Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Isn't it weird that groups with such clear links to terror are defended by the EU and major NGOs? Maybe not.

A few weeks ago, the Washington Free Beacon published the dossier that Israel allegedly shared with the EU and US as proof that the six "civil society organizations" Israel banned were terror groups.

According to reports, the dossier didn't impress the EU countries, and they are not going to stop working with the six groups.

The groups are Al-Haq, Addameer, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, the Union of Palestinian Women Committees, and the Bisan Center for Research and Development.

The main evidence in the dossier are the testimonies of Said Abedat and Amru Hamudeh, both of whom worked for another PFLP-linked NGO, the Union of Health Committees. Their evidence about the six NGOs is often secondhand and hearsay, although they identified some PFLP members in the six groups.

EU officials responded by saying that the six NGOs had their books audited by major accounting firms and that Israel's evidence was not strong enough.

I can understand how the other governments would not be convinced by the dossier that the NGOs are fronts for terror, or that they direct funds to terror activities. For those accusations, the evidence that has gone public is not that strong.

But the actual links to the PFLP from these groups is undeniable.

The Union of Agricultural Work Committees and the Union of Palestinian Women Committees, as well as the previously banned Union of Health Committees, were all founded by the PFLP. A 1993 report written for USAID says this explicitly:

As the second largest faction of the PLO, but with perhaps the most disciplined and energetic membership, the PFLP has built a potent institutional foundation throughout the West Bank and Gaza during the past decade. The strength of the PFLP's institutions is its capable, decentralized grassroots presence. Its principal institutions are in the fields of agriculture, health, labor, and the women's movement.

The PFLP's agricultural extension services are provided by the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), based in Bayt Hanina. The UAWC was founded in 1986, and expanded rapidly during the Intifada. ... During 1992 UAWC was involved in about 30 different projects in the West Bank and Gaza, including support for various cooperatives, the building of greenhouses for vegetable production, animal husbandry projects, and land reclamation services.

The PFLP's health care network is coordinated by the Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC).....Of its 38 clinics some, like the Polyclinic in Bayt Sahur, are first rate facilities. Others are more makeshift operations. As a significant provider of health care during the Intifada, the UHWC has an extended network of supporters and volunteers throughout the West Bank. Of all the factionalized health care committees, the UHWC has the greatest presence in the Gaza Strip.

The PFLP's women's committee, the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees (UPWC), is perhaps the weakest of the three leftist women's unions, but is certainly more active than its Fatah counterpart.

So two of the six NGOs, plus a third that was previously banned, don't just have links to the PFLP - they were started by the PFLP terror group.

The links between the PFLP and the other NGOs are not much less compelling.

One of the founders of Addameer, Abdul-Latif Ghaith, is a PFLP operative. It's former vice chair, Khalida Jarrar, was the head of the PFLP in the West Bank.

NGO-Monitor lists many more PFLP members who have worked for Addameer.

Al-Haq's director, Shawan Jabarin, has represented the PFLP in public forums.

Nassar Ibrahim, a previous president of DCI-P, is the former editor of El Hadaf– the PFLP’s weekly publication. Many more employees at DCI-P have been linked to the PFLP.

Ubai Aboudi, Bisan’s Executive Director, also has links to the PFLP and in 2005 he "was part of a cell that “planned to perpetrate a terrorist attack at the IDF Armored Corps Museum at Latrun, using two suicide terrorists and a car bomb.”

Maybe there isn't enough public proof to find that these NGOs are funding terror directly, but the links between the groups are documented and can be independently verified based on voluminous information that NGO-Monitor has.

There is absolutely no doubt that these groups have ties to the PFLP terror group.

Also, given that at least some of these groups are considered to be "human rights" organizations, you will never find a statement by them that disagrees with the PFLP's political platform - which includes attacking and killing Jews. ("armed struggle.")

It's one thing to agree with Israel that these organizations are terrorist. But no one can seriously doubt that the organizations themselves are linked to the PFLP on multiple levels.

Can you imagine the EU funding an Al Qaeda hospital? An ISIS women's group? An Islamic Jihad charity? Even if their audits come out clean?

Of course not. If you deal with someone with links to a terror group, you are giving legitimacy to that terror group - even if the person or NGO has no direct ties to terror.

Why are these EU countries and major international human rights groups so anxious to support these terror linked groups?

Because the PFLP is a socialist organization! The Human Rights Watch/Amnesty/Oxfam crowd are all ideological brothers with the PFLP! I noted that HRW used to regard the PFLP as a terror group, but over the years HRW changed its opinion from a murderous terror group to a respected socialist political party..

This might be the reason that the backlash over this story has been so loud. The six Palestinian NGOs share the socialist values of the PFLP, some of the EU and most global NGOs. To much of the Left, they are the "good guys," and their terror history is ignored or - secretly celebrated.

12/29 Links Pt2: The Eternal Life of Blood Libels Against the Jews; In practice, ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ boils down to leftist dogma, including hatred of Israel

From Ian:

Phyllis Chesler: The Eternal Life of Blood Libels Against the Jews

Men fought and, for a variety of reasons, the Jews won. The numbers involved were small. There were, according to Tauber, "about 120 (Jewish) attackers and 70-80 (Arab) defenders. Arabs were "killed, not massacred." But they lost. The Arab village fought alone with no reinforcements and no support from neighboring Arab villages. Most of the Arabs who were killed in Deir Yassin were combatants, men of fighting age, not women, children, or the elderly as has been alleged.

However, the shame of losing was impossible for the Arabs to bear. What drove the Arabs out of Deir Yassin and almost everywhere else, was eerily similar to what many Arab/Palestinians do today. They embed themselves and their weapons among their women, children, and elderly. They surround themselves with vulnerable human shields, and then when Israel targets terrorist launching sites and infrastructure, claim that it viciously sought out women and children.

Such deceptiveness is true in Gaza in the 21st century.

But in April 1948, the Arab/Palestinians spread rumors of a terrible, truly ghastly massacre in Deir Yassin, one that never took place—and, they alleged, wildly, and falsely, that rapes had also taken place which, in Tauber's view is what led to the mass Arab exodus. Tauber writes:

"The impact of Deir Yassin went far beyond Jerusalem and the surrounding villages and spread all over Palestine, causing fear and driving people to leave. A woman from Safad related hearing of the rapes and killings in Deir Yassin. Another refugee woman attributed the flight from Haifa to the fear of what the Jews were going to do to women, as they heard that women and girls were raped in Deir Yassin and the bellies of pregnant women and girls were slashed."

Slashing pregnant bellies characterizes Christian pogroms and Muslim farhuds against Jews; it is not something that Jews have done.

However, in 1948, according to Tauber, Husayn Fakhri al-Khalidi, secretary of the Arab Higher Committee, insisted that "25 pregnant women, 50 breast feeding mothers and 60 other girls and women were slaughtered like sheep" in Deir Yassin. A native of the city "wrote to an acquaintance in Egypt that the Jews used axes in Tiberias and Deir Yassin to chop off hands and legs of men and children and did 'awful things' to women."

