Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, May 08, 2018

05/08 Links Pt2: Trump says US withdrawing from Iran nuclear deal; Walid Shoebat site video calls Judaism a 'satanic religion'; Rabbis on secret visit to Muslim country

From Ian:

Defying world, Trump says US withdrawing from Iran nuclear deal

President Trump announced the US was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, following through on a campaign promise and defying European allies who implored him to maintain an agreement that international agencies have said Tehran is honoring.

In a highly anticipated address from the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room, Trump cast the landmark agreement forged under predecessor Barack Obama as ‘defective’ and unable to rein in Iranian behavior or halt the Islamic Republic’s quest to develop a nuclear program.

“I’m announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal,” he said while adding that his administration “will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction.”

Trump said the 2015 agreement, which included Germany, France, and Britain, was a “horrible one-sided deal that should never ever have been made.”

His remarks came ahead of his self-imposed May 12 deadline to walk away from the deal, which is when the president is required to renew waivers on sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program as required under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the deal is formally called.

Trump announces the U.S. is pulling out of the #IranDeal: "It is clear to me we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement. The Iran deal is defective at its core." pic.twitter.com/hyoPzfrGMe
— Ryan Saavedra 🇺🇸 (@RealSaavedra) May 8, 2018

Netanyahu: Israel ‘fully supports’ Trump’s ‘bold’ pullout from Iran deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday led a chorus of effusive Israeli praise for US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and reinstate the “highest level” of US sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

“Israel fully supports President Trump’s bold decision today to reject the disastrous nuclear deal with the terrorist regime in Tehran,” Netanyahu said in a live English-language televised statement from his office, moments after Trump’s announcement.

Trump on Tuesday announced the US withdrawal from what he called the “defective” multinational nuclear deal with Iran, signing a presidential memorandum to reintroduce high-level sanctions on the rogue regime.

Netanyahu said Israel opposed the nuclear deal “from the start,” because, rather than keeping Tehran away from the bomb, “it paves Iran’s path to an entire arsenal of nuclear bombs.”

The lifting of sanctions by world powers since the 2015 accord “has already produced disastrous results,” said the prime minister.

“The deal didn’t push war further away, it actually brought it closer. The deal didn’t reduce Iran’s aggression, it dramatically increased it,” the prime minister said, citing the regime’s military activities across the region.

“Since the deal, we’ve seen Iran’s aggression grow every day — in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Yemen, in Gaza, and most of all, in Syria, where Iran is trying to establish military bases from which to attack Israel.”

Ben Shapiro: WATCH: Trump Just Shredded The Iran Deal. Here Are 5 Reasons He Was Absolutely Right To Do So.

On Tuesday, President Trump announced that the United States would be terminating the Iran deal. He did so on firm footing, to the consternation of the nation’s media as well as European allies who have been itching to do business with the Islamic Republic for decades. Trump explained, correctly, that “the Iranian regime is the leading state sponsor of terror. It exports dangerous missiles, fuels conflicts across the Middle East, and supports terrorist proxies and militias such as Hezbollah, Hamas, the Taliban and Al Qaeda.” He went on to list the terrorist activities in which the regime has participated, and mentioned that the mullahs have “plunder[ed] the wealth of its own people.”

Then he got into the good stuff.

Trump said that Barack Obama’s Iran deal “was supposed to protect the United States and our allies from the lunacy of an Iranian nuclear bomb,” but that the deal “allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium and – over time – reach the brink of a nuclear breakout.” This is eminently correct. All of the deal’s proponents who suggest that Iran’s nuclear ambitions were curbed by the deal are, quite simply, lying – Iran’s ambitions were merely postponed, with the knowledge that a full nuclear breakout in 2025 would result in zero sanctions of any kind. As Trump stated, “at the point when the United States had maximum leverage, this disastrous deal gave this regime – and it’s a regime of great terror – many billions of dollars, some of it in actual cash – a great embarrassment to me as a citizen and to all citizens of the United States.”

Trump mentioned that Israeli-garnered intelligence showed that Iran had lied repeatedly about its ambitions – that it wanted to develop nuclear weapons all along. The deal, Trump concluded, “didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace, and it never will.” As Trump pointed out, Iran’s military budget “has grown by almost 40 percent,” and the mullahs used the new money “to build its nuclear-capable missiles, support terrorism, and cause havoc throughout the Middle East and beyond.”

