Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, January 28, 2019

150 out of 181 Gaza "Return March" fatalities were terrorists

The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center has examined the names of every person killed in the Gaza "return marches" every Friday since last March.

The results are nothing short of remarkable.

The events of the “return marches” in the Gaza Strip have continued for 42 weeks. In most cases, these events are characterized by a high level of violence, resulting in casualties among the rioters, mainly among those in the front line confronting the IDF troops. According to the ITIC’s examination, based on reports of the Gaza Strip Ministry of Health in combination with other sources, since the beginning of the “return marches” on March 30, 2018, a total of 187 Palestinians were killed in those events. As for the identity of the fatalities (updated to January 16, 2019), 150 of them were found to be affiliated with Hamas or with other terrorist organizations (about 80%). Prominent among the fatalities are those belonging to Hamas or affiliated with it (96 fatalities, about 51% of the total number of fatalities). A total of 45 fatalities are operatives of the Hamas military wing (about 24% of the total number of fatalities, about 47% of the total of the Hamas fatalities).
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The large number of fatalities from the terrorist organizations on the front line demonstrates that the violence against the IDF near the border is not “popular,” as the false Palestinian propaganda wishes to convey. It is orchestrated by Hamas and significantly involves operatives of Hamas’s military wing or operatives affiliated with Hamas. It also shows that the IDF soldiers do not shoot indiscriminately at “innocent” demonstrators but instead, in most cases, target and hit specific terrorist operatives. It should be noted that the Gaza Strip Health Ministry, whose reports are used as a source for media outlets worldwide (as well as in Israel), does not provide information on the organizational affiliation of the fatalities, thus helping to convey a false idea of killing “innocent” demonstrators by the IDF.

Hamas is encouraging civilians to charge the fence and to be in the line of any Israeli bullets - and even so, Israel has managed an incredible rate of 80% terrorists killed - in fields where the majority of people are civilians who are bused in by Hamas to enjoy the demonstrations.

The Meir Amit Center keeps track of the identities and affiliations of all the dead, based on information from funerals, terrorist websites and other sources.

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Know How to Answer, part 20: "Israel is not a democracy because Palestinians cannot vote"

Latest in the series...

Six years ago I gave a lecture at Yeshiva University on how to answer anti-Israel arguments. Since the lecture was over an hour and twenty minutes, I decided to break it up into 20 sections, one each to answer one popular anti-Israel argument.

Here is part 20.

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01/27 Links: PA Antisemitism alive and kicking on International Holocaust Remembrance Day; Poll: One in 20 British adults doesn’t believe Holocaust happened

From Ian:

One in 20 British adults doesn’t believe Holocaust happened, poll finds

A poll released to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day has found that 1 in 20 British adults does not believe the Holocaust happened and 12 percent think the scale of the genocide has been exaggerated.

Nearly half of those questioned said they did not know how many Jews were murdered by the Nazis, The Guardian reported, and one in five people thought fewer than two million Jews were killed. Some six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.

Olivia Marks-Woldman from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, which commissioned the poll, responded to the findings, telling the BBC: “Such widespread ignorance and even denial is shocking.

“Without a basic understanding of this recent history, we are in danger of failing to learn where a lack of respect for difference and hostility to others can ultimately lead.”

In a statement to The Guardian, Marks-Woldman clarified that, “I must stress that I don’t think [the poll respondents] are active Holocaust deniers — people who deliberately propagate and disseminate vile distortions. But their ignorance means they are susceptible to myths and distortions.”

P.I.-turned Nazi hunter blames passive Jewish leaders for the 99.9% who got away

Rambam has come to realize that “[Nazis] had a 99.9 percent chance of dying in their bed. No prosecution, exposure, no so-called hunting.”

After he’d seek out people who had committed murder with their own hands, his biggest shock was how unafraid they were. They were not concerned, and were certain they had nothing to fear, that nobody was going to bother them, Rambam said.

“The vast majority of these war criminals were true believers,” he said.

That included Antanas Ceponis, who had a picture of Hitler on his fridge. Rambam took a photo of him posing with his rifle next to the photo in his Ceponis’s Toronto area home.

“No shame, no fear. He confessed, talked about chasing and shooting Jews,” he said.

The result? Authorities seized the rifle.

Rambam believes significant blame for the lack of prosecution falls on the Jewish establishment who failed their moral responsibility. He said the Jewish leadership was beyond livid with him at exposing their passivity with these embarrassing revelations.

“There’s no reason why these Nazis couldn’t have been found and pursued. I proved that,” he claimed.

Seth Frantzman: When Ethiopian Jews tried to save European Jews from the Holocaust

In August 1943, the height of the Holocaust, Ethiopian Jewish leaders approached the Emperor of Ethiopia with a daring proposal. They asked Haile Selassie to help Jews in Europe flee to Ethiopia and assist Jewish refugees by hosting them in Ethiopian Jewish villages.

Three months after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and two months after all four of the Auschwitz crematoria were functioning, the Palestine Post, ancestor of today’s Jerusalem Post, published an article detailing Jewish immigration to Ethiopia. “Possibilities of Jewish immigration into Abyssinia were discussed by the Ethiopian Minister in London with Mr. Harry Goodman and Dr. Springer of Agudath Israel,” the August 8, 1943 article says. “A leading member of the Falasha (black Jewish) community expressed the desire to assist European Jewry and to welcome them in Falasha towns.” Falasha was the term used to describe Jews in Ethiopia at the time.

Discussions were ongoing in Addis Ababa where the emperor, who had returned to Ethiopia in May 1941 after it was liberated from Italian occupation with British help, was showing support for the plan. 1,500 Greek refugees, including Greek Jews, had arrived in Ethiopia in 1943, the article says. Emperor Selassie had stayed at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1936 and was familiar with the Jewish minority in his country. Selassie also worked closely with Orde Wingate, the British officer who was a passionate Zionist and who led Gideon Force which helped defeat the Italians in Ethiopia. Ethiopian leaders and the Ethiopian Jewish community were therefore familiar with the local Jewish community and the plight of Jews worldwide at the time.

