Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, October 04, 2018

The reporter's "State of Palestine" question is more important than Bolton's answer

By now many have seen this clip of National Security Adviser John Bolton answering a reporter's question about his referring to the "so-called State of Palestine:"

Reporter: Ambassador, you just addressed Palestine and said it was a 'so-called state.' Is that language productive in achieving the president's...?

Bolton: It's accurate. It's not a state.

Reporter: But the president recommitted to, as you know, the President in New York City recommitted to his goal of achieving a a two-state solution."

Bolton: That's right.

Reporter: So is using that sort of language productive in his goal?

Bolton: Yeah, sure, of course! It's not a state now. It does not meet the customary international law test of statehood. It doesn't control defined boundaries. It doesn't fulfill normal functions of government. There are a whole host of reasons why it's not a state. It could become a state, as the president said, but that requires diplomatic negotiations with Israel and others. Calling it the so-called state of Palestine defines exactly what it has been, a position that the United States government has pursued uniformly since 1988 when the Palestinian authority declared itself to be the State of Palestine. We don't recognize it as the State of Palestine, we have consistently across Democratic and Republican administrations opposed the admission of Palestine to the United Nations as a state because it's not a state.

Bolton's answer is terrific and accurate (according to most but not all legal scholars.)

What this exchange shows, though, is how far the media has gone beyond reporting facts into only reporting what they think should be the truth. The reporter isn't disputing the facts; she is seemingly offended that Bolton stating a fact is not being "productive" towards a two state solution.

The thinking that the reporter has, along with many others and most nations in the UN, is that one should only mention what you want to be true, not what is actually true. The Palestinians pretend they have a state, so it is in the world's interests to go along with that pretense, which will somehow make it true.

And if you don't go along with their fantasy, then....what? That unstated question underlies a lot of how people look at the Middle East. Jews can handle facts, but Arabs...well, we have to protect them from the facts.

Their feelings would be hurt. They might walk away from peace talks that they have already walked away from. They will be more likely to resort to terror. We must go along with their fantasies if we want to make progress.

But there can be no progress nor productivity based on lies. Treating a group of wanna-be national leaders like children is not the way to get them to the table. On the contrary, it teaches them that they will be rewarded for acting like children.

Facts still matter. It is a shame that a field like journalism has forgotten that.

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From Haaretz:

There may be some relief in store for the electricity shortage in the Gaza Strip. Under an agreement drawn up in recent weeks, Qatar will finance the purchase of fuel for Gaza’s power plant.

The arrangement, which is supposed to go into effect in the coming days, will allow a significant increase in the supply of power to Gaza residents. Israel hopes that this development, which should provide an immediate improvement to residents’ daily lives, will reduce the risk of a military confrontation with Hamas.

Gaza now gets around four hours of electricity a day. The Qatari aid, estimated to be tens of millions of dollars, aims to raise the average to eight hours a day.

As Haaretz reported last week, talks on this issue have been taking place over the past few months under the UN envoy to the region, Nickolay Mladenov. Qatar was represented by its envoy to Israel and the territories, Mohammed al-Amedi. The Israeli official most involved was National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat. The breakthrough was reached at the conference of countries that donate to the Palestinians, which took place last week in New York alongside the UN General Assembly sessions.

Here's the part that Western media is so reluctant to report:

Previous talks had raised the possibility of increasing the electricity supply from Israel by upgrading the power line from Israel to Gaza, but this proposal met with difficulties because the Palestinian Authority objected. Understandings reached in the past regarding electricity were linked to legal and financial commitments by the PA. But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has refused moves to improve the electricity supply in Gaza unless there is progress in the PA-Hamas reconciliation talks.

Israel needs to negotiate with its enemy Qatar to provide electricity to Palestinians in Gaza, against the wishes of Palestinians in Ramallah. The Qatari fuel would be pumped directly from Israel into Gaza.

If it could, Israel would provide more electricity directly to Gaza but it is limited by existing agreements with Abbas.

These two facts by themselves shows that Israel cares more about the welfare of ordinary Palestinians than their own leaders do.

It is a stunning indictment of Palestinian leadership. But the media and world diplomats won't say anything negative about "peacemaker" Mahmoud Abbas, so this story gets buried along with the many others that show that Palestinian leaders don't care about their own people except as cannon fodder and political pawns.

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10/03 Links Pt2: Evelyn Gordon: ICC’s anti-Israel bias shows America is right to shun it; Bolton: Palestine ‘Is Not a State’; 'Blonde washing' terrorism

From Ian:

Evelyn Gordon: ICC’s anti-Israel bias shows America is right to shun it

In a public speech earlier this month, the American national-security adviser John Bolton sharply criticized the International Criminal Court (ICC) and threatened retaliation should it try to prosecute the U.S. or Israel. As Evelyn Gordon notes, multiple complaints against Israel have been submitted to the court, and its judges have twice failed to respect basic principles of impartiality with regard to those complaints. In one instance, the pre-trial chamber—tasked with determining whether charges filed by the prosecutor are sufficient to necessitate a trial—rejected the prosecutor’s own decision that Israel’s actions didn’t justify prosecution. And the court made an even more outrageous move in July:

Without waiting for [the ICC’s prosecutor Fatou] Bensouda to conclude any of her other Israel-related probes (the Palestinian Authority inundates her with complaints), the pre-trial chamber ordered the court’s registry to establish “a system of public information and outreach activities for the benefit of the victims and affected communities in the situation in Palestine,” open an “informative page” on the court’s website exclusively for Palestinians, and report to the chamber on these operations every three months with the goal of creating a “continuous system of interaction between the Court and victims, residing within or outside of Palestine.”

Bensouda has yet to conclude that any crime even occurred, much less that the court has jurisdiction over it (which is far from self-evident). Moreover, the judges have yet to see any evidence in the cases at issue. Yet by declaring the Palestinians to be victims to whom the court must reach out, they have effectively announced that they’re already convinced both that crimes have occurred and that they’re within the court’s jurisdiction. And if the judges have decided all this without even bothering to review any evidence, how could they possibly be trusted to evaluate the evidence fairly should Bensouda actually file charges?

Moreover, by twice sending Bensouda clear signals that they want her to indict Israel, the judges have undermined her credibility as an independent prosecutor. If she ever does file such charges, will it be because she truly considers them justified or only because it’s easier to placate the judges above her than to keep defying them?