5. The Deal Did Not Deter The Quest For Nuclear Weapons. After the Iraq War, Muammar Qaddafi gave up his nuclear program, knowing that there was a serious possibility that the United States would take action. After the Iran nuclear deal, the North Korean regime even more loudly pursued nuclear development, knowing that it would earn goodies from the United States. By pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and making it clear that there are continuing consequences for dictatorships seeking nuclear weapons, Trump has made it obvious to North Korea that their best move here is to disarm, and to do so with credible methods of enforcement.

No, killing the deal won’t lead to US-led war in Iran – Trump has no such desire. But it could and should lead to concerted action by America’s allies, both economic and military, if need be. The false binary presented by the Obama team was always a horrible lie, a propagandistic effort to paint foreign policy hawks into the corner.

The Iran deal was a disaster. Trump is right to kill it.

And the Obama team’s new attempts to curry favor with terrorists in Tehran should tell you everything you need to know about their agenda in the first place.

#Pallywood video of "injured" Gazan getting off of stretcher after cameras are gone

Here's a classic Pallywood moment, where one of those "injured" people who were supposedly shot by Israeli snipers gets up off his stretcher after the group thought all the cameras were off.

No doubt the UN counts this person as one of those shot by Israel.

(h/t Jewish Press Online)

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From Times of Israel:

A series of fires broke out on Monday in southern Israel, apparently as a result of flaming objects flown over the border from the Gaza Strip.

During recent clashes on the Gaza border, Palestinians have adopted a new tactic of sending blazing kites into Israel, sparking fires in nearby agricultural lands.

In a first, helium-filled balloons carrying flaming material were used to start a number of Monday’s blazes, according to Hebrew media reports.

As a result of the fires, hundreds of dunams (dozens of acres) of wheat fields were burned. There were no reports of injuries.

In addition to the flaming balloons sent over the border, a suspected booby trapped kite was reported to have landed near Kibbutz Nahal Oz.

These are not small fires.

According to the Meir Amit ITIC, over 200 incendiary kites have been sent into Israel so far, setting fire to hundreds of dunams of agricultural areas in western Negev communities and causing damage estimated in the hundreds of thousands of shekels.

In the US, deliberately setting a wildire is a felony. Wildfires destroy natural lands as well as buildings. They pollute the air and can cause respiratory problems. Over 50 people have been killed by arson wildfires in the US.

Palestinian media celebrates these fires.

So where is the condemnation from the liberal side of the political spectrum of the specific, deliberate Palestinian policy of setting wildfires in Israel?

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05/08 Links Pt1: Glick: With Hezbollah Calling Shots, Will U.S. Stop Arming Lebanon?; Mahmoud Abbas and the Art of Getting Away With Murder; Paraguay becomes third country to move embassy to Jerusalem

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: With Hezbollah Calling Shots, Will U.S. Stop Arming Lebanon?

Lebanon held elections for its parliament on Sunday for the first time since 2009. Not unexpectedly, Hezbollah was the big winner.

Hezbollah’s representatives and allies now control a majority of the seats in Lebanon’s parliament. Sunni candidates allied with – or rather controlled by – Hezbollah won seats that had been controlled by Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s party lost several seats, making Aoun more beholden than ever to Hezbollah dictates.

Foreign policy experts will no doubt argue that the election results change nothing on the ground in Lebanon. The Lebanese constitution’s division of power along confessional lines, which reserves the premiership to a Sunni, the presidency to a Christian, and the speakership of Parliament to a Shiite, will force Hezbollah to cooperate with Hariri and Aoun, who are expected to remain in their positions.

This “business as usual” argument bears consideration.

The assumption behind it is that Hezbollah is just a domestic political force. True, it has a relationship with Iran. True, it has its own army. But, the thinking goes, Lebanon is full of sectarian militias, so it makes sense that the Shiites would have one — even one that has an arsenal of 150,000 rockets missiles and constitutes one of the largest, best armed, most powerful, and battle-hardened armies in the region.

Mahmoud Abbas and the Art of Getting Away With Murder

Let’s have fun here: Imagine, for example, that the same liberal-minded cats had raised a righteous racket in September of 2015, when Abbas waxed poetic, saying that the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—both in Jerusalem, Israel’s capital—are exclusively the property of the Palestinians, warned Jews not to desecrate these holy sites “with their filthy feet,” and promised his listeners that “Every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem is pure, every shahid [martyr] will reach paradise, and every injured person will be rewarded by God.” Imagine a Times editorial huffing that religious intolerance coupled with clear and direct incitement to violence is reprehensible. Imagine the United Nations calling a meeting to consider a rebuke. Instead, Abbas’s delegates were allowed to fly their flag on Second Avenue a few days later, and the Times editorial board remained silent.

