Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Why is the @ICRC glorifying the matriarch of a terrorist family?

Yesterday, the International Committee of the Red Cross tweeted:

The need for social distancing is making this Ramadan tough for many families in the West Bank.

It will be especially so for those with relatives in detention in Israel, who are currently unable to visit their loved ones due to the #covid19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/Rs8auTDMhS
— ICRC in Israel & OT (@ICRC_ilot) April 28, 2020

A poor old woman, pining to visit her son in prison, but she is being stopped. How sad.

Except that there is no difference between her and pretty much everyone else on the planet who cannot visit their relatives. What makes her situation any different? Prisoners in Israel can and do make phone calls, the same way we are all getting by with phone calls. The COVID-19 restrictions are meant to save people like this old woman.

On first glance, this tweet seems like a gratuitous effort to keep the plight of Palestinian prisoners in the spotlight when the world has other issues to deal with.

On second glance, this is much worse.

The unnamed woman was profiled by the ICRC last year, giving only her first name, Mayzouna. They did a photo essay on her visiting her son, where she told them that she lost her eyesight four years ago after a stroke but has not told her son when she visits him.

Yet the photos shows her looking at her outfit to wear, looking out the window of the bus, walking unaided.

A little research shows that this is Mayzouna Ben Srour, and the son she is visiting is Nasser Abu Srour, who along with his brother Mahmoud and another relative murdered a Shin Bet handler for yet another relative. In 2016, when 19-year old Abad al-Hamid Abu Srour killed himself with a bomb on a Jerusalem bus, Times of Israel ran through the family history:

Abad al-Hamid Abu Srour is not just another “lone wolf” terrorist. He was known to Palestinian security forces, and possibly the Israelis too; one of his family members was killed during recently during clashes with Israeli security forces not far from his home near Bethlehem.

His last name is well known among operatives in the Shin Bet security service: In January 1993, Maher Abu Srour, a Palestinian informant who comes from the same clan, along with two members of his family, Nasser and Mahmoud Abu Srour, killed his Shin Bet coordinator Chaim Nachmani.

Maher had made an appointment with Nachmani in a safe house in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Rehavia. When he arrived, Abu Srour charged at Nachmani with a knife before his two family members joined him to finish off the murder. A week later, Nasser and Mahmoud were arrested but Maher repeatedly evaded arrest by Israeli security forces until he was killed while trying to carry out another attack five months later in Jerusalem’s French Hill neighborhood.

There was an article in the Washington Post about the family:

But his relatives said Abu Srour was more of a Palestinian preppy, the scion of a well-to-do and well-known clan of eight prosperous brothers, who own and operate a string of furniture outlets and are rich enough to take their young sons for holidays in Jordan and to set them up with their own shops selling clothes.

“We are financially comfortable, you could say very comfortable,” said his uncle Mahmoud Abu Srour, who was gathered with relatives in a courtyard at a family house in Bethlehem awaiting the return of his nephew’s body so they could bury him.

Abu Scour’s teenage cousins listened to their uncles speak but kept silent. They wore pricey watches, skinny jeans and fancy sneakers.

Mayzouna is part of a family that is not poor, not desperate and quite well-off.

Even though some of them still choose to live in the Aida "refugee camp" where UNRWA provides free housing.

The story doesn't end there. Mayzouna is a celebrity, a go-to person for interviews by dozens of news outlets, as a symbol of Palestinian suffering.

She spoke to Russia Today about being a witness to the "Nakba." She told Mondoweiss that money from the PLO paid for Nasser's bachelors and masters degrees from Hebrew University while in prison and how the family couldn't afford for him to even buy olive oil from the prison canteen if it wasn't for the program now known as "pay for slay." Only last month she described how she is dealing with being under closure for the pandemic and she told Arab media that no one should complain about being in quarantine since her son has been in prison for 27 years.

In 2018, she was scheduled to travel to Ireland to speak about the plight of the Palestinians. The PLO has sent high-ranking officials to honor her for mothering a terrorist.

This is who the ICRC is choosing to highlight as an example of the cruelty of the Israelis and the coronavirus.

(h/t iTi)

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I wrote the original essay around 2002 and I have been modifying it since then. Here is this year's version:
========================

I am a Zionist and I am proud of it.

I know that Israel has the absolute right to exist in peace and security, at least as much as any other country. Given Israel's unique history and the resurgence of antisemitism worldwide, Israel arguably has more moral legitimacy than any other nation on Earth.

I am proud of how the IDF conducts itself during its never ending war on Palestinian terror. There is no other country on the planet that tries to minimize civilian casualties in such a situation where innocent Israelis are being threatened, shot at, mortared, rocketed, stabbed and murdered in cold blood. At times there are discussions whether the IDF's moral standards are too high and end up being counterproductive - and what other army could one even have that conversation about?

I am also proud that Israel investigates any mistakes that happen on the battlefield and keeps trying to improve its methods to maximize damage to the terrorists while minimizing damage to the people that the enemy is hiding behind. This is not done because of pressure from "human rights" organizations - it is done because it is the right thing to do. Even when everyone knows that the world will accuse it of "war crimes," the IDF retains incredibly high moral standards, which can be easily proven for anyone who wants to investigate the situation impartially. (People willing to do that are, regrettably, few and far between.) It would be so easy for Israelis to say that since the world will accuse them of atrocities anyway, then why bother with holding themselves to such standards - but young Israeli soldiers do, day in and day out. The rare exceptions prove the rule.

I am proud that Israel remains a true democracy, with a free press and vigorous opposition parties, while on a constant war footing. One only needs to read the hateful articles in Israel's left-wing publications on Israel's Independence Day to fathom how far press freedom goes in Israel.

I am proud of how Israel responds to seemingly intractable problems. In the early days of the intifada there seemed to be no solution - but the IDF found one, managing to bring deadly suicide attacks from 60 in 2002 down to practically none today. For every "successful" attack (if you can use such a term) there have been many failed attempts, and these are truly miraculous. The 'knife intifada," car rammings, and other violent "innovations" by Israel's enemies have largely died down because of Israeli defensive actions and innovative pro-active work on social media. Hamas has been reduced to celebrating attacks that cause only minor injuries because most of their major attacks, thank God, are foiled. Today there are new challenges, but each one is met and solved with brains and creativity.

The enemy has not stopped trying, and the history of antisemitism shows that it never will. If the Israel haters had their way, Israel would resemble Libya or Afghanistan today with the Jews as frightened as minorities are in every other Middle Eastern country.

