ98VfP
— UN Watch (@UNWatch) July 15, 2021

From Good Evening San Diego:

Amid a rise in recent antisemitic crimes, Christian and Jewish groups from around San Diego will be rallying together against antisemitism on July 25 in El Cajon.

Mayor of El Cajon Bill Wells joined KUSI’s Logan Byrnes on Good Evening San Diego to discuss the event.

Shield of David is organizing the event with a group of over 2,000 local Jewish community members, parents, business owners, and concerned citizens.

At the end of this interview, Mayor Wells says that they expect as many as 5,000 people to attend.

Why would this rally in a suburban San Diego town attract more people than the "No Fear" rally in Washington last Sunday?

The reason is simple: this one is more concerned with all kinds of antisemitism than catering to those who deny the most prevalent kinds.

It is obvious that the recent spike in antisemitism recorded in New York, Los Angeles and the United Kingdom is directly because of Israel haters attacking Jews. Yet the people that the No Fear rally wanted so badly to co-sponsor refuse to admit it. Which means that they really don't care about antisemitism.

As this Shield of David organizers say, they are all about "combating discrimination and persecution of Jews anywhere."

Which includes Israel.

Because the message of this rally is straightforward, without caveats excusing certain kinds of antisemitism, it will attract the people who care most about antisemitism. It will attract Christians who care about Israel. It has a famous keynote speaker, Mike Pompeo, who is unapologetically pro-Israel and philosemitic - and who would have not been allowed to speak in DC because he is a Republican.

Assuming this El Cajon rally isn't rained out, it will be successful because it doesn't make the mistakes of the DC rally.

Don't modify and water down your message to attract reluctant partners.. Send out a proud, unambiguous message and attract people who agree with you. You get a lot more respect that way.

The logic of Arab peace with Israel - from Jordan's King Abdullah I

Palestinian "resistance factions" condemned the opening of the UAE embassy in Israel, calling it a "great sin against the Palestinian people" and called the UAE "the head of evil."

There has always been a division in the Arab world between leaders who can think clearly about their people's interests and the majority whose Jew-hatred overrides what's best for their people.

In Avi Shlaim's 2008 biography of Jordan's King Hussein. he recounts an episode from Hussein's father King Abdullah I:

One question that has continued to puzzle observers is: why did Abdullah disregard all the warnings and keep to his plan of Friday prayers in Jerusalem [the day he was assassinated]?

One possible answer, which was long to remain a closely guarded secret, is that Abdullah had arranged to meet two Israeli officials in Jerusalem the next day, Saturday, 21 July 1951.

The two officials were Reuven Shiloah and Moshe Sasson, who was continuing the negotiations for a peace treaty that his father, Elias, had begun.

At one of their first meetings, Moshe Sasson asked Abdullah, "Why do you want to make peace with Israel?" The king replied, "I want to make peace with Israel not because I have become a Zionist or care for Israel's welfare but because it is in the interest of my people. I am convinced that if we do not make peace with you, there will be another war, and another war, and another war, and another war, and we shall lose all these wars. Hence it is the supreme interest of the Arab nation to make peace with you."

Self-interest always wins.

Unfortunately, Jew-hatred is so widespread in the Arab world that Arab leaders have to be concerned about the possibility of their regimes becoming unstable from their antisemitic subjects who hate Jews more than they care about their own country. This changes their own self-interest calculations.

The key for peace in the Middle East isn't Israeli concessions. It is to eradicate Jew-hatred from the Muslim world. If there is no antisemitism, then the benefits of peace with Israel are crystal clear.

This is obvious to anyone who isn't blinded by the lie that antisemitism has nothing to do with anti-Zionism.

The European Union Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah Crossing began working in January 2006 to be a third party observer on people crossing the border between Egypt and Gaza, under Palestinian Authority control and with Israel watching remotely to ensure security.

Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, and after being there for less than 18 months, EUBAM-Rafah no longer had any reason to exist.

It still exists, waiting and hoping for the PA to take over Gaza and turn the clock back to 2006. In its own words, for 14 years "it has maintained its readiness to redeploy to the RCP (Rafah Crossing Point) including launching a Preparedness Project, designed to enhance the Palestinian Authority’s capacity and readiness to return to the RCP."