Ethiopian Jews suffered under the Italian occupation but by 1943 they were able to reach out to the emperor to suggest hosting Jews fleeing Europe. By that time it was too late for many of the Jews of Europe ensnared in the Nazi noose. The full story of the 1943 effort to convince Ethiopia to re-settle Jews fleeing Europe has not been researched and details about it remain unknown. For instance Harry Goodman, who is mentioned in the article, was a well known member of the Orthodox Agudath Israel World Organization. He published articles in the Jewish Weekly and broadcast messages to Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Joke of the day: Malaysia defends banning Israeli athletes because of "human rights"

From Star Online (Malaysia):

Malaysia prioritises human rights, says Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

That is the stand taken by the Youth and Sports Minister after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) stripped Malaysia of the right to host the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships.

He said that if hosting an international sporting event is more important than standing up for Palestinians, that means Malaysia has truly lost its moral compass.

"We would like to kindly remind the IPC that even Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported that the (Israeli prime minister Benjamin) Netanyahu government is an active perpetrator of war crimes.

"As the leader of Israel, he represents the collective will of the Israeli government. The Israeli state is the locus of their collective moral actions.

"Malaysia stands firmly with our decision on the ground of humanity and compassion for the Palestinian plight. We will not compromise," he said in a statement issued to the press on Sunday (Jan 27).

Since Rahman likes to quote Amnesty on the topic of human rights, here's what it says about Malaysia:

Freedom of expression
The government continued to harass, detain and prosecute critics through the use of restrictive laws such as the Sedition Act and the Communications and Multimedia Act....

Freedom of movement
In July, the Court of Appeal ruled that the government has absolute discretion to bar any citizen from travelling abroad without needing to provide a reason. This ruling facilitated continued violations of the right to freedom of movement and the work of human rights defenders...

Freedoms of association and assembly
Human rights defenders and opposition parliamentarians continued to stand trial for participating in peaceful protests. ...

Indigenous Peoples’ rights
In January, following peaceful protests against logging licences granted by local authorities, 21 Indigenous human rights defenders from the Temiar people in the northern state of Kelantan were detained. Two journalists were also arrested. ....

Arbitrary arrests and detentions
Preventive detention laws such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act and Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) continued to be used to detain, prosecute and imprison people alleged to have committed security offences. ....

On 26 April, the Kuala Lumpur High Court sentenced Siti Noor Aishah to five years’ imprisonment for possession of 12 books, under a sweeping provision of the SOSMA prohibiting the possession, custody or control of any item associated with any terrorist group or the commission of a terrorist act. The books owned by Siti Noor Aishah had not been banned, which raised further concerns about the arbitrary nature of the law and the way it was applied.

Police and security forces
Impunity for deaths in custody and excessive use of force and firearms persisted. There were at least five deaths in custody during the year. ...

Death penalty
The death penalty continued to be retained as the mandatory punishment for offences including drug trafficking, murder and discharge of firearms with intent to kill or harm in certain circumstances....

Rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people
Discrimination against LGBTI people continued both in law and practice. Section 377A of the Penal Code criminalizes consensual sexual relations between adult men.

Apparently Malaysia's concern for human rights doesn't extend to its own citizens.

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In Palestinian news site Sama News, writer Khudair Abu Tammam discusses the Holocaust on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The first part of the article is mostly accurate, discussing specific atrocities done against Jews during the Holocaust, mentioning Kristallnacht, Josef Mengele's inhumane experiments and early German attempts to mass murder Jews before building the gas chambers.

Even in that section of the article, Tammam mentions the Roma, mentally disabled and others victimized by the Germans, and asks, "why was it historically called the massacre of the Jews despite the presence of hundreds of thousands of non-Jewish dead?"

Tammam then tries to minimize the German role in the Holocaust, saying, "Contrary to what is commonly thought, the Germans were not the only ones who participated in the organization of the Holocaust. Other countries, including Italy, Croatia, Hungary and Bulgaria, contributed to the extermination camps, and history doesn't know if Hitler was responsible for the genocide."

Then he ends off by saying, "Finally, I will quote some of the views that cast doubt on the figures of the Jews killed in the genocide." He then goes through the views of famous Holocaust deniers like David Irving.

The article ends by saying there are "many opinions" on the matter.

This is another form of Holocaust denial. By casting doubt on perhaps the most well-documented atrocity in human history, the author pretends to be open to all opinions but in fact is amplifying provable lies. He is giving his audience a reason to doubt, not a reason to learn about it.

The Holocaust is, of course, not taught in Palestinian schools, and when UNRWA floated the idea of adding it to the curriculum some years back there was a huge backlash. Because by teaching Palestinian Arabs that Jews are human beings and victims, Palestinians cannot teach their kids to hate Jews as easily.

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The International Paralympic Committee (IPC), in its meeting in London that started last week, has announced that it will not hold the Para Swimming competition in Malaysia this summer after that country said that it would not allow any Israeli athletes to compete.

In a statement just released, the IPC said the decision was made, "after the Home Ministry of Malaysia failed to provide the necessary guarantees that Israeli Para swimmers could participate, free from discrimination, and safely in the Championships."

Notably, the IPC also insisted that Malaysia not only allow the Israelis to compete but also to allow them to show the Israeli flag, and play its national anthem if Israeli athletes win.

Andrew Parsons, IPC President, said: “All World Championships must be open to all eligible athletes and nations to compete safely and free from discrimination. When a host country excludes athletes from a particular nation, for political reasons, then we have absolutely no alternative but to look for a new Championships host.

