Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, December 14, 2018

12/14 Links Pt1: PA’s baby killers; Palestinian Leaders Have a Disturbing Idea of "Heroism"; NY Times Described Deadly Drive-By Shooting as “Bold”; How Europe Has Gone Astray on Iran

From Ian:

NYPost Editorial: Palestinian Leaders Have a Disturbing Idea of "Heroism"

Propaganda from Hamas and Fatah, the rulers of Gaza and the West Bank, routinely sings the praises of the “heroes” and “martyrs” who slaughter Israeli civilians in the name of justice for the Palestinian people. Obscenely, that even extends to the murderer of a 4-day-old baby.

Little Amiad Yisrael Ish-Ran perished Wednesday, just four days after his delivery by emergency Caesarian at 30 weeks — surgery made necessary when he and his mother, Shira, were badly wounded in a West Bank shooting (as was his father, Amichai).

Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, took “credit” for the attack, but both rival Palestinian groups praised the killer, Saleh Omar Saleh Barghouti — himself killed Wednesday resisting arrest.

Hamas called the attack a “heroic and qualitative operation” serving “to affirm our people’s legitimate right to resist the occupation.” Fatah called him a “heroic martyr of the homeland,” with lots of poetry about his blood spreading a fine scent on the wind.

As with all Palestinians who commit the political murder of any Israeli, the late killer’s family will qualify for a substantial stipend from the Palestinian Authority.

You don’t have to support Israel to find this beyond barbaric.

Soldiers killed in West Bank terror attack named as Yovel Mor Yosef, Yosef Cohen

A pair of Israeli soldiers killed in a terror shooting in the central West Bank were identified on Thursday evening as Staff Sgt. Yovel Mor Yosef, 20, and Sgt. Yosef Cohen, 19.

Mor Yosef was from the southern city of Ashkelon. Cohen was a resident of Beit Shemesh. Both were members of the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda infantry battalion, a unit for religious soldiers.

The army said Mor Yosef and Cohen were posthumously promoted from the ranks of sergeant and corporal respectively after they were killed by gunfire in the attack outside the Givat Assaf settlement outpost.

Mor Yosef’s funeral will be held at the Ashkelon military cemetery at 11:00 a.m. on Friday. Cohen will be buried in Jerusalem at 10:30 a.m. on Friday morning.

A third soldier was critically injured in the shooting and underwent surgery for a gunshot wound to the head at Hadassah Hospital Ein Karem in Jerusalem on Thursday. A civilian woman was also seriously wounded.

Mor Yosef’s uncle told reporters his nephew was supposed to return home Thursday, but volunteered to remain with his unit to give other soldiers time off.

“His life goal was to serve in a combat unit. This is what he did and wanted. He really enjoyed serving, [he] contributed and volunteered,” Sami Mor Yosef said.

Thousands attend funerals of soldiers killed in West Bank attack

The two Israeli soldiers killed in Thursday’s terror shooting in the central West Bank were buried on Friday, solemnly and fondly remembered by their families, friends and commanders.

Sgt. Yosef Cohen and Staff Sgt. Yovel Mor Yosef were members of the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda infantry battalion, a unit for ultra-Orthodox soldiers.

Mor Yosef and Cohen were posthumously promoted from the ranks of sergeant and corporal, respectively, after a Palestinian shot them dead in the attack outside the Givat Assaf outpost. A third soldier was critically injured in the shooting, and a civilian woman was seriously wounded although her condition was improving Friday.

Cohen’s funeral began at the Shamgar funeral home in Jerusalem, where hundreds of people mourned the 19-year-old resident of Beit Shemesh, including Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben Dahan (Jewish Home), MKs Moti Yogev (Jewish Home) and Oren Hazan (Likud), and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.

“Yosef, sweet child, righteous child, I never believed we would come to this moment,” Cohen’s stepfather, Rabbi Eliyahu Merav, said in his tearful eulogy. “For years I raised you, you great, holy, pure child… full of love, giving and soul.”

Cohen’s father, Eitan, had died when he was young, and his mother — who like other women didn’t speak at the funeral in accordance with ultra-Orthodox custom — married Merav.

“Dear Eitan, are you happy with your dear child, now? Are you dancing with him up there?” Merav addressed Cohen’s late father.

Khaled Abu Toameh: The Barghouti clan’s jihad against Israel

Saleh Barghouti, the 29-year-old Palestinian who was killed on Wednesday night by the IDF near the village of Surda, north of Ramallah, belongs to a clan whose members are famous for carrying out a series of terrorist attacks against Israel in the past four decades.

The IDF says that Saleh belonged to the cell that carried out the shooting attack outside Ofra, which resulted in the nine Israelis wounded. An infant boy was delivered prematurely after his mother was seriously wounded in the attack and died on Wednesday.

Saleh was the most recent member of the prominent Barghouti clan to be involved in terrorist attacks against Israel. The clan has several families that live in the villages of Kobar, Aboud, Bani Zeid and Beit Rima in the Ramallah area. Saleh was from Kobar.

Saleh’s father, Omar, 65, spent more than 25 years in Israeli prison for his role in terrorism. The father was first arrested by the IDF in 1978 for killing an Israeli citizen and was sentenced to life in prison. However, Omar, who is known as Abu Asef, was released seven years later in a prison exchange. Since then, he has been repeatedly held in administrative detention for several years. Omar entered Israeli prison as a member of Fatah, but later became a prominent leader of Hamas.

A clan member also named Omar Barghouti is a founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel and co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS). Omar was born in Qatar.

The UN Is An Equal Opportunity Employer, Hiring Both Hamas and Hezbollah Terrorists (Daled Amos)

by Daled Amos

An employer who agrees not to discriminate against any employee or job applicant because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, physical or mental disability, or age
Definition of 'Equality Opportunity Employer', Merriam Webster

Nor on the basis of "politics."

In 2004, then-Commissioner-General of UNRWA Peter Hansen was interviewed on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and said that UNRWA hiring Hamas terrorists is not a big deal:

Hansen said he believes there are Hamas members on UNRWA's payroll, but they have to follow UN rules on remaining neutral.

