Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, September 18, 2017

Who, exactly, does Israel sell arms to?

After my story on Friday showing that despite worldwide headlines, Israel sells practically no weapons to Myanmar, I looked at the SIPRI database to learn more about who Israel does sell weapons to.

Here are the top countries to receive Israeli arms since 2000:

Two of the top ten recipients of Israeli arms are Muslim nations.

The full list:

Country	Israeli arms imports, in millions, 2000-2016
India	2800
Turkey	854
United States	840
Singapore	528
Azerbaijan	453
Colombia	362
Sri Lanka	312
South Korea	304
United Kingdom	241
Mexico	235
Brazil	229
Italy	196
Romania	168
Germany (FRG)	154
Chile	153
Australia	152
Spain	143
Viet Nam	134
Greece	120
Netherlands	119
Equatorial Guinea	82
Poland	80
Myanmar	73
Unknown recipient(s)	72
China	55
Finland	51
Jordan	48
Venezuela	44
Kazakhstan	40
Morocco	40
Portugal	34
Dominican Republic	33
Ecuador	33
Belgium	32
Uganda	29
Nigeria	25
Thailand	23
Rwanda	18
France	17
Peru	16
South Africa	16
Czech Republic	15
New Zealand	15
Sweden	14
Georgia	13
Honduras	13
Angola	12
Paraguay	12
Cameroon	11
Denmark	11
Philippines	11
Canada	9
Ethiopia	9
United Nations**	9
Austria	8
Taiwan (ROC)	8
Senegal	7
Argentina	5
Hungary	5
Mauritius	5
Bulgaria	4
Chad	4
Croatia	4
El Salvador	4
Russia	4
Seychelles	3
Switzerland	3
Cyprus	1
Guinea	1
Indonesia	1
Lesotho	1
Cote d'Ivoire	0
Lithuania	0
Turkmenistan	0

Here is more detailed data on who Israel has sold arms to over the past 6 years:

TIV of arms exports from Israel, 2011-2016
Figures are SIPRI Trend Indicator Values (TIVs) expressed in millions.
Figures may not add up due to the conventions of rounding.
A '0' indicates that the value of deliveries is less than 0.5m
For more information, see http://www.sipri.org/databases/armstransfers/sources-and-methods/


Source: SIPRI Arms Transfers Database
Generated: 18 September 2017

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	Total
Austria	2	2	2				6
Azerbaijan	5	9	25	21	121	248	428
Belgium	4	4	4	1	7		19
Brazil	19	18	21	27	17	16	118
Cameroon				1	2		3
Chile	18	3	9				30
Colombia	55		8	19	24		106
Czech Republic		8	8				15
Denmark			10				10
Dominican Republic	12						12
Equatorial Guinea	70						70
Ethiopia			1	3	3	3	9
Germany (FRG)	6	15	15	15	15	24	90
Honduras				13			13
India	156	161	119	157	276	599	1466
Indonesia		1					1
Italy	21	16	10	20	20	37	122
Jordan					48		48
Lithuania					0		0
Mauritius						3	3
Mexico					4	25	29
Myanmar	1						1
Netherlands	12						12
New Zealand	3	5	5	3			15
Nigeria	6		12				18
Paraguay	6	6					12
Peru						1	1
Philippines					6	4	10
Poland	11	11	9				30
Portugal	9	3					11
Russia			2	1			3
Rwanda			13				13
Senegal				1	4	3	7
Seychelles			3				3
Singapore	74	57	15		13	43	201
South Africa	3	5					8
South Korea		35	28	24	40	58	185
Spain	18	27	23	4			71
Sri Lanka	11						11
Thailand	0			3	5		8
Turkey	22	9		17	15		63
Turkmenistan						0	0
United Kingdom	11	31	20	20	24	34	141
United Nations**						9	9
United States	15	25	35	35	40	55	205
Unknown recipient(s)	5		13	3	3	31	54
Viet Nam			26	14	7	68	116

Total	572	449	432	399	694	1260	3805

You can even find out specifically what weapons were sold to whom. The UN leased a drone from Israel for use in Mali; Israel gave Jordan 16 second-hand AH-1F Cobra combat helicopters as a gift in 2015 to help fight ISIS.

Oh, and the weapons Israel did sell to Myanmar? A patrol boat and a second-hand naval gun. Not exactly weapons that are useful to kill the local Muslim population. But that doesn't stop the Independent and Haaretz from pretending that Israel is the major supplier of weapons to enable genocide.

Here is yet another example of how the media simply ignores real facts.

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Palestinians "explain" why Jews from Arab countries hate Palestinians more than Ashkenazic Jews

Tawfiq Abu Shumer, writing in Amad.ps, comes up with a convoluted explanation of why Mizrahi Jews are really against Palestinians.

An active follower of Israeli society asked me why the Eastern Jews hated the Palestinians, and that the non-Easterners (Ashkenazim) dislike us less, or so it appears!
...
Why do Oriental Jews become the worst enemies of the Palestinians?

The reason is that they want to prove their allegiance to Israel more than their opponents and oppressors, Ashkenazim.
...
This hatred is a kind of psychological illness. Sephardim are despised in Israel; therefore, a weaker group must be found to relieve themselves of the oppression they are suffering.

....Therefore, the Sephardim must adhere to this reality. They must exercise their masters over the Palestinians, so that the Palestinians remain oppressed as a guarantee for their survival as masters. Therefore, they are among the greatest opponents of the two-state solution or the end of the occupation !!

Of course, it has nothing to do with the fact that Sephardic Jews escaped Arab countries where they were being persecuted and understand a thing or two first-hand about Arab antisemitism. It couldn't possibly be that they understand the Arab mentality and that they know exactly the games being played by Palestinians to appear "peaceful" to credulous Westerners who want to believe that everyone thinks the same way.

Jews from Arab countries know better.

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09/17 Links: Bahrain king denounces Arab boycott of Israel; Is Roger Waters an Antisemite?

From Ian:

Jesus was a Palestinian and similar claims that often cloud Middle East reporting

The Canaanite-Palestinian claim has two parallels. The first is that Jesus was a Palestinian, even though the designation “Palestine” was not use in the region during his lifetime, and would not be until a century or so later when the Romans imposed it.