Once again, Arabs, Muslims, Christians, and Cossacks do this to Jews in pogroms and farhuds. Jews have not been known to do so.

In 1948, Israeli intelligence analyzed the causes for Palestinian flight and found that such false rumors and exaggerated beliefs were a "decisive accelerating factor" in the Arab exodus.

Israel did not exile the Arabs. Only Arab rumors, Big Lies, did. They provoked shame in a shame-and-honor culture and it worked.

Tauber's work has yet to be reviewed in all the venues that have welcomed the belief in this alleged massacre. Either his work on Deir Yassin will not be widely reviewed or it will be savaged. I hope that I'm wrong.

I am hardly a scholar in this area, but it seems to me that the myth of this alleged massacre may have functioned just as the 20th century Al-Dura myth has in our current century. The entire world wanted to believe that Israelis would purposely, wantonly, and viciously kill an Arab child, sheltering in his father's arms. It did not happen.

And yet, blood libels against the Jews never quit, they seem to live on forever.

Melanie Phillips: The airbrushed feet of clay Desmond Tutu did some great things. But he had a monstrous side too

All this is terrible and depressing. More terrible still, though, is the silence with which Tutu’s bigotry against the Jewish people has been received.

Despite its scale, it has simply been ignored by all who have continued to lionise Tutu as a moral beacon for the world. Dershowitz first assembled his forensic charge sheet against Tutu almost eleven years ago.

And yet, after his death CNN called him “the voice of justice;” the Associated Press said he was a “moral conscience;” the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “a towering global figure for peace and inspiration to generations across the world;” the Economist said he was “the best kind of troublemaker;” and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, called him “a healer and apostle of peace”.

Not one of these or any of the innumerable others whose similar tributes have poured forth in an unstoppable geyser of hero-worship uttered a single word about his antisemitism.

Maybe they just didn’t know? Maybe they did know but allowed his South African legacy to erase it from their minds as just too complicated and contradictory to process? Or maybe they think that Israel deserves what Tutu said about it and that the Jews really aren’t worth bothering about? That antisemitism is so marginal it just doesn’t matter — and the Jews should simply shut up about it?

Whatever the reason, this near-universal airbrushing of Tutu’s bigotry as he is all but canonised as a modern saint throws into the sharpest relief the devastating moral confusion of our era.

New York Times Seizes on Tutu Death to Push Israel-Apartheid Narrative

It’s not just the “critics” increasingly describing Israel as an apartheid state; it’s the Times itself. Back in 2020, when the paper started in with it, I wrote, “It’s unusual to see the “apartheidlike” accusation in the Times’ own voice in a news article.” I wrote then, “It shows how far the Times has traveled on the issue: Back in 2007, when former President Jimmy Carter published his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, a Times review justifiably faulted Carter for ‘the word ‘apartheid’ in the title, with its false echo of the racist policies of the old South Africa.’”

I wrote then that the Times’ own op-ed columnist, Bret Stephens, had written, “the comparison of Israel to apartheid South Africa is unfair to the former and an insult to the victims of the latter.” Even the Times’ Nicholas Kristof, who has been sharply critical of Israel, wrote in May 2021, “Personally, I’m wary of the term apartheid because there are significant differences from ancien régime South Africa.”

But as the latest examples show, plenty of Times editors aren’t as wary as Kristof is about tossing the term about. In October 2021, a Times book review “in brief” column covering three books about Israel mentioned apartheid twice. And Peter Beinart pushed the Israel apartheid parallel in a July 2020 New York Times podcast and in a Times opinion article published that same month.

I can understand the temptation by Israel’s critics to argue the South African case rather than the Israeli case. South Africa was a clear-cut example of settler colonialist racism. Israel is different in many ways. While Israel could do better at integrating Arab citizens, there’s no legal discrimination of the sort there was in South Africa. Arabs serve in the Israeli parliament, attend Israeli universities, and are doctors in Israeli hospitals. West Bank Arabs are a different story — some of them aspire to their own Palestinian state and in some cases have pursued it violently, so differential treatment of them is based on security considerations and in some cases is aimed at preserving an option of a two-state solution or at least limited self-rule. Also, Jews have lived in the land of Israel for thousands of years, considerably longer than Afrikaners lived in South Africa.

David Singer: Christian leaders in Jerusalem playing anti-Semitic political games

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem (Christian Leaders) request (read the letter by clicking the link) for an urgent dialogue with “Israel, Palestine and Jordan” on protecting the Christian community in Jerusalem and the integrity of the Christian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem – is an anti-Israel political ploy that should be rejected by Israel.

The requested dialogue is clearly against Israel’s national interest for the following reasons:
- The Christian Leaders acknowledged that threats to Christians were not limited to Jerusalem only - but extended to Christians throughout the Holy Land without mentioning that most of this is in the Palestinian Authority areas:

“Throughout the Holy Land Christians have become the target of frequent and sustained attacks by fringe radical groups. Since 2012 there have been countless incidents of physical and verbal assaults against priests and other clergy, attacks on Christian churches, with holy sites regularly vandalized and desecrated, and ongoing intimidation of local Christians who simply seek to worship freely and go about their daily lives. These tactics are being used by such radical groups in a systematic attempt to drive the Christian community out of Jerusalem and other parts of the Holy Land.”

- Inviting “Palestine and Jordan” to participate in a dialogue solely on Jerusalem was a blatant attempt by these Christian Leaders to undermine Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem by replacing Israel as the sole Authority responsible for ensuring the security and safety of the Christian community in Jerusalem.

- Israel’s Christian community actually grew by 1.4 percent in 2020 and now numbers some 182,000 people

Certainly Israel should meet with these Christian Leaders to address and allay their concerns in relation to threats to the Christian community in Jerusalem.

Iran, and the nuclear deal it never signed, pose an existential threat to the Jews of Israel. But the Jews aren’t the only people who would die if Iran were to nuke the Jewish State. Millions of Arabs would die as well. Why does no one—not even the Arabs—speak of or write about this? Shouldn’t they be calling on Iran not to attack because of the possibility that many Arabs and Muslims might also be killed?

“It's worrying that no one raises the issue,” says Khaled Abu Toameh, distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute. “It's because they would love to see Iran attack and destroy Israel.”

Nonetheless, the Arabs have long been seen as hapless victims, expendable in the war against the Jews. It is a sad fact that many of those who fled Israel on the eve of the War of Independence, never received citizenship from their host countries. For almost 74 years, they and their descendants have been kept stateless by design. They do not enjoy the rights that average citizens take for granted. They are, instead, considered eternal refugees, until such time as the State of Israel falls, and the ~~Jews~~ Zionists take their leave, at last

But the Arabs are more than just simple pawns or helpless bystanders. They are an active part of the “resistance.” Unwilling to recognize Israel as a legitimate state within any borders that anyone can name, they are generally happy to engage in acts of terror to prove their commitment to being rid of the ~~Jews~~ Zionists, once and for all.