Jews know something about being singled out, about being judged with double standards. We have been attacked for being too rich and too poor, too successful and too needy, too capitalist and too socialist, too religious and too secular, too insular and too integrated. These same wildly inconsistent attacks are targeting the Jewish state. Israel will survive and thrive, just as Jews themselves have, despite these attacks.

And the best survival technique is success.

Israel has succeeded and continues to succeed in its many accomplishments in building up a desert wasteland into a thriving and vibrant modern country, with its countless scientific achievements, incredible leadership in high-tech and the environment, world class universities and culture. Practically every computer and mobile phone being built today includes technology and innovations from a single small Middle Eastern country. A tiny nation, under constant siege, with few natural resources besides breathtaking beauty, has used its smarts and strength to build a modern success story. In a short period of time Israel made itself into a strong yet open nation that its neighbors can only dream of becoming.

And they are indeed starting to dream. Arab nations are waking up to the reality of Israel and the desire to be more like her.. Despite the constant incitement against Israel in their media, ordinary Arabs know that Israel treats its minorities with more respect, and gives them more civil rights, than Arab nations give their own Arab citizens. Miraculously, in recent years, we are seeing some of Israel's intractable enemies now accepting that Israel has the right to exist and seeking to partner with it. This was unthinkable a few years ago, and the reason is because of Israel's strength, both militarily and economically. The biggest (and artificial) dagger that has been used against Israel for 72 years, the Palestinian Arabs, is quickly losing its effectiveness in the Arab world except for lip service. Israel is simply more valuable to the Arab world as a partner than as an enemy, and this is directly due to wise and forward thinking Israeli policies..

Zionists have every reason to be proud of the incredible achievements of the Jewish national movement. There is a right and a wrong in this conflict, and I am proud that Israel is in the right.

The word "Zionist" is not an epithet - it is a compliment.

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Bazman Hazeh, the Miracles of Modern Israel: My 2019 Yom HaAtzmaut lecture (audio with notes)

Here is the audio of the lecture I gave last year on Yom HaAtzmaut on the topic of the miracles that helped the rebirth of Israel.

And here are the notes I used for the lecture. Sorry, I don't have links to most of the sources any more. And the last few minutes I spoke without notes.

--------------------

Christian proto-Zionism

—As early as 1753 there were tracts in England about the “restoration of the Jews”

—John Adams, 1819: “I really wish the Jews again in Judea, an independent nation; …once restored to an independent government, and no longer persecuted…”

—On March 5, 1891, the clergyman William E. Blackstone presented what became known as the “Blackstone Memorial,” a petition advocating the restoration of Palestine to the Jewish people, to President Benjamin Harrison.

—All of this before the First Zionist Congress

—Generations of Christians were used to the idea

Could Zionism have gained traction without this?

The Balfour Declaration

—In 1915, Home Secretary Herbert Samuel (Jewish) presented a plan to the British Parliament to create a Jewish center in Palestine under British rule

—The only enthusiastic member of Parliament was Lloyd George, Christian who wanted to see a Jewish state in Palestine

—The Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, ridiculed the plan.

—Asquith lost his position in 1916, his successor was Lloyd George

—The other Zionists in the government at the time included Winston Churchill and Arthur Balfour, who pushed a Uganda plan for Jews many years earlier

—Amazing that this happened in 1917 before the war ended

—In 1922, George was replaced by Conservative politicians who had been opposed to Balfour (but reluctantly decided to keep it in order to maintain access to the Suez Canal and not to look bad to the League of Nations, which by that time had effectively ratified Balfour)

—Balfour could only have happened in that short time period 1916-1922

The UN Partition Plan

—Stalin had no love for Jews; quite the contrary, he murdered them whenever it suited his purposes. But during the crucial years 1947-48, he was guided by temporary considerations of Realpolitik, and specifically by what he saw as the threat of British imperialism.

—Stalin ignorantly supposed that the way to undermine Britain’s position in the Middle East was to support the Jews, not the Arabs, and he backed Zionism in order to break the “British stranglehold.” Not only did he extend diplomatic recognition to Israel but, in order to intensify the fighting and the consequent chaos, he instructed the Czech government to sell it arms. The Czechs turned over an entire military airfield to shuttle weaponry to Tel Aviv; the Messerschmitt aircraft they supplied were of particular importance. Then, in mid-August 1948, Stalin decided he had made a huge error in judgment, and the obedient Czech government ordered a halt to the airlift within 48 hours. But by then the war had effectively been won.

—President Truman was pro-Zionist, and he needed the Jewish vote in the 1948 election. It was his decision to push the partition scheme through the UN in November 1947 and to recognize the new Israeli state (de facto, not de jure) when it was declared in May 1948. But the contrary pressure he had to face, both from the State was immense. If the crisis had come a year later, after the cold war started to dominate the thinking of the West to the exclusion of almost everything else, it is likely that the anti-Zionist forces would have proved too strong for Truman.

—The five East European communist bloc, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Byelorussian SSR, and the Soviet Union all voted for a Jewish State. Were it not for Soviet influence, it is unlikely in the extreme that Poland and Ukraine, with their long and deep history of anti-Semitism, would have voted for the establishment of Israel. Benny Morris[7] (“1948” pg. 60-61) notes the direct impact the United States had on the aye votes from Haiti, the Philippines and many Latin American countries which otherwise planned to vote against the establishing a Jewish State

Six Day War

—On the very morning of June 5th, three hours before the Israeli air strike, Egyptian intelligence did in fact issue a warning that an Israeli air attack would begin "within minutes." At that point, Egypt still had time to get its planes off the ground and save them. The message reached the command bunker in Cairo. An aide-de-camp signed a copy, but no one bothered to look for the Commander in Chief.

—On the same morning of the attack, Egyptian officers stationed at the radar station in northern Jordan picked up the scrambling Israeli aircraft, and sent a red alert message to Cairo. The sergeant in the decoding room of the supreme command tried to decipher the message using the previous day's code and failed.

—And where was Egypt's Commander in Chief? The night before, he and most of his top officers attended a party at an air force base in the northern delta area, at which a renowned belly dancer performed. Early the next morning, he took off for the Sinai, where he had ordered all his top commanders to assemble in order to meet a high-level Iraqi delegation. When the Israeli strike happened, not one senior officer was at his post.