There are 18 people working there, doing virtually nothing while living in Tel Aviv and drawing salaries.

Its mandate gets renewed every year.

Its annual budget is €2,040,000.

Occasionally EUBAM-Rafah members give training to the PA. Last month, they gave a seminar on how to use X-Ray machines for goods. That was the first training this year; in January 2020 they gave a one day seminar on how to deal with disabled travelers. They've been doing that since 2014.

Sometimes they donate equipment, or host some mid-level official from Europe. That's about all they do.

Everything they are doing can be done by existing EU groups in the territories

Even though it only took five weeks to create and staff EUBAM-Rafah in 2005, for some reason the EU thinks it is more efficient to keep them around just in case there is a sudden reason for them to go back to observe people at the Hamas controlled Rafah crossing.

07/14 Links Pt2: The ADL head's disingenuous epiphany about left-wing antisemitism; Remembering Bayard Rustin; NBA Legend Rick Barry Visits Kids at Basketball Camp in Jerusalem

From Ian:

Ruthie Blum: The ADL head's disingenuous epiphany about left-wing antisemitism

He went on to say, "Demonizing Zionism as a concept represents a kind of anti-Jewish racism. Delegitimizing the Jewish state with exaggerated claims and unhinged charges, then dismissing the connection between that level of inflammatory rhetoric and the violence perpetrated against Jewish people, is willfully ignorant at best, intentionally malign at worst. Excluding Jews from political coalitions or public activities is discrimination, plain and simple."

All well and good, of course, though why this manifestation of antisemitism is only just dawning on the ADL chief is as curious as his referring to the demonization of Zionism as a "kind of" anti-Jewish racism, rather than part and parcel of its very essence. After all, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism includes singling out the Jewish state for condemnation.

Lest one was tempted by Greenblatt's words to give him credit for doing his job, however, he made sure to let his leanings come out in the conclusion.

"It has been heartening to see that some prominent progressive voices have spoken out against anti-Semitism or apologized for using overheated rhetoric," he wrote. Judging by the hyperlink under the sentence, he was referring to movie star Mark Ruffalo, who tweeted remorse for having suggested that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. How touching.

Greenblatt also gave a nod to members of Congress (i.e., Democrat Brad Schneider of Illinois) "who have made their problems with their colleagues' statements crystal clear."

Interesting that he's impressed with a Jew for bemoaning the blatant antisemitism of his fellow Democrat representatives. Pathetic that neither Greenblatt nor Schneider holds the party to which they belong accountable.

Instead, Greenblatt ends his piece with a generalized message about needing "all our allies to listen and others to engage authentically" – whatever that means.

"This might not be easy," he stated. "It may require some serious self-reflection on the part of some partisans in order to admit their biases and acknowledge their insensitivity. But it's imperative that leaders from all corners of society clearly, forcefully, unequivocally condemn antisemitism full stop. And it's even more important and meaningful to do so when the hate happens to come from their own camp."

Good luck if he thinks that platitudes are going to budge the Israel-bashers in his own camp whose intersectional endeavors he always rushes to defend. With self-described "proud Jews" like Greenblatt, who needs antisemites?

Remembering Bayard Rustin

Bayard was a resolute supporter of Israel, a position that put him at odds with both his own pacifist principles and left-wing activists who regarded the Palestine Liberation Organization a legitimate liberation movement. Even before the Six-Day War, some outspoken Black Americans, most notably Malcolm X, gave vocal support to armed Palestinian groups. But Bayard laid the problems of the Middle East squarely at the feet of the monarchs and dictators who brutalized the Arab people—he referred to some of them as “proto-fascist”—and who resented Israel as the region’s lone democracy and, thus, a living rebuke to their own despotic regimes. After the UN General Assembly adopted the notorious “Zionism Is Racism” resolution in 1975, Bayard organized a committee of Black leaders to support the Jewish state.

Tribalism: Because of his extensive international experience, Bayard was sensitive to divisions over race, tribe, and caste everywhere. He understood that race consciousness here was inevitable as part of the Black struggle for full citizenship but was skeptical that race consciousness would contribute to material progress.