"Oh I am sure that there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll and I don't see that as a crime. Hamas as a political organization does not mean that every member is a militant and we do not do political vetting and exclude people from one persuasion as against another," Hanson told CBC TV.

"We demand of our staff, whatever their political persuasion is, that they behave in accordance with UN standards and norms for neutrality," he said.

UNRWA logo

Well, isn't that reassuring?

In 2006, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was giving $25 million to UNRWA, The Toronto Sun made clear

UNRWA has, according to various experts, been infiltrated by Hamas members and sympathizers. Hamas is an Islamist terrorist group, as designated by the Government of Canada.

And better yet, Hamas does not restrict membership to leadership positions on the basis of being a member of UNRWA either.

Just last year, AP reported U.N. agency suspends Gaza staffer amid alleged ties to Hamas

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees suspended a Palestinian staffer Sunday, a spokesman for the U.N. agency said as Israel alleged the employee was elected to a leadership position with the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Chris Gunness of UNRWA said Suhail al-Hindi, the chairman of the UNRWA Palestinian workers’ union in Gaza and the principal of a UNRWA elementary school, was suspended due to “substantial information” received by the agency.

...The agency temporarily suspended al-Hindi in 2011 for participating in events with Hamas officials.

The AP helpfully adds that "The U.N. agency forbids its staff from holding political office." [emphasis added]

Considering the connection between the UN and Hamas, is it any wonder the lengths the UN will go in order to protect the terrorist organization from any kind of criticism in the UN, most recently in the sudden requirement for a two-thirds instead of majority vote to condemn Hamas for terrorist attacks on civilians?

And what about UNIFIL, which operates in Hezbollah's back yard?

UNIFIL logo

As it turns out, UNIFIL is no slouch either when it comes to the integration of the local populace either.

Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, writes how despite its mandate to keep Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon -- UNIFIL has all kinds of time on its hands:

Both the LAF and UNIFIL share the same objective of not disturbing the status quo, which is to say, not to cross Hezbollah’s red lines. In turn, this raises a question about the point of underwriting this arrangement altogether, while pretending UNIFIL is doing something that it clearly cannot and will not do. Instead, UNIFIL has become more akin to yet another UN aid agency. It clears minefields, and works “together with the Lebanese authorities, in creating the conditions conducive for the population to build their future.” It also “works closely with many municipalities and local authorities to strongly support their communities.” It even hires Hezbollah members and supporters! [emphasis added]

Here is Badran's source, Google-translated from the French:

The Lebanese Shiite organization has always suspected Blue Helmets spying for Israel. On the other hand, it does not hesitate to infiltrate Finul [UNIFIL], whose civilian staff numbers 585 Lebanese. "Some employees do not hide from belonging to Hezbollah," admits a Finnish commander. Another anomaly: some UN battalions are from countries that do not recognize Israel. "I can assure you that Indonesian peacekeepers are constantly reporting Israeli movements to various Lebanese actors," said the senior officer. [emphasis added]

All of which raises the question: in the fight against terrorism, which side is the UN on?

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AMCHA led a group of over 100 organizations asking the University of California to denounce academic boycotts of Israel, especially in light of recent news of professors refusing to sign recommendation letters to students who want to study in Israel.

Some of the UC campuses are known for extreme anti-Israel activity, so this is a major blow to the Israel-haters who insist that the world (except for Palestinians themselves!) adhere to an academic boycott of Israel.

The UC letter states:

As chancellors of the University of California campuses, we write to reaffirm our long- standing opposition to an academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions and/or individual scholars. Our commitment to continued engagement and partnership with Israeli, as well as Palestinian colleagues, colleges, and universities is unwavering. We believe a boycott of this sort poses a direct and serious threat to the academic freedom of our students and faculty, as well as the unfettered exchange of ideas and perspectives on our campuses, including debate and discourse regarding conflicts in the Middle East.

This letter condemning the boycott was signed by all 10 chancellors of UC campuses.

AMCHA is following up with asking other university chancellors to sign similar letters against any academic boycott of Israel.

This is a major victory against BDS.

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A few anti-Abbas posters make Palestinian leaders freak out

I count no less than 11 articles in the official Wafa Palestinian news agency where people are quoted condemning a few posters put up by Israelis saying that Abbas, by paying murderers, should be killed.

"Assassinate the terror funders" say the posters, put up by a little-known right wing group.

The PLO simply freaked out over these posters. People who daily incite to kill random Jews and who celebrate when Jews are killed are suddenly very concerned over incitement - even though there is no real threat to Abbas' life.

The PA Foreign Ministry condemned them.
Saeb Erekat said he holds Israel fully responsible for the president's life and called on the world to condemn the incitement.
Israeli Arab MP Ayman Odeh said he held Netanyahu responsible for creating an environment where this could happen.

Fatah said the incitement against Abbas are the highest degree of terrorism.

The Palestinian Authority cabinet condemned the threats.

The Arab League condemned the posters.

"The PLO holds the Israeli government fully responsible for settler calls to assassinate the president."

The PA representative to the UN authored a complaint to the Security Council - about the posters.

The Mufti of Jerusalem said the posters "exceeded all red lines."

The Palestinian National Council warned that "our people have the right to confront this terrorism and the threat to defend their rights and dignity. "

The Speaker of the Arab Parliament called on the international community, the UN General Assembly, the UN Security Council and international organizations, to condemn the posters.

All for some posters from an organization with no political power whatsoever.

But after two full days of freaking out, the Fatah Facebook page decided that they should make it look like Abbas is above being worried about these posters that he personally has tried to turn into an international incident.

Showing Abbas looking relaxed, the new poster says "No worries."

Because a strong leader would complain to the UN every time some Jew says he should be responsible for his crimes.

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12/13 Links Pt2: When Anti-Zionism Tunnels Under Your House; Shapiro: The 'International Community' Isn't A Community. It's A Rogue's Gallery; The Women’s March Story They Don’t Want You to See

From Ian:

Bret Stephens: When Anti-Zionism Tunnels Under Your House

In 2002, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, was said to have given a speech noting that the creation of the state of Israel had spared his followers the trouble of hunting down Jews at “the ends of the world.” The Lebanese terrorist group has prominent apologists in the West, and some of them rushed to claim that Nasrallah had uttered no such thing.

