Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

The Brazen Lies of the German FM (Judean Rose)

Just three days after Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel refused to abstain from meeting, at the Prime Minister of Israel's request, with so-called “human rights” organizations dedicated to the destruction of the State of Israel. Of course, you’d never know this from reading the news. News reporters are smart, you see. They wait and take their cues from their guy.

And since anyone who is pro-Israel is not their guy (for instance, the Prime Minister of Israel), in this case their guy by default is German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel.

Gabriel issued a statement and BOOM. Just like that, all the outlets had their lead. The statement read (emphasis added):

“Imagine if the Israeli Prime Minister, who is also foreign minister, came to Germany and wanted to meet people critical of the government and we would say: ‘No, this is not possible’.
“Doing that, and therefore cancelling our meetings, would be unthinkable. It works both ways.”

The German Foreign Minister makes it sound as if Israel is trying to rob him of his freedoms. Like we’re a repressive government that doesn’t allow for a difference of opinion. Like Israel is not a democracy.

Well, the media took its cue from this mischaracterization and Wapo’s lead, for instance, reads (emphasis added), Israel’s Netanyahu snubs German foreign minister for meeting activists critical of government, and the Jerusalem Post’s lead said, Netanyahu Nixes Meeting With German FM Over NGO Critical Of IDF. People who read these articles would naturally think that Netanyahu wanted Gabriel to abstain from meeting with these organizations because they are critical of the government or of the IDF.

This is a lie. It’s a brazen lie that a German has no right to make in the days following the day on which we remember the 6 million of MY people HIS people systematically gassed and incinerated.

How dare this man misrepresent us as a repressive, totalitarian country! It’s appalling.

Of course, there's nothing new under the sun. Menachem Begin had the number of people like Gabriel way back when.

WATCH: Menachem Begin was NOT ahead of his time...its just that things just have not changed.
We need a leader like Begin again. #Israel pic.twitter.com/IuJkMwmNhA
— NO2BDS.ORG (@no2bds) April 25, 2017

Almost as bad as the articles that suggest that Israel bans legitimate criticism are those that refer to PM Netanyahu’s warning as a “snub” (except for the Wapo piece listed above, which did both)! Outlets referring to Netanyahu’s warning as a snub (other than Wapo) include the Times of Israel, the Guardian, Yahoo News, and the Telegraph.

But it was not a snub. It was a warning. It was Bibi, as the representative of the Jewish State, saying to a representative of Germany: if you insist on meeting those bent on our destruction, I won’t meet with you.

This was a brave stance for Bibi to take (how often do we defend ourselves like this????) and it makes me glad I voted for him, when there are so many other days on which I regret that vote.

Embed from Getty Images

Other outlets called what happened a “spat” as if that were somehow more evenhanded: just two crazy kids fighting in the sandbox. Which is a blatant misrepresentation of what happened here which is this: the German FM insisted on meeting with people bent on Israel’s destruction and so Israel’s official representatives saw no point in meeting with him.

Who called it a “spat?” The Toronto Star, SFGate, McClatchy, and EuroNews.

We already know the end of this story, or at least some of it. Gabriel went ahead and met with all those organizations bent on Israel’s destruction. We just don’t have the names of all the organizations involved.

The reason? The organizations locked the press out of the “briefing” (which some may prefer to call an “indoctrination”). We do know that B’tselem and Breaking the Silence were two of the organizations taking part in this meeting, thanks to the Times of Israel.

A "spat." Just two crazy kids fighting in the sandbox

Now these two organizations, Breaking the Silence and B’tselem, are not merely critical of Israel. If they were, no one would have a problem with them or with a German minister meeting with them. These organizations have an agenda and that agenda is to destroy the Jewish State. We know this because of the way they operate and the lies they tell. Here is an excerpt of NGO Monitor’s findings regarding the activities of Breaking the Silence:

·         Breaking the Silence (BtS) “collects testimonies of soldiers who served in the Occupied Territories during the Second Intifada,” claiming that the “testimonies portray a…grim picture of questionable orders in many areas regarding Palestinian civilians [which] demonstrate the depth of corruption which is spreading in the Israeli military…Israeli society continues to turn a blind eye, and to deny that which happens in its name.
·         Active in promoting “war crimes” charges against Israel. These charges were based on anonymous and unverifiable hearsay “testimonies.”
·         Although claiming to address Israeli society, the NGO’s lobbying and media advocacy focus on international audiences, including presentations in Europe and the United States. Yehuda Shaul, BtS co-founder, defended this practice: “Sometimes, when you want to deliver messages to the inside, you must go outside.”
·         Between September 2012 – June 2016, BtS held more then 80 lectures, exhibitions and events across Europe, America, South Africa and Australia (See map below).
·         In June 2016, Ben-Gurion University canceled a NIS 20,000 reward to Breaking the Silence because it is “not in the national consensus”. In response, the New Israel Fund published a Facebook post announcing that it will donate NIS 20,000 to BtS and accused Ben-Gurion University of canceling the prize because it is concerned “that it might be the target of the next campaign”.
·         In June 14, 2016, Israeli new site NRG published a video documenting BtS co-founder, Yehuda Shaul, telling tourists in Israel that “Yeah, One of the villages, this village actually, its new that they came back, because few years ago the settlers basically poisoned all the water cisterns of the village…” This allegation is completely unsubstantiated, and was never proven. It appears to be based on a single compliant from 2004 which investigated by the Israeli police and was closed due to lack of evidence. (See below: Anti-Israeli campaigns using Breaking the Silence).
·         BtS refuses to comply with the Israeli government request to provide the information on an incident documented in a former soldier’s testimony which reflects an alleged crime. This resulted in a court hearing in May 23 where the state sought an order that the NGO provide all the information it has on the case. BtS argued that that they should be allowed to “protect their sources” similarly to journalists, despite their lack of engagement in journalistic activities.
·         On January 11, 2016, Israel’s leading nightly news program on Channel 2 aired footageof Ezra Nawi, a radical activist from the NGO “Ta’ayush,” visiting the offices of Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence (BtS). There, a BtS employee provided Nawi with NIS 1,400 in cash. It is unclear what services were rendered to warrant such a payment, but Channel 2 showed footage of Nawi writing checks for Palestinians, ostensibly for taking part in protests that he, himself, planned.
·         In summer 2015, during a training session in BtS office, Nadav Weiman, the activists’ coordinator, explained that “most of the Palestinians are not terrorists, but fighters for their freedom, sometimes with means I don’t agree with. The word terrorists – I find it hard. Although whoever murders a baby in its bed is a terrorist… If you try to kill soldiers you are not a terrorist. This is also according to international law”. He continued: “If there is a country that occupies your country, in the area you live in, you are allowed to use violent means against the occupier- only against soldiers and policemen or border police. Not against civilians…” Weiman added that “Refusal [to serve in the army] is legitimate, but we don’t encourage it…”
·         In a video published by Ad Kan, Weiman explains the NGO’s role in providing data to international political actors: “You don’t understand who we are outside of Israel…the diplomatic community… ok, Yehuda [Shaul], you won’t fund anyone who doesn’t know Yehuda… ambassadors and parliament members… outside of Israel we are the voice that is considered very reliable and critical that lets say if they want information they approach us… Yehuda takes ambassadors, consuls, and parliament members every week. Just now he was with American Congress members who arrived in Israel… no one knows they are here. But they came and Yehuda took them on a tour.”
·         In May 2015, NGO Monitor revealed that following the 2009 Gaza conflict, several BtS donors conditioned the transfer of money to the group on its ability to gather a minimum number of incriminating “testimonies” against the Israeli army.
·         In 2010 BtS published a highly tendentious book titled Occupation of the Territories – Israeli Soldier testimonies 2000-2010, which claimed to provide a counter to the “official Israeli position” on IDF actions in the territories. NGO Monitor analysis has revealed that this book was rife with methodological problems and appeared to tailor the testimonies to predetermined “analyses” that falsely claimed that Israeli actions are not aimed at self-defense but at “terrorizing the civilian population.”
·         This book was later re-published under the title Our Harsh Logic and translated into Swedish, German, and Dutch. The launching of the book in the various languages served as a platform for further demonization and delegitmization of Israel, including accusations of “racism” and alleged “political assassinations” of Palestinians, claims that Gaza is still “occupied,” and implying that Israel is ethnically cleansing “area C.”
·         Analysis by Amos Harel in Ha’aretz: “Breaking the Silence…has a clear political agenda, and can no longer be classed as a ‘human rights organization.’ Any organization whose website includes the claim by members to expose the ‘corruption which permeates the military system’ is not a neutral observer. The organization has a clear agenda: to expose the consequences of IDF troops serving in the West Bank and Gaza. This seems more of interest to its members than seeking justice for specific injustices.” (July 17, 2009)
·         BtS members and anti-Israel activists Yonatan and Itamar Shapira were on the “Jews for Justice for Palestinians” boat “Irene,” which sought to violate Israel’s security-based policies regarding naval traffic into Gaza (September 2010).
·         During a BtS event at a museum in Sweden (March 2011), Itamar Shapira stated that “We [Israelis] are creating the terror against us.”
·         Conducts tours to Hebron and the South Hebron Hills to “witness first hand the dire situation.” Criticized by Israeli police officials for “antagoniz[ing]…settlers in the hope that the settlers will attack them.”

Here is what NGO Monitor has to say about the employees of B’tselem:

· On January 8, 2016, Israeli investigative news program “Uvda” featured an expose showing B’Tselem employee Nasser Nawaja and Ezra Nawi, a radical activist from the NGO “Ta’ayush,” discussing informing the Palestinian Authority security services about a Palestinian man who allegedly intended to sell land to Jews in the West Bank. The sale of Palestinian land to Israelis is punishable by death under Palestinian law, and according to Nawi, suspects are tortured and then killed.
·         In 2014, journalist Tuvia Tenenbom published a book, “Catch the Jew,” in which he recounts a conversation with B’Tselem “researcher” Atef Abu a-Rub, who accused Germany of “giving money to the Jews” and then referred to the Holocaust as “a lie.”
·         Former CEO Jessica Montell has said: “I think the word apartheid is useful for mobilizing people because of its emotional power. In some cases, the situation in the West Bank is worse than apartheid in South Africa.”
·         In April 2010, staff member and NGO activist Lizi Sagie resigned after the organization came under pressure for statements made on her personal blog, including: “The IDF Memorial Day is a pornographic circus of glorifying grief and silencing voices,” “Israel is committing Humanity’s worst atrocities…Israel is proving its devotion to Nazi values…Israel exploits the Holocaust to reap international benefits.”

There is much more about both organizations at the NGO Monitor website. Anyone who reads the documentation about these organizations must come away knowing that these organizations wish Israel only harm. But in case you need further proof, let’s talk about what these organizations said after meeting with the German Foreign Minister. The Times of Israel has all the good, juicy, dirt in a piece called, After meeting German FM, B’Tselem calls on world to punish Israel. (Now doesn’t the desire to “punish” Israel prove B’tselem’s noble intentions toward the Jewish State?)

The article in question describes the organizations and Gabriel as “defiant,” as if it were somehow meritorious and courageous that a German met with organizations bent on Israel’s destruction three days after Holocaust Memorial Day in a meeting to which the press was disinvited. And of course, the spokespeople for these organizations weren’t satisfied just with expressing their distaste for Bibi’s actions, they had to describe him as “psychotic.”