Thus the court’s track record on Israel alone provides ample justification for Bolton’s broadside against it. Indeed, it ought to concern many countries since a court that’s biased against one country can’t be trusted to eschew bias against others. . . . And by refusing to overlook that uncomfortable fact—by refusing to grant a travesty of justice the honor due the real thing—America is upholding its highest ideals.

Bolton: Palestine ‘Is Not a State’

National Security Adviser John Bolton clarified for a reporter on Wednesday that Palestine is "not a state" when asked why he referred to it as a "so-called state."

"You just addressed Palestine and said it is a so-called state. Is that language productive?" a reporter asked, prompting Bolton to say his comment was "accurate" and that "it is not a state."

The reporter referenced President Donald Trump's support for a two-state solution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict last week and asked whether Bolton's language is productive in helping him achieve his goals.

"Yeah, sure. Of course. It's not a state now. It does not meet the customary international law test of statehood. It doesn't control defined boundaries. It doesn't fulfill the normal functions of government. There's a whole host of reasons why it's not a state," Bolton said. "It could become a state as the president said, but that requires diplomatic negotiations with Israel and others, so calling it the so-called state of Palestine defines exactly what it has been."

Bolton said the "so-called state of Palestine" description reflects a "position the United States government has pursued uniformly since 1988 when the Palestinian Authority declared itself to be the State of Palestine."

"We don't recognize it as the State of Palestine, we have consistently across Democratic and Republican administrations opposed the admission of Palestine to the United Nations as a state because it's not a state," Bolton said.

UNRWA recently announced it would fire some 100 Gazan Arab employees due to budget cuts. This resulted in massive protests held Monday, unbeknownst to Jewish Israelis, who were celebrating Simchat Torah, a short distance away. The protests must have been bad, for they struck abject terror in the hearts of all the lovely dedicated European souls who administrate UNRWA from within Gaza. We know this because the Israeli government was forced to step in and evacuate ten of them.

These international UNRWA managers knowingly employ teachers who praise Hitler & preach anti-Semitism & terrorism. I sent @matzschmale our info & he denied everything. Now they are literally running to Israel—from their own Gaza employees—to save their own lives. EU funds this. pic.twitter.com/u27zsbAJ34
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) October 2, 2018

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) issued an official statement, confirming the evacuation of UNRWA officials:

"A number of foreign UNRWA employees have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip to Israel. This is due to the tensions as a result of the financial crisis UNRWA is facing and subsequent concern for the safety of its foreign staff.

“The Hamas terrorist organization did not protect the agency's staff from the violence directed against them,” read the statement from Israeli officials.

Imagine that: 10 senior international UN employees begging to be rescued by the country that body has condemned more times than North Korea, Syria, and Iran combined! And specifically, from the UN agency that provides antisemitic schoolbooks to the children of Gaza, inciting them to violence against Israeli Jews.

And for more info on Matthias Schmale, chief of UNRWA's international staff in Gaza who are now fleeing to Israel—to save their lives after being threatened by their own Gaza employees—see thread: https://t.co/tUGrsgp3d3 @matzschmale
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) October 2, 2018

What are we to make of all this?

@Palestine_UN @COLRICHARDKEMP @epavard @haaretzcom Well, Well, look at this... @UNRWA running to Israel for help, imagine that...
— BrooklynBorn (@evanparke) October 2, 2018

The main takeaway seems to be that no matter what you give them, no matter how much land, money, and freedom they have, the Arabs can’t properly run a state of their own. You can analyze the reasons until the cows come home, but the fact remains: given all the tools of statehood, they have failed to create an independent state. Independent, that is, from Israel.

Israel always has to step in and rescue them from themselves. Or alternatively, to rescue the international workers sent to help them. It’s just pathetic.

The 2005 Expulsion of the Jews from Gaza (A/K/A Disengagement) was a chance for the Arabs to show they could build a state, given land, some infrastructure, a budget, and a government. It was a chance for them to show they didn’t need to depend on Israel for aid, jobs, or medical care. Alas, the Arabs ran true to type, destroying the greenhouses left them by the Jews, using the monies they receive to support pay to slay schemes and swollen government salaries, and as in Judea and Samaria, electing to be governed by terrorists.

Meantime, they protest in the tens of thousands, demanding to be let into Israel, the state they say should not exist, the state they continue to try to destroy, the state they should have no need of, with all that was provided them by Israel and by the world.

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I had a Twitter conversation with Arab-American journalist Ray Hanania on Sunday. It is worth reading.

My tweets are in plain text left-justified, Ray's are italicized and right-justified.

Jordan’s King Once Again Smears Israel at the UN

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It's about time someone called out Israel atrocities and violations of international law.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

You mean Israel is silencing UNHRC agenda Item 7 dedicated to Israel, the hundreds of resolutions at the UN, dozens of your own articles and thousands like them?

No, Ray, it is about time someone put Israel's actions in context of how EVERYONE ELSE ACTS.

Because Israels' human rights record compares favorably not only with the Arab regimes but also with other Western democracies, especially but not only when at war.

While you are to be commended for occasionally calling out Palestinian atrocities and attitudes, you cannot be serious and claim that they get the same airplay as Israeli actions that are far less evil.

So an Israeli soldier who puts a civilian nurse in his sniper scope and kills her from across the border because she is protesting or helping other victims. I guess that "far less evil"? Yikes! You look really bad pal

Compare with any nation at war. In history. Don't take out of context. Sometimes bad things happen, I would need to check out the incident, but has that ever happened in France? Spain? UK? US? They've done worse and you don't care.

Selective outrage means that there is another agenda than human rights.

Israel does more to protect civilians among its enemies than any country in history. Prove that wrong and we can talk.

But comparing Israel and only Israel against a standard of perfection is bias, period.

Soon I will write an article on how Israel's treatment of Muslims compares with that of European countries. Hint: No Burqa bans, no bans on minarets, and very few restrictions on the volume of the call to prayer (comparable to Muslim nations!) Why don't you write that instead?

Oh yea, but Israelis tend to kill more Muslims than Europe. Well, at least the victims can wear their hijabs when they are shot to death?