“The Paralympic Movement has, and always will be, motivated by a desire to drive inclusion, not exclusion. Regardless of the countries involved in this matter, the IPC would take the same decision again if it was to face a similar situation involving different countries.

“In September 2017 when the IPC signed the contract with the Paralympic Council of Malaysia (NPC Malaysia) to host the World Para Swimming Championships, we had assurances that all eligible athletes and countries would be allowed to participate in the event with their safety assured.

“Since then, there has been a change of political leadership and the new Malaysian government has different ideas. Politics and sport are never a good mix and we are disappointed that Israeli athletes would not have been allowed to compete in Malaysia.

“As a result of the Board’s decision today, we are now looking for a new host for this vital World Championships, which acts as a qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. We will strive to maintain the same dates and conditions for the Championships as to not upset the training schedules of athletes who aim to peak for the end of July and early August. However, we may need to be flexible in this area bearing in mind the circumstances we face.”

Chelsey Gotell, Chairperson of the IPC Athletes’ Council, added: “Not only does this decision stress the importance of keeping sport and politics separate, but it also reinforces the IPC's commitment to our fundamental moral and ethical principles that encompass inclusivity of all eligible Para athletes and nations to compete at IPC sanctioned events.”

Around 600 swimmers from 60 nations were anticipated to take part in Kuching.

The IPC is looking for alternate hosts for the games, asking any countries that are interested in responding with proposals within two weeks, by February 11.

I hope that the IPC also sues the nation of Malaysia for the money it spent on the games, and to reimburse the athletes who have bought tickets and hotel reservations.

This is excellent news, and this decision will not only cement the decisions about future Paralympics games but it will also influence other sports to do the right thing and avoid any events in countries that discriminate against Israelis, or anyone.

Bravo, IPC!

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01/26 Links: Former Israeli War Colleges Commander: ‘Without Judea and Samaria, Israel Cannot Defend Tel Aviv’; Democrats Ducking Vote on Rejecting Anti-Semitism

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: EXCLUSIVE - Former Israeli War Colleges Commander: ‘Without Judea and Samaria, Israel Cannot Defend Tel Aviv’

President Donald Trump’s negotiating team may unveil its “deal of the century” peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians soon after Israel’s April 9 elections.

Gershon Hacohen, a recently retired Israeli major general and former commander of Israel’s war colleges, now serves as a senior researcher at Bar Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Affairs, where he writes prolifically on the military significance of Israel’s relations with the Palestinians.

Hacohen is considered one of Israel’s most brilliant strategists. He is also something of a voice in the wilderness among his fellow generals, who almost unanimously identify with the left side of the political and ideological spectrum.

In light of the various media reports that have surfaced over the past year about the contours of the Trump plan, Hacohen has deep reservations about the plausibility of the American efforts.

This week, Hacohen published a major study in Hebrew, which received frontpage coverage in the Hebrew media in Israel. In it, Hacohen analyzed the military implications for Israel of a possible Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria – otherwise known as the West Bank – in any deal with the Palestinians.

In his report, titled, “A Withdrawal from Area C of Judea and Samaria is an Existential Threat,” Hacohen argued that Israel cannot afford to withdraw from any territory in Judea and Samaria.

Breitbart News spoke with Hacohen to discuss his paper and what its implications are for the Trump administration as it prepares to unveil its peace plan.

Cotton Praises Judge in Israel Boycott Case: He ‘Acknowledged the Obvious’

Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) praised a federal district judge's ruling Friday, after the judge upheld an anti-discrimination law as consistent with the First Amendment.

The Arkansas Times, a weekly paper based in Little Rock, argued that it could sell advertising space to public entities without certifying the Times was not boycotting Israel. It claimed mandating a certification abrogated its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

Arkansas' general assembly passed Act 710 in 2017, which allows the state government to contract only with companies that do not boycott Israel. It prohibits the government to work with companies "engaging in refusals to deal, terminating business activities, or other actions that are intended to limit commercial relations with Israel, or persons or entities doing business in Israel or in Israeli-controlled territories, in a discriminatory manner."

The bill follows several years of increasing pressure from anti-Israel activists for companies to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Political efforts, including BDS, target Israeli organizations and companies doing business in Israel in an effort to erode support for the state of Israel and pressure the Israeli government to change its policies.

Cotton described Act 710 as a bulwark against efforts by "Israel's foes." He explained that, pursuant to the law, "Government contractors in Arkansas are required to certify they will not participate in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement designed by Israel’s foes, or else face consequences." More than half of American states have passed laws opposing anti-Israel boycotts.

Democrats Ducking Vote on Rejecting Anti-Semitism

Democratic leaders are remaining quiet about a new congressional measure that rejects anti-Semitism and chides a new class of Democratic congressional members for the open embrace of notorious anti-Semites and anti-Israel causes, according to the leading Republican author of that new measure.

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R., N.Y.), one of just two Jewish Republicans in Congress, has introduced a new congressional resolution in the House that categorically rejects anti-Semitism in all its forms and calls out some newly elected Democratic members who have ridden a popular wave into Congress on the backs of anti-Semitic leaders and causes, Zeldin told the Washington Free Beacon in a wide-ranging interview.

While a similar House resolution condemning white supremacy sailed to a nearly unanimous vote several weeks ago, Zeldin's amendment, focused directly on anti-Semitism, has put Democratic leaders in a precarious position as they are forced to reject the views of popular new freshman colleagues.

"It's up to the Democrats to decide whether or not they are actually going to confront this head on," Zeldin told the Free Beacon. "I'm wiling to work with any Democratic colleague on any idea he or she has to crush anti-Semitism in any form. But I can't do that for them."

To that end, Zeldin's measure—which is expected to be brought for a vote in the coming weeks—is shaping up to be a sort of litmus test for the Democratic leadership as it figures out how to deal with a class of freshmen who are open about their distaste for Israel and support causes like the Boycott, Sanction, and Divestment movement, or BDS, which wages economic warfare on the Jewish state.