I've heard pro-Palestinian Christians, clergy and lay activists alike, dismiss Jesus’s Jewishness, saying that he was Palestinian and even the first martyr to the Palestinian cause — murdered, of course, by the Jews of his time.
This essay by a well-known Palestinian journalist and activist explains Palestinian reasoning on this.
The second parallel -- well, the second parallel is purely a matter of religious belief, with which I will not argue here. Though I will label it aspirational supercessionism.

Islam presents itself as the final revelation in the Abrahamic lineage, supplanting both Judaism and Christianity and correcting their faults. It also claims that the Jewish prophets, including Abraham, and Jesus, were in fact Muslims because of their fidelity to the God known in Arabic as Allah.

So what's the bottom line here?

From my perspective, arguments that rely on “facts” cherry-picked from antiquity and faith claims hold little water when debating seemingly intractable, contemporary geopolitical disputes. Where we’re at and how we move forward toward a solution is what matters.

So beware, scribes, when either side starts throwing about faith claims or unprovable “facts” from thousands of years ago to gain political advantage in the here and now. History matters, but unprovable claims should never be taken on face value in journalism.

Bahrain king denounces Arab boycott of Israel, says countrymen may visit

Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa last week denounced the Arab boycott of Israel and said his subjects are free to visit the Jewish state. The head of the Persian Gulf country, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, made the statements to Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, at a multi-denominational event at the center to sign and support a declaration denouncing religious hatred and violence.

Cooper and his partner at the Wiesenthal Center, Marvin Hier, visited Manama, Bahrain’s capital, by invitation, in early 2017.

A walk through the city, Cooper said, was an eye-opener. There was a church, with a huge cross, next to a Hindu temple, and 90 meters on an impressive mosque. Even a small synagogue, the only one in the Persian Gulf region, still stands in an older part of the city.

Hier and Cooper met with King Hamad and discussed the ruler’s plan to establish a Museum of Religious Tolerance in the capital city by the end of this year.

At the Los Angeles event last week, delegations of Buddhists in saffron robes, Sikhs in turbans, and Muslims with keffiyehs and hijabs [Muslim head-covers for men and veils for women], mingled with Jews with kippot [skullcaps] and Christians in business suits.

IsraellyCool: Is Roger Waters an Antisemite?

Ikhras is a website that is unapologetically anti-Israel, anti-USA and pro-terror. But it is dedicated to exposing Arab "activists" who they believe are really traitors to the cause by acting moderate and sucking up.

In his or her words:

Ikhras was inspired by the Arab and Muslim “activists” and “representatives” that hijacked our identities and name for their own self-aggrandizement and in furtherance of personal ambitions unrelated to our communities’ agenda, interests, and well-being. It was their collaboration that made this project necessary and now Ikhras is here to tell them they do not speak for us. Ikhras adds its voice to those resisting US Imperialism and Zionism with a special focus on exposing, ridiculing and holding accountable House Arabs and House Muslims in the US, to borrow Malcolm X’s expression.

So Ikhras' critique of Linda Sarsour, written last year, is most interesting. Ikhras mostly attacks Sarsour for pretending to be against Palestinian terror and supporting Israel's right to exist, which Ikhras assures us is not the way most Palestinian Americans feel and Sarsour is only trying to get in the good graces of the powers that be.

Sarsour does not speak for Palestinians in NY, across the diaspora or under occupation, and her views do not reflect the Palestinian consensus or their national aspirations. She also does not represent the views of the larger Arab-American community. The political exigencies of running for NY City Council require Sarsour to pursue her amateurish version of a political triangulation strategy, posing as a champion of Palestine while reaffirming Israel’s “right to exist.” However, there are 11 Million Palestinians and over 300 Million Arabs who are not running for NY City Council in 2017. Their position and the position of the Palestinian and Arab-American communities remains unchanged. The structures and institutions of the Zionist entity created in 1948 must be fully dismantled, and all Palestinian refugees and their descendants have an inalienable right to return to their homes and lands of origin with full restitution of all their confiscated property in a single, unified, and liberated Palestine.

This passage about Sarsour accepting an Iftar dinner with Mayor DeBlasio is interesting, once you filter out the anti-Israel lies:

Framing herself as a radical champion of the people while working with the Muslim Democratic Club of New York to advance her career, she decided to maintain close ties to the Democratic Mayor. Later that same year, July 2014, Israel launched its third onslaught on Gaza since dismantling its illegal, Jewish-only colonies and occupation coordination centers and repositioning its occupation army outside the narrow coastal strip of Palestine. The massacre, which happened to coincide with the month of Ramadan, resulted in the wholesale slaughter of over 2100 defenseless Palestinian civilians. The same week de Blasio came out in support of the massacre he also extended an invitation to Sarsour to attend an “Iftar” at Gracie Mansion as the ostensible representative of the NY Muslim community. Sarsour accepted the invitation and as she sat down to enjoy her breaking of the fast (Sarsour does not fast and is hardly religious although she does invoke religion when it serves her purpose) the bombs were still falling on the children of Gaza. Sarsour later tweeted a picture of herself with de Blasio adding the words “honored to dine with Mayor de Blasio at Gracie Mansion.” At the time ikhras still maintained a cordial relationship with Sarsour and expressed directly to her our disappointment. She responded by saying she had to ignore it because she was trying to “play politics and its dirty” and she had “two campaigns [Muslim school holidays and NYPD intelligence practices] she needed to see through.” When we pressed her she became very defensive, said something indecipherable about an “inside out strategy”, and attacked other Palestinian “activists” (she used the quotes) and organizations. She specifically mentioned Al-Awda and Adalah suggesting they were not doing anything and that she cannot be expected to do it all herself.

Sarsour is admitting that she is willing to lie and pretend to be someone she isn't in order to get her agendas pushed. Moreover, she has such a high opinion of herself that she doesn't want to work with other Palestinian activists, thinking her way is better.

Ikhras documents how Sarsour is a fake:

Former friends of Sarsour tell us ....She has also cultivated a public persona that those who knew her tell us is dramatically unlike the Sarsour they had encountered and previously worked with. Even Palestinian-Americans who do not know Sarsour personally recognize a caricature type quality to her public behavior. In what is apparently an attempt to adhere to some stereotypical Brooklynite image, complete with an exaggerated and pretentious accent, she now comes across as an Arab parody of Rosie Perez.