At a Meretz party gathering in Tel Aviv shortly after the meeting, Breaking the Silence CEO Yuli Novak said of Netanyahu’s behavior that it was “so psychotic that a prime minister acts so unreasonably, by any standard. Calling him a diplomatic bull in a china shop would be a compliment.”

Yeah. It’s real “psychotic” not to hold meetings with people bent on your destruction.

The article goes on to talk about the “occupation” (as if Israel chooses to have these people under its rule. Feh. Let them leave), and asks the international community to punish us

B’Tselem followed up the meeting by issuing an English-language press release calling on the international community to punish Israel for the continued occupation.

“There must be a price to pay for continued military control of another people while thumbing one’s nose at basic moral values and international law,” the statement said.

It claimed that “the Israeli prime minister and most of his colleagues in both the coalition and opposition parties have no intention of ending the occupation,” and added, “As long as it does not meet the minimum conditions of democracy, Israel cannot enjoy the privileges that go with being a card-carrying member of the club of democratic countries.”

Oh, yeah. Can’t you see how this is just an organization that’s merely critical of Israel? They care about us. They just want to HELP us. Uh huh. Which is why they’re telling the world not to give us money, arms, or have any kind of diplomatic relationship with us.

This reminds me of my brother. He used to tickle me and my siblings mercilessly and when we’d cry he’d say in this loud, whining, sing-songy voice, “I just want to make you happy.”

Argh.

At any rate, this business of Gabriel, well, we might overlook it and say it was the action of one man, that it doesn’t represent Germany as a whole. This is, unfortunately, not the case, as Merkel’s spokesman has issued a statement repeating the garbage about it being “regrettable” that Israel tried to stop Gabriel from meeting with organizations “critical” of Israel.

Furthermore, Gabriel didn’t stop at meeting with organizations bent on Israel’s destruction but then repeated the canard that, “Only a two-state solution will be sustainable," when no one, not Israel, not the PA, nor Hamas, believe this to be a workable solution.

What is it with all these people who dare to tell Israel, a sovereign nation, how to conduct its business? And how dare a German meet with people bent on Israel’s destruction and try to characterize Israel’s reaction as repressive.

If this doesn’t make you livid, it should.

h/t Miriam Savir for the Begin clip.

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Syrian Missiles Accidentally Hit Military Target (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Damascus, April 26 - Syrian military officials acknowledged today that a barrage of rockets fired at the rebel stronghold of Idlib yesterday may have missed their target and hit a position of military value. Seven insurgents were killed in the blast, according to opposition sources.

General Aryuf Aqqinqiddenmi of the Syrian Army told journalists this afternoon that four Scud missiles were fired at the one remaining hospital in Idlib Tuesday morning, but a software malfunction caused them to overshoot the target and instead strike a series of fortifications used by opposition forces. He promised an investigation into the mishap, which he said does not reflect the culture or policies of the army.

Addressing a press conference at the Ministry of Defense, General Aqqinqiddenmi told attendees that the military regrets the error and will conduct a thorough inspection of remaining missile stocks to prevent a recurrence. "We regret the error," offered the contrite senior officer. "The army in no way intended to hit non-civilian targets; it is not our way."

Others in the Assad administration called for the implementation of safeguards to forestall such an outcome again. "There has to be a way to minimize these blunders," insisted Baath Party official Ayhaf Bludlust. "I hate to invoke the Zionists here, but they have a mechanism, which for some reason they use in the opposite way, under which all strike orders are first run by the Military Adjutant, who determines how the projected impact on noncombatants squares with the Laws of Armed Conflict. Of course in our case we would take a different approach to the answers. It also wouldn't prevent technical snafus such as yesterdays, but you have to take every possible measure."

Errant projectiles have killed opposition fighters instead of civilians before, noted Bludlust, but investigations determined that those incidents resulted from soldier fatigue and battlefield stress. "Soldiers make mistakes," he acknowledged. "The question is whether those mistakes point to a systemic problem. In most, of not all, of the previous cases where non-noncombatant deaths were the primary outcome, our oversight concluded that there was nothing systemic about these unfortunate incidents. But perhaps more is called for."

General Aqqinqiddenmi added that he and his colleagues had already appealed to allies such as Russia, which has extensive experience with the matter, even in Syria itself. "We've been calling the opposition 'terrorists' since this war began," he noted. "But Syria has such a long record of harboring and supporting terrorists that, despite the political disagreements, we can't bring ourselves to actually target them. So ethnic cleansing and genocide of the civilian population will have to do."

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04/26 Links Pt1: Act like lions to impose peace, not lambs; Palestinians Don’t Want a Mandela, They Want Another Arafat;

From Ian:

Gil Troy: Act like lions to impose peace, not lambs

Even those still mourning Hillary Clinton’s loss must admit: if she were US president, Israel would be drowning in peace processors. The Oslo Evangelists would return, wielding their tired ideas, their worn maps, their usual fingers pointing at Israel, their inexcusable blinders regarding Palestinian incitement – replicating president Barack Obama’s failures.
Shimon Peres, their spiritual guru, never admitted that the Oslo peace process failed, despite Yasser Arafat’s deadly tricks, despite Palestinians’ return to terrorism in 2000. By contrast, president Bill Clinton blasted Arafat, saying: “I’m a failure and you have made me one.” Those who cannot acknowledge mistakes cannot learn from them.
Those ready to escape the Oslo rut should consult the historian Daniel Pipes.
His recent Commentary essay “The Way to Peace: Israeli Victory, Palestinian Defeat,” reflects two rules of war so conventional they have become clichés: “to the victor belong the spoils,” and, as Dwight Eisenhower said, “in war, there is no substitute for victory.” Israel should do what victors do, Pipes says, crushing Palestinian hopes of destroying Israel. Only by feeling defeated will Palestinians finally accept Israel.
This Thursday, Republican Representatives Ron DeSantis and Bill Johnson will launch the Congressional Israel Victory Caucus (CIVC) boosting this plan – I wish they had bipartisan support.
Oslo made Israelis diplomatic Charlie Browns, forever running to kick the football – only to have Palestinians as Lucy pull it away at the last minute, repeatedly. The Palestinians make demands as if they won.