I noticed that someone named Michael Byrne attacked Kamala Harris, the Democratic senator who recently announced her interest in running for President, as being too pro-Israel.

The title of the article at Antiwar is "Kamala Harris Has an Israel Problem. That Is a Deal-Breaker for Me." It is obvious that the only person with an Israel problem is Michael Byrne himself.

His main issue is Harris' speech at AIPAC in 2017. So here it is:

Good morning, AIPAC. Good morning. What an honor....

So having grown up in the Bay Area, I fondly remember those Jewish national fund boxes that we would use to collect donations to plant trees for Israel. Years later when I visited Israel for the first time, I saw the fruits of that effort and the Israeli ingenuity that has truly made a desert bloom. I soaked in the sights and sounds and smells of Jerusalem. I stood in Yad Vashem, devastated by the silent testimonies of the six million Jews that were murdered in the Holocaust, and we must always remember that solemn promise, never again.

And I did what I often do when visiting a new country. I visited the highest court in the land, and as I toured Israel's Supreme Court, I was struck by the iconic architecture which embodies Israel's founding principles of democracy and rule of law. The design of that building left a lasting impression on me. Its straight lines which represent the immutable nature of truth while the curved walls and glass represent the fluid nature of tzedek, of justice.

And this is a concept that is personal for me because it's that same commitment to justice for the voiceless and the vulnerable that led my parents as students to march for civil rights in the 1960s while pushing me in a stroller. And it's why I became a prosecutor and personally prosecuted everything from low-level offenses to homicides.

It's why I became San Francisco District Attorney and was later elected Attorney General of California where I took on transnational gangs, cyber criminals, and mortgage fraud. And that commitment to justice is why I ran to become a United States senator from the great state of California, the point being to continue that fight. And a critical piece of my agenda is the fight to defend and strengthen our national security.

As a member of the both the Senate Intelligence Committee and Homeland Security Committee, I have a front row seat to these issues, and I am proud to stand strongly with America's allies, including Israel.

So let me be clear about what I believe. I stand with Israel because of our shared values which are so fundamental to the founding of both our nations. I believe the bonds between the United States and Israel are unbreakable, and we can never let anyone drive a wedge between us.

Our bonds are rooted in our shared history and are strengthened by the ties between our peoples. And in the words of Shimon Peres whose loss we mourn so deeply, for Israel's existence we need the friendship of the United States of America. And of course he knew that feeling goes both ways, and there's no question that friendship and our partnership must be unwavering.

And I believe Israel should never be a partisan issue, and as long as I'm a United States senator I will do everything in my power to ensure broad and bipartisan support for Israel's security and right to self-defense.

I believe that the only viable resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is two states for two people living side by side in peace and security. I believe that a resolution to this conflict cannot be imposed. It must be agreed upon by the parties themselves. Peace can only come through a reconciliation of differences, and that can only happen at the negotiating table.

I believe that when any organization delegitimizes Israel, we must stand up and speak out for Israel to be treated equally. And that is why the first resolution I co-sponsored as a United States senator was to combat anti-Israel bias at the United Nations and reaffirm that the United States seeks a just, secure, and sustainable two-state solution.

And as someone who's personally prosecuted hate crime, I also believe that we cannot stand by while anti-Semitism, hate crime, and bigotry are on the rise, whether that's a swastika on a Jewish family and children's services bus in San Francisco or the burning of a mosque in Tampa. That's why I am pleased to announce for the first time here at AIPAC that I'm introducing a senate resolution that condemns targeting of Jews as well as any form of religious bias, racism, misogyny, or other hateful acts targeting minorities across the United States.

And let's be candid. Many, including those in this hall, have been directly impacted by the outrageous incidents targeting the Jewish community. This violence and hate is alarming and simply unacceptable. No one should have to worry about their children's safety when they drop them off at the JCC.

No one should have to be afraid to put a menorah in their front window or on their front lawn. And no one should ever have to fear that the grave of a loved one might be desecrated because of their faith. So my resolution calls on law enforcement to expedite investigations of hate crime and hold perpetrators accountable.

My resolution calls on law enforcement to fully report hate crime statistics, and my resolution calls on the administration to support victims and fund security at places of worship and other institutions that have been targeted, of any faith. And as I fight to promote human rights and security, Israel and the Jewish community will always be a priority for me.

And that is why as senator I am particularly focused on three areas where I believe the United States and Israel can expand our cooperation and where California plays an important and central role. And the three are defense, cybersecurity, and water security.

So let's think about it. First, defense. In the midst of uncertainty and turmoil, America's support for Israel's security must be rock solid. And as Iran continues to launch ballistic missiles while it arms and funds its terrorist proxy Hezbollah, we must stand with Israel. As Hamas maintains its control of Gaza and fires rockets across Israel's southern border, we must stand with Israel. And as ISIS and civil war in Syria destabilize the region, displacing millions and threatening shared security interest, we must support all those affected by ongoing violence and terror, and we must stand with Israel.

Our defense relationship is critical to both nations, which is why I support the United States' commitment to provide Israel with $38 billion in military assistance over the next decade. It is why I support full funding for Israel, including for the Arrow, David's Sling, and the Iron Dome missile defense systems which save lives. And that's why I am fully committing to maintaining Israel's qualitative military edge.

At the same time the United States must never permit Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. The Iran nuclear deal must be vigorously enforced through robust monitoring, inspection, and verification. And if Iran cheats, there's no question. Iran must be held accountable. And so as Iran inserts itself in Syria, including through the deployment of advanced military equipment and missiles that threaten Israel, we must not tolerate Iran fanning the flames of instability and violence in the region.