And:

In September of 2014 Sarsour claimed she was the victim of a hate crime, but in the Brooklyn neighborhood where the alleged incident took place there is a consensus this was nothing but an attention-seeking hoax and media ploy. Sarsour claimed she was attacked by a man who hurled slurs and threatened to behead her. It turned out the alleged assailant was a well-known 45-year old mentally ill, local homeless man. ...We could not find a single person in the neighborhood who considered him a threat. Another interesting fact casts more doubt on Sarsour’s story. On the day of the alleged incident Sarsour had called the police before the alleged attack reporting the alleged assailant as a “suspicious person” as if he is unknown. This is rather strange given that the “suspicious person” was a regular fixture in the neighborhood well-known to Sarsour and the rest of the residents by name. In all likelihood, the homeless, neighborhood drunk was, as usual, making stupid comments and kicking around a trash can. Instead of providing him with a hot meal and helping him find shelter, Sarsour decided to exploit his presence near her office to fabricate a hate crime casting herself as the fearless defender of the community under attack for her work on our behalf. Sarsour took to Twitter and Facebook assuring everyone she was doing fine, thanked them for their concern and condolences, and pledged to never be intimidated or back down. After all, she is tough and everybody knows you “don’t mess with Brooklyn.”...For Sarsour to exploit the current environment of Islamophobia and the very real dangers encountered by Muslim women wearing the hijab to engage in a publicity stunt is not only manipulative and unethical, but outright disgraceful. It also provides further insight into her motivations while revealing a complete lack of a moral compass.

And:

When Trayvon Martin was murdered Sarsour penned an article titled “My hijab is my hoodie” and declared herself “among the millions mourning the killing of Trayvon”, but had this young black youth been living in Sarsour’s neighborhood he would not have been allowed into her home or anywhere near her own kids and family. ...In our visit to NY we encountered a strong backlash against this aspect of Sarsour’s activities among those who know her best. It turns out Sarsour is known to harbor an ugly racism towards African-Americans which makes her latching onto the BLM movement all the more galling. She rarely associated with or interacted with African-Americans (this explains why she views African-Americans through the prism of racist, media stereotypes) until the “activist” with political aspirations realized it can be to her benefit. Sarsour’s racism which she is now trying to hide is common knowledge among the Arab-American community in NY...

And:

In addition to a lack of conviction and principles, Sarsour has also demonstrated a very shallow understanding of her own favorite topics. Her knowledge of U.S. history, politics, and society does not extend beyond a Middle School curriculum and she approaches these subjects without any serious thought or critical analysis. Nevertheless, Sarsour has acquired important skills and abilities that have served her well. She has, for example, demonstrated an ability to memorize and regurgitate pseudo-revolutionary rhetoric and various slogans for specific causes. She has also been adept at exploiting her different identity markers such as Palestinian, Arab and Muslim, and depending on the topic or event, is capable of offering herself as a useful prop. She has also shown a great deal of skill in latching onto independent phenomena such as the BLM or a presidential campaign when she perceives it to serve her long-term interests.

Ikhras, in his or her radical pro-terror views, is probably more representative of how Arab Americans feel than Linda Sarsour. But a faker is a faker no matter what position you hold; I prefer people who tell the truth and Sarsour is only out to gain media attention for her own agenda.

The problem is, that faker is more effective politically. So she has to continue to be exposed.

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

From Haaretz:

In 2016, a few months after the nuclear agreement with Iran went into effect, a Western entity gave the International Atomic Energy Agency information regarding sites the Islamic republic did not report as part of its nuclear program and where, according to suspicions, forbidden nuclear military research and development activity was being conducted, Israeli officials involved in the issue told Haaretz.

The Western entity also shared the information with a number of the six world powers who were party to the nuclear agreement, officials said.

The officials noted that almost all the suspected sites have not been visited by IAEA inspectors – either because of Iran’s refusal to grant entry or UN officials’ reluctance to confront Iran on the issue.

“At one point we saw there was no one to talk to,” said one of the Israeli officials. “There is a whole list of suspicious sites where the Iranians do not allow inspectors to visit and no one enforces the supervision mechanisms established in the nuclear agreement. There is simply a demonstration of weakness in the IAEA when it comes to Iran. The sense is that Iran allows what it wants, and does not allow what it does not want.”
...[O]ne of the issues Israel and the West are concerned about regarding the Iranian nuclear program regards the sites Tehran did not reveal, where there is suspected research and development for a military nuclear program.

These sites were supposed to be addressed by the IAEA and Iran as part of an agreed track called the “possible military dimensions” of its nuclear program.

An official noted that the Western entity identified, among others, a civilian Iranian site of potential illegal nuclear activity. IAEA inspectors asked Iran to visit the site, but the Iranians did not allow them to visit the site immediately, attempted to raise objections and created bureaucratic obstacles that caused the visit to be substantially delayed.

The officials said the Iranians refused to allow inspectors to visit a series of other suspicious sites, claiming they were military bases and, therefore, were not covered by the nuclear accord and that they were not required to allow access to inspectors.

According to an Israeli official, “When it comes to visits to suspicious sites, the agreement is not implemented. There are almost no visits and visitors are not allowed to visit. In this context, the agreement is not being realized in spirit and word.”

There is a lot of speculation that President Trump will decertify Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal on October 15. There are plenty of reasons that can be done quite legally given Iran's behavior and statements..

October 15 is the date when Trump must inform Congress if Iran is complying with the terms of the deal and whether it remains in U.S. national security interests.

The issue is complex legally and technically, but October 15 is the date to watch.

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From AP:

Israel on Thursday said the international marathon body was injecting politics into sports by excluding an Israeli race because it passes through West Bank territory, which the Palestinians and most of the world considers to be occupied.

The Israel Marathon Association said the Association of International Marathons and Distances Races had displayed a “discriminatory nature” against the Bible Marathon that “will certainly result in great anger” among runners around the world.

Next month’s Bible Marathon stretches from Rosh Ha’ayin in central Israel to the West Bank settlement of Shiloh, tracing a path described in the Book of Samuel. Organizers call the route the oldest recorded marathon in history.