Until now, Iran hasn’t been a part of that conversation at all. Even the official Arab media is silent. As such, we only can guess their feelings on what an Iranian attack on Israel would mean to them. “Some would not even mind if an Iranian attack on Israel meant killing a large number of Arabs in the process,” says Abu Toameh. “For many, this would be an ‘honorable’ death for a ‘sacred and noble’ cause.”

If this attitude of the Arab man-on-the-street, it fits right in with attempts by the EU and US to resurrect the Iran “deal.” On this issue they share common ground. The EU and US are happy to abandon Israel to Iran to buy some time. Arabs, on the other hand, are thrilled to die to bring down Israel. Thus we have a match made in heaven.

Understanding this means seeing the JCPOA for what it really is. The parties do not speak of putting a stop to the nuclear ambitions of the Ayatollah, because they cannot: no one can. Instead, they speak of a delay. They pretend that a cash infusion to the tune of a $90 million bailout will somehow put a crimp in weapons production. But it is obvious that this is a completely nonsensical idea. More money to the nuclear machine only means more bombs, made faster. And we already know that Iran cheats in its quest to get the bomb. Constantly. Therefore, there must be something more in play.

That something more is Israel, or rather its elimination.

To know this, we have only to look at who is against the deal and who is for it. Israel has protested the deal all along. To Israel, the deal is no deal. It is a death sentence. Duh.

The same could be said of the Gulf States. In fact, the Abraham Accords are predicated in part, upon a mutual fear of Iran. The parties to the accords know what Iran wants. Iran wants to rule the world. Nuclear weapons can get them what they need to make that happen.

The EU and the US are not stupid. All of this is known to them. But they think they are buying time with this offering of Jews on the sacrificial (Persian) altar. And they don’t care who dies along the way.

As such, all of us, including the EU and the US, understand exactly why Israel and the Gulf States are afraid of Iran. To an outsider, what is likely more difficult to understand is why the Arabs of Israel, the PA, and Gaza, living so close in proximity to Jewish Israelis, are not. In some cases, the Arabs are working with Iran. Hamas, for example, works with Iran. Islamic Jihad works with Iran. So do others.

It makes little sense to outsiders. Unless you are hip to the local lingo. Then you understand exactly how the stars align.

In the local lingo of “occupation,” all forms of “resistance” are “legitimate.” In this twisted context, “resistance” means “Arab terror.” Tweet about the murder of a Jewish victim, and watch the bots come out of the woodwork. They will tell you that the murder is justified, that the killing of a ~~Jew~~ Zionist is a “legitimate form of resistance.”

“Resistance” of this sort is not only deemed legitimate, but celebrated. In Arab villages, sweets are distributed after terror attacks.

توزيع الحلوى في خانيونس جنوب قطاع غزة ابتهاجاً بـ #عملية_سلفيت البطولية صباح اليوم . pic.twitter.com/IXWxCNYUyi
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) March 17, 2019

When a terrorist dies while attempting to murder Jews, he becomes a martyr, his family the forever recipients of a monthly stipend.

The message: we live only to rid the world of Jews—we live only to die.

If we strain to understand the psyche of the regular Arab Joe on the street, how are we to understand the ease with which the world throws him under the bus? Again, it’s all about the ~~Jews~~ Zionists. On campuses or the internet, excuses are made for monstrous behavior even when it kills children in a pizzeria or a woman out for a jog in the forest.

Nonprofits distribute explainers, feeding the public its lines in the “occupation” narrative. When Arabs die while eliminating the Jews, they turn into heroes in the blink of an eye. Jews say kaddish for Arabs who murder other Jews on a Sabbath’s Eve, when little ones hover in the dark in a closet, listening while Abba is killed.

Interesting, they're mourning quite a few Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades militants. Basem Issa - Gaza Brigade Commander. Sameh Mamlouk - Commander of the Missile Unit Northern Brigade. Abu al-Ata's brother, Mohammad al-Ata. https://t.co/6Op8CoWJYZ
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) May 28, 2021

One might say that all is fair in love and in ridding the Middle East of ~~Jews~~ Zionists. Because Jews, who have thousands of years of history in their indigenous territory, are supposed to give way to others, right or wrong. This, we are told, is social justice.

Killing Israeli soldiers is a legitimate form of resistance, or so we are told. This premise, once accepted, is followed by the corollary that all Israelis: men, women, and children, are soldiers, as all of them are “occupiers” who live within the borders of a land the world wants to cleanse of all its Jews, once and for all.

It is now become the norm to believe a narrative of moral untruths: that the indigenous Jewish people are “occupiers” and that murdering them wherever you find them is “legitimate resistance.” All of this is well-absorbed and well-echoed by those who wish to believe these things: the brainwashed, the academics in position to mold young minds, and the far-left Jew who just wants to be liked by others.

Meet Mai Afana, who drove a car into Israeli soldiers and then tried to stab them. She was killed while she was carrying out a terrorist attack.⁰⁰Rep. Tlaib, demonizing Israel and excusing terrorism will only lead to more conflict. Stop the lies. Stop the hate. Work for peace. https://t.co/W1mo4ftCMz
— AIPAC (@AIPAC) August 31, 2021

For the Arabs who live in and around Israel, there is pride in the fantasy of sacrificing one’s life as a form of resistance. This fantasy is encouraged by their leadership, who cheers them on to die. The local populace, in some ways, sees itself as being alive only for the purpose of dying so that more Jews may die. Is it any wonder that they are willing to die in a nuclear war, at the hands of Iran, for the purpose of eliminating the Jewish State?

The EU and the US want to buy time and stay live, while the local Arabs want only to die. For those on the outside looking in, it seems like a match made in heaven. But it’s not. It’s closer to a pact with the devil. That being the case, they should really put a stop to this stuff before the Big Guy makes His move.

A Christmas message op-ed on Palestinian news site Amad by Dr. Mustafa Youssef Al-Ledawi proves, for the umpteenth time, that Palestinian anti-Zionism and antisemitism are the same thing.

Christians celebrate in the whole world, in these blessed days of every year, Christmas, and their eyes aspire to occupied Palestine, the blessed land where he was born and grew up where Jesus peace be upon him.

In these blessed days, Christians ask God in the highest, the joy among people, and they seek from Him peace on Earth peace, in an eternal and eternal message, that they are people of love and peace, and followers of a noble prophet who preceded our Messenger Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace by years, and preach him with knowledge and certainty, so congratulations to the Christians on the night of Christmas, full of goodness, abundant in giving, full of justice and peace.

But the land of Christ Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon them both, is a lawless, occupier, usurped by a rogue gang of old enemies of Christ, who envied and betrayed him, and conspired against him and wanted to kill him, and prepared for his crucifixion, had it not been for God Almighty’s care for him that saved him from their evils...

