Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

06/10 Links Pt1: Mark Regev: Pre-1967 Lines Brought Israel Neither Peace Nor Security; The Gaza They Do Not Want You to See

From Ian:

Israeli Ambassador Mark Regev: Pre-1967 Lines Brought Israel Neither Peace Nor Security

Israeli Ambassador to the UK Mark Regev responded on June 8 to a letter by prominent members of the British Jewish community expressing concern at the prospect of extending Israeli law to parts of the West Bank. Regev said: "The policy of consecutive Israeli governments has in fact always been that Israeli law must be extended to parts of the West Bank as part of any final status reality."

"The pre-1967 lines brought Israel neither peace nor security, and it was for this reason that, in the immediate aftermath of the Six-Day War, the Labor governments of Levi Eshkol and Golda Meir rejected returning to those frontiers. Eshkol extended Israeli law into formerly Jordanian-controlled territory, and under Meir's government, the Allon Plan was developed, which recognized the particular strategic significance of the Jordan Valley and Golan Heights. Menachem Begin applied Israeli sovereignty to the latter some three decades ago."

"Yitzhak Rabin, who...as prime minister signed the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, firmly believed that any sustainable peace would have to be built on robust security arrangements. In his final speech before the Knesset...Rabin outlined his vision of a final status peace, which he said would demand Israeli control over the Jordan Valley 'in the broadest meaning of that term'."

"Israel's friends in the international community have long understood secure borders to be a cornerstone of any durable peace." Regev said the U.S. peace plan builds on the "core principles" of Israel's security being protected by "control over the Jordan Valley."

It was "regrettable but unsurprising that this plan was immediately rejected outright by the Palestinian leadership, who dogmatically cling to one-sided UN and EU 'peace plans' that consistently ignore Israel's vital concerns."

Rejecting suggestions that Israel's "international standing" will be undermined, Regev said, "In moving forward, Israel's new unity government will remain cognizant of our steadily improving relations across the Arab and Muslim world, and our critically important partnership with Jordan."

"We will continue to engage with Washington about how best to seize the historic opportunities inherent in the American initiative, which offers the hope of a more peaceful and secure future. It is high time for the Palestinians to come to the table and constructively do the same."

Palestinian threats aren't the real danger

That same year, the United Nations passed a resolution to upgrade the PA's status from non-state "observer" to non-member state. Something along those lines. Many countries around the world circuitously recognize the PA as a state in such a way that it isn't always clear what they mean when they say "recognition." It appears the only development of substance and of potential concern to Israel – in the future – is American recognition of a Palestinian state.

The fact that the leaders of the Yamina party, Yesha Council Director David Elhayani, and former Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich are rushing to recognize a Palestinian state by declaring it a foregone conclusion of Israel's sovereignty initiative doesn't mean they are the deciding factor. The PA prime minister said what he said. So what? Why is Shtayyeh, and not PA President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking out? Regardless, we cannot ignore that he views the future Israeli measure as a serious blow to the Palestinians.

The purpose of Shtayyeh's comment to foreign journalists on Tuesday was to deter Israel from following through with the sovereignty initiative, which has become a burning issue both locally and internationally. Hence the Palestinians have joined various elements inside Israel that oppose the move – each for their own reasons – while the media is doing its best to present the dilemma through an apocalyptic lens.

The right thing, however, is to view the Israeli move more simply: a unilateral step to significantly expand Israel's sovereignty in the country's west. A unilateral step by the Palestinians to declare an independent state already puts them in a position of violating US President Donald Trump's peace plan. This will certainly absolve Israel of the more problematic aspects of the plan, such as transferring lands in the Negev to the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinians and their helpers already view Israel as an invader of Judea and Samaria lands. "Taking steps" to establish a Palestinian state will do little to bolster opposition to the Israeli presence.

The only danger from Israel's perspective in this context, as stated, is the rise of a Democratic administration that will recognize a Palestinian state. And even then, Israel's answer will be: We're ready to negotiate peace with the Palestinians – and the Americans will accept it.

