Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Everyone wants to be an As-A-Jew

In one of the most famous Seinfeld episodes (the Yada-Yada,) Jerry is upset when he thinks that his dentist converted to Judaism just to be able to tell Jewish jokes.

I was reminded of that by this story:

A New York man who claimed he was the target of anti-Semitic graffiti was arrested on Monday on suspicion that he daubed the swastikas on his home himself.

Andrew King, who says he is Jewish, reported to police on February 10 that vandals had drawn two swastikas on the wall of his house in Schenectady, in upstate New York. He said that he was clearing snow from his driveway when he saw the symbols.

“Just a vein of fear went right through me,” King told the Daily Gazette at that time. “All that history attached to that Nazi symbol.”

However, after investigating the claim, police concluded that King himself painted the swastikas and the 54-year old was arrested on the charge of reporting a false crime.

The rabbi of the local synagogue, Congregation Gates of Heaven, told BuzzFeed News that he had known King for a decade, but that the man had never converted to Judaism.

There have also been people who falsely claim to be Jewish just to be able to give extra emotional power to their anti-Israel activities.

So while very few people actually want to be Jewish, a lot of people want to be "As-A-Jews." There are lots of benefits to pretending to be Jewish without the irritating parts of actually knowing anything about Judaism or feeling obligated to uphold any Jewish laws.

Maybe it is time to create a new religion, AsAJudaism. Joining is as easy as prefixing any self-serving statement with "As a Jew..."

Not only would it attract lots of non-Jews who want the perks of Judaism without the responsibilities, but it would also attract lots of born Jews who want the same thing.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

03/21 Links Pt2: At Falk Talk Students Urged to Read David Irving; Democrats Turn Against Israel

From Ian:

David Collier: A sickness at the heart of Academia, blindness at the LSE

20th March 2017. The London School of Economics (LSE) in Holborn. I am at a book launch for Richard Falk’s latest collection of essays titled ‘Palestine’s Horizon’. Falk has been invited to the LSE as part of a larger promotional tour of the UK. Last week he was in Scotland. Today sees two events, at the LSE and the P21 Gallery in Euston. On Wednesday he is at Middlesex University. Next week he leaves the UK and travels to Cork, Ireland, where he is the primary keynote speaker at Oren Ben Dor’s anti-Israel hate-fest.
Richard Falk at the LSE
Richard Falk carries a long history of ‘controversial’ comments, statements, positions and actions, regarding Israel. The Jewish Chronicle described him as ‘a conspiracy theorist’ who ‘has praised the work of notorious self-hating Jew Gilad Atzmon, as well as posting an antisemitic cartoon on his blog’. During the talk he bats away the accusations with excuses, historical distortions and empty words, but this merely reflects part of the central problem with Jews and UK academia. He did post an antisemitic cartoon, he has made some remarks about ‘9/11 truth’ and he blamed the Boston bombings on the US and Tel Aviv.
On top of all this, he endorsed Gilad Atzmon’s book ‘The Wandering Who’. Note none of those controversies has anything to do with Palestinian human rights. Only when it comes to offending Jews is this type of activity considered acceptable. Nobody with such a long list of offensive statements against any minority group other than Jews, would still be given a platform inside a UK university.
So when you invite Richard Falk to promote yet another anti-Israel piece he has authored, there should be no doubt most Jews will consider the invitation antagonistic. This isn’t a secret known only to Jews either. Publicly the UK government, has on three separate occasions, ‘condemned’ Richard Falk and his attitude / actions towards Israel and Jews.
Leading the panel was Mary Kaldor, a Professor of Global Governance at the LSE. Kaldor described Falk as a ‘very old friend’. Alongside Falk and Kaldor sat Chris Doyle, Director of CAABU (Council for Arab-British Understanding). Mary Kaldor’s introductory remarks, that set the tone for the entire event, were to suggest the recent UN rejection of Falk’s latest report was the “latest variant” of the argument over free speech and Israel.

Students urged to read works of Holocaust denier David Irving at LSE event

Complaints have been made to the London School of Economics following a talk by a disgraced former UN official during which one of his supporters told students to read the works of notorious Holocaust denier David Irving.
The alleged remarks came amid protests against the presence on campus of Richard Falk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Palestine from 2008 to 2014 who has been repeatedly condemned for inflammatory actions and statements by the UK. Today’s event was held to promote Falk’s new book ‘Palestine’s Horizon: Towards a Just Peace, in which he claims Jerusalem has been “ethnically cleansed”.
UN Watch had called for Theresa May to expel Falk from Britain after highlighting the fact that in 2012 the UK Foreign Office condemned Falk for providing the cover endorsement for Gilad Atzmon’s book “The Wandering Who” which accuses “the Jews” of being “the only people who managed to maintain and sustain a racially orientated, expansionist and genocidal national identity that is not at all different from Nazi ethnic ideology”. In April 2013, the UK Mission to the UN condemned Falk after he blamed the Boston terrorist attack on “the American global domination project” and “Tel Aviv”.
As Monday’s event descended into chaos with pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian shouting accusations and at least two of the former removed for disruptive behaviour, post-graduate Sapan Maini-Thompson claimed Atzmon audibly claimed Jews were being removed for misbehviour, as in Germany.