The Greek-based organization said it had to exclude the Israeli marathon to comply with “international public law.”

The Israeli association asked it to reconsider, saying that its decision was “prompted by a campaign organized by political activists” and rested on false legal premises. It also noted that the organization has long recognized the Laayoune Marathon in the disputed Western Sahara region controlled by Morocco.

The history of the Bible Marathon is actually very interesting: the 42-km route was used by a runner way before the original marathon story:

“Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn…”

One of the first runs recorded in human history—long before the “marathon” told of in Greek mythology—is mentioned in the Bible, in the beginning of the book of Samuel. At the end of the war between the Israelites and the Philistines, the “man of Benjamin” runs from the battlefield at Eben Ezer (modern day Rosh Ha’ayin) to Shiloh, city of the Tabernacle.

Many centuries later, the founder of the Maccabiah games, Yosef Yekutieli, set out to measure the length of the course from Rosh Ha’ayin to Shiloh, in the Benjamin region. He was amazed to find that the length of this historic path precisely matched that of the modern marathon – 42 kilometers (the official length of the Olympic running contest, determined in 1908 at the London Olympics).

The legend of the marathon, of course, is Greek and took place hundreds of years afterwards:

The name Marathon[n 1] comes from the legend of Philippides or Pheidippides, the Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought),[3] which took place in August or September, 490 BC.[4] It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming νενικήκαμεν (nenikēkamen, "we have won!"), before collapsing and dying.

Indeed, the first recorded "marathon" in history happened in biblical Israel, not in Greece! (Maybe that is one reason the Greek-based Association of International Marathons and Distance Races decided to withdraw support - jealousy!)

Apparently, UNSC 2334 - the resolution that Barack Obama tacitly supported by refusing to veto it - is being used as the pretext for this decision.

A legal answer to this absurd decision was written by the Kohelet Policy Forum in this press release:

JERUSALEM (17/9/2017) The Bible Marathon, which traces the oldest recorded marathon route in history from Rosh Ha'ayin to Shiloh, has had its membership revoked by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) after BDS activists claimed that its route violates international law. The organizers of the annual running event received notice from the President of AIMS rescinding their membership claiming that the race went beyond the boundaries of the State of Israel and therefore was a violation of UNSC resolution 2334. The Israeli Marathon Association promptly instructed Professor Eugene Kontorovich of the Kohelet Policy Forum to act on their behalf to legally resolve this issue, since there is no legal precedent for such actions.

Professor Eugene Kontorovich responded to the discriminatory AIMS decision in a formal letter to the organization’s president in which he clearly showed that holding a cultural or sports event was not only a violation of any law but rather the common practice worldwide.

The Professor of International Law at Northwestern University and Director of International Law at the Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum explained: “There is no international law that prohibits running the route of the world’s oldest race because it finishes in Ancient Shiloh. You can’t have one international law for Israel and another for the rest of the world. By definition international law applies to everybody.”

Kontorovich cited multiple annual sporting events including marathons that are held in disputed or occupied territories:“Examples include the Internationale de l'Automobile, which sanctions Formula 1 races in Jerusalem; Fédération Western Sahara; the International Triathlon Union authorizes Moroccan events in Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) recognizes Moroccan teams in occupied occupied Western Sahara; and the International Trail Running Association approves races in Russian-occupied Crimea. In none of these cases have these actions been thought to be prohibited by international law.”

He went on to explain: “AIMS has for many years given full membership to the Laayoune Marathon, which takes place entirely in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. Indeed, on the AIMS website and catalog, the event is described as being in “Morocco” despite the rejection of this characterization by the international community, which regards it as occupied.”

The letter ended: “We respectfully request that the Bible Marathon promptly be given AIMS membership as required by the association’s rules, and by its longstanding practice. Such a decision will in no way involve an expression of opinion on AIMS part on the underlying political dispute. Failing this, we will resist AIMS’s unjust and politicized denial of membership to the world’s oldest running event in every forum available to us.”

Thousands of runners from Israel and abroad are expected to participate in the October 6th Bible Marathon, in spite of the AIMS decision, which the organizers hope will be rectified by then.Thousands of Bible believing Jews and Christians are also expected to lodge formal complaints with AIMS, for discriminating against the race because of its unique Biblical roots.

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President Trump's Rosh Hashanah Message

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP
AND SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT JARED KUSHNER
ON A CALL TO JEWISH LEADERS

Via Teleconference

MR. KUSHNER: Welcome, everybody, and thank you for joining us here today. This is the most special time of the year for the Jewish people. This Wednesday evening begins Rosh Hashanah, the first of 10 days of repentance, that concludes with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Since January 20, I have had the great honor of serving in President Trump's administration. Anyone that knows the President understands that he takes great pride in having a Jewish daughter and Jewish grandchildren. His love and respect for the Jewish people extends way beyond his family, and into the heart of Jewish American communities.

Under the President’s leadership, America's relationship with the State of Israel has never been stronger, and our country’s commitment to Israel’s security has never been greater.

It is my great honor to introduce the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump.

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, and thank you for joining this call.

To the many leaders, Rabbis, and Jewish friends who are on the line, I am delighted to speak with you and to wish you Shana Tova, a sweet New Year.

I send the Jewish community my warmest wishes as we approach the High Holy Days.

The Jewish tradition of making time and taking time each year to rededicate your lives to the sacred values you hold dear not only improves yourselves but strengthens our nation and inspires us all.

As we mark the beginning of the year 5,778 in the Jewish calendar, I want to express my deep admiration for the Jewish people. Throughout the centuries, the Jewish people have endured unthinkable persecution.

I know with us today on the call are several Holocaust survivors. We are honored beyond words by your presence. You have borne witness to evil beyond human comprehension, and your perseverance is a lasting inspiration to us all. By telling your stories, you help us to confront evil in our world and we are forever grateful.

I am proud to stand with the Jewish people and with our cherished friend and ally, the State of Israel. The Jewish State is a symbol of resilience in the face of oppression -- it has persevered in the face of hostility, championed democracy in the face of violence, and succeeded in the face of very, very tall odds. The United States will always support Israel not only because of the vital security partnership between our two nations, but because of the shared values between our two peoples. And I can tell you on a personal basis, and I just left Israel recently, I love Israel.