More, he was mistrustful of policies meant to divide goods along group lines; he preferred old-fashioned social democratic strategies based on the premise that economic growth lifting all boats could be accompanied by policies meant to direct benefits to those most in need.

Bayard was struck by the way that identity-based laws and policies in Asian societies like India, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia were either explicitly meant to benefit majority groups or, if designed to benefit lower castes, invariably failed to eliminate caste consciousness. He was not enthusiastic about the United States embarking on a similar course. Bayard did not use the term “racism” indiscriminately. When he applied terms of opprobrium like prejudice, bigotry, and, in the worst case, racism, he was a traditionalist: He tried to be precise.

‘Junk Science’: Ashkenazi Jews Are Not Descendants of Khazar Converts

Indeed, the Khazarian hypothesis has been debunked by virtually every field of science. For instance, historians stress that the kingdom most likely never converted to Judaism. Archaeologists excavating in the former Khazar lands have found almost no artifacts displaying Jewish symbols. Moreover, linguists point out that Yiddish — for centuries the language spoken by Eastern European Jews — is in no way similar to the vernacular used in Khazaria, nor do Jewish surnames from the last 600 years contain any link to the kingdom.

Experts in Jewish genetics have lambasted Elhaik’s “findings,” arguing that he “appears to be applying the statistics in a way that gives him different results from what everybody else has obtained from essentially similar data.” In fact, most DNA research proves precisely the opposite: namely, that European Jews are closely related to Middle Eastern populations.

Most of this research has long been readily available, with leading scholars having refuted Elhaik’s paper within a year of its publication. Nevertheless, Jew-haters and anti-Zionists alike continue to use the Khazarian myth to deny the Jewish people’s millennia-old connection to the Land of Israel.

Interestingly, Elhaik — who served in the Israeli army for seven years — has said that it bothers him that individuals utilize his research for nefarious purposes. For his part, Koestler stated that the “problem of the Khazar infusion a thousand years ago… is irrelevant to modern Israel,” as the Jewish state’s existence is, in his view, predicated on decisions made by the international community.

The anti-Zionist argument is flawed for another major reason: that is, most Jewish Israelis are not of European descent. According to Tel Aviv University research, in 2018 only 31.8 percent of Israeli Jews self-identified as Ashkenazi (Eastern European). A significantly larger share, about 45 percent, identified as Mizrahi – an umbrella term for those Jews that fled Arab countries to nascent Israel. Israelis of Yemeni origin, for example, trace their roots in the region back to biblical times.

The fact that millions of Israeli Mizrahim are indigenous to the Middle East is indisputable.

A Treatise on Thumper: Please Don’t Trash-Talk Israel (Judean Rose)

Please don’t trash-talk Israel. Aside from the fact that criticism of Israel is against Torah precepts, and really bad form, why would you do it when the entire weight of the world is bearing down on the Jewish State with all the hate it can muster? Do we really need it from you, too?

Look, I don’t know you. I don’t know who you are, or what you think about Israel. But if you don’t love Israel, this piece probably isn’t for you. Because this week I’m writing for the people who love Israel. And if you love Israel, this is very simple: you’d never do anything to harm her.

Yes. I know. The IHRA working definition of antisemitism says that criticism of Israel “similar to that leveled against any other country” isn’t hate, and “cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”

That’s fine. We’re not talking about haters here. We’re talking about the people who claim to love Israel. People who ought to know better. (Here’s where for some reason, I see in my mind’s eye a Scotsman on a mountaintop, in full kilt crying out, “If ye loue her, you'd ne'er slander her.”)

The sages of the Talmud were clear about this, going so far as to stand in the shade on hot days and in the sun on cold days so they and their students would not complain about Israel’s weather. Ketubot 112a:

Rabi Abba kissed the rocks of Acco. Rabi Chanina repaired the roads of Eretz Yisrael. Rabi Ami and Rabi Assi moved the students from the sun to the shade and from the shade to the sun [so they wouldn’t complain about the weather]. Rabi Chiya bar Gamda used to roll in the dirt of Eretz Yisrael, as the scripture (Tehillim 102:15) states, "For your servants desire her stones and find charm in her dirt."