In addition, Russia's explicit support for these actions is a direct threat to American interest, and it makes Israel less secure. So I say the Trump administration must be crystal-clear with Putin. Russia must stop its support of Iran. This is a threat to the United States, and it is a threat to Israel.

A second area where I believe we can expand our cooperation is cybersecurity and technology. As cyberattacks expose the vulnerabilities of our most essential systems and infrastructure, the United States and Israel must strengthen our innovation and technological capacities and our defenses together. Israel has more scientists and startups per capita than any other country in the world, and I'm proud that California, building on the 2014 commitments made by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Governor Brown, has facilitated many of these technological partnerships and investments.

Today Tel Aviv and Silicon Valley are inextricably linked, ensuring that our two countries remain on the cutting edge. And when I met with Prime Minister Netanyahu last month, I was proud to discuss California's cyber advancements and the way we can expand those joint efforts.

And the third area of growing cooperation is water security. So as any Californian in this hall can tell you, water is the lifeblood of our economies and our communities, and because of California's history of droughts, we know we cannot take water for granted. In this regard we could not have a better example than Israel. Yes, Israel is a nation that is 60 percent desert, yet so water-secure that it exports water to its neighbors. And Israel has been a great partner to California in this area.

Take, for example, Carlsbad, California where an Israeli company built a desalination plant which provides 50 million gallons of water to 400,000 Californians every day. So while the United States and Israel are geographically separated by water, we can also be bound by water. And I'm eager to champion these three partnerships in the senate now and in the future and to ensure that California plays a key role in the relationship between the United States and Israel.

So in conclusion, AIPAC, we all know these are difficult times. I stand here clear eyed about the dangers of division in our country and in our world, understanding why a state for the Jewish people is so essential. And I also stand here as someone with a lifelong commitment to justice, a lifelong faith in the power of democratic values and the innate oneness and goodness of human beings. And I believe that it's the common ground that unites so many of us, values like faith, family, respect, and empathy that will see us through.

Just look, for example, at the response when Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia were so horribly, horribly vandalized. Muslim activists quickly raised money to restore the headstones with one organizer posting on social media, "I want to ask all Muslims to reach out to your Jewish brothers and sisters and stand together against this bigotry."

Common ground. Look at the words of Elie Wiesel, who I knew personally and loved, when he said, "The opposite of love is not hate. It's indifference."

Common ground. Look at Israel's Supreme Court, that beautiful place I visited, upon which sits a Tunisian judge alongside an Israel-Arab Christian and a Brooklyn-born Israeli, all presided over by a female chief justice—common ground.

Or look at my own life where a daughter of a South Asian mother and a Jamaican father concluded her own interfaith wedding with her husband breaking a glass and everyone yelling mazel tov.

So that's who we are, and if we embrace those values that have always made the United States and Israel great, then I believe our two nations will continue to move forward together for years and years to come. I thank you, AIPAC.

Thank you.

Harris is very much a liberal. She supports a two state solution. But apparently, a Democrat can be attacked nowadays for simply supporting Israel's right to exist. (And her being a person of color is no defense, as it is for those who support Arab genocidal intentions towards Jews in Israel.)

(Then again,

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01/25 Links Pt2: Lipstadt: Yes, Jeremy Corbyn IS Fuelling Anti-Semitism; Phillips: The dirty little secret of the 'diversity' agenda; Imam Tawhidi: Is Jerusalem a Sacred Islamic City?

From Ian:

Prof. Deborah Lipstadt: Yes, Jeremy Corbyn IS Fuelling Anti-Semitism

In her new book, Anti-Semitism Here And Now, Professor Deborah Lipstadt devotes several pages to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn: "Jeremy Corbyn's record in politics is deeply rooted in firmly held ideological beliefs. Fundamental to his political philosophy is an automatic - critics might call it knee-jerk - sympathy for anyone who is or appears to be oppressed or an underdog."

"It is doubtful that Corbyn deliberately seeks out anti-Semites to associate with and to support. But it seems that when he encounters them, their Jew-hatred is irrelevant as long as their other positions - on class, race, capitalism, the role of the state, and Israel/Palestine - are to his liking. Alan Johnson, the former moderate Labour MP, aptly described Corbyn as someone who does not 'indulge in anti-Semitism himself. It is that he indulges the anti-Semitism of others.'"

"Even though the EU and the U.S. have classified Hamas and Hizbullah as terrorist organizations, Corbyn has described them as 'friends,' attacked the notion they were 'terrorists' and invited them to meet him at Parliament....In 2010...on Holocaust Remembrance Day, he hosted an 'Auschwitz to Gaza' event in Parliament at which repeated comparisons were made between Jews, Israelis and Nazis."

"So, in answer to the question: Is Jeremy Corbyn an anti-Semite? My response would be that that's the wrong question. The right questions to ask are: Has he facilitated and amplified expressions of anti-Semitism? Has he been consistently reluctant to acknowledge expressions of anti-Semitism unless they come from white supremacists and neo-Nazis? Will his actions facilitate the institutionalization of anti-Semitism among other progressives? Sadly, my answer to all of these is an unequivocal yes."

Melanie Phillips: The dirty little secret of the 'diversity' agenda

The reason for this moral collapse is the shift in political gravity that has taken place on the left in which positions previously shunned as marginal and unacceptable have now become mainstream.

Support for “Palestine” has transformed what has never ceased to be a genocidal agenda into a presumed liberation movement and the signature progressive cause.

Black power, once seen rightly as a hateful, anti-white, violent revolutionary movement is now an accepted narrative in America’s black community. This would undoubtedly have horrified its great and visionary leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Contrary to the poisonous travesty published a few days ago by The New York Times that vilified Israel and wickedly suggested that King would today be its foe, he actually said: “When people criticize Zionists they mean Jews. You are talking antisemitism.”

Tragically, the mainstreaming of black power has now also mainstreamed black antisemitism, just as the championing of “Palestine” has mainstreamed hatred of Jews.

