Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, May 27, 2019

When reporters can't handle basic facts

Earlier today I made an accurate if somewhat snarky comment to reporter Noga Tarnopolsky when she wrote this:

A real reporter should mention that Israel only withheld the percentage of tax transfers that was going to support salaries to terrorists and their families. The PA has refused to accept the rest of it = >90%. to blame Israel for Pals losing salaries is untrue, @NTarnopolsky https://t.co/OR9pXX6K1x
— Elder Of Ziyon ҉ (@elderofziyon) May 27, 2019

Without responding to me, she tried to make fun of me, to which I responded.

She then blocked me.

I wrote a short thread in response:

Hilarious! "Reporter" @NTarnopolsky couldn't respond to a simple point I made, trolls me while accusing me of being a troll, and when she is called out on it - she blocks me.

I write more articles, do more research and am more transparent in my writing than 90% of the reporters out there. (Psrt time!)

I do this BECAUSE I am anonymous - I WANT people to check my work. And I correct my errors.

But when someone outside the "club" dares to point out how the professionals are wrong, many of them just can't deal with it. They want to be considered authorities, not questioned but believed because of their name.

Sorry, not my style.

There are many good reporters. They welcome corrections, or they engage in discussion without insulting the person who bring up criticism.

Then there are ego-driven hacks like Noga, who simply cannot support her own reporting and therefore wants to shut down the critics.

Maybe I shouldn't have insulted her in my first tweet, but her blaming Israel for Palestinian refusal to accept cash from Israel was risible to begin with. It was not educating her followers, which is what a reporter should do - it was hiding the basic facts. It was propaganda, not news.

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.

Been playing with animated GIFs

They take more time to create but have a better chance of going viral on Twitter....

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.

05/27 Links Pt1: German paper to print cutout kippah in solidarity with Jews; Israel Destroyed Syria's Nuclear Potential. What Would The World Look Like Now If They Hadn't?; Fauxtography: Gaza Pink T-Shirt Scam?

From Ian:

Top German paper to print cutout kippah in solidarity with Jews

The editor of Bild, Germany’s largest newspaper, on Sunday said he will print a Jewish skullcap on the front page of the Monday paper so that Germans can cut it out and wear it in solidarity with the local Jewish community.

The protest comes days after the government official in charge of fighting anti-Semitism said he wouldn’t advise Jews to wear the traditional Jewish head-covering in parts of the country.

“If even one person in our country can’t wear a kippah without putting themselves in danger, the only answer is that we all wear a kippah,” Bild’s editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt tweeted. “The kippah belongs to Germany! That’s why tomorrow the kippah will be printed for cutting out on page one.”

Reichelt tweeted a photo of the mockup of the Monday morning edition cover page, which features an editorial and the stylized Star of David skullcap, called a kippah in Hebrew.

On Saturday, German anti-Semitism czar Felix Klein said his “opinion has unfortunately changed compared with what it used to be” on the matter. He said: “I cannot recommend to Jews that they wear the skullcap at all times everywhere in Germany.” He did not elaborate on what places and times might pose a danger.

U.S. ambassador urges Jews in Germany to wear kippot and not conceal identity

The US government’s most high-profile ambassador in Europe, Richard Grenell, said Jews in Germany should not conceal their religious identity, and urged them to wear kippot in defiance of a statement from Germany’s commissioner to combat antisemitism that Jews should avoid wearing kippot in public.

“The opposite is true,” tweeted Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany. “Wear your kippa. Wear your friend’s kippa. Borrow a kippa and wear it for our Jewish neighbors. Educate people that we are a diverse society.”

On Saturday, Felix Klein, the federal government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism, told the Funk media group, “My opinion on the matter has changed following the ongoing brutalization in German society. I can no longer recommend Jews wear a kippah at every time and place in Germany.”

President Reuven Rivlin reacted on Sunday, saying “The statement of the German government’s antisemitism commissioner – that it would be preferable for Jews not to wear a kippah in Germany out of fear for their safety – shocked me deeply. Responsibility for the welfare, the freedom and the right to religious belief of every member of the German Jewish community, is in the hands of the German government and its law enforcement agencies. We acknowledge and appreciate the moral position of the German government, and its commitment to the Jewish community that lives there, but fears about the security of German Jews are a capitulation to antisemitism and an admittance that, again, Jews are not safe on German soil.

“We will never submit, will never lower our gaze, and will never react to antisemitism with defeatism – and we expect and demand our allies act in the same way.”

German chancellor Merkel commits to ensuring security for Jews with kippahs

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman on Monday stressed the country’s responsibility to ensure security for all Jews wearing kippahs anywhere in the country without having to fear an anti-Semitic attack.

“It’s the job of the state to ensure that anybody can move around securely with a skullcap in any place of our country,” Steffen Seibert said.