Scripture is clear on this. We learn it from the story of the spies. The spies weren’t lying when they talked about seeing giants and other bad stuff during their pilot trip to Israel. They were telling the absolute truth. But there were many nice things they could have said about Israel. Instead they chose to say ugly things, and this had a chilling effect on the people, so that they became scared to make Aliyah.

It all boils down to this: The Torah prohibits speaking negative language about the Land of Israel. To use negative language in relation to Israel is a form of Lashon Hara (Evil Speech), a category of forbidden speech. Also, the Torah stipulates that Lashon Hara, by definition, is true.

The spies’ report was scary for the very reason that it was true. Giants? You’d talk about them no matter WHERE you saw them, Spain, France, Italy . . . why would you keep the presence of giants to yourself? The report given by the spies was legitimate, but here’s the thing: it was frickin' scary.

IHRA would no doubt see the spies’ report as “legitimate criticism.” But the Torah went to great lengths to tell us it’s wrong to speak like this about Israel—that it’s damaging.

Here’s where some might say, “It’s precisely because I care about Israel that I say these things. I want to effect positive change.”

But negative reports about Israel cannot and do not effect positive change. That’s a part of what we learn from the story of the spies. Negative reports about Israel cause damage. In the case of the spies, a negative report scared people off from coming to live in Israel. And this is a kind of damage, because Israel encourages and needs Aliyah.

I like to tell people: “Israel wants your warm bodies.”

Because what Israel needs isn’t a public perception that limits her ability to grow. Israel needs to be strengthened. And that means strengthening Israel's population through Aliyah.

The spies could have, and should have, talked about the delightful fruits of Israel and the way the inhabitants feared and gave honor to the spies. Today we can still take this route. We can talk about the wonders of the Israeli pomelo and the flavorful red tomatoes. We can marvel at the way our leaders face down Iraq and Iran, and appear before Congress to standing ovations. The Land of Israel has been vanquished time and time again, our land nearly, but never quite emptied of our people, yet here we are, having risen from the ashes like a phoenix.

These are the things that make a positive impression and make people yearn to be here. Stories about the wonderful people. The miracle we are. The gorgeous produce that springs from our holy soil.

Had the people but heard these potent stories that tell of Israel—stories that are true, stories that tell of what they never knew, never dreamed we would become—they’d have rushed into the Land with pure hearts, full of excitement, desire, and purpose.

Here's the thing: Israel is called the Holy Land for a reason. To be holy is to be set apart from all else, in this case, all other countries. Sacred. The IHRA definition that refers to criticism you’d say of “any other country” notwithstanding: Israel is different.

Am I saying that Israel should be held to a different standard? Hell, yes. All honor must be given. A negative report, on the other hand, is a desecration.

Don’t think it’s not.

Because when you trash-talk Israel you're piling it on. You're increasing the hate, which is to put all Jews in danger. And at that point, who the hell cares if what you’re saying is true? The words that issue from your mouth damage public perception thereby posing an existential danger to Israel.

Do you want to effect positive change? Increase love for Israel in the world. Say nice things about her. Speak well of the Jewish State that rules over a significant part of your land.

If nothing else, don’t say anything bad. Even if you feel like you really, really want to. Seriously.

Just zip it.

Note to my readers: I will be taking a hiatus from this column as I recover from surgery for midfoot arthritis. Thanks for being my loyal readers. I hope you’ll be waiting for me on my return. In the meantime, keep it warm!

Poll of American Jews has Distressing Results (Vic Rosenthal)

Weekly column by Vic Rosenthal

Most American Jews say they “support Israel.” But a recent poll casts serious doubt on this, or at least indicates that their idea of “support” is not what one might expect.

The poll was done by the Jewish Electorate Institute, described as a “group led by prominent Jewish Democrats,” and unsurprisingly some of the questions are clearly designed to elicit a desired result. For example,

Q.25 As you may know, the Trump Administration eliminated humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. The Biden Administration has recently reversed Trump's policy and has renewed humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. Do you support or oppose Biden renewing this aid?

Given the large preference for Biden over Trump by poll respondents (when scored on a scale of 0-100, Biden had a mean grade of 67 vs. Trump’s 19), and considering that the question did not discuss the reasons for Trump’s action – the Taylor Force Act and the use of aid money to pay terrorists – but only related the issue to Biden and Trump, it was foreordained that the majority would favor resuming “humanitarian” aid.