The Palestinians Don’t Want a Mandela, They Want Another Arafat

Part of his appeal lies in the fact that he’s been in prison for the last 15 years, while the rest of his Fatah party’s corrupt leadership has been running the West Bank like mafia chieftains. Even though there’s no reason to think a former Arafat aide like Barghouti will be different, like the equally corrupt and more fanatical Hamas rulers of Gaza, the current PA leadership is entirely discredited.
But Barghouti’s popularity rests on more than just the fact that he isn’t Abbas. Throughout the century-long Palestinian Arab war on Zionism, the political bona fides of that movement’s leaders have always rested on a resume including violence against Jews, not good government or a vision of independence and peace. Barghouti’s credentials rest solely on the fact that he is responsible for the deaths of Jewish men, women and children during the intifada. The political culture of the Palestinians — which is reinforced by a media and an education system promoting hatred of Jews and glorifying terrorism — is what makes Barghouti look good to the Arab street, not the hope he will rise above a record of wanton slaughter.
The reason why Abbas has been incapable of making peace, even if he really is a moderate, is that he understands Palestinians see any recognition of the legitimacy of a Jewish state — no matter where its borders are drawn — as a betrayal. The same factor argues that a man with Barghouti’s record will be expected to pursue more violence rather than become a Mandela. If the last quarter century has taught us anything, it is that the Palestinians don’t want a Mandela in the person of a transformed Barghouti. What they want is another Arafat.

A Palestinian State or an Islamist Tyranny?

Abbad Yahiya's novel takes aim at Palestinian taboos such as fanaticism, Islamic extremism and homosexuality. The novel's publisher has been arrested and a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Yahiya.
The head of the Union of Palestinian Writers, Murad Sudani, attacked the writer and called for an exemplary punishment. Ghassan Khader, a Facebook user, wrote on his page that Yahiya "should be killed".
We could go on with this list of Palestinian intellectuals who paid a high price for daring to speak the truth to Mahmoud Abbas and his corrupt circle on many issues: coexistence with the Jews, secularism, sexual freedom, freedom of conscience, human rights, or telling the truth about the Holocaust.
A Palestinian state created with the current Palestinian Authority would destroy freedom of conscience for journalists and writers; exile Christians and homosexuals; torture Arab inmates; impose sharia as the only law, and put people to death for "atheism" and "apostasy" (read, conversion to Christianity).

It is sad that the obvious becomes news.

YNet interviewed Jacques De Maio, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Israel gives us—unlike the security establishments in many other countries, including Western ones—quick access to senior officials in the IDF, the Prison Service, and other security services. We have useful, productive and professional dialogue with them. We clarified with them the issue of shooting assailants who carry out terror attacks and we reached an unequivocal conclusion that there is no IDF order to shoot suspects to kill, as political officials tried to convince us. The rules of engagement haven't changed, and have actually been made stricter. It is true that individual soldiers have made the wrong decision at times and that there are many instances of outrageous behavior at border crossings—at times in complete violation of orders. We do not hesitate to report that to the IDF and we usually get a professional response. That is why we rejected the accusation, and there were immediately those who claimed we were covering up war crimes committed by the IDF, and that we were serving the Zionists.

The Red Cress was very familiar with the regime in South Africa during Apartheid, and we respond to anyone who makes the argument that Israel is an apartheid state: No, there is no apartheid here. There isn't a regime here that is based on the superiority of one race over another; there is no disenfranchisement of basic human rights based on so-called racial inferiority. What does exist here is a bloody national conflict, the most prominent and tragic feature being that it is decades long, and there is occupation. Not apartheid.

De Maio plays a little fast and loose with this part of the interview:

The most complicated thing is to maintain the Red Cross's fundamental principle: neutrality, not taking a position in a situation where each side believes its position is the most moral and just and demands us, the Red Cross, to affiliate ourselves to it and condemn the other. I am constantly asked how we could treat both the aggressors and those who are defending themselves—terrorists and those who fight against terrorism—with the same level of leniency. And I answer: We offer help to people as human beings who need our help. Almost all of our work is done quietly, without publicity, often in secrecy, and our only goal is to protect people's natural rights. Not to deal with politics. Battling politics and political manipulation takes too much time and resources from us.

Unfortunately, the ICRC's position that Gaza is still legally occupied is nonsensical and the only reason they hold that position is political.

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Invest in BDS-banned companies and make LOTS of money!

Yesterday, Caterpillar announced much better results than expected and its stock price rose by nearly 8%.

I half-jokingly tweeted that a smart investor would look carefully at any company that the anti-Israel idiots want to boycott, because it might make a great investment.

So I decided to test my theory.

Here are all of the publicly traded companies I could find listed on the BDSList.org site, and their stock prices from a year ago and today, with the percentage gain or loss. (Some are only listed on the Tel Aviv Exchange.)

Company	4/27/2016	4/25/2017	% Gain/Loss
Afcon	114.7	165.8	45%
Bank HaPoalim	26.25	31.35	19%
Bank Leumi	13.76	17.25	25%
Caterpillar	78.68	104.42	33%
Elbit	100.21	119.19	19%
Hewlett Packard	12.76	18.61	46%
Motorola Solutions	76.04	85.39	12%
Sodastream	13.9	55.34	298%
Teva	56.23	30.76	-45%

AVERAGE			50%

If you would have invested equal amounts in all these companies a year ago, you would have made an astounding 50% profit. (The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 16% in that time period. The top funds rated by Kiplinger for the past year made about 30%.)