Ray, again, you are proving you are no journalist. Independent groups say as many at 10,000 killed in allied airstrikes against Syria and Iraq. voanews.com/a/us-led-coali…

Compare the transparency on Israeli investigations on unintentional killings in Gaza with US/EU investigations in Syria/Iraq. No comparison. But you don't want to compare, because context is your enemy. Only sarcasm. Keep proving that facts don't matter to you.

"Transparency"? Israel CENSORS Journalist reports inside/ outside, & expels journalists who violate the censors. Ask family of Abdel Fattah al-Sharif murdered by Israeli soldier Elor Azaria about transparency. Israel punished the person who videotaped it. Facts don't matter to u

Sigh. Vietnam, Grenada, First Gulf War, Iraq War - all censored by the US military.

Once again, you compare Israel against perfection rather than against other Western democracies at war. Which I mentioned earlier in this thread. Which is proof of bias, Mr. Journalist.

How you close your eyes to murder is really appalling and so unJewish, inhumane and really terrible. So you think it's ok that Israeli soldier snipers shot to kill protestors on the Gaza side of the border? Wow!

No. I'm saying that when the IDF denies targeting civilians I believe them over you who assumes they are. Because if they wanted to kill civilians, there were be tens of thousands dead.

You call them liars. I call you a liar. Who has more proof?

And of course you ignore my main point that Israel compares better than any other country. Do you claim otherwise? You are a journalist, Ray - do research and dig up facts rather than point to isolated accidents as proof of Israel's evil.

It's very un-Christian of you.

I have NUMBERS on my side. Every Friday Israeli snipers shoot, kill civilians but you look at Christians and Muslims as not being human or equal. That's apartheid racism. I feel like I am back in 1980s arguing over SouthAfrica Apartheid. Same responses. All u have is namecalling!

Please, Ray. Did you look at the videos of last Friday's "peaceful protest" complete with hand grenades?

You can't win on facts, Ray. You haven't disproved a single thing I have written. Including that the IDF doesn't target civilians.

Hamas puts civilians at the fence. Children. I have video. You cannot deny it. Israel tries to avoid killing civilians. You cannot deny that either because the casualty count is so low for tens of thousands at the border.

So you have yet to disprove anything I've said.

I have to go now. I'll make a blog post and I promise I'll keep all your words intact. I challenge you to do the same for me in an article. If you are so certain that you are right.

Me too, Thanks. But, I DON'T Believe the Israeli soldiers when they say killings were accidental or the victims were engaged in terrorism. That's a lie and an excuse & u know it. I ALWAYS speak out against violence on BOTH SIDES. When have u ever denounced Israeli violence?

As far as believing the IDF, I have read in detail many of the reports of investigations done my the independent @IDF_MAG_Corps and have been blown away at how meticulous they are. Have you ever read one of them and found something incorrect or missing? If you have, PUBLISH IT.

Amnesty and HRW don't bother to read them. They just look at the conclusion, say "whitewash," and you believe them. I have yet to see a single substantive criticism. So don't tell me IDF soldiers wantonly target civilians. It is a lie and a libel as a blanket statement.

Amnesty is one of the most reputable human rights organizations in the world, until they started criticizing Israeli practices and killings, and suddenly they are bad. So hypocritical.

If you are interested, I can prove Amnesty's bias against Israel beyond any doubt. Start here: Their "Gaza Platform," still online, contains HUNDREDS of lies (fake "civilians" Hamas admits were fighters) and they STILL refuse to correct it.

Read my research on it, contact Amnesty and demand that they update their figures. Then I would believe that you care about the truth. (Or disprove my research. Good luck.)

Here's one place where I unequivocally condemned the unjustified murder of a Palestinian youth.

But for the record, I want to make it clear that I want Israeli human rights to be even better than they are now. But not at the expense of the security of Israel's own citizens.

There is always room for improvement. That is not proof of being evil. Not even close.

So my question for you is, why don't you show some intellectual honesty instead of joining on the bandwagon to demonize Israel for things that EVERY OTHER WESTERN DEMOCRACY does without a word from hypocrites like you?

When so many do this so consistently, with only the Jewish state being so targeted, it sure feels like antisemitism.

And claiming that no one talks about supposed Israeli crimes is simply ridiculous.

You have yet to address my specific issues.

I'll make it clear, Ray: Saying that Israel, and only Israel, must come under extra scrutiny and criticism while EVERY OTHER NATION acting worse gets a virtual pass proves double standards. A grave violation of your supposed journalist standards.

He could not answer anything I said about double standards applied to Israel and only Israel.

He could not answer about his absurd implication that no one stands up for Palestinians when the world is obsessed with supposed Israeli crimes.

He could not admit that I have indeed spoken out against crimes by Israelis.

He could not admit that he was very wrong in his claim that Israel kills more Muslims than Europeans have. (Of course there are far more wars than the ones I mentioned.)

He could not provide proof that Israeli soldiers target innocent civilians.

People who are anti-Israel hate context. Israel must be compared to a standard of perfection, and always will fall short. Every single shortcoming is given as "proof" of Israeli evil, while every other Western democracy at war acts worse - higher percentage of civilian deaths, less transparency in their investigations, less independence in their investigations, less tolerance for Muslim minorities. But they aren't judged to the standards Israel is.

It seems too much of a coincidence that Israel is the only state that gets treated this way, and that Israel is the Jewish state.

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10/03 Links Pt1: UN Watch slams UNRWA officials who 'fled Gaza to Israel'; Intellectuals, Journalists In Gulf Attack Hizbullah Following Israeli Revelation Of Its Missile Sites In Beirut

From Ian:

Bibi’s Rallying Cry

"Anyone but King Bibi," is the sort of derisive comment you'll hear from a Tel Aviv resident in a bar after a couple of Goldstar lagers. But Israel's prime minister earned the nickname as praise after his United Nations appearance last week. Like him or not, Benjamin Netanyahu has proven effective at moving the ball down the court on the Iran issue. Even the extreme leftwing Haaretz complimented him for "one of his most convincing and effective performances."

It was a far cry from the Obama years when Netanyahu appeared to be "on the wrong side of history," a worn-out phrase favored by our ex-president, who could now use it to describe himself. As Netanyahu said: "When I spoke here three years ago Israel stood alone among the nations. Of the nearly 200 countries that sit in this hall, only Israel openly opposed the nuclear deal with Iran."