That is why my administration has successfully pressured the United Nations to withdraw the unfair and biased report against Israel -- that was a horrible thing that they did -- and to instead focus on real threats to our security, such as Iran, Hezbollah, and ISIS.

This next New Year also offers a new opportunity to seek peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, and I am very hopeful that we will see significant progress before the end of the year. Ambassador David Friedman, Jared, Jason, and the rest of my team are working very hard to achieve a peace agreement. I think it’s something that actually could happen.

I am grateful for the history, culture, and values the Jewish people have given to civilization. We forcefully condemn those who seek to incite anti-Semitism, or to spread any form of slander and hate -- and I will ensure we protect Jewish communities, and all communities, that face threats to their safety.

I want to thank each of you for the ways in which you contribute to our nation. America is stronger because of the many Jewish Americans who bring such life, hope, and resilience to our nation.

Melania and I wish everyone a sweet, healthy, and peaceful New Year. Thank you very much.
________________________________

It is a reasonable message. Even though it is obviously scripted (as were all of previous presidents' messages on similar topics) it directly goes after the stupid idea that Trump is an antisemite or supports antisemitism. There are plenty of things to complain about with the current president, but the Trump Derangement Syndrome has eclipsed that of Bush in the sheer amount of lies about him that the media says every day.

Of course, moving the embassy to Jerusalem would mean a lot more than statements.

Nevertheless, liberal Jewish leaders - many of whom said they would boycott the call - are upset that the ones who attended didn't get a chance to ask questions and that this call was much shorter than previous ones.

Comparing Trump to other presidents should be considered obviously absurd nowadays. He campaigned on being different. He thrives on it. He should be judged by what he says and does, period. If you want to compare him to an Obama who spent 45 minutes talking to the rabbis on the annual call, then you must also mention that Obama deliberately elevated J-Street specifically to split the Jewish community on Israel. He actively tried, and to an extent succeeded, in damaging the relationship between Israel and American Jews, and the rabbis who are grumbling now are the same type of rabbis who support that exact split.

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.

09/16 Links: With Strike on Syrian CW, Israel May Have ‘Done a Service to Humanity’; The Islamic State’s Fourth Attack in Britain in 2017

From Ian:

The Islamic State’s Fourth Attack in Britain in 2017

At 8:20 on 15 September 2017, a bomb detonated in a rear carriage of a tube train at Parsons Green station in London. The passengers on the packed, rush-hour train described a flash “fireball” that travelled down the train. Thirty people were injured, some horribly burned, but there were no fatalities and the main explosive clearly did not detonate.

The creation of a bomb is a more sophisticated operation than a stabbing or vehicle-ramming attack, but it is important to maintain perspective: the device used in this case was primitive. On examination, the crude device—a bucket containing the mixed chemicals and nails, left in a Lidl bag—proved to contain triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and to have been on a timer. For reasons unclear, it is likely that “only the initiator or a fraction of the main charge had exploded”, leaving the bucket intact.

TATP is sometimes said to be a “signature” of the Islamic State (IS), which is not quite right. TATP has shown up in a number of IS attacks in Europe and it is evidently a competency of theirs to handle this notoriously-volatile substance. Still, similar devices have been seen before.

The 21 July 2005 attempted follow-on attack to the 7 July massacre on the London transport system by al-Qaeda saw four TATP-based devices not unlike the Parsons Green one detonated on three tube trains and a bus with results akin to what happened yesterday. The wiring used to create the timer on the bomb appeared to include fairy lights, of the kind used on Christmas trees, and this was seen in the Boston bombing on 15 April 2013.

UK experts say London bomb didn’t detonate properly, could’ve left dozens dead

British counterterror specialists said the bomb detonated on the London Underground on Friday could have been more deadly than the explosives used in the 7/7 attack if it had detonated properly.

Despite the crude appearance of the bomb, which was placed in a bucket inside a shopping bag, a former counterterror investigator with the Metropolitan Police Service said the explosive device was in fact quite sophisticated.

“Whoever built this was not an amateur – it has many of the hallmarks of devices used by terror groups, but the use of the timer to set off the initial part of the device is something we have not seen before in the UK,” David Videcette said, adding, “Had it gone off successfully it would have caused a huge loss of life.”

In an opinion piece for The Independent, Videcette said the bomb’s failure to detonate was likely due to a lack of testing to ensure all the parts work and not a lack of expertise on the bomb maker’s part.

“This person has researched what they’re doing and possibly been taught by someone else. They have also been able to collect all the component parts of an explosive device, assemble it, and deliver it to its target without detection by police and Security services,” he said.

He also said the placement of the bomb in a shopping bag showed those behind the bomb had a clear understanding of how to handle explosives and that the use of the bag should not be viewed as primitive.

Man arrested in connection with London train bombing

British police arrested an 18-year-old man in the southern port of Dover on Saturday in a "significant" development in the hunt for the people behind a London commuter train bombing that injured 30 people a day earlier.

Prime Minister Theresa May put Britain on the highest security level of "critical" late on Friday, meaning an attack may be imminent, and soldiers and armed police deployed to secure strategic sites and hunt down the perpetrators.

The home-made bomb shot flames through a packed commuter train during the Friday morning rush hour in west London but apparently failed to detonate fully.

"We have made a significant arrest in our investigation this morning," said Neil Basu, Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing.

"Although we are pleased with the progress made, this investigation continues and the threat level remains at critical."

The arrest was made in the port area of Dover, where passenger ferries sail to France.

The blast on the London tube train at the Parsons Green underground station was the fifth major terrorism attack in Britain this year and was claimed by Islamic State.

On Battle of Britain Day: if German blitz on London were reported like Islamic terror attacks

Today is Battle of Britain day. With another terrorist attack in London today and the standard mainstream media and political response it is worth considering this ......

09/15 Links Pt2: Phillips: Britain’s alarming antisemitism problem; BDS vs. the iPhone X

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: Britain’s alarming antisemitism problem

In 2002, on the BBC TV show Question Time, I was accused of dual loyalty in front of a jeering studio audience. My crime had been to defend Israel against demonization and double standards by both the audience and other members of the panel.