The land of Christ, peace be upon him, appeals to the world on Christmas Day from the oppression of the Jews and the oppression of the Children of Israel, who are corrupting the land, killing people, uprooting trees, destroying stones, plundering the land from its owners, and building settlements and colonies over it, until the cities of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit almost Sahour is joined to the city of Jerusalem, due to the large number of settlement belts that surrounded it and attached it to what it called the Greater City of Jerusalem, which is the holy city that embraces the Church of the Holy Sepulcher... that the Jews have been desecrating and expelling the worshipers from, and today they are trying to distort it, strip it of its endowments, deprive it of its land, and restrict its followers.

Merry Christmas to all, except for the usurping, villainous, prophet-killing Jews!

12/29 Links Pt1: UN’s war on Jewish Jerusalem: A denial of indigenous rights; PA: All terrorists are “innocent civilians” and victims of an Israeli plot

From Ian:

UN’s war on Jewish Jerusalem: A denial of indigenous rights - opinion

The UN’s attack on Jewish Jerusalem is simply part of its wider anti-Israel strategy seeking to undermine and delegitimize the only Jewish state in the world. UN bias is well known, with its demographic makeup largely ensuring an automatic majority for every anti-Israel resolution proposed. The organization’s position not only flies in the face of 3,000 years of the city’s history, but also blatantly contradicts its own position on the rights of indigenous peoples.

It was in the Land of Israel that the Jewish people developed its unique culture and religious practices. It clearly fulfills the criteria of indigenous peoples, according to the UN’s own definitions: self-identification; historical continuity with precolonial and/or pre-settler societies; strong links to territories and surrounding natural resources; distinct social, economic or political systems; distinct language, culture and beliefs; resolve to maintain and reproduce ancestral environments and systems as distinct communities.

It is more than a mere discourtesy to avoid using the Jewish names and terms – the UN is directly contradicting its own 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigneous Peoples by denying Jewish indigenous rights “pertaining to their lands, territories and resources, including those which were traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used.” By its antihistorical and unjust declarations, the UN merely discredits itself and undermines its status as a human rights body.

Jews are undeniably the indigenous people of Jerusalem, a claim supported by historical, archaeological and genetic evidence. Jerusalem, otherwise known as Zion, is the Holy City of the Jewish people. Israel’s declaration of Jerusalem as its complete and united capital city should be supported by all who care about indigenous peoples and their rights.

If the UN were to apply to some good purpose all the energy expended against Jews and their ancient and indissoluble connection to Jerusalem, so much good could be achieved.

We call on people of goodwill everywhere to urge their respective governments to stand on the side of truth and justice, and to bring change at the UN.

US Jewish Leaders ‘Appalled’ by UN Vote to Approve Funding for ‘One-Sided’ Permanent Inquiry Into Israel

Leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations voiced their dismay at last week’s majority vote at the United National General Assembly (UNGA) to fund a permanent, open-ended probe into alleged human rights abuses committed by Israel.

“We are appalled by the UNGA vote to approve an open-ended commission of inquiry solely focused on Israel’s response to the conflict initiated by the Hamas terrorist regime last May, also known as Operation Guardian of the Walls,” stated Conference Chair Dianne Lob, CEO William Daroff and Vice Chair Malcolm Hoenlein on Monday. “We vehemently oppose this one-sided farce of a probe, which again demonstrates the clear anti-Israel bias in the UN body. Israel is the only member state in the history of the UN to be singled out for taking defensive military action to ensure the security of its civilian population.”

“Throughout the history of UN actions, no other investigation received authorization to spend unlimited resources without an explicit mandate,” the umbrella body representing the main US Jewish advocacy groups added.

In May — when the resolution by the UN Human Rights Council was adopted to open an ongoing investigation into incidents that occurred both before and after April 13, 2021, in the wake of the Gaza war — Israel argued that its security forces “acted with the highest ethical standards, in accordance with international law, in defending our citizens from Hamas’ indiscriminate rocket fire.”

At the UN’s Fifth Committee session on budget approvals on Thursday, 125 countries rejected a proposed amendment by the Israeli representative to defund the permanent commission of inquiry, which it considers “discriminatory and biased.” Eight countries, including the US, Hungary and Papua New Guinea voted in favor, and 34 abstained.

“No such body has been created to investigate Hamas, despite its many rocket attacks targeting Israeli civilians and infrastructure,” the Israeli representative said. “This latest commission has an indefinite time frame with broad budgetary implications and redundant staff.”

PMW: All terrorists are “innocent civilians” and victims of an Israeli plot according to the PA

Earlier this month, a 65-year-old Palestinian woman named Sa’diyya Farajallah stabbed an Israeli civilian near the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The 38-year-old Israeli man fought her in self-defense until she was arrested by Israeli police.

But in the PA’s fake news the story was different. According to official PA TV, Farajallah was “attacked,” “beaten,” and “wounded” for no reason by “the occupation forces.” PA TV never mentioned the fact that Farajallah had stabbed an Israeli man:
Official PA TV newsreader: “The occupation forces arrested a female civilian from Hebron after she was severely beaten (sic.) near the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., the Cave of the Patriarchs). Our reporter said that civilian Sa’diyya Farajallah (i.e., terrorist, wounded 1), 65, was wounded in various parts of her body as a result of being attacked by the occupation forces stationed at the military checkpoint in front of the Ibrahimi Mosque, and he noted that the occupation forces prevented the civilians and first aid teams from reaching the wounded woman who fainted and lost consciousness.”

[Official PA TV News, Dec. 18, 2021]

The fake news and the distortion of a Palestinian terror attack into an “unprovoked Israeli assault” against “an innocent Palestinian victim” is not new. Even when there is video footage of an attack, and the terrorist is clearly seen attacking his/her victims, the PA misrepresents the Israeli response as an assault or “execution.” During the terror wave in 2015-2016, also coined the Knife Intifada, when numerous stabbing attacks took place, Palestinian Media Watch exposed that the PA routinely claimed Israel fabricated the attacks and planted the knives at the scene. The PA has since continued to describe Palestinian stabbers as “unarmed” victims of Israeli “executions.”

Sa’diyya Farajallah – 65-year-old female Palestinian terrorist who stabbed and wounded an Israeli civilian near the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron on Dec. 18, 2021. The civilian fought off Farajallah to defend himself until she was arrested by Israeli border police officers.

Somehow, a Jewish state is apartheid, but Arab and Muslim states aren’t

The Palestine Forum, a group of Palestinians worldwide, issued a statement saying they wil combat the Jewishness of Israel. According to them, the concept of a Jewish state is racist and apartheid.

It’s been quite a while since I did a survey of Arab countries’ constitutions to see how they describe themselves.