It is every investor's dream to beat the market. Thanks to BDS, now we can! (And Sodastream, the one company BDS hates the most, has done unbelievably well!)

By the way, this "BDS Fund" also way outperformed the Israel-specific funds I checked out for the past twelve months, so the BDS method of stock picking is truly amazing.

If anyone wants to hire me as manager of their EoZ BDS Mutual Fund, let me know!

(I probably need to add the disclaimer that Past Performance Is Not An Indicator Of Future Results)

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Peace Now upset at idea of Israel holding onto ancient Jewish Mount of Olives cemetery

From Peace Now:

On Sunday (24/4/17), the Jerusalem Municipality deposited for public review a special plan (no. 470484) for the confiscation of 1,300 square meters in the Jewish cemetery in the Mount of Olives, adjacent to the Ras El-Amud mosque. The plan, initiated by the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA), is meant to allow the confiscation of parcel no. 10 in bloc no. 29991 for public use, in order to allow the construction of a visitor center. The area of the plan is a highly sensitive one, located at the heart of the historical basin of Jerusalem, 300 meters from the Old City and the Temple Mount/Al-Haram A-Sharif, and next to the mosque of the Ras El-Amud neighborhood.

Dragged by settler organizations, the Israeli government is willing to go out of its way to approve this sensitive plan through a highly unusual procedure. In the current political context, to establish a visitor center next to a mosque and 300 meters away from Temple Mount/Al-Haram A-Sharif is to play with fire. A visitor center in this sensitive area could have far reaching implications on the future of the two state solution and the possibility for a compromise in Jerusalem.

Peace Now admits that the site is inside the area of the ancient cemetery. No Arab land is being taken.

It shows a picture of the area, on the southwest side of the cemetery.

In an effort to anticipate Muslim rage, Peace Now helpfully says that it is next to a mosque and 300 meters (three football fields) from the Temple Mount, which makes it "sensitive" - by this definition, along with a good chunk of Jerusalem.

The idea of Israel building a visitor center in the site of the most important Jewish graveyard in the world, not to mention a hugely important Christian site, is simply anathema to Peace Now, who believes that Jews have no rights to their ancient capital and the thousands of Jewish graves should be under Muslim control, just as they were from 1949-1967, when Jordan used gravestones for walls of latrines and road construction.

When you look at the area of the planned visitor center in Google Street view, you see exactly why it is needed - the narrow road is clogged with tourist buses.

Area of the planned center, facing the Ras al Amud mosque, Jewish graves immediately to the left

View from the road below the previous picture

Moreover, a visitor center in that area would help protect the graves from being desecrated by Muslims, as they are often being today. It would also provide a safer way for Jews to visit the site, which is often dangerous today.

If the unthinkable happens and Israel gives up this hugely important historic Jewish area, the visitor center would remain to be used by the new administrators, so building it doesn't affect the prospects of peace one bit anyway!

But Peace Now doesn't care about safety, or convenience, or Jewish heritage or ancient Jewish graves. It mentions how sensitive this site is to Muslims - when it is not - and doesn't bother to mention the benefits of continuing to develop Jerusalem for everyone.

In short, by Peace Now mentioning how "close" this is to the "Haram A-Sharif" it shows that the supposedly Jewish organization is trying to stir up Muslim anger at Israel, not to minimize it. It also shows how little this "human rights' organization cares about the rights of any humans who are not Arab.

This is, as Professor Richard Landes likes to say, proleptic dhimmitude.

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Full text and video of President Trump's speech at US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Thank you very much. Thank you. Friends, members of Congress, ambassadors, veterans, and, most especially, to the survivors here with us today, it’s an honor to join you on this very, very solemn occasion. I am deeply moved to stand before those who survived history’s darkest hour. Your cherished presence transforms this place into a sacred gathering.

Thank you, Tom Bernstein, Alan Holt, Sara Bloomfield, and everyone at the Holocaust Memorial Council and Museum for your vital work and tireless contributions.

We are privileged to be joined by Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, friend of mine — he’s done a great job and said some wonderful words — Ron Dermer. The State of Israel is an eternal monument to the undying strength of the Jewish people. The fervent dream that burned in the hearts of the oppressed is now filled with the breath of life, and the Star of David waves atop a great nation arisen from the desert.

To those in the audience who have served America in uniform, our country eternally thanks you. We are proud and grateful to be joined today by veterans of the Second World War who liberated survivors from the camps. Your sacrifice helped save freedom for the world — for the entire world.

Sadly, this year marks the first Day of Remembrance since the passing of Elie Wiesel, a great person, a great man. His absence leaves an empty space in our hearts, but his spirit fills this room. It is the kind of gentle spirit of an angel who lived through hell, and whose courage still lights the path from darkness. Though Elie’s story is well known by so many people, it’s always worth repeating. He suffered the unthinkable horrors of the Holocaust. His mother and sister perished in Auschwitz. He watched his father slowly dying before his own young eyes in Buchenwald. He lived through an endless nightmare of murder and death, and he inscribed on our collective conscience the duty we have to remember that long, dark night so as never to again repeat it.

The survivors in this hall, through their testimony, fulfill the righteous duty to never forget, and engrave into the world’s memory the Nazi genocide of the Jewish people. You witnessed evil, and what you saw is beyond description, beyond any description. Many of you lost your entire family, everything and everyone you loved, gone. You saw mothers and children led to mass slaughter. You saw the starvation and the torture. You saw the organized attempt at the extermination of an entire people — and great people, I must add. You survived the ghettos, the concentration camps and the death camps. And you persevered to tell your stories. You tell of these living nightmares because, despite your great pain, you believe in Elie’s famous plea, that “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.”

That is why we are here today — to remember and to bear witness. To make sure that humanity never, ever forgets.

