06/04 Links Pt1: Nechama Rivlin, wife of President Reuven Rivlin, dies at 73; The “War of Many Rounds” in Gaza: Hamas-Islamic Jihad vs. Israel; Qatar bans homosexuality as Al Jazeera marks LGBT Pride Month

From Ian:

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Nechama Rivlin, wife of President Reuven Rivlin, dies at 73

Nechama Rivlin, the wife of President Reuven Rivlin, died Tuesday morning at the age of 73, the President’s Residence said in a statement.

The statement said Rivlin died on the eve of her 74th birthday at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, where she was being treated after relapsing following a lung transplant in March.

“Three months after a lung transplant, Nechama Rivlin died this morning,” Beilinson Hospital said in a statement. “To our regret, the medical efforts to stabilize her over time during the complicated rehabilitation period after the transplant did not succeed.”

The president posted a picture of his wife on Facebook along with the words “My Nechama.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his condolences to the Rivlin family.
President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nechama at a cruise in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam on March 22, 2017.(Kobi Gideon / GPO)

“Along with all the citizens of Israel, my wife Sara and I feel deep sorrow at the death of the president’s wife, Nechama Rivlin,” Netanyahu said in a brief statement.

“We all prayed for her recovery during the recent period during which she fought bravely and intensely for her life. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the president and to all his family,” he said.

Rivlin, 73, suffered from pulmonary fibrosis, a condition in which scar tissue accumulates in the lungs and makes it difficult to breathe. In the years before the transplant, she had usually been seen in public with a portable oxygen tank, including at official ceremonies.

The lung transplant was declared successful when it was completed on March 12, but doctors cautioned that her condition remained tenuous and that she faced a long road to recovery.

JCPA: The “War of Many Rounds” in Gaza: Hamas-Islamic Jihad vs. Israel

Since the end of the 2014 Gaza war, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza have launched rockets against Israeli civilian targets and provoked Israeli air strikes in retaliation in eight rounds of escalation that are part of one long war. Both sides realize that this kind of war cannot lead to a significant change in the reality concerning Gaza.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad believe that the rounds of escalation serve their interests and are important in their own merit as they help demonstrate their commitment to the struggle against Israel. The escalations enable them to boast of their military capabilities, mobilize the population to the cause of fighting Zionism, distract the Gaza population from their daily miseries, and gain economic assistance from Qatar, while blaming Mahmoud Abbas for the difficulties in Gaza and pressuring the PA, Egypt, Qatar and Israel to improve living conditions in Gaza.

Israel remains committed to a policy of trying to maintain a balance in which Hamas serves as the Gaza entity strong enough to maintain a monopoly over the use of force from the territory it governs, and at the same time remains weak and deterred enough to be restrained from firing on Israel.

The continuing rounds of conflict raise doubts regarding the ability of Hamas to fulfill this role. It appears that PIJ and militant elements within Hamas are emboldened enough to challenge the Hamas leadership from time to time. Yet Hamas is always able to restore discipline and restraint, which means that the Israeli policy has not lost its relevance. The alternative to this policy is regarded as very costly both in the short and long term, and this is why Israel prefers to stick to its current path.

In the latest round, Israel raised the price for the Palestinians, while also showing greater readiness to improve their living conditions. If this strategy convinces the Palestinians in Gaza to reach an agreement that will guarantee an extended period of calm, then the policy will have been successful. But if it fails and there is another round of the war, and if the harassment of the Israeli population along the Gaza border continues, Israel may be forced to consider other options.

The fundamental problem is that the population of Gaza is comprised primarily of descendants of Palestinian refugees who have been indoctrinated by their leadership to believe that they are duty-bound to fight against Zionism until they can return to their ancestral homes in Israel. This narrative perpetuates the conflict and makes a political solution nearly impossible.

This means that the slogans that call for Israel to reach a political solution to the conflict are, unfortunately, detached from reality. Palestinians in Gaza truly desire and deserve to live better lives. Regrettably, they and their leadership do not see this goal as more vital than the struggle against the State of Israel.

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Was The Outcome At The Democratic Convention in California A Win Or Loss For Jews and Israel? (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

The far left radicals have gone beyond harassing and intimidating Jews on college campuses.
Now, they have taken the next step - camps, schools and even the Democratic Party.

Last year, Jonathan Tobin wrote about The battle for Camp Ramah, a battle that started

after several of its counselors took part in a seminar organized by the anti-Zionist IfNotNow group. IfNotNow’s purpose was to leverage the willingness of some of the young people involved to educate campers about the evils of Israel’s “occupation” of lands into a game-changing shift that would potentially transform one of America’s most cherished Zionist education venues into a hotbed of anti-Israel agitation.

Just last month, a high school district Illinois withdrew a course for educators, “Teaching Palestine” due to opposition from teachers and community members. Developed by Teachers for Social Justice,

Goals also included discussing “concrete strategies for how to respond to Zionist professional developments and curricula or when parents/staff/others object to anti-Zionist curriculum,” developing grade appropriate scope and sequence for teaching Palestine” and making “curriculum connections between Palestine and issues affecting our students, such as: state/police violence, the struggle for racial justice in the U.S., settler colonialism in Palestine and the U.S., access to education for historically marginalized youth.”

And now, Jewish Voice for Peace has tried to hijack the California Democratic Convention over the weekend, attempting to have 6 one-sided anti-Israel resolutions inserted into the agenda.

Fox News originally broke the story when it reported California Dems propose resolution linking Israeli government to massacre at Pittsburgh synagogue:

A draft resolution set to be debated this weekend at the California Democratic Party State Convention, obtained by Fox News, accuses the Israeli government of willfully "aligning with the virulent Islamophobia" of white supremacist groups in the U.S. -- and links Israel indirectly to the Oct. 2018 massacre of 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

...The document was one of a slew of secretive, unpublished proposals obtained by Fox News that are slated for debate beginning Friday morning. A total of 14 Democrat presidential contenders are set to descend on the San Francisco gathering at the Moscone Convention Center, including Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Bernie Sanders.

Here is a quick look at the topics of the 6 resolutions, based on a flyer distributed by Progressive Zionists of California, which opposed them:

The 6 resolutions break down as follows. The full text of the original resolutions follows at the end of this post.