Similar anecdotes abound. There was little outrage when Abbas continued to swear by his pay-for-slay program, which richly rewards the murderers of Jews and makes massacre a far more remunerative career path than, say, civil engineering. (Just last month, a Times reporter alleged that the program, which drove Congress to pass a bipartisan piece of legislation barring payments to Abbas’s Palestinian Authority so long as it continues to support terrorists, was no more than a far-right conspiracy theory.) There was no anger when Abbas, speaking in Istanbul in December of last year, said that the Jews had no real connection to history, adding that “they [Jews] would like to fake this history, they are really masters in this and it is mentioned in the holy Quran they fabricate truth and they try to do that, and they believe in that — but we have been there in this location for thousands of years.” There was hardly a whimper when Abbas, addressing the EU Parliament in the summer of 2016, said that senior rabbis had plotted to poison the Palestinian drinking water, a blood libel favored by the vilest anti-Semites from time immemorial. No European official condemned that statement, and no mainstream American press outlet called for Abbas’s resignation.

Those of us who’ve been reporting on the Palestinian president’s inexcusable bigotry for a while now have abandoned all hope that our deep-seated concerns will be shared by anyone in any position of prominence in the press, the UN, or other bastions of influence favored by progressives. Which is why the current consternation in the Times and elsewhere feels a little bit like a sad joke. Watching Abbas apologize so quickly makes one wonder what might’ve happened had the self-proclaimed champions of peace and human rights bothered to speak up against the petty tyrant from Ramallah much sooner. Abbas’s vile words last week were hardly his first or his vilest, and the time for him to step down as Palestinian leader was long ago. An unbiased press, an international community committed to real reconciliation, a Jewish left less furiously hateful of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and more mistrustful of a long-time, unreconstructed Holocaust denier and champion of violence and terrorism might’ve done a lot of good for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Let’s hope it’s not too late.

Meet Palestine’s Million-Dollar Killers

On October 1, 2015, Eitan Henkin, a doctoral student at Tel Aviv University who also held American citizenship, and Na’ama Henkin, a graphic designer, were traveling in their car with their four young children when four Palestinian terrorists attacked their vehicle, murdering both parents. The Henkins’ killers were arrested by Israel, each sentenced to two life sentences plus an additional 30 years in prison.And thanks to the Palestinian Authority’s pay-for-slay program, the four terrorists, all members of Hamas, are slated to become millionaires.

According to figures released by Israel’s Ministry of Defense earlier this week, the gunman, Karem Lufti Fatahi Razek, will have been paid NIS 11,232,000 ($3.1 million) by the time he turns 80; Zir Ziad Jamal Amar, another leader of the attack, will enjoy NIS 10,056,000 ($2.8 million), while Yahia Muhammad Naif Abdullah Hajj Hamad, another gunman, will receive in NIS 10,080,080 ($2.77 million). No numbers were given for the car’s driver, Samir Zahir Ibrahim Kusah.

The numbers were released ahead of a vote in the Knesset proposing Israel cut some of its payments to the PA until the latter ends its pay-for-slay program. The ministry gave other examples of convicted terrorists who are slated to earn a windfall as a result of murdering Jews. Another example is Omar al-Abed: In July of 2017, al-Abed knocked on the door of the Salomon family, which was busy celebrating the birth of a new grandson. Entering their home with a knife, he murdered Elad, Yosef, and Chaya Salomon, as their spouses and children hid upstairs, terrified. Al-Abed has already been paid NIS 12,200 ($3,370) from the PA, the Defense Ministry claimed, a sum much higher than what average Palestinians earn, and is expected to receive at least NIS 12,604,000 ($3.5 million) by the time he turns 80.

Hamas terrorists may very well have elevated the exploitation of human shields to an art. For years, they have taken advantage of the civilian population in Gaza by hiding among them, while targeting the civilian population of Israel with their rockets.

Now Hamas has done something new. The media would have you believe that Gazans in general, and Hamas in particular, are experimenting for the first time with peaceful protests, reminiscent of Martin Luther King and Selma. In reality, what is new is that Hamas has been using tens of thousands of Gazans -- including children -- as cover while trying to infiltrate Israel, both on land by breaching border fences and by air using kites carrying Molotov cocktails.

Palestinian child throwing rocks at IDF forces and the Gaza security fence during Gaza border riot.
Source: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

Hanan Ashrawi calls on international community to defend PLO payments to terrorists

Times of Israel describes a bill submitted to the Knesset to stop Palestinian payments to terrorists and their families::

Lawmakers pushed forward Monday with a bill allowing the government to hold up money to the Palestinian Authority over its payments to convicted terrorists, a policy critics say encourages terror attacks on Israelis.