Yom Kippur War

—Armored Syrian force of 1,400 tanks, 400 of the Syrian tanks were T-62s, state-of-the-art modern Soviet tanks at the time.

—Israeli force were the 7th Armored Brigade in the north and the 188th Barak Brigade to the south. Combined, they had 170 tanks, many WWII vintage

—By October 9, Israel was down to only six tanks protecting the northern section of the country. As the 7th Armored Brigade began to pull back, they were reinforced by a small force of 15 tanks. The Syrians saw the fresh Israeli equipment arriving and assumed it was the vanguard of major reinforcements. They immediately began to retreat.

—In the southern Golan, on October 6th an estimated 600 Syrian tanks attempted to breach the line held by the Israeli Barak brigade with just 12 tanks. A defensive minefield and heavy artillery fire destroyed several dozen Syrian tanks in the initial attack.Yet with overwhelming superiority, Syrian forces kept attacking. Israeli fighter jets were called in to even the odds but many were shot down by newly acquired Syrian anti-aircraft systems. The Israelis resorted to quick hit and run tactics with their limited tanks and artillery. This may have stopped Syrian forces from overrunning the southern Golan Heights that night. The Syrians apparently believed they were facing a larger enemy than was the case. On October 7, Syrian tanks started another advance. With almost no tanks left, the Barak Brigade commander, Colonel Yitzhak Ben-Shoham, prepared for a last stand. He fought in a holding pattern against the advance until he was killed and the Brigade completely destroyed. The Barak Brigade’s last stand and a Syrian pause after the battle bought Israel more time. By that time Israeli reserve units were streaming to the front. Within a few days, the Syrian advance had become a full retreat.

—On 9th October, the 9th Brigade (reservists) attacked a force that included about 600 tanks that were divided in all directions, mainly westward. The attacking force was 9th Brigade, a mechanized reserve brigade that included the old Sherman Battalion. These forty tanks attacked this huge Syrian defender, which also included additional forces, armored infantry, and anti-tank missiles. The attack started when the additional forces attacked first. Then brigade commander Motke Ben Porat sent the armored Sherman battalion, whose battalion commander was killed on a mine, but after a few hours' battle they decided to storm the Syrian compound. The person who led the attack was an amazing armored officer named Yehuda Arazi from Ein Horesh. He was deputy commander of the Shermans and who had nine tanks; he flanked the Syrian compound, in the vicinity of the present-day settlement of Keshet, and attacked them from the rear with three tanks covering while six stormed. When they reached the line they saw before them a massive array of tanks and cannons and a huge arsenal of weapons. The soldiers said we needed to retreat and Arazi said there was no option of withdrawing, we storm into life or death.

—"He charged, and already at the first stage they overran the Syrian artillery, hit trucks full of shells and fuel and the whole Syrian compound turned into a big wall of fire and thousands of Syrian soldiers began a panic flight, and then the additional battalion stormed them. By nightfall the Syrian column collapsed. The problem was that the 9th's tanks were out of ammunition. They entered camp at night and returned to the attack the next morning, and found hundreds of armored personnel carriers, cannons, trucks and tools up in flames, and they continued to the Syrian border.“

—http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/236842

—וּרְדַפְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־אֹיְבֵיכֶ֑ם וְנָפְל֥וּ לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם לֶחָֽרֶב׃

—You shall give chase to your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.

—וְרָדְפ֨וּ מִכֶּ֤ם חֲמִשָּׁה֙ מֵאָ֔ה וּמֵאָ֥ה מִכֶּ֖ם רְבָבָ֣ה יִרְדֹּ֑פוּ וְנָפְל֧וּ אֹיְבֵיכֶ֛ם לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם לֶחָֽרֶב׃

—Five of you shall give chase to a hundred, and a hundred of you shall give chase to ten thousand; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

1991 Gulf War

— Yitzchak Shamir hesitant to act, GH Bush insisted Israel not respond to attacks

—This goes against Israeli DNA to defend itself

—Jews had nothing to do…but pray

—42 Scud missiles launched, only two deaths

—Patriot missiles ineffective – some caused more damage

—Would they be chemical or explosive? Sealed rooms in top floors, not bottom

—At about 7 am on 19 January, one of four incoming Scud warheads struck a building but failed to explode. Of the two warheads that did explode in or near Tel Aviv, one struck next to a municipal center, blowing open a basement that was used as a bomb shelter (but which was empty at the time), and the other fell in a park

—Empty buildings, collapsed houses with minor injuries, one case of people who went to an underground bomb shelter against the rules and survived (1/25)

—~Statistics based on V1 and V2 rockets estimated one or two deaths per rocket even with warnings

—Saddam had 50 rockets with chemical weapons and 25 with biological weapons, If he had used them hundreds or thousands would have been killed

— US military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on 25 February 1991, when 28 soldiers were killed and other 110 injured

Yasher koach to my friend Jack who helped arrange the lecture. He's a security network/firewall engineer and is looking for a job, so if you know anyone who needs a talented engineer, let me know.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

04/28 Links Pt2: Virus death toll rises to 208 but new infections appear to slow; "Palestine is not our cause" is trending in the Arab world

From Ian:

Virus death toll rises to 208 but new infections appear to slow

Four people succumbed to the coronavirus late Monday and early Tuesday, bringing the Israeli death toll to 208, the Health Ministry said, as the country prepared to reopen schools and more businesses in the next few days.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose to 15,589, with 123 new cases over the previous 24 hours. The tally was nearly double the 68 new cases seen in the 24 hours before that, but still showed a steep drop-off from last week, which had seen more than 200 cases daily.

However, the improved figures were tempered by statistics released by the ministry showing that testing had dipped to below 10,000 samples a day, after reaching close to 14,000 daily tests a week earlier.

According to the ministry, 9,031 tests were performed on Saturday, 8,393 tests on Sunday — when fewer than 100 cases were confirmed for the first time in over a month — and Monday saw a slight uptick with 9,546 tests.

The Health Ministry said 117 people are hospitalized in serious condition and 94 are on ventilators, numbers that have also steadily declined in recent days.

So far, 7,375 people have recovered, according to Health Ministry numbers.

Israel health chief: If we’d not been tough, we could have wound up like Belgium

Israel’s Health Ministry director-general on Friday defended the country’s tough lockdown measures in the battle against COVID-19, saying if it hadn’t acted responsibly it could have found itself in a similar situation to Belgium.