Country	Description
Algeria	Algeria, land of Islam, an integral part of the Great Arab Maghreb and an Arab, Mediterranean and African country
Bahrain	The Kingdom of Bahrain is fully sovereign, independent Islamic Arab State whose population is part of the Arab nation and whose territory is part of the great Arab homeland.
Egypt	Blessed with a unique location and history, the Arab nation of Egypt is the heart of the whole world….Egypt is part of the Arab nation and enhances its integration and unity. It is part of the Muslim world, belongs to the African continent, is proud of its Asian dimension, and contributes to building human civilization….Islam is the religion of the state and…the principles of Islamic Sharia are the principle source of legislation.
Iraq	Iraq is a country of multiple nationalities, religions, and sects. It is a founding and active member in the Arab League and is committed to its charter, and it is part of the Islamic world…. Islam is the official religion of the State and is a foundation source of legislation: No law may be enacted that contradicts the established provisions of Islam. This Constitution guarantees the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people…
Lebanon	Lebanon has an Arab identity and belonging.
Libya	Islam shall be its religion and Islamic Shari’a shall be the main source of legislation.
Morocco	A sovereign Muslim State, attached to its national unity and to its territorial integrity, the Kingdom of Morocco intends to preserve, in its plentitude and its diversity, its one and indivisible national identity. Its unity, is forged by the convergence of its Arab-Islamist, Berber [amazighe] and Saharan-Hassanic [saharo-hassanie] components, nourished and enriched by its African, Andalusian, Hebraic and Mediterranean influences [affluents]. The preeminence accorded to the Muslim religion in the national reference is consistent with [va de pair] the attachment of the Moroccan people to the values of openness, of moderation, of tolerance and of dialog for mutual understanding between all the cultures and the civilizations of the world.
Oman	The Sultanate of Oman is an Arab, Islamic, Independent State
“Palestine”	Palestine is part of the larger Arab world, and the Palestinian people are part of the Arab nation. Arab unity is an objective that the Palestinian people shall work to achieve. Islam is the official religion in Palestine.
Qatar	Qatar is an Arab State, sovereign and independent. Its religion is Islam, and the Islamic Law is the main source of its legislations.
Saudi Arabia	The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab Islamic State. Constitution: The Holy Qur'an and the Prophet's Sunnah (traditions)
Syria	The Syrian Arab Republic is a democratic state with full sovereignty, indivisible, and may not waive any part of its territory, and is part of the Arab homeland; The people of Syria are part of the Arab nation.
Tunisia	Expressing our people’s commitment to the teachings of Islam and its aims characterized by openness and moderation, and to the human values and the highest principles of universal human rights, and inspired by the heritage of our civilization, accumulated over the travails of our history, from our enlightened reformist movements that are based on the foundations of our Islamic-Arab identity and on the gains of human civilization, and adhering to the national gains achieved by our people,.. Tunisia is a free, independent, sovereign state; its religion is Islam, its language Arabic, and its system is republican.
United Arab Emirates	The UAE is a part of the greater Arab nation to which the UAE is linked by the ties of religion, language, history and common destiny. The people of the UAE are one people, and a part of the Arab nation. Islam is the official religion of the UAE. The Islamic Shari’a is a main source of legislation in the UAE.
Yemen	The Republic of Yemen is an Arab, Islamic and independent sovereign state whose integrity is inviolable, and no part of which may be ceded. The people of Yemen are part of the Arab and Islamic Nation.

Essentially every Arab state defines itself as Arab and/or Islamic (a huge exception is Sudan.)

If a Jewish state is inherently discriminatory, then Muslim and Arab states are at least as much so.

Now find me the articles saying that Arab or Muslim states are “apartheid.”

Palestinians are still upset over Miss Universe contestants wearing Bedouin robes. From Al Monitor:

Palestinian activists believe that Miss Universe organizers granting contestants permission to wear the Palestinian dress is theft of Palestinian culture and heritage. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank held popular events, during which women wore the Palestinian dress and prepared traditional foods, in protest of Miss Universe contestants wearing the Palestinian traditional dress, which is considered part of the cultural identity of the Palestinian people.

On Dec. 16, the art of traditional embroidery and the practices, skills and customs associated with it were inscribed among 43 new elements on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

“Women’s village clothing usually consists of a long dress, trousers, a jacket, a headdress, and a veil,” UNESCO stated. “Each of these garments is embroidered with a variety of symbols including birds, trees, and flowers. The choice of colors and designs indicates the woman’s regional identity and marital and economic status. Embroidery is a social and intergenerational practice, as women gather in each other’s homes to practice embroidery and sewing, often with their daughters. Many women embroider as a hobby, and some produce and sell embroidered pieces to supplement their family’s income.”

Palestinian Minister of Culture Atef Abu Saif said the inscription of the Palestinian embroidery on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List is a victory for the Palestinian narrative based on the right of the Palestinian people to their land from which they were forcibly displaced during the 1948 Nakba.

Abu Saif pointed out that the Palestinian Ministry of Culture worked for over two years toward this goal by preparing the required documents that prove embroidery is a pure Palestinian heritage practiced by Palestinians for thousands of years.

Thousands of years?

One of the documents linked to in this article shows that Palestinians admits that there was no difference between the women's clothing in Jordan and Palestine - which contradicts the "unique" nature of the dress that they claim - and also admits that at least part of the women's robe (thobe) style comes from copying the dress of - a Jew!

The traditional costume designer, Khawla Asaad, confirmed that the dress indicates the Jordanian-Palestinian interdependence, because the old dress in Jordan and Palestine was one, with evidence that the two dresses were the Salti (Jordan) and the Tamari (Palestine), and the dress of the Bedouin women in Palestine and Jordan was similar in the same design, and this dress was characterized by length and high Play (chest) so that no one can tell that the woman is pregnant, and so that the woman can put valuables inside the play, concluding by saying that this dress is taken from the dress of the Virgin Mary, peace be upon her, who became pregnant and gave birth without anyone knowing it because her dress was loose.

Mary was, of course, Jewish.

Palestinians claim that their tradition of intricate embroidery is what is unique to their culture, and Israel is "stealing" it, somehow, by calling it "Bedouin" and noting that many Bedouin in the Negev - full Israeli citizens - wear such clothing.

But what if this tradition of intricate embroidery actually comes from Jews?

Jews throughout the Middle East and central Europe have been wearing intricately embroidered clothing for at least 200 years, as an exhibit at the Jewish Museum showed in 2018.

But what about earlier than that?

In the mid-1800s, Thomas de Quincey wrote an essay, "The Toilette of the Hebrew Lady," based on research by another scholar named Hartmann. He describes the tradition of Jewish embroidery going back to Biblical times.

From this early rudiment was derived, by gradual elongation, that well-known under habiliment, which in Hebrew is called Ch’tonet, and in Greek and Latin by words of similar sound. In this stage of its progress, when extended to the neck and the shoulders, it represents pretty accurately the modern shirt, or chemise–except that the sleeves are wanting; and during the first period of Jewish history, it was probably worn as the sole under-garment by women of all ranks, both amongst the Bedouin Hebrews and those who lived in cities. A very little further extension to the elbows and the calves of the legs, and it takes a shape which survives even to this day in Asia. Now, as then, the female habiliment was distinguished from the corresponding male one by its greater length; and through all antiquity we find long clothes a subject of reproach to men, as an argument of effeminacy.