1. Stop Trump from Destroying all Possibility for Peace in the Middle East
2. Affirming CDP's Commitment to Human Dignity and Basic Human Rights in the Israeli-Occupied Territories and Ending the Gaza Blockade
3. Officials Should Learn about All Sides when they Travel to Israel-Palestine
4. All Members of the US House of Representatives from California Should Join Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib's Congressional Delegation to Palestine
5. Affirming CDP's Commitment to Supporting Human Rights, Equality and Justice in Israel/Palestine; and
6. Commending the House for Resolving to Fight all Racism and Bigotry and for resisting the False Conflation of Support for Palestinian Rights with Antisemitism

The 1st resolution includes:

o blaming "the extremist, right-wing Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, which has relentlessly undermined any chance of agreement"
o accusing Trump of hindering any chance of returning to peace talks by "moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, closing the U.S. Consulate in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians seek as their future capital; halting funding of the United Nation Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which provides healthcare, nutrition and education for Palestinians..."
o proposing the Democratic Party confront Trump's policies and annul them

The 2nd resolution includes:

o decrying not only rockets fired into Israel from Gaza (Hamas is never mentioned by in any of the resolutions) but also "regular" air and artillery strikes into Gaza neighborhoods
o accusing Israel of sniper shootings of unarmed civilians at the fence, with hundreds killed and thousands wounded since March 2018 - ignoring admissions by Hamas of their members being among those killed and incidents when rioters broke through the fence.
o recommending removal of the blockade of Gaza

The 3rd resolution includes:

o  meeting with Israeli anti-occupation advocates and with Palestinian officials (including Hamas terrorists?) and non-governmental organization leaders

The full text of the 4th resolution to join Tlaib's delegation was not available

The 5th resolution includes:

o acceptance that Israeli settlements are "illegal under international law"
o claims there over 60 laws (dealing with immigration, religion, education, land ownership, residency rights and much more) in Israel discriminate against non-Jewish citizens. Though no source is given, this is a claim made by Adalah that is debunked by The Institute for Zionist Strategies here (English summary) and here (in depth in Hebrew), as well as by NGO Monitor and by CAMERA.
o the claim that all Arabs who left then-Palestine "along with their descendants are prevented from returning to their homes and homeland...and supports Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homeland"

The 6th resolution includes:

o tying the attack on the Pittsburgh synagogue to white supremacism, with the extension that "the Israeli government, along with its U.S. backers, have welcomed support from ultra-right groups in the United States and abroad"
o the claim that "leading advocates for Palestinian rights in Congress and elsewhere have been falsely accused of antisemitism"
o condemnation of "unfounded attacks and even death threats against members of Congress like Ilhan Omar"

Bias Much?

In addressing the proposed resolutions, the ADL did not waste time trying to refute each and every claim made in the resolutions. Instead, the ADL simply pointed out how deliberately one-sided the resolutions are:

By laying blame on one party – Israel – and employing demonizing language, the resolutions reduce a complicated dispute to a facile narrative divorced from reality. In fact, these resolutions are just part and parcel of a coordinated effort to demonize and delegitimize Israel and its right to exist as a Jewish homeland.

For example, the resolution dedicated to “Stopping Trump from destroying all possibility for peace in the Middle East” places no blame on the Palestinian Arabs for stalled peace talks, ignoring repeated peace offers Israel has made.

Abraham Cooper of the Wiesenthal Center described the resolutions as an attempt to “de-couple anti-Semitism from the hatred and attack on the state of Israel and on people who support the state of Israel” which amounted to “a clever but overt shift where you suddenly are getting statements all over the globe identifying Israel with white supremacy.”

Siamak Kordestani the Los Angeles Assistant Regional Director of the American Jewish Committee in Los Angeles also not how one-sided the resolutions are:

“They absolve terrorist organizations, such as Hamas, which have for decades targeted and murdered Israeli civilians,” Kordestani said.

Old Habits Die Hard

One of those involved in the resolutions is Jewish Voice for Peace, which has been noted for its bullying and harassing on campus. Apparently, those tactics go beyond college campuses.

While the anti-Israel resolutions submitted to the Resolutions Committee do not show any authors, according to a letter obtained by JNS, activists associated with the pro-BDS group Jewish Voice for Peace and the Sacramento Palestine Coalition are tied to them.

Additionally, Iyad Afalqa, chair of the Arab-American Caucus, is listed in the letter as one of the authors of the resolutions. Earlier this year, Afalqa called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) a “shmuck,” a “traitor” and a member of a “fascist Israel lobby” on Facebook.

“This group is loud and aggressive, and some pro-Israel Democrats have felt bullied and intimidated,” said Kujawsky. “I myself have been called a white supremacist and supporter of genocide merely for being a Zionist.” [emphasis added]

Kujawsky does not come right out and say that the intimidation tactics extended to the Democratic convention itself, but pro-Israel Democrats are being harassed and intimidated in general.

Results

In the end, the pro-Israel groups claimed victory, with the Resolutions Committee rewriting all 6 resolutions and passing 5 of them in their rewritten form. The original authors were angered to the extent that they withdrew both their names and their sponsorships. The other resolution was withdrawn.

One of those groups claiming victory was Democratic Majority for Israel, whose president said

And we are very pleased that, after careful deliberation, the party accepted our view. Sadly though, this is not the last time we’ll see efforts to demonize and delegitimize Israel. [emphasis added]

Win, Lose or Draw?

Which raises the question as to how much of a victory was achieved.

After all, despite the numerous victories over BDS initiatives, the fact remains that they continue and that continued exposure of those anti-Israel views and attacks, especially on college campuses, do constitute a victory.

What about here?

I reached out to someone who attended the convention and suggested to them that the victory was being exaggerated.

They agreed -- but only in part, and made the following points:

o While the radical left did get their exposure, they also earned the wrath of moderate Democrats who preferred to address issues like health care, housing and predatory lending.
o The committees addressed one of the main leaders behind the resolution "as though he were a small child."
o The elections for delegates were held on Shabbos this year, which prevented traditional Jews from participating. What is needed is to get more people involved in the whole process so as to vote the more radical members out

That optimism is shared by Abraham Cooper, though he is cautiously aware of the alternative:

The moment there will be a definitive pushback on this kind of language, this kind of behavior, it’ll disappear. Every time there’s an incremental step [that’s] met by silence, acquiescence… it’s just going to continue to grow.

So, is the Democratic Party leadership ready to do what is necessary to prevent this from happening again?

When news first broke about the original 6 resolutions, The Jewish Democratic Council of America responded

“We urge the California Democratic Party not to fall into the trap of letting Republicans divide us on Israel and the fight against anti-Semitism. Nearly all extremist violence in the United States, including attacks on Jews and Muslims, have come from right-wing extremists. There is no doubt that the rhetoric of President Trump and other Republican leaders have contributed to a climate of increased hatred and bigotry in our country, and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms.

“While Republicans continue to attempt to turn Israel into a partisan wedge issue, the Democratic Party remains staunchly pro-Israel.

But those were not Republicans sponsoring those resolutions.

The leadership of both parties needs to take responsibility if this threat is going to be nipped in the bud.

NOTE:
Someone else at the convention told me that the discussion of the resolutions was limited to the committee rooms alone, and did not make it out to the convention itself -- and that those behind the resolutions "did not make any friends" by arguing with the Resolutions Committee members.

So far, so good.

But the issue may not be completely closed.

It seems that though none of the anti-Israel resolutions were actually passed on the floor, those resolutions that were not passed will now be held over to the Executive Board meeting in August.
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Here is the text of the original resolutions, not including the resolution about attending Tlaib's tour. The text of the revised resolutions is not yet available at this time.

Dear Progressive Colleagues:

We seek your help to obtain the largest number of endorsers possible for five resolutions related to Israel-Palestine that we plan to submit to the CDP Resolutions Committee for consideration at the state convention. The resolutions run a gamut of issues ranging from protecting our First Amendment right to criticize Israel, calling for an end to the Gaza siege, upholding the core rights of the three main sectors of the Palestinian population (end the occupation; equal rights in Israel; right of return for refugees) and condemning Trump's horrendously lopsided policies.