At that time I had visited Israel only twice in my life, two years previously. No matter. A British Jew defending Israel was – and is – immediately accused in some quarters of incipient treachery toward Britain, just as throughout history antisemites have accused Diaspora Jews of dual loyalty or treachery merely because they are Jews.

I thought of my own experience, of course, when I read the report on antisemitism in the UK published this week by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.

There is currently much disquiet over the Labour Party’s conspicuous failure to address significant antisemitism within its ranks. But there has long been far wider concern among many British Jews about the antisemitic discourse, harassment and physical attacks which have become sickeningly commonplace in Britain over the past few years.

The report’s author, Daniel Staetsky, describes a situation which is complex.

Only around 5% of the population are out-and-out antisemites holding multiple anti-Jewish attitudes. Nevertheless, about 30% subscribe to some kind of antisemitic views.

The key is Staetsky’s distinction between antisemites and antisemitism. For while the number of antisemites is very small, the amount of antisemitism diffused throughout British society is much greater.

David Collier: Why you shouldn’t just shrug your shoulders at SOAS

So why is it important

It is important because it shouldn’t be happening anywhere. Just recently, Jonathan Arkush met with Baroness Amos. He described the meeting as ‘the worst of his life’. At the very top of SOAS, those in control have lost their way. Rather than bring the university in line, they have become protectors of the disintegrating environment. The Board of Deputies of British Jews is now considered a hostile element by a UK university and treated as such. A quick search will provide dozens of examples, of anti-Israel and Jewish rhetoric delivered at SOAS. Just one website, Richard Millett’s lists more than a dozen of his own personal experiences.

Yet SOAS is just an example of what can and will happen, wherever the perfect storm is created. Anti-Zionist activists, funding and the social and ethnic make-up of the students. Nobody has any interest in addressing the problem. At SOAS, Jews are not just a minority, they are a hunted minority. If you are Jewish with a soft spot for Israel you hide in the undergrowth or become prey. At a place like SOAS, which is so dependent on pacifying the mob, the Jews are left unprotected.

SOAS isn’t some regional town. It is a university. SOAS is like a local police station where the officers are all corrupt, were those arrested can have unfortunate accidents and local minorities live in fear of the authorities. SOAS is like a local council, where the Councillors prohibit Jews from certain professions unless they are willing to convert to the local church belief. This is an indication of a societal problem at an organised level. Not just a bad street, not just a bad town, but a bad Executive. A growing problem, developing at the very heart of our society. One that clearly threatens Jews.

Like a cancer it has to be rooted out. We need to identify what the problem is. Why Baroness Amos stands atop a rotten edifice, that betrays all of the core values it is meant to hold dear. We need to ask why is the lie unchallenged? Is it the demographics? Is there finance entering campus that is proving detrimental to Western society? What exactly is it that is developing in the academic undergrowth? Everyone who views SOAS with distaste should want to understand just which variables need to be in place to create an environment like this.

If you don’t want all universities to eventually look like SOAS looks today, you have to understand why this is happening. Why in London there is a university that threatens people who tell the truth. First there was one, now there are several of these pockets, spread across the country. A disease that is spreading. Which is why you cannot, must not, just shrug your shoulders.

Richard Millett: Jackie Walker brings her “lynching” to SOAS.

Then Walker was joined for a Q&A by three other anti-Israel activists: film director Ken Loach, author and journalist Victoria Brittain, and academic Prof. Jonathan Rosenhead.

The Q&A session basically turned into a full attack on the Jewish Chronicle and those writing for it who Walker called “proto-fascists”, The Jewish Labour Movement (Walker thinks the JLM should not give training sessions on anti-Semitism), the Israel Advocacy Movement who Walker accused of digging into her Facebook, the Labour Party compliance unit who Walker thinks is leaking everything to the Jewish Chronicle, the Campaign Against Antisemitism and the Community Security Trust who Walker said “churn out biased surveys all the time”, the so-called “weaponisation of antisemitism” (see above), the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s Working Definition of AntiSemitism which is being increasingly adopted by governments and councils, and, of course Israel.

These hard-left activists want the IHRA defintion changed because they only recognise the neo-Nazi type anti-Semitism as seen at Charlottsville. That means they, in their opinion, can never be considered anti-Semitic.

They don’t like the IHRA classifying “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” as anti-Semitism. That’s because they want the end of the only Jewish majority state.

Media screams about Israel's arms exports to Myanmar. Reality: It's minuscule.

From The Independent last week:

Israel is under fire from human rights groups for the continued sale of weaponry to the Burmese junta after intensified violence against the country's Rohingya Muslim minority.
More than 100 tanks, as well as boats and light weapons, have been sold to the Burmese government by Israeli arms companies, investigations by several rights watchdogs have found.
One company, TAR Ideal Concepts, has also trained Burmese special forces in northern Rakhine state, where much of the violence is taking place, posting pictures on their website of its staff teaching combat tactics and how to handle weapons.
An army crackdown triggered by an attack on 25 August by Rohingya insurgents on Burma security forces has triggered a major humanitarian crisis. At least 400 people have been killed and nearly 125,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh.

Similar articles in Haaretz and Middle East Eye make it sound like Israel has a huge trade with Myanmar/Burma and imply that Israel is it's major supplier of arms, especially arms being used against the Muslims there.

This is a all a lie.

Israel's arms sales to Myanmar are tiny compared to that country's total arms imports.

Here's the chart from SIPRI that details the amount, in millions (of dollars, I believe) for the past seven years.

Source: SIPRI Arms Transfers Database
Generated: 15 September 2017

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	Total
Belarus						6	51	57
China	5	277	254	190	65	185	190	1166
France					8	8		16
Germany (FRG)						4	4	8
India				6		27	12	45
Israel	20	1						21
Russia	44	380	144	55	28	12		663
Ukraine		7				4	4	14
Unknown supplier(s)		1						1

Total	68	667	398	251	101	245	261	1991

Israel provides about 1% of all arms to Myanmar since 2010, and nothing recorded since 2011! There are some reports of some more recent purchases than mentioned in this report, but they are small - a patrol boat, some specialized rifles.

Somehow, French and German arms dealers managed to sell arms to Myanmar far more recently, more than Israel did, and yet no one is reporting on that. And EU countries are officially banned from doing exactly that! Apparently, that is not very newsworthy.