Jews anti-Semitically abused at London School of Economics event with Richard Falk

As Falk started his summing-up two of us held up signs in a silent protest. One sign said “Richard Falk: Shame on CAABU”, the other “Richard Falk: Condemned for Antisemitism”. There were several security guards in the room and one came and ripped up my sign even though it was a silent protest – I will be complaining. I then held up a sign saying “Richard Falk: Shame on LSE”. The meeting became rowdier and Mary Kaldor the Chair asked for the two of us to leave (apparently we were holding the signs too high…)
The Q+A was vile. One student got up and walked out upset. A man near the back of the room kept interrupting speakers, saying how awful Zionists were. Students at the back challenged him and then the man physically threatened them. Security surrounded him but didn’t remove him.
As I left the room, I held up my Israel flag. Our departure caused chaos with people complaining that silent protesters were being removed. Gilad Atzmon said “’Raus” as I left the room (it is on film though I didn’t hear it). He was admonished by the pro-Palestinians. Atzmon then turned around to the Jewish students at the back and said “being chucked out for causing trouble, just like you lot were in Germany”. The pro-Israel people then went ballistic at him and asked him to repeat it – which he happily did. Security was called to remove him – even the pro-Palestinians told him he had crossed a red line. Then (I was told – I was outside) the event descended into chaos as Security refused to remove Atzmon. It ended earlier than the 90 minutes planned.
Appalling. This was an official LSE event – not a student society one. Silent protesters are expelled but a vile anti-Semite is allowed to stay. Shame on LSE – and I speak as an Alumnus.

Final part of Trump symposium video

Here is the last section of the symposium I organized last week in Jerusalem, with Adam Levick discussing the "alt-right". (Melanie Phillips has an interesting rejoinder.)

I may try to do the same in New York. I just need a venue, speakers and a sponsor :)

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

This is not about Linda Sarsour.

This is about Jews who are afraid to identify themselves as Zionists. This is about people worldwide who hear the word “Zionist” and think about tanks vs “freedom fighters,” “occupiers” vs “oppressed” people.

This is about women who are put off by the title “feminist.” This is about women who happily identify themselves as feminists but do not think about women who live in less privileged countries.

This is about lies.

The problem with lies is not the lie itself or even the liar. It is only when listeners begin acting as if the lie is legitimate, as if it is the truth, that reality begins to warp.

Linda Sarsour is not the problem. She can announce that it is impossible to be a Zionist and a feminist until she is blue in the face. She can say whatever she wants, that’s her right (because she is lucky enough to live in America). Frankly, I don’t care what she says.

The problem is with all the people who listened and nodded. The people who pondered her words as if they were worthy of consideration and discussion.

The problem is with everyone who did not openly laugh in her face.

Anyone can say ridiculous things. I can tell you that whales swim in the clouds. That doesn’t make it true. It certainly doesn’t mean this is a topic that should be discussed and pondered. We know what whales are. We know what the sky is. End of story.

A few days ago, there was a piece on Israel’s Channel 10 discussing Sarsour’s statement that Zionism and feminism are incompatible. What I heard shook me to the core.

Two women were interviewed, both gender studies professors, one Jewish, the other an Israeli-Arab, both self-proclaimed feminists.

The Arab woman agreed completely with Sarsour. No surprise there. What horrified me was the Jewish woman’s response. She could not bring herself to utter the words “I am a Zionist.” She started apologizing, saying that today Zionism means apartheid and oppression and she certainly has nothing to do with that. Then she said, quietly: “But of course I do believe that Jews have the right to live free in our homeland, Israel.”

To this, the commentator replied: “That means you are a Zionist.”

No one has the power to determine your identity – unless you give them that power. The definition of Zionism is very clear: the belief that the Jewish people have the right of self-determination in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The re-establishment of the State of Israel is proof and an example to the world that: “If you can dream it, you can make it real.” Zionism is the Jewish example to the world that anything is possible, that with hard work and faith, against all odds, you can realize even the wildest dream.

That is my identity. No amount of lies, BDS, apartheid weeks or Linda Sarsours can change that. Unless I let them, unless I begin to behave as if their lies are reality.

The definition of feminism is also very clear: the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It doesn’t say anything about one gender being better than the other or about men and women being identical. It’s about having equal value. Being a feminist does not mean hating men any more than being a Zionist means abusing Gazans or the Arabs of Judea and Samaria.

Putting on a hat in the shape of female genitalia does not make that person a feminist. It’s not about demanding free birth control or even abortions. It’s certainly not about belittling men or pushing men aside.

Feminism is about freedom. It is about the value of the individual woman and the freedom to achieve whatever she dreams about and is willing to work hard enough to achieve.

Just like Zionism.