This shift that has taken place to an anti-white, anti-West, anti-Jew agenda is denied largely because it is so closely associated with “diversity” – that is, black people and Muslims.

The sheer terror of being tarred as racist or Islamophobic causes such circles not only to deny this is happening, but to hurl accusations of racism or Islamophobia at any who point it out.

Black power demagogues like Farrakhan whip up black-on-white race hate wherever they can. Preying on America’s guilt over its terrible history of slavery and anti-black bigotry, this anti-white racism threatens to unstitch America’s social fabric.

In 2014, the Investor’s Business Daily described how the “radical Muslim Brotherhood has built the framework for a political party in America that seeks to turn Muslims into an Islamist voting bloc.”

Social inclusion has meant embracing not just the unconscionable but a dagger at the throat of Jews, America and the West.

Marc Lamont Hill: Prominent Progressives Secretly Share Views Endorsing Palestinian Violence

A former CNN pundit fired for comments endorsing Palestinian violence against Israel doubled down in a podcast released Thursday, claiming his views were mainstream among progressives.

Marc Lamont Hill was fired by CNN after he called for "a free Palestine from the river to the sea" in a November speech at the United Nations. Hill spoke with Mehdi Hasan on his Intercept podcast "Deconstructed" in a segment called "What You Can't Say About Israel."

During the segment, Hill made clear he stood by his comments. "I think I was right," he said.

"If I had a dollar for every progressive member of Congress, for every progressive faculty member, for every progressive cable news or otherwise TV commentator who sent me a private message saying, ‘I agree with you,'" Hill said, "I'd have so much money."

Hill claimed other progressives are afraid of backlash for publicly embracing the slogan.

"You can almost hear the whispers in the message, ‘I agree with you, but, you know, stay strong, but this is why I don't say anything,'" he told Hasan.

The slogan "from the river to the sea" refers to the space between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. It suggests the formation of a Palestinian state spanning the two waters, erasing Israel entirely. Defenders of Palestinian terror organizations and those seeking a one-state solution that ends Israel's existence often repeat the slogan.

01/25 Links Pt1: Is Israel’s Inevitable War With Iran Already Underway?; Israel’s Foes Finally Admit That Rocks Can Kill; BDS blacklist under review by UN body will harm Palestinians

From Ian:

Ruthie Blum: Is Israel’s Inevitable War With Iran Already Underway?

Meanwhile, the Iranian regime — weakened by restored US sanctions and the massive unrest of its subjugated populace — is boasting about its military prowess. This is par for the course in Tehran, particularly as the ruling mullahs are marking the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which ousted Shah Reza Pahlavi and ushered in Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s reign of terror.

In an interview with Iranian state TV on Tuesday, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, went as far as to flaunt the regime’s nuclear achievements, thanks in large measure to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — the nuclear deal signed with world powers in 2015 — which, he said, “marinated” Iran’s right to enrich uranium.

The only drawback he mentioned was the fact that “for Europeans, a centrifuge takes eight years from designing to become operational, while the process takes us 10 years.”

Salehi then announced that he would be traveling at the end of the month to Ardakan “to oversee the transport of 30 tons of yellowcake produced … there to [the Uranium Conversion Facility at] Isfahan, [which] means that the Ardakan site has become operational.”

It would be a grave mistake to dismiss Salehi’s words as mere saber-rattling, given the Iranian regime’s stated intention and increasingly overt attempts to annihilate Israel, even at its own potential peril. Rather than looking the other way, at best — or, worse, condemning Israel at international forums — the world should be thanking the Jewish state for doing its dirty work. The inevitable war against Iran should have been fought by America decades ago. Today, it is up to the IDF.

When the snow melts on Mount Hermon, we Israelis will be back in shorts and sandals, heading for the polls this spring to elect the next Knesset. The only question at this point is whether we will be doing so in bomb shelters.

House Majority Leader Calls for US Recognition of Israeli Sovereignty Over Golan

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has called for the United States to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the congressman’s office told Jewish Insider.

The Golan spans about 700 square miles and directly abuts what is now a civil-war-torn Syria.

This development comes as members of Congress have called for the Trump administration to formally acknowledge Israeli control of the Golan Heights, a geographical security barrier for Israel in the fight against terrorism from Hezbollah, with its growing arsenal of missiles and rockets, and other Iranian-backed groups.

Earlier this week, Iranian fighter jets fired a surface-to-surface missile at the Golan Heights, prompting Israel to launch a massive attack on numerous Iranian targets in Syria.

Last week, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) sent a letter to US President Donald Trump calling for the official recognition.

Gottheimer followed Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who introduced a resolution last month that stated, “Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights is critical to Israel’s national security,” and that “Israel’s security from attack from Syria and Lebanon cannot be assured without Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.”

Jonathan S. Tobin: Israel’s Foes Finally Admit That Rocks Can Kill

As far as the mainstream media is usually concerned, when rocks are thrown in the Middle East, it’s nothing to get too worked up about. When Palestinian mobs throw rocks at Israeli soldiers at the Gaza border fence as part of their effort to cross into the Jewish state and commit mayhem, such actions are generally depicted as a non-lethal form of protest.

Ever since the Palestinians launched an intifada — a “national uprising” — in December of 1987, rock-throwing has been treated as a popular form of protest against Israel. Indeed, the act of throwing rocks at Jews has long since become an iconic symbol of the “resistance” to Israel, glorified in Palestinian culture, poems, and songs. Throwing rocks at soldiers and settlers — or their cars and buses — has become something like a national sport, as well as a rite of passage for Arab youth.