All five resolutions are shown in the text of this email. Once you've read the resolutions, please link to the Israel-Palestine form:

The form is where you tell us which resolutions you want to endorse. You can check the box saying you want to endorse all five, or you can select some and not others. Please return the form to us as soon as possible. We need to submit the resolutions by late April (30 days before the convention), but in the past it as been possible to submit additional names a week or two after that. A return email would be effective in letting us know if you don’t want to endorse any. Please know that the resolution authors may agree to amend the wording, at their discretion, in response to requests by Resolutions Committee members leading up to or at the committee meeting. Endorsers are encouraged to attend the meeting to participate in any such process and to speak in favor of one or more of the resolutions.

We are sending this to hundreds of delegates we hope will be supportive. While only 25 endorsers are needed to submit a resolution, including many more endorsers has been shown to enhance dramatically our bargaining power in negotiating any compromises and in preparing to obtain the 300 wet-ink delegate signatures needed to bring a resolution to the convention floor if we choose to go that route. To the extent we can, we’ll be following up with phone calls to those who don’t respond quickly. Please do respond to save us the trouble.

Please do forward this to other delegates you know who would also likely sign. They may or may not have received it from us, and reinforcement can’t hurt. Endorsements by clubs, county parties and regional meetings are also welcome. Please call David Mandel with any questions at 916-769-1641.

Sincerely,

Chris Yatooma, David Mandel, Kari Khoury, Yassar Dahbour, Iyad Afalqa


RESOLUTION 1: TRUMP POLICIES
STOP TRUMP FROM DESTROYING ALL POSSIBILITY FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

WHEREAS the fragile peace process in Israel-Palestine has stalled due to the policies of the extremist, right-wing Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, which has relentlessly undermined any chance of agreement through its expansion and establishment of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights, and has now come out for outright annexation of the West Bank, all in flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that an “occupier may not forcibly deport protected persons, or deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into occupied territory,” and UN Security Council Resolution 242, which affirms the “inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war”; and has refused to honor agreements that previous Israeli governments had reached with the Palestinian Authority;

AND WHEREAS President Trump has wasted no chance to hinder any return to peace talks by taking biased, unilateral steps on final status issues that were up for negotiation between the Israelis and the Palestinians, such as moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, closing the U.S. Consulate in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians seek as their future capital; halting funding of the United Nation Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides healthcare, nutrition and education for Palestinians who became refugees as a result of Israel’s establishment and subsequent wars; and ending U.S. support for health and social institutions of the Palestinian Authority. These actions explicitly demonstrate U.S. unfitness as a mediator, are condemned by the international community and further anti-American sentiment worldwide;

AND WHEREAS the United States has its own legacy of settler colonialism that left a devastating impact upon the indigenous Native Americans, obliging us to support freedom and justice for oppressed people everywhere.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the California Democratic Party reaffirms its opposition to Israel’s occupation and support for peace in Israel-Palestine based on equality and human rights for all, and directs Democratic Party officials to confront Trump’s policy by combating all measures that aim to further dispossess the Palestinian people, and to promote those that will nullify the destructive policies Trump has enacted.

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that CDP declares its unequivocal support for a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that will lead to the achievement of self-determination for the Palestinian people in a framework to be negotiated that ensures equal rights, democracy, justice and peace for Israeli Jews and Palestinians alike.

_______________________

RESOLUTION 2: ANTISEMITISM
COMMENDING THE HOUSE FOR RESOLVING TO FIGHT ALL RACISM AND BIGOTRY AND FOR RESISTING THE FALSE CONFLATION OF SUPPORT FOR PALESTINIAN RIGHTS WITH ANTISEMITISM

WHEREAS the October 2018 murders of 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue were the culmination of an alarming re-emergence of virulent antisemitism that is a core element of historical and currently resurgent white supremacism in the United States and around the world, whose toxic verbal and violent hate targets also Muslims, refugees, Latinos, indigenous people, immigrants, Blacks, Arabs, LGBTQ-identified people and women, among others, and the left in general – all in an effort to promote, here and abroad, nationalism, racism and sexism to suppress democracy, worker rights and movements to save our planet;

AND WHEREAS the Israeli government, along with its U.S. backers, have welcomed support from ultra-right groups in the United States and abroad, dangerously ignoring their deeply rooted antisemitism while aligning with their virulent Islamophobia;

AND WHEREAS leading advocates for Palestinian rights in Congress and elsewhere have been falsely accused of antisemitism, with such false accusations weaponized to fuel legislative and other initiatives to redefine antisemitism as including criticism of Israeli policies and unconstitutional attempts to suppress and even criminalize boycotts aimed at promoting Palestinian rights.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the California Democratic Party commends the Democratic majority in Congress for resisting these efforts and passing a resolution calling on “all public officials to confront the reality of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, and other forms of bigotry, as well as historical struggles against them, to ensure that the United States will live up to the transcendent principles of tolerance, religious freedom, and equal protection as embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the first and 14th amendments to the Constitution.”

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the California Democratic Party opposes all efforts to stigmatize and suppress support for Palestinian human rights by falsely conflating it with antisemitism, whether in the unfounded attacks and even death threats against members of Congress like Ilhan Omar or in the widespread efforts to shut down discussion and intimidate students on campuses around the country.

_______________________

RESOLUTION 3: ISRAEL/PALESTINE VISITS
OFFICIALS SHOULD LEARN ABOUT ALL SIDES WHEN THEY TRAVEL TO ISRAEL-PALESTINE

WHEREAS the government of Israel and/or U.S. organizations that support it frequently invite members of Congress, state legislators and other public officials to tour Israel on subsidized trips that are clearly – and often admittedly -- meant to cultivate sympathy for its policies, imparting only a partial view of the situation in Israel/Palestine;

AND WHEREAS a full, balanced understanding of the situation is crucial for officials responsible for shaping U.S. policy in the region or who might have such responsibilities in the future; 

AND WHEREAS the CDP has already committed to supporting Palestinian rights and opposing Israel’s ongoing occupation, and to human rights, equality and free speech for all;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the California Democratic Party directs any officials considering such an invitation from the Israeli government or other group to accept it only if they undertake to devote an equal amount of time to visiting Palestinian towns, villages and refugee camps in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territories, and to meeting with Israeli anti-occupation advocates and with Palestinian officials and non-governmental organization leaders. Moreover, officials and other party members are encouraged to initiate their own visits to Israel-Palestine that would include the listed activities.

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that officials considering such visits should contact the communications directors of the CDP Progressive and/or Arab-American caucuses, who will be available to make appropriate connections.