Saying a feminist cannot be a Zionist is one of the most ridiculous statements a person can make. What liberation movement has more to do with the freedom and self-actualization of women than Zionism? What country provides more opportunity for women to achieve whatever they want than Israel?

While Hillary Clinton was discussing glass ceilings for women in America and touting her gender as a justification for voting for her, Israelis were saying, been there, done that. Long ago. 47 years ago. Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969.

MK Karin Elharar (Yesh Atid)

In Israel, women can be anything they want. They can be secretaries and CEO’s of billion dollar companies. They can be models and Nobel Prize laureates. Women can be combat pilots, government officials, judges and athletes. Women can drive a bus or work as a construction worker. They can be black or white, short, tall, thin, fat, pretty or not so pretty, of any ethnicity and with widely varying physical capabilities (do you have any government ministers that are confined to a wheelchair?). Not one of these labels matters. It’s their capabilities and drive to succeed that count.

I have never heard an Israeli woman say, apologetically, “I am just a mom.” In Israel mothers are cherished and deeply appreciated. Lots of jobs are important but what job is more important than being someone’s mother?

Israel is an egalitarian State. Men and women worked side by side to re-establish the State. They fought for liberation together. There are male Zionist heroes and female heroes of Zion. My mother was named after a Zionist underground resistance organization, formed and led by a woman.

Zionist men and women came to Israel, plowed fields and built homes together. They fought off enemies, side by side. Together they build a country, together they birthed the Start-Up Nation.

Zionism and feminism go hand in hand. Saying otherwise is utterly ridiculous.

I don’t care what Linda Sarsour says. This isn’t about her. This is about everyone who listens to her lies and doesn’t laugh in her face. This is about people who let her lies define our reality.

I know who I am. I know what a Zionist is. I know what a feminist is too. If you don’t, open a dictionary.

Better yet – come to Israel and see for yourself.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

03/21 Links Pt1: Turkish NGO Head Funded Hamas; Iranian Plot Against French-Israel business group; The real face of Jordan

From Ian:

PMW: Abbas: Reason for all world’s disasters is “occupation”

In a recent speech, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stated that the Israeli “occupation” is the reason for all disasters in the world:
“The international community is becoming more and more convinced that the occupation of the Palestinian state by Israel is the reason for all the disasters that the region and the world are suffering from...” [Official PA TV, March 12, 2017]
Abbas’ statement echoes the antisemitic teachings of a religious scholar on official PA TV, Imad Hamato, who Abbas has also endorsed by
appointing him dean of a system of schools. Palestinian Media Watch reported on a lesson in Islam where Hamato taught that the Jews are the reason for all of humanity’s problems:
"Humanity will never live in comfort as long as the Jews are causing devastating corruption throughout the land. Humanity will never live in peace or fortune or tranquility as long as they are corrupting the land. An old man told me: If a fish in the sea fights with another fish, I am sure the Jews are behind it." [Official PA TV, Feb. 27, 2015 and Feb. 25, 2016]
In another interview, Abbas recently clarified what he means by Israeli "occupation" - saying it has lasted “70 years” - i.e., since Israel was established in 1948.
“I told him [US President Donald Trump] that we hope that he will find a solution to the Palestinian issue after 70 years of occupation that will be based on two states, a Palestinian state that will live in security and peace alongside the State of Israel." [Al-Watan, (Qatar), March 16, 2017]
Again Abbas is showing that he does not recognize Israel in any borders. The entire State of Israel is an "occupation."

Israel arrests head of Turkish humanitarian group in Gaza for financing Hamas

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Tuesday announced the arrest of the head of a Turkish humanitarian group in Gaza for giving terror financing to Hamas' military wing in an announcement which could have broader impact on Israel-Turkey relations.
The security agency and police arrested Gaza resident Muhammad Murtaja, 39, in February while he was attempting to depart from Israel on a trip related to his position as the Gaza coordinator of the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA).
Investigations revealed that Murtaja was recruited by Hamas in late 2008, and that his activity with the Palestinian terror group including funneling funds earmarked for humanitarian projects to Hamas.
According to the Shin Bet, he was also involved in Hamas militant training and exercises, manufacturing weapons and explosive devices and digging terror tunnels. Murtaja was said to have stored weapons, such as hand grenades and guns, in his home on behalf of Hamas.