Moshe Bar Siman-Tov was asked in a TV interview whether his own prediction in recent weeks, and that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that tens of thousands of Israelis could die from COVID-19, was exaggerated, when the current Israeli tally is below 200 fatalities and the restrictions are gradually being rolled back.

“We have a very simple check,” he said. “We were at a rate where the number of new patients was doubling every three days… There was a single day when the number of seriously ill patients rose by 50%.

“If that trend had continued, today we’d have over 600,000 people [sick], over 10,000 on ventilators, and many thousands who would have ended their lives.”

Pushed directly on whether that kind of concern has proven exaggerated, especially with Israel’s economy tanking and unemployment having soared from below 4% to over 26%, he replied: “I don’t think so… There are enough control groups — look at Belgium.” Belgium has a population slightly larger than Israel’s and a death toll approaching 7,000.

End all restrictions, they were unnecessary, Hebrew University researchers say

Israel should end all coronavirus restrictions and reopen the country to international travel, according to a Hebrew University research team that includes a prominent epidemiologist and two finance professors.

They crunched statistics from around the world and concluded in a newly published study that while lockdowns were necessary in London, New York and various other places, Israel didn’t need to confine people to houses or impose other strict rules.

Though researchers admitted that without those limitations, Israel’s death toll would have been higher, even significantly so, they believed it would have stayed within manageable rates, while protecting the economy from massive damage.

“The purpose of publishing this isn’t to criticize what was done,” Prof. David Gershon, an economist with the Jerusalem Business School at Hebrew University, told The Times of Israel. “It isn’t political, but it raises the question of why we are still in semi-lockdown. Why are we keeping the cemeteries closed on Memorial Day? It shows that there’s an overreaction.”

They assert that in retrospect Israel should have adopted a similar approach to the lockdown-free Sweden, despite the human cost. Sweden’s population is only slightly larger than Israel’s, but it has seen 11 times the number of COVID-19 deaths so far — 2,194 compared to 202.

While Sweden eschewed lockdowns and appealed for voluntary social distancing, Israel has implemented strict regulations, punishable by fines, to fight coronavirus. Israeli schools and universities were closed on March 12, soon followed by most workplaces, and most Israelis have been largely confined to their homes for weeks.

Restrictions are now being slowly eased, with many workplaces and stores reopening for business — under heavily restrictive conditions — and schools set to partially reopen next week.

But health officials have warned that a too-swift return to normal could see infection rates spike amid a second, potentially worse wave of the disease. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that a spike in cases is possible and could cause a return to lockdown.

Arab-Israeli Medic to Be Honored on Israel's 72nd Independence Day

People who accuse Israel of hating Palestinians are projecting their own hate

Ah, psychological projection. One of my favorite topics in the early years of the blog, and it still holds true for Arab critics of Israel.

Earlier today, Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada tweeted:

As the article he links to shows, clothing factories in Gaza - which have been steadily increasing their exports because Israel has been loosening restrictions on Gaza exports in recent years - were forced to shut down when the pandemic hit. Some 6000 workers lost their jobs.

Since then, Israeli fashion companies have pivoted and asked the Gaza factories to sew PPE with materials that the Israelis provide. (The PA is also ordering PPE from the Gaza factories.)

The Gaza factory owners are happy that they can hire hundreds of people back. The workers are happy that they have job. But Ali Abunimah isn't happy, because Israelis are racist and their helping out Gazans is just part of their racism.

Nope, it isn't Israel that hates people without reason. It is people like Abunimah who do that.

Also recently, Haaretz published a "review" of Fauda written by a Palestinian named George Zeidan. Some of his criticisms about accuracy are 100% true, and I am a little surprised that the director and writers didn't do proper research.

But then he wrote this:

This leads me to my biggest problem with the show. Every chance that they have, Fauda’s writers present the Israeli commandos as personally and operationally principled, lingering on their deep concern for protecting the civilians of Gaza, going out of their way to fulfil their promise to the family of the Palestinian informer who supported them. They aren’t shown shooting or killing any Palestinian women or childen. [sic]

So it is unrealistic for the actors playing undercover agents in Gaza to use the word "habibti" to a young woman they do not know, but it would be realistic for them to blow their cover by sometimes randomly murdering women and children for no reason? Because, of course, Zeidan and Haaretz know that this is the truth.

Zeidan even brings proof!

But this is Fauda’s war on truth. All the data shows that the opposite is true. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in relation to just one of the Israel-Hamas conflicts, the 2014 Gaza war, 2251 Palestinians were killed, of which 1462 were civilians 551 were children and 299 were women. Israelis need to know the unvarnished truth: that their army is responsible for killing all these civilians, and to recognize the chasm between those deaths, their perpetrators and Fauda’s fantasy soldiers.

Well, except for the fact that many of the children killed were human shields for their terrorist relatives, although some were accidentally killed by secondary explosions and the like.

Zeidan is portraying Israeli soldiers - meaning most Israelis - as bloodthirsty and eager killers based on poor reporting from a war 6 years ago. He hasn't compared Israel's record of avoiding civilian casualties in urban areas with that of any other army in history. He just "knows" that Israelis randomly murder women and children for no reason.

Which means that Zeidan is guilty of what he is accusing Israelis of being - someone who hates a group of people for no reason and with no proof, but just because.

Projection is alive and well.

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Hamas brags about its Ramadan terror attacks - and takes credit for starting 2014 Gaza war

Ramadan. A time for spirituality and contemplation. And, of course, if you are a member of Hamas, for terror and violence.

Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades has listed nearly 40 separate events that happened on Ramadan in its never ending war against Israel, including some major terror attacks like the twin suicide bombings on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem on December 1, 2001 killing 11 (Hamas claims 22) and a bus bombing the day after in Haifa that killed 15 (Hamas claims 16.)

Here are the victims:

Interestingly, Hamas also is proud that they started the 2014 Gaza war on Ramadan. Just like the 2009 Gaza war, the Western media always dates these wars according to Israels' reactions to Hamas acts of war, not to Hamas' acts to begin with. Here we see Hamas saying:

Ramadan 10, 1435/July 7, 2014
Al-Qassam Brigades launches the "Battle of Consumed Straw" in the face of (Al-Jarf Al-Samid), during which it revealed many surprises and carried out operations behind the lines and captured a number of enemy soldiers.

That same day they shot some rockets towards Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa and called it the "Tenth of Ramadan Operation" - because the Egyptian/Syrian attack that started the Yom Kippur War was also on the tenth of Ramadan. (Egypt still refers to it as the Ramadan War.)