Incidents of stone-throwing at Jewish targets are a daily occurrence, and so numerous that Israel barely bothers to keep statistics on them. But we do know that at least 14 Israelis have been killed as a result of car crashes caused by rock-throwing or direct blows. When Palestinians are arrested in connection with such crimes, they are either depicted sympathetically as legitimate combatants using the only weapons available to them, or as children who are unjustly harassed or even tortured by the Israeli army and police for what is, at worst, nothing more than so-called teenage mischief-making.

But after more than 30 years of such stories in the media, the international press has finally decided to treat this “harmless” activity in the West Bank as a crime.

A Palestinian women was killed in October when she was struck in the head by a stone thrown by what police believe was a group of Israeli teenagers. Aisha Rabi, a mother of nine, was with her husband and two of their children driving in a car when the crime occurred. The suspects are students at a West Bank yeshiva high school — one of whom remains in custody since being arrested in December due to the fact that, according to Israeli authorities, traces of his DNA was found on the stone that killed Rabi.

The case raises a lot of uncomfortable questions for both Arabs and Jews.

Fatah issued a statement yesterday, calling on Palestinian Arabs to defend the Al Aqsa Mosque and surrounding area against "attacks and the successive incursions, the latest of which was this morning with the Israeli police chief, accompanied by a number of settlers who wreak havoc in the holy sites."

Member of the Revolutionary Council of Fatah Osama al-Qawasmi asked, "Where the Arab and Islamic nations concerning these crimes against the first Qibla and the third holiest mosques, and against the Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him? ...These crimes and violations are a prelude to Netanyahu's visit to al-Aqsa which will explode the situation completely."

The specific incident that upset them so was an apparent visit to the Dome of the Rock by IDF veterans who had captured the Temple Mount in 1967. Here's video of them walking through the site very quickly, upsetting a single shouting woman for twenty seconds asking why they have to be there.

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Ireland closer to a bizarre law that could penalize Google or Facebook for having Jerusalem employees

From JTA:

The lower house of Ireland’s Parliament approved a bill on Thursday that would ban the import or sale of goods originating in all “occupied territories,” with lawmakers’ discussions centered on eastern Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the West Bank.

The Dail passed the measure by a vote of 78-45 with three abstentions. It is the second of a five-phase process, according to reports.

The measure introduced by the conservative Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party would make illegal “the import and sales of goods, services and natural resources originating in illegal settlements in occupied territories.” Sinn Fein, a left-wing party, supported the bill.

Fianna Fáil foreign affairs spokesman Niall Collins told the Irish Independent ahead of the vote that his party has become “increasingly concerned about the actions of Israel and its continued and blatant disregard for international law.” He said the bill would not harm trade in Israeli goods, just goods produced in the settlements.

Actually, the bill can and would affect lots more than "goods produced in the settlements."

The text of the proposed law says, in part,

Provision of a settlement service
8. (1) It shall be an offence for a person to provide or attempt to provide a settlement service.
(2) It shall be an offence for a person to assist another person to provide or attempt to provide a settlement service.

“settlement service” means a service provided in whole or in part within a relevant occupied territory by an illegal settler.

10. (1) A person who is guilty of an offence under section 6, 7, 8 or 9 is liable—
(a) on summary conviction to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, and
(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €250,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.

If Apple or Google or Microsoft have employees who are allowed to telecommute from one of the many Jewish areas of Jerusalem that Ireland considers "occupied," then the high tech companies are assisting that person in providing a settlement service and could be fined and jailed.

As Eli Lake writes in Bloomberg, this would not only force the companies to choose between doing business in Ireland or Israel, but also could run foul of US laws:

This would place U.S. companies in a bind. If they follow Irish law, they would have to either fire the telecommuting employee or not allow the employee to work from home. If they did that, however, the companies would be participating in a boycott not sanctioned by the U.S. government. And that, as Kittrie observed last year, would in turn risk violating the anti-boycott sections of U.S. export regulations.

Beyond that, if an Irish citizen visits Israel and decides to visit this kosher coffee shop in the Old City, she could be fined up to €250,000 and go to prison for five years.

And don't be fooled by the language of the law that says it is against any occupation. As Trocaire - an NGO that supports this legislation - writes:

2. DOES THIS BILL ONLY AFFECT ISRAEL?
If enacted, the legislation would apply to territories where there is a clear international legal consensus on the status of the occupation. As it stands, only the occupied Palestinian territories have been confirmed as occupied by the International Court of Justice. However, this Bill allows for other territories to be included so long as there is consensus between the Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade and both houses of the Oireachtas.

It just so happens that Irish oil firms Island Oil & Gas, Longreach and San Leon are stealing oil from Western Sahara territory occupied by Morocco, and the native Sahwaris aren't happy about it. But this bill doesn't cover that.

When an "anti-occupation" bill is written in such a way that it only targets the Jewish state while allowing corporations to profit from other occupied territories, you can safely say that it is antisemitic.

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

The biggest BDSFail that you never heard about

In 2015, the BDS Movement was ecstatic over some economic news:

"BDS was a major factor behind the 46% drop in foreign direct investment in Israel in 2014, according to a UN report," the BDS webpage still says.

YNet reported, "The report contains one very glum statistic; in 2014 $6.4 billion were invested in Israel, whereas in 2013 $11.8 billion were invested - a decline of about 46%."

It turns out the UN report didn't blame BDS for the drop, but one of the Israeli economists who wrote the UN report said it might be because of a combination of BDS and the 2014 Gaza war -and admitted that her theory was only conjecture. But that guess was enough to excite the Israel-haters.

Mondoweiss was over the moon, quoting Bisan Mitri, Palestinian BDS National Committee secretariat member, who said, "Ten years after its launch, the BDS movement is being recognised by one of the authors of a UN report as starting to have major impacts on the Israeli economy. Israel’s shift to the far-right, its intentional crimes against Palestinians and the BDS movement and rapid changes in public opinion following Israel’s massacre of Palestinians in Gaza last summer mean that Israel is increasingly becoming a less attractive investment destination."