According to the rank or vanity of the wearer, this tunic was made of more or less costly materials; for wool and flax was often substituted the finest byssus, or other silky substance; and perhaps, in the latter periods, amongst families of distinction in Jerusalem, even silk itself. Splendor of coloring was not neglected; and the opening at the throat was eagerly turned to account as an occasion for displaying fringe or rich embroidery.

...

The reader has been already made acquainted with the chemise, or innermost under-dress. The Hebrew ladies, however, usually wore two under-dresses, the upper of which it now remains to describe. In substance it was generally of a fine transparent texture, like the muslins (if we may so call them) of Cos; in the later ages it was no doubt of silk.

The chemise sate up close to the throat; and we have already mentioned the elaborate work which adorned it about the opening. But the opening of the robe which we are now describing, was of much larger compass–being cut down to the bosom; and the embroidery, etc. which enriched it, was still more magnificent. The chemise reached down only to the calf of the leg, and the sleeve of it to the elbow; but the upper chemise or tunic, if we may so call it, descended in ample draperies to the feet–scarcely allowing the point of the foot to discover itself; and the sleeves enveloped the hands to their middle. Great pomp was lavished on the folds of the sleeves; but still greater on the hem of the robe, and the fringe attached to it. The hem was formed by a broad border of purple, shaded and relieved according to patterns; and sometimes embroidered in gold thread with the most elegant objects from the animal or vegetable kingdoms. To that part which fell immediately behind the heels, there were attached thin plates of gold; or, by way of variety, it was studded with golden stars and filigree-work; sometimes with jewels and pearls interchangeably.

On this upper tunic, to confine the exorbitance of its draperies, and to prevent their interfering with the free motions of the limbs, a superb GIRDLE was bound about the hips. Here, if anywhere, the Hebrew ladies endeavored to pour out the whole pomp of their splendor–both as to materials and workmanship. Belts from three to four inches broad, of the most delicate cottony substance, were chosen as the ground of this important part of female attire. The finest flowers of Palestine were here exhibited in rich relief, and in their native colors, either woven in the loom, or by the needle of the embroiderer. The belts being thirty or forty feet long, and carried round and round the person, it was in the power of the wearer to exhibit an infinite variety of forms, by allowing any fold or number of folds at pleasure to rise up more or less to view, just as fans or the colored edges of books with us are made to exhibit landscapes, etc. capable of great varieties of expansion as they are more or less unfolded. The fastening was by a knot below the bosom; and the two ends descended below the fringe; which, if not the only fashion in use, was, however, the prevailing one–as we learn both from the sculptures at Persepolis, and from the costume of the High Priest.

I'm no expert on women's clothing, but this description sounds a lot like what Palestinians now claim to be their own, unique dress.

De Quincey also points out Isaiah 3, which describes women's clothing translated as "the festive robes, the mantles, and the shawls; the purses, the lace gowns, and the linen vests; and the kerchiefs and the capes."

So what, exactly, is uniquely Palestinian about Palestinian embroidery? Intricate patterns including of flowers, bright colors, loose fitting floor length robes - all of these are documented to be associated with Jewish women for literally thousands of years!

Even though no one claimed that the clothing worn by the Miss Universe contestants were Jewish, perhaps it is more accurate to say that they are associated with ancient Jewish culture more than anything "Palestinian!"

Bad stuff happening to Palestinians every day doesn't get reported, because Jews cannot be blamed

The Action Group for Palestinians in Syria reports:

8 Palestinians from Syria who hoped to emigrate to Europe drowned as their boat capsized in the Aegean Sea on Friday.

UNRWA reduced its shelter allowances for Syrian Palestinians in Lebanon, causing outrage.

The Raml camp in Lattakia was hit with electricity shortages for the fifth straight day.

In Syria, someone exploded a bomb outside the house of Palestinian Iyad Bakr, who was killed.

Palestinians in the Khan Eisheh camp in Damascus complain that the UNRWA employees treat their relatives well but mistreat everyone else.

The PLO in Syria honored retired teachers and gave them a cash prize - but they only honored teachers associated with Fatah, angering other teachers.

There was an armed clash between different Palestinian factions in the Daraa camp in Syria last week.

But when Israel cannot be blamed, these stories don't make it out of Syria or Lebanon.

12/28 Links Pt2: What really happened to the million Jews in Arab lands?; Chair of Ben & Jerry’s Board Voted as ‘2021 Antisemite of the Year’; Archbishop of Canterbury falls for anti-Israel lies

From Ian:

David Collier: What really happened to the million Jews in Arab lands?

The need for the whitewash
By the early 20th century, the attacks on these Jewish communities were brutal. Much of it was government driven, with increasing anti-Jewish legislation appearing throughout the region. But there was also a lot of anti-Jewish violence on the street. This all spiked dramatically when Israel was founded but had started long before. The growing hostility was to drive the ethnic cleansing of every major Jewish community inside Arab lands. The creation of nearly a million Jewish refugees.

For those pushing an anti-Israel agenda – and whose entire narrative is built around the non-necessity of Zionism and the tragic existence of Palestinian refugees, the true history surrounding Jewish refugees creates five key problems:
1. The image of co-existence is a myth
2. There were more Jewish refugees created than Arab refugees
3. The value of what the Jewish refugees had stolen from them was many times greater than anything the Arab refugees can claim they lost
4. The attack on the Jewish communities was unprovoked and on an innocent civilian population. The same is not true of much of the Arab population in the mandate, with many Arab villages choosing a violent confrontation that fuelled a civil conflict
5. Like it or not, many Arab families in the mandate area had simply moved into the area as the Ottoman empire collapsed – or as Zionist investment created opportunity. This means many of the Arab refugees had no real roots in the mandate area (one example – the ‘Palestinian’ hero of the 1930s, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam – was born in Northern Syria.) The same could not be said of the ancient Jewish roots in places such as Egypt, Iraq or Yemen.

All of these factors create a huge problem for anti-Israel activists. In real terms, the unprovoked destruction of the Jewish communities in the MENA region was far worse than the destruction of the Arab communities engaged in civil conflict in the mandate area.

Another *key difference* between the two – was what followed their respective departures. While Israel looked after Jewish refugees and absorbed them – so today they no longer exist – the Arabs disgracefully *CHOSE* to weaponise the refugees. Instead of absorbing them, they locked them into camps and deliberately perpetuated their suffering. Many of the grandchildren of these Arab refugees still live in camps today, solely because the Arab nations wanted to keep them that way.

There is even mind-numbing hypocrisy in the way these people are treated. People still refer to a Jordanian whose ancestors fled the mandate area in 1948 as a ‘refugee’ – but nobody would dream of doing the same to an Israeli whose ancestors were expelled from Egypt. Both of these families have new nationalities – but are treated very differently.