Why does the media always say Israel starts wars, and date the wars from the time of Israel's reactions, when the Arabs themselves are happy to take credit for starting them?

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04/28 Links Pt1: Remembrance Day to Independence Day: From Holocaust to rebirth; ‘US Prepared to Recognize Application of Israeli Law to Areas of the West Bank’

From Ian:

PM Netanyahu: This year, we commemorate in different ways

My brothers and sisters in bereavement, in our 72 years of independence we have known various memorial days. We have marked them in times of wars and battles, in times of military campaigns and raids, in waves of terrorist, and in peaceful times when vigilance was the order of the day – as it always is.

This year we remember the heroic acts of our sons and daughters in the midst of the fight against the coronavirus. This is a new kind of enemy, but God willing, we will defeat it, too. We will do so with determination and national solidarity and cohesion.

These values are the legacy of the fallen, the legacy of our loved ones. In trying times, they led the charge to defense our shared home and protect the vision of national resurrection. We are forever in their debt.

I also know another thing: They would want us to go on, to live our lives safe and sound. This principle has guided us this year – to preserve life and health and not endanger either needlessly. This is why, this year, we will avoid gatherings in military cemeteries and have military honor guards stationed there.

I know how hard this is. I would like to visit my brother's grave just like you want to visit the graves of your loved ones.

But this year, we will commemorate them in different ways – in stories, movies, and songs; by lighting candles, meeting online, and above all – in our hearts.

#Israel comes to a standstill, as a piercing siren 🚨 wails in honor of the 23,816 @IDF soldiers who made ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and the 3,153 civilians murdered in acts of terror. May their memories be blessed, always! #YomHazikaron 🕯 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/EW1lpPrews
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) April 28, 2020

President: Rivlin: Our strength lies with solidarity

Who would believe 72 years have passed. I remember, as a child, the days leading to the establishment of the state. They are etched in into my memory.

I remember the reports from the UN on Nov. 29, 1947, the dancing in the streets, and how Jerusalem immediately transformed into a battlefield; the harsh siege on the city, the exciting declaration of statehood on May 15, which was quickly clouded by the news of the fall of Gush Etzion, and later the fall of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem and the armistice agreements.

In Jerusalem, the joy was intertwined with grave concern. We felt the fragility of the moment well, knowing we were living history. At every turn, be it happy and festive independence days or harder, somber moments, we've always had the Israeli sense of togetherness and unity.

This sense of togetherness saw us through the pain and lifted up higher in joyous times. Even on this Independence Day, in the shadow of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic that is claiming lives and the economic crisis, we will not forfeit our "togetherness." Not now and not ever. We celebrate together – even from a distance.

The State of Israel is a miracle and a wonder. We created an advanced industry, founded innovative agriculture, which the whole world looks to.

We have created a diverse and rich culture and become a country renowned for its development and invention, its entrepreneurship, technology, medicine, science and research.

We have proven that we are an ancient but innovative nation, a nation that draws its strength from its ancient traditions; a nation that grows and develops daily, even if it means being audacious, taking risks - and winning.

Remembrance Day to Independence Day: From Holocaust to rebirth

From Holocaust to rebirth is a yearly theme for our people. This is especially strongly felt in the State of Israel, where one week we observe Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the next week we celebrate Independence Day.

This proximity raises an old question about the relationship between the Holocaust and the State of Israel. Was it the Holocaust that enabled the establishment of the state?

If this theory is valid, it leads to a very painful question. Did six million Jews have to die in order for the Jewish people to be allowed to have its own independent Jewish state in the Land of Israel?

I believe that it is wrong to try to explain why the Holocaust happened. The ways of God are hidden. Any theological explanation that we give for the Holocaust does not satisfactorily resolve the question. All answers are insufficient.

It is impossible, even wrong, for us to say that the Holocaust is what led to the establishment of the state.

On the other hand, one cannot deny the proximity of the two events. I would imagine that there was some sympathy for our people after the Shoah. But, as a religious person, I believe that the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 was part of a divine plan. The time had come to bring the remnants of Israel back to the Land of Israel. That is why I celebrate Israel Independence Day. That is why I say Hallel on that day. I see the hand of God in history.

I HAVE long chosen not to be a deep philosophical thinker as to the whys of the Holocaust. But I have chosen to be a religious thinker as to the whys of the State of Israel.

From Courthouse News Service:

In litigation challenging a Texas law blocking state agencies from hiring companies boycotting Israel, a Fifth Circuit panel ordered the case be dismissed Monday but declined to decide if the law is constitutional.

Bahia Amawi, a Palestinian U.S. citizen, had worked for the Pflugerville Independent School District for nearly a decade as a speech therapist for kindergarteners when the school district offered to renew her contract for the 2018-2019 school year.

She refused due to a new clause in the contract requiring her to certify that she does not boycott Israel nor would she do so while working for the school district.

Eugene Kontorovich, who advised on the anti-BDS legislation, tweeted:

Just to review the state of play: a year ago, lots of folks were trying to scare Congress by hysterically claiming that federal courts were striking down anti-BDS laws. None of those rulings stands after appeal, and only non-vacated ruling is federal court in Arkansas upholding anti-BDS law.

While this is good news, people are still misrepresenting this case, including in this article.

Amawa was not asked to certify that she, as an individual, does not boycott Israel. She was asked to certify that her company does not boycott Israel in the context of her business.

Her arguments were absurd:

Amawi sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Pflugerville ISD in Austin federal court in May 2018, claiming HB 89 violates her First Amendment free speech rights.

She said in court filings she refuses to buy Sabra brand hummus due to its connections with Israel and only buys Palestinian olive oil. Sabra is owned by the Israeli company Strauss, which has publicly stated it donates food to the Israeli Defense Forces.

The statement Amawi is required to sign does not stop her from boycotting Sabra hummus. She is free to buy Palestinian olive oil, even for her salads she eats while at the schools.

As David Bernstein - not a fan of these kinds of laws - wrote in 2018, here is what she was asked to sign:

Pursuant to Section 2270.001 of Texas Government Code, the Contractor affirms that it: 1. Does not currently boycott Israel; and 2. Will not boycott Israel during the term of the contract Pursuant to Section 2270.001 of Texas Government Code:

"Boycott Israel" means refusing to deal with, terminating business activities with, or otherwise taking any action that is intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations specifically with Israel, or with a person or entity doing business in Israel or in an Israeli-controlled territory, but does not include an action made for ordinary business purposes;and

"Company" means a for-profit sole proprietorship, organization, association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, or any limited liability company, including a wholly owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, parent company or affiliate of those entities or business associations that exist to make a profit.