_______________________

RESOLUTION 4: GAZA
AFFIRMING CDP’S COMMITMENT TO HUMAN DIGNITY AND BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE ISRAELI-OCCUPIED TERRITORIES AND ENDING THE GAZA BLOCKADE

WHEREAS, historically the United States has joined other nations in funding health care systems, educational and civic infrastructure in the Israeli occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza, in fall 2018 that Trump administration decided to cut $25 million it had planned to give to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, a group of six hospitals, some church-run, providing care primarily to Palestinians; eliminated its $300 million contribution to the UN agency running schools and health clinics for Palestinian refugees; and slashed more than $200 million for humanitarian and development aid in the West Bank and Gaza;

AND WHEREAS, the more than decade-long Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip has caused severe damage to infrastructure, with wastewater treatment plants lacking capacity, causing severe water pollution; with Palestinians having access to only a few hours of electricity a day; with poverty at 53 percent, food insecurity at 68 percent and a palpable loss of hope and rising desperation among the population, it is imperative that the United States resume life sustaining humanitarian support;

AND WHEREAS, the untenable status quo – rocket firings into Israel from Gaza; regular air and artillery bombardment of Gaza neighborhoods; and sniper shootings of unarmed civilians at the fence, with hundreds killed and thousands wounded since March 2018 – threatens to deteriorate into even more devastating warfare;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the California Democrat Party urges Congress and the administration to reinstate the funding for UNWRA, hospitals and civilian infrastructure that can help sustain human rights and dignity for Palestinians as they endure life under occupation, blockade and political upheaval.

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the California Democratic Party urges Congress and the administration to demand that Israel and Egypt end their blockade of the Gaza Strip in favor of immediate international involvement to restore a semblance of normal life for the area’s 2 million Palestinians while ensuring the security of all parties and advancing toward a political settlement in the region.

_______________________

RESOLUTION 5: SETTLEMENTS and HUMAN RIGHTS
Affirming CDP’s commitment to supporting human rights, equality and justice in Israel/Palestine.

WHEREAS, Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Golan Heights are illegal under international law, as affirmed in numerous UN Security Council resolutions, including the most recent, 2234, which passed 14-0 in December 2016, was not opposed by the Obama Administration, and declares the settlements’ establishment as having "no legal validity” and constituting “a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace”;

AND WHEREAS, over 60 laws (dealing with immigration, religion, education, land ownership, residency rights and much more) in Israel discriminate against non-Jewish citizens, including the recently enacted Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, a constitutional level statute that among other things defines Israel as the nation-state of only the Jewish people, declares Jewish settlement as a national value and relegates Arabic language to inferior status, thus formalizing second-class citizenship status for the 25 percent of Israelis who are not Jewish;

AND WHEREAS, Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948 and their descendants, now numbering in the millions, are prevented from returning to their homes and homeland in what became Israel, in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Section 13, which is unequivocal in guaranteeing civilians a right to return to their homes; and numerous UN resolutions, first and foremost General Assembly Resolution 194 of 1948 (supported by the United States), which specifically endorses the rights of Palestinian refugees.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the California Democratic Party supports ending Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem, opposes Israeli settlements in them; demands equal rights for Palestinians and other non-Jewish residents in Israel; and supports Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homeland;

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that CDP rejects, in accordance with international law, any acquisition of territory by use of force, and therefore in addition to opposing Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and of Gaza, also calls for withdrawal from Syria’s Golan Heights, and condemns the Trump administration’s recognition of Israel’s sovereignty in that territory.

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No, Trump didn't stop aid to Palestinians. Palestinians did. (update)

Joyce Karam, an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University, tweeted:

Does Jared Kushner not know that cutting aid to UNRWA affects 1.3 million Palestinian? Cutting aid to Jerusalem hospitals affects Palestinian patients? This is not punishing PA leadership...

Sharp interview by @jonathanvswan pic.twitter.com/leHdJesg4K

— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) June 3, 2019

While the US did cut all aid to UNRWA, which should not exist, did it also cut aid to "Jerusalem hospitals?"

Karam is apparently referring to USAID, which stopped all its services to the West Bank and Gaza at the end of January. USAID wouldn't have given money to fund hospital; it would give funds to projects including medical, infrastructure, governance and education. 

Headlines blamed the US for stopping all aid:

Apparently, Karam is the kind of academic who doesn't bother reading the actual article. Because unlike the headline, the article says:

The Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA), passed by Congress and then signed into law by President Donald Trump last year, has just come into force.

This allows Americans to sue those receiving foreign aid from their country in US courts over alleged complicity in "acts of war".

At a news conference on Thursday, senior official Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian Authority (PA) had sent a letter to the US state department asking them to end funding because of a fear of lawsuits.

"We do not want to receive any money if it will cause us to appear before the courts," he said.

The US didn't end the USAID program - the Palestinians did.

Just like Israel didn't stop sending tax revenues to the PA - the Palestinians did.

Palestinians want lots of money, but they don't want any responsibility or strings attached. They want to be able to spend the money on salaries for terrorists without interference. They want to be able to receive billions from the US but not to be sued for the Americans killed by the terrorists they support.

The BBC headline, and others, were completely the opposite of the truth. The Trump administration has reduced aid to Palestinians in line with the philosophy that money given should provide some benefits to the US - something every other country does as well, implicitly or explicitly. But the decision to end all cooperation with the US came from the Palestinian leadership, not the US.

It is just one more example of how Palestinian leaders do not give a damn about their own people.

And this is another example of how an academic shows her ignorance - or her willingness to lie.

UPDATE: In fact, the US did cut aid to Arab hospitals last year, before USAID was refused by the PA.

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Of course the Palestinians can't govern themselves. Because they really don't want to build a state - but to destroy one.

So many people are insulted by Jared Kushner's statement about whether Palestinians can govern themselves:

Swan: Do you believe that the Palestinians are capable of governing themselves without Israeli interference?

Kushner: I think that’s a very good question. I think that that’s one that we’ll have to see. The hope is is that they, over time, can become capable of governing …

Swan: They being the Palestinians.

Kushner: The Palestinians. I think there are some things that the current Palestinian government has done well, and there are some things that are lacking. And I do think that in order for the area to be investable, for investors to come in and want to invest in different industries and infrastructure and create jobs, you do need to have a fair judicial system, freedom of press, freedom of expression, tolerance for all religions, and so …

Swan: Can they have freedom from any Israeli government or military interference?

Kushner: I think that it’s a high bar.

Mondoweiss wrote, "For many watching the interview, the entire portion on Palestine and the peace process featured what seemed like one insult after the other."

RT summarized the outrage:

His remarks elicited scorn from Twitter users, especially from Palestinian figures. “One of the painful things to listen to is Jared Kushner pretending that he knows – or cares – what the ‘Palestinian people’ want,” wrote Palestinian-American professor Shibley Telhami.

“The Palestinian people don’t need half a man to decide if they are capable of governing themselves,” wrote US-based Palestinian analyst Mohammad Oweis, in a tweet dripping with rage. “We have seen enough sh*t like him since 1948,” he said, a reference to the year the State of Israel was founded.

Matt Duss, a foreign policy adviser for US Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, argued that Kushner’s comments unwittingly revealed that he views Palestinians through a prejudicial lens. “This is the racist subtext of so much conservative pro-Israel advocacy, but Jared is too inexperienced to know it’s supposed to stay subtext,” tweeted Duss.

Some progressive Jewish pundits likewise slammed Kushner for his remarks, also attributing to him anti-Palestinian prejudice. “Democrats and Jewish leaders should be calling out Kushner's egregious racism. Can you imagine the outrage if someone suggested Jews couldn't govern themselves?” tweeted Max Berger, co-founder of the liberal US Jewish activist group If Not Now. “Why is it okay to say that about Palestinians? Because Islamophobia is extremely powerful in the US,” Berger opined.