I'm not justifying even Israel's tiny number of sales, of course. But while it may be true that Israeli arms manufacturers will sell weapons to unsavory nation-states (which is what every arms dealer in the world does subject to local laws) the emphasis on only Israel in reference to the current massacres there is proof not of Israel's evil but of the media's utter anti-Israel bias.

And those 100 tanks? Oh, they were sold in 2005!

The story isn't Israel's actions. The real story is why, yet again, Israel is singled out and its actions are amplified totally out of proportion to reality. The incredible bias by the media and NGOs to blow up Israel's role and ignore any context whatsoever is more shameful than Israel's actual actions - because by ignoring the actual sources of arms that are being used to murder the innocent, the media is exculpating them.

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09/15 Links Pt1: Abbas's appalling record; PA TV: Song - Israel is “the snake’s head”

From Ian:

Abbas's appalling record

Next week, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas will once again stand at the rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly. Once again, an American administration is begging Abbas to put on his “moderate” mask, and not to “exacerbate” the situation with an inflammatory speech or with extreme moves against Israel.

I say that this not a real test of presumed Palestinian moderation. The real question is: How far can Abbas go in opposing real negotiation and compromise, encouraging violence, venerating terrorists, and pushing the criminalization of Israel internationally – while still being considered a paragon of peace by the global community?

Consider: For almost two decades, Israelis have been told that Mahmoud Abbas was the most reasonable Palestinian leader they could hope for; that he was Israel’s best partner for peace; that he was the moderate with whom a grand compromise deal could be reached. Israelis wanted to believe this so very much.

But then came the Abbas who walked away from prime minister Ehud Olmert’s outrageously generous territorial offer in 2008; and the Abbas who refused peace talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even after Netanyahu froze settlement construction; and the Abbas who left US secretary of state John Kerry out in the cold in 2014.

Then there was the “PaliLeaks” opportunity to ready the Palestinian public for compromise with Israel. But Abbas ran away from that gateway, too, vigorously denying the hints of compromise with Israel (about refugees, Jerusalem, and borders) that were in the leaked documents.

Ever since then, Abbas has used every international forum to spew forth extremist vitriol against Israel and seek the criminalization of Israel. His record of speech-making at the UN General Assembly is particularly appalling.

PMW: Israel is “the snake’s head” in song on PA TV

A documentary broadcast on official Palestinian Authority TV called Tunisia in Palestinian Memories featured a song, which demonized Israel as "the snake's head":

Tunisian journalist Rashid Al-Buka'i:
"Oh Palestinians, [the Zionists] shot you with a rifle
The Zionists kill your doves at the holy sites."
Song writer Sheikh Imam:
"Oh Palestinians,
I want to go and be with you
With fire in my hands,
and together with you my hand
will strike the snake's head [Israel]."
[Official PA TV, "Tunisia in Palestinian Memories," Sept. 5, 2017]

The song was also performed at a Fatah event in 2011 in front of Mahmoud Abbas, and other senior PA and Fatah officials. It has been broadcast several times since by PA TV and PA TV Live, as documented by Palestinian Media Watch. Other versions of the song have been broadcast as well.

Portraying Israel as the enemy who is a "snake" is a repeating symbol in Palestinian imagery. In a terror promotion video during a Palestinian terror wave, a Fatah fighter demonstrated that he was able to eat a live snake, possibly symbolizing "the enemy":

This article from Iran's Mehr News has all the crazy in one spot:

TEHRAN, Sep. 15 (MNA) – Ayatollah Khatami said the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has never allowed foreigners to gain access to confidential information of Iran and military sites will therefore remain top secret.

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, who led the Friday Prayers today, referred to Myanmar disaster saying “nearly 400,000 people have been killed or become homeless; which marks a huge human catastrophe.”

“The Zionist regime undoubtedly plays a role in these movements as confirmed by the UN special envoy who said Israel was the main sponsor of Myanmar’s military,” underlined the official.

The interim leader of this week’s Tehran Friday prayers said the case of Myanmar was not merely a religious or tribal dispute since we are faced with a government who is slaughtering Muslims with all-out cruelty.

He recalled the leader of Myanmar was a Noble Peace Prize winner saying “as expected, head Noble Peace Foundation said the prize will not be taken back from Aung San Suu Kyi since the Foundation is Zionist in nature.”

The cleric stated that, once again, international communities and some Islamic countries were exercising silence in the face on these crimes adding “Muslims are being murdered in Yemen and, unfortunately, no appropriate action is being taken.”

He later added that ongoing crimes were signs of enemies fear from Islam which is advancing forward at a high pace.

Referring to the issue of referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan, Ayatollah Khatami said global arrogance, for ages, has dreamed of forming an Israel in the region though the dream will never come true.

“The Israeli prime minister has publicly supported the referendum and leader of Iraqi Kurdistan needs to realize that his initiative merely works to favor of the Zionist regime and leads to destruction of Iraq.

Ayatollah Khatami, touching upon inspection of Iranian military centers, said IAEA Head Amano has stated that military and civilian sites are both included in inspections while neither in the Additional Protocol nor in the JCPOA are foreigners allowed to gain access to confidential information of the country.

“Military centers will remain as part of secrets and honors of a nation and neither the authorities nor the people will allow aliens to enter these sites,” he concluded.

They sound like reasonable people to partner with to gain stability in Syria and Iraq, don't they? It doesn't sound at all like Iran wants to create a Shiite crescent all the way to the Mediterranean, does it?

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Is the purpose of aid to help people become self-sufficient, or to ensure that they ossify and become more and more dependent?

The answer should be clear, but for UNRWA, it is the latter.

UNRWA's original intentions were noble - it was meant to be temporary until the Arabs displaced in 1948 could find homes and citizenship - but within only a few years it morphed into a welfare institution and no longer encouraged people to take responsibility for their lives.

The Arab recipients of UNRWA aid, for their part, thought of these extensive benefits - free medical services, free housing, free schooling that in many ways is better than that of surrounding Arab states - were their right. And over time, as UNRWA grew, they felt that employment was an additional right as well. Nearly all UNRWA employees are Palestinian Arab.