Every reporter got this wrong because Glenn Greenwald in The Intercept falsely claimed that Amawi "refused to sign an oath vowing that she 'does not' and 'will not' engage in a boycott of Israel." That is false. There are no restrictions on Ms. Amawi's free speech rights nor her right to personally boycott Israel or even for her to write articles advocating BDS. And, as Bernstein notes, "it's nearly impossible to think of a way in which Ms. Amawi's speech pathology business would ever have an opportunity to in any way boycott or otherwise economically harm Israel, rendering this pure political theater."

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Joint Israel/Palestinian Memorial day ceremony succeeds in gaslighting the world

Last night the joint Israel-Palestinian ceremony for Israel's Memorial Day was held online. The organizers claim close to 200,000 people watched it.

While the ceremony itself was tastefully done, that is not the story.

On the YouTube live chat during the ceremony, I see comments in English and Hebrew - but I could not find a single comment in Arabic.

As I wrote on Sunday, not one organization that sponsored it was Palestinian.

This is not the story of reconciliation and grassroots peacemaking as framed by the Israeli organizers.

The real story is that it hijacked Israel's solemn day for remembering fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks by saying that the day is also about Palestinians.

The real story is that many of the "fallen Palestinians" being memorialized were terrorists, and died while in the course of attacks against innocent Jews, making this hijacking all the more perverse. If you want to make a joint memorial day, do it some other day.

The real story is that this is not a joint Israeli/Palestinian peace effort, which would be worthwhile. It is a propaganda exercise largely conceived and run by leftist Jews who have a political agenda that has little to do with "peace."

If the Jews and Palestinians who are part of these groups really cared about peace, they would be prioritizing teaching Palestinians to accept Israel as a permanent Jewish state. They would be inviting Israelis to speak about peace to Palestinian groups. They would be holding conferences in how to achieve peace in Ramallah as often as they do in Tel Aviv. And none of them are doing that, at least in a way that is visible.

There is no coverage of this event in Palestinian news media that I can see. No one called on Palestinians in Arabic to remember their dead yesterday. The idea that they would do such a thing on the same day that Israelis do it would be anathema.

No, this event was propaganda to make it appear that Palestinians are just like Israelis, with the same hopes and dreams and sorrows.

For some Palestinians, this is true. I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of the Arabic speakers at the ceremony. But in the aggregate, it isn't true at all. Palestinians are not yearning for peace the way Israelis are. Palestinians are not interested in joint grassroots initiatives with Israelis the way Israelis want. On the contrary, Palestinians who talk with Israelis are considered traitors and guilty of "normalization."

Events like this are not publicized or reported on in Palestinian media because Palestinians are not the target audience. That is the entire problem and proof that this is has nothing to do with peace. And while this sounds cynical, that means that the Palestinians who are involved in these initiatives are merely props to be used by left-wing Jews, saying to the world, "look, we all have the same pain." If there is no true Palestinian-created peace organization that accepts the existence of Israel as a Jewish state, then there is no Palestinian group that actually wants real peace.

Jews are being asked to be sympathetic to Palestinian pain but no one is asking Palestinians to be sensitive to Jewish pain.

Israelis are expected to do more to achieve peace and the Palestinians are not.

This is gaslighting. It is brilliant propaganda. But don't be fooled that it has anything to do with peace or compromise or conciliation.

UPDATE: Previous ceremonies explicitly memorialized terrorists.

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More proof that former @Amnesty "human rights activist" Hind Khoudary is anti-peace, antisemitic and anti-human rights

Remember Hind Khoudary, the self-described "human rights worker" in Gaza who complained to Gaza authorities to arrest Gazans who were in a Zoom meeting with Israelis? Rami Aman is still missing after Hamas abducted him.

She retweeted to her followers this tweet and video.

في غناء يجمع اثنان من بهايم يهوه (اسراطيزي وسعودي)
هذه مرحلة فرش البساط امام بهايم يهوه وامام عيون الناس بأن هذا هو المشهد القادم الذي يجب التأقلم عليه#تحيا_فلسطين_ويفني_الاحتلال_والخونة #اسرائيل_عدو pic.twitter.com/05Ss82hzqG
— يلا نبلغ (@yIODM9zeVqIqoRy) April 27, 2020

The tweet says:

Singing brings together two of the beasts of Jehovah (an Isra-ass and a Saudi). This is the time when the carpet is rolled out in front of the beasts of Jehovah, and it is plain for all to see that this is the scene that we have to get used to.
#Long_Live_Palestine_May_the_Occupation_and_the_Traitors_Disappear
#Israel_Is_The_Enemy

The original tweeter, and Khoudary, are upset that an Israeli and a Saudi - both long considered enemies - are singing a song of peace together. This makes them "beasts."

Just from this tweet alone shows that Khoudary cares nothing about peace or human rights. (She took the "human rights" part out of her Twitter profile. )

But the religious Jew singing and dancing with the Saudi Muslim, Shloime Zionce, is an American reporter, not an Israeli.

Khoudary assumes that a Jew with peyos (sidelocks) must be an Israeli, because - like most Gazans - she cannot distinguish between the two. (This cartoon from a Gaza site a couple of years ago illustrates this.)

So, yes, she's an antisemite as well.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

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04/27 Links Pt2: Under lockdown, Israel braces for particularly somber Memorial Day; Yisrael Medad: On the Anti-Zionist Crusades’ Crusade

From Ian:

Benny Gantz: An Unusually Painful Memorial Day

As of Monday, Israel has a list of 23,816 fallen.

Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism is the most personal of all national days. In tens of thousands of Israeli homes, families spend time with the memories of their loved ones, and Israel Defense Forces soldiers and commanders, past and present, salute their brothers who fell in battle.

I served the State of Israel for 38 years; I lost comrades in arms both at my side and under my command, and what pains me most is that I will never be able to comfort their families.

On Memorial Day, we go back to the foundations of our existence, to the Zionism in the name of which we established the country and for the sake of which many were killed in the War of Independence and after it.