Except he had. Tony Badran of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies tracked down the original recording of the speech, in which Nasrallah carries on about “occupied Palestine” as the place appointed by Allah for the “final and decisive battle” with the Jews. By “occupied Palestine,” he wasn’t talking about the West Bank.

Sometimes anti-Zionists are — surprise! — homicidal anti-Semites, too.

That’s a thought that can’t be far from the mind of anyone living in northern Israel, where in recent days the Israeli Army has discovered at least three tunnels dug by Hezbollah and intended to infiltrate commandos under the border in the (increasingly likely) event of war. Given the breadth of Hezbollah’s capabilities, the depth of its fanaticism, and the experience of Hamas’s excavation projects in Gaza, it’s fair to assume other tunnels will be found.

What would Hezbollah do if it got its fighters across? In 1974, three Palestinian terrorists crossed the border from Lebanon and took 115 hostages at an elementary school in the town of Ma’alot. They murdered 25 of them, including 22 children.

Another infiltration from Lebanon in 1978 left 38 Israelis dead. Given Hezbollah’s long record of perpetrating massacres from Buenos Aires to Beirut to towns and cities across Syria, it’s a playbook it wouldn’t scruple to follow in a war for the Galilee.

All this is to say that Israelis experience anti-Zionism in a different way than, say, readers of The New York Review of Books: not as a bold sally in the world of ideas, but as a looming menace to their earthly existence, held at bay only through force of arms. It’s somewhat like the difference between discussing the effects of Marxism-Leninism in an undergraduate seminar at Reed College, circa 2018 — and experiencing them at closer range in West Berlin, circa 1961.

Ben Shapiro: The 'International Community' Isn't A Community. It's A Rogue's Gallery.

Take, for example, the United Nations' recent decision not to condemn the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. This week, the U.N. General Assembly voted on a resolution condemning the group for "repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence, thereby putting civilians at risk," as well as for using assets to construct "tunnels to infiltrate Israel and equipment to launch rockets into civilian areas." The U.N., which requires a two-thirds vote to pass a General Assembly resolution, voted down the resolution — 87 nations in favor, 58 against, 32 abstaining. All in all, that means that more nations voted against ratifying the resolution — 90 — than in favor of it.

Up to this point, the U.N. has never passed a single resolution against Hamas.

Just days later, Palestinian terrorists opened fire on a group of people waiting for a bus near Ofra, a settlement in Judea and Samaria. The drive-by shooting wounded seven people, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child, as well as her husband. Both the woman and the baby are now in critical condition; it will be a miracle if both survive. According to The Times of Israel, Hamas immediately praised the attack, deeming it "heroic" and an "affirmation of our people's choice and legitimacy in resisting the Zionist occupation and its settlers."

Hamas isn't hiding the ball. It is evil. It celebrates evil. It pays terrorists to commit acts of evil. But the international community isn't hiding the ball either when its members refuse to condemn terrorism as terrorism when it is directed against disfavored members of the international community.

Take, by contrast, the international community's reaction to a terrorist attack directed against an Iranian military parade in late September. The U.N. Security Council forcibly condemned the attack, calling it a "heinous and cowardly terrorist attack" and pledging its support to "hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice."

What's the difference? Only the perpetrators and the targets. The international community is a joke. Perhaps the United States ought to change its climate change or health care or gun policies. But those arguments should never be made on the basis of the international standard of morality — a standard that doesn't exist, has never existed and ought not be the subject of pretending by Western nations that ought to know better.

‘Anti-Zionism’ Threatens Europe’s Jews (click link in tweet below)

The leftist counterargument is that anti-Zionism is a legitimate political position that has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. But anti-Zionists discriminate against the Jews alone among the peoples of the world and call for the Jewish state’s economic, cultural and academic boycott. What sense would it make to say: “I don’t think Ireland has a right to exist, but I’m not anti-Irish”?

Anti-Semitism has been likened to a virus that adapts to changes in society. What may have started with the accusation of “Christ-killer” morphed to socioeconomic “justifications” for Jew-hatred. In the late 19th century, racial theories provided pseudoscientific “evidence” of Jewish inferiority. The medieval libel of “Jews poisoning the wells” turned into “Zionists poison Palestinian water.” The 19th-century German politician Heinrich von Treitschke said “the Jews are our misfortune,” which the Nazis later picked up. The sentiment finds its modern equivalent in, “The world would be a better a better place without Israel.” A third of the respondents in the EU poll said they hear that frequently or all the time.

Last Thursday the bloc’s justice and home-affairs ministers unanimously approved a declaration designed to tackle all sources of anti-Semitism. They endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Anti-Semitism, which specifically includes as examples denying Israel’s right to exist or holding Jews responsible for Israel’s actions, real or imagined.

Far leftists—including Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain’s Labour Party, pick up traditional anti-Semitic tropes, replace “Jews” with “Zionists,” and deny anti-Semitism. The European Union sees through this obvious deception. (h/t IsaacStorm)

So anti-Zionism supposedly isn't the same as anti-Semitism. Would we also accept such sophistry as: "I don't think Ireland has a right to exist, but I'm not anti-Irish"? Read my take in @WSJopinion https://t.co/cEnCvdqkPu
— Daniel Schwammenthal (@DSchwammenthal) December 12, 2018

"Of all the bigotries that savage the human temper there is none so stupid as the anti-Semitic" - D. Lloyd George, 1923

David Lloyd George was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916-1922.

This quote from his book "Is It Peace?" written in 1923 is remarkable for how accurate it is today - except that Jews managed to turn Canaan into a land of milk and honey far quicker than he anticipated.

Of all the bigotries that savage the human temper there is none so stupid as the anti-Semitic.