The difference this time is that Netanyahu has a 500-pound gorilla grinning behind him. On this issue America has Israel's back. Even as a candidate, Trump blasted the Iran deal as a sham. In May, he announced the United States was exiting the deal. In August, he re-imposed sanctions. Indeed, it's hard to imagine the United States could have done more to signal its support last week. "We are with Israel 100%," the president said at a joint press conference with Netanyahu Wednesday, a day after shredding Iran in a speech at the General Assembly in which he said Iran's leaders "sow chaos, death, and destruction" and "spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond."

National Security Adviser John Bolton got his shots in during a speech in New York, warning Iran of "hell to pay" if it defies America. "The days of impunity for Tehran and its enablers are over." Netanyahu also held warm meetings with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Watchdog slams UNRWA officials who 'fled Gaza to Israel'

Hillel Neuer, director of U.N. Watch, a nongovernmental organization that monitors the U.N.'s performance, ridiculed UNRWA's decision, saying it only confronts Hamas, the terrorist group that rules Gaza, when its employees' well-being is jeopardized.

"UNRWA foreign staff flee Gaza to Israel after Hamas allows protests, death threats [against them]. Yet not one word criticizing Hamas from UNRWA, its chief [Pierre] Kraehenbuehl, spokesperson Chris Gunness or Gaza chief Matthias Schmale. But they attack Israel daily," Neuer tweeted.

"Case in point of UNRWA hypocrisy. Hamas-led attacks on Israel border with guns, grenades, Molotov cocktails and wirecutters is Palestinians 'exercising their right to protest.' Protests targeting UNRWA's German and British managers is 'threat to security.'"

Kulanu MK and former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren also lambasted the agency, tweeting, "Hypocrisy or stupidity? Funny how the agency speaks of the Palestinians' right to protest when Hamas organizes 'Marches of Return' [the weekly violent demonstrations on the Gaza border, which include terrorist attacks on Israeli troops], but now UNRWA directors are fleeing for their lives into Israel because Hamas has threatened them. Confused? Me too."

According to Israeli officials, about 10 UNRWA employees were taken out of the Gaza Strip, but the agency's director of operations and deputy have remained there.

IDF denies Palestinian claims of fatally shooting elderly Gaza farmer

The Israel Defense Forces rejected a Palestinian claim that troops on Tuesday shot dead an elderly farmer in the Gaza Strip, saying it was unaware of any shooting incidents in the area at the time.

Earlier the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said a 78-year-old Palestinian, Ibrahim Ahmad Nassar al-Arouqi, was killed at his home by by Israeli fire near the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Some Palestinian reports claimed the man was killed by bullets, while others said he was hit by fragments of a tank shell.

The ministry said its investigation confirmed that al-Arouqi was killed by “the occupation” — its term for Israel.

An army spokesperson said the IDF did not know of soldiers or tanks opening fire in the area around the time of al-Arouqi’s death.

The 78-year-old was said to have been hit outside his home in the al-Maghazi refugee camp, which is located over a kilometer from the security fence — a long, but not impossible, distance for a bullet or shell to travel.

IsraellyCool: Latest Palestinian Libel: The Killing of The Elderly Dual-Identity Farmer

The palestinow Facebook page laments the “killing” of 72-year-old palestinian Ibrahim-Al-Arouqi, who looked like the average, loving grandfather. Well, except for the Hamas hat and scarf.

Quds News Network lament his “killing” as well. Except according to them, he was someone else – 72-year-old Ibrahim Nawwaf.

Note also how palestinow claimed we killed him after randomly opening fire at protesters at the fence, while Quds News Network claims he was killed after we opened fire at houses.

And the inconsistencies don’t end there. Palestinow report about the supposed killing on their website, claiming he was hit by a 250-mm bullet – fired by a tank.

Except there is no such thing as a 250-mm IDF tank bullet (confirmed with a military expert friend in the IDF). Note also how here, palestinow claim he was shot while in front of his house, which is “relatively far from the border fence” – even though in the Facebook post they claimed he was shot after we opened fire on protesters at the fence.

According to Ha’aretz, the Gaza Health Ministry say he was shot in the back – which I suggest would be difficult if he was sitting in front of his house as claimed above – unless he was sitting facing his house. Again, this does not seem kosher.

And in yet another version of what supposedly happened, Iran’s Press TV claims he was shot while working his land.

Add all of these inconsistencies to the fact that this has not even been reported by other palestinian news agencies like Ma’an and Wafa, and I am willing to bet this is yet another libel.

What the "grievance study" scandal means to the Arab-Israeli conflict (UPDATE)

This story is all over today:

A trio of concerned academics has published seven intentionally absurd papers in leading scholarly journals, making bizarre recommendations including chaining up children and keeping men on leashes.

The trio say the papers, which used fabricated authors and credentials, are an attempt to expose political bias in fields that study race, gender and sexuality, which they see as being misled by biased research and poor methodology.

Their papers argued for a slew of bewildering positions, including chaining up privileged school children as an educational opportunity and a push to include “fat bodybuilding”’ in professional bodybuilding competitions as a way to nullify fat shaming.

Another paper rewrote a chapter of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, replacing parts of Hitler’s political manifesto with terms including “solidarity allyship”, “neo-liberal feminism” and “'multi-variate matrix of domination”.

Each of the papers were peer-reviewed before being published, meaning they passed the highest level of critical assessment in their fields.

The trio went public with the project after The Wall Street Journal uncovered it, saying a paper which claimed dog parks are “petri dishes for canine ‘rape culture’" was ridiculous enough to pique the publication's interest.

"We intentionally made the papers absurd and used faulty methods to see if they could pass scrutiny at the highest level of academia. Concerningly, they did," James Lindsay, one of the authors of the papers, said.
"A rambling poetic monologue of a bitter, divorced feminist written by a teenage-angst poetry generator shouldn't be accepted as a scholarly article worthy of publishing."

In US humanities departments an academic with seven papers published within seven years is awarded tenure, an indefinite academic appointment. The trio completed these seven papers within 10 months.

I once noted the difference between two sets of Columbia University faculty that signed an anti-Israel or pro-Israel petition.