There was a protest in Gaza last week against UNRWA - because the fake refugees demand not that their own Hamas de facto government takes care of them, and not that the PA takes care of all their needs, but that the world should continue to bankroll everything they demand. For free.

You can see two of their demands in English:

The real question is - why are "refugee" numbers increasing annually? Because they aren't really refugees, on two counts: one because they are descendants of displaced persons, and two because they are living in the boundaries of British Mandate Palestine and refugees by definition live outside their land!

Free electricity! A new demand for the world to pay for.

People in need should get help. But not forever. UNRWA is 50 years past its usefulness, and it is way past time to do something about this, unless the world wants to bankroll never ending Palestinian grievances - forever.

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.

Two Hamas terrorists dead in two tunnel collapses. Pass the candy!

TOI reports:

Two Hamas fighters died in separate tunnel collapses in the Gaza Strip overnight, the Palestinian terror organization, which controls the territory, said on Friday.

Khalil al-Dimyati, 32, and Yusef Abu Abed, 22, were killed after two “resistance tunnels” collapsed, Hamas said, referring to tunnels used for military purposes.

It did not give details of the locations or causes of the collapses, but confirmed the two men were members of Hamas’s armed wing.

A security source said one collapse was in Gaza City, while the other was near the city of Khan Yunis.

The Al Qaasam Brigades website honors these "martyrs":

Their martyrdom came after the march of a great and honorable jihad, and after hard work and Jihad and sacrifice, we count them martyrs...
...The Mujahideen of the Qassam heroes do not know how to rest, their silence is a jihad and they prepare for as long as the battle bears fruit, from training to manufacturing to digging tunnels of pride and dignity for the homeland. ... bound by the promise of the Hereafter, which is inevitably coming on the day of our Mujahideen expel the faces of the Zionists, God willing,from the land...The blood of our martyrs will remain a shining light in the path of liberating Palestine and burning the occupiers until they are defeated from our land.

I don't know exactly how Muslims officially become "martyrs," but in general Hamas issued statements - sometimes even after fatal car accidents - declaring and praying that Allah accepts them as martyrs.

Two fatal tunnel collapses in one day is unusual, especially when in the summer (during heavy rains many tunnels collapse.)

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09/14 Links Pt2: Samantha Power’s Quest for Self-Absolution; Dershowitz: Berkeley must defend Ben Shapiro's right to speak

From Ian:

Samantha Power’s Quest for Self-Absolution

People who served in the Obama administration are raiding the repositories of Holocaust memory, seeking Syrian absolution.

Earlier this month came a Holocaust Museum computational “study” that purported to prove that it was “very difficult from the beginning for the U.S. government to take effective action to prevent atrocities in Syria, even compared with other challenging policy contexts.” The study concluded that a more forceful American intervention wouldn’t have improved the situation and might have made things worse.

The museum suspended the project and scrubbed the “findings” from its website following an exposé in Tablet. It wasn’t lost on anyone that this episode came after three Obama National Security Council alumni were appointed to the museum’s Memorial Council and two others joined its staff.

Now comes Samantha Power’s tribute to Elie Wiesel in the Forward. The essay is excerpted from the former U.N. envoy’s introduction to a new edition of Wiesel’s harrowing Holocaust memoir, Night. Hers is a far more sophisticated exercise in self-absolution than the Holocaust Museum’s algorithmic shenanigans. But it is self-absolution all the same. The giveaway is that Power makes no attempt at applying Wiesel’s lessons to recent events in Syria.

The theme of Power’s essay is moral witness. “It can be hard to imagine that there was a time when the prevailing wisdom was not to bear witness,” Power asserts. “But that is precisely what it was like when Elie was writing.” The word “witness” and the phrase “bearing witness” appear five times in Power’s brief piece. Wiesel spoke out, she writes, when others—publishers, journalists, even survivors—preferred to forget or remain silent.

This is an obvious, almost banal point. Of course Wiesel bore witness! But his witness to Nazi evil had a future-tense moral purpose: to help counter other mass murderers and totalitarians. Wiesel campaigned for refuseniks trapped behind the Iron Curtain. He implored Bill Clinton to act in Bosnia. And most recently, he compared the Syrian regime and its Iranian patrons with the Nazis, asking: “How is it that Assad is still in power?” Wiesel didn’t just remember historical crimes; he decried contemporary inaction.

Samantha Power, by contrast, legitimized inaction. Having built her journalistic reputation examining America’s failure to stop mass murder in the 20th century, Power ended up lending moral cover to the Obama administration’s bystander policy on Syria (“Bystanders to Genocide” was the title of Power’s career-making 2001 Atlantic magazine report on the Clinton administration’s response to Rwanda). At the U.N., Power denounced Bashar Assad and his backers in Moscow and Tehran. But she refused to do the one honorable thing that might have jolted the Obama administration out of its moral torpor: resign.

Alan Dershowitz: Berkeley must defend Ben Shapiro's right to speak

I vividly recall the famous "free speech" movement at Berkeley several decades ago. The hard left demanded the right to express radical, often obnoxious, views on campus. Some on the hard right sought to ban these hard left expressions. Free speech prevailed.

Now it is the hard right that is demanding the right to make provocative speeches on campus and it is elements of the hard left that are trying to censor them.

But there is no symmetry in the means used to silence opponents. Today's hard left, led by Antifa and other radical and anarchistic gangs, do not shrink from the threat or use of violence to silence speakers with whom they disagree. These unlawful tactics have prevailed and several right wing speakers were forced to cancel their scheduled appearances on the Berkeley campus. This time free speech is losing.

Now there is a test case: Ben Shapiro, a thoughtful conservative with whose views I often personally disagree, is not merely a provocateur, as some other extreme right speakers are. These provocateurs come to campuses not so much to educate as to provoke responses. Although deliberately provocative speech is as constitutionally protected as other kinds of offensive expression, it is easy to understand why some administrators, faculty and students object to being used as part of what they regard as staged political theater deliberately designed to create conflict.

Ben Shapiro is different. He has something substantively important to share with the Berkeley academic community. If I were on that campus, I would want to listen to what he has to say, despite my disagreement with many of his views.

Yet there are those on the hard left who would stop me and others from hearing him. They cannot be allowed to do that.