Black and Palestinian issues have nothing in common (Daled Amos)

Yesterday, Elder of Ziyon described what Palestinians hijacking George Floyd look like, when they claim there is an equality between the current protests in the US in response to the police killing of George Floyd and the Palestinian cause. Dumisani Washington, National Diversity Outreach Coordinator for Christians United for Israel (CUFI), wrote about the differences he saw between these two causes. Six years ago. Washington listed 7 reasons why the Palestinian crisis and the Black struggle for freedom are absolutely nothing alike.

1. While the Palestinian Arabs have UNRWA --

Black Americans from slavery to Jim Crow to the civil rights era never had anything that vaguely resembled UNRWA or any type of international relief agency.

2. While the Palestinian Authority continues to receive enormous amounts of money in international aid every year, money that is used on racial programming and propaganda --

Black Americans received no international aid during centuries of slavery and Jim Crow segregation. Neither did we receive domestic aid...Money to help fund our quest for freedom came almost exclusively from private donors including Black businesses and families, White abolitionists, churches, synagogues and other Jewish organizations and individuals.

3. There are many Arab states in the Middle East who have the potential to help the Palestinian Arabs, not with money, but by offering to accept them as full citizens. The Arab states refuse to do this, and the few states that do have Palestinian Arab -- Like Lebanon and Syria -- treat them as second-class citizens. Black Americans are in a different situation --

Black Americans had no Black nations to which we could turn for help or shelter. While we were enslaved in America, our continent had been colonized by the Europeans. Further, all of North Africa is currently being occupied by Arabs, who stole it from our people. But that’s another list.

4. Washington notes that another difference between Black Americans and the Palestinian Arabs is with regard to terrorism:

Other than Nat Turner and a few rebellious slaves whom history has forgotten, Black victims of oppression never possessed the means to offer armed resistance to our oppressors during slavery. After slavery (and due to the legal right to purchase guns), Black Americans were able to arm themselves, but had no access to rockets, rocket launchers, IEDs or other explosives.

Even so, he adds another point:

If Black Americans had been able to fight with weapons, you can be certain that blowing up our sons and daughters would not have been a strategic option. Ever. Under any circumstances. [emphasis added]

In a post this month, Dumisani Washington's son, Joshua Washington -- Director of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI) -- continues on this theme of the use of terrorism in the context of the current protests -- and riots -- which Palestinian Arabs claim as similar to their cause. In The Palestinian appropriation of black pain, he writes:

...our struggle could not be any more different. One of the biggest differences is terrorism. The Palestinian Authority encourages and incentivizes Palestinians to kill Jews. Palestinians who successfully kill Jews are awarded with a monthly stipend from the PA. Palestinians who commit suicide while killing Jews have a monthly stipend sent to their families. Palestinian children are trained to kill Jews by any means, including suicide bombing, and they are taught this through terrorist traning camps and Hamas TV shows. Streets are named after Palestinians who commit suicide bombings if they kill enough Jews. As heightened as the black community has ever been, never have we as a people resorted to killing white people everywhere just because they are white. Never have we encouraged the death of our own children for our cause. Never have we ever produced television shows to teach our children how to kill white people. What the Palestinian Authority is engaged in is not a struggle against oppression; it is pure and simple Jew hatred, and Palestinian leaders will do anything they can to legitimize it including exploiting black pain to do so. [emphasis added]

5. Noting that his grandmother would have called Arabs throwing rocks at motorists "hoodlums," Washington writes

During the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s our ‘weapon’ was non-violent resistance. This was by choice and by necessity, as we were vastly outnumbered and outgunned by the White majority.

6. He notes how the UNHRC has consistently made Israel its number one target for condemnation. However, he is unimpressed by that UN body --

Not only did Black Americans ever have something like a League of Nations to condemn our enemies, the UNHRC further insults us by largely ignoring the suffering of African people in places like Sudan, Eritrea or Congo; or Egypt/Sinai where African slavery and organ harvesting is taking place.