The anti-Israel professors were mostly concentrated in "soft science" fields like anthropology, gender studies, sociology, history and Middle East studies.

The pro-Israel professors were concentrated in engineering, medicine and law.

The hoax papers showed that in the soft sciences like sociology, scholarship is a joke. Papers are judged based on their conclusions, not on the rigor of their arguments, which means that these papers are written with the conclusion determined first, and the "facts" cherry picked or made up to support the foregone conclusion.

We see the same thing with anti-Israel "scholarship." The conclusion comes first - Israel is an apartheid state, Israelis are racist, the IDF targets civilians, or whatever the outrage flavor of the day is. Then they find some "facts," often fictional or highly deceptive, and publicize them. Actual facts and context are to be hidden if they don't match the "narrative." In fact, any Israeli actions that contradict the narrative are spun as if they prove the narrative (i.e., "pinkwashing.") Just as in "grievance studies," the conclusion is the driver to the evidence, not the other way around.

No wonder that academics who value truth and rigor tend to be pro-Israel and academics who favor narratives and political correctness lean towards the very victim-posing Palestinians.

And no wonder that the pro-Palestinian side tries to hijack any other grievance cause - women, people of color, first peoples, the disabled - to pretend that they are fighting the same fight, when in fact Palestinians are among the least liberal people on the planet.

UPDATE: One of the journals that fell for the hoax, Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, published this anti-Israel dribble in 2016. Who can tell the difference between hoax and anti-Israel "scholarship?"

Drawing upon subaltern geopolitics and feminist geography, this article explores how militarisation shapes micro-geographies of violence and occupation in Israel–Palestine. While accounts of spectacular and large-scale political violence dominate popular imaginaries and academic analyses in/of the region, a shift to the micro-scale foregrounds the relationship between power, politics and space at the level of everyday life. In the context of Israel–Palestine, micro-geographies have revealed dynamic strategies for ‘getting by’ or ‘dealing with’ the occupation, as practiced by Palestinian populations in the face of spatialised violence. However, this article considers how Jewish Israelis actively shape the spatial micro-politics of power within and along the borders of the Israeli state. Based on 12 months of ethnographic research in Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem during 2010–2011, an analysis of everyday narratives illustrates how relations of violence, occupation and domination rely upon gendered dynamics of border collapse and boundary maintenance. Here, the borders between home front and battlefield break down at the same time as communal boundaries are reproduced, generating conditions of ‘total militarism’ wherein military interests and agendas are both actively and passively diffused. Through gendering the militarised micro-geographies of violence among Jewish Israelis, this article reveals how individuals construct, navigate and regulate the everyday spaces of occupation, detailing more precisely how macro political power endures.

It sounds like Jews in Israel are prone to violence. Nah, nothing problematic about that.
(h/t Irene)

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Earlier this year, a far-left member of the Norwegian parliament nominated the BDS movement for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. There was a fair amount of publicity for this move, which the BDSers claimed was proof of their importance.

Is it that difficult to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize?

Not really. The Nobel Committee has criteria for who can nominate others for the prize, and tens of thousands of people - parliamentarians and university professors in certain fields among them - are qualified.

A friend of mine who happens to be one of those people has officially nominated my blog persona, the Elder of Ziyon, for the Nobel Peace Prize of 2019. (He unfortunately doesn't want his name published, but you can check that this is true in 2069 when the Nobel records for this year go public.)

Here is his nomination letter to the Nobel Committee. I think you will agree that I am far better qualified to win the prize than the BDS movement is.

Nomination of the Elder of Ziyon for the Nobel Peace Prize

One doesn’t exaggerate in saying that the Israeli-Palestinian-Jewish-Arab- Muslim conflict is among the most protracted, most publicized conflicts in modern history. The previous Nobel Peace prizes given for the Oslo process were perhaps premature but surely well-intentioned, because anyone who makes progress toward resolving that seemingly intractable conflict is surely deserving of the prize. But sometimes that progress may not be so apparent, so visible; sometimes that progress is occurring in unexpected ways. Obviously negotiations are essential, but negotiations cannot make progress, I submit, except in a certain context; and that context is that everyone involved is working within the framework of “truth.” That is, ultimately, the parties (on both sides) must dispense with “narratives,” with “myths,” with “fantasies,” and so on, and recognize the truth, the truth of history, the truth of what is realistic, and so on. Although this is not the place for a polemic, for many decades now (at least since 1948), the conflict has proved intractable because the Arab side has told itself false stories about the legitimacy of Jewish presence in the region and has worked under the belief that it will be possible to remove that presence eventually. Much of the international community, with the United Nations leading the charge, has promoted that false belief by consistently encouraging the Palestinians in particular in their belief that they will “return” and take over the entire region, including what is now the State of Israel. This tactic has created significant intransigence in the Palestinians, and is (in my opinion) the single most important reason that peace—genuine “peace,” which involves mutual recognition of the two sides—has not come. As long as one of the sides seeks the disappearance of the other, peace cannot come. What is necessary, then, is a new tactic. Not one that promotes the falsehoods mentioned above, but one that is single-mindedly committed to the pursuit, and dissemination, of truth.

I can think of no better person who has dedicated his or her work to that pursuit than the journalist and blogger, Elder of Ziyon, whose work can be found at http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/. Not only has this individual regularly broken crucial and compelling stories, but he has, with laser intensity, pursued the truth about all the key elements of this decades-long conflict: about the Jewish connections to the Land and legitimate presence there, about the relevant wars, about the lies promulgated by the Palestinian side, about the inefficiency (at best), corruption (at medium), and malice (at worst) of international organizations such as the United Nations, about the rampant antisemitism that drives much Western antagonism to Israel etc. Spend some time studying his website, diving through the archives, and you will quickly recognize that you are finally cutting through the lies and fantasies and getting at the profound true roots and causes of this conflict—and it is only by exposing the true roots and causes that there is any hope of getting all the parties, the ones directly involved in the conflict and all the surrounding parties that inadvertently promote the conflict, to make the proper moves toward resolving it.

Not only is Elder of Ziyon maximally deserving of this prize, in fact, but the very awarding of the prize to this individual could itself help promote the peace process—because the recognition it would bring to his work would disseminate it more widely, and thus accelerate the process. Moreover, it would announce and confirm the deeper underlying truth: that true peace is only possible when one is at peace with the truth.