The Nazis massacred six million Jews. Two out of every three Jews in Europe were murdered in the genocide. Millions more innocent people were imprisoned and executed by the Nazis without mercy, without even a sign of mercy.

Yet, even today, there are those who want to forget the past. Worse still, there are even those filled with such hate, total hate, that they want to erase the Holocaust from history. Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil. And we’ll never be silent — we just won’t — we will never, ever be silent in the face of evil again.

‘Denying the Holocaust is only one of many forms of dangerous anti-Semitism that continues all around the world’
Denying the Holocaust is only one of many forms of dangerous anti-Semitism that continues all around the world. We’ve seen anti-Semitism on university campuses, in the public square, and in threats against Jewish citizens. Even worse, it’s been on display in the most sinister manner when terrorists attack Jewish communities, or when aggressors threaten Israel with total and complete destruction.

This is my pledge to you: We will confront anti-Semitism. We will stamp out prejudice. We will condemn hatred. We will bear witness. And we will act. As President of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people — and I will always stand with our great friend and partner, the State of Israel.

So today, we remember the 6 million Jewish men, women and children whose lives and dreams were stolen from this Earth.

We remember the millions of other innocent victims the Nazis so brutally targeted and so brutally killed. We remember the survivors who bore more than we can imagine. We remember the hatred and evil that sought to extinguish human life, dignity, and freedom.

But we also remember the light that shone through the darkness. We remember sisters and brothers who gave everything to those they loved — survivors like Steven Springfield, who, in the long death march, carried his brother on his back. As he said, “I just couldn’t give in.”

We remember the brave souls who banded together to save the lives of their neighbors — even at the risk of their own life. And we remember those first hopeful moments of liberation, when at long last the American soldiers arrived in camps and cities throughout occupied Europe, waving the same beautiful flags before us today, speaking those three glorious words: “You are free.”

It is this love of freedom, this embrace of human dignity, this call to courage in the face of evil that the survivors here today have helped to write onto our hearts. The Jewish people have endured oppression, persecution, and those who have sought and planned their destruction. Yet, through the suffering, they have persevered. They have thrived. And they have enlightened the world. We stand in awe of the unbreakable spirit of the Jewish people.

I want to close with a story enshrined in the Museum that captures the moment of liberation in the final days of the war.

It is the story of Gerda Klein, a young Jewish woman from Poland. Some of you know her. Gerda’s family was murdered by the Nazis. She spent three years imprisoned in labor camps, and the last four months of the war on a terrible death march. She assumed it was over. At the end, on the eve of her 21st birthday, her hair had lost all of its color, and she weighed a mere 68 pounds. Yet she had the will to live another day. It was tough.

Gerda later recalled the moment she realized that her long-awaited deliverance had arrived. She saw a car coming towards her. Many cars had driven up before, but this one was different. On its hood, in place of that wretched swastika, was a bright, beautiful, gleaming white star. Two American soldiers got out. One walked up to her. The first thing Gerda said was what she had been trained to say: “We are Jewish, you know.” “We are Jewish.” And then he said, “So am I.” It was a beautiful moment after so much darkness, after so much evil.

As Gerda took this solider to see the other prisoners, the American did something she had long forgotten to even expect — he opened the door for her. In Gerda’s words, “that was the moment of restoration of humanity, of humanness, of dignity, and of freedom.”

But the story does not end there. Because, as some of you know, that young American soldier who liberated her and who showed her such decency would soon become her husband. A year later, they were married. In her words, “He opened not only the door for me, but the door to my life and to my future.”

Gerda has since spent her life telling the world of what she witnessed. She, like those survivors who are among us today, has dedicated her life to shining a light of hope through the dark of night.

Your courage strengthens us. Your voices inspire us. And your stories remind us that we must never, ever shrink away from telling the truth about evil in our time. Evil is always seeking to wage war against the innocent and to destroy all that is good and beautiful about our common humanity. But evil can only thrive in darkness. And what you have brought us today is so much more powerful than evil. You have brought us hope — hope that love will conquer hatred, that right will defeat wrong, and that peace will rise from the ashes of war.

Each survivor here today is a beacon of light, and it only takes one light to illuminate even the darkest space. Just like it takes only one truth to crush a thousand lies and one hero to change the course of history. We know that in the end, good will triumph over evil, and that as long as we refuse to close our eyes or to silence our voices, we know that justice will ultimately prevail.

So today we mourn. We remember. We pray. And we pledge: Never again.

Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you.

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04/25 Links Pt2: A Muslim Arab turns into a pro-Israel activist; Gal Gadot Pays Tribute to ‘Hero’ Survivor Grandfather

From Ian:

A Reminder Not to Forget

Jews, too, sometimes prefer to forget. On the left, there is a nefarious tactic of trying to portray the Jewish people as more sinning than sinned against. For those in the anti-Zionist realm, the Holocaust is an ugly snag in the narrative of an Israeli Goliath targeting a Palestinian David. But sometimes there is a desire to forget even within the staunchly pro-Israel camp. It can be tempting, in celebrating Israel’s military might, its flourishing democracy, its miraculous existence, to forget that we were not always so strong. But we cannot let that pride come at the expense of remembering who we are, which necessarily includes remembering what we as a people have endured.
And we won’t. Jewish liturgy and tradition are peppered with the language of memory. We are commanded to remember the Sabbath. We sing about the repercussions of forgetting Jerusalem. Many blessings and prayers conclude with the exhortation that what we are doing is l’zecher yitziat Mitzraim—in memory of our exodus from Egypt. And every year, in commemorating that exodus during Passover, we contemplate our obligation to see ourselves as if we, personally, had been taken out of Egypt; we sing of how in each generation, a new enemy rises up who seeks our destruction; and we commit ourselves to telling the story to our children and our children’s children.
We are a people who understands the immeasurable power of a story told well, so we will not forget. We must ensure that the world does not either.