When we remember the nation’s first dead, we realize what would have happened if there hadn’t been a Jewish state — if there hadn’t been a fairly small group of pioneers who fought for our right to be here only a few years after the horrors of the Holocaust.

The State of Israel’s existence is ensured through its strength, and through our willingness to fight. On the battlefield, in the technological and logistics divisions, at the front and the home front, IDF soldiers and the other branches of the security apparatus protect Israel and give their blood so we can have a Jewish, democratic state. If we are not stronger than our enemies, we will not survive.

On Memorial Day, we sanctify the resilience of Israeli society, which continues to send its sons to the front. If we do not look out for one another, or cannot live with each other, we won’t be strong enough to survive. When I decided to enter politics, I called the party I led “Israel Resilience.” Alongside our tanks and aircraft, Memorial Day is a reminder that our internal resilience is measured in our education, our defense of democracy, our tolerance of others, and our love for our homeland.

Under lockdown, Israel braces for particularly somber Memorial Day

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett urged families to respect the curfew despite the additional anguish it inflicted on them, saying that imposing this radical measure on Memorial Day was not a decision made lightly but was nonetheless essential to fight the pandemic.

The police said it would not forcibly prevent bereaved families from visiting the graves of their loved ones. Seeking to spare the families any additional distress the government later decided to order municipalities to shutter all military plots as of 4 p.m. Monday to avoid potential public gatherings.

The traditional military honor guards will be placed outside Israel's 52 military cemeteries and at all major monuments, as is customary.

The state ceremony marking the onset of Memorial Day will be held at the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem without an audience. The ceremony, which will begin with a one-minute siren, will be televised on Israel's three news channels and livestreamed on the IDF's social media platforms.

A second, two-minute siren will sound nationwide at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Immediately after the sire, IAF jets will fly over the National Hall for Israel's Fallen, featuring a special, missing formation.

The flyover will be followed by the state ceremony at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery, which will also be televised.

The state ceremony honoring victims of terror will be held on Mount Herzl at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Israel's fallen from 1860 to this week numbers 23,816, data released by the IDF ahead of Memorial Day said.

Forty-two deaths were added to Israel's list of fallen soldiers between 2019's Memorial Day and the current one, with another 33 disabled persons dying as a result of injuries sustained while in services.

Military personnel will light candles for all the fallen at the National Hall.

The lockdown will extend to Independence Day, marked this week between Tuesday evening and Wednesday night.

NGO Monitor: The 2020 Israel “Alternative Memorial Day Service”: NGO Partners and Government Sponsors

On April 27, the Israeli non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Parents Circle Families Forum and Combatants for Peace will host their 15th annual “Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony.” The event is marketed as a “joint ceremony” that “seeks to sow the seeds of hope among the two sides, and to bring to an end wars that have taken the lives of our cherished loved ones.” “Partners” of the event include Machsom Watch, Rabbis for Human Rights, Standing Together, Other Voice, and the Hadash political party.

“Co-sponsors” include numerous Israeli and American NGOs, including IfNotNow, Churches for Middle East Peace, New Israel Fund, J Street, Alliance for Middle East Peace, T’ruah, AGIAMONDO (former AGEH, Germany) and Civil Peace Service (ZFD, a consortium of German government-funded NGOs), as well as individual churches and synagogues. No Palestinian NGOs appear to be participating in and/or sponsoring the event.

Contrary to the image presented by the organizers, the event represents a narrow, one-sided part of Israeli civil society, and promotes a Palestinian narrative that draws an immoral equivalence between terror victims and terrorists. Many bereaved families in Israel have spoken out against the NGO sponsors and their focus on exclusive Israeli “guilt,” rejection of the legitimacy of Israeli narratives, and the political messages that are transmitted, explicitly and implicitly. While the sponsors claim to be advancing peace, there is no evidence for their claim.

This year, in contrast to previous ceremonies, there has been no public acknowledgement of foreign government funding for the event, including from Germany (see below). Despite having more than 30 “co-sponsors,” many of which are funded by European governments (see below), Parents Circle launched a crowdfunding campaign that has raised more than NIS 140,000 (as of April 26). It is unclear why these funds are needed given the online format of this year’s event.

As a friend of @URJorg, I am saddened you don’t promote the official Yom HaZikaron ceremony with the President of Israel in our commonly cherished Kotel instead of sponsoring an alternative event with political overtones the same time. This is time for unity, not sectarianism. https://t.co/kDjRzVFzxO
— Dani Dayan (@AmbDaniDayan) April 26, 2020

A webinar on Thursday is as predictable as it is false. From The Arab Center of Washington DC:

Speakers

Diana Buttu
Yara Hawari
Yousef Munayyer – Moderator

Additional speakers to be announced

About the Event
Arab Center Washington DC’s upcoming webinar focuses on the threat of the coronavirus pandemic in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip as well as for the Palestinian citizens of Israel. As Israel’s policies of occupation and settler colonialism continue in the midst of this global health crisis, what additional challenges are Palestinians facing under military occupation, apartheid, siege, and discriminatory policies?

Well, let's see.

The West Bank has less than 300 COVID-19 cases, two deaths.
Gaza has 17 COVID-19 cases, zero deaths.
Palestinians in Israeli prisons have zero cases, zero deaths.
Israel has over 15,000 cases and 204 deaths with 93 people on ventilators.

Where should the bulk of ventilators, PPEs and effort go? What evidence is there that Israel is not doing everything it can to keep the virus from spreading in the territories and prisons?

For two months now, Israel haters have been warning about an impending epidemic of the virus in the territories.

As is the case with wars, they want to see Palestinians die so they can have ammunition to attack Israel.

As is the case with wars, Israel has more incentive to protect Palestinian lives than to let them die.

As is the case with wars, Israel cares more about the lives of Palestinians than the entire "pro-Palestinian" community in the US and Europe together.

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The highly anticipated slate of miniseries for Ramadan in the Arab world is a mixed bag for Israel and Jews, but much better than any previous year.

We already discussed Umm Haroun, about a Jewish woman in Kuwait in the 1940s. The series is sympathetic towards Jews and is therefore generating a lot of controversy, which must be a mystery for those who say that Arabs aren't antisemitic. A typical response on social media said, "Umm Haroun reminded me of the Schindler's List movie, released in 1993, directed by Steven Spielberg ... The common goal is to convince humanity that the Jewish sect was unjustly killed, displaced, and robbed of their rights, to merge the Jews into societies and make the Arabs coexist with them.” Yeah, that sounds evil.