The distribution of poll respondents by denomination closely mirrors the American Jewish population:

37% Reform
31% No particular denomination
17% Conservative
9% Orthodox
2% Reconstructionist
3% Other
1% Not sure

85% of them said that their religion was Judaism, and 100% self-identified as Jewish.

I am not especially interested in their responses to the questions about aid to Israel, the two-state solution, and so forth. These questions are too general and do not supply enough information to enable the respondent to make a real choice. We already know that most American Jews favor a “two-state solution,” but what if the question were “do you support a two-state solution in which terrorists fire rockets at Ben Gurion Airport from within their state, a mere 7 miles away?” This is not usually how it is asked.

I do want to know how they see Israel in relation to themselves. What does the Jewish state mean to Jews who live in America?

The first question connected to Israel listed various political issues and asked respondents to choose two of them as top priorities for the administration. Israel came out close to the bottom of the list, with only Iran and abortion below it. Unfortunately the question did not ask what the respondents’ personal priorities were, only what they wanted the government to focus on. If I had answered the question, I too would have put Israel last. As Tevye said about the Tsar, the less attention paid to us the better.

Next, we got this: “How emotionally attached are you to Israel?” This question is too subjective. Who knows what each individual thinks it means? Do they visit Israel, have relatives here, donate to Israel-related charities? A better question would be “if Israel disappeared, would you be (a) desolated, (b) mildly unhappy, (c) unmoved, (d) mildly pleased, or (e), ecstatic. But they didn’t ask this. 29% said they were very attached, 33% somewhat attached, 25% not too attached, and 13% not at all attached. While I would like to know the answer, this really doesn’t help.

But some questions stand out, and the answers are not good. Only 9% agreed with the statement “Israel doesn’t have the right to exist,” and 67% said that the statement was antisemitic. But when asked if Israel is an apartheid state, 25% agreed. When asked if “Israel's treatment of Palestinians is similar to racism in the U.S.,” 34% agreed. And – probably the most incredible of all – 22% agreed that “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians.”

It is shocking to me that one out of four American Jews thinks that Israel is an apartheid state and is committing genocide against the Palestinians.

Genocide! Do they have the slightest idea of what the word means? I suppose they don’t know that the number of Palestinians between the river and the sea has increased by more than 2,710,000, a factor of 2.5, since 1967, but still – where are the concentration camps, the smokestacks? Where are the killing fields? Surely, if there had been such mass murder, the New York Times would have (joyfully) reported it.

And apartheid. Actual apartheid, the separation of races that was practiced in South Africa until the early 1990s, is well-documented, and there are plenty of people still around who experienced it themselves. It was absolutely nothing like the treatment of Arabs by the state of Israel, either within the Green Line or in the territories. There are no racially-based laws, no system of classification by race, no separate beaches or drinking fountains (except for the ones on the Temple Mount, which only Arabs are permitted to use). Only complete ignorance of both history and the facts about Israel could allow someone to believe this.

These results are inconsistent with one another. After all, does a state that commits genocide and practices apartheid have a right to exist? I think most people would say no. Should I add that the proposed state of Palestine, which will not permit Jews to live in it and whose heroes have always been the ones who killed the most Jews, fills the bill for a state that doesn’t have the right to exist?

I am not surprised that more than one out of three American Jews believe that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is like the American race problem, because they have been told this over and over, by national figures like Condoleezza Rice and Barack Obama, by many of their liberal rabbis, and of course by movements like BLM. I suppose they took the easy way out by choosing to analogize everything to their own experience rather than to actually think, but consider: Arabs were never slaves to Jews, the US is not surrounded by enemy states populated by blacks, blacks do not occupy Arizona and are not firing rockets from there into California, and … I could go on, but it should be obvious that it is not the same. Not even a little.

So despite the fact that this is technically a very bad poll, the results are still not encouraging. They are not good for anyone in Israel who thinks that American Jews might lobby for her in a pinch, and they are not good for the American Jews who appear to be prepared to believe the worst accusations imaginable about their own historic homeland.