Iran accused of planning attack on head of French-Israel business group

Iran's Quds Force plotted with the aid of a paid Pakistani man to surveil --and possibly assassinate--the head of the French-Israeli chamber of commerce, according to revelations from a Monday court proceeding in Berlin and German media reports.The daily Berliner Zeitung reported that the 31-year-old Pakistani Syed Mustafa spied on the French-Israel business professor David Rouach who teaches at the elite Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP) and served as head of the French-Israeli chamber of commerce.
Quds Force, a US-classified terrorist entity, is part of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and paid Mustafa at least 2,052 euros between July 2015 and July 2016. Rouach is expected to testify on Tuesday. The federal prosecutor Michael Greven said at an earlier proceeding that a collection of surveillance activities took place to prepare for possible attacks. Mustafa amassed information on Rouach from July until August 2015. German investigators seized more than 300 photographs and 20 videos from Mustafa. The video and photographic material showed the ESCP campus and various travel distances in connection with the college.
According to German prosecutors, Mustafa's assignment was to identify Israeli and Jewish institutions, as well as pro-Israel advocates, for possible attacks. Mustafa conducted espionage in Gemany, France and other unnamed western European countries. He monitored a German-Jewish newspaper's headquarters in Berlin, and Reinhold Robbe, the former head of the German-Israel Friendship Society. Robbe told the court "I consider the regime there [in Iran] to be one of the worst dictators on the planet."
Mustafa delivered his dossiers to the IRGC. The criminal complaint said Mustafa had contact with a Quds Force agent named Mehmud since 2011. The Quds Force has a history of employing Pakistanis for their operations outside of Iran, said Greven. The trial started in early March and is slated to run until the end of the month.

In the news Monday was the decision of Jordan's highest court to uphold the ruling to deny the extradition of an admitted murderer to the US. Ahlam Tamimi orchestrated the suicide bomb attack in Jerusalem that killed 15 people, including two Americans in 2001. The fact that an extradition treaty existed between the US and Jordan since 1995 was judged to be of no consequence, because apparently it was never ratified by the Jordanian parliament, though signed by King Hussein.

But this is not the first time that Jordan has refused to extradite terrorists to face justice.

France: Jordan Finds Another Technicality

Just last year, Jordan turned down a French request that it extradite 2 terrorist suspects in the 1982 murder of six people in a Jewish restaurant in Paris. Two terrorists entered the Chez Jo Goldenberg restaurant in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Paris and murdered 6 people, while wounding 22 others.
The Jordanian government rejected extradition in that case because of a technicality. It turned out that one of the murderers, 62-year-old Zuhair Mohamad al-Abassi, a Palestinian, was arrested while he was in Jordan in 2015, before the extradition treaty between Jordan and France became valid. The other suspect, 54-year-old Nizar Tawfiq Hamada, never went to trial because the statute of limitation expired.

An anonymous source told AFP a different reason why Jordan would not extradite the suspected terrorist:

Jordan does not usually extradite its citizens to other countries, even in the case of an extradition agreement. In such a case, they are generally tried in specialized Jordanian courts.

Apparently, the matter is a little different when the shoe is on the other foot.

United Kingdom: It's Different When Jordan Demands Extradition

Back in 1999, a Jordanian military court sentenced a radical Muslim preacher to death in absentia. Abu Qatada was suspected of being a key al-Qaida operative tried for conspiracy to carry out terror attacks, including a plot on the country’s American school in Amman. The sentence was immediately commuted to life in jail with hard labor. The following year, he was sentenced, also in absentia, to 15 years for plotting terrorist attacks on Israeli and American tourists and Western diplomats during Jordan's millennium celebrations.

But that was only the beginning.

Abu Qatada. Credit: Wikipedia

Abu Qatada, accused of being bin Laden's right hand man in Europe, was in London. In 1993 he entered England on a forged passport and in 1994 he was granted asylum. In 2001, Jordan requested that Great Britain extradite Abu Qatada. But then it was the British and European courts that refused the request -- based on human rights concerns over Jordan's use of torture. In the meantime, Abu Qatada had been arrested more than once.

Finally, in 2013, Great Britain and Jordan signed an extradition treaty and Abu Qatada was sent to Jordan, with a guarantee that he would not be tortured. Apparently the fact that he had been arrested prior to the signing of the treaty was not an issue to Jordan, unlike in the extradition treaty it had with France.

As a postscript, upon his return to Jordan Abu Qatada was retried -- and cleared of all charges. Evidence used in the trials when he was tried in absentia while he was in Great Britain was ruled inadmissible in accordance with the agreement with Great Britain, because of the possibility it was obtained under torture. Abu Qatada is now free.

At the time of the deportation, Jordanian Information Minister Mohammed Momani said the kingdom “is keen on credibility and transparency” in handling Abu Qatada, and that the deportation of the Palestinian-born Jordanian cleric “sends a message to all fugitives that they will face justice in Jordan.”

No doubt.

If it's any consolation to France, Jordan is no better at extraditing terrorists when the request comes from other Arab countries.

Iraq: Jordan Does Not Play Favorites

Iraq has been requesting the extradition of Raghad Hussein, the daughter of Saddam Hussein. Known as "little Saddam," she has been a vocal supporter of Isis, accused of funding Iraqi militants and in 2010 Interpol posted an arrest warrant for her in connection with her alleged direct involvement in Iraqi terrorism.

Raghad Hussein. Credit: Al Arabiya

Iraq's repeated requests that Raghad Hussein be returned to Iraq have been turned down.

Nor is Jordan's refusal to deport Tamimi the first time that it has denied a US request.