7. In his final point, Washington points out the Arab representation in the Israeli Knesset and Supreme Court, noting that some continue to be anti-Israel, under protected free speech. Again, contrast with that the situation of Blacks --

Black Americans did not become a part of the legislative system until after slavery during Reconstruction. We were exclusively Republican by default, as the Democrats were the party of slavery, Jim Crow and the KKK. We never called for the destruction of America. We have a long, proud tradition of working within the American legal system to address violations of civil and human rights — for everyone.

Yet with all the differences that separate the Black struggle for equal rights with the situation of Arabs in Israel, Washington recognizes their need for justice -- and offers to point them in right direction:

Lastly, I do not spurn the Palestinian fight for self-determination. Every fight for justice is a righteous struggle. I would just say that, what made the Black historic struggle effective was our remembering who our enemy was — and who it was not. In the interest of defending Palestinian human rights, one may want to start with the main perpetrators: The Palestinian Authority and Hamas. [emphasis added]

The Jewish community is very fortunate to have Black leaders who are outspoken in defense of Jews and Israel and, just as importantly, who defend the history of help and cooperation that they share. As much as Jews may have helped the Black community in the past, the Jewish community is now in need of the aid of such strong Black leaders in the face of the riots and antisemitic attacks on synagogues that are taking advantage of peaceful protests.

The latest poll from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows contradictory results of how much discrimination Palestinian Christians feel from their Muslim neighbors and the Muslim-majority Palestinian Authority

While the 70% say they feel fully integrated into Palestinian society, when they answer more detailed questions this high number is not supported by facts.

For example, 44% say that discrimination exists against Christians applying for private sector jobs, 29% feel “hated” by Muslim citizens, and 70% have heard Muslims say that Christians will all go to Hellfire. 27% say they or their families have been cursed by Muslims (called “crusader” or “infidel”) in only the past year.

Only 16% are satisfied with how the PA educational system teaches about Christianity and 76% are dissatisfied. 77% are concerned about religious Salafist Muslims, and two thirds are concerned that Palestinian law incorporates Islamic law as a basis of legislation. A similar number are concerned over Islamist groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Some 36% of Christians consider emigrating, a much higher number than Muslims who want to emigrate. They say that economic reasons are the major driver, but Palestinian Muslims have identical economic issues, so there is more going on. The percentage of Christians has gone down from 11% in the beginning of the British Mandate to about 1% under Palestinian rule today.

77% have relatives who have emigrated already, and 12% have relatives who emigrated in only the past year.

Most tellingly, more than half of those who answered think that Christians will disappear altogether from Palestine within 20 years. People who feel fully integrated into Palestinian society would not feel that way.

Which means that their acceptance of being second class citizens – dhimmis - is so much a part of their mindset that they are unwilling to admit, even to themselves, how unhappy they are living with the Muslim majority.

A Zionist, philo-semitic poem from 1843: “Lines to a Fair Jewess”

I came across this poem in an American Jewish newspaper published in 1850, but I found that it was written by a sub-editor of the London Globe, Edward Raleigh Moran, in 1843.

Lines to a Fair Jewess

Yes, daughter of Judah, thy God is supreme
Even what thou art now is but part of His scheme.
The world may revile thee, I look on thy face,
And there thy great ancestry easily trace.
Thrones have perished, and nations have vanished away,
Whilst thou still art the same as in Abraham's day,
His cherished, his fated,—yes, both still thou art,
Like thy David, for ever one after his heart,

Aye, daughter of Judah, all else we see fade,
New faiths will decay as the old have decayed
But still I can trace, as I gaze on thee now,
Sarah's beauty and faith, each alive on thy brow.
We vainly endeavour to change thy belief,—
We torture, torment thee, through woe and through grief,
But still thou art true to the creed that was given
To Moses, thy teacher, directly from Heaven.

Even we who declares that our God has come down
Already, and borne the death-giving crown,
And who say that from thee and thy people He met
The martyr's sole glory, unknowingly, yet,
While we look full of hope to his throne in the sky,
Tempting and proscribing thee, we cannot deny.
Whatever He was we derive but from you,
For He whom we worship was child of a Jew.