The bill, which passed its first reading on a 55-14 vote, would leave the government’s top-level security cabinet with the final say on whether to “freeze” transfer payments to the PA to offset the stipends.

It will now move to committee and must still pass two more Knesset plenum readings before becoming law.

According to the Defense Ministry, the Palestinian Authority in 2017 paid NIS 687 million ($198 million) to the so-called “martyrs’ families fund” and NIS 550 million ($160 million) to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club — some 7 percent of its overall budget.

Palestinian prisoners serving 20-30 year sentences for carrying out terror attacks are eligible for a lifetime NIS 10,000 ($2,772) monthly stipend, the Defense Ministry said, citing PA figures. Those prisoners who receive a 3-5 year sentence get a monthly wage of NIS 2,000 ($554). Palestinian prisoners who are married, have children, live in Jerusalem, or hold Israeli citizenship receive additional payments.

The Defense Ministry on Sunday released figures alleging that some terrorists who killed Israelis will be paid more than NIS 10 million ($2.78 million) each throughout their lifetimes by the PA.

Critics of the current bill have warned it could bankrupt the PA, leading to its collapse.

Palestine Times reports that Hanan Ashrawi wants the international community to protect PLO payments to terrorists. Really.

Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization Hanan Ashrawi condemned the Knesset vote on the first reading of a bill to deduct the salaries of prisoners and allocations of families of the martyrs of the tax revenues collected by Israel for the Palestinian government, describing it systematic and deliberate looting of the rights of our people.

Ashrawi said in a statement on behalf of the PLO: "The organization considers the legislation that Israel is launching in order to serve its occupation and continue its policy of eliminating the existence of our people on its land to be totally racist and inhuman."

At the end of her statement, Ashrawi called on the international community to take a serious view of Israeli violations and crimes, to stop the policy of disregard and negligence towards its crimes, to take deterrent and punitive measures against it and to hold it accountable for its ongoing crimes and violations and to provide urgent international protection to our unarmed people.

Yes, Hanan Ashrawi is defending paying terrorists as a human right.

It sounds bizarre now, but in a few years the UN General Assembly will probably pass a resolution to protect the Right to Encourage Terrorists to Kill Jews.

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Ma'an reports that Jamal Moheisen, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, called on the Arab countries to implement a resolution of the February Arab summit that called on severing of diplomatic relations with any state that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moves its embassy to it.

This would, of course, include America.

As usual, the Arabs talk big and have no intention of following through to support their Palestinian brethren. The chances that any Arab nation will halt diplomatic relations with the US over Jerusalem are exactly zero.

Mahmoud Abbas is trying to convince Latin American countries not to follow the US lead, but as far as I can tell, without the naked threats.

The PLO and Palestinian leaders are so intoxicated by the fact that they can call a summit to "protect Jerusalem" on a moment's notice and get useless resolutions of support for their position, that they haven't noticed that the Arab world really doesn't care much about them at all.

Specifically, the Arab world is sick of the Hamas/Fatah infighting and does not want to throw good money after bad to prop up these drama queens.

Al Monitor noted last month:

Khaleel Assali, editor of the East Jerusalem-centric website Akhbar al-Balad, told Al-Monitor, “Jerusalem has become a word that everyone uses to show patriotism. We have heard so much of these words in the past and also millions have been committed in previous summits for Jerusalem, but we have not seen on the ground any changes as a result of these so-called donations.”
On the Akhbar al-Balad website, an unsigned report and undated editorial about the Saudi donation at the Arab Summit said Jerusalemites welcomed the generous gift but expressed skepticism as to whether it will differ from earlier pledges. The article stated, “We estimate that about $3 billion has been pledged to Jerusalem as a total of what has been publicly stated in previous summits, yet only tens of millions have actually reached Jerusalem — and even these amounts were not seen as having made any change in the city.”

And concluded:

Many Palestinians hope that this strong Arab support for Jerusalem will close off any chance that the United States will try to take the holy city “off the table,” a reference to what Trump had boasted about. But having seen this charade before, few if any are confident that this Arab position will not erode and compromises on this essential Arab demand will not be made.

Arab support for Palestinian Arabs has always been a charade, and it is no different today.