BDS was claiming this victory across the board, with no caveats. They knew that they were having a major effect on Israel's economy. They raised money based on this victory.

So how has direct foreign investment in Israel done since then?

It has more than tripled!

The 2018 report shows that Israel's FDI inflows has soared from $6 billion to nearly $19 billion in only three years!

Yes, the statistic that was giving Israel-haters virtual orgasms in 2015 as proof that Israel's fortunes are finally on a downturn is now seen, three years later, to have been an anomaly - and Israel has not only tripled its FDI inflows, but it was ranked #18 in the world in 2017 (up from #27 in 2016), far higher than even the UK!

Israel's 2017 increase of 59% is even more astonishing considering that the total FDI inflows to developed countries decreased by one third in 2017, from $1.1 trillion to $720 million.

In the end, the very nature of foreign investment is based on some very large deals, and it is going to vary a lot from year to year.

If BDS is going to take credit for Israel's dip in FDI in 2014, then it must take responsibility for Israel's huge FDI increase in 2017. Which means that if BDS was a corporation, its CEO should resign in disgrace for how poor it meets its stated goals.

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

01/24 Links Pt2: Don’t Believe Ilhan Omar; Rachel Riley: Why I spoke out about Labour’s anti-Semitism shame; How Al Jazeera Dresses Up Its Anti-Semitism for an English-Speaking Audience

From Ian:

Don’t Believe Ilhan Omar

She “unknowingly” offended Jews by saying that Israel hypnotized the world not to see its evil? Nonsense. In the Greater Middle East, from which Omar’s family hails, conspiracy theory is the coin of the realm, and much self-inflicted grief is blamed on dark Jewish magic. It’s ludicrous to think that she didn’t know what she was saying. Omar composed her offending tweet during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza and was, in all probability, speaking foremost to an audience that truly believes in the evils of Jewish sorcery.

We’re talking here about people who embrace a strain of superstitious anti-Semitism that sees Jews as non-human agents of the Devil. In January 2015, for example, after Islamist terror attacks rocked Paris, a Daily Beast writer interviewed some French Algerians who blamed the attacks on “magical shape-shifting Jews that were master manipulators that could be everywhere at the same time.” We’re talking about the Iranian cleric and Tehran University professor who went on television and claimed: “The Jew is very practiced in sorcery. Indeed most sorcerers are Jews.”

This is the crowd that Ilhan Omar—an American congresswoman who now serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee—was speaking to. In their language.

The history of mystical anti-Semitism is long indeed. It predates Christendom and thrived, at times, long afterward. Martin Luther wrote that “a Jew is as full of idolatry and sorcery as nine cows have hair on their backs, that is: without number and without end.” Such notions were popular throughout Medieval Europe and survived in various forms into the modern age. The Third Reich was, in part, an occult operation. Official Nazi publications discussed phenomena such as the “Jewish evil eye.”

Omar’s talent for untruth is evident in the way she went about pretending not to be a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, which advocates actions aimed at delegitimizing the existence of the world’s only Jewish state. After she was safely elected, Omar freely confessed her support for the BDS movement—a tacit acknowledgment of its controversial nature.

Rachel Riley: Why I spoke out about Labour’s anti-Semitism shame

You need to know next to nothing to propagate Nazi or Soviet Jew-hating propaganda, reframed to fit today’s narrative, which spreads like wildfire and is dangerous. But you need to know nearly everything in order to combat it. The odds are stacked in the anti-Semite’s favour. Every Labour official who labels this a smear, every disciplinary decision that gives the perpetrator a free pass while its victims are abused or even disciplined themselves, is a disgrace. My level of engagement in this issue is directly proportional to the amount of anti-Semitism and hostility to Jews and their allies I’m witness to, which is why it’s currently consuming my life.

Since speaking out, I’ve attracted the attention of a Who’s Who of anti-Semites and apologists, who’ve publicly criticised me. Neo-Nazis, naturally, have also shown their interest. A local Labour Party secretary repeatedly libelled me to Channel 4, ignoring my requests for her to check her facts and stop. Labour supporters have taken it upon themselves to contact my employers, calling for me to be sacked, suggesting we should rename our show ‘8 out of 10 Cats does Paedophilia’ in my honour. I’ve seen thousands of untrue slights against my character, with those making them knowing they can do so to praise from their echo-chambers, in all likelihood with impunity – yet one misplaced word from me could be ruinous.

We need to re-stack those odds. No-one should have to risk their safety and jeopardise their career speaking out against anti-Semitism in Britain in 2019. This has been happening to others for the last three years. Campaigners – the large majority ex-Labour people, deeply hurt by what they are seeing – have been called every name under the sun. They’ve postponed careers, degrees, lost businesses through harassment and, in recent weeks, I’ve even seen three people baselessly libelled as paedophiles in a desperate attempt to discredit and silence them, and it’s all been allowed to happen in quiet.

It’s lonely speaking out about this. And we can’t win this fight alone, nor should we have to try. We’ve seen where anti-Semitism can lead from centuries of persecution. It never ends well. We need to remember our history and I am so grateful to groups like the Holocaust Educational Trust and speakers like Eva Clarke, who, by sharing their stories, help in the only way we know how to safeguard future generations from this ever being allowed to happen again.

This needs a bigger spotlight. This should be a national scandal. We need action rather than words. I call on all people, the media and politicians from every side to stand with us and Be Louder against anti-Semitism. Enough is enough.

Joe Rogan: NY Times Writer Details Anti-Semitism by Progressives

Know How to Answer, part 19: "Palestine is not viable without contiguity or Jerusalem"

Latest in the series...

Six years ago I gave a lecture at Yeshiva University on how to answer anti-Israel arguments. Since the lecture was over an hour and twenty minutes, I decided to break it up into 20 sections, one each to answer one popular anti-Israel argument.

Here is part 19.

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