United States: Jordan Pardons An Honor Killer

Mohammad Abequa murdered his wife in New Jersey in 1994 and fled to Jordan -- along with their two young children. Once in Jordan, he was sentenced to 15 years by a court, but then pardoned after only 5 years in prison and set free. At the time, the US had no extradition treaty with Jordan. Even after personal pleas to King Hussein by President Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno and New Jersey's US representatives and senators, Jordan refused to return Abequa for trial.

At the trial, he faced the possibility of death by hanging, but was sentenced to 15 years instead because of his testimony that the murder was an honor killing. Abequa, whose brother was a general in the Jordanian army, claimed he killed his wife to protect his honor, which under Jordanian law is a reason for a reduced sentence. He told the courtroom he lost his temper when his wife told him the man he saw leaving her house was her boyfriend and she showed him a new tattoo on her thigh that he had given her. Jordanian law allows leniency in the case of 'honor killing' cases when the man kills his wife or sister because he suspects her of adultery or premarital sex.

It was this case that motivated the US to sign an extradition treaty with Jordan.

Jordan Will Deport Terrorists - When It's In Their Own Interests

Actually, Jordan does not always refuse to deport known terrorists out of the country -- even nationals. In 1999, Jordan exiled 4 senior members of Hamas. Khaled Mashal, now a leader of Hamas, as well as Ibrahim Ghosheh, Izzat Rushuq and Sami Khater, were released from prison and flown to Qatar. All of them had Jordanian nationality. They were accused of inciting hardline Islamist sentiment in Jordan, and the government claimed the four left willingly as part of a deal with Qatar.

Mashal (left) and Ghohshe flanking another exiled Hamas activist Mousa Abu Marzouq. Credit: BBC

Also, there is also an unverified report that security agencies in Jordan at one point planned to deport 7 Libyans back to Libya. They were married to Jordanian citizens, who were legal residents of Jordan.

It's easy to forget that Jordan, for all of its supposed modernity, is really not that much different from the surrounding Arab countries. Its views on justice are not much more advanced than its views on honor killing. Even an extradition treaty is no guarantee that justice will be done, when it comes to Jordanian nationals. Supposedly in such cases, nationals can be judged in specialized Jordanian courts. However, based on Jordan's past record -- that is no comfort to the relatives of the victims of Islamist terrorism.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

The other Green Line

When the "Green Line" between Israel and Transjordan was demarcated in 1949, there was more than one line.

Besides the major one that separated the armed forces of both sides, there was another one that completely surrounded Mount Scopus.

Mount Scopus, which housed Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital, remained nominally under Israeli control, but in fact the Jordanians were not keen on letting that area have any Jews. Even thought the armistice agreement specifically allowed Israel to have free access to Mount Scopus to run the university and hospital, Jordan reneged. After much negotiations, an Israeli police presence was maintained on Mount Scopus and every 2-4 weeks a convoy of fresh supplies (or police) would come, protected by the UN, while the university and hospital were abandoned.

That was the status quo of Mount Scopus for 19 years.

Which means that, today, the areas between Mount Scopus and the main Green Line are considered "occupied territory."

So if you visit the edge of the Mount Scopus Green Line today, you can see this:

The foreground is considered Israeli territory by the world. Across the street, though, are "illegal settlement structures."

As I have mentioned, the hotel I was staying at last week was in one of those "illegal settlements" a short distance from where this photo was taken, in French Hill.

French Hill was specifically created to help provide a connection between Mount Scopus and the rest of Jerusalem.

In no sane scenario could Israel ever give French Hill away in any "peace plan." The entire idea of a disconnected Mount Scopus is a travesty and anyone who says that Israel's building the neighborhood in French Hill hurts peace is using the word in a perverted way. No Arabs lived there; it was the location of a Jordanian army site.

When the EU or the UN says that French Hill is a "settlement" and any building that happens there violates international law, the facts on the ground show that they don't care about "justice" or "law." There was no justice when Jordan violated the armistice agreement that should have allowed Israelis free access to Mount Scopus (as well as the Mount of Olives cemetery.)

And no one did a thing.

Keep that in mind when people self-righteously invoke "international law" against Israel. Because these people never invoked it for Israel.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

Israelis are happy - and they want to leave?

Arab media have been celebrating the results of a survey released yesterday that showed that 27% of the Jewish population in Israel would leave the country if given the opportunity.

Among secular Jews the percentage who would leave is 36% while among the religious it is 7%.

I don't have the actual survey questions so I can't comment on how it might have been understood by the respondents. The survey was commissioned by Masa Israel, which is trying to strengthen the connections between Jews and Israel.

But while the Arab media has been emphasizing that poll, for the most part they have been ignoring another press release from yesterday, showing that Israel ranks 11th worldwide in the "happiness index."

Israel ranks higher in happiness than nearly every country that Israelis are known to like to emigrate to, like the US, UK, France and Germany. (Canada and Australia are the major exceptions.)

So putting the two surveys together, it sounds like many Israelis would want to leave - if they could find somewhere that is significantly better.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Arabs are leaving by the tens of thousands every year.