I see thee quite scattered, and fallen the crown,
God-given, that formerly was all thine own,
Like the stones of the temple, alas! now downcast
No arch to declare the bright splendor long past:
Yet still when His thunders we hear in the sky,
We look out in expectance, but not with thine eye,
For thine eye as it longs for the opening day,
•Sees hope in each glimpse of Jehovah's bright ray.

Then, daughter of Judah, be't our's to implore
For thee and thy nation the God we adore
That thy strength may return, that thy hope may come back
As the day-beam succeeds to the stormiest rack—
That thou may'st in Israel thy home find once more.
Thy temptings, thy trials, thy miseries o'er:
And as eve's latest glimpse is so often its best.
Be brightest of all the calm eve of thy rest.

This is what Palestinians hijacking George Floyd look like

This small demonstration in Bethlehem has all the hallmarks of what Palestinians always do: try to hijack any trendy cause and make it about them.

While protesters worldwide are trying to understand the pain that black Americans feel, Palestinians are confidently declaring that they know all about oppression.

First of all, they try to equate the killing of George Floyd with the (admittedly horrible) killing of Eyad al-Halaq. That already waters down any sympathy they might have for George Floyd.

They chant “Black Lives Matter. Palestinian Lives Matter.”

Listen to the interviews. Every Palestinian says that they know about oppression more than black Americans do.

There is no empathy. Instead, there is a game of “we are more oppressed so we are qualified to talk about police brutality.”

06/09 Links Pt2: Health minister: Coronavirus spike 'alarming and dramatic'; Israeli Arab Singer Mira Awad Slams Rogers Waters for BDS Support

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: To put Israel's points, first learn about the Brits

Is the Israeli government reverting to its bad old ways by selecting the Likud politician Tzipi Hotovely as its ambassador to the United Kingdom?

On a number of occasions, Israel has seemed to treat the UK with contempt by appointing as its ambassador someone with poor English and even less diplomatic prowess.

In recent years, it seemed to have got the message with the appointments of the British-born, former foreign ministry lawyer Daniel Taub and the Australian-born diplomat Mark Regev. The British Jewish community sighed in relief at their diplomatic skills and perfect English.

The ambassador who preceded Taub, Ron Prosor, was in turn a diplomatic heavyweight who had previously run Israel’s foreign ministry and afterwards became its ambassador to the UN.

In addition to the acumen and polish of these three, the crucial point was that they effaced their own political opinions. The only viewpoint with which they were associated was that of the Israeli government.

Despite her intelligence and fluent English, Hotovely — who has yet to accept this post —would be laden with divisive political baggage.

A former deputy foreign minister, she was recently appointed settlements minister and will serve as such unless she goes to London.

A religious Zionist who opposes marriage between Jews and Arabs, she rejects the idea of a Palestinian state and dismisses criticism of the Israeli “settlements”, saying: “This land is ours. All of it is ours. We did not come here to apologise for that”.

Already, she has attracted criticism on account of her “ultra right-wing” views. Whether one agrees or disagrees with those views, however, is beside the point.

Ambassadors should be viewed in person as politically neutral. They are appointed to deliver their country’s story. They should not become the story themselves.

This isn’t the only reason to be concerned about Hotovely’s appointment. Her previous attempt to put Israel’s case to a hostile British public was a train-wreck.

April 27, 2020: One to listen out for on BBC World Service radio

BBC World Service radio is currently promoting what it describes as “an epic podcast drama about the momentous events leading up to the creation of Israel – seen through the eyes of two people, one a Jew, the other an Arab”.

The ten-part series – written by British playwright Steve Waters and titled ‘Miriam and Youssef’ – will be aired weekly commencing on April 29th, Israel’s Independence Day. A promo was released on April 22nd.

Podcast: BBC World Service - Miriam and Youssef

A 10-part drama about the founding of Israel. Miriam is a Jewish immigrant to Palestine, and Youssef is an Arab inhabitant driven into exile. At the heart of it all is the city of Jerusalem. (h/t Yerushalimey)

Health minister: Coronavirus spike 'alarming and dramatic'

The country will be doing more to enforce the Health Ministry’s primary coronavirus regulations as the number of people infected with COVID-19 surges throughout Israel.