07/14 Links Pt1: In first, US court rules Syria, Iran, IRGC, banks liable for Hamas attack; Hezbollah storing massive weapons depot next to a school; Iranian plot to kidnap New York journalist critical of Iran

From Ian:

In first, US court rules Syria, Iran, IRGC, banks liable for Hamas attack

In a landmark ruling, a US federal court ruled on Monday that Syria, Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and three Iranian banks were liable for the Hamas terror attack which killed Eitam and Naama Henkin in 2015.

The District of Columbia court ruled on two suits: one filed by the parents and siblings of Eitam and one filed by the Henkins' children and the Henkins' estates. The suits made claims governed by the US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, alongside other claims.

The Justice for United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act, which amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, established a fund to provide compensation to eligible claimants who hold judgments against state sponsors of terrorism.

In the suit filed by the Henkins' children, the plaintiffs claimed that Hamas relies on Iran and Syria for material support, including but not limited to training, weapons and financing. The children of Eitam and Naama Henkin filed the $360 million civil damages wrongful death lawsuit in 2019, shortly after then US president Donald Trump designated the IRGC as a terrorist group.

The plaintiffs said that Iran provides logistical and military support to Hamas through the IRGC’s Quds Force and other entities, and that Tehran funnels much of its financial sponsorship of Hamas through Bank Markazi, Bank Melli and Bank Saderat.

The Central Bank of Iran was sanctioned in 2019 for providing billions of dollars to the IRGC, the IRGC Quds Force (which supports Hamas) and Hezbollah. Bank Melli was sanctioned by the US in the past for providing millions of dollars to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and other groups through the Quds Force. Bank Saderat was also sanctioned in the past by the US for being a terrorist financier.

None of the defendants responded to the lawsuit.

IDF: Hezbollah storing massive weapons depot next to a school

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday revealed the location of an alleged Hezbollah arms cache in central Lebanon, saying a large quantity of explosives was being stored in a building across the street from a school.

According to Israeli assessments, explosives with roughly half the destructive power of the massive blast that leveled huge swaths of Beirut last year were being kept in the building in the village of Ebba.

The military refused to elaborate on the nature of the weaponry it suspected was being kept in the building.

The IDF anticipated that following its exposure of the site, Hezbollah would quickly empty the structure and move any munitions inside elsewhere.

While this would deny the military a target for attack in any future conflict, the army said it was prepared to show its hand now, signaling to Hezbollah the depth of its intelligence-gathering and exposing to the world the terror group’s apparent endangerment of children.

The IDF said it had information about “thousands” more Hezbollah targets.

“Hezbollah intended to use this against IDF soldiers and citizens of Israel. This storehouse was located in the heart of a civilian population in Lebanon, mere meters from a school,” the IDF wrote.

“Like this target, there are thousands of similar ones belonging to Hezbollah, which endanger the lives of Lebanon’s citizens,” the military said.

IDF published image of the site in question with the madrasa in front of it. pic.twitter.com/MydJ7GhUEB
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) July 14, 2021

Israel always reveals the best archaeological finds before Tisha B'Av

In the days leading up to Tisha B'Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar that commemorates the destruction of the two Temples, there have been a number of stunning announcements of recent finds by archaeologists in Israel from the two periods.

Going in chronological order:

A painted pottery shard was found that dated to 1100 BCE, with the name Jerubaal on it. Jerubaal was the nickname of the Biblical judge Gideon, mentioned in the book of Judges.

“For decades, there were practically no inscriptions of this era and region. To the point that we were not even sure what the alphabet looked like at that time. There was a gap. Some even argued that the alphabet was unknown in the region, that there were no scribes, and that the Bible must therefore have been written much later,” polymath independent epigrapher and historian Michael Langlois told The Times of Israel.

“These inscriptions are still rare, but they are slowly filling the gap; they not only document the evolution of the alphabet, they show that there was in fact continuity in culture, language and traditions. The implications for our understanding of biblical history are vast — and exciting!” said Langlois, who was not involved in this current excavation.

A section of Jerusalem’s city wall built during the First Temple period that was mostly destroyed by the Babylonian army in 586 BCE has been uncovered by archaeologists in the City of David National Park, the Israel Antiquities Authority said on Wednesday.

The part of the wall that has been newly exposed was built to protect the city from the east on its eastern slope.