But even all this misdirection wasn’t enough. Even with the UN, UNHRC, Amnesty, HRW and media outlets like the BBC – all playing along with the gross deception. The anti-Israel propaganda machine needed more.

Chair of Ben & Jerry’s Board Voted as ‘2021 Antisemite of the Year’ in Watchdog Poll

The chairperson of Ben & Jerry’s board of directors and vice president of the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation has been crowned the “2021 Antisemite of the Year” by thousands of voters in a contest organized by the StopAntisemitism.org watchdog group, it was announced on Sunday.

Anuradha Mittal was selected over two other “finalists,” singer Dua Lipa and Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, following several weeks of voting. The Ben & Jerry’s chair was a leading force behind the company’s announcement in July that it would stop selling its products in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem — areas the ice cream maker called “occupied Palestinian territory” — by the end of 2022 because doing business there was “inconsistent” with company values.

In response to the boycott move, several US states, most recently Illinois, announced that they will divest pension and public funds holdings from Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, in accordance with anti-BDS laws.

“For us and for the voters, Mittal was clearly the 2021 Antisemite of the Year,” said StopAntisemitism Founder and Executive Director Liora Rez. “The Ben & Jerry’s boycott is shamelessly biased and Mittal’s commitment to promoting her antisemitic and anti-Israel agenda is deplorable. The way she has leveraged her namesake and power in the corporate world to promote antisemitic initiatives is horrendous.”

Mittal did not immediately respond to an Algemeiner request for comment. She defended Ben & Jerry’s decision in August, saying, “It is not about boycotting Israel … the occupation is anti-Israel. Our decision was pro-Israel, pro-humanity, pro-human rights.”

In 2018, under Mittal’s leadership, Ben & Jerry’s partnered with anti-Israel activist and Women’s March co-founder Linda Sarsour, StopAntisemitism noted. Mittal is also the founder and executive director of the left-wing policy think tank Oakland Institute, where she led a team that wrote a series of reports called “Palestine for Land and Life,” which claims to document “everyday life under occupation” and “the use of laws and military orders which subjugate Palestinians.”

Meet our 2021 Antisemite of the Year - Ben & Jerry's Anuradha Mittal

Mittal spearheaded the antisemitic boycott against various parts of Israel that led to:

- 5 states divesting their pension assets from parent company Unilever
- an SEC investigation
- a drop in Unilever stock pic.twitter.com/INLkVpV9aG
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) December 28, 2021

Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Kinue Tokudome: Japan-Israel ties at 70: obstacles and opportunities

Next year, Japan and Israel will reach a major milestone: 70 years since relations were established between these two unique democracies. In that time, both countries have made immense strides from uncertain times following World War II. Today, in the 21st century, they are both among the most technologically advanced democracies.

As two people who have worked to promote understanding and friendship between Japanese and Jewish people for decades, we enter this anniversary year with great anticipation.

One of us has been building relationships in Japan since the 1980s to increase awareness and educate Japanese people about the Holocaust, Jewish history, and Israel. The other has been writing and translating books and articles about the Holocaust and Jewish people for Japanese audiences for more than 25 years.

We have traveled to Japan many times; met with Japanese government officials as well as Israeli and American ambassadors to Japan; and spoken to the media.

Recently, an interesting article caught our attention. It suggested that Japan and Israel could form a powerful new alliance with the US. This is a wonderful vision that deserves to be pursued.

However, we believe that it is imperative for Japan to first address its long-held position towards Israel that has deeply disappointed those who would support closer ties.

Jewish Voice for Peace sent out a fundraising email from Judith Butler, where she says:

As the largest Jewish organization that has declared itself anti-Zionist, JVP has taken on an indispensable role in public life that is singular, timely, and critical. JVP offers a way for Jews to re-imagine what Jewishness can look like without nationalism and state violence, for Jews and other Palestinian allies to enact true safety and solidarity in our communities, while showing up and speaking out in the hard moments — the moments that really count.

JVP is at the forefront showing what a powerful and meaningful Jewish life can look like now, and helps all of us imagine the future. Help me make sure that future comes to fruition.

What kind of Judaism can JVP offer?

Given that the entire point of the organization is to oppose Israel, that makes its public activities all political. The only vestiges of religion are the ones that they can twist into politics.

JVP is trying to create a "Judaism" beyond just anti-Israel activities. They set up something called the JVP Havurah Network:

We are an emergent network that gathers, supports and resources diasporist, anti-zionist and non-zionist Jews and Jewish spiritual communities. We yearn for a vibrant Jewish life beyond nationalism that condemns and challenges white supremacy within and outside Jewish communities. The JVP Havurah Network supports collaboration and leadership development in service of the movement for Palestinian freedom and all liberatory movements.

Unlike their events, their ritual sheets are not centered exclusively on anti-Israel activities. They try to take whatever they can from Judaism and remove anything that has anything to do with Israel.

Which leaves them with very little.

Their Kabbalat Shabbat worksheet includes parts of the service. But it has to remove the middle paragraph of Sh'ma, which talks about the ties between Jews and the Land of Israel.

If they would create a prayer book, they would need to excise much of the Amidah and much of the Grace After Meals. Their Passovers must not include where Pharaoh should let the Israelites go. Their Pentateuch would not include much at all, since it is filled with promises from God to give the Land to the children of Israel. Chanukah turns from a holiday of rededicating the Temple in Jerusalem to...Palestinian olive oil.

They realize that Judaism without Israel isn't Judaism, so they are literally trying to create a new religion that they want to pretend is a legitimate branch of Judaism. The hoops they need to jump through prove what a sham they are.

12/28 Links Pt1: The U.N.’s Israel Libel Machine Expands; Attacks up, fatalities down in the West Bank; Israeli defense official says Iran faces ‘no deterrent’ to its nuclear goals

From Ian:

WSJ Editorial: The U.N.’s Israel Libel Machine Expands

Israel’s defense of its civilians was lawful, targeted and restrained, but the U.N. wants to use the war as a pretext to indict Israel for “crimes,” real or imagined. The commission staff, led by figures with records of anti-Israel rhetoric, are charged with “investigating all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (meaning causes excluding Hamas terrorism) and delivering biannual U.N. reports indefinitely into the future.

Israel is already an irrational fixation of the U.N., which issued 17 resolutions condemning it in 2020. But the funding stream approved at the General Assembly Thursday further institutionalizes the anti-Israel libel machine. The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs notes that the new commission will have 24 permanent staff, compared to 20 permanent staff for the Human Rights Council branch covering all of Asia. With an annual budget greater than $5 million, it will fund “790 days of travel for experts and staff every year from 2022 on.”

The commission has issued a public “call for submissions” and will recommend “criminal and command responsibility” for anything Israeli officials have ever done or may do in the future—an extraordinary attack on the sovereignty of a democratic member state.