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05/07 Links Pt2: Most Israelis Understand That Israel Can Be Right and the Whole World Wrong; Time to Retire the False Palestinian Narrative; Giro d'Italia in Israel: Far more than a cycling race

From Ian:

Most Israelis Understand That Israel Can Be Right and the Whole World Wrong

As the Hamas-led protests at the fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip become increasingly violent, the Jewish state finds itself in the familiar position of facing worldwide condemnation for minimal efforts to defend itself against its enemies. Yossi Klein Halevi, reflecting on today’s situation and its recent historical precedents, reflects on the dilemma Israel faces:

In 2002, when much of the international community was severely criticizing Israel for its tough military response to the wave of Palestinian suicide bombings known as the second intifada, the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, asked with rhetorical exasperation, “Can Israel be right and the whole world wrong?”

Most Israelis would have surely answered: of course. . . .

Israelis view [the current Gaza] demonstrations as part of a wider assault that includes continual attempts, along every border, to penetrate the country’s defenses—whether through tunnels from Gaza, periodic waves of missiles and rockets fired from Gaza and Lebanon, or, most worrying of all, threats from the growing Iranian military presence in Syria. Those assaults are part of an increasingly successful Iranian plan to surround Israel’s borders with what Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has called “the golden ring in the chain of resistance.” . . . The presence of terrorist enclaves on almost every one of Israel’s borders helps explain the determination of the IDF to prevent demonstrators from trying to break through the fence. . . .

The promise of the state of Israel to the Jewish people was to end its seemingly eternal otherness and restore it to the community of nations. Part of remaining faithful to that vision is to heed the warnings of outsiders, especially friends, and not withdraw in bitter isolation. But no less important for the fulfillment of Israel’s promise is to ensure that those who seek to destroy it are kept from breaching its borders. How to balance those two imperatives defines the challenge facing Israel today.

JPost Editorial: Giro d'Italia in Israel: Far more than a cycling race

The second stage of the Giro d’Italia bicycle race found riders navigating the coastal plain of Israel. They began in Haifa and rode next to the ancient Crusader city of Acre, then headed south, passing Zichron Ya’acov to finish in Tel Aviv. It was 167 km. of easy terrain. The official site of the race described the main obstacles as “roundabouts, traffic islands and sometimes speed bumps.”

On Sunday, the riders continued to the Negev where they zipped passed Sde Boker and the Nabatean city of Avdat, taking in the vistas of the Mitzpe Ramon crater along the way.

Traveling outside of Europe is a first in the 101-year history of the Giro d’Italia. Israeli-Canadian philanthropist Sylvan Adams, co-owner of Israel’s professional Israel Cycling Academy team, played the key role in bringing the competition to Jerusalem. He said he sought to bring the race to Israel to show how beautiful the country is to the billion television viewers who watch cycling.

“Unlike a soccer match or a basketball game, which takes place inside a stadium, cycling takes place outdoors. So for three days, with 16 hours of TV coverage starting in Jerusalem, our beautiful and important national capital, and then going from Acre in the North all the way down to Eilat, they will literally see all the country,” Adams told The Jerusalem Post.

The coverage of the cycling was only one of many positive outcomes. The attendance of UAE Team Emirates and Bahrain-Meridas was another. Although the riders from these teams are not from the Gulf states, their participation was symbolic. It shows that sports can be a form of diplomacy, as well as a way to put Israel on the map as a place removed from news of the conflict that generally drowns out other coverage.

That doesn’t mean the conflict was entirely ignored. The Guardian noted that Israel was “one of the most contested territories in the world” and said the race took place on a “complex political landscape” overshadowed by violence in Gaza. In general, the unprecedented sporting event appears to have emerged unscathed by political controversy. No boycotts or protests interdicted the riders. This is a testament to the work of the organizers and likely symbolic of the overall change in attitudes toward Israel globally.

Israel Unveils the Middle East’s First Velodrome That Meets Olympic Standards

The Sylvan Adams Velodrome in Tel Aviv, touted as the most advanced indoor cycling arena in the Middle East, was unveiled a few days before the Big Start of the Giro d’Italia road-biking race in Israel, scheduled to begin in Jerusalem on May 4 and reach Tel Aviv on May 5.

The arena, still under construction, will meet the Olympic standards of 250 meters in circumference and aims to develop and promote competitive and recreational cycling in Israel.

Professional cyclists from the Israel Cycling Academy did the first test run of the tracks as Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai watched along with Yoni Yarom, chairman of the Israel Cycling Federation, and Sylvan Adams, co-owner of the Israel Cycling Academy and honorary president of Giro’s Big Start in Israel.

Palestinians condemn UAE, Bahrain presence in cycle race in Israel

Palestinians have expressed outrage at teams from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain for taking part in the opening legs of the Giro d'Italia cycling race in Israel over the weekend, which they say undermined Arab solidarity with their cause.