Please consider the Elder of Ziyon for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

I will need to update my business cards to say "Nobel Peace Prize Nominee" - at least until I win.

And a great thank you to my nominator, whose letter to the Nobel Committee is really a wonderful compliment to me.

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JPost reports:

Turkish police detained 280 suspects in a money-laundering investigation into the transfer of about 2.5 billion lira ($419 million) worth of foreign currency to bank accounts abroad, state media said on Tuesday.

The vast majority of recipients of the funds were Iranian citizens resident in the United States, according to a statement from Istanbul's chief prosecutor cited by Turkish media.

Police teams launched raids across 40 provinces and had arrest warrants for a total 417 people, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported. CNN Turk broadcast video of masked special operations police in combat gear and armed with automatic rifles entering an apartment block during one raid.

Police, the prosecutor and other judicial authorities declined to comment on the investigation.

The probe was aimed at those who "targeted the economic and financial security of the Turkish Republic," the Istanbul chief prosecutor's office said, according to CNN Turk.

The issue of foreign money transfers has become politically sensitive in Turkey, which is in the throes of a currency crisis. The lira has fallen about 40 percent against the dollar this year, prompting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to warn Turks against sending money abroad if it is not for investment.

"We will not forgive those who resort to smuggling money abroad if it is not to grow, develop and spread their business, trade and investments," Erdogan said in a speech to business leaders in April.

"The operation is not about forex transfers abroad by local residents. The operation is about terror financing and forex transferred to terror group members based abroad," Erdogan adviser Cemil Ertem wrote on Twitter.

The suspects were accused of money laundering, "forming a gang with the aim of committing crime," and "breaking a law aimed at preventing the financing of terrorism," the prosecutor's statement said. The operation was launched by financial crimes police.

Hurriyet newspaper said on its website that among those facing arrest were individuals with links to Kurdish, leftist and Islamist militant groups and some were also being investigated for drug smuggling.

One banking source said transactions of the kind targeted in the investigation are carried out by third persons who send money to accounts abroad in exchange for commission.

"The money they send is not their own. They try not to be noticed by always making transfers in small amounts and make profits from this," he said.

"People who are subject to limitations on transferring money abroad use such a method, getting others to make the transaction in exchange for commission," the source said.

"But because the money is again forwarded to unrelated third persons, it violates anti-money laundering regulations."

The prosecutor's statement said the suspects were accused of receiving commission for sending the money to 28,088 accounts abroad. The transfers were made from various bank branches and ATMs starting from Jan. 1, 2017 with sums of 5,000 lira and more, the statement said.

The crackdown comes months after a US court sentenced an executive from Turkey's state-owned Halkbank to 32 months in jail in an Iran sanctions-busting case. The bank has denied any wrongdoing and Turkey has said that case is politically motivated.

Turkish and Iranian media are saying that the US bank accounts in this scheme belong to Iranian Jews, many of them physicians and professors.

Some of those arrested are associated with Kurdish and Islamist terror groups, including the PKK and Hizbullah, according to Iranian media.

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10/02 Links: Col. Kemp: In the name of peace, it is time to accept Israel’s possession of the Golan Heights; Israeli public overwhelmingly in favor of Trump's policies; Charles Aznavour Dies at 94

From Ian:

Col. Kemp: In the name of peace, it is time to accept Israel’s possession of the Golan Heights

This is really the crux of the issue: Western action now could make a concrete contribution to preventing conflict in the future.

Syria is now and will remain for the foreseeable future under the domination of Iran. Through both actions and words, we know the Iranian ayatollahs are intent on aggression against the Jewish State. They are establishing a land corridor from Iranian territory through Iraq and Syria to Israel’s border and plan to link their forces in that area with Hezbollah’s strong offensive forces, including 100,000 rockets, in southern Lebanon. They have positioned their own forces and their proxies where they can threaten Israel and are intent on building these up and maintaining them in position for the long-term.

The Syrian government, as the civil war dies down and when it reconstitutes its forces with Russian assistance, will itself threaten Israel at Iran’s behest; and Hezbollah and other Iranian proxy militias will also continue to do so. If these — or any other — malignant entities gain possession of the Golan Heights the threats of cross-border indirect fire could well escalate, leading to the deaths of Israeli civilians and forcing Israel into an overwhelming response that would cause significant bloodshed. This would potentially draw southern Lebanon into a conflict that could easily explode into a regional war.

Israel’s possession of the Heights on the other hand is never likely to translate into offensive action against anyone. Israel has only ever fought on the defensive and its government sees neither Syria nor Iran as targets for aggression.

Iran, Syria and other entities proclaim Israel’s occupation of the Golan as an excuse for conflict. Iran and its clients in the region including Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, count on a weak Western response to their aggression, with appeasement and judgments of moral equivalence serving repeatedly to encourage their violence. The other side of the coin is that unequivocal rejection by the West of this excuse would reduce the prospects of conflict.

We understand President Trump is now considering some form of recognition of Israel’s legitimate and necessary possession of the Golan. We strongly support this proposal and encourage all other Western nations that are genuinely interested in the cause of peace to do the same.

Colin Rubenstein: Trump right not to pander to Palestinian leaders

There have been important considerations missing from much discussion of the Trump administration’s recent moves regarding Israel and the Palestinians. For example, there is little comment about whether the behaviour of the Palestinian leadership in any way warrants Trump’s seemingly harder line, whether the moribund peace process needs to be shaken up and, if so, whether Trump’s moves may actually be productive.
Protesters fly Palestinian flags and chant anti Israel slogans.

Protesters fly Palestinian flags and chant anti Israel slogans.
Photo: AP

Palestinians and their supporters worry that Trump’s so-called “ultimate deal” may give the Palestinians less than they have previously been offered. However, offers providing the Palestinian leadership what they claim to want have failed to lead to peace, or even further negotiation, so clearly a new approach is warranted.

We know that Israeli offers of Palestinian statehood are not what has been lacking. Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, working with Bill Clinton in 2000, and early 2001, offered the Palestinians statehood in Gaza and the vast majority of the West Bank. Instead of leading to peace, the terrorist second Intifada broke out.