This is what happens when you don't have the ability to think and when your life is built around looking for reasons to be outraged.

Of course it would be outrageous to suggest that Jews couldn't govern themselves - but they have proven that they can. And Palestinians have proven that they cannot.

Jews built an entire parallel government, on their own, under the British Mandate. They built the institutions not only of a military, legal system, legislative branch but also cultural institutions, newspapers that competed with each other and that criticized the government freely. They did all this in a relatively short time,  without international aid or Western consultants or hundreds of NGOs. They created tens of thousands of jobs (for Arabs and Jews) and didn't whine that it was too hard.

Compare that to what the Palestinians have built in 25 years since Oslo.

They live under a dictatorship. Mahmoud Abbas controls everything. The function of the weekly cabinet meetings, according to its own website, is apparently to declare the days that the government will take off.

Palestinian newspapers hardly ever talk about trials - because their court system is a joke. They build beautiful courthouses but there are few court cases since 2000. Most legal cases are dealt with by informal "tribal" judges or tribunals rather than trusting the state courts, even for murder cases.

Here's the award winning and utterly useless Tulkarem courthouse, built with Canadian money.

Palestinian can't even agree who their leader is. They remain split between Hamas and Fatah for ten years and cannot agree to hold elections.

Their top priority, in their own words, is paying terrorists and their families. Just last week the "prime minister" said that while employees will get 60% of their salaries, terrorists and their families will receive 100%.

The Palestinians have not shown the ability to govern themselves effectively. Period.

This is hardly a controversial position.

The real question is, why? The World Bank and dozens of NGOs and the UN and the EU and, up until this year, the US have been pouring in money and resources and consultants to help build a state that whose leaders seem to be not at all interested in governing.

The reason for this is not stated out loud too much for fear of insulting Palestinians, but the truth is:

Their real strategy is not the creation of a strong, independent state, but the destruction of one.

Arafat's phased plan of 1974 - to grab whatever land they can and use it as a base to get more land and political power until Israel is destroyed -  is still the unspoken but clear goal.

Nothing that Arafat did after Oslo, or that Abbas does now, is inconsistent with the 1974 plan.

This is what they teach their kids. In 2014, a poll of Palestinians showed that 60% felt that the five year national goal was not to be an independent state but to destroy Israel. In fact, the very purpose of a state is to be a stage towards "liberating all of Palestine." (That's why everyone misreads the polls where Palestinians say they want a two state solution. They mean that as a stage towards destroying Israel, not a permanent solution.)

This is why they didn't accept any peace plan that would end the conflict and have rejected peace over and over again.

This is why they keep the refugee issue alive.

This is why they insist on Jerusalem as a huge part of their history and heritage when in fact it was a slum under Muslim rule and they only want it to take it away from Jews.

And this is why they want to keep their own people stateless and miserable - to keep the anger aimed at Israel rather than do anything constructive.

This is why there are "refugee camps" under PA and Hamas rule, whose residents are not even considered citizens of the PA!

The primary job of a government is to protect the citizens. Real leaders care about their people. Palestinian leaders don't - unless the people are terrorists or related to terrorists, or friends of people in high places.

This is the truth that everyone is too frightened to say out loud because no one wants to piss them off.

But the only way to move forward is with the truth.

And to stop treating them like spoiled children, which is exactly how the world relates to Palestinians today.

When they are expected to act like adults, then maybe things can change. That is not how the EU and the UN treat them. They allow the Palestinian leaders to act like entitled brats, who deserve money and land simply because they say so. Abbas is proud of his  refusal to negotiate or compromise and the world, frightened of another terror spree like the 1970s, goes along with the delusion that he is a leader.

Coddling Palestinians and turning a blind eye to their behavior is the worst thing to do. Yet that is how the world treats them.

Never in history has the entire international community spent so much money and time and resources to create a state. That state is not even close to being functional. It is past time to pretend that pointing this out is an insult and to start treating Palestinians like they are responsible adults who need to do the work themselves.

So far, they have shown no ability nor interest in doing that.

(based on a Twitter thread I created yesterday)

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It's a weird world when the only person really trying to help Palestinians is Jared Kushner -and everyone else is opposed

(Based on a Twitter thread Monday)

It's fascinating that the two state solution is such a dogma to so many that Jared Kushner saying that we should prioritize the actual human rights and dignity of Palestinians before we figure out the political parameters of a solution is mercilessly criticized.

All the 'experts' insist that the things they have been pushing since Oslo - 100% of which have failed - are  not only the only solution, but the only priority.

And every one of them would swear they want the best thing for Palestinians.

Are Palestinians in better shape today, in their day to day lives, then they were in 2010? 2002? 1996? 1986?  If the answer is no, then doesn't it make sense to start making them the priority, and not their failed leaders' demands?

But no one is even asking that question. Everyone is so hyper-focused on the steps to achieve a two state solution  along the 1949 armistice lines that the people ostensibly being helped by that have been pushed aside and forgotten about.

If the point of a Palestinian state is to provide human rights and dignity to the Palestinians, and if it is obvious that any conceivable Palestinian state would do the opposite, then why are people still so focused on the state aspect and ignoring the human rights aspect?

News flash: Israel doesn't want to hurt Palestinian human rights. It wants to be safe from the minority that have been brought up to believe that murdering Jews is their highest goal. If that disappears, the other problems disappear as well.

An economic-first plan would give Palestinians more hope, more dignity, more agency in their own lives. It does not prejudice a final solution in any way.

And the "experts" are all up in arms about how anyone can dare to suggest something like that.

This is insanity.

Does anyone seriously disagree that the Palestinians have been thoroughly screwed by their leadership, both Hamas and Fatah?

And yet every previous "peace" plan is predicated on these immoral, corrupt leaders remaining in power to continue to screw their own people.

Isn't it time to think differently about the problem? Isn't it time to put the Palestinian people first, something that no one in their short history has ever done?

But no. The previous "experts"with the 100% failure rate know better.

These "experts" spent their entire careers talking to Arab leaders who insist on what they say is best for Palestinians but in reality who want to use them as pawns in their own political careers.

Since 1948. 

The pattern is clear as day, but the "experts" still listen to them.

Has anyone ever asked the Palestinian people what they want? Has there ever been a good survey that asks the right questions, not questions that are loaded or superficial?

Here's just one example of how the "experts" get things wrong:

Since 1950, self-declared "leaders" of Palestinians, and UNRWA officials, have confidently claimed that the Palestinian Arabs do not want to be naturalized in their host countries.

Since 1950, every time Palestinians had a loophole to become citizens of Lebanon or Egypt, they jumped at it.

EVERY TIME.

How hard it is to realize that their leaders are lying, and the people want something different from what their leaders do?

Yet - where have you ever read this information, among the millions of words written about the conflict?

For people not blinded by the religion of Oslo, there is a huge gap between what we are told about what Palestinians want and what they really do want. And they are frightened to say their real desires because when it contradicts their leaders, the supposed united front is gone.

We don't know much about the Kushner plan, but we do know that the main obstacles to it are coming from the people who are invested in the old failed plans - and from Palestinian leaders who actively want to keep their own people in misery to act as cannon fodder against Israel. If one truly wants to improve Palestinians' lives, one should be 100% supportive of an out of the box plan that helps Palestinians and doesn't injure their political aspirations.