As international order frays, the U.N. is focused on enlarging impotent bureaucracies and encouraging malevolent ideological campaigns. This will inflame Israeli opinion and do nothing to solve the conflict. The Biden Administration says it will oppose the new commission, but it ought to use it as a reason to exit the Human Rights Council and stop funding it.

Eugene Kontorovich: Trump Was Right To Recognize Moroccan Sovereignty Over Western Sahara

The Trump administration has achieved yet another success in brokering peace between Israel and the Islamic world, with the recent announcement of normalized relations between Israel and Morocco. The U.S. benefits greatly from good relations between two of its long-standing Middle East allies—and as part of the arrangement, the U.S. agreed to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara. There is nothing unusual about adding "sweeteners" to such deals: The Carter administration, for example, made Egypt one of the largest non-NATO recipients of U.S. aid as a result of the Camp David Accords between Cairo and Jerusalem.

But the Western Saharan recognition has come under attack from those who had long supported unsuccessful policies for resolving the conflict. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton and Former Secretary of State James Baker both penned op-eds lambasting President Trump's move. These criticisms claim that the recognition is a radical departure from both U.S. policy and international law norms. Neither claim has any basis.

First, some background. Western Sahara had never been an independent state; rather, it was a Spanish colony until 1975, when Spanish rule crumbled at the end of the Franco regime. Morocco promptly took control of Western Sahara as the Spanish were on their way out, leading to a three-way conflict with Mauritania and the Algeria-backed Polisario guerrilla group. Morocco prevailed and has administered the territory as its "southern provinces" ever since.

The United Nations has described Morocco's presence as an "occupation" in a couple of resolutions. But much of the international community, including the United States, has taken a more ambiguous position, describing the territory as "disputed" between Morocco and the Polisario, which claims to govern an independent state that it calls the Sahrawi Arabic Democratic Republic.

By Daled Amos

Mansour Abbas, head of the Islamist Ra'am Party and member of the ruling coalition government in Israel made waves last week when he publicly declared that he recognized Israel as a Jewish state.

During an interview with Mohammad Magadli of Channel 12 News, Abbas said:

Israel was born a Jewish state, that was the decision of the people, and the question is not what is the identity of the state — it was born this way and it will remain this way.

Israellycool posted the video:

The question is: just how seriously should we take Abbas's apparent recognition of Israel as a Jewish state?
After all, back in December 1988...

After a two-day meeting with five prominent American Jews here, a P.L.O. delegation led by Mr. Arafat said in a joint statement that the Palestinian parliament in exile last month had ''accepted the existence of Israel as a state in the region'' and ''declared its rejection and condemnation of terrorism in all its forms.''

It became evident that Arafat neither accepted the existence of Israel nor rejected the use of terrorism, so it is understandable that some may be wary.

One indication of how difficult it may be for some to accept what Abbas said is that this is not even the first time that Abbas has recognized Israel as a Jewish state.

In a December 17 article on the Haaretz website, Michael Milshtein wrote:

Three weeks ago, United Arab List leader Dr. Mansour Abbas dropped one of the most dramatic political bombshells that’s been heard in Israeli discourse for some years. Astonishingly, it attracted very limited attention among both the Jewish or Arab publics. In the course of a tempestuous interview in the studio of the Nazareth-based Kul al-Arab news site, which addressed the UAL’s integration in the coalition, Abbas said, “Whether we like it or not, Israel is a Jewish state, and my central goal is to define the status of the country’s Arab citizens. I view myself as a citizen in the full sense of the word, who deserves to receive full civil rights.” [emphasis added]

That means Abbas originally came out with his recognition of Israel as a Jewish state in late November, before his interview with Magadli, without being noticed

And Ruthie Blum notes that following his statement in his interview with Magadli, Abbas doubled down in a post on Facebook:

In a lengthy post on Facebook, he reiterated what he had said at the conference, writing that Arabs need to distinguish between “desires and reality,” and not be fooled by the slogan “a state for all its citizens,” which is “employed to exploit people’s emotions without telling them that they’re talking about the state of Israel.”

The fact is, he emphasized, “legally and demographically, the State of Israel is a Jewish state.” [emphasis added]

We can argue over what Abbas is up to, but this was definitely no slip of the tongue.

Maybe he was reacting in response to a member of his own party.
JNS reported that on December 20, Ibrahim Hijazi -- the secretary-general of the Ra'am Party -- among other things called for the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria to be erased:

Ibrahim Hijazi made the remarks during in an interview that aired on the the Nazareth-based Kul al-Arab news station, just one day prior to Ra’am head Mansour Abbas’s declaration that Israel will remain a Jewish state. The interview was translated and first reported on by the Arab desk of Israeli NGO Im Tirtzu.
Hijazi stated that “the one who makes decision on large matters, nationalistic and ideological, is not Ibrahim [Hijazi] or Mansour [Abbas]—it’s the Ra’am platform.”

...Hijazi also asserted that the Arabs, not Jews, are indigenous to the land. [emphasis added]

Maybe Abbas offered his recognition of Israel in order to deflect attention from a claim made by a leader in his own party, whose own statement could potentially cause embarrassment.

There is no way to know for sure.
Just as there is no way to know for sure why Abbas originally made his statement in November.

But back in November, Caroline Glick outlined multiple ties that Mansour Abbas apparently had to Hamas.
Could Abbas have been reacting to that?

In an I24News article on Abbas's interview with Magadli, there is an unrelated embedded video discussing an offer Abbas made in the beginning of November to take $32 million earmarked for the Arab community -- and offer it to the "Jewish Ultra-Orthodox sector" in what he claimed was consistent with the policy of the Ra'am party to help all of the weak sectors of society. Some attacked the move as an attempt to drive a wedge between the Orthodox parties and the Likud, led by Netanyahu. When asked for his take on Abbas's motivation, Gil Hoffman -- chief political correspondent for The Jerusalem Post -- suggests:

Abbas is right now, very, very angry at Netanyahu. He blames Netanyahu for reports that there have been over the last week about reported ties between Ra'am and Hamas that Abbas vigorously denies and this is his way of getting revenge against Netanyahu.

Could his first statement about recognizing Israel have similarly been a reaction to those claims accusing him of ties to Hamas?

Maybe.

But on a practical level, the fact remains that Mansour Abbas has shown an ability to work within the Israel government, receiving a willingness for cooperation from unexpected areas.

For example, while the right-wing Religious Zionism party head MK Bezalel Smotrich refused to help form a coalition for Netanayahu that included Abbas, in 2020, Smotrich did help Abbas as transportation minister to resolve traffic infrastructure problems near the Israeli Arab towns of Nazareth and Kafr Kanna -- proving once again that politics makes strange bedfellows.

Which is what Naftali Bennett's coalition seems to be all about.

And if the head of the Islamist movement in Israel can work together with a right-wing Zionist, maybe there could be potential for some other positive developments as well.