‘I am a Muslim Arab and an Israeli Zionist, and I love the Jewish people’

One of the most patriotic families in Israel lives just a few kilometers from the Gaza Strip. The father—a former Gazan—wears a medallion with the map of Israel and a Star of David around his neck, two of his sons are IDF soldiers who are willing ‘to die for the State of Israel,’ and they all feel a strong connection to Judaism. Years after being smuggled into Israel following the father’s secret collaboration with the Shin Bet, they declare: ‘We have no other country.’
N., a Muslim Arab resident of Gaza, traveled to Israel last summer to see her three grandchildren, two of whom are IDF soldiers. She hadn’t seen them for six years.
When she arrived in Israel, N. knew that she was ill and that her days were numbered. A female IDF soldier escorted her from the Erez Crossing to the entrance to her son’s home, in one of the Jewish communities near Gaza.
“I opened the door for her and gave her a hug,” her son, D., recalls. “She saw the children. I said to her, ‘Mother, look, my sons are in the army. My sons are soldiers.’ We hadn’t seen each other for years. I looked at her. She was happy. She asked me to take care of them, to make sure that nothing happened to them. Before we parted, she hugged my two soldiers in her arms and said to them: ‘Inshallah, I hope we will soon get to see this uniform in Gaza. When will Israel come back there? We have no life.’”
“Grandmother kissed us incessantly,” says Y., a sergeant in the IDF. “She stroked our hair and kept saying, ‘May God protect you.’”
N. stayed with her family for a month. Shortly after returning to Gaza, she passed away. “I feel so relieved,” says D., “knowing that my mother was pleased with us when she died.”

How did a Muslim Arab turn into a pro-Israel activist

‘Metro’ tells the story of Yahya Mahamed, who said his eyes were opened to the truth about Israel. Now calling himself ‘Zionist Muslim,’ he is working at StandWithUs to help others
Sometimes we are privileged to meet rare and inspiring people, people whose life experiences are so different from our own that hearing about them provides us with a new understanding of the human spirit, a new way to see things, and a new way to think.
Yahya Mahamed is one such person. Tall, dark and slim, the first thing one notices about him is his smile.
It’s sincere and disarming and immediately evokes the feeling that a friend has been found. As his story unfolds, it becomes clear that behind those dimples is a young man of courage, humor, intelligence and a tremendous heart.
Metro sat with Mahamed at the Jerusalem office of StandWithUs, an NGO dedicated to educating people around the world about Israel. This is his story.
“I grew up in Umm el-Fahm, the third-largest Arab city in Israel. It’s a very problematic place. The Islamic Movement runs the municipality. This means they have power over everything: schools, services, who gets hired... and they are very anti-Israel. ISIS logos and swastikas are common,” he says.

Star-struck Mahmoud Abbas under fire for meeting famous singer twice in three months

PA president Mahmoud Abbas plans to meet famous Emirati singer "Ahlam" soon during a visit to the UAE.

The thing is, he met her in February right before the final of Arab Idol, held in Beirut, where she is a judge.

People are talking about Abbas' seeming obsession with Ahlam, and not in a complimentary way.

King Leer

Palestinian Arabs on social media are complaining about how Abbas is interested in meeting Ahlam while the prisoners are suffering on their hunger strike.

One said that this was an insult to the Palestinian people.

Because of the criticism, the official PA media have not been showing these photos or reporting on his meetings with the singer.

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.

While I take a back seat to no one in expressing glee when some SJP/JVP-sponsored student government divestment vote goes down in flames (not to mention burning with rage when such votes go the BDSholes’ way – especially when they cheat), it might be time to stop tracking success or failure of the BDS “movement” (or Israel’s standing among the young) based on what a handful of Student Senators say or do.

Claims that student government votes carry actual political weight can only be supported if at least one of the following conditions is true:

( 1) That there exists a plausible chance that such a vote will be taken seriously by those who actually make decisions regarding where a college or university invests its money (i.e., the school’s adult leadership and institutional investment managers), leading to the possibility of actual divestment; and/or

( 2) That such votes represent genuine anti-Israel sentiments among the wider student body that student government is supposed to represent

Regarding condition (1), given that college Presidents, Boards of Trustees and investment managers have been saying “No!” to BDS calls since the start of the Millennium, it’s pretty safe to say that the number of schools actually considering divestment from Israel continues to stand at zero.

In fact, during a BDS era that stretches back close to two decades, college and universities have been falling all over one another to build or strengthen partnerships with their Israeli counterparts (many of them investing – rather than divesting – millions into these relationships).

And keep in mind that during this same era, schools have joined divestment projects – targeting Sudan and Iran – for their genuine human rights abuses vs. the fictional ones ginned up by BDS activists against Israel. So it’s not that colleges and universities are loath to use their investment portfolios to make political statements. Rather, their loud condemnation of student calls for BDS – often within hours of those calls being made – represents their rejection of the political snake oil the boycotters continue to peddle.

Regarding condition (2), as recent history has shown, school administrators are loath to show disrespect for student opinion, especially if that opinion can plausibly be said to represent the actual will of the majority of the student body (or at least a large minority). So the fact that those same administrators are ready to tell Student Senates to shove their BDS resolutions where the sun doesn’t shine (or something to that effect) means they know what the boycotters also know: that student governments pass divestment votes in spite of the fact that those votes do not represent wider student opinion.

Much has been made of recent last-minute divestment votes announced or taken during the Jewish holidays. Beyond the underhanded nature of sneaking such votes in while political enemies are celebrating religious holidays, this sort of behavior also represents an admission by cynical BDS activists that they could never win a fair fight for the simple reason that student opinion is not on their side.