There is no downside, especially compared to the status quo.

But Westerners hate Trump so much that they want this to fail.

And Palestinian leaders will do everything they can to sabotage it because it threatens their power.

Where are the sane people who can look at what Kushner is saying objectively? There aren't many.

Yes, the plan will probably fail.

But people who want peace would want to separate Palestinians from their evil leaders. People who want peace would want to help them live dignified lives.

It appears that there are very few people who really want peace.

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06/03 Links Pt2: Jeremy Corbyn, a Pro-Terrorist Prime Minister?; TalkRadio Fires Galloway Over Anti-Semitism; Last survivor of Sobibor death camp uprising dies, aged 97

From Ian:

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European Leaders Are Making a Show of Taking Anti-Semitism Seriously. But Will They Actually Do So?

Last week, Sweden’s prime minister announced a conference on anti-Semitism to take place in October 2020 and to be attended by European heads of state. It will be held in the southern Swedish city of Malmo, the location of numerous anti-Semitic incidents in the past few years, some of which were violent—the most recent involving a youth group affiliated with the prime minister’s own party. Ben Cohen notes that the conference, despite its apparent good intentions, poses several dangers:

[T]he first potential danger [is] that the conference will allow Malmo to clean up its image as a center of anti-Semitism without cleaning up its act. The degree to which a conference on anti-Semitism hosted by a left-wing government in Europe would be willing to address the elephant in the room—the anti-Semitism that doesn’t come from the far right—is as yet unclear . . .

First, there is the need to recognize that anti-Semitism is politically promiscuous and can be found with equal venom on the left and the right. . . . Second, government efforts against anti-Semitism have rightly pushed a broader message of tolerance and openness. . . . But [these efforts] also require . . . recognition that anti-Semitism is a problem not just of the ethnic majority but of minorities as well, and particularly Europe’s multiple Muslim communities.

At the present time, if a swastika is daubed on a Jewish building in Germany and the perpetrator remains unidentified, the police will categorize the crime as “far right,” despite having seen the profusion of signs equating the Star of David with the swastika at numerous left-wing, anti-Zionist demonstrations. That perhaps exemplifies why a wholesale transformation of how anti-Semitism is understood by law-enforcement officials, teachers, and social workers is necessary.

Gerald Steinberg: Boycotts, antisemitism and free speech

Are ethical guidelines or legal restrictions legitimate means of responding to the singling out of Israel through boycotts and similar attacks? Or, as critics of these measures claim, are these guidelines anti-democratic infringements on free speech and attempts to prevent criticism of Israel?

The intensity of this debate has been increasing in parallel to the rise in violent antisemitic attacks in which the perpetrators justify their actions as responses to Israel and Zionism. Clashes surrounding BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaigns add to the friction, including (unsuccessful) efforts by activists to boycott the recent Eurovision song contest held in Israel, as well as the latest BDS initiatives led by global NGOs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

In responding effectively, it is necessary to encompass the “old” theologically-based form, from the right of the political spectrum, as well as the “new” dimension that targets Israel, as David Hirsh (Goldsmiths College, London University), documents in his book on Contemporary Left antisemitism.

These concerns have produced a growing global consensus based on the working definition of antisemitism, adopted in 2016 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), and built on an earlier EU version. This document has been officially endorsed by the 32 state members of IHRA (France was the most recent addition). It has been used for training of police in the UK and elsewhere in order to provide criteria by which hate crimes directed at Jews can be identified with consistency. There are proposals to include in ethical guidelines for journalists and media platforms – the recent case of a New York Times cartoon, for which the editors apologized, highlighted the importance of an accepted definition of antisemitism. Other potential venues include influential NGOs and the United Nations.

Meet @mohsaud08, who gives us all hope for the future https://t.co/iXxwr75bzh #Israel #SaudiArabia

— Ozraeli Dave (((דיויד לנג))) (@Israellycool) June 3, 2019

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Saeb Erekat calls Kushner, Greenblatt "settlers"

From Saeb Erekat's Twitter:

الدكتور صائب عريقات ( هذا الشخص كوشنير لا يكترث للفلسطينين . وقد عزل نفسه عن أي دور فى عملية السلام . مرة اخرى أدعو الأشقاء العرب لعدم الحديث مع هذه الفرقة من المستوطنين ( كوشنير ، جرين بلات وفريدمان )ما يخططون له هو الازدهار للمستوطينين. https://t.co/cs0UmTNfrM

— Dr. Saeb Erakat الدكتور صائب عريقات (@ErakatSaeb) June 3, 2019

This person Kushner does not care about the Palestinians.
  He has isolated himself from any role in the peace process.
  Once again, I call on the Arab brothers not to talk to this group of settlers (Kushner, Greenblatt and Friedman) for what they are planning is prosperity for the settlers.


He tweeted it in English many hours later:

This person (Kushner)is very much indifferent about palestinians.He has disqualified himself from any role in the peace making .Once again I call upon Arabs not to talk to these settlers  (kushner, Greenblatt, Freedman )about peace.They are planning prosperity for the settlers? pic.twitter.com/2y9yS6lebL

— Dr. Saeb Erakat الدكتور صائب عريقات (@ErakatSaeb) June 3, 2019

Apparently, Erakat believes that any religious Zionist is a settler, no matter what country they live in.

Given that the word "settler" is essentially a curse word to him, this is pretty much antisemitism.

This is common among Palestinians. For example, they routinely say that Jews who visit the Temple Mount are "settlers," even though many of them aren't, or are even Americans.

Erekat points to an interesting excerpt of an interview with Kushner on HBO, where Kushner pretty much says that the plan is to separate the Palestinian people from their leadership.

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The Third Founder of Israel (Divest This!)

While I have written occasionally on American electoral politics in the context of BDS and the US-Israel relationship, I don’t think I’ve ever made any statements – besides the occasional aside – about an Israeli election. 

This is not just because I don’t subscribe to the fantasy that a lone US blogger can have an impact on international affairs.  Rather, this omission is likely the result of being part of the overwhelming consensus within the pro-Israel community that appreciates Israelis – and Israelis alone – carry the burden of citizenship and thus should not be hectored (especially by those who bear no responsibility for electoral outcomes) over whom they should vote for.

But the latest election tumult in the Jewish state does cry out for analysis, albeit one that hopefully sheds light versus casts aspersions.

Especially since the person at the center of the tumult, long-time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has not just helmed the Jewish state for so long, but that his tenure in many political roles makes him an historic figure, one worthy of being considered Israel’s third founder.

The first founder was Theodor Herzl, the Austro-Hungarian writer and journalist who initially created an imaginary Jewish state in his fiction, then worked tirelessly to turn that dream into reality.  While Herzl’s political organization and advocacy made him a controversial figure in his day, the fact that he never became the leader of an actual state meant he did not face the awesome challenge of rule which requires hard choices and trade-offs, some of them with life-and-death consequences.