"The city wall protected Jerusalem from a number of attacks during the reign of the kings of Judah, until the arrival of the Babylonians, who managed to break through it and conquer the city,” said directors of the excavation, Dr. Filip Vukosavović of the Ancient Jerusalem Research Center and Dr. Joe Uziel and Ortal Chalaf on behalf of the IAA.

“The remains of the ruins can be seen in the archaeological excavations. However, not everything was destroyed, and parts of the walls, which stood and protected the city for decades and more, remain standing to this day.”

An enormous building that hosted public functions and perhaps city government meetings in ancient Jerusalem is reopening to the public some 2,000 years after its construction.

The newly excavated structure, located next to the Israeli capital’s Western Wall, consists of two identical, elaborately decorated halls where dignitaries may have gathered while visiting the city and the Second Temple, reports Rossella Tercatin for the Jerusalem Post.

“This is, without a doubt, one of the most magnificent public buildings from the Second Temple period ever uncovered outside the Temple Mount walls in Jerusalem,” says excavation leader Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah in a statement.

Two coins dating back some 2,000 years were found in the Binyamin region of the West Bank during an archaeological survey conducted by Bar-Ilan University, the university and the Binyamin Regional Council announced Tuesday.
The coins date back to the period of the Jewish revolts against the Romans.

One coin was discovered near Wadi Rashash, and another in a location known as Hirbet J’bait.
The artifact found in Hirbet J’bait was minted around 67 CE. It features a vine leaf and the Hebrew inscription Herut Zion (Freedom for Zion) on one side, and a goblet and the inscription “Year Two” on the other. Just three years later, in 70 CE, the Romans would destroy the Temple in Jerusalem. Several other remains from that period, including a ritual bath, have been uncovered in the area.

The second coin dates back to the time of the Bar Kochba Revolt some 70 years later. It bears a palm branch surrounded by a wreath and the inscription LeHerut Yerushalayim (Freedom to Jerusalem) on one side and a musical instrument and the name “Shimon” on the other – the first name of the rebellion’s leader Bar Kochba.

As usual, Israel haters get upset over these finds. Hamas released a statement about the discovery of the First Temple era city walls with the accusation that Israel was “falsifying and stealing history.”

(h/t Yoel)

How to - and how not to - fight antisemitism

This week there were two news stories that do not bode well for the American Jewish community.

The first was the sparsely attended "No Fear" rally against antisemitism in Washington. The second was the release of a survey showing that many American Jews believe that Israel is guilty of apartheid and even genocide.

Both of these events point to a catastrophic failure of the American Jewish community.

Lauri Regan, an experienced organizer, writes a scathing critique of the No Fear rally. While many of its problems were technical, the main reason it was so small was ironically because it wanted to include as many Jews as possible.

To be successful you need a focused message and a theme people can get behind. You need to attract a core of enthusiastic participants. But the organizers were more interested in signing up liberal Jewish organizations who are either apathetic or hostile to the Jewish state and who had demanded that the rally must not be overtly Zionist - organizations who deny the existence of antisemitism from their political allies on the Left.

If the organizations attending cannot even agree on the definition of antisemitism, the event is a failure before it even starts.

What does "No Fear" even mean? It is an empty slogan. Jews are being viciously attacked in the streets and online, and a kumbaya slogan does not blunt these attacks one bit.

When you water down the message to not offend anyone, you end up with a message that attracts no one.

The real reason the rally failed is seen in the Jewish Electorate Institute poll. Together with other polls of American Jews, it shows a community that has decreasing emotional ties to Israel - and few ties to Judaism. Young Jews show the direction that the community is going - less attachment to Israel, and less attachment to Judaism.

This graphic from Pew should frighten anyone who cares about the future of American Jewry:

Nearly half of US Jews have no interest in engaging in any Jewish activities or showing any link to Judaism altogether.

Their apathy about Judaism and about Israel are linked.

More committed Jews tend to be more committed to Israel. Antisemites hate Israel. American Jews who are conflicted about their Judaism as similarly conflicted about Israel. Denying the links between Judaism and Israel today is denying reality.

The solution for both is the same: knowledge and pride.

Most American Jews don't know the first thing about Judaism, and they don't know the first thing about Israel. Similarly, most American Jews have little sense of pride in either their Judaism or in Israel.