In the sight of these fanatics, Jews of today can do nothing right. If they are rich they are birds of prey. If they are poor they are vermin. If they are in favour of war, that is because they want to exploit the bloody feuds of Gentiles to their own profit. If they are anxious for peace they are either instinctive cowards or traitors. If they give generously-and there are no more liberal givers than the Jews-they are doing it for some selfish purpose of their own. If they don’t give – then what would one expect of a Jew! If labour is oppressed by great capital, the greed of the Jew is held responsible. If labour revolts against capital-as it did in Russia-the Jew is blamed for that also. If he lives in a strange land he must be persecuted and pogrommed out of it. If he wants to go back to his own (land) he must be prevented…

It will be long ere Canaan becomes once more a land flowing with milk and honey. The Jews alone can redeem it from the wilderness and restore its ancient glory.

They belong to a race which for at least 1,900 years has been subjected to persecution, pillage, massacre and the torments of endless derision; a race that has endured persecution which for variety of torture – physical, material and mental – inflicted on its victims, for the virulence and malignity with which it has been sustained, for the length of time it has lasted, and, more than all, for the fortitude and patience with which it has been suffered, is without parallel in the history of any other people.

Is it too much to ask that those among them whose sufferings are the worst shall be able to find refuge in the land their fathers made holy by the splendour of their genius, by the loftiness of their thoughts, by the consecration of their lives and by the inspiration of their message to mankind!

(h/t Jasper)

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Vic Rosenthal's Weekly Column

Nishbar li

The history of nation-building — of human nation building — is this: we are in America. What happened? There were some Indians. Then some white people came and they killed the Indians, and they took over. That’s what happens with countries. If I get your territory, if I win a war, I either kill you, I subjugate you, or I expel you. In rare cases I would make you citizens, on my terms. That’s the way the world works.

The Jews were survivors of [the] Holocaust and of pogroms, and did not have a state for 2000 years. So they can re-invent the wheel. ’67 war? They decided not to annex, and not to kill the people. Not to expel them, but to do some kind of — God knows what it is — a very complicated Talmudic thing, nobody knows, even the Jews cannot figure it out. —Tuvia Tenenbom

Nishbar li. It’s not easy to translate: I’ve had enough, I won’t take it anymore.

Back in 2011, Young Palestinian Arabs butchered five members of the Fogel family, including almost cutting the head off of a 3-month old baby. Two years ago, a Palestinian Arab climbed in a window and stabbed 13-year old Hallel Yaffa Ariel to death in her bed. And this week Palestinian Arabs shot and critically wounded a 30-week pregnant woman, Shira Ish-Ran, and her her unborn child in a drive-by shooting.

In between there have been too many murders for me to count, too many stabbings, car-rammings, shootings. There was Rabbi Raziel Shevach, volunteer medic and father of six. There was Ezra Schwartz, a student from the US after whom a new youth baseball field is named. There was Ari Fuld, whose last act was to save a woman being chased by the terrorist that had just stabbed him. There were so many more. So many more.

So ma pitom? Why, suddenly, do I say that I’ve had enough? Surely I’m used to the daily — yes daily — attempted and successful murders of Jews by Palestinian Arabs?

Believe it or not, there is something special about this case, something in addition to the beautiful young family that has been so horribly wounded.

Here it is: security footage shows that there were a number of uniformed soldiers there, who rushed to the aid of the victims of the shooting, and even fired at the car containing the fleeing terrorists. They were nearby, but the terrorists aimed and fired at the pregnant woman.

Uniformed soldiers were nearby, but they aimed and fired at the pregnant woman.

Do I need to add anything? This is who (or what) the Palestinian Arabs are. They will brag about the successful “military operation” they carried out, but it was not a military operation. It was simply an act of sadism, because violent sadism is the way to establish that, despite the nakba and the other humiliations they believe have been inflicted on them, they are “men.”

They are not men, the ones who did this. They are not even human beings. I pray that when the IDF or the police come for them, they will not go quietly, that they will be destroyed.

By the way, I don’t buy the argument that terrorism is a strategy intended to make us abandon the land, and “go back to Europe.” Most Israelis were born here, and about half of them have roots in the Middle East or Africa. But none of us are going back anywhere. And I believe that the terrorists know this. They don’t care; they like to kill, especially children and young women, religious Jews and “settlers” (but they see every Jew in the Land of Israel as a “settler”).

I don’t want to hear about “peace plans” anymore. I don’t want to hear that we should improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where the creatures are still throwing themselves at the border fence in what reminds me of a scene from World War Z (video). I don’t want to hear about the “international community” or “civil society.” I don’t want to hear about another “Talmudic thing.” It’s too late for any of that for for me.

No, I want to see the traditional human solution to the classic problem of two tribes fighting over the same piece of land, the solution in which one of them wins and the other disappears. I want to see us make the Palestinian Arabs disappear.

Nishbar li

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12/13 Links Pt1: Born too soon, dead too soon; Friedman: PA must choose, is it a political entity or terror sponsor?

From Ian:

Born too soon, dead too soon

Born too soon. Dead too soon. Laid to rest without having had a minute of peace during his short life. A pure soul, unmarred by sin. And if he had sinned? The profound bewilderment caused by savage murder has no age - murder is murder. But when it happens in this way – before the victim even saw the light of day - the pain is so much greater. He was targeted with murderous intent, ripped from his mother's womb into bloody chaos and was left with no choice but to fight to survive.

A baby delivered in an emergency cesarean section in the 30th week of pregnancy was ultimately taken from this world. This days old infant will not be forgotten. His first and last bed was an incubator full of tubes and beeping machines. Then he died. In his mother's blood. One of the reasons the doctors decided to deliver him was to save his mother, Shira, who had been shot in a terrorist attack. That is how medicine works – a mother's life takes precedence over the life of a fetus. The little guy held on to life with his tiny fingers for three days.

In a horrifying turn of events, he loosened his grip on life shortly after being reunited with his mother, who had been in intensive care as well. One can only imagine how excited Shira must have been to see him for the first time. But a short while after they first laid eyes on each other, both wounded and exhausted, he passed away. The baby, who had no name (we called him Shira's son in our prayers), was named Amiad Yisrael upon his death. The murderers remain nameless. And that is how it should be. Nameless and faceless. May they be forgotten forever. May their named be erased.