The presence of the Gulf states' teams in the top cycling race -- which has now moved on to its home territory in Italy -- broke a boycott of Israel in place since the start of the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948.

In an unusually barbed statement to a fellow Arab country, the Palestinian Olympic Committee said their participation was "a stab in the back to the great sacrifices made by the Palestinian people ... and a free service for the occupation."

UAE officials did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment and Bahrain's ministry of information referred questions to the team itself. Neither of the teams immediately responded to emailed inquiries.

None of the cyclists in either of the 8-men teams -- Bahrain–Merida and UAE Team Emirates -- appeared to be Bahraini or Emirati citizens and were almost all European, according to profiles on the event's official website.

One of the things that makes debate over whether BDS is winning or losing so confusing is lack of common agreement regarding what constitutes success and failure.

For example, this year we saw more BDS votes in student government than in previous years, and more of those votes go in favor of the BDSers. Needless to say, a movement like BDS which demands we treat everything (including defeat) as wins for them insists that more student government votes going their way constitutes unstoppable momentum for their cause. And, from our side, it’s difficult to totally dismiss more student votes against Israel as irrelevant.

Yes, school administrations have held the line by condemning and insisting they will never act on the non-binding requests made by this year’s Student Senate. And after two decades of effort, it is relevant to point out that all BDS has to show for itself are some toothless measures passed by transient student leaders through votes often taken behind the backs of constituents (meaning they cannot be said to represent campus opinion).

But this assumes that the goal of the BDS “movement” is to actually cause financial harm to the Jewish state. While that may be an ultimate desire or dream, their main or current goals might be different, requiring us to tease these out before measuring success or failure (or selecting our own strategies and tactics to fight them).

The most obvious goal the boycotters are trying to achieve is to brand Israel as a racist, repressive state akin to South Africa (which, it should be noted, ended its Apartheid system years before most of today’s college students were born). Given this, anything they can do to poison the minds of the young against the Jewish state represents furthering their actual goal. So even if a student government vote does not go their way, the speeches they make and letters in school papers condemning Israel in harsh and unfair terms represent the actual political activity they are engaged in designed to further their real goal of making Israel seem so loathsome that its elimination should be seen as virtuous rather than horrifying.

Another goal was best labeled by William Jacobson at Legal insurrection who described BDS as a “Settler Colonial Ideology” which strives to colonize and dominate the entire Left end of the political spectrum and make anyone who considers themselves left of center subservient to their will.

This goal has received a boost over the last year as anti-Trump “resistance,” coupled with the emergence of the ideology of intersectionality (which insists all progressive causes be linked), provided the most aggressive activists (which tend to be anti-Israel partisans) the opportunity to make demands on those with whom they join in “common cause.”

The scare quotes I just used around “common cause” was meant to illustrate that for a Settler Colonial Ideology like BDS, finding common cause is a one-way street. This is why women and gay groups must sign onto the anti-Israel agenda to be considered intersectional partners in good standing, while those pushing the intersectional agenda will never mention – much less fight for – women and gays repressed throughout the Middle East (including in “Palestine”).

In many ways, ground-level successes – such as the aforementioned student government votes – are a result of the success the BDS colonial project over the last year. And, as we have seen in the UK, the fully colonized anti-Israel/anti-Semitic Left can end up just one election away from obtaining genuine power.

So now that we know what the most important goals of the BDS project really are, how best to fight it? Having our own goals clearly articulated is a first step, a subject I’ll discuss next.

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This seems to have flown completely under the radar.

From Egypt Today, May 1:

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi received a delegation from the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) on Tuesday in the presence of Abbas Kamel, interim president of Egypt’s intelligence services.

During the meeting, President Sisi expressed Egypt's keenness to be in constant contact with all sects of the American society in order to enhance common understanding and intensify consultations on the diverse challenges facing the region, noting the decades-long strategic relations between the two countries.

For their part, the American attendees stressed the importance of the strategic relations between Egypt and the United States in all fields, expressing appreciation for Egypt’s efforts on various fronts, especially in addressing terrorism in general and the framework of Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018 in particular.

The delegation also praised Sisi's efforts in countering extremist ideology and realizing economic development through the steps undertaken as part of the country’s economic reform program, stressing that the economy is back to the recovery path.

The president also stressed the importance of supporting the national institutions and working on enabling them to carry out their roles and responsibilities in maintaining security and combating terrorism.

He also reiterated Egypt's support for the international efforts and initiatives aimed at achieving a just and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian issue, which lies at the heart of priorities for the Arab world.

President Sisi stressed that a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue will provide a new reality by shaping public opinion, which will contribute to the stability and security of the region as a whole.