And if you compare the happiness of Israelis against her neighbors, well, there is no contest.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

The Omar Barghouti Poster

From The Tower:

The leader of the campaign to boycott Israel was arrested by Israeli authorities on Monday for allegedly failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income, Globes reported.
Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, is suspected of evading taxes on some $700,000 that he earned between 2007 to 2017 while serving as the director of the Ramallah-based National Computing Resources, which markets and rents ATMs and other technology within the Palestinian Authority.
Barghouti, who resides in the Israeli city of Acre, deposited the money in a Ramallah bank account to hide it from tax authorities, according to the charges. He is also believed to have deposited income from a global speaking tour and book royalties in a bank account in the United States, which was similarly hidden from authorities.
Police say that credit cards and transaction records found at his house support their suspicions.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

03/20 Links Pt2: Pro-Israel media also exists; Hamas opposes changes to UNRWA curriculum

From Ian:

Pro-Israel media also exists

There is no doubt that the pro-Israel news videos by Canadian journalist Faith Goldy for The Rebel media website are a breath of fresh air in the continuous heat wave of the anti-Israel global media.
The most recent video, which includes additional insight on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict gathered from Goldy's recent trip to Israel, quickly reached about a million viewers and even roused the curiosity of Channel 2, which dedicated an item to the video, even if it seemed a bit forced, during Friday night's broadcast. The viral video, which was filmed in the Golan Heights with Syria in the background, seeks, like Goldy's other reports, to challenge the average viewer -- who has been fed on a diet of fake news about Israel -- by busting common myths.
Take, for example, the myth that a "high wall divides between Palestinians and Israelis," which has recently generated buzz anew thanks to graffiti artist Banksy's Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, which promises "the worst view in the world." Goldy addresses the barrier, saying, "It's not a wall! It's a giant fence! Only about 5% of it is a wall!" She goes on: "We found that Palestinians can actually freely come into Israel so long as they're not carrying any pipe bombs or explosive vests. They have to go through the sort of security that's akin to essentially going through an airport." She then explains to her viewers that it is the Israelis who are not allowed to cross over to the other side of the fence.
And for those who think that the difficulty in crossing over is only a problem for Israelis, Goldy clarifies that she, as a Christian, sought to visit Bethlehem, but cannot safely do so because the city is full of mosques and posters praising and sanctifying terrorists and acts of terrorism. The Western world already knows this story. And then she brings up another fact that you wouldn't hear from the media that is hostile to Israel -- the Israeli military hospital on the Israeli side of the fence treats Syrian women aged 8 to 80 who have been brutally raped by Islamic State operatives.

Barry Shaw: BDS violence in Amsterdam: I was there

When I visited Holland to speak to Jewish and Christian audiences and to have private meetings with pro-Israel leaders I was told how Dutch Jews were increasingly fearful about speaking out or showing their support for Israel. Their main fears derived from the threatening atmosphere being stoked up by anti-Israel protesters and BDS activists.
I was introduced to Rabbi Benjamin Jacobs, the head of the Dutch Jewish community, who has been the victim of five attacks as Jews have been targeted in proportion to the rise of BDS and other anti-Israel activism in Holland.
So it was surprising to find my talk to the Jewish audience in the Liberal Jewish Center in Amsterdam attended by what I was told were three of the leading members of the Dutch BDS. Here they were sitting in the Anne Frank Hall in the presence of the people who told me they are fearful of them.
I purposefully engaged one of them in a public dialogue. One openly admitted that the BDS cause was to achieve a One-State solution and not the achievement of a two-state peace deal. In other words, he was loyal to Omar Barghouti, the BDS founder, who has always advocated the end of the Jewish state of Israel. This character wearing his brown shirt emblazoned with ‘BOYCOTT ISRAEL’ stickers on a background of a Palestinian flag certainly subscribes to a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea.”
In the end I wiped the floor with him in an exchange in which I deconstructed all the emotional tropes he could hurl at Israel. I showed him, but more importantly the audience, how the insults he threw at Israel applies in spades to the Arab regimes that surround Israel and to the Palestinian themselves .

Hamas opposes changes to UNRWA curriculum

Gaza Deputy Education Minister Dr. Ziad Tabeth and a Hamas official have stated they completely oppose the proposed changes to the UNRWA textbooks, and claim UNRWA must use the textbooks provided by the "host country," the Palestinian Authority.
According to Tabeth, the PA education officials printed new textbooks for all Arab schools.
Palestin reported that UNRWA main headquarters sent a booklet to UNRWA in Gaza explaining the changes to the textbooks used in UNRWA schools.
During the first stage, the changes focus on the subjects of Islam, math, civics, and the study of Arabic in grades 1-4. The second stage of the plan focuses on the middle school curriculim.
According to Arab reports, UNRWA is trying to change chapters which deal with "violence," meaning those which address the Arab-Israeli conflict. The changes also affect chapters dealing with gender, and coed situations, and leave out any mention of the politics which make up the basis for "Palestinian" propaganda.
On Saturday, the Palestinian Authority protested the changes to the curriculum, calling the idea of change "very dangerous."