Let us refrain from using the passive form of the verb. The baby was not "murdered." Lowly Arabs murdered him. They aimed an automatic rifle at his young mother's abdomen and fired. A cell of Islamist terrorists spilled the blood of a young woman and the blood of a fetus.

Khaled Abu Toameh: The Hamas Plan to Take the West Bank

The latest terrorist attack took place on December 9 outside the West Bank settlement of Ofra, east of Ramallah. An Israeli-Canadian citizen, Amichai Ish-Ran, and this pregnant wife, Shira, were among seven people wounded in a drive-by shooting attack. The baby born prematurely as a result of the terrorist attack died on December 12, after doctors fought to save his life for close to 72 hours.

Hamas, which later claimed responsibility for the attack, was the first Palestinian faction to commend the terrorists. So far, not a single Palestinian faction has come out against the attack, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction.

Describing the shooting attack as a "heroic and qualitative operation," representatives of Hamas and several Palestinian factions said that it demonstrated that the Palestinian "resistance was still alive in the West Bank." They also called on Palestinians to "step up the intifada (uprising) against Israel, specifically settlers and Israel Defense Forces soldiers.

"The West Bank has taken the initiative of resisting the occupation," Hamas said in a statement published in the Gaza Strip shortly after the terrorist attack. The attack, Hamas added, "came to affirm our people's legitimate right to resist the occupation at a time when the occupation, together with Israel, had tried to criminalize our resistance."

This stance by Hamas points at two important factors; first, that Hamas and its allies are openly working and encouraging the eruption of a new anti-Israel uprising in the West Bank; and, second, that Hamas and its friends have been emboldened by the recent failure of the UN General Assembly to adopt a US-sponsored resolution condemning Hamas and other Palestinian groups for firing rockets at Israel and inciting violence.

Hamas's dream of spreading its ideology to all Palestinians is as old as its foundation 31 years ago. Hamas is not interested in ruling only the Gaza Strip. It wants the West Bank, Jerusalem, and all the land, "from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea." Hamas does not believe in negotiations or peaceful settlements. Rather, it believes that the only way to "liberate" Muslim land is through jihad. This goal is why, it says, it remains committed to the option of "armed struggle" against Israel.

Ben Dror Yemini: Jihad forces cannot be tamed or appeased

If Israel only eliminated the blockade of the Gaza Strip, there will be neither rockets nor tunnels. The Strip will flourish. There will be no confrontations. This argument, which is prevalent in certain circles, in the world and in Israel, should be examined against the backdrop of Operation Northern Shield.

Well, Israel is not imposing any blockade on Lebanon, which is controlled by Hezbollah. There is no historical conflict with the Lebanese people. Lebanon has even been the focal point of tourism in the Arab world for many years; great beaches, restaurants, and a dazzling nightlife — a paradise.

But Lebanon has an Iranian element: Hezbollah. And they are building a network of missiles and tunnels, just like in the south, in the context of their profound hatred for the West, including Israel and the Jews.

Turning to Hamas for a moment, we must ask: Will the Gaza Strip begin to flourish once the blockade is lifted? Will Hamas change its skin?

Hezbollah provides us with the answer. It is not about the blockade or a particular conflict, nor is it a border dispute. It is the abhorrent hatred that permeates the Jihad organizations, Sunni and Shiite alike.

After all, this happens wherever Jihad advocates gain power or take over, even in countries, and in fact, especially in countries where there is no significant presence of Americans, Jews, or Europeans. After all, Hezbollah can allow Lebanon to thrive and prosper. But it prefers to invest all its resources in the death industry.

A reminder, this is the evil savagery of #Hamas: "We desire Death as you [Israelis] desire Life."

Last night, a 3-DAY old Jewish infant baby died after being murdered in hail of bullets by a Hamas terrorist in #Ofra three days ago. pic.twitter.com/pVbWNg3BOH
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) December 13, 2018

You know how "everyone knew" recognizing Jerusalem would destroy relations with the Muslim world?

The US officially opened up its embassy in Jerusalem on May 13.

Indonesia condemned the move, but even while protesters called to boycott the US,....

At a rally of about 80,000 people on Sunday, the Indonesian Ulema Council, a body of Muslim clerics, called for a boycott of US and Israeli products if Trump did not revoke his action.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla told reporters that Indonesia was trying to put pressure on Washington through the United Nations and it was not even practical to stop using American products.
"Do not be emotional... do we dare to boycott iPhones, stop using Google? Can (you) live without them?" he asked.
"(You) cannot live without them now. If you go out of the house now, you put (an iPhone) in your pocket," he said.
Kalla said that even if people stopped watching US movies, other American goods such as specialized petroleum equipment were vital in oil-producing Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Indeed, the day after the actual embassy move, Indonesia held talks with the US to promote trade between the two countries!

In recent months, Indonesia was threatening to halt trade with Australia if it recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Doom and gloom articles appeared in Australia's press about how the loss of a proposed $11b trade deal would hurt Australia.

On Tuesday, Australia called Indonesia's bluff:

The Morrison government is cautiously optimistic its decision regarding Australia's Israeli embassy will not jeopardise the signing of the free trade agreement with Indonesia.
It is understood that cabinet on Tuesday agreed Australia would recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel but there will be no immediate move to shift the embassy from its current location in Tel Aviv.
Sources said that in reaching the final decision, the likelihood of Indonesia walking away from the FTA had been taken into account and, on balance, it was believed the deal would not be jeopardised by the decision.

Muslim countries are great at threats, but in the end, everyone looks out for their self-interests. Indonesia does not want to lose trade with Australia and it will make angry noises but keep on with business as usual.

Just like with the US.

(h/t Ahron Shapiro)

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Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah gleeful about killing Jews - and mourning over terrorists that kill them

The official Fatah Facebook page is following the activities in the West Bank with glee.

It reports that today's shooting attack killed 3 "armed soldiers" even though the information about the victims has not been released - Arabic media always refers to every Jewish victim of terror in Israel as a "soldier" in order to ensure that their own readers don't question the righteousness of the attacks. The civilian woman severely injured was also referred to as an "armed soldier."

The attack this morning was praised as a "highly professional operation."