JINSA is a hawkish group, supporting withdrawal from the Iran deal and with seeming unwavering support for Israel.

This visit is not mentioned on their webpage as of this writing. I'm curious why not.

(h/t Michelle)

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05/07 Links Pt1: IDF: 70 Years of Defending Israel; Abbas honors mother of 5 terrorists, including 2 murderers; Regev: The Iran Nuclear Deal Was Based on Lies and Is Untenable

From Ian:

IDF Blog: 70 Years of Defending Israel

On May 1948, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officially began acting as Israel’s military organization, rather than the assortment of separate groups that had preceded it. Led by the first Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Yaakov Dori, the IDF took on the role of the official defender of the State of Israel and its citizens.

Since its founding, the IDF has fought in seven wars, sent humanitarian delegations to more than 25 countries around the world, began a large effort to help Syrians in need, and created revolutionary technology.

The Givati Brigade participating in a parade. Pictured from right to left: IDF Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Yaakov Dori, Ben-Gurion, Major General Yigael Yadin, and Major General Yigal Allon - 1948

IDF Wars:
The War of Independence:
The IDF was established at a time when the entire country was at war for its very survival. The IDF drew its forces and weapons from the various Jewish paramilitary organizations that were active prior to the founding of the state, and began as a hastily cobbled together, ill-equipped army. By the end of the 1948 War of Independence, the IDF had defeated five invading Arab armies and became what it is today.

PMW: Abbas honors mother of 5 terrorists, including 2 murderers

In keeping with Palestinian Authority policy to honor terrorists and glorify terrorist attacks, PA Chairman Abbas himself met with Um Nasser Abu Hmeid - a Palestinian woman who is famous and admired in the PA for being the mother of 4 terrorist prisoners serving multiple life sentences. In total they are serving 18 life sentences for murdering 8 people and carrying out numerous terror attacks. The PA refers to her fifth son, a terrorist who was killed by Israel, as "a Martyr."

Abbas welcomed Abu Hmeid in his personal headquarters. She is also known in the PA as "Khansa of Palestine," - a name that refers to the woman Al-Khansa from early Islam, who sent her four sons to battle and rejoiced when they all died as Martyrs.

Official PA TV newsreader: "President Abbas welcomed in the [PA] presidential headquarters in Ramallah Um Nasser [Abu] Hmeid ''Khansa of Palestine,'' mother of five (sic) prisoners."
[Official PA TV News, April 25, 2018]

Palestinian Media Watch exposed that the PA chose Abu Hmeid to launch the PA's statehood campaign with the UN in 2011, and also honored her in 2010 and again in 2015. Recently, the official PA daily singled her out in a report on an event for mothers of "Martyrs."

In its report, official PA TV News also included a statement by Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki who, while standing with Abu Hmeid, praised her and her terrorist sons:

Mark Regev: The Iran Nuclear Deal Was Based on Lies and Is Untenable

Last Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed a vast repository of over 100,000 documents and files that Israeli intelligence obtained from Iran's secret nuclear archive in Tehran.

The documents all attest to the Iranian regime's clandestine plans to build nuclear weapons. One document proclaimed the ominous mission: to "design, produce and test five warheads, each with ten kiloton TNT yield for integration on a missile." That is like five Hiroshima bombs.

Under the terms of the nuclear deal, Iran committed to coming clean about all prior military nuclear activities to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The material that Israel has uncovered provides overwhelming documentary proof that Iran lied to the IAEA, deliberately concealing its true intentions and activities.

As it stands, the Iranian nuclear deal does not prevent proliferation. On the contrary, the deal paves a clear path for the regime to build nuclear weapons. The deal also allows Iran to continue to develop ballistic missiles, enabling them to reach cities in Europe.

The inspection mechanism is wholly inadequate. Iran has never declared its enrichment facilities voluntarily. This was true of the uranium enrichment sites revealed by another source in Natanz in 2002 and Fordow in 2009.

The deal's restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities expire in just a few short years. Then, Iran will be free to enrich unlimited quantities of uranium, using thousands of centrifuges. This sunset clause will reward the regime for its deceit.

Iran's continued encroachment and aggression in the region, along with the major pitfalls in the 2015 agreement, and the dramatic new revelations from Iran's nuclear archive, all attest to the folly of basing our common security upon Iranian duplicity and mendacity.