At the urgent request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the National Security Council, Meir Ben-Shabbat, held a meeting to formulate immediate and practical steps for tightening enforcement against the spread of coronavirus. In attendance were top officials, including the health minister and chief of police, as well as the heads of local authorities.

A decision was made to activate the police, local authority inspectors and even population and immigration inspectors – each according to his strengths – to enforce regulations in four areas: wearing masks, congregating in groups that are too large or too close together, complying with the “Purple Ribbon” standard for businesses, and enforcing isolation of patients and people who have come in contact with them.

Local authorities are expected to complete a training program by Monday to prepare their inspectors for the task. The Justice Department is working on completing legislative procedures to empower the inspectors, and the Public Security Ministry has been tasked with taking responsibility for the project.

The meeting piggybacked on remarks made earlier in the day by Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, who said that the government did not yet have intention to “go backwards” and begin reinstating closures. Rather, he said, that strict enforcement of the regulations would be instated.
Edelstein compared violating regulations to breaking traffic laws.

“Anyone who walks around without a mask is like someone who drove at 160 kilometers per hour,” he said. “In 2019, 349 people were killed in traffic accidents.”

Some Arab incitement from 90 years ago

The Palestine Bulletin, the precursor to the Palestine Post/Jerusalem Post, used to have a column where they would translate Arab articles.

After the British White Paper of 1930, Jews demonstrated and rallied against the reduction of immigration that would be allowed. In this context, Arab newspapers responded with direct incitement against Jews. (They weren’t woke enough in those days to say “Zionists.”)

Felesteen, published on June 5, 1930:

Al Jamia, June 6, 1930:

Mohammed owned slaves. Why won’t anyone “cancel” Mohammed?

The cancel culture is very selective.

Jimmy Fallon thought imitating Chris Rock in blackface on national TV was OK, and people accepted his apology.

In 2011, Fred Armisen defended his use of blackface (or “honeyface”) to portray Barack Obama and Prince on Saturday Night Live, no one seems to mind and he’s still steadily working.

Megyn Kelly thought kids imitating Diana Ross in blackface on Halloween was OK, and her apology was followed by her being fired.

Was the issue blackface, or that people were looking for an excuse to fire a conservative TV figure anyway?

The New York Times published op-eds by Yasir Arafat, Moammar Gaddafi, leaders of Hamas and the Taliban. They never fact-checked the op-eds by Palestinians. Suddenly, when they publish an op-ed by a Republican US senator that was not nearly as offensive by any measure compared to the others, heads roll and they announce that they will start fact-checking op-eds.

Was the issue the content of the op-eds, or whether the causes were aligned with the politics of NYT staff and readers?

Roseanne Barr dressed up as Hitler in 2009 when she was still regarded as a liberal, and shook off the controversy. But she was literally cancelled after she posted an offensive tweet – after she publicly supported Donald Trump - and no one gave her the benefit of the doubt for her explanation. (I myself had no idea Valerie Jarrett was black.) If she would have still been viewed as a liberal, is there any doubt that her apology would have been accepted and she would have kept her job?

In all three cases there was a rush to judgment – people were fired within two days of the incident.

Now people are going after monuments to people who owned slaves when it was not considered out of the ordinary. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington are once again being attacked for their having had slaves. But would anyone even think for a second to “cancel” Mohammed, who bought, sold and even captured slaves – a much worse crime by any measure? And that’s hardly the worst thing he did by today’s standards.

The cancel culture has nothing to do with morality and everything to do with political intimidation. It is simply bullying. And the people who should be fighting against bullies – the media, the politicians – are too frightened to speak up because they could be the next victims.

06/09 Links Pt1: Dershowitz: Exploiting the Floyd protests to demonize Israel; Joshua Washington: The Palestinian appropriation of black pain

From Ian:

Alan Dershowitz: Exploiting the Floyd protests to demonize Israel

Historically, the Jews have always been caught between the black of Fascism and the red of Communism. This was true in the 1920’s and 1930’s in Europe, and there is a danger that it could now manifest itself during this time of extremism, when bigots on both sides are prepared to scapegoat the Jews and their nation state.