Meanwhile, the three terrorists killed by the IDF last night for previous terror attacks are being mourned as heroes, and Fatah is putting its logo on their pictures to associate itself with them.

Fatah's Information Office released a statement threatening to continue terror attacks as long as Israel "exercises its policy of field executions against our people and destroys in one night three young Palestinians."

Because finding murderers and killing them in shootouts when trying to arrest them is the crime, and shooting Jews waiting at a bus stop is heroic.

This is the "moderate" group that Mahmoud Abbas heads, and that the world still considers to be peaceful.

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UK-based Arab newspaper says Jews eat matzoh baked with gentile blood

Al Araby Al Jadeed (Arabic), or The New Arab (English) is a UK-based newspaper meant to be more liberal than Al Jazeera. It claims to be professional and nonpartisan, although it is financed by Qatar:

Wikipedia notes that it has been quoted in Time magazine and International Business Times.

On Tuesday, this "fast growing" and "objective" news outlet reported that Jews slaughtered a priest in Damascus in 1840 and captured all his blood for use in Jewish ritual dishes.

Yes, the classic antisemitic blood libel was reported as fact. The article goes on to say that rabbis determined that gentile lives were worthless and this was all in accordance with Talmudic rituals.

The United Kingdom has hate speech laws.

I think this qualifies.

(h/t WC)

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12/12 Links Pt2: Finding the Good in Anti-Semites; Don’t overlook anti-Semitism cloaked in progressive values; Nick Cave: Boycotting Israel is 'cowardly and shameful'

From Ian:

Finding the Good in Anti-Semites

Critics of Israel like to claim that Zionists can’t tolerate criticism of Israel. Supporters of the Jewish state, the argument goes, dismiss any condemnation of Israeli policy as anti-Semitic. In truth, a dark inversion of this charge is becoming the norm: Critics of Israel can’t denounce anti-Semites.

The most recent example comes from the New York Times’ Michelle Goldberg, who wrote a column on Friday headlined “Anti-Zionism Isn’t the Same as Anti-Semitism.” She defends the pro-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) positions of incoming Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. The BDS movement, of course, singles out Israel for total economic isolation in the hopes of bringing the Jewish State to its knees. “Conservatives in the United States—though not only conservatives—have denounced Tlaib and Omar’s stance as anti-Semitic,” Goldberg writes. “It is not.”

Tlaib, a Palestinian American and the first Muslim woman elected to Congress, has tweeted and retweeted her enthusiasm for terrorists such as Rasmea Odeh, who murdered two American students in a Jerusalem supermarket in 1969. If Tlaib’s anti-Zionism is of the Jew-loving kind, she has a funny way of showing it.

Ilhan Omar, for her part, once tweeted, “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” And wouldn’t you know it, just because she believes that Zionist hypnotists have cast global spells masking Israeli evil, some people think she’s anti-Semitic. Go figure.

You’ll find none of this in Goldberg’s column. To her, “the conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism is a bit of rhetorical sleight-of-hand that depends on treating Israel as the embodiment of the Jewish people everywhere.” Goldberg spends the bulk of her column trying very hard to uncouple American Jewishness from Israel.

To do that, she enumerates Israel’s sins, as she sees them. These are chiefly the country’s relationships with far-right European movements (that support Israel), the impasse on the two-state solution (which Palestinian leaders have rejected again and again), and Israel’s warming relationship with Saudi Arabia. This last bit is telling. The left used to blame Israel for the hostility it garnered among Arabs in the region; now it blames Israel for the concord and mutual respect it enjoys with the most important Arab country in the world.

The Confused Legal Reasoning behind the UN’s Effort to Publish a Checklist for Boycotters of Israel

In 2016, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) formally instructed the high commissioner for human rights, who oversees the council’s attendant bureaucracy, to compile a database of businesses that have “directly and indirectly enabled, facilitated, and profited from the construction and growth of the settlements”—by which are meant Jewish communities in the West Bank. The list, which has not yet been made public, includes some 206 businesses, most of which are based in Israel. In a detailed report, the Kohelet Policy Forum explains why this project is nothing but an attempt to aid those who wish to boycott Israel:

The clear goal of the UNHRC . . . is to create negative reputational consequences for the listed companies, and ultimately to trigger sanctions against targeted companies through subsequent action by the Security Council or national governments. [Moreover], the current “research” program is focused only on companies with links to Israel, and particularly areas of the West Bank under the Oslo Accords under full Israeli civil administration.

But . . . business activity in what the UN regards as occupied territories is a worldwide phenomenon. Every situation of prolonged belligerent occupation in the world involves widespread “settlement” activity—a non-technical term to refer generally to the migration of civilians from the occupying power into the territory. In all of these occupations, business enterprises, including third-country firms, play a major economic role. Many of these settlement enterprises have resulted in the large-scale ethnic cleansing or displacement of the occupied population or subjected it to widespread and massive human-rights violations that have been amply documented, [but these cases are not subjects of UNHRC’s concern]. . . .

The UNHRC’s database will focus on “business activities and related issues that raise particular human-rights violations concerns,” [a scope so broad as to include] any kind of activity under Israeli auspices—from providing “construction equipment,” to “banking and financial operations,” to the “use of natural resources,” all in the vague context of “maintain[ing]” settlements. To be clear, no physical link to Jewish civilian communities is required for inclusion in the list, . . . a standard vague enough to sweep in much of Israeli industry. This definition is legally baseless. . . .

The goal: No Jews in Europe and no Jewish State in the Middle East

Europe has become the epicenter of the new war against Israel and the Jews. Europe fights the Jewish State in the political arenas, in the corridors of power in Brussels, in various Western European capitals and the United Nations, inside Israel with the NGOs it funds, the media and the diplomacy. So that those responsible for the massacre of Jews in the pizzeria Sbarro di Gerusalemme, of the massacre of Jewish kids at the Dolphinarium discotheque in Tel Aviv, of the carnage of entire Jewish families during the Passover dinner at the Park Hotel of Netanya, are not termed “terrorists” in Europe, but “militants”.