Antisemitic op-ed in Salt Lake City Tribune (UPDATE)

An op-ed at the Salt Lake City Tribune by a Michael S. Robinson crosses the line into direct antisemitism:

Well folks, we don’t have to worry about Freddy Krueger or Chucky. We have our own real monsters to deal with.
Whether it’s a passive complicity or active participation, our country is partnered with one of the worst human-rights violators in our world. There’s a very logical reason The Donald has wooed Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. Oh, sure, it’s partly our president’s narcissistic need to cultivate anyone who’s willing to tell him he’s wonderful. But it’s equally probable that Trump has noticed the Israeli leader’s strategic positioning in fomenting, even at the price of outright lies, a more precipitous situation with Arab nations.

Saying that Netanyahu is one of the worst human rights violators in the world is absurd, but not antisemitic. Comparing him to Hollywood monsters is insane, but not antisemitic.

This is antisemitic:

Can the power of the U.S. Jewish lobby really be so strong that we are blinded to Israel’s atrocities? Aside from the votes that are paid for by that lobby, there seems to be a mindless philosophy that, because the Jews have historically suffered so much, we must never criticize them. Even Dr. Spock would frown on this type of parenting. It doesn’t make a naughty child any better when parents decline all discipline, just because little Suzie had a nasty owie two weeks ago.

Yes, Robinson is comparing the Holocaust with "little Suzie's nasty owie two weeks ago."

This is antisemitic:

Oh, yes, the Jews know all about concentration camps, but they seem unable to muster any human compassion for the suffering of their neighbors. Instead of a normal and healthy outgrowth of empathy, Israel has instead become the monster.

The "Jews are acting like Nazis" meme is a modern blood libel.

I wrote a response although I concentrated more on his lies than his obvious problem with Jews.

Already at the beginning of this absurd article we see how ignorant and hateful the author is.

Netanyahu is "one of the worst human-rights violators in our world"? Really? even if you believe every single lie about Israel in this article - and rest assured, there are dozens of them - the number of people killed or injured or displaced by Israel in 70 years is minuscule compared to its Arab neighbors, let alone Russia or Iran or Rwanda or even the US. In fact, Arabs have killed more PALESTINIANS than Israel has (Black September 1970, Syria now, Lebanon over years of civil wars.) Kuwait expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians for supporting Saddam. Arab countries refuse to give Palestinians citizenship, forcing them to remain stateless no matter how many generations live in their borders. The list goes on and on - and that's just Palestinians, not other Arab on Arab violence.
When you actually look at things objectively, Israel has a better human rights record than any country you can name when at war. A higher percentage of those killed by Israel are militant (vs. civilian) than in nearly every war in history. Israel works harder than any nation in history - including Great Britain and the US today - to minimize civilian casualties. I have the facts to back this up.
But Robinson isn't interested in facts.No, he wants to compare the murder of six million Jews to "an owie that little Suzie got two weeks ago." He wants to say that the only people who support a liberal, progressive nation are "the powerful Jewish lobby." He freely admits he hates Israel. He doesn't seem to have the same hate for suicide bombers, rocket launchers or bus bombers. I wonder why.

UPDATE: Robinson responded to my comment, and I responded back:

I clearly hate the Netanyahu government and its flagrant human rights abuses. Obviously the holocaust is not a mere owie. At the same time you can't justify Israel's brutality by events that are 70 years old. I think I made it clear. The sad plight of the Jews as victims of the Third Reich should have taught them some empathy and compassion. The persecuted, instead, are now the persecutors.

Elder of Ziyon in a few secondsIsrael doesn't justify any violence because of the Holocaust. That's a straw man. You seem to find it too inconvenient to remember exactly what Hamas has done to Jews in pizza shops and birthday parties. Terror attacks that Palestinian media celebrate every day in their media.
Israelis are interested in peace. Palestinians are interested in destroying Israel.You have shown which side you are on.
I challenge you to find a single map in a Palestinian schoolbook that shows Jaffa, Tiberias, Safed or Tiberias as Israeli towns. Just one.
Israel's human rights record compares favorably to ANY nation during wartime. Compare the statistics of percentage of civilians killed in any of Israel's wars with any other war you care to name.
No nation is perfect in how it fights wars, but if you actually did the research you would see that Israel does a better job than any nation you can name - Middle Eastern, Asian, European or North American.
Yet you are only upset at the one nation that spends more time and money trying to minimize civilian casualties than any other you can name. Go ahead - I'm waiting to hear you name one nation that tried harder to avoid civilian casualties, in all of human history. Certainly you can name one.
Sorry for bringing up actual facts rather than empty slogans. You are not interested in facts. You are interested in demonizing Israel.
Now, why would you be so obsessed with the Jewish state that happens to have a better human rights record in wartime than any other nation?

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.