In 2008, PM Ehud Olmert offered Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas a Palestinian state in all of Gaza, almost all of the West Bank, with land from inside Israel making up the balance, a land bridge between the West Bank and Gaza, a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem, Palestinian control over Muslim holy sites and a limited return of Palestinian refugees, with a financial settlement for the rest. This was all that the PA had claimed to want, yet, as he admitted in 2015, Abbas rejected the offer “out of hand”.

More recently, since Benjamin Netanyahu became PM in 2008, Abbas has refused to genuinely negotiate despite Israeli confidence-building measures such as freezing building in settlements and releasing Palestinian prisoners who had killed Israelis. US envoy Martin Indyk has said that in 2014, Netanyahu was “sweating bullets” to make peace. Yet Abbas just walked away from those talks. Since then, Abbas has refused to negotiate at all.

Now, the PA has announced it is going to reject Trump’s deal, despite not even knowing what it entails.

Concealed Carry AP Covers Up Arafat’s Gun at the UN

In an article last week about dramatic moments at the United Nations (“Laughter at Trump among a long line of shocking UN moments“), the Associated Press covers up the most dramatic element of Yasser Arafat’s 1974 United Nations address: that he brought a gun to the international body and even delivered the address while openly sporting the holster.

In his Sept. 26 article, Tamer Fakahany obscures that Yasir Arafat actually brought his gun to the United Nations and wore the holster during his address, instead presenting the unprecedented nature of his appearance there as relating only to the statement: “Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. I repeat: Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.”

The entire relevant passage in Fakahany’s piece states:
ARAFAT’S OLIVE BRANCH AND GUN
Yasser Arafat was the embodiment of the Palestinian quest for independence – a road littered with displacement and death. In 1974, he was invited to represent the Palestine Liberation Organization and his people before the world body, where he made it clear he was ready to use any means for statehood. He spoke of oppressed people and liberation the world over. Wearing his trademark Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, he concluded with an enduring quote: “Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun.Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.”

While the piece explicitly notes that Arafat wore a keffiyeh, it leaves out the much more significant and historic fact that he wore a gun holster. (According to an earlier AP report, he was forced to deposit the gun before mounting the rostrum.)

Chag Sameach! (Again!)

I wish all my Jewish readers a happy Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah!

I will not be blogging from Sunday night to Tuesday night.

You can see two of my previous articles on Simchat Torah flags here and here.

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09/30 Links: Wake up Europe; Democrats open the door to Congress for Hamas; Madrid is encouraging violence against Israel; Virulently anti-Semitic Malaysian PM welcomed in UK

From Ian:

Jpost Editorial: Wake up Europe

Appeasement might be a tough word and one that Netanyahu uses reluctantly, but he is right. Europe has turned a blind eye to what is happening in Iran and Lebanon for far too long. Sadly, it is unlikely that anything will really change due to Netanyahu’s speech, no matter how good it might have been.

Over a period of decades, Europe has shown that it prefers short-term quiet over confronting challenges and threats that present it and the rest of the world with long-lasting problems. The continent operates like a tactician as opposed to a strategist.

This is evident in the European Union’s continued support of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action the P5+1 reached with Iran in an effort to stop the Islamic Republic’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. While the EU might be right that the deal is working today, it will eventually expire and place Iran on the brink of nuclear weapons. And while it is true that Lebanon is today quiet, that will also change the moment Hezbollah decides to unleash a missile onslaught on the State of Israel.

Europe though doesn’t seem to care. While it knows all of this, it prefers not to take steps that could lead to an escalation, diplomatically or militarily. It sits quietly, enjoying the temporary quiet, no matter how much of an illusion it might be.

The problem is that Iran’s nuclear program is still a problem for the world. The same with Hezbollah. Neither are sitting quietly. Hezbollah has amassed an unprecedented missile arsenal that puts many countries to shame and Iran is simply playing the waiting game and will likely one day breakout toward a bomb when it assesses that the price it will pay will be the lowest.

Netanyahu explained that Israel does not need a wake-up call like Europe.

“Despite the best of hope, and there were many hopes around the nuclear deal, this deal did not push war further away. It brought war ever closer to our borders,” he said.

We hope that Netanyahu’s speech will serve as the wake-up Europe desperately needs. The time to act against Iran is now. A first step would be for the International Atomic Energy Agency to immediately visit the atomic warehouse and for Europe to take real steps that will bring change. Appeasement will fail.

The ground is burning

Israel developed a partial solution to the rocket problem and, with the help of the Iron Dome system, it has been able to mitigate the threats. Yet we've also been attacked with longer-range rockets and deeper underground tunnels. In a practical sense, the situation hasn't fundamentally changed over the past decade. The Gaza-area communities continue to suffer from Hamas belligerence and the south remains exceedingly unstable. On the diplomatic level, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi certainly helps narrow the scope of Hamas' initiatives, particularly by controlling the Philadelphi Route along their shared border and the Rafah crossing area, where Hamas' smuggling capabilities have dwindled. Again, though, taking a broader view, this hasn't dramatically changed the situation in the south.

Thus, since March, the IDF has used varying degrees of force to counter Hamas' ploys – whether these include protests, roadside bombs, and occasionally a 24-48 hour escalation consisting of rocket fire at Israeli civilians. Hamas has tried forcing Israel into another tahdiya although it appears this effort isn't bearing fruit. We can, therefore, expect another escalation in the near future and we will again have to ask: What's going to change?

The answer isn't surprising: Nothing will change unless this time Israel undertakes a massive operation to finally alter the situation on a fundamental level. Hamas needs to understand that the next confrontation will be its last. It will not provide hope. And Israel, for its part, needs to be ready to finish the job it left undone 10 years ago. The IDF is certainly ready and capable of this mission; the question is whether the will exists.

A compressive, far-reaching operation would unfold in several stages. The first will aim at isolating high-threat areas and cutting off escape routes for Hamas terrorists. The second will require a massive ground operation in these areas, including in Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah, and destroying the terror nests there. These two steps will require several weeks to complete and they won't be simple. Afterward will come the stabilizing phase, aimed at fully clearing the area of terrorists and their infrastructure and installing systems of governance and intelligence-gathering on the ground. This phase in its entirety should require no more than one year, but it will undoubtedly change the situation fundamentally. Ultimately, Israel will give itself a different array of capabilities to cope with any development, and it will be the one dictating the rules of the game, which is totally opposite the current situation of being captive to Hamas' whims.