Those of us who are both Jewish and Liberal – who support Israel and oppose unjustified police violence – must be willing to participate and encourage legitimate protests against police violence, such as that caught on video in the Floyd case. We must stand up and be heard in condemnation of such violations – but we must stand up and be heard against those who would exploit tragedies to foment violence against Jews and the nation state of the Jewish people.

We should not generalize: the vast majority of protesters are focused on the injustices of police misconduct. But we cannot ignore those – even if they are relatively few in number – who would turn these protests into bigoted attacks against Israel. Bigotry unanswered grows in size and intensity.

Silence is not an option in the face of any injustice. Black lives matter greatly; so do Palestinian lives; so do Jewish and Israeli lives. We must not be afraid of being criticized for condemning bigotry on all sides. As the great sage Hillel put it 2000 years ago, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I?” He ended his statement with a call to action: “And if not now, when?”

Now is the time to protest the injustice against George Floyd and other African American men and women who have been unjustly targeted by overzealous – and often racist – police. But now is also the time to speak out against those who would hijack this tragic history to manifest the oldest continuing prejudice known to mankind, namely antisemitism.

Joshua Washington: The Palestinian appropriation of black pain

What adds insult to injury is that BLM does seek allyship from the Jewish community, so long as they are diametrically opposed to the Jewish state. Jewish people should not be expected to check their Zionism at the door in order to join arms with BLM. Jews should not be expected to do that, no more than a Kenyan should be expected to denounce Kenya, or a Brazilian be expected to denounce South America. Can black Americans even imagine joining a Filipino justice movement only to be asked to voice our denunciation of the civil rights movement in order to join? No. We would not. Imagine a justice movement for black South Africans that, despite having good people on the ground who may be unaware of the movement’s national positions, posited that slavery was voluntary, and that West Africans got on ships because they were excited to come to America and be worked to death. There is no scenario where a black American, upon finding this out, would be a part of such movement. It is mind boggling to fathom why anyone would expect anyone else to do the same.

I appreciate my Jewish brothers and sisters seeking to make inroads in the black community, as they have been making these attempts for decades, but regarding the issue of Black Lives Matter, whether the black members are aware or not, there needs to be a conversation about their national official position on Israel. Not only Israel, and not only BLM, but in any movement, it is simply a good principle to find out what the movement is about beyond the facade before committing to it. I personally have issues with many of the official M4BL stances. The vast majority of our values do not align, and so for me to join them would be for no other reason than they’re the loudest and everyone is doing it. Those are bad reasons, and the Jewish community should not fall into that trap. We have seen what happened to Jewish members of SNCC when SNCC decided to shift their stance on Israel and Jews. It would not be wise to join a movement with antisemitism already as its bedrock.

The image is just one recent examples of Palestinians continuing to equate our struggles. Another image easily found on the internet is a painting of recently murdered George Floyd in a keffiyeh with a Palestinian flag behind him, depicting him as a Palestinian martyr. This is wrong on many accounts, as our struggle could not be any more different.

One of the biggest differences is terrorism. The Palestinian Authority encourages and incentivizes Palestinians to kill Jews. Palestinians who successfully kill Jews are awarded with a monthly stipend from the PA. Palestinians who commit suicide while killing Jews have a monthly stipend sent to their families. Palestinian children are trained to kill Jews by any means, including suicide bombing, and they are taught this through terrorist traning camps and Hamas TV shows. Streets are named after Palestinians who commit suicide bombings if they kill enough Jews. As heightened as the black community has ever been, never have we as a people resorted to killing white people everywhere just because they are white. Never have we encouraged the death of our own children for our cause. Never have we ever produced television shows to teach our children how to kill white people. What the Palestinian Authority is engaged in is not a struggle against oppression; it is pure and simple Jew hatred, and Palestinian leaders will do anything they can to legitimize it including exploiting black pain to do so.