The comments came after the government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, said he wouldn’t advise Jews to wear the traditional Jewish head-covering in parts of the country.

Felix Klein said his “opinion has unfortunately changed compared with what it used to be” on the matter. He said: “I cannot recommend to Jews that they wear the skullcap at all times everywhere in Germany.” He did not elaborate on what places and times might pose a danger.

Government statistics released earlier this month showed that the number of anti-Semitic and anti-foreigner incidents rose in Germany last year, despite an overall drop in politically motivated crimes.

Arabs pathetically keep trying to play the "Arab street" card

From Al Jazeera:

As the announcement of the deal of the century approaches, the Arab world is growing increasingly tense. Widespread rumours about the contents of the proposal have fuelled public outrage across the region.

This is a very old and discredited talking point. There was no mass uprising by the vaunted Arab street against the US Embassy move to Jerusalem or the US recognizing the Golan Heights as being under Israeli rule - notwithstanding the dire warnings from the "experts."

Arabs will pay lip service to the Palestinian cause, but by and large they don't care. They know that the Palestinians have only themselves to blame, and the decade old Fatah-Hamas split has disgusted the Arab world.

The interesting thing about this op-ed, though, is that the threat of the Arab/Muslim street is not directed to the West, as it had been so many times over the past 150 years. It's directed at the Arab regimes themselves who are interested in the Trump/Kushner plan.

What the deal of the century will ultimately do is erase what little legitimacy Arab leaders have left and undermine their corrupt regimes. And just like in 2011, sooner or later, Arab anger will boil over and sweep through the region in yet another wave of uprisings which neither Israel, nor its western and regional allies will be able to control.

The idea that Arabs will rise up and topple their regimes is always a possibility. The thought that they will do it in support of Palestinians is sheer fantasy.

Notably, in the wake of Al Jazeera's AJ+ antisemtism scandal, they are still publishing Ramzy Baroud, who is an unapologetic supporter of murdering Jews.

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.

Palestinian leaders choose to hurt their people - just like in 1946

In 1946, the Arab League declared a boycott of Jewish businesses and services in Palestine.

Arabs in Palestine were instructed to not buy from Jewish merchants, not get services from Jews, not to go to Jewish doctors - even though there were not nearly enough Arab doctors to treat the Arab population.

The following articles show some of the trajectory of the boycott through 1946. Immediately, Jewish manufacturers and farmers looked to open up their markets to overseas customers, in Europe and the United States, and while some industries were somewhat hurt in the beginning, altogether Jewish exports rose significantly in 1946 compared to 1945.

Meanwhile, Arab League nations pretty much ignored the boycott themselves when there were goods they wanted. Arab boycotters started intercepting truckfuls of Jewish goods headed to Lebanon (and were arrested by the British for theft.)

Arabs in Palestine also mostly ignored the boycott, causing self-appointed enforcers to hreaten and injure (including with bombs) businesses that ignored the boycott.

Yet as two of these stories show, even the leaders of the boycott used Jewish goods when it suited them.

A boycott that was meant to hurt Jews ended up hurting only Palestinian Arabs. The people were the victims of the selfish decisions of their so-called "leaders" who themselves often ignored the boycott.

Bnai Brith Messenger, Friday, January 04, 1946

Bnai Brith Messenger, Friday, January 11, 1946

The Palestine Post, Tuesday, March 05, 1946

The Palestine Post, Monday, April 01, 1946;

The Palestine Post, Tuesday, July 23, 1946

The Palestine Post, Monday, August 26, 1946

The Palestine Post, Thursday, October 24, 1946; Page: 4

A similar thing is happening today. Palestinian Arab leaders are saying that they will boycott a conference that is meant to help their people economically. The people who are most affected by not attending don't get a say - they are pawns just as they were in the past. Just as in 1946, if any speak up, they are risking their lives. Just as in 1946, many of them certainly want to gain the benefits of working with Jews and massive investment that would help everyone - but their newspapers will not print their stories.

The main difference between then and is that so much of the world hates Trump and Israel that many people who pretend to want to help Palestinians are taking the side of their corrupt leaders over the actual Palestinian Arabs who will be hurt by not attending the conference.

Remember, attending the conference in Bahrain does not place any political obligation on Palestinians at all. It is purely meant for their benefit, with no downside - and their leaders refuse, anyway.

The only people who actually are showing interest in helping the day to day lives of Palestinian Arabs are the Trump team and Israel.

Of course there is an ulterior motive - people who are in better shape economically are less likely to become terrorists or support terror. Which means that those who opposed or disparage the conference are tacitly saying that they prefer terror to economic peace.

This is crazy. But this is the world we live in. And the people who pay the price, as always, are the Palestinian Arabs themselves.

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.