"Trump: Good for the Jews? symposium part 4: Gidon Shaviv

Here is part 4 of the video of last week's symposium in Jerusalem on Donald Trump that I organized.

Gidon Shaviv, an expert on "fake news" and Pallywood, disputes the premise of the question altogether.

Parts 1, 2, 3

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Arabs still suffer from Israel Derangement Syndrome (Petra Marquardt-Bigman)

By Petra Marquardt-Bigman

Maybe I’m wrong, but when I read Rami Khouri’s recent article on an Arab Center poll that, according to him, “shows Arab realities, as opposed to US mythologies,” I couldn’t help sensing that Khouri was quite pleased with one particular result of the poll. As he put it in his column:

“It was fascinating to see that while the U.S government and Israel are seeking a mythological alliance of Arabs and Israel against Iran, the survey found that the overwhelming majority of Arabs (86 percent) reject official recognition of Israel by their governments. This reflected widespread perceptions of Israel’s colonialist policies towards the Palestinians and its expansionist threat to other Arab countries. Dr. Mohammad Almasri, Coordinator of the Arab Opinion Index, explained this Arab animosity towards Israel as reflecting political actions, rather than being framed in cultural or religious terms.”

Right: “Arab animosity towards Israel” is of course due to Israel’s evil “political actions,” and Arab Jew-hatred has nothing whatsoever to do with it. And Professor Rami Khouri – a “Palestinian-Jordanian and U.S. citizen” who is “director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut,” and who also held various academic positions in the US and is a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center – seems quite happy that his fellow Arabs oppose any official recognition of Israel because of its “colonialist policies towards the Palestinians and its expansionist threat to other Arab countries.”

So to look at just one telling example: like all people oppressed by “colonialist policies,” the Palestinians have more diplomatic missions around the world than their cruel colonial master Israel… It’s obvious: Worst. Colonialism. Ever. And then there is of course Israel’s dreadful “expansionist threat to other Arab countries” – I don’t have to give you details on that, I’m sure you heard in yesterday’s news that Israel has just conquered another Arab country; I mean, nobody can even keep count, so we can’t be quite sure for how many Arab countries Israel’s “expansionist threat” has already spelled doom. It’s really a miracle that there’s still an Arab Center that can conduct polls in Arab countries that have somehow managed to escape Israel’s “expansionist threat” – so far, at least… No doubt by the time you read that, yet another Arab country will have fallen victim to Israel’s “expansionist threat.” SAD.

But in the real world, there is something much sadder, as I outlined in a recent post on “The depth of Arab misery” – which has nothing whatsoever to do with Israel. Instead, according to the latest UN Arab Human Development Report, the dire situation and the grim prospects for the future of Arab countries are due to the misrule of autocratic governments and to factors like “high levels of social and religious intolerance” and the related disempowerment of women. The severe form of Israel Derangement Syndrome from which the vast majority of Arabs suffer is simply a symptom of a broader refusal to move into the 21st century.

But according to Khouri, “the U.S. and other Western lands … still largely deal with an imagined, rather than the actual, Arab world” – yet arguably, the problem here seems to be that “the U.S. and other Western lands” underestimate how much Arabs believe in the imaginary evil of Israel or, for that matter, the US: as the poll shows, 89% of Arabs believe Israel poses “a threat to the stability of the Arab region” and 82% also see the US as posing such a threat. Iran, which has been busy stoking murderous sectarian violence in the region for years, was seen as a threat by 73% -- which does show that despite the intense Arab hatred for Israel and the US, a bit of reality sometimes manages to assert itself.

On the other hand, it is a telling coincidence that, while 89% of Arabs believe that Israel poses “a threat to the stability of the Arab region,” 89% also have a “negative” view of the brutal terror organization Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL). Consider these findings in light of the various available (usually partial) lists of ISIS atrocities (e.g. here); a good perspective can also be gained by reading e.g. this UN report from 2014 on the toll of the just beginning fight against ISIS in Iraq:

“Overall, at least 24,015 civilians have been killed or injured in Iraq during the first eight months of 2014. […] The actual numbers could be much higher. Additionally, the number of civilians who have died from the secondary effects of violence, such as lack of access to basic food, water or medicine, after fleeing their homes or who remained trapped in areas under ISIL control or in areas of conflict are unknown. […] As of August 2014, an estimated 1.8 million Iraqis had been displaced due to the ongoing violence.”

That is the toll for just part of 2014, and just in Iraq, where most of the victims are Arabs – yet, Arabs think Israel is about as bad as ISIS. Moreover, as Khouri himself admits: “it is also worrying that 5 percent, or 20 million Arabs, had positive views of it [ISIS].”

I agree with him on this one: it is really worrying that about 20 million Arabs approve of a savage terrorist group like ISIS.

And, to put this into perspective: if some 20 million Arabs have “positive views” of ISIS, there are about three times more Arab ISIS fans than there are Jews in Israel.