Israel’s second founder was Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister who set in motion nearly all of the policies that define the Jewish state to this day: ingathering of exiles, standing firm against enemies while also holding out hope for peace, and creating and building institutions of statehood.  Like all of the Prime Ministers who succeeded him, Ben Gurion made his share of mistakes and his ruthless approach to political enemies helped cement political fault lines that have yet to heal.  But like Herzl, Ben-Gurion had a vision of a strong and independent Israel that served as his North Star, a vision that helps explain both his good and bad choices.

The leaders who succeeded Ben-Gurion includes impressive figures like Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin and Arial Sharon, all of whom shaped Israeli history in their own way.  But, ignoring their successes and blunders (some of them – like the Oslo fiasco – monumental) each of these leaders played cards they were dealt, rather than inventing an entirely new game.

Netanyahu’s long-term vision, and his success at achieving it, pushes him past this pantheon into the tiny category of “founders,” i.e., leaders who transformed a nation, rather than just managing its affairs or navigating it through crises. 

While no single person can be credited with turning the Jewish state into an economic powerhouse whose brain-based industries put it on par with the oil wealth of Israel’s enemies, Netanyahu’s decades-long commitment to liberalizing the Israeli economy – freeing it from the shackles of Ben-Gurion’s state socialism – was one of the prime factors leading to Startup Nation.

Other Israeli leaders have caved in to pressures (internal and external) or hubris to “do something” vis-à-vis the Arab-Israeli conflict, leading to fiascos like the Gaza withdrawal and the aforementioned Oslo disaster.  But Netanyahu’s vision of a Jewish state with enough economic, military and diplomatic strength to stand on its own – despite its diminutive size and limited resources – served as his North Star, which helps explain Netanyahu’s ability to shape domestic politics and withstand foreign pressures (especially during an era when a hostile US administration required extraordinarily deft navigation) leading to the strong, wealthy, diplomatically successful Israel we know today.

Yes, Bibi has made his share of blunders, as have all his predecessors (and everyone else who has ever taken on the responsibility to lead a nation).  But I suspect that the pathological hatred of him outside of Israel is the result not of his prickly personality but of his success.  For if you look at what the Israel haters despise most (including Netanyahu, AIPAC and Israel itself) you see a list of those entities most effective at keeping the Jewish people safe, free and secure.

With that having been said, the title of this piece will ring a warning bell to those who know their Roman history.  For the “Third Founder of Rome” was an informal title given to Gaius Marius, the general who saved the Republic from destruction by foreign enemies that had threatened the nation for years, in the process reforming Rome’s military in ways that turned it into the most powerful in the ancient world. 

Having saved the state and serving five times in the top executive position of Consul, Marius’ star faded as a new generation of military and political leaders rose to power. Bitter at being left out to pasture, Marius threw in his lot with political radicals, giving him a sixth and seventh Consulship but leading directly to the first of many civil wars that would eventually destroy the Republic.

In bringing up Marius’ story, I am in no way suggesting that any politician hanging in there past their sell date must lead to catastrophe.  But if Marius ended up being the historic poster child for what happens when a political hero fails to know when to step back, another Roman – Cincinnatus – continues to serve as archetype for the democratic leader who knows when to call it a day. 

Legend has it that after Cincinnatus was given supreme power to defeat Rome’s enemies, and after succeeding in doing so, voluntarily gave up the heights of leadership to return to his farm.  One need only visit our nation’s capital where a marble statue of George Washington in toga, handing the sword he was given back to the people, demonstrates the impact Cincinnatus’ story has had on democracy ever since.

Given his incomparable skill in outwitting political enemies, Netanyahu might emerge from the second Israeli election this year more powerful than ever before.  But despite that spot of bother the Jewish people had with the Roman Empire way back when, Roman history provides powerful archetypes that can – or should – inform the choices of even the most powerful men and women today.

Unfortunately, many have forgotten lessons we should have learned from Roman folly – such as the consequences of trying to prosecute our political enemies, rather than defeat them democratically (one of the motivations for Julius Caesar to finally draw down the curtain on the Republic).  But if we want more Cincinnatuses and fewer Mariuses in our political lives, we must find ways to give those who dedicate themselves to the nation a way to retire with the honor they (including their egos) deserve.

  

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06/03 Links Pt1: Tens of thousands of New Yorkers march to celebrate Israel; ‘Deal of the century’ must address Jewish refugee issue; White House tells Russia it backs Israeli strikes in Syria

From Ian:

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Tens of thousands of New Yorkers march to celebrate Israel

Tens of thousands of Israel supporters gathered in Manhattan on Sunday for the 55th annual Celebrate Israel Parade – the largest celebration of Israel in the world.

Beginning on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street and making their way up to 75th Street, marchers embraced this year’s theme of “Only in Israel” from the 1970s Hebrew classic “Rak B’Yisrael.”

The parade, which began in 1965, has been organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of New York since 2011.

“Celebrate Israel brings the Jewish community together in support of Israel. From center right to center left, we set aside our differences and truly celebrate Israel as the democratic state that it is,” Michael Miller, CEO and executive director of JCRC told The Jerusalem Post.

Around 40,000 participants took part in this year’s event, from organizations including Birthright Israel, UJA-Federation of New York, El Al, Maimonides Medial Center and many Jewish youth movements and schools. Thirty of the participating organizations designed a float with colorful banners and costumes. Six volunteers were appointed grand marshals of the parade.

“It was an immediate yes for me to take part in a more official way this year as a grand marshal,” fashion blogger Elizabeth Savetsky, who has attended the parade for the last seven years, told the Post. “The best way to combat antisemitism is by showing pride. Supporting the magic of Israel is the best way to fight for it.”

Israel Celebrates Jerusalem Day

Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Cabinet on Sunday:

"We are marking 52 years since Jerusalem was unified in the Six-Day War. The war changed the fate of Israel. It removed us from a chokehold and danger of destruction, turned us into a strong regional power and - in effect - began the process of reconciliation, the continuing fruits of which we see developing today."

"It brought one more thing: The unification of the capital of Israel. We returned, I remember personally, I returned, to Jerusalem, the cradle of our people, our culture and our faith, between the walls, and this moved the entire nation, all of its parts."

"Of course, from then until today, Jerusalem has changed, it is almost unrecognizable. We are building it up. We are strengthening it. We are concerned for its future and are developing it into a prosperous city that can also be a focus of not only spirituality and a renewal of Israel's tradition and heritage, but also a city that is being renewed with global technology."

"Jerusalem is ranked as one of the more quickly developing cities. This is the right combination of heritage and science - and this is our strength. On this we built the State of Israel. This is the guiding idea of Zionism."

Ari Fuld Remembered on Jerusalem Day

The Ari Fuld Project dedicated to his memory decided to ensure he was still present in spirit at the march and volunteers handed out stickers and wristbands to the participants of the Jerusalem Day Flag Parade in Ari’s memory, “to make Ari’s presence felt at the parade this year, as it was felt every year in the past,” as the organization explained.

The volunteers distributed items to the tens of thousands of Israelis who marched along the parade route through Jerusalem’s center and throughout the Old City.

“Keeping Ari Fuld’s memory alive!!! Handing out Ari Fuld bracelets!! He loved his country, he loved Jerusalem, he loved the truth and he loved celebrating Jerusalem Day!!” Avi Abelow, Fuld’s close friend, wrote on Facebook.