'Madrid is encouraging violence against Israel'

Israel protested to the mayor of Madrid about the festive visit she organized for terrorist Ahed Tamimi, who was convicted of incitement against security forces and attacking IDF soldiers, for which she served eight months in prison.

Tamimi was accompanied by her family at the invitation of the city leaders and the Real Madrid soccer club at the stadium of the Spanish team, Bernabeu.

Real Madrid did not make do with a special tour played by former soccer star Emilio Butragueno, but also prepared a jersey with her name printed on it.

Daniel Kutner, the Israeli ambassador to Spain, sent a letter of protest to Mayor Manuela Carmena. "The move by the Madrid municipality encourages violence against Israeli civilians and undermines any attempt to create a genuine dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians," Kutner wrote.

Kutner added, "Ahed Tamimi is not an innocent fighter for peace, but an instigator of violence and terror. Any institution that welcomes her indirectly promotes violence and aggression instead of promoting dialogue and understanding."

It's always funny when Jordan says there should be a Palestinian state

King Abdullah of Jordan told the UN:

I am compelled to talk about this today because of the critical role of collective action in ending the serious crises in my region, and especially the key crisis—the long denial of a Palestinian state.

Every UN resolution since the beginning of this crisis—every resolution, whether from the General Assembly or the Security Council—recognises the equal rights of the Palestinian people to a future of peace, dignity, and hope. This is the heart of the two-state settlement, the only path to a comprehensive, lasting peace.

Only a two-state solution based on international law and relevant UN resolutions can meet the needs of both sides: an end to conflict, a viable, independent, sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and a secure Israel, fully part of its own region, recognised by Arab and Muslim states around the world.

But when Jordan controlled the West Bank, it was against any sort of Palestinian Arab state on the territory it claimed. Even the Palestinian Arabs didn't talk at all about creating a state in the territories - only in Israel.

And when Palestinians tried to turn Jordan into a Palestinian state in 1970, they were brutally attacked and their leaders forced out. Thousands were killed in the fighting.

It is always amusing to see how Jordan now is talking about how the UN wanted a Palestinian Arab state in 1947 and not a single Arab nation, including Transjordan at the time, supported the idea.

The desire for a Palestinian state is directly proportional to how much it will negatively affect Israel. Otherwise, no Arab is interested in such a state at all.

And they never were.

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Fatah celebrates anniversary of beginning of Second Intifada

The Second Intifada was a multiyear terror spree that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians.

It killed the Oslo peace process.

It convinced countless leftist Israelis that there is no actual partner for peace on the Palestinian side.

And Fatah, the party headed by Mahmoud Abbas, is celebrating the beginning of the terror spree that began 19 years ago.

They even mention that their own National Security forces, who were armed by the world to maintain peace, participated in the attacks on Israel.

Yet when Abbas speaks about "peace" to the UN, no one has the guts to ask him about why his own party celebrates terror and violence, every single day, in their own media.

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09/29 Links: Netanyahu was to reveal ‘third site’ in speech on Iran; Danon slams Abbas' 'imaginary initiatives'; Real Madrid's guest of honor is teen terrorist

From Ian:

Why this Christian Tory peer leads the fight in the UK against Holocaust denial

The British Labour party has become “a hotbed of bigotry and racism,” the country’s special envoy for post-Holocaust issues said in a recent interview with The Times of Israel.

Eric Pickles, who was appointed to the House of Lords this summer, also accused Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of encouraging “something rather base and horrid to come to the surface” in the party.

In the wide-ranging interview, Pickles, who served as a Cabinet minister under the Conservative party’s former prime minister David Cameron, hints that the UK may soon proscribe Hezbollah in its entirety and says he opposes Britain’s attempts to help salvage the Iran nuclear deal.

Pickles also says it was “utterly wrong” for Conservative members of the European parliament to oppose censuring the Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán in a September 12 vote. Orbán’s government has been accused of deploying “vivid anti-Semitism” in its campaign against the Jewish philanthropist George Soros.

As the Conservative party begins its annual conference in Birmingham this weekend, Pickles launches a scathing attack on Corbyn.

Referring to the allegations of anti-Semitism which have dogged Labour under Corbyn’s leadership, Pickles asks: “How can anybody live with themselves with this great damage that they have inflicted on good community relations in this country?”

NGO Monitor: Statement on “Shrinking Space” Report

NGO Monitor is the only independent research organization in the world that critically examines the reports and activities of politicized NGOs, with a focus on the context of international development aid. Given the importance of civil society participation in conflict-ridden areas, transparency, accountability, and critical analysis are essential, and we take this work seriously.

We are aware of the concerted effort to discredit and silence all critical analysis. This pseudo-report funded by a German far-left political foundation is the latest example. Serious research, however, does not rely on fringe ideologues with obvious conflicts of interest, desperately seeking to protect their access to European state and EU budgets. NGO Monitor’s success in exposing the millions in taxpayer funds given annually, without transparency, to false human rights and development NGOs, some of which are linked to terror organizations and/or use antisemitic motifs, speaks for itself. Indeed, this smear campaign highlights the importance and credibility of our work.

We plan to vigorously enforce our rights against the many false and defamatory claims made in the report and by those who have disseminated the claims.

Real Madrid's guest of honor is teen terrorist

Real Madrid, a Spanish soccer club, on Friday hosted teen terrorist Ahed Tamimi.

Tamimi served an eight-month prison sentence for attacking IDF soldiers, and has since said that her goal is to "eliminate Israel."

Tamimi met with Emilio Butragueño, a former Real Madrid player.

She also received a soccer shirt sporting her name and the number 9.

Real Madrid welcomed Palestinian teenage activist Ahed Tamimi to the Santiago Bernabeu yesterday after spending eight months in prison for slapping an Israeli soldier in December 2017," the team tweeted Saturday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted, "The prestigious soccer club of Real Madrid embraces a terrorist inciting to hatred and violence. Shameful."

"Ahed Tamimi is promoting violence against Israeli citizens. @realmadrid-receiving a terrorist that incites hatred and violence is something that has nothing to do with universal football values."