Europe is a bystander no more. It has become deliberately responsible for the abominable crime of cultural genocide: wiping out the past existence of a people – the Jews – to eliminate their current political legitimacy and its human, religious, cultural and historical rights. That is why Europe voted along with the Islamic regimes at the recent UN resolutions denying the Jewish history of Jerusalem.

Europe's lights are fading under the pressure of different phenomena. First of all, Islamism that it is submerging Europe under the darkness in many of its territories and which it degrades severely. The mass arrival of migrants coming from the Middle East, from the Maghreb and from Africa that Europe can not integrate, nor help return to their countries of origin and are left shamefully to stagnate in precariousness, are the source of great evils. Erosion, decadence, and powerlessness.

But they are also the source of the development of this violent anti-Semitism with the permanent denigration of Israel.

We are at the point that many Jews prefer to leave Europe to live in Israel. What a step back, the Jews flee again from Europe to seek peace and security in a country that has only enemies around it, those who as a single entity cultivate the will to find the way to destroy Israel and throw its corpse into the sea.

“Israel is a vital component of this emerging order as the paradigm nation-state totally committed to its defense and survival” Melanie Phillips just wrote. The order of operations is that made of Trump's America, Brexit, Eastern Europe and the Jewish State.

That new order is the Western last chance for cultural survival. That is why anti-Semitism has become a major engine of the Western chaos.

The Arab gunman raised his gun to the car window as the vehicle neared the bus stop and taking aim, shot that pregnant Jewess in the stomach first. “Good,” he thought, spraying the woman’s young husband, a couple of teenage girls, and then anyone else in range.

Targeting the Jewish woman was smart, aiming at her abdomen, even smarter. He’d killed two birds with one stone, or so he hoped. There was a good chance he’d hit a major organ, and hopefully, the baby in his Jew-Mama’s womb. Why let that baby Jew live when you can squash it like the cockroach it is, before it gets born to spurn the word of Allah and get in the way of building the Khalifa, the worldwide Muslim caliphate?

Robert Bowers raised his gun to spray the elderly Jewish woman first, then anyone else in shooting distance. A Jew is a Jew is a kike, and it doesn’t matter if that Jew is old or infirm. That’s all a mirage to make you have mercy on them, when what they are is no less than a “kike infestation.” No mercy, no how. These Jews can’t be allowed to continue flooding our country with immigrants who steal our jobs, steal our resources.

Killing that old woman was smart, a test of his bravery. He was no wuss. He was leading the way for others, no matter what would happen now when he got caught.

Killing that old woman was genius.

***

Two terror attacks. Two men. One Arab. One not.

Do we know the thoughts in their minds?

Can we state unequivocally that both attacks were antisemitic by nature?

Do we know that the Arab terrorist who shot Shira Ish Ran in her pregnant stomach (and killed her child) thought “Jew” and not “Zionist,” “Jew” and not “Occupier,” “Jew” and not “settler?”

Media pundits would claim there is a distinction. That you can be against Zionism without being against Jews. That you can be against occupation and not Jews. That you can hate the settlers, without hating all Jews.

But we know the truth, because of statements made by Arab leaders (government, military, and religious) on official PA TV. These endless antisemitic statements set a precedent which no measure of etymological chicanery can obscure. Listen, for instance, to Palestinian National Council member Najib Al-Qaddumi, who had this to say on the official PA TV program Palestine This Morning, regarding the Balfour Declaration:

“There is no choice but to return to the background behind the publication of this promise by then British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour. We will return to the situation of the Jews in Europe and Russia, when they lived in a closed society and knew only to make money, trade, weave plots, corruption, and such. Even the European nations and Russia were sick of them and longed for when they would leave their country."

Or listen to the words of Masoud Rayyaan, lecturer on Islamic Shari'a at Al-Quds Open University, in this Friday sermon broadcast on official PA TV:

(Quran) “’Proceed throughout the earth and observe how was the end of those who denied’ ... The occupation government hasn't learned from history, from the corruption of the Children of Israel the first and second time.

“It hasn't learned. They [The Jews] didn’t learn from what Nebuchadnezzar did to them.

“They didn’t learn from what Titus, the great Roman leader, did to them.

“They didn't learn from what Hitler did to them, and the kings of Europe, and Spain – they didn't learn. They have continued to behave the same way: The mentality of arrogance toward other people. The mentality of superiority over other people. The mentality of seclusion, the mentality of settlement. This mentality, an ideology of planning and systematically working to incite wars and strife in the entire world. Those [Jews] have not learned from the events of history."

Hear the words of Hamas Commander Read Sa'ad:

"We won't abandon the way of Jihad and Shahada [Martyrdom] as long as one inch of our holy land is in the hands of the Jews. A day will come when our flag will fly above all of the regions of our land. Our flag will fly on the minarets of Jerusalem, and the walls of Acre, and the quarters of Haifa."

Or listen to PA Shari’ah Judge Muhannad Abu Rumi:

"[Khan Al-Ahmar is] holy land. We know its value, and not them [Jews], the foreigners, the fabricators of history, who dance and live on the body parts of others, and on the blood of others. Read their history: There is no global corruption that they are not behind. There is no global corruption that their rabbis did not allow... People could be deluded or think... that we have no way out with the Jews... The liberation of this land is a matter of faith, which will happen despite everyone. The Jews leaving this land is a divine decree... The war is not only over this strip of land, as you all know the Jews want everything and not just a part [of it]. They want to subjugate us, and that we be slaves to their command... There have always been two camps in history: the camp of truth and the camp of falsehood. The people of falsehood see themselves as those who rule over everything... Among the Jews we find nothing but corruption and depravity."

Lest you think these men represent the unwashed or uneducated, here are the words of an academic, one Imad Hamato, Professor of Quranic Studies at the University of Palestine in Gaza who hosts a weekly official PA TV program on Islam:‎

“Humanity will never live in comfort ‎as long as the Jews are causing devastating corruption throughout the land. Humanity ‎will never live in peace or fortune or tranquility as long as they are corrupting the land. ‎An old man told me: If a fish in the sea fights with another fish, I am sure the Jews are ‎behind it. As Allah says: ‘Every time they kindled the fire of war [against you], Allah ‎extinguished it. They strive throughout the land [causing] corruption, and Allah does ‎not like corrupters.’” (Sura 5:64)

Then there's the recent Hamas radio chatter picked up by Israel only last month, describing the operation that took the life of Officer “M”:

“Four fighter jets are above me. There was a strike near us. The jets are coming from the north. They attacked one of the (Hamas) cars. Hide. Close in on the Jews. Don’t let them leave Gaza," yelled one Hamas commando into his radio during the firefight.