One response from the Palestine Center to Resist Normalization was equally nonsensical, saying "The series tries to promote normalization with the Zionist occupation by penetrating Arab TV screens, especially in the holy month of Ramadan."

It is hard to overstate how much the Arab world is talking about this series. Articles about the history of Jews in Arab lands are being written, complaining that the issue has been erased under the excuse of "normalization." . Today a new "controversy" was launched where someone in the series referred to the Land of Israel before Israel was declared a state, and many people are angry that the word "Palestine" wasn't used.

An Egyptian science fiction series, "The End," begins with a teacher bringing students (and viewers) up to speed on the state of the world at the time, where the US erupts into civil war and Israel, weakened, is destroyed by the combined Arab armies.

That has been the fantasy of much of the Arab world for decades.

Israel complained to Egypt for allowing the series, and the series creator lectured Israel on freedom of expression, in one of the more ironic responses in memory.

A third Ramadan series, "Exit 17" includes a scene where two Saudi businessmen debate relations with Israel, and one insults Palestinians.

The controversial scene shown during Ramadan on Saudi TV in which one Saudi actor advocates for normalization with Israel against Palestinians, saying Palestinians attack Saudi Arabia despite everything it did for them over the decades: pic.twitter.com/s2VzwQza7X
— Hassan Hassan (@hxhassan) April 27, 2020

The character played by actor Rashed al-Shamrani says he wants to expand his business and cooperate with Israelis. Then the character played by Nasser Al-Qasabi answers that Israelis are enemies.

Shamrani then says: "The real enemy is the one who curses you, denies your sacrifices and your time (that you spent) with him, and curses you day and night, more than the Israelis. I mean we waged wars for the sake of Palestine, we stopped (the flow of oil) for the sake of Palestine. Ever since there is a (Palestinian) Authority, we pay the wages (of its officials) that we are worthier than, and they don't miss a chance to attack Saudi Arabia."

In another scene, Qasabi's character is upset when he learns his son is playing Internet game with an Israeli.

Unless I'm mistaken, even the seeming anti-Israel animosity in "The End" is just a means to create a world where Arab actions matter, as the point of the series is the dystopic future; knowing that there are superpowers around would ruin the plot. Israel needs to disappear for the plot, which has (as far as I can tell) nothing to do with Israel.

So altogether the Ramadan series are much more liberal towards Jews and Israel than in any previous year.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

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04/27 Links Pt1: Schools, kindergartens to gradually reopen from Sunday, deaths rise to 203; Netanyahu: ‘A Century After San Remo, the Promise of Zionism is Being Realized’

From Ian:

Schools, kindergartens to gradually reopen from Sunday, deaths rise to 203

Schools and kindergartens will gradually reopen from Sunday in a combined format of in-class and remote learning, ministers decided Monday as they move to return the economy to normal operations. The decision is conditional on the continued decline of infection rates, with full approval due on Friday.

Approving plans presented by the Education Ministry at the meeting, the return of pupils to school will vary according to age group. Children aged 0-6 will return to kindergarten in small groups and attend on different days.

First to third graders will learn in school from Sunday to Thursday, but in groups limited to no more than 15 pupils. Break times will be staggered to ensure that groups do not meet each other. Pupils in fourth to twelfth grade will continue learning remotely at this stage.

The decision to reopen schools follows a significant slowdown in infections across the country. A total of 203 Israelis have died from the coronavirus and 15,466 cases have been confirmed to date. Currently, 129 patients are in serious condition, including 96 requiring ventilation.

Some 6,796 patients have recovered so far, leaving a total of 8,760 active cases.

Efraim Karsh: The San Remo Conference — 100 Years On

There is probably no more understated event in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict than the San Remo Conference of April 1920.

Convened for a mere week as part of the post-World War I peace conferences that created a new international order on the basis of indigenous self-rule and national self-determination, the San Remo conference appointed Britain as the mandatory for Palestine with the specific task of “putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2, 1917, by the British Government [i.e., the Balfour Declaration], and adopted by the other Allied Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

This mandate was then ratified on July 24, 1922 by the Council of the League of Nations — the post-war world organization and the UN’s predecessor.

The importance of the Palestine mandate cannot be overstated. Though falling short of the proposed Zionist formula that “Palestine should be reconstituted as the national home of the Jewish people,” it signified an unqualified recognition by the official representative of the will of the international community of the Jews as a national group — rather than a purely religious community — and the acknowledgement of “the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine” as “the grounds for reconstituting their national home in the country.”

It is a historical tragedy therefore that 100 years after this momentous event, the Palestinian leadership and its international champions remain entrenched in the rejection not only of the millennial Jewish attachment to Palestine, but of the very existence of a Jewish people (and by implication its right to statehood).

Rather than keep trying to turn the clock backward at the certain cost of prolonging their people’s statelessness and suffering, it is time for this leadership to shed its century-long recalcitrance and opt for peace and reconciliation with their Israeli neighbors.

Netanyahu: ‘A Century After San Remo, the Promise of Zionism is Being Realized’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video address on Sunday that “the promise of Zionism” would be realized in just a few months, when Israel extends its sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and parts of Judea and Samaria under the aegis of the US “Peace to Prosperity” plan.

In a video message to the European Coalition for Israel, an evangelical Christian group, marking the 100th anniversary of the San Remo Resolution, in which the world powers recognized the national rights of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, Netanyahu said that soon Israel and its supporters would be celebrating “another historic moment in the history of Zionism.”

“President Trump pledged to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Jewish communities there [Judea and Samaria] and in the Jordan Valley. A couple of months from now, I am confident that that pledge will be honored, that we will be able to celebrate another historic moment in the history of Zionism. A century after [the] San Remo [Resolution], the promise of Zionism is being realized, because we never stop fighting for our rights,” said Netanyahu.

He thanked the conference participants, saying, “Your efforts are part of that fight. Thank you for celebrating this historic occasion and securing the Jewish future.”

Under the Trump plan, the political component of which was published in January, Israel can extend its sovereignty to almost all Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, as well as to the Jordan Valley. Then, after four years, a Palestinian state would be established if the Palestinian leadership had met a set of conditions, chief among them renouncing terrorism and ensuring rule of law.

Here's the link to my speech for @IMTIzionism commemorating the centennial of the San Remo Conference.https://t.co/u8urHU2DEZ
— Caroline Glick (@CarolineGlick) April 26, 2020