We as black Americans need to realize these attempts to deceive us. We need to stop allowing people who have no real interest in our well-being to tell us how to behave toward our Jewish cousins. Blacks and Jews have much more history that binds us than we could ever have with the likes of the PLO, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or Mahmoud Abbas. I will concede, however, that we do share a common struggle with the Palestinian people, and that is the struggle of many manipulative leaders who claim to be our saviors.

But that is a conversation for another time…

StandWithUs: Zionism & The Civil Rights Movement

What is the connection between Zionism and the civil rights movement? Join us as we chat with Joshua Washington, the director of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI), who will discuss his role in the Zionist space, unearthing how Zionism and black civil rights walked hand in hand. As a composition graduate of the University of Pacific’s Conservatory of Music, Washington will also talk about how his music and advocacy help to amplify Zionism in a unique and innovative way.

The intellectual antisemitism of @Mondoweiss

Mondoweiss published a long article called “On the Racial Basis of Zionism” that tries to find some sort of pseudo-intellectual underpinnings to associate Zionism with antisemitism.

One doesn’t have to look far beneath the surface to see that the attempt is antisemitic itself.

The key paragraph:

Zionist ideology is racist because it defines Judaism as a race and maintains a regime that discriminates against non-Jews. According to the definition of Judaism by Zionists (the definition of the Jewish race, if you will), Jews are the ones who profess Judaism, as are their descendants. This means we have a mixture of religious-faith principles (and note you can also convert to Judaism) and genetic principles (as defined by the Nazis); thus the descendants of the Jews are hereditary Jews, regardless of their faith or the observance of any Jewish commandments or customs.

No, Zionism does not define Judaism as a race. It defines Jews as being a nation, a nation that kept its national character through 2000 years of exile.

And this isn’t only a Jewish definition. It is how the rest of the world has looked at Jews throughout history, as this 1848 book illustrates.

Note that the Jewish nation doesn’t only have customs, but also laws – a characteristic normally associated with nationhood more than faith.

Like any other nation, one’s nationality is defined by the nationality of their parents or from becoming a member through a process of joining the nation. There is very little difference between being a member of the Jewish nation and being a citizen of France or Belgium in this sense. There is nothing racial about it – after all, there are lots of black Jews, as well as Jews from China, India, and of course Arab lands.

Most importantly, there is no real distinction between Zionism’s definition and the Jewish definition of who is a member of the Jewish nation – which means that this article is calling Judaism inherently racist.

By calling Judaism a “race,” Mondoweiss is adopting the Nazi definition of Jews, not the Jewish definition. Like all bigots, the the modern antisemites do not allow the hated group to define itself.

The rest of the article is at least as antisemitic as the section quoted. For example, it attempts to claim that Nazis and Zionists shared a vision, an absurd and recurring theme by the anti-Zionists:

The fulfillment of the Zionist vision is largely the victory of the antisemites, as evidenced by what SS commander, Reinhard Heydrich, wrote in a statement in 1935:

“National Socialism has no intention of attacking the Jewish people in any way. On the contrary, the recognition of Jewry as a racial community based on blood, and not as a religious one, leads the German government to guarantee the racial separateness of this community without any limitations. The government finds itself in complete agreement with the great spiritual movement within Jewry itself, the so-called Zionism, with its recognition of the solidarity of Jewry throughout the world and the rejection of all assimilationist ideas. On this basis, Germany undertakes measures that will surely play a significant role in the future in the handling of the Jewish problem around the world.”

The German desire to ethnically cleanse Jews from Germany before the Final Solution was devised is well known, but Mondoweiss wants to make it look like Zionists were colluding with Nazis and Nazis were sympathetic with Zionists. This Holocaust inversion is pure antisemitism on the part of Mondoweiss. Jews trying to survive is twisted into Jews as Nazi-lovers. It doesn’t get more sick than that.

What Mondoweiss doesn’t want you to realize is that Germany was in the midst of a propaganda campaign to ensure it would host the 1936 Olympics and was downplaying its antisemitism in public statements. Only modern antisemites like the writers at Mondoweiss could take seriously statements like “National Socialism has no intention of attacking the Jewish people in any way.” Only a Jew hater could actually believe those words today.