From Times of Israel:

The Israel Fire and Rescue Service on Sunday said it suspects arson as the cause of a fire that broke out on Thursday at Ben Shemen Forest and burned down almost the entire adjacent community of Mevo Modi’im in central Israel.

Fueled by the scorching weather, more than a thousand fires devastated towns and forests across the country from Thursday to Saturday, forcing thousands of people out of their homes.

After an investigation into the Mevo Modiim blaze, the fire service determined it was sparked in several different spots, raising suspicion of arson.

And:

Fires broke out Sunday evening in a wooded area between the Jewish neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev and the Shuafat Palestinian refugee camp in East Jerusalem, Israel Police said in a statement.

Hebrew media reported that the fires, in a valley alongside Eliyahu Meridor Street, were caused by Molotov cocktails.

An additional Molotov cocktail was thrown at firefighters as they battled to prevent the flames, the Kan public broadcaster reported.

There is a long history of Arab terrorist fires (both forest fires and against factories and residences) in Israel that pre-dates 1948.

July 24, 1939:

In September 1945, a JNF official wrote an article that touched on the constant arson the organization had to fight:

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.

Sydney, Australia man planned to stab Jewish students wearing Kippot

From Australian Jewish News:

A CONVICTED terrorist who stabbed a man in Sydney’s south-west had plans to kill Jewish students at the University of Sydney as a “revenge” attack, a court has heard.

Taking to the witness box, Ihsas Khan told a sentencing hearing he had bought the knife used in the 2016 attack to target students wearing kippahs.

“I was planning on using it on Jewish students in the university to kill them. Just people wearing the Jewish head gear, the kippah,” he said.

“I was filled with hatred … It was revenge for what was happening in Palestine.”

People from certain leftist groups would find that last line to be a valid excuse for wanting to kill Jews, as long as the terrorist remembers next time to say that he only wanted to target "Zionists."

(h/t PookieSaurus)

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.

05/26 Links: Western aversion to Israel is really self-hatred; PA PM: Palestinians may revoke recognition of Israel; Jewish Teens Don't Regret Helping Save Man With Swastika Tattoo

From Ian:

Western aversion to Israel is really self-hatred

The recent Conservatism Conference in Jerusalem, sponsored by the Tikvah Fund, was notable in a number of respects. Besides being a gathering of almost 800 like minded people who share a moral and intellectual clarity about critical political and philosophical issues, the Conference cast both a direct and a reflected light on some of the most pressing issues confronting the West.

Yoram Hazony, one of Israel’s greatest minds, made the exhilarating point that much of the world not only respects Israel, but wants to emulate Israel. Hazony believes that foreign observers applaud our traditionalism: our traditional values, our engagement if not observance with religion, our respect for the family, community and nation.

British political commentator Douglas Murray went on to contrast attitudes in Israel with those in Europe, finding that Israelis were more comfortable embracing nationalism, patriotism, and a respect for national borders than their European counterparts.

Murray made the provocative point that guilt was driving much of the European behavior towards migrants, and this was perhaps a reason for their adopting policies that he depicted as suicidal.

While the two men seemingly contradicted each other, I think they were actually describing two sides of the same coin.

In Murray’s view, the West has been untethered from the values and the mindset that made it the West. He detects a lurking fear of reverting to 20th century behavior, much as a recovering addict fears slippage back into his own self-destructive behavior.

This fear is the product of an expansive guilt, not just of German genocidal evil, but guilt about Colonialism. Murray astutely noted this feeling in England which once “controlled much of the world,” but also noted its widespread existence in Sweden, “which never controlled anything.”

The Rage Less Traveled

On December 18, 2010, two female friends – one Christian and the other Jewish - were hiking together in the hills of Jerusalem when they were accosted by a pair of members from a Palestinian terror cell. Both women were bound and hacked with machetes until the Christian, Kristine Luken, was dead and the other seemingly so.

But in an incredible display of a bottomless will to live, Kay Wilson – with thirteen machete wounds, a crushed sternum, multiple rib fractures, bone splinters in her lungs, a dislocated shoulder and broken shoulder blade – got up and walked over a mile barefoot, bound, and bleeding until she reached help. She survived to testify against her assailants in court. The reason the pair was caught was that Wilson had managed to stab one in the groin with a penknife during the assault, and investigators linked him to the DNA in his blood on her clothing. The two monsters, who were convicted of other crimes as well, including stabbing another Jewish woman to death earlier that same year, were imprisoned for life.

The Rage Less Traveled: A Memoir of Surviving a Machete Attack is Kay Wilson’s relentlessly gripping, intensely personal story. You can find it on Amazon here (and here on audiobook) where the book has racked up dozens of exclusively 5-star reviews. Simultaneously raw and poetic, transcendent and unsentimental, The Rage Less Traveled is not a predictable book about learning to forgive your attackers or seeking interfaith dialogue with members of a Jew-hating ideology. The book acknowledges that evil exists and that there can be no coexistence with it. It is a story about the tortuous road through survival into the light. As Wilson said in her 2019 AIPAC address, “My story is Israel’s story.”