If it were, you’d see student pols running on BDS platforms, informing voters that this would be their top priority if elected. Instead, you only see pro-divestment votes being cast by ignorant Senators brow beaten by the boycotters throughout grueling all-nighters, or stealth BDSers who run for office with the sole purpose of passing divestment measures (who then leave office if they get – or don’t get – their way on this one issue). In fact, on one of the few occasions when Israel has played a role in a campus election, the result was a rout for divestment supporters.

So if pandering administrators and normally indifferent students are all comfortable telling the boycotters to take a hike, why should any of us be still getting bent out of shape when a gaggle of Students for Justice in Palestine types manage to squeak through a “victory” by getting an impotent divestment resolution passed that is guaranteed to be ignored?

Even if you believe (as I do) that BDS campaigns are just the means to inject a steady drip of anti-Israel venom into the minds of impressionable students, we can fight against that campaign more effectively if we don’t treat such votes as stunning victories, harrowing near misses, or terrible blows. Rather, we should see them for what they are: the boobie prize the boycotters are forced to content themselves with in an era when boycotts are nowhere to be seen, investment in the Jewish state continues to skyrocket, and the only sanctions being enacted are by dozens of state legislatures and the US government to condemn the aptly named BDS “movement.”

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.

04/25 Links Pt1: Gaza News Agency Mocks “So-Called” Holocaust; Iran Nuclear Deal: Worse Than We Imagined

From Ian:

PMW: PA TV honors murderer by joining family’s birthday party

As'ad Zo'rob is a Palestinian murderer. In 2002, he shot and killed his Israeli employer who was giving him a ride in his car. Zo'rob is serving a life sentence for the murder. Official Palestinian Authority TV called him "heroic" and decided to join the family's birthday celebrations in his honor. At the party earlier this month, the PA TV host referred to the murderer as "the heroic prisoner" and a source of "pride" for "all of Palestine":
Official PA TV reporter: "Dear viewers, we are transmitting to you from the home of heroic prisoner As'ad Zo'rob..."
Brother of murderer: "He is a hero, and is everything to us. He has made us proud."
Official PA TV reporter: "Of course, this prisoner is a [source of] pride for your family and all of Palestine."
[Official PA TV, I Call You, April 3, 2017]
Palestinian Media Watch has documented the participation of PA TV at a similar birthday party for terrorist Abbas Al-Sayid who is serving 35 life sentences for planning two suicide bombings, one in 2002 at a Passover celebration, killing 30 Israelis, and another in 2001, killing 5 and wounding 100.
PA TV weekly program Giants of Endurance
This example of PA TV presenting a murderer of an Israeli as heroic is no exception. PMW has documented that all Palestinian terrorist prisoners and all terrorist so-called "Martyrs" are considered "heroes" by the Palestinian Authority and its leadership. It is therefore not surprising that official PA TV has a special weekly program dedicated to honoring terrorist prisoners called Giants of Endurance. PA TV honors these "heroes" by having their relatives as guests in the studio or visiting them in their homes, inviting them to speak about their imprisoned terrorist relative and sending him/her greetings.

PA TV honors murderer on his birthday, visits family of “heroic prisoner”

Douglas Murray: What does the UN think Saudi Arabia can teach us about gender equality?

In these tricky – not to say dark – times there is one place to which we can always turn for light relief: Geneva. The city itself may be unamusing. But it does play host to the world’s most hilarious organisation – the body which calls itself ‘the UN Human Rights Council’ (UNHRC).
A few days ago, the Council voted to appoint members for the 2018-2022 term of its ‘Commission on the Status of Women’, a UN agency ‘exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.’ Among those appointed to the Commission was that notable supporter of gender equality – Saudi Arabia. Best of all is that – as the excellent UN Watch points out here – at least five EU member states must have voted to put Saudi Arabia on the Commission.
There was a time when moves like these garnered some outrage, or at least comment. So far this one appears not to have done so. Which might be because everyone has too many other things on their minds. Or that everybody thinks Saudi Arabia has been making such leaps and bounds in the realm of gender equality that it can teach the rest of us a thing or two. Or that nobody thinks that the UN Human Rights Council, its ‘Commission on the Status of Women’ or any of its other expensive initiatives matter one jot and know that the whole thing is barmy. Personally I think that the last of these possibilities is the most likely.
But if everybody realises that the UNHRC is the last place in the world where you would go for anything other than a dark laugh, what is the point of countries like ours contributing to it either through financial contributions or sending representatives? Surely we can come up with a better use for the cash? If not, why not just pile it up and burn it? At least that would be a harmless use of everyone’s time and money. Unlike the UNHRC, which is exceptionally costly and consistently harmful.

Jpost Editorial: Saudis and Women

Why would the UN appoint Saudi Arabia as a defender of women’s rights, a country where a woman cannot even open a bank account without her husband’s permission and received the right to vote and run for office in municipal elections just two years ago? It should not come as too much of a surprise. After all, this is the same UN whose Human Rights Council enforces Agenda Item 7, which dictates that Israel’s purported human rights violations must be raised and discussed every single time the UNHRC convenes. More UNHRC condemnations are made against Israel than against all other countries in the world combined.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, has pledged to change what she calls the “culture” of the international body. She has already done much to combat the knee-jerk criticism directed against Israel that characterizes so much of UN discourse. Perhaps her next order of business will be to help ensure that countries like Saudi Arabia are singled out for their human rights violations. It would be fitting if Haley’s strong female leadership became the driving force for a campaign within the UN to condemn Saudi Arabia for the suppression of half of its population.
The UN once was and might again be a force for good in the world. The potential is boundless for an institution that brings together all the nations of the world. Wars can be prevented; blatant human rights abuses can be stopped; the damage resulting from famine and natural disaster can be ameliorated. All this and more can be achieved through dialogue and cooperation.
However, before any of this can happen, the UN must have a minimum level of self-respect that prevents it from appointing Saudi Arabia to a council responsible for safeguarding the rights of women.