If you need proof that Nazi Germany was as anti-Zionist as the writers at Mondoweiss, look at Mein Kampf.

A section of the Jews avows itself quite openly as an alien people, but even here there is another falsehood. When the Zionists try to make the rest of the world believe that the new national consciousness of the Jews will be satisfied by the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine, the Jews thereby adopt another means to dupe the simple-minded Aryan. They have not the slightest intention of building up a Jewish State in Palestine so as to live in it. What they are really aiming at is to establish a central organization for their international swindling and cheating. As a sovereign State, this cannot be controlled by any of the other States. Therefore, it can serve as a refuge for swindlers who have been found out, and at the same time, a high school for the training of other swindlers.

Mein Kampf explicitly denounced Zionism, but the modern antisemites hate Israeli Jews so much that they want to make Nazis look moderate!

This article is all the proof you need to see that modern intellectual anti-Zionism is indistinguishable from antisemitism.

The moral failure of the American Jewish Committee

The American Jewish Committee has been around since 1906 and has done some fine work over the years (although it did a poor job during the Holocaust.) Nowadays it seems to have changed its name to simply AJC Global Jewish Advocacy. It fights antisemitism and is a Zionist organization.

On Monday, it failed in its primary mission.

AJC has been hosting a series of interviews with global figures, and on Monday it hosted a conversation with Dina Kawar, Jordan’s ambassador to the United States.

Before and during the interview, a number of people asked that AJC ask Kawar about the case of Ahlam Tamimi, the terrorist responsible for the murder of 15 at the Sbarro pizza shop in 2002 who is now living freely in Jordan, under the protection of the Jordanian government, which is defying a US demand for extradition.

Yet the AJC, dedicated to protecting Jews and Israel, failed in its mission. It had a golden opportunity to publicly pressure Jordan to do the right thing. And the timing was right, as Jordan is feeling the pressure from the US. Bringing it up would have created an avalanche of publicity, no matter what Kawar would have answered – and this is exactly the kind of pressure that is necessary for justice to be served.

By being polite to the representative of a regime that protects a murderer of Jews, the AJC has lost much of its clout and credibility.

I have no doubt that Kawar explicitly conditioned the interview on the AJC not asking sensitive questions like about Tamimi or about how Jordan still treats its Palestinian residents as second class citizens. The AJC should have either refused the interview under those conditions, or it should have broken the agreement because justice for the terror victims is a far more moral cause than telling the truth to a regime that protects murderers. The AJC, eager to appear influential and probably with an eye to ensuring more interviews with more international figures, betrayed its mission to protect Jews and to promote justice for antisemites.

So instead of doing something that could have had real results – and which would have brought the AJC a great deal of positive publiciy - we have a boring conversation that no one will watch.

The AJC squandered its chance to do good. And its reputation has been hurt because of its cowardice.

Palestinian Media Watch has been documenting a very disturbing trend of official Palestinian TV increasing the number of music videos it shows that directly call for attacking Jews in Israel.

Significantly, they are often referring to “restoring honor,” which justifies murder. They are showing videos and photos of stabbing attacks and of suicide bombers. And this is all in the past couple of weeks.

Here’s one:

O Arabs, Al-Aqsa has a request,
Light the fire of rage, this obligation is necessary...
The Zionists have become arrogant.
They attack and behave tyrannically
Call out Allahu Akbar and restore the glory of Khaibar
The Sons of Zion are in my land violating my honor today.
O people of Allah, respond! We will continue on the path of Allah…
The night of the occupation is growing long – prepare for the call!
We are the men of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, we cannot be humiliated.

This one also calls to restore honor, and shows videos of stabbing attacks.

When Jerusalem called to Gaza and Hebron
The Negev responded and the Triangle and the Galilee answered (i.e., all in Israel)
We are at your service, O Al-Aqsa, our blood is your torch
In our dictionary the word “impossible” doesn’t exist...
We ask Allah for refuge
Protect the dignity, protect it!
Defend the honor and the religion
With the help of men who are not traitors – they do not fear death...

This is direct incitement to murdering Jews in the name of “honor.”