“It was very important to us that Ari’s presence be strongly felt at the Jerusalem Day parade, and I think we succeeded. Our wonderful volunteers handed out some 5000 stickers and another 5000 wristbands, and we could have easily handed out twice that amount,” Stephen Leavitt, Director of The Ari Fuld Project, told TPS.

As Yom Yerushalayim draws to a close, some words of wisdom. Geulah Cohen was in the Jewish underground and later the Knesset. In 1980 she introduced a bill to add Jerusalem’s capital status to Israel’s Basic Law. Here’s her response to complaints about world opinion or “timing.” pic.twitter.com/y70Z9yyJrD

— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) June 3, 2019

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@IfNotNowOrg leader @RafaelShimunov outs himself as a hateful, lying, disgusting bigot (update)

Vice News had this story about an Israeli emigrant who opened a trendy restaurant in Toronto that uses a 150-year old stone mill from Israel to grind tahini using sesame seeds from Ethiopia.

This restaurant makes their tahini in-house using a stone mill they found in Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/JU1cKvRSIh

— VICE Canada (@vicecanada) May 30, 2019

This was apparently a trigger for Rafael Shimunov, an early founding member of IfNotNow, who responded with a bigoted, hateful tweet that shows what a jerk he is:

The owner of the restaurant is a Yemenite Jew who used to live in Israel. Shimunov sees that he is Israeli  and therefore blames him for imagined Israeli crimes.

The definition of a bigot is someone who generalizes that all people in a group are guilty for the alleged actions of a few.

So from this tweet we know straight off that Shimunov, a card carrying leftist, is a bigot.

But there is more.

Israel never sterilized Ethiopian women. This is simply a lie. Haaretz once made it look like Israeli organizations were giving Ethiopian women birth control without their consent, and even that charge was found to be utterly wrong- back in 2013.

Shimunov is a liar.

But there is more.

Palestinians actually have been found to sterilize women for "honor" reasons. Someone like Shimunov who pretends to care so much about fictional Israeli victims of sterilization never say a word about when their pet Palestinians are proven to have done it for real.

Shimunov is a hypocrite.

But there is more.

Shimunov seems to be upset that an Israeli would import sesame seeds from Ethiopia. This is bizarre, to say the least. What is wrong with helping the economy in Ethiopia? Anyone else who would do it would be considered someone who supports poor farmers in north Africa. Only when a Jew does this it is somehow a problem.

But there is more.

This "woke" person saw a Vice story that made an Israeli look like a nice guy and went ballistic. This one tweet proves that his hate for Israel isn't because of "occupation" or "settlements" or whatever. It is hate for people - even people of color, even immigrants. It is hate for Vice for making a video about an Israeli that is positive.

The hate that he shows in this one tweet proves that for him (and we see this with other anti-Israel activists) it isn't about justice or loving Palestinians. It is pure hate that animates him, and so many others.

This hate is indistinguishable from the hate of racists, or bigots, of antisemites.

But this hate is still allowed and celebrated in certain circles.


UPDATE: Now the haters are posting bad reviews in Yelp by claiming that the stone mill, which they say same from the Golan, is "stolen Palestinian property."

Since when was the Golan Palestinian?

(h/t Tess)

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Reuters calls Jews who peacefully visit Temple Mount "ultra-nationalists" and "provocative"

Another textbook example of media bias, courtesy of Reuters:

 Hundreds of ultra-nationalist Jews guarded by riot police streamed their way into the Jerusalem compound revered both in Judaism and Islam on Sunday, resulting in violence between police and outraged Muslim worshippers.

The Jews who visited didn't sing songs, chant nationalist slogans, pray or do anything besides walk and talk quietly. But to Reuters they are "ultra-nationalist," and "ultra-" anything is pejorative  in journalism.

The Muslims who were "outraged" are not ultra-anything. They are just peaceful worshipers. Of course, the Jews never come during prayer times, so the Muslims weren't worshiping. In order to build the contrast between evil Jews and peaceful Muslims, Reuters must employ the language of "ultra-nationalist" vs. "worshippers."

The highly provocative visit came during the final days of the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims flock to pray at the compound’s al-Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam where non-Muslim prayer has been banned since 1187.

Jews visit almost every day, but to Reuters their quiet touring of the area is "highly provocative." We learn that the area is the third holiest site in Islam but not that it is the first-holiest site in Judaism. The ban on non-Muslim prayer, rather than being framed as Muslim intolerance, is written as a basic status-quo that is being violated - even though no Jew (as far as I can tell) prayed.

Police fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets to disperse worshippers, some of whom threw stones and chairs as the Jewish groups walked across the esplanade in front of the al-Aqsa to angry calls of ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great).

Which came first - the tear gas or the throwing stones and chairs? Reuters is implying that the police attacked "worshippers" (prayer only happens indoors, the police did not attack any worshippers) for no reason and the Muslims responded with throwing things - the exact opposite of what happened!

This is not reporting. This is propaganda.

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@HRW's @KenRoth supports the creation of a state that would not offer basic human rights to its citizens

A tweet can reveal so much:

First of all, Roth is misquoting Kushner.

Asked whether he believes the Palestinians are capable of governing themselves without Israeli interference — a fundamental demand for Palestinians — Kushner said, "That's a very good question. ... The hope is, is that over time, they can become capable of governing."

Kushner said the Palestinians "need to have a fair judicial system ... freedom of press, freedom of expression, tolerance for all religions" before the Palestinian territories can become "investable."

Kushner did not say that Palestinians cannot govern themselves but that there are severe impediments to doing so effectively before they can be truly independent. This is not a very controversial position. Why wouldn't the world demand that a new nation can take care of the basics of human rights before being admitted to the family of nations?

Moreover, Roth does not dispute that Palestinians do not have basic human rights. He says that human rights are irrelevant to the question of their suitability to statehood!

Ken Roth - the leader of a human rights group - is defending granting statehood to a nation that he admits would not offer basic human rights to its citizens from the outset.

If anyone would want a human rights litmus test before granting nationhood, it should be Ken Roth. The fact that he says the opposite is stunning.

Would he say that about any other people who desire statehood? Would he say that ISIS deserves a state despite its human rights record? Hell, he won't go on a limb to say that even Kurds deserve a state, even after they have proven the ability to govern themselves! But he supports the creation of a corrupt, kleptocratic Palestinian dictatorship - because that would take land away from Israeli control, and Jews building houses is far worse to him than Palestinians sentencing Arabs who sell land to Jews  to death.

His analogy to existing nations is absurd, of course: there is no comparison between nations that already exist and entities who aspire to statehood. By all means work to fix the human rights abuses everywhere, but the idea of dismantling a state because of its abuses - real or imagined - for some reason only applies to Israel.

Look at his examples of corrupt countries - Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Not Iran, not Turkey, not China with its concentration camps filled with millions of Muslims -  Roth only mentions countries that are on Israel's side politically. Even his choice of paradigmatic nations with poor human rights records (which both undoubtedly do have) reveals Roth's deep seated hate for Israel.

Roth's pathological hatred of Israel prompts him to take positions that are diametrically opposed to human rights. Which disqualifies him from his job.

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