Ms. Wilson kindly agreed to answer some questions about the book and her shocking experience.

PMW: Boy taught to shoot at Jews – “the enemy” - in special Ramadan series on PA TV about Arab village

During the current month of Ramadan, official Palestinian Authority TV is broadcasting a series called Children of the Village Chief. The series portrays Arab life around the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and afterwards in a village in what was until the Six-Day War in 1967, the "West Bank" of the Kingdom of Jordan.
The poster of the series

The first program starts with the so-called Palestinian "Nakba" - the "catastrophe" of the creation of Israel - and continues until the 1980s. In the series, which deals primarily with daily life during this period, attitudes to Israel and Jews are likewise expressed.

In one episode, a boy around the age of 10 asks his uncle to teach him how to use a rifle because he wants to shoot at "the Jews." The uncle willingly answers his nephew's request, explaining that he should only aim at "your enemy," who the boy then identifies as "the Jews":
Nephew Fares: "Uncle Ibrahim, I want you to teach me how to use the rifle"
Uncle Ibrahim: "Why do you want to learn to shoot?"
Fares: "So that if the Jews come to the village, I'll shoot them like you shot them at Khirbet Al-Loz." ...
Ibrahim: "Fares, your weapon will only be pointed at your enemy, and you know who your enemy is."
Fares: "The Jews, who removed us from our land and our homes, like they removed us from Khirbet Al-Loz."
Ibrahim: "Therefore, Fares, immediately when you see your target, aim at it well and shoot it. Are you ready?"
Fares: "Ready!"
Ibrahim: "Go ahead, hero."
[Official PA TV, Children of the Village Chief, May 11, 2019]

Cartoon of the Day: Tikkun Olam vs. Judaism

Continuing my series of re-captioning existing single-panel cartoons....

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.

Arabs freak out over the word "Shalom" showing up in Medina

Israel in Arabic tweeted about a sign in the Muslim-holy city of Medinah. Saudi Arabia. welcoming visitors in many languages - including "Shalom" in Hebrew (for some reason shown off the coast of Africa.)

Palestine Today put out a video about it which I don't understand but the announcer clearly is very concerned over how four Hebrew letters could defile a Muslim holy place.

Responses in Arabic to the tweet ranged from outrage to shoulder shrugging.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

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.

Jordanian newspaper seen as close to royal family says Palestinians should go to Bahrain conference

This was surprising, from the Jordan Times:

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is pouring cold water on the US plan to convene a conference in Bahrain on June 25-26 to promote investment and business opportunities for the West Bank and Gaza, for fear it is part of the dreaded ”deal of the century” that President Donald Trump is contemplating for the Palestinians.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh flatly rejected the idea, saying that his government was not even consulted on it. Palestinian Social Development Minister Ahmed Majdalani went even further after a Cabinet meeting by declaring that “there will be no Palestinian participation in the Manama workshop. Any Palestinian who would take part would be nothing but a collaborator for the Americans and Israelis”. Hamas followed suit. Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum emphasised that “we reject any economic and political steps that aim to implement the deal of the century or to normalise ties with the Israeli enemy”.

These are strong words from the PA and Hamas against an investment conference that business leaders and executives from Europe, the Middle East, the US and Asia are expected to attend. This premature negativism is unwarranted and has become a familiar pattern in the Palestinian thought that made things worse for the Palestinian people.

For starters, no one, including the Palestinians, knows for sure what this suspicious ”deal of the century” really looks like. Without having an inkling of what the US proposal for peace between the Palestinians and Israelis would look like, the Palestinians have rushed to reject it in toto.

Besides, a meeting to promote the economy of the Palestinian territories by inviting investments from the US, Europe and Asia could be as benign as it sounds. The Palestinians may welcome this initiative after all without endorsing the wider political implications. The Palestinian side would be better advised not to rush into taking positions that may hurt them, especially when the projected Manama conference as such is only a forum for considering improving the Palestinian economies in the West Bank and Gaza.

Welcoming the conference in Bahrain, or at least not impeding it, would provide the Palestinians with an opportunity to test the full implications of the initiative. Breathing life into the lifeless Palestinian economy cannot in itself be so bad after all. The Palestinian leadership cannot go on saying “no” to everything offered to them before examining the full implications.

The Manama initiative may not be such a bad idea before exploring it.

Given how former diplomats who were so invested in the Oslo process have been so vocal in disparaging the Bahrain conference before even knowing what it is about, this is a refreshing opinion - and one that makes a lot of sense.

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.