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03/20 Links Pt1: Toameh: Abbas's Empty Promises; More than Just Another Anti-Israel U.N. Farce

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas's Empty Promises

Abbas's pledge to prevent inflammatory rhetoric against Israel seems to have missed his editors and journalists.
Take, for example, the Palestinian Authority-controlled media's response to last week's Jerusalem marathon. In the PA media, the sports event is depicted as part of Israel's scheme to "Judaize" Jerusalem and change the "Arab and Islamic character" of the city.
In addition, Abbas's media continues to portray visits by Jews to the Temple Mount as "provocative invasions" of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Jewish visitors are described as "settler gangs" who carry out "suspicious tours" of Islamic religious sites. It is precisely this kind of terminology that is driving many Palestinians to carry out stabbings and car-rammings against Israelis.
Abbas can make all the promises in the world to the new US envoy. Fulfillment of any of them, however, is a different story altogether.
Abbas has had multiple opportunities to reach a "historic" deal with Israel, yet he has never delivered. Quite the contrary: he has repeatedly rejected offers for holding direct talks with Israel, insisting instead on pursuing his campaign to internationalize the conflict with the hope of imposing a solution on Israel.
Abbas knows anyhow that he would never be able to win the support of a majority of Palestinians for any peace agreement he signs with Israel. No Palestinian leader is authorized to offer any concessions to Israel in return for peace.
The "cordial" and "positive" meeting with the new US envoy will change nothing -- certainly not Abbas's stripes.
Abbas's modus operandi is to flee from his problems at home by presenting himself to the international community as a leader who seeks peace. With every lick of the flames that threaten to engulf his palace of deception, the 82-year-old Abbas runs to seek sympathy among world leaders and international public opinion. Abbas's promises of peace are as empty as the political sway he parades to his Western donors.

Hillel C. Neuer: Why Theresa May must expel former UN official Richard Falk for ‘anti-Semitism’

Human rights organisation UN Watch, which is accredited by the United Nations to monitor the world body’s adherence to the principles of its Charter, has sent the following letter to Prime Minister Theresa May, urging her to consider expelling disgraced ex-UN official Richard Falk, who is set to speak this week at events in London.

March 19, 2017
Dear Prime Minister May
In a recent speech, you said, “I made sure we kept extremism—including the sort that peddles anti-Semitic vitriol—out of our country,” and you cited your barring of antisemites like Dieudonné, and your expulsion of terror supporters like Abu Hamza and Abu Qatada.
In that regard, we wish to inform you that Mr. Richard Falk—a disgraced ex-UN official who was officially denounced by the United Kingdom on at least three separate occasions for antisemitism, and whose glorification of the Hamas terrorist group was so severe that the Palestinian Authority sought to expel him from the UN—is currently in your country, and is planning to speak this week at various events in London.
We urge your government to examine the following facts and legal precedents, and to consider whether to expel this exponent of antisemitism and glorifier of Jihadist terrorism from the UK.

More than Just Another Anti-Israel U.N. Farce

A new United Nations report libels Israel, promotes hatred, and makes peace even less likely.
The report comes at a particularly inopportune time for those hoping President Trump’s surprising interest in reviving peace talks might bear fruit. The Palestinians rejected President Obama’s efforts to tilt the diplomatic playing field in their direction. They torpedoed the negotiations sponsored by Secretary of State John Kerry, embracing efforts to get the U.N. to grant them statehood without first requiring them to make peace with Israel. Their unwillingness to make compromises will only be strengthened by a report that encourages them to regard Israel as having no rights whatsoever. They are likely to make Falk’s and Tilley’s findings the basis for renewed efforts to sue Israel in the International Criminal Court, as well as for renewed provocations in other U.N. bodies such as the Human Rights Council or even UNESCO, which in the past year has taken up measures that denied the historical Jewish ties to Jerusalem and some of Judaism’s holiest sites.
Just as unfortunate is the way the report will be used to buttress the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement against Israel, which is one of the primary engines of anti-Semitic incitement both in Europe and the United States. While BDS claims to be merely a protest against Israel, wherever its banner is raised, anti-Jewish hate speech and actions soon follow. Those who subscribe to the notion that the Jewish state has no rights that need be respected are not merely promoting bias on the international stage, but also are part of an effort that leads inexorably to anti-Semitic hate speech.
Liberal groups have labeled President Trump as the main source of encouragement for the uptick in anti-Jewish incidents in the United States. This is due in part to his inflammatory statements during the election campaign, the support he received from anti-Semites in the small but loud alt-right and far-right elements of his base, and his refusal to quickly disavow such hate once he became president. Partisans have overstated this argument while failing to take into account Trump’s close Jewish ties, his support for Israel, and the things most of those actively promoting anti-Semitism actually care about. The U.N. report is a reminder that in our time, the singling out of Jews for discriminatory treatment is primarily driven by anti-Israel propaganda, which serves as a thin veil for a new and insidious form of anti-Semitism. Those looking for the reason behind the rising tide of hate against Jews around the globe would do better to read Falk and Tilley than to read Trump’s tweets.