This is the root of the failure of the American Jewish community. It is a failure of the leaders, it is a failure of the synagogues, but even more it is a failure of the parents who have the primary responsibility of instilling pride in their children.

It took generations to bring us to where we are today. It is the product of decades of caring more about succeeding in America than in instilling Jewish pride in their children.

If Jews can't get our own act together, how can we expect non-Jews to support us?

Sadly, many of these Jews are already lost. And for too many of them, the only time they invoke their Judaism is to pretend to be heroic in their anti-Zionism.

But it is not too late for American Jewry altogether.

There are some great new groups that aim to educate and instill pride in Judaism, Israel or both. It in not necessary to be Orthodox to be a committed, knowledgeable Jew, and it is not necessary to support settlements to be a proud, enthusiastic Zionist (look at Hen Mazzig or Einat Wilf.)

Just as it took time to get to where we are today, it will take a long time to rebuild Jewish literacy and Jewish pride. It takes real commitment. It starts with your own family.

When Jews know our own history, we are equipped to defend themselves against the lies. When Jews have pride, though, we gain fans.

People are attracted to those who know who they are and who are unapologetic about it. Sure, Jews need to know enough to counter the lies, but that is only a small part of the job. We need to be proud of our Judaism and of Israel. We shouldn't be defensive - we should be enthusiastic. We should treat Jews in America and Israel as our family, whom we love and support even if they drive us crazy sometimes.

This is how to fight antisemitism. And it is critical to raise the next generation to know who we are: that we are Jews, we are proud, we are one people, and we are not going anywhere.

Palestinian human rights group Al Haq issued a report in 2018 about how poorly the Palestinian governments were following the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW.)

The first few pages blames Israel as the primary reason Palestinian women are discriminated against, which is what one expects from any and every human rights report that comes out from Palestinian organizations. But finally, in paragraph 10, we see that Al Haq accuses Mahmoud Abbas of prety much being a dictator, without saying it directly:

The on-going internal Palestinian political divide has had adverse consequences on the human rights situation. With the PLC ceasing to function, the executive branch of government has monopolised both legislative and executive functions. Transparency and public dialogue are largely absent in the law and policy-making processes. The justice system is also compromised by executive interference, leading to an absence of accountability and redress for victims. The executive has further placed increasing restrictions on civil society organisations, (CSO) such as restrictions on financial transactions, including where the salaries of CSO employees are only transferred following the approval of the Ministry of Interior. These restrictions are imposed without any legal basis.

Then it goes into details on the misogynist laws and practices of the Palestinian Authority, and how it made practically no progress in adhering to the convention that it signed, a point I have made in the past.

The body of Palestinian legislation in force in the West Bank and Gaza Strip do not contain a definition of “discrimination against women” as found under Article 1 of CEDAW. Operative Palestinian legislation also does not include any provisions to the effect of criminalising any form of discrimination specifically against women.

In matters relating to marriage and family relations, the provisions of the 1976 Personal Status Law effective in the West Bank and the 1954 Family Rights Law in force in the Gaza Strip are discriminatory against women and girls. These laws need to be amended and brought in line with CEDAW. Discriminatory provisions particularly affect marriage, divorce, eligibility to choose a husband, polygamy, guardianship, custodianship, adoption, inheritance, child support, common properties, and testimony.

Al Haq doesn't go into detail but in all of these areas women are explicitly given fewer rights than men, or no rights whatsoever. I once summarized it:

Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Chief Justice in the Sharia Courts and Advisor to the President for Religious Affairs [said] the Islamic Sharia takes precedence over international conventions. Al-Habbash affirmed that he would not accept or apply any amendments to relevant laws that contradict the Islamic Sharia, he further asserted that this would not be accepted by the Palestinian President, the PLC, and the Palestinian people.

The Palestinian Penal Law does not criminalise marital rape.

Palestinian penal legislation criminalises “consensual abortion.”

On June 13, 2018...a number of Palestinian women [protesters] were sexually harassed by Palestinian security personnel and aligned individuals in plain clothes. Al-Haq documented cases of these incidents, including where women were sexually harassed, beaten with batons, verbally abused, and sprayed with pepper spray.