He said "Close in on the Jews." Not "settlers," "Zionists," or "Occupiers." Not even "Israelis," but "Jews."

What are Arab children taught? On November 29, a young girl recited a poem at the Gaza Conference for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People that referred to the Jews as wild apes, miserable pigs, and evil creatures destined for humiliation. She said that Jews are like herds of stupid cattle, and that Jerusalem "spits out [their] filth" because it is a pure virgin.

I did not have to scour the internet to find these examples. They are numerous. Antisemitism is not just the domain of a few oddballs or iconoclasts. Jew-hatred pervades the culture of the Arab terrorist who shot Shira Ish Ran in the abdomen, an act that led to the death of an infant she never got to hold.

To the terrorist who shot her, Shira was not a hands-off target, someone vulnerable, carrying life in her womb. She was less than human. A pest to be sprayed dead, along with the baby in her womb.

To think of her as a pregnant woman, like any other pregnant woman, or her baby like any other baby would have betrayed weakness, a fault in his basic foundational beliefs, a softness that must never be given quarter if the ultimate goal were to be achieved.

If he'd dared think of Shira Ish Ran as a pregnant woman, he would have had to try all the harder to prove his mettle by shooting to kill her and her unborn infant. Once he did so, of course, the terrorist was free to tell the world anything he liked, that he did not, for instance, think of Shira Ish Ran or the baby she carried as Jews, but as Zionists, settlers, occupiers, and oppressors.

They would want to believe these things, the world, for the West is short on understanding how things really work and they prefer not to see the bigger picture.

Those who live in Europe or America, prefer you to couch such actions, the elimination of Jews, in the language of colonialism and oppression. That speaks to them, while antisemitism seems so, well, gauche. If you use language that is politically correct, they can excuse the targeted murder of a pregnant woman, the successful attempt at infanticide, or if you like, the long, drawn-out third-trimester abortion of a Jew-Pig.

After all, that baby would have grown up to be a soldier. Had he lived. That made him fair game. Right? Just another occupier, a thief, an oppressor in waiting.

As long as the world has an excuse to think of it in another, politically correct way, an Arab is safe to shoot whatever Jews he likes, whether it be a pregnant woman and the baby in her womb, or a couple of teenage girls. Europe looks the other way. The UN looks the other way. The New York Times looks the other way.

It’s all good.

The question is why Jews look the other way. Even the Arab terrorist, now dead thank God, couldn’t puzzle that one out. To him, in his short evil lifetime, Jews were Jews. No matter who shed their blood. No matter that their condition marked them among the most vulnerable sectors of society.

An old woman in Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, in this respect, is exactly the same as a young pregnant woman standing at a bus stop in Ofra holding life inside her womb--a life soon extinguished.

The dead Arab terrorist knew there was no essential difference between him and Robert Bowers. He actually felt a lot of sympathy for Bowers, when he thought about him. After all, he hated Jews and Bowers hated Jews. Hates them still. The Arab terrorist saw Jews as less than human. So did and does Bowers.

When he thought about it, the Arab terrorist who shot Shira Ish Ran and killed her baby, knew that the only difference between him and Robert Bowers was that there was no possibility that Bowers would ever be set free in a prisoner exchange or receive a large government pension for killing Jews. Had the Arab terrorist not struggled during his capture, he would have ended up on easy street in a comfortable Israeli jail.

Of course, the 72 dark-eyed virgins are a nice compensation.

If only Bowers had been Muslim.

A pity.

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J Street Joins Ocasio-Cortez: 'Our Ancestors Might Have Been Jewish Too' (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

: Credit: El Borde via Wikimedia Commons

New York, December 12 - A lobbying organization billing itself as "pro-Israel, pro-peace" lauded a Congresswoman-elect from New York City today for disclosing possible Hebraic roots among her forebears, noting that they, as well, had some Semites among their progenitors.

J Street, which gained ascendancy under President Barack Obama as the latter sought a progressive counterweight to AIPAC to secure support for the nuclear deal with Iran, announced Wednesday morning that like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the organization's leadership could identify among its ancestors a large number of Jews. A subtext of the announcement included the observation that just as Ms. Ocasio-Cortez does not herself claim to be Jewish, neither does J Street does feel bound to uphold Jewish obligations or values. J Street endorsed Ms. Ocasio-Cortez in last month's midterm elections, and has remained silent on her entertaining the promotion of boycotts or sanctions targeting Israel.

"We commend the Congresswoman-elect for coming forward with this information," the organization proclaimed in a statement to the media. "It dovetails with the values J Street cherishes, chief among them the leveraging of Jewish identity to weaken the bond between Jewishness and Zionism, or at least to redefine either Jewishness or Zionism such that they appear unrelated."

J Street director Jeremy Ben-Ami boasted that some of his distant ancestors spoke Yiddish and likely participated in such Jewish rituals as Passover seders, circumcision, eating kosher food, and talking during the Rabbi's sermon and other portions of the synagogue service. "Those roots are a source of pride," declared Ben-Ami in a telephone interview. "Well, some of them. We don't like to talk about the 'Next year in a rebuilt Jerusalem' part of the Passover seder, or about the prayers for the reestablishment of the Temple service in its proper place, or about the Jewish attachment to the Land of Israel in existential terms. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez didn't go so far as to claim she actually is Jewish, and I'm not going to go too far out on that limb, either."

Other organizations echoed J Street's response. A Jewish Voice for Peace spokeswoman told a journalist of the high likelihood some members of the group had at least one Jewish ancestor a few generations back. "That makes our voice as important and legitimate as anyone else's," she asserted. "Other people can't define for us who is and isn't Jewish. We, however, do get to define for everyone what being Jewish means in terms of Palestine, and if you disagree you're a fascist warmonger."

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